Deepika, Sushil steal show as India regain second spot

Vijay Kumar bagged silver behind Harpreet, freestyle wrestler Anuj Kumar also got a silver in men�s 84 kg, trap shooter Manavjit Singh Sandhu secured a bronze while Jayanta Talukdar finished third behind Banerjee.

Sania Mirza and Rushmi Chakravarthi beat compatriots Nirupama Sanjeev and Poojashree Venkatesh to secure the women�s doubles bronze in tennis and swell India�s medal kitty.

Banerjee�s sister Dola finished third in women�s recurve and grappler Anil Kumar got the bronze in 55kg freestyle as India came up with another impressive display to jump over England and regain the second spot behind leaders Australia.

Asian silver medallist Jai Bhagwan (60kg) and nine-time national champion Dilbag Singh assured India of two more boxing medals but defending champion Akhil Kumar made a shock exit in the Commonwealth Games by advancing to the semifinals today.

Jai, a Commonwealth Championship gold-medallist, blanked Waheed Sogbamu of Nigeria 10-0, while Dilbag (69 kg) thrashed Botswana�s Moabi Mothiba 11-3 in while Akhil Kumar bowed out after losing to Olympic bronze-medallist Bruno Julie of Mauritius in the 56 kg quarterfinals.

The two boxers joined Amandeep Singh (49kg) and Suranjoy Singh (52kg), who won their quarterfinal bouts yesterday, in assuring themselves of their maiden CWG medals.

The haul of four gold, two silver and five bronze medals took the Indian tally to 28-19-22 while England were once again made to play catch-up with a haul of 25-45-29. Australia were far ahead with 57-33-35.

India were also just three gold medals short of overhauling their best-ever harvest of 30 at the Manchester Games in 2002 when three gold medals were awarded for each weight class, a practice that has been discontinued since.

The day opened with 17-year-old Ranchi-born Deepika, daughter of an autorickshaw owner, stunning 2004 Athens Olympics bronze medallist Alison James Williamson 6-0, showing amazing precision and steady nerves in windy conditions to win her second gold of the Games.

The Indian girl, the reigning world cadet champion, has already captured the team title with senior archer Dola Banerjee, who won the bronze today, and Bombayala Devi Laishram.

Incidentally Dola lost 2-6 to her English rival in the semis while Deepika outclassed Malaysia�s Anbarasi Subramaniam to reach the final. Later Dola beat Anbarasi 6-2 in the bronze play-off.

Harpreet Singh clinched the gold in the individual men�s 25m centre fire pistol as the hosts leapfrogged England and occupied the second spot in the medals table that they had relinquished last night.

It also helped the host nation open up a two-gold lead over England and a second spot in the table below Australia, who had a tally of 56 gold, with more in the offing later in the day.