Saikhom Mirabai Chanu & Sanjita Chanu bring glory to India.

Situated in the Brisbane suburb of Woolloongabba - it's shortened to the Gabba is a famous Cricket ground.  Gabba is a contraction of Woolloongabba, a suburb three kilometres east of the Brisbane central business district and a probable corruption of Wulunkoppa, an Aboriginal name for what was once a swampy parkland. Not even diehards refer to it as  the "Brisbane Cricket Ground",  "The Gabba" has become a precious part of the language of the glorious game - or lingo as Queenslanders are wont to say.

http://www.thecricketmonthly.com/story/1126285/welcome-to-the-fortress

Touring Indians first played a Test way back in Nov 1947 with disastrous results.  Australians won by an innings and 226 runs.  Batting first, Aussies declared at 382/8 with Donald Bradman making 185 and keith Miller 58.  Lala Amarnath took 4/84 while Vinoo Mankad had 3/113.  Indians were bowled out for a lowly 58 in 21.3 overs;          ERH Toshack taking 5/2.  Following on, India fared slightly better yet unable to reach 100 – bowled out for 98.

Forget the past – think of Gold Coast, where it is all happening.   Gold Coast is a coastal city in the Australian state of Queensland, approximately 66 kilometres (41 mi) south-southeast of the state capital Brisbane.  Queensland (abbreviated as Qld) is the second-largest and third-most-populous state in the Commonwealth of Australia. The capital and largest city in the state is Brisbane, Australia's third largest city that houses the Gabba. 

At Gold Coast, Indians too have gold.  Sanjita Chanu struck her second consecutive gold medal on the 2^nd  day of the CWG 2018 at Gold Coast. The Manipuri athlete created a CWG record in Snatch, lifting a total of 84 kg, and then lifted 108 kg on her way to get to a total lift of 192 kg. Sanjita Chanu won the second gold medal for India at the Commonwealth Games 2018, a day after Mirabai Chanu won the gold. She became the third weightlifter for the country to win a medal at Gold Coast. 

By Rob984 - Derived from File:BlankMap-World-Microstates.svg, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=50344792

The 2018 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXI Commonwealth Games is an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth that is currently being held in the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, between 4 and 15 April 2018.The Commonwealth of Nations is an intergovernmental organisation of 53 member states that are mostly former territories of the British Empire. The Commonwealth dates back to the mid-20th century with the decolonisation of the British Empire through increased self-governance of its territories. It was formally constituted by the London Declaration in 1949, which established the member states as "free and equal". The symbol of this free association is Queen Elizabeth II who is the Head of the Commonwealth, and while there are over 31 republics and five monarchies who have a different monarch, the Queen is the ceremonial head of state and reigning constitutional monarch of only 16 members of the Commonwealth, known as Commonwealth realms. The Queen has since ceased to be the head of state or have any formal position in several nations of the commonwealth including India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Singapore.

Saikhom Mirabai Chanu the weightlifter participates in  48 kg category.  Chanu has won the World Championships and multiple medals at the Commonwealth Games. She was awarded the Padma Shri by the Government of India.   Chanu had won the silver medal in the women's 48 kg weight class at the 2014 Commonwealth Games, Glasgow; Chanu went on broke the games record en-route to the gold medal at the 2018 edition of the event held in Gold Coast. On April 5, 2018, the 23-year-old weightlifter from Manipur won a gold medal at Gold Coast Commonwealth Games in 2018. She smashed her way to a new personal record as well as the Games record by breaking six records in six lifts to bag the top prize in the women’s 48kg weightlifting.

Hail Saikhom Mirabai Chanu & Sanjita Chanu for bringing glory to India. Manipur government on Friday announced a cash reward of Rs 15 lakh each for weightlifters Saikhom Mirabai Chanu and Khumukcham Sanjita Chanu on winning gold medals.

With regards – S. Sampathkumar

7^th Apr 2018.