Saina enters singles title-round

Badminton sensation Saina Nehwal was made to sweat to seal her spot in the women’s singles final.

Badminton sensation Saina Nehwal was made to sweat to seal her spot in the women’s singles final. Saina, representing Andhra Pradesh, overcame a spirited challenge from Kerala’s Aparna Balan 21-15, 21-23, 21-14 to advance to the gold medal match. She will face Maharashtra’s Aditi Mutatkar who beat another Andhra player, Jwala Gutta, 21-17, 21-10. The men’s final would be an all-Andhra affair between Chetan Anand and P Kashyap. Anand came from behind to beat Maharashtra’s Sagar Chopda 24-26, 21-7, 21-9. Kashyap defeated Maharashtra’s Ajay Jayram 23-21, 21-9 to move into the title round.

Orissa claim men’s bronze…

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An enthralling exhibition of fast-paced hockey was marred in the end as umpires were assaulted by some players even as Orissa secured the bronze medal with a 3-2 win over hosts Assam here today. The two teams were locked 2-2 at half-time at the Bhetapara Stadium but Orissa emerged winner in the second half.

… And women’s gold too

Rank outsiders Orissa created history, upsetting holders Manipur 4-2 in penalty shootout to claim the women’s soccer gold here today. Both teams failed to open their account at the end of extra time. While the Orissa goal shooters did not miss the target, Manipur’s N Naobi Chanu and Mandakini Devi fumbled in the penalty shootout, enabling their lesser fancied opponent to walk away with glory.

Services win in 60 km

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Services cyclists bagged the gold in the gruelling 60km road team time trial for men. The Punjab cyclists traversed the distance in 1 hour 17 minutes and 39 seconds, pushing Punjab (1 hr 18 min 43 sec) and Rajasthan (1hr 19 min 28 sec) to the second and third spots respectively. In women’s 40 km road team time trial, hosts Assam garnered the yellow metal as the discipline came to an end at the Rupnath Brahma velodrome.

TN, Chhattisgarh in final

The final of the women’s basketball competition will see Tamil Nadu take on Chhattisgarh for the gold medal. The team from the southern state was too good for Delhi as they ran away to a 90-54 victory. The other semi-final was a much closer affair with Chhattisgarh producing a late rally to beat Maharashtra 80-77.