CWG 2022: 5 top Indian medal contenders | Commonwealth Games 2022 News – Times of India

NEW DELHI: The 22nd edition of the Commonwealth Games begins this Thursday in Birmingham. The sporting action gets underway on Friday. India have established themselves as one of the powerhouses in the quadrennial tournament over the editions with regular top-four finishes since the turn of the 21st century. This time too, the Indian contingent, with more than 200 athletes, will be aiming to carry forward the legacy.
The news of Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra pulling out from the Games came as a shock for India and his fans, with the javelin thrower being a top medal contender for the country. Chopra had just won a historic silver at the 2022 World Athletics Championships, and has broken his personal best/national record twice in the last one month or so.
Despite the setback, there are quite a few athletes in the Indian camp who are considered as big medal contenders in their respective disciplines. TimesofIndia.com here looks at five of the top Indian medal contenders, who are expected to receive laurels for the country at the Games.
PV Sindhu
Sport: Badminton
Event(s): Women’s singles, mixed team
Age: 27 years old
World ranking: 7th (As on July 26, 2022)
Major achievements:
Olympics: Silver (2016 Rio), Bronze (2020 Tokyo)
World Championships: Gold (2019 Basel), Silver (2018 Nanjing, 2017 Glasgow), Bronze (2014 Copenhagen, 2013 Guangzhou)
Asian Games: Silver (2018 Jakarta – singles), Bronze (2014 Incheon – team)
Commonwealth Games: Gold (2018 Gold Coast – mixed team), Silver (2018 Gold Coast – singles), Bronze (2014 Glasgow – singles)

PV Sindhu (AFP Photo)
One of the biggest sports stars India has ever produced, double Olympic medallist PV Sindhu will be looking to better her performance from the previous edition of the CWG this time round. Sindhu won a mixed team gold and a women’s singles silver, losing to compatriot Saina Nehwal in the final, in the Gold Coast.
Last year, the 27 year old became the first Indian woman and only the fourth badminton player to claim two women’s singles medals at consecutive Olympic Games when she won a bronze in Tokyo, adding to her silver medal from 2016 Rio Games.
Sindhu, the 2019 world champion, is in a good form at the moment and will be aiming for her first CWG gold in singles event in Birmingham. Sindhu has already won three titles in 2022, with the Singapore Open triumph in July the most recent one. She also won the Syed Modi International and Swiss Open this year.
Mirabai Chanu
Sport: Weightlifting
Event(s): 49kg
Age: 27 years old
Personal Best: Total – 205 kg (National Record) | Snatch – 88 kg (NR) | Clean & Jerk – 119 kg (World Record)
Major achievements:
Olympics: Silver (2020 Tokyo)
World Championships: Gold (2017 Anaheim)
Asian Championships: Bronze (2020 Tashkent)
Commonwealth Games: Gold (2018 Gold Coast), Silver (2014 Glasgow)

Mirabai Chanu (AFP Photo)
CWG acted as the launching pad for Mirabai Chanu to go on to become one of the most decorated weightlifters from India, when she won a silver medal at 2014 Glasgow Games. She upgraded her medal in the next edition in the Gold Coast, winning the gold in 2018 with a CWG record 196 kg total lift (86 kg in snatch + 110 kg in clean & jerk) in the 8 kg category.
Mirabai will again go into the CWG as a firm favourite to win the top prize in Birmingham, after winning a historic silver at the Tokyo Olympics last year. She registered a total lift of 202 kg (87 kg in snatch and 115 kg in clean & jerk) to become only the second Indian woman after PV Sindhu to win an Olympic silver.
The 27 year old lifter also holds the world record in clean & jerk, when she lifted 119 kg last year at the Asian Weightlifting Championships in Tashkent, winning a bronze medal with a total lift of 205 kg, a personal best and a new national record. She has told TimesofIndia.com in an interview that she is looking to break that WR this time in Birmingham.
Bajrang Punia
Sport: Wrestling
Event(s): 65kg (Freestyle)
Age: 28 years old
Major achievements:
Olympics: Bronze (2020 Tokyo)
World Championships: Silver (2018 Budapest), Bronze (2019 Nur-Sultan, 2013 Budapest)
Asian Games: Gold (2018 Jakarta), Silver (2014 Incheon)
Commonwealth Games: Gold (2018 Gold Coast), Silver (2014 Glasgow)

