CWG 2022: India looking to make 'surprise' gains despite shooting drought
India gets its Commonwealth Games 2022 campaign underway from Thursday. Despite no shooting, it is looking at medals galore for its contingent.
FollowIndia's top-five standing at the 2022 Commonwealth Games (CWG) will be threatened in the absence of shooting as the Birmingham 2022 organisers look to deliver a successful sporting spectacle following a challenging build-up. The opening ceremony will be held at the Alexander Stadium on Thursday evening, marking the beginning of the sporting carnival that remains huge in scale but fights to remain relevant. The United Kingdom (UK) is hosting the mega event for the third time in the last 20 years, with the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) struggling to attract new bidders from the 56 countries that set up the sporting body. The CGF has 72 members but is made up of 56 nations.
Birmingham, too, was a late entry in bidding for the 2022 edition after South Africa expressed its inability to stage the event back in 2017. "We need to make the Games more affordable and take it to cities which are yet to host them," Ian Reid (Birmingham 2022 CEO) told PTI.
The CWG is the UK's largest and most pricey sporting event since the London Olympics in 2012. It had to deal with the adverse impact of COVID-19 though the budget remains at £778 million to date. That number must come down for the smaller nations interested in bidding for the event.
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India's top-five finish is uncertain this time
While India is yet to become a sporting superpower, the CWG has been a happy hunting ground for the Commonwealth's largest nation. It has been a top-five finisher since the 2002 edition. India has relied heavily on the shooting, which was controversially dropped from the Birmingham Games programme.
In the Gold Coast Games in 2018, shooters won 25% of India's total 66 medals, and the sport contributed seven golds. The big question is, how will India compensate for the absence of shooting? A bagful of medals are expected in weightlifting, badminton, boxing, wrestling and table tennis, but they might not be enough to compensate for the loss caused by the absence of shooting.
Athletics, in which India has won only 28 medals in the event's 72-year-old history, was expected to be a dark horse in this edition. Still, Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra's late pull-out due to injury has become a huge setback. "He was the captain of the athletics team, it will make a huge impact, but the athletes are focused on the job. Shooting's absence will hurt us, but athletics can compensate for that in some by getting 7-8 medals," reckoned World Championship medalist long jumper Anju Bobby George.
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Anju is expecting medals in events like women's javelin and long jump despite a few failed dope tests from the contingent. Sekar Dhanalakshmi, who was to compete in women's 100 metres and 4x100 metres relay, and Aishwarya Babu, who was to feature in the long jump and triple jump, were pulled out of the 36-member team after failing dope tests.
A gold rush, however, is expected in wrestling, with all 12 participants, including defending champions Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia, scheduled for a podium finish. In Gold Coast, the wrestlers tallied 12 medals, including five golds. The weightlifters aggregated nine medals, including five golds, four years ago and are ready to emulate that performance. Olympic silver medallist Mirabai Chanu will lead the field.
The shuttlers, led by superstar PV Sindhu, will expect to win medals in the women's singles, men's singles, men's doubles and mixed team categories. The other stars in the squad happen to be World Championships medallists Kidambi Srikanth and Lakshya Sen.
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Hockey will be among the most widely followed sports from India's point of view, and the players across genders will be looking to make amends for the disappointment of the Gold Coast edition when the team could grab no medals. After a historic high of the Tokyo Olympics last year, Indian men will be out to end Australia's dominance. At the same time, the women, who finished fourth in Toklyo, will back themselves to finish in the top three.
In table tennis, India finished first in the medal tally at Gold Coast with eight medals, with half coming from Manika Batra. It will be tough to match that feat, but at least a couple of gold medals are likely. Indian veteran Sharath Kamal, who would be featuring in his fifth and last CWG, will eye a singles gold, 16 years since he won his first.
The boxers fetched nine medals four years ago and will also contribute to the medals tally. Amit Panghal will be eager to exorcise the ghosts of a disappointing Tokyo Olympics. At the same time, Olympic bronze medallist Lovlina Borgohain will seek redemption after an unimpressive outing at the World Championship.
Reigning world champion Nikhat Zareen's performance will also be noteworthy. Among the non-Olympic sports, squash will look for its maiden medal in the singles category. A couple of gold medals will likely come from mixed and women's doubles.
