But it's going to take a while yet to determine who gets the gold and the second half of the day has already creeped in, sometime after the 10,576th revolution of McCann's determined legs. So it's time for me to make an exit, and usher in the update ace Ashwin Achal >here , to keep you on target. Until next time, adios.
15:17: Manav pushed down in the rankings by some excellent shooting by Diamond. Manav is currently in third position.
15:05: Sandhu leads the pack, a strong 123/125. Australian M. Diamond close at his heels.
14:59: Men's Trap shooting event about to begin. India's Manavjit Sandhu a strong contender and Mansher Singh starts in fifth position. Here's hoping they rises in the ranks quickly.
14:56: The peloton reaches the half-way mark of the 168 endurance road race
14:51: Indian racer Chandrashekhar looking weak. He seems to have pulled a muscle and slows down, but starts on again. No lack of determination. But endurance is another matter.
14:45: Another cyclist drops out. No. 8, Bridges had to stop because of a leg injury. His foot is bandaged.
14:32: Cyclists make 900 revolutions a minute on average. So by the end of an endurance race like the one in progress in Delhi now, a champion cyclists would have pumped his legs no less than 21,600 times! Even saying that aloud is tiring.
14:32: The Australians back in the peloton, aren't displeased about the early lead their peers have taken. Realistically, it would be really difficult to maintain the pace Northern Irelander David McCann and Kiwis have been using so far. The Aussies would be happy to let them control the peloton for another three rounds, even.
14:26: Back to cycling. The leaders haven't changed much since the first kilometre. Northern Ireland back in the lead, New Zealand close behind.
14:18: The Nigerian unable to stabilise. Jai Bhagwan wins by points with a resounding 10-0.
14:13: The second round proves tougher, but Bhagwan notches up another point. He leads 6-0.
14:08: Four points to nil in the first round. Excellent technique from Bhagwan. One more point in the first round. Bhagwan leads 5-0 in the first round.
14:05: Another Indian boxer Jai Bhagwan in the ring now, against a Nigerian boxer. He started with a defensive technique and took quick counter punches to score a quick three points.
13:59: A little over one minute in the final round, Akhil scores another point, the Mauritian scores a counter punch. Very little time left, trailing by 2 points. Julie scores again. Is it over for Akhil? Yes, it is. Akhil notches one more point, but Julie wins 7-5.
13:57: Round three, Akhil trailing 2-3. Julie proves determined, matches Akhil's rapidfire punches with an impregnable defence. The Mauritian scores again, and again. It's 3-5 now.
13:54: Oh, some drama here. Akhil tries to psych his opponent, force him to make a mistake, but the Mauritian responds in kind, does a little jiggle with his arms, taunting Akhil. Both boxers are cautioned, asked to get on with the fight.
13:51: The boxers score one hit each, still sizing each other up. The Mauritian managed to make contact more than once, but the punches lacked force and he couldn't clock up the points. Akhil doesn't look very comfortable.
13:47: India's Akhil Kumar comes in for the bantamweight boxing match. He will fight Mauritius' Louis Julie. Akhil in red, Julie in blue.
13:45: And there's Mark Cavendish, Tour de France champion, the fastest sprinter in the world. Remember, the Australian women too held back until the end, when they closed the race in a sudden bust of speed.
13:40: The kiwi men clearly in the lead at this stage in the cycle road race. But there's still 10 more laps to go. But how the Delhi heat treats these men remains to be seen.The New Zealand women couldn't sustain their tempo and let Australia surge ahead a crucial stage.
13:34: And England beat South Africa 2-1 in their hockey encounter, to secure a place in teh semi-finals. The English women are already through to the semis.
13:24: The men's peloton certainly an entirely different race compared to the women's. Nowhere near the end of the race, the six leaders are already way ahead of the rest of the pack.
13:15: It's now the men's turn to test their endurance on the road. The cycling event is under way, and New Zealand and Norther Ireland are taking turns at the front of 133 riders.
13:10: A flurry of boxing bouts today to watch out for. Amandeep and Suranjay made it to the finals in the light flyweight and flyweight categories. >Here's how.
Do keep your eyes peeled for the India-Pakistan hockey match this evening. It's a must win for India and the doorway to the semi-finals.
More complaints about the Indian crowd's unsporting behaviour in the tabel tennis arena. Some pointers from the archery crowd wouldn't go amiss. After some embarrassment, Indian archery fans were on their best behaviour today, staying silent as the guests shot.
12:55: A table tennis mixed doubles event in progress, India against Ghana. India have won two gaems, Ghana trailing 6-8 in the third. And India wins the match, they're through in this knockout round, 11-4, 11-8, 11-7.
12:50: Back after a not-so-quick bite. But here's what's been happening. England battle South Africa on the hockey pitch. England leads with one goal.
12:22: A men's singles badminton match in progress, Chetan Anand leading against a spirited Nigerian. A great rally, but Chetan finishes on top. Chetan has the first set and leads 18-6 in the second. And wins the match. An unforced error tipped it over.
