India begin CWG medal chase on a bright note (Afternoon Lead)

NEW DELHI - India started medal chase in the Commonwealth

Games on a bright note, winning in preliminary rounds in tennis, table tennis and

swimming Monday, the first day of the Games competitions.

Eight gold medals are to be decided Monday — five in swimming, two in

weightlifting and one in artistic gymnastics.

Rohan Bopanna defeated Ugandan Robert Buyinza 6-1, 6-4 in the first round

of the men’s singles tennis event at the R. K. Khanna stadium on a bright and

clear morning.

The women’s table tennis team had an easy match against Sri Lankans,

beating them by 3-0 at the Yamuna Sports Complex in less than an hour.

Shamini Kumaresan won the first singles 11-9, 11-9, 11-7 against Vithanage Gonapinuwala.

In the second match, India No.1 Mouma Das defeated Badu Manniku 11-4, 11-5, 11-4 while Veteran Poulomi Ghatak won the third beating Kavindi Sahabandu 11-8, 11-8, 11-7.

India’s coach Bhawani Mukherjee said it was a good warm-up before the tougher tie against New Zealand.

The women’s team, bronze medallist four years ago, is grouped with Sri Lanka and New Zealand in Group D. They are seeded seeded fourth in the tournament.

In swimming Arti Bajarang Ghorpade cleared the women’s 200-metre freestyle heat, finishing in 2 minutes and 12.2 seconds.

Women’s hockey matches also started Monday with New Zealand picking up three points with a 5-1 victory against Wales in their opening pool B match.

Besides tennins, table tennis, swimming, women’s hockey, competetions will also start Monday in wrestling, archery and gymnastics.

The met department has prediced a sunny day without any possibility of rain.

“There are no chances of rainfall today (Monday) or in the coming days.

The skies will remain clear,” said an official of the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

The maximum temperature will be around 33 degrees.