Rupa Rani Tirkey and Pinki Singh strengthened India’s medal hopes by claiming a third consecutive victory in the women’s pairs sectional play. Their hard-fought win over Tonga kept them unbeaten in Section B alongside England, with the race for the knockout stage still finely balanced. However, Putul Sonowal’s campaign in the men’s singles suffered a setback after he lost to Malaysia’s unbeaten Izzat Shameer Dzulkeple. The defeat left the Indian second in his group and relying on other results to keep his semifinal hopes alive.
India celebrated another positive result in boxing as Sachin Siwach defeated Canada’s Keoma Al-Ahmadieh to advance to the men’s 60kg round of 16. His victory followed Jadumani Singh’s opening-round success, giving the Indian boxing contingent an encouraging start to the competition.
The artistic gymnastics team narrowly missed out on medal contention after finishing fifth in their subdivision. Despite the team’s disappointment, Olympian Pranati Nayak and Protistha Samanta remained in contention for places in the individual vault final.
India’s swimmers Aryan Nehra and Dhakshan Shashikumar were unable to progress to the men’s 400m freestyle final, while the women’s 3×3 wheelchair basketball team suffered a heavy opening defeat against Wales.
With only one medal so far through Jhandu Singh’s bronze in para powerlifting, India now turns its attention to a busy Sunday schedule. Olympic medallist Mirabai Chanu will begin her weightlifting campaign as one of India’s strongest gold medal hopes. Rishikanta Singh and M Raja will also compete in medal events, while Preeti Pawar, Aditya Pratap Yadav and Jadumani Singh will feature in boxing. India will also be represented in swimming, artistic gymnastics and lawn bowls as the contingent looks to build momentum and increase its medal tally at the Games.
