India beat Pakistan 7-4, to meet England in semifinal

India crushed Pakistan 7-4 to storm into the semifinals of the men's hockey competition at the 19th Commonwealth Games here Sunday.

India finished second behind Australia in Pool A with nine points and take on Pool B toppers England in the semifinal here Tuesday. Australia face New Zealand in the other semifinal.

Earlier, Australia romped to their fourth win by soundly thrashing Malaysia 7-0 while England overcame South Africa 2-1 and Canada came within two minutes of making the semi-final grade, but eventually drew 1-1 with New Zealand.

Indeed, India put on a dazzling display befitting royalty and in the presence of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi as they ran circles around Pakistan, who were done in by the aggression, slick passing and clinical finish of the home team.

Penalty corner specialist Sandeep Singh started the Indian party with two conversions first up (2nd, 11th), followed by Shivendra Singh (19th and 59th), Saravanjit Singh (20th), Dhanish Mujataba (40th) and Dharamvir Singh (46th).

On their part, Pakistan showed only flashes of brilliance and their famed fighting spirit to knock in two goals by Muhammad Imran (27th) and Mumahmmad Rizwan (30th) in a space of three minutes. Irfan Muhammad (57th) and Shakeel Abbasi (67th) were the other scorers.

India could not have hoped for a better start than five penalty corners within 11 minutes and Sandeep converted the first and fifth.

The Pakistan defence was at sixes and sevens in the face of the furious Indian onslaughts as virtually every penetration by the home forwards resulted in a penalty corner.

Past the 19th, Sandeep unleashed a brilliant left-to-right diagonal long shot that Shivendra, positioned behind the Pakistani defenders flicked home to put India 3-0 in the lead.

A minute later, Sarvanjit was lying handy to push home a poor clearance from the sixth penalty corner and the packed stands went into frenzied celebrations.

Thus, a 4-0 lead in just 20 minutes was simply unbelievable, but it accurately reflected India's dominance that left the Pakistanis all but shell-shocked.

But not for long as Pakistan earned their second penalty corner in the 26th minute and Rehan Butt's rebound attempt struck Vikram Pillay on the foot leading to a penalty stroke that Imran converted and Pakistan were in the hunt.

Three minutes later Rizwan got a deflection to Irfan's cross hit from the right as Pakistan reduced the leeway.

In the final minute of the half, India received two back-to-back penalty corners, their seventh and eighth, but could not convert. Pakistan protested both the awards while the Indians claimed a penalty stroke off the second, but their pleas were rejected.

Pakistan began the second-half far more confidently and a couple of chances came their way, but were wasted.

It was not long before India got going and Mujtaba banged home a penalty corner rebound in the 40th and Dharamvir pushed home a Shivendra pass and India were up 6-2.

Pakistan pulled one back when Irfan flicked into net from a penalty corner, but India hit back with a stunning counter-attack that saw captain Rajpal Singh finding Shivendra with a through ball and the striker made no mistake with a powerful drive to goal.

With a four-goal cushion, India relaxed just a bit and it allowed Abbasi to streak in from the right and flick past goalkeeper Bharat Chhetri for the final goal of the night.

Somdev wins first Gold for India in tennis

Somdev Devvarman ended India's week-long wait for a gold in tennis by outclassing Australia's Greg Jones 6-4, 6-2 in the men's singles competition of the Commonwealth Games before a deafening home crowd here Sunday.

The 25-year-old Indian also became the first player to win the men's singles gold in Commonwealth Games tennis, which made its debut in this edition. Australia's Matt Ebden won the bronze.

The US-based Somdev went sprawling on the ground after Jones' forehand sailed through on the match point and a packed stadium rose to give him a standing ovation. Cries of 'Somdev' reverberated in the air. The young Indian thanked the adulating crowd by bowing round the court with a namaste during the prize distribution ceremony.

The stakes were high for Somdev and he did it is style after India's gold medal hopes were quashed in the men's doubles with the loss of leading lights Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes in the semifinal, who had to settle for a bronze.

Sania Mirza, despite putting up a brave fight, could not stop Australia's Anastasia Rodionova from clinching the gold in the women's singles. Later Sania, partnering Rushmi Chakravarthi claimed the women's doubles bronze with a 6-4, 6-2 win over compatriots Nirupama Sanjeev and Poojashree Venkatesha here Sunday.

Somdev did not disaapoint the tennis fans.

'I took my chances. I am happy to win a gold for my country. It is a great honour for me to represent my country in international events. I will be happy to do it again,' Somdev said.

'People underestimate how tough it is to get a gold medal. I worked really hard this week. It is one of the best things in my career for sure, to win a gold medal in front of this kind of crowd.'

Jones, 21, was gracious in defeat. 'Somdev is a good player. He serves well. The accumulated pressure didn't let me play well. I don't think I was really that comfortable out there,' he said.

The 97th-ranked Indian made a quiet start and cleverly kept the ball in play as the towering Australian, ranked 234, went for ambitious hitting in trying to be aggressive. The Indian also muffled Jones' strategy to bring him to the net with some delectable passing shots as he dictated from the baseline.

After failing to convert three break points in the fifth game and saving one on his serve immediately, the 25-year-old Indian effected the decisive break in the seventh game. A whipping backhand pass set up the breakpoint and an erratic forehand crosscourt from Jones gifted the break to the Indian, who then served out the set with an easy put away to a deafening roar from the stands.

Jones after stretching for a forehand volley at 15-30 in the first game of the second set felt some discomfort in his knee and called for a trainer. He was soon back only to meet a belligerent Indian, who gave away nothing, and the Australian could do little but go through the motions.

However, serving for the match at 5-0, the nerves got the better of Somdev, and he dropped it.

'When you are serving a match out for your country it is not the easiest thing to do. I got a little bit nervous but I think I did well to hold back and hold serve at 5-2,' he said.

He served out the set in his next service game when Jones smacked a forehand long, exulting amidst a wildly cheering crowd.

Delhi Metro keeps up with Commonwealth Games rush

Notwithstanding the Commonwealth Games rush, Delhi Metro maintained a record punctuality of 99.88 per cent during the first week of the sporting extravaganza making over 2800 trips daily.

Delhi Metro, which provides connectivity to almost all the 11 stadia that host the Games, is running trains at an average frequency of 2.5 minutes starting October 3, when the Commonwealth Games began in the capital.

Though there were delays due to technical glitches during the past one week, Metro trains registered punctuality of 99.98 per cent during the week beginning October 3 and ending October 9.

This means out of the 19656 trips the 180-odd Metro trains made during the past week, only 24 trips were affected, a DMRC spokesman said.

The DMRC usually registers a punctuality rate of over 99 per cent. The organisation regularly conducts punctuality audits every three months.

During the past one week, Metro trains made 2808 trips everyday traversing 58,000 kms, the spokesman said.

The DMRC had also deployed technical experts from South Korea and Germany to ensure that no technical glitch takes place during the Games.

The engineers are stationed at important stations, particularly on the Badarpur line which provides connectivity to the main Games venue of Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium.

Metro also registered additional ridership during the past one week as majority of the people going to stadia opted for the new age transport system to reach the venues.

People, who had bought CWG tickets, can take a free ride on the Metro.

Commonwealth Games medals tally: Day 2

Click here to see Day 1 medals tally.