Commonwealth Games are slated to begin from July 28 with 215 Indian athletes participating across various games. The Indian contingent is quite strong but, will the Indian team cross the 100-medal mark this time?
In 2010, Commonwealth Games (CWG) were held in India (New Delhi) and taking the home advantage, India achieved the 100-medal mark. Twelve years since then, there have been a lot of advancements and improvements in Indian athletes’ training and performances but collectively the Indian athletes’ show has not touched the height that was expected after the New Delhi CWG.
In Glasgow 2014, India bagged 64 medals and achieved 5th rank with 15 gold, 30 silver and 19 bronze. In the last Commonwealth Games 2018, held in Gold Coast, Australia, India secured 3rd position with a total of 66 medals which included 26 gold, 20 silver and 20 bronze.
In Birmingham CWG, there a lot of hopes from more than 215 Indian players that have qualified for the prestigious quadrennial event.
This time, the CWG has removed shooting events, one of the most medal winning prospects for India; hence medal tally might not touch the 100-mark. It is also more likely that the number of medals not even touch the last edition’s mark because Indian shooters have always showcased good performances in the Game.
However, with the question of 100-medal mark hanging in uncertainty, here is a list of players that could be prospective medal winners in the Birmingham CWG, scheduled to start from July 28.
Athletics
Undoubtedly, one name tops the chart in this category – Indian ace Javelin thrower and Olympic gold medallist – Neeraj Chopra. He will be India’s best bet to win a gold medal. He has been performing well throughout this year and has also be phenomenal in the World Athletics Championships. He has also registered a new national record on two different occasions. Thus, Neeraj would look to cross the much-coveted 90m mark in CWG 2022.
India has named a 37-member athletics squad for the Birmingham Commonwealth Games including Chopra, Dutee Chand and Hima Das.
Avinash Sable – men’s 3000m steeplechase
Nitender Rawat – men’s marathon
M Sreeshankar – men’s long Jump
Muhammed Anees Yahiya – men’s long Jump
Abdulla Aboobacker – men’s triple jump
Praveen Chithravel – men’s triple jump
Eldhose Paul – men’s triple jump
Neeraj Chopra – men’s javelin throw
DP Manu – men’s javelin throw
Rohit Yadav – men’s javelin throw
Sandeep Kumar – men’s 10km race walk
Amit Khatri – men’s 10km race walk
Tejaswin Shankar – men’s high jump
Amoj Jacob – men’s 4x400m relay
Noah Nirmal Tom – men’s 4x400m relay
Muhammed Ajmal – men’s 4x400m relay
Naganathan Pandi – men’s 4x400m relay
Rajesh Ramesh – men’s 4x400m relay
Jyothi Yarraji – women’s 100m hurdles
Aishwarya B – women’s long jump and triple jump
Ancy Sojan – women’s long jump
Manpreet Kaur – women’s shot put
Navjeet Kaur Dhilllon – women’s discus throw
Seema Punia – women’s discus throw
Annu Rani – women’s javelin throw
Shilpa Rani – women’s javelin throw
Manju Bala Singh – women’s hammer throw
Sarita Romit Singh – women’s hammer throw
Bhawna Jat – women’s 10km race walk
Priyanka Goswami – women’s 10km race walk
Hima Das – women’s 4x100m relay
Dutee Chand – women’s 4x100m relay
Srabani Nanda – women’s 4x100m relay
MV Jilna – women’s 4x100m relay
NS Simi – women’s 4x100m relay
Unfortunately, shot-putter Tajinder Pal Singh has been dropped from this list as he has picked up an injury ahead of the tournament.
FULL COVERAGE | Commonwealth Games 2022
Badminton
India’s eyeing to win at least four gold medals in this category. The biggest hope is two-time Olympics medallist PV Sindhu. The ace shuttler recently won Singapore Open 2022 title and her performance throughout the tournament was quite impressive.
Apart from her, Lakshya Sen and Kidambi Srikanth, Satwik Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty are also in great form. They are also India’s probables to win a gold medal. The ten-member badminton squad looks promising at the medal front.
