Video Editor: Purnendu Pritam
Indian badminton contingent had its best Commonwealth Games outing at the Gold Coast as the shuttlers bagged 2 Gold Medals, 3 Silver and 1 Bronze.
Saina Vs Sindhu: A Classic
Ace shuttlers Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu went head to head in the women’s singles finals. The 2012 Olympic bronze medallist Nehwal got the better of her compatriot and 2016 Olympic silver medallist Sindhu 21-18, 23-21. The top seed Sindhu was no match for Nehwal’s aggression on Sunday. This was Nehwal’s second CWG gold medal but Sindhu will have to wait a little longer for her first major competition gold medal.
Kidambi, Satwik, Chirag Bag Silver
Meanwhile, in men’s singles, World no 1 Kidambi Srikanth let slip a strong start to lose 19-21 21-14 21-14 to Malaysian icon Lee Chong Wei, who claimed the third individual gold of his career. But, the surprise package of India’s Badminton campaign in Gold Coast was the pair of 17-year-old Satwik Ranikireddy and 20-year-old Chirag Shetty.
The young guns pulled off many upsets to smash their way into the men’s double finals. However, the experience of 2016 Olympic bronze medallist Marcus Ellis and Chris Langridge proved too big a task for the young shuttlers and they settled for silver with a 13-21, 16-21 loss.
In women’s doubles, N Sikki Reddy and Ashwini Ponappa joined hands to bag a bronze after they beat Australian pair of Setyana Mapasa and Gronya Somerville 21-19, 21-19.
Earlier in the tournament, India won its first ever Commonwealth Games mixed team gold. Overall, India signed off with their best-ever haul – two gold, three silver and a bronze in the badminton competition. Indian shuttles had won four medals in the last two editions at Glasgow and Delhi.
(With inputs from PTI.)
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