Glimpses from Indian party's journey to Commonwealth Games
(Courtesy : SAI Media)
Most of the squads have reached Birmingham for the quadrennial event.
The 2022 Commonwealth Games commences in two days' time as more than 4,000 athletes representing all the 72 Commonwealth nations filter into Birmingham. The sporting competition is organised across 12 days featuring 280 events across 20 sporting disciplines.
The Indian contingent at the Commonwealth Games is set to field 215 athletes (111 men and 104 women) who will participate in 16 events. All the athletes touch down in Birmingham or have been training hard to prepare themselves for the showpiece event that's set to begin on 28th July.
India is currently placed fourth in the all-time Commonwealth Games table with a total of 503 medals. Therefore, the expectation would be on the athletes to improve on their performance last time out in the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia. As the clock ticks down to the opening day, let's see how the different teams and athletes have been preparing for the biggest sporting event of the year.
Badminton
Indian Badminton has been in fine form in the last few months winning plenty of titles. They created history by clinching the Thomas and Uber Cup in May. Add to this PV Sindhu's historic year so far where she has clinched three titles including the BWF Singapore Open Super 500 a few weeks ago.
Therefore, the badminton contingent were in great smiles ahead of leaving for Birmingham from Hyderabad. Badminton has fetched 25 medals (7 gold, 7 silver and 11 bronze) in the Commonwealth Games. This time the expectation would be even higher from the team of 10 representing the nation.
Boxing
Boxing is India's fourth most decorated sport at the Commonwealth Games with a total tally of 37 medals (8 gold, 12 silver and 17 bronze). Therefore, a lot would be expected of the Indian boxers to deliver the victory punch for India. They have also put in a lot of hard work with the team training in Ireland for the last few weeks to acclimatise to the climate in the UK.
Cricket
Cricket is being played in the Commonwealth Games for only the second time after the 1998 edition. But this time it is only contested by women's teams. The previous edition in 1998 featured 16 nations. But this time around, only eight nations would be participating including South Africa who won the gold medal in 1998.
The 15-strong squad will feature in the opening game against the formidable Australian women's team on 29th July. Despite the quality of the competition, the Indian women's cricket team would be expected to bag a medal in the event.
Hockey
The Indian men's hockey team left for Birmingham on July 22. A total of 36 players (18 men and 18 women) will feature in the competition. Both men's and women's teams will start their respective campaigns against Ghana on 31st and 29th July respectively.
India has won a total of 4 medals (1 gold and 3 silver) in the Commonwealth Games. Two of these silver medals came consecutively in the 2010 and 2014 editions. Therefore, both teams will look to push for a gold medal this time.
Squash
India has three medals (1 gold, 2 silver) to show for their efforts in the Commonwealth Games. The duo of Joshna Chinappa and Dipika Pallikal won gold in the doubles event at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. This time the squash team consists of nine athletes (five men, four women) including 14-year-old Anahat Singh.
The team left for Birmingham on 24th July and will start their campaign on 29th July.
Swimming
Swimming hasn't been a very successful sport for India with only 1 bronze medal won so far. But there is an expectation that this time, it can change. The seven-man swimming contingent possesses some talented and capable swimmers.
The swimming team have been working hard. Some medal hopefuls will look to end India's trophy drought in the quadrennial event.
Table Tennis
India has received more than 20 medals in table tennis (6 gold, 4 silver and 10 bronze). Among these 20, the team won eight medals in the 2018 Commonwealth Games (3 gold, 2 silver and 3 bronze).
Therefore, table tennis is another sport where the expectation is high. The team of Sharath Kamal, Manika Batra, Sathiyan Gnanasekaran and others possess plenty of medal hopefuls for the country. Manika Batra won the gold medal in the women's singles event at the 2018 Commonwealth Games. Both Indian men and women also won the gold in the respective team competitions.
Other than cricket (women's only event), table tennis is the only sport where the participation of women is more than men in an Indian team. The team left for Birmingham on July 24th. The Indian contingent for table tennis will participate in individual, doubles and team events. The campaign for the paddlers begins on July 29th with the men's and women's team events.
Weightlifting
Weightlifting is India's second most productive sport in the Commonwealth Games. The country has won 125 medals in the discipline (43 gold, 48 silver and 44 bronze).
This time around, 15 athletes will represent India in weightlifting (8 men and 7 women). This includes Saikhom Mirabai Chanu who won the silver medal in the Tokyo Olympics (49 kg). She also won the gold medal in the 48kg event in the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
The weightlifting team being their campaign on 30th July with the 55kg and 61kg events for men and 49kg and 55kg events for women.
Wrestling
Another highly successful sport for India at the Commonwealth Games is wrestling. The wrestlers of India have won 102 medals in this discipline so far, making it the third best sport for India in the Commonwealth Games.
The 12-team contingent of wrestling consists of 6 men and women respectively. A lot of expectations would be placed on Ravi Kumar Dahiya and Bajrang Punia. The duo made history for India by winning the silver medal (67 kg) and bronze medal (65kg) at the Tokyo Olympics. Bajrang Punia also won the gold medal in the men's freestyle 65kg event in the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
12 out of the 66 medals India won in the 2018 Commonwealth Games were from wrestling. Hence, wrestling is naturally a sport where India is expected to win a lot of medals.
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