Vikas Shive Gowda wins silver in men's discus throw

Vikas Shive Gowda won India its third athletics medal as he bagged the silver in men's discus throw in the Commonwealth Games here today.

US-based Gowda, who holds the national record of 64.96m, finished second with a throw of 63.69m, his season's best, in front of a nearly 50,000 spectators on the fifth day of the athletics events at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium here.

Australia's Benn Harradine, the season's leader among Commonwealth discus throwers, clinched gold by clearing a distance of 65.45m, while Carl Myerscough bagged the bronze with an effort of 60.64m.

The weekend crowd, who packed all the stands except for the VIP Granstand at the 60,000 capacity showpiece stadium, cheered the 27-year-old Gowda in all his six attempts. He achieved his silver-winning throw in his second attempt.

Kavita Raut (women's 10,000m race) and Harminder Singh (men's 20km walk race) have already won a bronze each from athletics in this Games.

In the 2006 Melbourne Games too, Indians had won medals in three events -- silver in women's 4X400m relay, silver in women's discus throw by Seema Antil and bronze in men's para sport discus throw by Ranjith Kumar Jayaseelam.