By 
The wait for the 2022 Commonwealth Games is finally over as the quadrennial event will commence in Birmingham late on Thursday night with the Opening Ceremony.
In all, India has won 503 medals at the Commonwealth Games including 181 gold, 173 silver and 149 bronze. The most rewarding edition of the Games for India was the 2010 home CWG, where the contingent won a total of 101 medals. The next-best medal tally was 69 medals, at the Manchester Games in 2002.
On Thursday night in Birmingham, the 2022 Games will commence with the Opening Ceremony at the Alexander Stadium. Men’s hockey captain Manpreet Singh alongside shuttler P.V. Sindhu have been named as the flagbearers who will lead the Indian contingent.
A smashing squad for Badminton
P.V. Sindhu, a two-time Olympic medalist, will head India’s badminton team. She won the Singapore Open earlier this month and will kick-start her campaign in Birmingham with women’s mixed team event on 29 July 2022 followed by women’s singles on 3 August 2022.
Lakshya Sen, a rising 20-year-old star and the men’s number ten in the world, has been sidelined by an injury but still has medal chances.
The men’s double Indian duo of Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy will also fancy their chances. The men’s badminton team – India is in good spirits after winning the renowned Thomas Cup, the world team championship, in May.
An encore in Table-Tennis?
It hasn’t been ideal for the paddlers getting ready for the major event with the TTFI going into administration months before the CWG. To make matters worse, some athletes also pounced on the Indian judicial system, accusing it of failing to adhere to the rules put down by the TTFI.
Manika Batra-led table tennis team, which gained attention at Gold Coast and emerged as a star player with two gold medals out of the team’s seven medals. The 27-year-old will begin her campaign at Birmingham with the women’s team event starting on 29 July.
Indian Table Tennis team for CWG 2022
The Indian men’s squad is favourable to win a medal, also features veteran Achanta Sharath Kamal and G Sathiyan, among other higher-ranked names.
The goal for Indian Hockey
The men’s and women’s hockey teams, who tied for fourth place in Gold Coast, will both try to break their medal droughts at the CWG. The Indian men’s hockey team has come a long way and they may strive for more than just a medal when they take on Australia in Birmingham, along with other top opponents like England, New Zealand, Canada, and Pakistan.
Due to an injury, the women’s team will continue to be without its star forward and captain Rani Pampal. Goalkeeper Savita Punia will serve as the team’s captain in her absence.
Indian women’s Hockey Team
Both the teams will begin their campaign at Birmingham against Ghana, with the women playing on 29 July and men on 31 July.
Laying a ‘glove’ on the competition
Lovlina Borgohain, who won the bronze medal in Tokyo, finally got her wish on Wednesday when BFI and SAI complied with her request to include her personal coach Sandhya Gurung in the squad. The national women’s coach Bhaskar Bhatt, who voluntarily volunteered to leave the Games village to accommodate Gurung.
Amidst India’s more than 200-players team, there are still a few medal contenders. India’s boxing team will be missing six-time world champion Mary Kom who was injured during the qualifiers, but Nikhat Zareen will be favourite to win the 50kg division. She recently bagged gold in the 52kg weight class at the global championships.
Contrarily, the men’s squad qualified eight boxers for the CWG, including former world champions Amit Panghal (52 kg) and Shiva Thapa (63.5 kg).
Women’s Cricket makes debut at CWG
India’s women’s cricket team, led by Harmanpreet Kaur, has a chance for a podium finish as women’s T20 makes its Games debut. India is in Group A with Australia, Barbados, and Pakistan.
Raising the spirits for Weightlifting
While the nation is also anticipating podium finishes in weightlifting and wrestling.
The Indian weightlifting team, under the leadership of Mirabai Chanu, will strive to surpass their previous best of five gold medals from the previous competition. Similar to weightlifting, Indian wrestlers are the best in the Commonwealth, winning a whopping 102 medals at the quadrennial competition, including 43 gold.
The men’s team’s national coach, Vijay Sharma, has shown a lot of faith in them and believes they will perform better than the women’s squad. Jeremy Lalrinnunga (67kg), the 2018 Youth Olympic winner, and Achinta Seuli are two noteworthy representatives of the men’s team (73kg).
Gurdeep Singh, who may break India’s category duck, is the first strong representative in the plus category (109kg+).
Pinning down wins for Wrestling
To secure her spot in Birmingham, 2016 Olympic bronze medalist Sakshi Malik had to defeat rising star Sonam Malik at the 62kg CWG trials. She will be joined on the squad by experienced grappler Vinesh Phogat, and it is anticipated that the star-studded Indian team would win medals in most of the freestyle categories.
Like the women’s team, the men’s wrestling squad features two Olympic medalists from Tokyo in Ravi Kumar Dahiya and Bajrang Punia, two heavyweights in Indian wrestling. Deepak Punia, another well-known athlete who narrowly missed earning a medal in Tokyo, will be aiming to win his first gold medal at the CWG.
The champion injured
The last-minute withdrawal of Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra in Athletics has severely hurt India’s aspirations for gold at the Commonwealth Games.
In the absence of Neeraj Chopra, Indian javelin athletes DP Manu and Rohit Yadav to fill up the enormous shoes.
Avinash Sable, a competitor in the 3000m steeplechase, will, on the other hand, have a tough task because he will be facing some of the world’s most promising competitors.
For Indian Athletics though, things don’t look so hopeful but still where there is a will, there is a way.
Beautifully written! Sums up everything!