Shooter Heena Sidhu and Para power lifter Sachin Choudhary won the only two medals for India on Tuesday, but there were victories even without medals as Mohammad Anas set a new national record in the men's 400m final before finishing a creditable fourth, while 18-year-old Hima Das secured a place in the women's quartermile final.
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Heena wins gold
Standing on the brink of elimination in 10m air pistol a couple of days ago, Heena Sindhu had clawed her way back to claim a silver. She had a slightly easier time in the women's 25m rapid fire pistol event on Tuesday. Sidhu admitted to struggling with her trigger finger owing to a nerve problem but showed little unease as she qualified for the final in third place with a score of 579. In the elimination round, she was joint second after Round 2 and moved into the sole gold medal position after the seventh series of shooting before finishing with a Games record of 38. For Sidhu, who has two medals at Gold Coast, it was a remarkable turnaround from the 2014 Games where she had finished without a medal.
Anas finishes fourth
23-year-old Mohammad Anas ran the race of his life in the men's 400m final at the Carrara Stadium finishing fourth with a new national record of 45.31seconds. Competing in a world-class field, Anas overcame both his nerves and the fact that he was running on a track that had been slowed by rain. The record Anas broke (45.32 seconds) was his own recorded last year. That effort though had come at an Indian Grand Prix event, a moment witnessed by few people.
While Anas fell just short in his moment of glory, 18-year-old Hima Das could well have her own on Wednesday. Das, who only began training seriously as a runner about a year ago and started running the quartermile even more recently, ran an incredible 51.53 second race to qualify for the final of the women's 400m as the seventh fastest runner.
Women keep gold hopes alive
After a shock loss to Wales in the opening game, the Indian women's hockey team has recovered well to record three straight wins to make it to the semis. The latest of those was a 1-0 triumph against South Africa, marked by a brilliant Rani Rampal goal in the 48th minute. Having finished second in their pool, they will now face Australia in the semifinal.
Redemption for Choudhury
Para power lifter Sachin Choudhury won India's second medal of the day - claiming a bronze in the men's 91kg competition. It was a moment of redemption for Choudhury, who had previously had to return from the 2014 Commonwealth Games after failing a dope test. In a 10-man final, Chaudhary finished with a combined effort of 181 kg to win bronze. Nigeria's Abdulazeez Ibrahim won the gold while Malaysia's Yee Khie Jong bagged the silver medal with cumulative efforts of 191.9 kg and 188.7 kg respectively.