Boxer Sachin Siwach and the women’s lawn bowls pairing of Rupa Rani Tirkey and Pinki Singh were the stars of the show for India on Day 3 of the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow on Saturday, July 25. Sachin overcame a stern test to make it to the men’s 60kg class pre-quarterfinals, while the Indian women’s lawn bowls duo made it three wins out of three to continue their golden run.
However, it wasn’t a great day in the office for Putul Sonowal as he suffered his first defeat of the event on Saturday. Indian swimmers Dhakshan Shashikumar and Aryan Nehra endured a rough outing in the men’s 400m freestyle. There was disappointment in the wheelchair women’s 3×3 basketball competition.
INDIA AT COMMONWEALTH GAMES 2026, DAY 3: HIGHLIGHTS
SACHIN KEEPS MEDAL HOPES ALIVE
Sachin advanced to the Round of 16 after overcoming Canada’s Al-Ahmadieh by a 4-1 split decision in a closely fought opening bout.
The Indian pugilist made the brighter start, impressing the judges by claiming four of the five scorecards in the opening round. He followed it up with another strong display in the second, putting himself firmly in control heading into the final three minutes.
Al-Ahmadieh mounted a spirited comeback in the last round, but Sachin’s early dominance proved enough to secure the verdict and keep his campaign on track.
“It was a tough bout but I had beaten him twice before so I was pretty confident,” Sachin told PTI.
“It was important for me to defeat him today because it was at the Commonwealth Games.”
The Indian will now face England’s William Hewitt in the pre-quarterfinals, with a place in the last eight up for grabs.
RUPA-PINKI MAINTAIN DREAM RUN
Rupa Rani Tirkey and Pinki Singh maintained their unbeaten run in the women’s pairs competition, overcoming a determined Tonga challenge in a tie-breaker to register their third successive win in Section B of the Commonwealth Games.
The Indian duo recovered from an early deficit to take the opening set 5-2 before Tonga’s Paris Baker and Milika Nathan hit back strongly, racing to a 6-0 lead and eventually clinching the second set 6-4 to force the decider.
With the match on the line, Rupa and Pinki kept their composure in the tie-breaker, producing a clutch performance to seal the victory and strengthen their push for a place in the semifinals.
SONOWAL’S BAD DAY AT THE OFFICE
India’s flawless run in lawn bowls at the Commonwealth Games 2026 ended on Saturday after Asian champion Putul Sonowal was beaten in straight sets by Malaysia’s Izzat Shameer Dzulkeple in the men’s singles competition.
Competing in his third Section D match at the Kelvingrove Lawn Bowls Centre, Sonowal went down 4-8, 8-9 against the unbeaten Malaysian. The defeat not only handed the Indian his first loss of the campaign but also brought an end to India’s unbeaten record in lawn bowls across all events at the Games.
After pulling off dramatic comeback wins in his opening two matches, including tie-break victories over world champion Ryan Bester and Falkland Islands’ Cecil Alexander, Putul Sonowal was unable to repeat the feat against the composed Dzulkeple.
The Malaysian seized control early to take the opening set 8-4 despite Sonowal briefly cutting the deficit to 4-3. The Indian fought back again in the second set after falling 0-3 behind, even taking a tactical timeout before producing a clutch shot to close the gap to 8-9. But Dzulkeple held his nerve with his final delivery to complete a straight-sets victory.
The defeat leaves Sonowal with a 2-1 record in Section D, while Dzulkeple remains unbeaten at the top of the standings. With only the group winner progressing directly to the semifinals, the Indian must now win his remaining matches convincingly and hope other results go in his favour to stay in medal contention.
SWIMMERS’ STRUGGLES CONTINUE
India’s challenge in the men’s 400m freestyle ended in the heats as Dhakshan Shashikumar and Aryan Nehra missed out on places in the final at the Tollcross Swimming Centre.
Shashikumar was the better-placed of the two Indians, finishing 15th overall in a field of 27 swimmers with a time of 3:58.09. Nehra followed closely behind in 16th after stopping the clock at 4:00.26.
Racing in Heat 3, Shashikumar stayed in contention during the opening half but was unable to maintain the required pace over the closing laps. Nehra, meanwhile, competed in Heat 4 and finished at the back of his field after trailing for much of the race.
INDIA BEATEN BY WALES IN WOMEN’S WHEELCHAIR 3X3 BASKETBALL
India’s women’s wheelchair 3×3 basketball team suffered a heavy defeat in its Group B encounter, going down 16-1 to Wales in a one-sided contest.
Wales controlled proceedings from the outset, dominating both ends of the court and limiting India to just a single point. The Indian side found scoring opportunities hard to come by, converting only one of its 12 attempts during the match.
India will now aim to regroup and secure positive results in its remaining group-stage fixtures to keep its hopes of progressing alive.
GYMNASTS SHOW PROMISE
India’s women gymnasts showed a lot of grit and determination, but ultimately missed out on a medal during the artistic gymnastics team final on Saturday.
Eshitaa Rewale, Prothishta Samanta, Pranati Nayak and Nishika Agarwal showed that India is on the rise in the world of gymnastics. Prothishta found herself a place in the vault final, after a brilliant perfomance that saw her get a score 13.025.
India started off well in the vault round with all four gymnasts performing and putting up a score of 36.650. But it was in the uneven bars round where they faltered a bit, scoring 27.4.
A bit of recovery work was done in the third rotation as they scored 29.1 on the balance beam. But in the final round on the free exercise, Nishika’s routine faltered a bit towards the end and she could only get 8.75.
This gave Wales and Singapore a chance to move ahead, which they utilised.
– Ends
