NEW DELHI, Oct 10, 2010 (AFP) - India finally lifted the Commonwealth Games gloom on Sunday as a wave of patriotic emotion super-charged their gold medal count and sparked a seven-goal rout of bitter hockey rivals Pakistan.
After a week of depressing tales of corruption, botched organisation and embarrassing blunders, the country's athletes clicked into gear.
Somdev Devvarman clinched men's tennis gold, 800 metre runner Tintu Luka brought the house down at the track with a blistering qualifying run while a 19,000 crowd roared India to a 7-3 win over Pakistan and a place in the hockey semi-finals.
The hosts also won more gold in shooting and wrestling with national poster boy Sushil Kumar, a rare world champion in the country, cruising to 66kg gold.
By the end of the day, India had won 29 gold to England's 26, striking a crucial blow in their cat-and-mouse duel to finish runners-up to Australia.
At a jam-packed Major Dhyan Chand stadium, and with members of the country's political elite looking on, Sandeep Singh starred as India trounced Pakistan to storm into the semi-finals of the hockey in a do-or-die encounter.
Faced with the prospect of elimination before the knock-out rounds, India responded in style to set-up a last four showdown against England with world champions Australia set to face New Zealand.
"All credit to the crowd," said India coach Jose Brasa. "Their support was tremendous, something I have never seen before in any match."
Devvarman became the first Commonwealth Games men's tennis champion cruising to a 6-4, 6-2 win over Greg Jones of Australia.
The top seed's win had local fans on their feet, 24 hours after the despair of seeing glamour girl Sania Mirza lose the women's final.
"A gold medal is tough to come by. I'm happy I got mine. I've worked really hard," Devvarman said.
Out at a packed Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, where the Games' ticketing woes are slowly being addressed, Tintu Luka won the the third semi-final of the 800m, bringing over 50,000 people to their feet in expectation of a rare track gold in Monday's final.
Pakistan gained a measure of revenge for their hockey humbling when they claimed their first Commonwealth Games wrestling titles for 40 years, winning two golds through Azhar Hussain in the 55kg and Muhammad Inam in the 84kg.
Sushil Kumar still sent the Indian crowd home happy when he defeated South African Heinrich Barnes 7-0 in the 66kg final to add Commonwealth gold to his world title.
"You have no idea with all the expectations riding on me and competing in my home country and winning gold - it is the best feeling I ever had," he said.
However, not all the Games' problems have disappeared.
Australia clinched both cycling road race golds, but an eerily quiet Delhi resembled a ghost town as the organisers' hair-trigger security concerns kept spectators away.
Rochelle Gilmore and Allan Davis triumphed on a course which should have shown off this teeming city of almost 18 million people at its best.
But with TV helicopters relaying majestic views of the riders who passed iconic Connaught Place, India Gate and Parliament House, Delhi organisers were once again embarrassed by yet another event played out with nobody watching.
Apart from soldiers and police, the riders only had the heat, dirt, wild dogs and monkeys for company.
"There wasn't much atmosphere. The crowd was very bare apart from the armed guards everywhere," said English cyclist Katie Conclough.
"It was a shame to have had this big event and not have many people out there to watch it."
In track and field, England's Leon Baptiste streaked to the men's 200m title as Kenya's Boaz Lalang made the most of David Rudisha's no-show to win the 800m.
Lalang led a Kenyan cleansweep of the event - the first for 56 years.
Wales won their first gold in Delhi with European champion Dai Greene taking the 400m hurdles.
Nigeria's Muizat Odumosu took the women's crown but the 200m final failed to go ahead due to a protest from the semi-finals held earlier in the evening.
In weightlifting, Samoa's Niusila Opeloge gave his family and country their second gold of the day when he clinched the 105kg heavyweight title.
Earlier, sister Ele Opeloge won the women's +75kg super-heavyweight title.
Her victory followed Faavae Faauliuli's triumph in the men's 94kg on Saturday which was Samoa's first ever Commonwealth Games gold medal.