PV Sindhu (women’s)
Aakarshi Kashyap (women’s)
Treesa Jolly (women’s)
Gayatri Gopichand (women’s)
Ashwini Ponappa (women’s)
Lakshya Sen (men’s)
Kidambi Srikanth (men’s)
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy (men’s)
Chirag Shetty (men’s)
B Sumeeth Reddy (men’s)
Boxing
Nikhat Zareen, the reigning world champion, will be leading the strong boxing contingent from the front. The young pugilist from Telangana is heading to the Commonwealth Games to compete in the 50kg category.
Along with Nikhat, World Championships’ silver medalist Amit Panghal, Olympic bronze medallist Lovlina Borgohain, Asian championship gold medal winner Sanjeet Kumar are gold medal prospects for India. Also, Shiva Thapa and
Mary Kom couldn’t qualify for the CWG Games as she suffered an injury during the trials. However, India’s boxing contingent looks well in-shape for the upcoming tournament.
Amit Panghal – men’s 51kg
Mohammad Hussamuddin – men’s 57kg
Shiva Thapa – men’s 63.5kg
Rohit Tokas – men’s 67kg
Sumit Kundu – men’s 75kg
Ashish Kumar Chaudhary – men’s 80kg
Sanjeet Kumar – men’s 92kg
Sagar – men’s 92+kg
Nitu Ganghas – women’s 48kg
Nikhat Zareen – women’s 50kg
Jaismine Lamboria – women’s 60kg
Lovlina Borgohain – women’s 70kg
Table Tennis
In 2018 edition, the Men’s team, Women’s team and Manika Batra in Women’s singles created history by winning a gold medal each in Table Tennis.
This year as well, India have the best chance at winning both men’s and women’s team gold. Batra in women’s singles and Sathiyan Ganasekaran or Sharath Kamal in men’s singles can also win individual gold.
Sharath Kamal – men’s events
Sathiyan Gnanasekaran – men’s events
Sanil Shetty – men’s events
Harmeet Desai – men’s events
Manika Batra – women’s events
Diya Chitale – women’s events
Sreeja Akula – women’s events
Reeth Rishya – women’s events
Weightlifting
India’s medal hopes in this category are quite high with Olympic silver medallist Saikhom Mirabai Chanu leading from the front. World Championships 2021 gold medal winner, Bindyarani Devi and World Championships ninth rank holder Gururaja Poojary can surprise the world with their performances. Punam Yadav, a gold winner from CWG 2018 in the 76 kg category, is also a gold medal prospect this time.
India’s 12-member weightlifting contingent was the first one to be finalised for the tournament.
Mirabai Chanu – women’s 49kg
Bindyarani Devi – women’s 55kg
Popy Hazarika – women’s 59kg
Harjinder Kaur – women’s 71kg
Punam Yadav – women’s 76kg
Usha Kumara – women’s 87kg
Purnima Pandey – women’s +87kg
Sanket Mahadev – men’s 55kg
Gururaja – men’s 61kg
Jeremy Lalrinnunga – men’s 67kg
Achinta Sheuli – men’s 73kg
Ajay Singh – men’s 81kg
Vikas Thakur – men’s 96kg
Lovepreet Singh – men’s 109kg
Gurdeep Singh – men’s +109kg
Wrestling
Tokyo Olympics medal winners Ravi Kumar Dahiya and Bajrang Poonia are major gold medal hopes for India in wrestling category. However, Deepak Punia, Vinesh Phogat alongside Olympic bronze medallists from Rio Games, Sakshi Malik and 2021 Asian Championships gold medallist Divya Kakran are also prominent medal hopes for India.
Pooja Gehlot – women’s 50kg
Vinesh Phogat – women’s 53kg
Anshu Malik – women’s 57kg
Sakshi Malik – women’s 62kg
Divya Kakran – women’s 68kg
Pooja Sihag – women’s 76kg
Ravi Kumar Dahiya – men’s 57kg
Bajrang Punia – men’s 65kg
Naveen – men’s 74kg
Deepak Punia – men’s 86kg
Deepak – men’s 97kg
Mohit Grewal (125kg)
Cricket
The CWG has added cricket for the second time. First, in 1998 at Kuala Lumpur the Games included men’s 50-over tournament but in Birmingham 2022, the world will witness women’s T20 format.
It will be an-eight team affair including the hosts, England, Australia, New Zealand, India, Pakistan, South Africa, Barbados and Sri Lanka.
India have very high chances to win a medal in this category along with definitive medals in hockey and squash.
Read all the Latest News and Breaking News here
Comments
0 comment