The Commonwealth Games will begin on the 28th. Like the last edition, this time the Indian sportsmen and women are expected to win medals. Let’s take a closer look at India’s medal winning stars.
The 22nd Commonwealth Games will begin in Birmingham, England. Around 72 Commonwealth nations, including India, will participate in the event. The Games will be held from 28th to 8th August.
Commonwealth Games 2018: In the 21st Commonwealth Games held in Gold Coast, Australia in 2018, India set a record by winning a total of 26 gold medals in different sports categories like athletics, weightlifting, shooting, table tennis, badminton, boxing and wrestling.
In addition, 20 silver and 20 bronze medals were won by Indian men and women. India is expected to win more medals than that this time.
Commonwealth 2022 India: A total of 215 players including 111 male and 104 female players from India are participating in 16 different sports categories. Sports like Athletics, Badminton, Boxing, Cricket, Cycling, Gymnastics, Hockey, Judo, Lawn Bowls, Para Powerlifting, Squash, Swimming, Table Tennis, Triathlon, Weightlifting, Wrestling etc. will be participated in by Indian men and women.
Indian Men’s Hockey Team: The Manpreet Singh-led Indian hockey team has been placed in the ‘B’ division of the Commonwealth Games 2022. England, Canada, Wales and Ghana are in the same category. Hockey has been played in the Commonwealth since 1998. Australia has won gold six times.
The Indian team won silver in the 2010 and 2014 editions of the same Commonwealth Games. Also Manpreet Singh led team won bronze in Tokyo Olympics. Taking all this into account, it is expected that the Indian men’s hockey team will definitely win a medal this time.
Ravi Dahiya: Wrestler Ravi Tahiya surprised everyone by winning silver at the Tokyo Olympics. He had won this medal in men’s 57 kg freestyle category. He competes in the Commonwealth in the same weight category. In wrestling, stars like Bajrang Punia, Deepak Punia, Sakshi Malik, Vinesh Phogat are also likely to win a medal.
Manika Patra: Delhi-based Manika won gold in the women’s singles table tennis category at the last Commonwealth Games. The 27-year-old is expected to retain his title this time around. In the last Olympics, he was amazing, reaching the third round.
Indian Women’s Cricket Team: The cricket matches will be held from 29th to 7th August. Teams from eight nations play in two divisions in cricket matches. The matches are played in T20 format. This is the first time that cricket matches will be played at the Commonwealth Arena.
In this, the Indian team is in the ‘A’ category. Australia, Pakistan and Barbados are in this category. The top two teams from the first round will play in the semi-finals. Smriti Mandhana, vice-captain of the Indian team, said that gold is the goal in this environment. May the Commonwealth be a great series for the Indian team as per his wish.
PV Sindhu: Badminton star PV Sindhu of the Indian team has won Olympic medals in singles twice consecutively in 2016 and 2020. One of the most prominent of India’s medal hopes. Sindhu won the women’s singles title at the recently concluded Singapore Open. He has also won the 2022 Swiss Open singles title.
In Badminton, players like Lakshya Sen and Kidambi Srikanth are also expected to win medals.
Mirabai Chanu: Mirabai Sanu from Manipur had won silver in the 49 kg weight category in the last Olympics in weightlifting. He also won gold at the 2017 World Championships, gold at the 2018 Commonwealth Games and silver at the 2014 Commonwealth Games. Based on that, he is expected to win a medal this time. Participating in the 49 kg category, Meerabai will lift a maximum weight of 207 kg. This is his personal best. It seems that the Nigerian player will be her opponent in the upcoming Commonwealth Games.
Nikat Zareen: 25-year-old Nikath Zareen from Telangana had created a historic record in the World Boxing Championship held last May. In the final of the 52 kg category, Nikath defeated Thailand’s Jutamas Jitpong 5-0. As soon as he won that medal, India was assured of a medal in Commonwealth boxing. Let us hope that he will make it a reality.
Neeraj Chopra: Neeraj Chopra is the number one player expected to win a medal for India. He had won silver in the javelin at the World Athletics Championships, which had just ended a few hours earlier. A golden boy who won gold in the Tokyo Olympics.
Neeraj has won gold in various sports series like Asian Games, Asian Championship, Commonwealth (2018), South Asian Games, World Youth Championship.
Stars India Will Miss: Saina Nehwal (Badminton), Mary Kom (Boxing), Tajinderpal Singh Door (Shot Throw), Thanalakshmi (Athletics), Aishwarya Babu (High Jump), Rani Rampal (Hockey), Kamalpreet Kaur (Discus Throw), Vikas Krishnan (Boxing) , Jaswin (long jump).