Monday, August 8, 2022

Avinash Sable: the star of Birmingham Commonwealth Games

Thoroughly enjoyed five hours of sports -- from around 1 pm to 6 pm -- today. 

Indians figured in six events, on the last day of the 22nd Commonwealth Games at Birmingham. We picked up 4 gold, 1 silver and 1 bronze today.

The final tally -- 22 gold, 16 silver and 23 bronze; ranked fourth among 72 participating nations, behind Australia, England and Canada.

Not the best show by any means. We had done a lot better during the 2010 Games which was held in New Delhi, coming 2nd with a total medals tally of 101.

This time, out of India's 61 medals, 12 were in wrestling, 10 in weightlifting, 8 in athletics, 7 in boxing and table tennis, 6 in badminton, 3 in judo, 2 in lawn bowls, hockey and squash, 1 in para powerlifting and hockey.

There were plenty stellar performances during the 11-day games. 

From the India point of view, my choice of the best performance was the silver medal won by Avinash Sable in the 3,000 metre steeplechase event. 

Kenyans had always dominated this. And they were hoping to get gold, silver and bronze medals this time too. 

Sable's win was the first time since 1994 when someone outside Kenya won a medal in this event.

27-year-old Sable was born into a poor farmer's family in Mandwa village of Maharashtra's Beed district. 

After competing the 12th grade, he joined the Indian Army. Today, he is a Junior Commissioned Officer with the Mahar Regiment of the Indian Army.

This 10-minute clip is worth watching:


If the above video is not available, here's a shorter, 2-minute, version of it:
Wating for the closing ceremony of the Games to start.

6 comments:

  1. Oh wow. I have never heard of these. Great showing. Sounds like it was fun to watch.

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  2. Hari OM
    Congrats to all who participated - it was a fine couple of weeks!!! YAM xx

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  3. Congratulations. Unable to watch your video clip because it say "video unavailable".

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  4. Hi Pradeep - we've been getting bombarded with all the success stories from the Aussies at the Games - I'd forgotten that other people would be following their own countrymen and cheering them on - this was a great reminder.

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  5. Hi Pradeep - I thought of you as the Indians popped up on my screen ... I've enjoyed the Games and must get a post up ...also that was one of the races I missed watching unfortunately - though did see 'the end' ... I've thoroughly enjoyed the Games ... and the different cultures in Birmingham and West Midlands have thoroughly enjoyed the participation ... it's been fun. Cheers - I saw some Indian cricket, and hockey I think ... Hilary

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  6. Yes, a great achievement indeed. That he missed gold by a whisker makes it even better.

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