CWG: Kashyap, Jwala-Ashwin in final; Sindhu wins bronze

Parupalli Kashyap stands just a win away from winning a historic gold medal while 2010 champions Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa, too, are on course to defend their title, but P V Sindhu and RMV Gurusaidutt loses in the semis and had to settle for bronze medals, in the badminton competition at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, on Saturday.

World No. 22 Kashyap also managed to avenge his loss to Ouseph, who had beaten him at the 2010 Delhi Games and also dumped him during the mixed team event at the Emirates Arena.

In a gruelling one hour and 23 minute match, Kashyap bounced back from a game down to edge out World No. 26 Ouseph 18-21, 21-17, 21-18 and assure himself of at least a silver medal.

Kashyap will next take on World No. 40 Derek Wong of Singapore in the final on Sunday after he beat India's RMV Gurusaidutt went down 21-16, 19-21, 15-21 in the second semi-final.

For Delhi Games bronze medallist, Kashyap, it turned out to be a memorable day as he conjured up hopes of seeing an Indian male badminton player winning a gold medal for the first time in 32 years.

Prakash Padukone had won the men's singles gold medal at the 1978 Commonwealth Games in Edmonton, Canada, which India retained through Syed Modi four years later.

It was a battle of attrition between Kashyap, 27, and Ouseph as both the shuttlers engaged themselves in long energy-sapping rallies, with the longest one going on for 71 strokes but the Indian managed to hold his nerve and clinch a deserving victory.

Medals tally: 2014 Commonwealth Games

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However, it turned out to be a bitter-sweet day for top seed Sindhu, who is playing her first Commonwealth Games, as she suffered a heartbreaking loss in the women's single semi-final match to Michelle Li of Canada, settling for a bronze in the end.

After going down fighting to Michelle 22-20, 22-20 in the last-four encounter, a crestfallen Sindhu managed to get her act together to beat Malaysia's Jing Yi Tee 23-21, 21-9 in a 34-minute bronze medal contest.

Gurusaidutt also earned India a bronze later in the day when he eked out a hard-fought 21-15, 14-21, 21-19 win over Delhi Games silver medallist Ouseph in a men's singles match that lasted for over an hour.

It could have been an all-Indian final showdown in the men's singles but Gurusaidutt earlier could not recreate the same magic which saw him beat top seed Chong Wei Feng of Malaysia on Friday in the quarter-finals.

After battling for more than an hour, Gurusaidutt went down 21-16, 19-21, 15-21 against World No. 40 Derek Wong of Singapore in the other semis.

Medals tally: 2014 Commonwealth Games

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Delhi Games gold medallist pairing of Jwala and Ashwini notched up an easy 21-7, 21-12 win over Lai Pei Jing and Loo Yin Lim in the women's doubles semis to set up a final showdown with World No. 18 Malaysian combo of Vivian Kah Mun Hoo and Khe Wei Woon.

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India came from two goals down to edge out New Zealand 3-2 in the men's hockey semi-finals of the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, on Saturday and set up a repeat final of the 2010 edition against holders Australia.

Trailing 0-2 in the 18th minute, India playing without regular skipper Sardar Singh were revived by strikes from stand-in-captain Rupinder Singh Pal, Ramandeep Singh and Akashdeep Singh, who ensured at least a silver medal for the country.

The Kiwis drew first blood in the second minute with Simon Child taking a neat cross pass to put the ball screeching into the net.

The Black Sticks continued with their fine show and three minutes later, Hugo Inglis fired at the net again but this time it was stopped by the Indian goalkeeper Sreejesh Ravindran.

Indian fullback Rupinder also came up a with a forceful hit at the Kiwi net but goalkeeper Hamish McGregor was alert to put the strike at bay.

The New Zealanders missed a penalty corner in the 10th minute but they did not repeat the mistake when they got the next opportunity, as hard-hitter Nick Haig scored on the rebound to double the lead in the 18th minute.

India got their one and only penalty corner in the 27th minute and drag flicker V R Raghunath hit the chest of a Kiwi player on the net. The on-field referee gave India a penalty stroke as part of obstruction.

Rupinder, who took the stroke, gave India their first goal in the 28th minute.

Coming from the bench after a two-minute suspension post a green card, Child missed an open goal in the dying minutes of the first half as the scoreline read 2-1 after 35 minutes.

Child kept the Indian defenders on their toes even in the second half, as his hit went just wide of the net in the 37th minute.

India also counter-attacked and it finally paid off with Ramandeep getting the equaliser in the 42nd minute. He capitalised on a fine deflection from Manpreet Singh's angular pass and McGregor could do little to stop the ball from entering the net.

It was a close battle between the two sides at the National hockey Center and it was Akashdeep, who showed his brilliance with the stick in the 47th minute by reverse flicking an S V Sunil pass into the net to give India lead for the first time in the match.

Akashdeep though soon got a two-minute suspension after a green card. Ramandeep also missed a chance and the tension grew in both the camps.

Sreejesh was hurt in the 61st minute after some rough play by a Kiwi forward but was soon up on his feet for the final few minutes of the game.

The Indian side, coached by Australian Terry Walsh, will have to shrug off the bad memories of their 0-8 final defeat against Australia at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi when they take field against the World champions on Sunday.

Medals tally: 2014 Commonwealth Games

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Achanta Sharath Kamal proved to be no match for Singapore's Jian Zhan as the Indian was blanked 4-0 in a one-sided men's singles table tennis semi-final match at the 2014 Commonwealth Games.

The top Indian paddler lost 11-6, 11-6, 11-6, 11-8 to his 32-year-old opponent from Singapore at the Scotstown Campus.

That the 32-year-old from Chennai, who had won a gold at the 2006 Melbourne Games, struggled to match up to Zhan's play could be gauged from the fact that the match was over in just 27 minutes. The scoreline also reflects the one-sided nature of the match.

Kamal had earlier teamed up with Anthony Amalraj to win a silver medal for India after losing to Singapore's Gao Ning and Hu Li in the final of the men's doubles table tennis event.

Sharath and Amalraj squandered a game lead to lose 1-3 (11-8, 7-11, 9-11, 5-11) against the Singaporan duo to setlle for the silver medal.

Indian powerlifters Rajinder Rahelu and Sakina Khatun clinched a silver and bronze medal, respectively, in men's heavyweight and women's lightweight (upto 61 kg) powerlifting competition.

Rahelu picked up a total of 180.5 kg to get the silver while Nigerian Abdulazeez Ibrahim clinched the gold with a lift of 197 kg. Malaysian Jong Yee Khie got the bronze with a lift of 178 kg at the Clyde Auditorium.

Khatun did India proud by winning a bronze. The Bangalore-born powerlifter finished behind Nigeria's Esther Oyema (gold) and England's Natalie Blake (silver). The Indian lifted a total weight of 88.2 kilograms, while Esther lifted 136kgs and Natalie managed 100.2kgs.

Medals tally: 2014 Commonwealth Games

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