Delhi boy Tejaswin Shankar strikes gold in Commonwealth Youth Games
India ended at fifth position behind South Africa, Australia, England and New Zealand
Apia (Samoa): Delhi boy Tejaswin Shankar produced a record-shattering performance as Indians struck two gold and a silver medal to launch their Commonwealth Youth Games campaign on a rousing note here on Monday.
Tejaswin Shankar of #India competes in the High Jump against an incredible backdrop #SamoaCYG2015 #Athletics pic.twitter.com/G2pq8w7eg2
— Commonwealth Games (@thecgf) September 7, 2015Shankar bagged the gold in boys high jump, while weightlifter Jamjang Deru won the boys 56kg category event before swimmer Supriya Mondal clinched a silver in boys 200m butterfly event on the opening day of the fifth edition of the Games being held at this Pacific island nation of Samoa.
With three medals on Monday, India ended the day one of the Games at fifth position behind South Africa, Australia, England and New Zealand.
A student of Sardar Patel Vidyalaya in Delhi's Lodhi Road, 17-year-old Shankar comfortably sailed over 2.14m to win the boys high jump gold and in the process bettered the Games Record (2.13m) held by another Indian Hari Sankar Roy since 2004 edition at Bendigo, Australia.
He equalled his personal best of 2.14m that he did in Hyderabad in the National Junior Federation Cup last month.
Sri Lanka's Roshan Ranatunge and Jamaican Lashane Wilson took the silver and bronze, respectively after clearing an identical height of 2.11m.
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Considered a promising young talent, Shankar, who stands at six feet and four inches, won a bronze in the inaugural Asian Youth Athletics Championships in Doha in May and a gold medal in the World School Athletics Championships in Wuhan, China in June.
He then finished a creditable eight in the IAAF World Youth Championships in Cali, Colombia in July.
Earlier in the day, India opened their medal account with a gold through 17-year-old Deru, who lifted a total of 237kg with 102kg in snatch and 135kg in clean and jerk to win the boys 56kg category weightlifting event.
"I'm very proud to win a medal for my country. I have been preparing for this for the past two years," Deru said after winning the gold.
Later, swimmer Mondal bagged a silver in boys 200m butterfly event, clocking 2:01.94 to finish second behind Wilrich Coetzee of New Zealand (2:01.85). South African Brendan Levy took the bronze in 2:02.19. India are being represented by 25 athletes in eight disciplines out the nine competed in the CYG.