Commonwealth Games 2010 Day 11: India finish in historic 2nd spot as Saina clinches gold

By Victor DSouza, Doha
Various sources
Bellevision Media Network

Thursday, 14 October 2010: Saina Nehwal displayed nerves of steel to clinch gold in the badminton singles as India won 101 medals at the Commonwealth Games, its highest in the Games’ history, and elbowed out England to clinch the second spot in the overall medals table at the end of concluding day of the biggest sporting event the country has hosted since the Asian Games in 1982. India clinched the historic second spot in the medals tally with 38 golds.

 

England, ahead of India going into the last day of the Games, finished in third place with a total haul of 37-57-45 while Australia ended up in the top position with a huge heist of 74-55-48. However, there was no good news from the quarters of hockey as the men`s hockey team crashed to a humiliating 0-8 defeat against world and defending champions Australia in the final, but the two-gold final flourish in badminton enabled India to rise to the second spot in the medals tally with 38 gold, 27 silver and 36 bronze medals.

 

Saina won a tough match against her Malaysian opponent where she lost the opening game but came back strongly to clinch the next two games and thus propelled India to the 2nd spot in the medals tally.Saina rallied brilliantly from a first-game loss to put it across Mew Choo Wong of Malaysia 19-21, 23-21, 21-13 in the women`s singles final after Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa had captured the doubles crown.

 

 

 

The push for the second spot on the concluding day was started by Jwala and Ashwini. The duo overwhelmed Singapore`s Sari Shanti Mulia and Yao Lei in straight games to become India`s first women`s doubles pair to win a gold medal in badminton. The second-seeded Indian pair subdued their top-seeded rivals 21-16, 21-19 by combining attack and defense in the right mixture in front of the packed crowd at the Siri Fort complex.

 

Earlier, Sharath Kamal clinched India’s hundredth medal in the CWG. The hosts clinched another medal, a bronze, in table tennis when Poulomi Ghatak and Mouma Das prevailed in the women`s doubles bronze medal play-off against Australian duo Tan Zed Vivian and Peri Campbell-Innes. But in men`s hockey gold medal-deciding clash, the Indian team suffered one of their worst-ever defeats in front of a huge crowd that included Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

 

High-flying India were brought down to earth rudely and ruthlessly by Australia who dished out a clinical display to spank the hosts in a totally lopsided summit clash. The Indians, who had pipped England in a thrilling penalty shoot-out in the semis two days ago to make their maiden entry into the final, came up with a rather pathetic show when it mattered most and had to be content with the silver medal.

 

 

 

Then came Saina`s crucial gold-winning effort that pushed the country ahead of England, in their bitter fight for the runner-up position in the Games. Moments after the win, an ecstatic Saina said, “I am feeling very proud that I have won the gold in front my own people. This medal means a lot.” On her amazing grit that saw her comeback from verge of defeat, Saina said, “I was down match point but I am really happy that I came back strong in the third set…god helped me today.” She also gave credit to her Malaysian opponent Mew Choo Wong saying that she gave her best today.

 

The curtain comes down on the Games later on Thursday with a laser show. While the opening ceremony showcased cultural diversity, the closing will highlight contemporary India. Let us meet again in the report of closing ceremony which is in progress now as I upload this report.

 

Medals tally at the end of concluding day 11:

 

Country	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
Australia	74	55	48	177
India	38	27	36	101
England	37	57	45	139
Canada	26	17	32	75
South Africa	12	11	10	33
Nigeria	11	10	13	34
Kenya	10	10	8	28
Scotland	9	10	7	26
Singapore	9	8	9	26
Malaysia	8	8	12	28