From the veteran Mary Kom to the first-timer Neeraj Chopra, India's athletes struck gold, silver and bronze on a medal-filled Saturday. Shooter Sanjeev Rajput set the tone early on with gold in the 50m Rife 3 Positions, and Manika Batra registered a three-peat by adding the women's singles TT gold to those she won in the women's doubles and the team event. Here's a look at some of the day's key results:
Neeraj Chopra wins historic gold
Neeraj Chopra won gold in the Javelin throw event at the Commonwealth Games on Saturday after a best throw of 86.47m. With this win, he became the first Indian to win a medal in the event. It also made him the third Indian man and fourth overall to clinch an individual athletics gold medal, after Milkha Singh in 1958, Krishna Poonia in 2010 and Vikas Gowda in 2014.
In a high quality display, his lowest throw came at 83.48m -- more than the best throw of Australia's Hamish Peacock, who claimed the silver with 82.59m.
Chopra, 20, led from the front after a throw of 85.50m with his first attempt. His second throw was a foul, but that first throw kept him comfortably in the lead, ahead of Grenada's Andreson Peters, who was in the silver medal position with a best throw of 82.20m after two attempts.
Chopra then threw his season's best -- previously at 85.94m -- of 86.47m in his fourth attempt, the throw falling 0.01m short of his personal best of 86.48m.
Chopra, who held the best throw among javelin throwers from the Commonwealth participants this year, was seen as India's best bet in the field events. He had become the first Indian athlete to become a world champion in a field event when he clinched gold at the IAAF World U-20 Championships in Bydogszcz, Poland in 2016 after a record throw of 84.69m. Chopra had set a new U-20 world record with the throw, surpassing the 84.69m of Latvian thrower Zigisimunds Sirmais.
Since then Chopra, though not bettering that throw, has stayed within touching distance. Medals have come regularly at the senior level too. In August last year, he won a gold medal at the Asian Athletics Championships in Bhubaneshwar with a mark of 85.23m -- the best-ever throw recorded in Indian soil.
At the Federation Cup in March this year, having already qualified for the Commonwealth Games, he set a new record on Indian soil of 85.94m, in what was his final attempt of the competition.
Having trained without a coach for much of his career, he then had to deal with the setback of Gary Calvert, under whom he first set the national record, quitting. He now trains under former World Record holder Uwe Hohn, but has begun training separately in Germany.
Vipin Kashana, the other Indian in the fray, also showcased a good effort, with a best throw of 77.87m in six attempts to finish fifth.