India finished the 21st Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast with 66 medals, which included 26 gold, 20 silver and 20 bronze.
As expected shooting, wrestling and boxing won the bulk of the medals for the country. The surprise of the lot was the table tennis contingent, which accounted for eight medals. Manika Batra alone accounted for four medals in the event.
With three medals in athletics, India managed to equal its Glasgow 2014 performance. But with the kind of talent at its disposal in this edition of the Games, the athletics contingent could have surely doubled that number. Neeraj Chopra won India’s solitary gold in athletics in men’s javelin throw. Meanwhile, Seema Punia and Navjeet Dhillon won silver and bronze respectively in the women’s discus throw.
Let’s take a look at some of the athletes who narrowly missed or were unlucky to miss out on a podium finish.
1. Muhammed Anas Yahiya (Men’s 400 m)
Muhammad Anas came tantalising close to winning a medal in the 400m run but settled for a credible fourth place finish with a national record-breaking performance at Commonwealth Games.
Anas clocked 45.31, marginally improving his own record of 45.32 which he set at the Indian Grand Prix in New Delhi last year.
It was first time that an Indian was competing in a final of 400m run at CWG since legendary Milkha Singh competed in 1958.
2. Hima Das (Women’s 400 m)
18-year-old Hima Das may have finished sixth in the women’s 400 m final but the Games was quite rewarding for her on a personal level. She recorded her personal best timings twice in the competition.
Finishing third in the semi-finals, Hima had set her personal best of 51.53, shaving off 0.44 off her previous best.
In the finals she improved her timing to set a new personal best of 51.32.
Das had stunned everyone by qualifying for the CWG and continues to spring surprises with her efforts.
3. Arpinder Singh (Men’s Triple Jump)
Glasgow 2014 bronze medallist Arpinder Singh failed replicate or improve upon his previous outing at the Gold Coast Games.
He finished an agonising fourth in the men's triple jump event with a best effort of 16.46m.
Arpinder occupied the third position all throughout the event, only to be overtaken by Marcel Mayack II of Cameron in his last attempt with a distance of 16.80.
4. Jinson Johnson (Men’s 1,500 m)
In men’s 1500 m final, Jinson Johnson clocked 3 minutes and 37.86 seconds to finish fifth.
But he broke a 23-year-old national record of 3:38.00 set by Bahadur Prasad in 1995 at the South Asian Games.
Johnson had qualified as the second-best runner from in the heats with a timing of 3:47.04.
5. Tejaswin Shankar (Men’s High Jump)
Tejaswin Shankar cleared 2.24 m in his first attempt in the final which tied him at first place.
But after that he failed to clear a jump of 2.27 m in three attempts despite his personal best being 2.28 m. Tejaswin finished sixth in the high jump final.
It might have been for a brief period but Tejaswin had raised hopes for India’s first medal in athletics in this edition of CWG.
6. Men’s 4x400 M Relay Team
In the men's 4x400m relay, the Indian team had to pull out midway through the race after Amoj Jacob pulled a hamstring. Because of this, the quartet of A Dharun, Jacob, Muhammed Anas and Rajiv Arokia could not even complete one lap during the race.
India had come second in the qualification round, clocking 3:04.05 and were one of the favourites for a podium finish.
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