GOLD COAST: The
Indian Olympic Association
expressed happiness at the strong performance of the country's contingent on the opening day of competitions in the
Commonwealth Games
and said that the medal count will only go up in the coming days.
A record-smashing
Mirabai Chanu and a perseverant
P Gururaja
claimed gold and silver respectively as weightlifters lived up to the pre-event hype and delivered opening day medals for India.
"I want to congratulate Mirabai Chanu and P Gururaja for giving India the medals on the opening day. I am sure the other athletes in the Indian contingent will do their best and win more medals in the coming days,"
IOA
President Narinder Batra said.
IOA Secretary General Rajeev Mehta said: "It is just the beginning in the Games and our athletes are doing very well. We won a gold and a silver today and the medal count will only go up from here."
Indian contingent's Chef-de-Mission Vikram Sisodiya said a "good beginning has been made and the country's medal tally will swell further as the Games progress".
India, one of the powerhouses of the Commonwealth Games, is being represented by 218 athletes this time. The country had won 64 medals (15 gold, 30 silver, 19 bronze) in the 2014 Glasgow CWG.