Short takes: Men's TT team enters semifinals

Defending champions India stormed into the semifinals of the men’s table tennis team event after thrashing Bangladesh 3-0 in the third last-eight tie today. The men’s team, led by Achanta Sharath Kamal, had outclassed Barbados, Singapore and Northern Ireland by 3-0 margins in the group stage to make the quarterfinals. In the quarterfinals, the doubles pair of Harmeet Desai and Sathiyan Gnansekaran defeated Ramhimilian Bawm and Mohutasin Ahmed Ridoy of Bangladesh 11-8 11-6 11-2. Sharath then trounced Md Rifat Sibbar 11-4 11-7 11-2 before Gnansekaran notched up an easy 11-2 11-3 11-5 win.

Srihari in 50m backstroke semis

Ace Indian swimmer Srihari Nataraj qualified for the semifinals of the men’s 50m backstroke event. Nataraj clocked 25.52 seconds to qualify for his second consecutive semifinals of the Games. He had also made the 100m backstroke last-16. The seasoned Sajan Prakash, on the other hand, finished a disappointing ninth in the men’s 200m butterfly.

Yogeshwar finishes 15th, Ruthuja 17th

Indian gymnasts Yogeshwar Singh and Ruthuja Nataraj signed off at 15th and 17th spots, respectively, in the men’s and women’s all-around finals of the artistic gymnastic event. While Haryana’s Yogeshwar finished with an overall score of 74.700, the 19-year-old Ruthuja scored 43.000 to end on the last spot.

Triathlon mixed team finishes 10th

India finished 10th in the triathlon mixed team relay final. The Indian quartet of Adarsh Muralidharan Nair Sinimol, Pragnya Mohan, Vishwanath Yadav and Sanjana Sunil Joshi clocked a total time of 1 hour, 31 minutes, 43 seconds.

Women’s fours in lawn bowls semis

The Indian women’s fours team qualified for the semifinals of the lawn bowls competition after defeating Norfolk Island. The quartet of Lovely Choubey (lead), Pinki (second), Nayanmoni Saikia (third) and Rupa Rani Tirkey (skip) won 17-9 in the quarterfinal. Earlier, the Indian men’s pair of Dinesh Kumar and Sunil Bahadur defeated England to advance to the quarterfinals of the lawn bowls event. Dinesh (skip) and Sunil (lead) won 18-15.

3 cyclists taken to hospital after crash

Three cyclists were taken to hospital after a serious crash during the second heat of the men’s scratch race. The remainder of the morning session was cancelled and spectators were asked to leave the velodrome after Team England’s Matt Walls and Isle of Man’s Matt Bostock were involved in the crash along with several other riders. Walls was catapulted over the barriers and into the crowd at the Lee Valley VeloPark, the 24-year-old receiving treatment for more than 40 minutes before leaving in an ambulance. Spectators were also hurt after Walls and his bike came over the top of the barriers on the high banking at a corner of the track. Agencies