12:18: The last shot is fired, and Singapre takes Gold, Malaysia silver and bronze. Jasmine Wei's score is a new Games record. 501.7 in the final round.
12:12: Singapore's Jasmine Wei has scored over 10 on 7 consecutive shots. Suma Shirur scores a 10.9, the maximum permissible score. A valiant effort, but she's still in fourth place.
12:08: Four competition shots done, Suma shoots an impressive 10.6, do we have a shot at bronze? A brilliant 10.8 by Kavita Yadav in the fifth shot, but that does little to change her rankings here.
12:03: Singaporean Jasmine shoots an incredible 10.7 in the second comptetition shot. Suma tries gamely with a 10.4 to climb up the rankings. Malaysians Halim and Taibi still very strong in second and third positions.
11:58: Suma Siddharth Shirur, currently fourth in the women's 10m air rifle, shoots for a bette position. India's Kavitha Yadav in sixth place. Singapore in the lead.
11:54: Some badminton action now. India's Kashyap takes on Jamaican Pyne. Kashyap won the first game, close to wrapping up the second at 19-10. The Jamaican fights with a strong smash, and Kashyam makes an unforced error. But Kashyap takes the match 21-5, 21-12.
Perfect timing, great strategy from the Australians. Protected until the the very last rush, Gilmore erupted from the paloton to take Gold.
11:50: The peloton heads for the finish line...and the Australians take Gold and England Silver! Rochelle Gilmore claims Gold.
11:47:Another Gold for India, in shooting. Harpreet Singh wins the 25m Center Fire Pistol men's event. On Saturday, Vijay Kumar and Harpreet Singh won the centre fire pistol pairs event with a 19-point margin over New Zealand.
11:44: England's Emma Pooley moves ahead, setting up position for her teammate. But again, it's a New Zealander in the lead, Australian right behind, South African trailing them.
11:40: The cyclists have crossed Connaught Place for the last time, New Zealand still leading, upping the tempo near the 105km mark
11:31: The final lap now, of the women's cycilng road race. Two hours, 29 minutes, they've done 98 km. Pace has just slowed, but it's the calm before the storm.
11:26: Back to the mat, Anuj Choudhary through to the finals of the 84kg freestyle wrestling against Nigeria's Dick.
Watch out for Olympic champion Nicole Cook and Aissie sprinter Gilmore, both lying low in the paloton, letting their teammates fend off attacks.
11:22: New Zealand's Cheatley takes a crack at front spot. Analysts say the New Zealanders lack sprinters and must try and surge ahead before the last leg.
11:12: Villeunson of New Zealand right at the front of the cycle paloton. Another 22 km to go, one of the Canadians, Errin Willock attacks, and surges ahead. Just a lap and a half left.
But a little more about that Sushil Kumar Jarjou bout. A Commonwealth Record without doubt. It was simply unbelievable. Perfect example of the level of readiness a prime wrestler has to be in from the very first second of the bout.
11:12: India's Anil Kumar, however, unable to continue the wrestling winning streak. Pakistan's Hussain beat Anil in the 55kg freestyle category.
Deepika is a prodigy in archery. She's been training for barely three years now at the Archery Academy
11:06: The victory ceremony for the women's singles archery event in progress. Deepika Kumari takes Gold and Dola Banerjee bronze. England's Williamson takes silver.
One of the shortest ever wrestling bouts! Champion stuff by the Indian wrestler. Sushil will fight Heinrich Barnes, who just beat Englishman Roberts.
10:59: And it's over. Less than 5 seconds, and Sushil Kumar pins Jarjou down, wins the first semi-final match!
10:58: The men's 66kg freestyle wrestling semifinal bout. Sushil Kumar eager for the bout, he's already on the mat even as volunteers prepare it. Zambia's Jarjou enters.
10:55: Perfect finish! 16-year old Deepika scores a trio of 10 for the Commonwealth Gold Medal
10:54: Deepika begins the third set, a decider, with a 10 against Williamson's 9. Oh, England scores only a 7 ni the second shot. And Deepika scores another 10.
10:51: The archers get 20 seconds per shot. Englan's archer takes her time, but shoots an 8. Deepika pips her with a 9. Excellent shooting by Deepika. Williamson loses focus in her third shot, Deepika scores a 10. The second set is Deepika's.
10:49: The recurve Gold medal match in progress. Deepika takes the first set against Williamson. Thanks to a good beginning, her third shot of 8 was just enough to edge forward in the first set.
10:45: Diju Jwala versus Jamaica in a mixed doubles event. The Indian pair take the first set, lead comfortably in the second, and win with a smash. A clean 21-13, 21-8 victory. Through to the quarter-final.
10:44: And on the archery range, Dola Banerjee has just won the bronze medal in the women's recurve event.
10:42: India's Joginder through to the finals in the men's super heavyweight wrestling bout.
10:39: India's Joginder wrestles Australia's Denis Roberts in the men's super heavyweight semifinal event. He's taken the first round. Joginder pushes Denis out of the ring, scores a point in teh second round.
10:30: After losing to Williamson, Dola Banerjee shoots with Anbarasi for bronze. The Srilankan took the first set, and Dola has just won the second. Some stiff winds have bothered the archers this morning.
