Parupalli Kashyap broke a 32-year jinx to claim the men’s singles badminton gold, while the women’s doubles pair of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa as also the men’s hockey team clinched silvers to cap an creditable Indian showing at the 20th Commonwealth Games which closed om Sunday.
However, off the pitch, the arrest of two senior sports officials on separate charges of drunken driving and sexual assault came as a major embarrassment for the nation, which was earlier in the competition left red faced when a para powerlifter had to be pulled out of the Games and sent back home for failing an out—of—competition drug test conducted in June.
The incidents took some of the sheen off the impressive 64 medal haul — 15 gold, 30 silver and 19 bronze — that ensured a fifth place finish in the leaderboard for India after England, Australia, Canada and hosts Scotland.
It was India’s third best showing in the Commonwealth Games after the 100 plus bounty at home in Delhi four years back and the 69 medals they picked up at Manchester in 2002.