Bajrang Punia (AFP Photo)
Wrestling has always been a big contributor of medals for India at the CWG, and the same can be expected from the contingent led by experienced wrestler Bajrang Punia this time. Bajrang has the pedigree to become one of the most decorated Indian wrestlers of all time, and is a multiple medallist at major tournaments including Olympics, World Championships, Asian Games and Commonwealth Games.
The 28 year old upgraded his silver medal from 2014 Glasgow to gold in the Gold Coast in 2018. Since then, the world silver medallist in 2018 has added a bronze at world championships in 2019, making him the only Indian with three medals at worlds, and an Olympic bronze medal last year in Tokyo.
Bajrang took his time to rehab after the Tokyo success, and returned to the mats in April this year with a silver medal at the Asian Championships. And in June, he won a bronze at the Bolat Turlykhanov Cup in Almaty, Kazakhstan. Below-par performances for his high standard, but with a weaker competition at the CWG Bajrang will again start as a medal favourite in Birmingham to defend his title.
Manika Batra
Sport: Table Tennis
Event(s): Singles, doubles, mixed doubles & team
Age: 27 years old
Major achievements:
Asian Games: Bronze (2018 Jakarta – mixed doubles)
Commonwealth Games: Gold (2018 Gold Coast – singles, team), Silver (2018 Gold Coast – doubles), Bronze (2018 Gold Coast – mixed doubles)

Manika Batra (AFP Photo)
‘Golden girl’ of the 2018 edition Manika Batra will be looking to match her Gold Coast exploits in Birmingham too. Four years ago, Manika helped India dethrone four-time defending champions Singapore in the women’s team event. And then added a historic gold in the singles to make it four medals in four events. She won a silver in women’s doubles with Mouma Das and a bronze in mixed doubles with Sathiyan Gnanasekaran.
India finished as the best nation in table tennis at 2018 CWG with 8 medals – three gold, two silver and three bronze, thanks to Manika’s performances then. The Indian contingent will be looking to repeat the standings with most of the medal winners from the Gold Coast back in Birmingham to defend their medals.
After her CWG successes, Manika became the first Indian paddler to reach the third round in singles event at the Olympics in Tokyo. She is heading to Birmingham with form under her belt, especially in the doubles and mixed doubles events.
Batra and Archana Girish Kamath are currently ranked fourth in the world for women’s doubles, the highest ever ranking for Indian table tennis players in all categories. And G Sathiyan and Batra are ranked sixth in the mixed doubles.
Lovlina Borgohain
Sport: Boxing
Event(s): 69kg (Welterweight)
Age: 24 years old
Major achievements:
Olympics: Bronze (2020 Tokyo)
World Championships: Bronze (2019 Ulan-Ude, 2018 New Delhi)
Asian Championships: Bronze (2021 Dubai, 2017 Ho Chi Minh City)

Lovlina Borgohain (AFP Photo)
Boxer Lovlina Borgohain will be aiming to open her medal account at the CWG after missing out in the last edition in 2018. She lost to eventual gold medallist Sandy Ryan of England in the quarter-finals. That kick-started the tall pugilist’s journey as one of the top boxers of the country, which culminated in the Olympic bronze in Tokyo last year.
After the CWG debacle, Lovlina bounced back strongly to win back-to-back world championships medals in 2018 and 2019. And last year, Lovlina became only the third Indian boxer, after Mary Kom and Vijender Singh, to win an Olympic medal when she returned with a bronze from the Tokyo Games. Lovlina also won a bronze at the 2021 Asian Championships in Dubai, her second continental medal after winning a bronze in Ho Chi Minh City in 2017.
The boxer was involved in a controversy regarding her coach Sandhya Gurung’s accreditation, but fortunately it was resolved, and hopefully won’t stand in the way of her ambition to win a medal for the country.
Notable Mentions
Apart from the above five, others in the Indian contingent with more than a decent shot to clinch the top prize in Birmingham are: Kidambi Srikanth (Badminton), Amit Panghal (Boxing), Nikhat Zareen (Boxing), Sharath Kamal (TT), G Sathiyan (TT), Jeremy Lalrinnunga (Weightlifting), Punam Yadav (Weightlifting) , Ravi Dahiya (Wrestling), Deepak Punia (Wrestling), Vinesh Phogat (Wrestling), Sakshi Malik (Wrestling), Divya Kakran (Wrestling).