It was smooth sailing for Sourav Ghosal and Dipika Pallikal in the mixed doubles event in squash at the Oxenford studio court.
Drawn in Pool C of the event, the Indian pair was hardly stretched, winning both matches of the day to make it to the pre-quarterfinals.
In the morning, the duo was on court for hardly 13 minutes before overcoming Jason Roy Kallil and Mary Fung-A-Fat (Guyana) 11-8, 11-7 and then returned in the afternoon for another easy essay. Pitted against the Pakistani pair of Tayyab Aslam and Madina Zafar, the Indians won 11-2, 11-3.
Harinder Singh Sandhu and Joshna Chinappa also coasted to an easy win in Pool H, accounting for the Cayman Islands’ Jacob Kellly and Caroline Laing 11-3, 11-6.
In badminton, the mixed doubles pair of Satwik Rankireddy and Ashwini Ponnappa were the only Indians on view. The duo, which had played such a crucial role in the country’s maiden gold medal triumph in the mixed team event, expectedly was hardly challenged by Stuart Hardy and Chloe Le Tissier (Guernsey), winning 21-9, 21-5 and getting to the second round.
At the Optus aquatics centre, Sajan Prakash, the lone Indian to figure on the concluding day of the competitions in swimming, finished seventh in the men’s 1500m freestyle final, clocking 15:52.84.
