BIRMINGHAM: The Indian women's cricket team came heartbreakingly close to finally winning an elusive title, but imploded against Australia, world champs in both T20I and ODIs, to lose by 9 runs at Birmingham on Sunday. It was a disappointing end to an otherwise exhilarating day that witnessed three gold medals in boxing, a redemption bronze for the women's hockey team after 16 years of trying, and the unusual sight of three young men almost pulling off an unprecedented clean sweep of medals in the triple jump.
For once, the Indian participants in an athletics event weren't hanging on the margins, hoping for someone in the leader pack to suddenly implode. They were the leader pack, and it felt so disbelievingly different as triple jumpers Eldhose Paul and Abdulla Aboobacker consulted among themselves around the pit, only to be finally separated by a mere 0.01 cm for gold-silver. Praveen Chitravel narrowly missed out on the bronze.
