Commonwealth Games 2018: Records broken by Indian athletes down under

The Commonwealth Games 2018 in Gold Coast has seen a flurry of gold medals for the Indian contingent in the first week of the marquee event. Currently, India lies on the third position in the medals table behind Australia and England and has amassed a total of 20 medals. Out of these twenty medals, there are 11 gold, 4 silver, and 5 bronze.

The gold medalists for India have delivered performances that have not just been enough to secure the top spot on the day but also went on to smash records in the process. We take a look at all the records that have been broken by Indians in the first week of the Commonwealth Games.

#1 Saikhom Mirabai Chanu - Women's 48kg Weightlifting

India's account in the gold medal column was opened by a supremely dominant performance in women's weightlifting by Saikhom Mirabai Chanu.

Chanu's incredible showing in the Women's 48kg category saw her break records in both the snatch as well as the clean and jerk in the event. She pulled off clean lifts in all her three snatch attempts lifting 80kg, 84kg, and 86kg, breaking the Snatch record.

In the clean and jerk, she lifted 103kg, 107kg, and 110kg that sealed the record and the gold medal for her. Her combined lifted weight 196kg (86kg + 110kg) was also a record. In total, she broke six previous Commonwealth and Commonwealth Games records.

#2 Sanjita Khumukcham Chanu - Women's 53kg Weightlifting

Sanjita Chanu won the second gold medal for India at the Commonwealth Games in the Women's 53kg weightlifting in a dominating performance that saw her win with a margin of 10kg over the silver medalist.

Sanjita broke the existing Commonwealth Games snatch record during her lifts when she lifted 84kg. She lifted 108kg in her clean and jerk attempts to win the Gold Medal with a total of 192kg. This was her second gold medal at the Commonwealth Games after her win at the Glasgow Games 2014 in the Women's 48kg category.

#3 Jitu Rai - Men's 10m Air Pistol Shooting

Armyman Jitu Rai who is one of the most decorated Indian shooters came through on his billing and won the 10m Air Pistol event with a commanding performance. Rai qualified for the finals of the event with a score of 570 (98, 92, 94, 96, 95, 95) and did not finish on the top spot.

However, the finals was a cruise for the experienced shooter as he coasted through the stages and shot a score of 235.1, creating a Commonwealth Games Record in the process.

#4 Manu Bhaker - Women's 10m Air Pistol Shooting

Teenager Manu Bhaker, who made her debut at the Commonwealth Games this year won the Gold medal in the 10m Air Pistol. Bhaker proved her potential as the frontrunner in the event with her gold medals at the ISSF Senior and Junior World Cup this year.

She led the field through the two stages and displayed a level of focus and calm demeanour unexpected at her age to shoot a Commonwealth Games Record score of 240.9 to finish well ahead of silver medalist Heena Sidhu (234) and bronze medalist Elena Galiabovtich (214.9).

#5 Mehuli Ghosh - Women's 10m Air Rifle Shooting

17-year old Mehuli Ghosh won the silver medal in the 10m Air Rifle event as Indian shooters continued their impressive showing at the Commonwealth Games.

Mehuli had finished fifth in the qualifying rounds with a score of 413.7 but stepped her game in the finals. She forced the final into a shoot-off after scoring a Commonwealth Games Record score of 247.2 matching her opponent from Singapore, Martina Veloso.

In the shoot-off, Ghosh had to settle for silver as she shot a 9.9 score but Veloso managed a 10.3 to clinch the gold.

#6 Heena Sidhu - Women's 25m Pistol Shooting

India's first World No.1 ranked shooter Heena Sidhu added a gold medal to her collection after her silver in the 10m Air Pistol event. Sidhu won her first individual gold medal with a steely performance in the finals after qualifying in the third position.

The 28-year-old from Mumbai shot a Commonwealth Games record score of 38 (out of 50) in the finals as she beat out competition from Australia' Elena Galiabovitch and Malaysia's Alia Azahari to secure her second medal at the Games.

#7 Mohammad Anas Yahiya - Men's 400m Athletics

Runner Mohammad Anas Yahiya became the first Indian to qualify for the finals of the 400m event after legendary sprinter Milkha Singh.

Yahiya did not exactly create a record during his qualification but broke the one that was set by the Flying Sikh back in 1958 at the Melbourne Commonwealth Games. Milkha Singh had won the gold medal in Melbourne with a run clocked at 46.6 seconds and had become the first Indian to win a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games after Independence.

Yahiya finished his race with a time of 45.44 seconds, which secured his entry into the finals as he beat Jamaican Rusheen McDonald by a margin of 0.33 seconds.