Mouma Das in action in Mebourne on Thursday. (PTI)

Melbourne: Veteran Kunjurani Devi provided early sparks to India’s campaign, clinching the country’s and the 18th Commonwealth Games’ first gold medal, while Vicky Batta bagged a silver on the first day of the competitions here on Thursday.

Both medals came from the weightlifting arena where the 38-year-old Manipuri stole the limelight with a record lift, while Batta also put up a creditable performance to clinch the silver on a mixed day for India.

The women’s hockey team, who won the gold in the last edition in Manchester, suffered a heartbreaking 2-4 defeat to top-ranked Australia in a league match at the State Netball Hockey Centre.

Indian paddlers overcame the first hurdle as both men’s and women’s team cruised into the second round of team championships.

The day, however, belonged to Kunjurani, who had also won the gold at the previous edition in Manchester. Competing in the 48kg category, the Indian lifted an overall 166kg, which included 72kg in snatch and 94kg in clean and jerk. In the process, she also created a new Games record in clean and jerk, bettering her own mark of 92.5kg in the 2002 edition.

An ecstatic Kunjurani said her performance here gave her a reason to aspire for an Olympic medal in 2008. “If I am not faced with injury problems, I will surely compete in China in 2008 Olympic Games,” she said.

Batta won the silver in men’s 56kg, lifting an overall 245kg which included 114kg through snatch and 131kg through clean and jerk.

In table tennis, Indian men quelled the challenge of Kiribati 3-0 in a group D league match, while women’s team defeated Fiji Islands with the same score in a group C encounter.

Soumyadeep Roy took just nine minutes to breeze past Tokannata Ioatene 11-2, 11-6, 11-3 to give India the lead before Achanta Sharath Kamal defeated Allie Johnny 11-2, 11-6, 11-1 and national champion Subhajit Saha registered a 11-3, 11-2, 11-6 victory over Toaaki Taoroba to make it 3-0.

Among women, national champion Mouma Das scored a confident 11-1, 11-3, 11-3 win in nine minutes against Shriti Jeet, a player of Indian origin.

Veteran Poulami Ghatak then defeated Venetia Koi 11-2, 11-4, 11-3 while Nandita Saha won the third match against Qu Rujuan with a 11-8, 11-4, 11-6 scoreline to pocket the first-round match.

In swimming, Rehan Poncha and Arjun Muralidharan failed to qualify, going down in the heats for 200m butterfly.

(PTI)