A look at some of the highlight names for the Indian contingent at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
With a rich haul of 61 medals (22 gold, 16 silver, and 23 bronze) at this edition of the Commonwealth Games, the Birmingham Games turned out to be one of the most memorable editions for the 210-strong Indian contingent. From athletics to racquet sports, cricket to hockey, boxing to wrestling, the Indian athletes finished with podium finishes in almost every event they took part in.
Achinta Sheuli
Sport – Weightlifting
Event – Men’s 73kg
The Bengal born weightlifter clinched his maiden CWG gold and went on to set a Games record 313kg. He lifted 143kg in snatch (Games Record and also equal to his previous PB) and 170kg in clean and jerk. The 20-year-old won the silver medal at the 2021 Junior World Weightlifting Championships and is also a two-time Commonwealth Championships gold medallist.
Jeremy Lalrinnunga
Sport – Weightlifting
Event – Men’s 67kg
The Mizoram weightlifter won gold in the 2022 Commonwealth Games in the 67kg category, with a Games record lift of 140kg in snatch and 160kg in clean and jerk.
The 19-year-old represented India in the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics in Buenos Aires and won India’s maiden gold in the event in Boys’ 62kg category.
Mirabai Chanu
Sport – Weightlifting
Event – Women’s 49kg
The superstar Manipuri weightlifter successfully defended her 49kg title and gave India the first gold at the Birmingham Games.
The Tokyo Olympic silver medallist aggregated a total of 201kg (88kg + 113kg) to stamp her authority in the competition and achieve a Commonwealth Games record in the process.
Rupa Rani Tirkey, Lovely Choubey, Nayanmoni Saikia, Pinki Singh
Sport – Lawn Bowls
Event – Women’s fours
The India lawn bowls women’s four team of Rupa Rani Tirkey, Lovely Choubey, Nayanmoni Saikia, and Pink Singh got the country hooked to a rarely-followed sporting event with their inspiring and sensational show when they bagged a historic gold in Birmingham.
It was India’s maiden final appearance in the women’s fours format of the competition.
Bajrang Punia
Sport – Wrestling
Event – Men’s freestyle 65 kg
Bajrang Punia completed a hat-trick of Commonwealth Games medals when he clinched gold in the men’s 65kg free-style event.
The Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist had won silver in his CWG debut in 2014 in Glasgow and then bettered the colour of his medal in Gold Cost four years later by winning a gold.
Sakshi Malik
Sport – Wrestling
Event – Women’s freestyle 62 kg
Sakshi Malik won her third medal at the Commonwealth Games when she annexed gold after beating Canada’s Ana Godinez Gonzalez by fall.
Sakshi had earlier won silver in 2014 (58kg) and bronze at the 2018 (62kg) Games. Sakshi is also the first Indian female wrestler to win a medal at the Olympics, bagging bronze in 2016.
Deepak Punia
Sport – Wrestling
Event – Men’s freestyle 86kg
Star wrestler Deepak Punia won India’s ninth gold medal in Birmingham by defeating 2018 edition’s gold medallist Muhammad Inam of Pakistan 3-0 in the men’s 86kg final.
A Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO) in the Indian Army, Deepak also won a silver medal at the 2019 World Wrestling Championships in the freestyle 86 kg category.
Ravi Kumar Dahiya
Sport – Wrestling
Event – Men’s freestyle 57kg
The Sonepat born wrestler clinched gold in Birmingham by defeating Ebikewenimo Welson of Nigeria 10-0 in the Men’s freestyle 57kg final event.
Dahiya is also a Tokyo Olympics silver medallist from 2020, bronze medallist from World Wrestling Championships in 2019, and a three-time Asian champion.
Vinesh Phogat
Sport – Wrestling
Event – Women’s freestyle 53kg
Star wrestler Vinesh Phogat completed a golden hat-trick of Commonwealth Games gold medals by winning the women’s 53kg freestyle wrestling final event.
Vinesh had bagged gold in the previous two editions at Gold Coast (in 2018) and in Glassgow (in 2014).
She is also the first Indian woman wrestler to win Gold at both Commonwealth and Asian Games (Jakarta 2018).
Naveen Malik
Sport – Wrestling
Event – Men freestyle’s 74kg
Making his Commonwealth Games debut in Birmingham, the 19-year-old grappler clinched his maiden gold at the showpiece by defeating Muhammad Sharif Tahir of Pakistan in the final with score 9-0.