10:30: It's been an hour and a half at the women's road race cycling. Many dropouts, a couple of crashes. The peloton has just settled to a top cruise speed. The New Zealanders trying to split the racers.
It's now up to Deepika. Can she beat Williamson in the final? Well, she thinks so. >Here's what she told us yesterday.
10:26: Williamson shoots a ten on her third shot and England wins the second semifinal in teh women's recurve.
10:24: Dola Banerjee trailing behind by three points in the semi-final of the women's recurve event. She's lost one set, she needs this third set. A good beginning, 10 and 9. England's Wilson trailing now, in this set. Dola's third shot off the mark, 7 points.
10:22: India beat Nigeria comfortably 21-8, 21-10 in this encounter. Through to the next round.
10:20: World champion Sushil Kumar through to the semifinals of the 66kg freestyle wrestling.
10:18: Wrestling. Champion Sushil Kumar grapples with Pakistani Mohd Salman in the quarterfinal 66kg men's event. He's just won the first round with a huge 7-0 lead. Up by 2-0 in the second round. Some superior technique here.
10:16: India's Aparna and Thomas thrashing Nigeria in a mixed doubles badminton match. They're up 8 points in the second game
10:10: And Deepika takes the first semifinal against Sri Lankan Anbarasi 7-1.
10:05: Deepa Kumari on a song at women's recurve. It's the fourth set now, and she's level with the Sri Lankan archer.
09:51: Aquatics, diving contests in progress. India's Hari Prasad and Ravi Kumar 10th and 11th respectively at the 1 metre springboard diving contest.
09:51: The third round goes to India. And Dola Banerjee wins the women's recurve singles quarter finals against England.
09:48: Round two goes to India as well, 27 to England's 23.
09:42: The third shot turns the tide! England off the mark, scores a 5, and India scores a 10. This round comes home.
09:42: India takes on England in the recurve quarterfinal. Oh, and a great start for England, 10 on the first two shots. India started with an 8, inched up to a 9.
09:36: And bad news for India. Two riders have pulled out, number 23 and number 27.
09:34: Oh, Mason of Wales just crashed. Nasty scratch on the elbow, a blow to the Welsh, but she's back in the race soon enough. She took time to pick up a water bottle, though, not willing to risk goign without it.
09:17: The 30-minte mark. Suoth Africa's C.Taylor on the attack. She just pumped up the pace and raced ahead. On cue, the Australians push on.
09:17: The crash might have shaken the players, who all seem to be moving along at a cruise, no real power yet.
09:17: News just in of a crash somewhere in the back of the pack. There's already been a crash before the race - a Scotland racer took a tumble, but after some quick repairs to her cycle, she began teh race, with bruised knees and elbows.
09:13: Rajeev Chowk now. An excellent aerial view of the cyclists in Connaught Place. Incidentally, the aerial view would have been impossible, because the Games Federation had security concerns against letting choppers in a no-fly zone. But that was sorted out soon enough. >Here's how that panned out.
08:56: The cycilsts have just passed the India Gate, and are headgin towards Parliament. This circuit is in the central part of Delhi and the cyclists will cross more than one landmark. I doubt they'll want to take time and admire the view, though.
08:56: Right at the head of the pack are the English, Scots and Australians.
08:56: It's a perfect start for a day of a road racing - 25 degrees centigrate, 73% humidity. The gun goes off, and the women are off. The contenders will do eight circuits and will cover a total of 112km in the duration of the race.
08:56: But well before the archers take their positions, 59 contenders from 16 countries will pedal away on the 110km cycling women's road race. Six entrants from India, in the 22-27 positions, but crowd support might edge them up in the list.
08:53: Coming up in a few minutes is the individual women's recurve event. And Jharkhand's Deepika Kumari is determined to hit the target. She's our >champion archer .
But there's so much more to look forward to today. No less than 32 Gold medals to be won, and India is rubbing its hands at the thought of those freestyle wrestling and shooting events, as well as the singles recurve events.
Good morning folks! Welcome to the seventh day of live coverage of the 19th Commonwealth Games. I'm Anand Venkateswaran and I'm glad to be back. If you missed the action yesterday, you can find it all >here and >here .
India had a good day yesterday, four Golds, two in wrestling and two in shooting, without doubt our niches in the international sporting arena. Yogeshwar Dutt steamrolled his opponent in the 50kg wrestling category and Narsingh Yadav bagged the 74kg Gold. >Here's how they wrestled for their medals.
As for the shooters, narang shot himself a fourth Gold in the games at the 50m air rifle 3 position event. And Vijay Kumar and Harpreet were unbeatable in the 25m air pistol men's pairs event. >Here's the shooters' story.
Monika Devi picked up a > bronze for India in the 75kg weightlifting category. Kudos to her for making a mark in an otherwise tough event for India.
But there have been disappointments as well. Most significant was >Sania's loss to Rodionova. Sania lost the firs set, made a comeback in the second, and after saving four match points, fell to the Australian's attack.