Naveen made his international debut at the U-23 World Championships last year and clinched 74kg gold in his second competition at the U-23 Asian Championships in June this year.
Nikhat Zareen
Sport – Boxing
Event – Women’s 50kg
Reigning World Champion Nikhat Zareen blazed the stage in Birminham as she won her maiden gold medal in the women’s 50kg flyweight final event. She is also a bronze medallist in the 2019 Asian Championships.
Amit Panghal
Sport – Boxing
Event – Men’s 51kg
Amit Panghal won his maiden gold in Birmingham on the penultimate day of the showpiece event.
The reigning Asian Games champion, he is also the only Indian male boxer to win a world boxing championships silver medal and the current world No. 1 in International Boxing Association’s (AIBA) 52kg category.
Nitu Ghanghas
Sport – Boxing
Event – Women’s 48kg
The 21-year-old Haryana girl won the first medal for India in boxing at Birmingham when he bagged gold in the women’s 48kg final.
She is also a two-time youth world champion, having won a back-to-back title in 2017 and 2018.
Sudhir
Sport – Para powerlifting
Event – Men’s heavyweight
A para athlete with a polio-induced impairment, claimed India’s gold in the men’s heavyweight para powerlifting event in Birmingham and opened India’s para sports medal account.
Sudhir, who is also an Asian Para Games bronze medallist from the 2018 edition, lifted 208kg in his first attempt before increasing it to 212kg in his second effort to gather 134.5 points and break the Games record.
PV Sindhu
Sport – Badminton
Event – Women’s Singles
Having won silver (2018 Gold Coast) and bronze (2014 Glasgow), an elusive gold was what missing from PV Sindhu’s kitty and she did it in style in Birmingham.
The two-time olympic medallist gave India its first badminton gold on the last day of this edition of the Games.
Lakshya Sen
Sport – Badminton
Event – Men’s Singles
Star shuttler Lakshya Sen made a memorable CWG debut with his maiden gold in Birmingham.
Sen has been in rich vein of form for some time now having won his first Super 500 title in January, finishing runners-up at the All England Championships and German Open and also winning the prestigious Thomas Cup.
Chirag Shetty/Satwirksairaj Rankireddy
Sport – Badminton
Event – Men’s Doubles
The men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty bettered the colour of their medal (silver in Gold Coast 2018) and clinched gold in Birmingham after defeating England’s Ben Lane and Sean Vendy in straight games.
Rankireddy and Shetty were also part of the Indian team that won the historic Thomas Cup title earlier this year.
Achanta Sharath Kamal
Sport – Table Tennis
Event – Men’s Singles
Veteran Sharath Kamal’s name will go down in history as he became only the second Indian paddler to win two gold at the Commonwealth Games, the first being in Melbourne in 2006 and the latest one arriving in Birmingham in style.
With his spectacular gold in Birmingham, Sharath’s overall medal tally has gone up to 13 at the showpiece event since his debut in the 2006 edition.
Sharath Kamal/Sreeja Akula
Sport – Table Tennis
Event – Mixed Doubles
Sharath Kamal and Sreeja Akula clinched the mixed doubles gold in Birmingham by defeating Javen Choong and Karen Lyne of Malaysia 3-1 in the final.
With Sharath Kamal cementing his CWG legacy with a slew of medals, the top prize was a deserved reward for the little Sreeja, who missed out on a bronze in the singles event.
Harmeet Desai, Sanil Shetty, Sharath Kamal, G Sathiyan
Sport – Table Tennis
Event – Men’s Team
The Indian men’s table tennis team retained its Commonwealth Games gold medal after a close fight against Singapore in the final.
The likes of Harmeet Desai, Sanil Shetty, Sharath Kamal, and G Sathiyan gave India’s its seventh since the sport’s introduction in Manchester 2002.
Bhavina Patel
Sport – Table Tennis
Event – Women’s singles C3-5
Star para paddler Bhavina Patel won her maiden gold at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
Bhavina, who is also a silver medallist at Tokyo Paralympics, has won a slew of national and international competitions over the years, which includes a silver medal in the women’s singles Class 4 at the Asian Para Table Tennis Championships in Beijing in 2013.
Eldhose Paul
Sport – Athletics
Event – Triple Jump
Kerala lad Eldhose Paul clinched a rare gold in men’s triple jump and the 25-year-old also led a historic 1-2 finish in Birmingham.
The icing on the cake was that India also won silver in the same event with his compatriot Abdulla Aboobacker finishing second with a best jump of 17.02m.
News Source : The Indian Express