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India has sent a 215-member contingent to the 22nd Commonwealth Games (CWG 2022), set to get underway in Birmingham, United Kingdom, on July 28. With improved performances in multiple sporting events, including the Olympics, India will be keen to break their highest-ever tally of 101 medals achieved at the 2010 Delhi Games.
That, however, could be a challenge for the Indian athletes since a significant chunk of the medals will be lost due to shooting being scrapped this time. At the Gold Coast Games, India excelled in the sport, bringing home as many as 16 medals, including seven golds.
The onus will be on other athletes to make up for what India will be losing in the absence of shooting.
India does have quite a few talented names across different sports in its Birmingham-bound contingent who could create history. A few sports have multiple potential gold medalists who will be looking to grab the spotlight at the upcoming Commonwealth Games.
Here's a look at three such sports where India could end up winning the highest number of medals at CWG 2022:
#1 Weightlifting
The weightlifting team collected nine medals in the last edition of the Commonwealth Games, out of which five were gold. Two of the gold medalists from the Gold Coast Games — Mirabai Chanu and Punam Yadav — will be participating this time too.
Mirabai, the most famous name from the squad, will come armed with a silver medal from the Tokyo Olympics in the 49kg category. Punam Yadav, a gold medalist in the 69kg event at the Gold Coast, is another prospect for the yellow metal.
Bindyarani Devi won the gold medal in the clean and jerk category with a lift of 114kg in the women's 55kg event at the 2021 IWF World Championships and will be eager to deliver her best again.
Nineteen-year-old Jeremy Lalrinnunga, a Youth Olympic and Commonwealth Championship gold medalist, could also add to India's Commonwealth Games 2022 medal tally.
Apart from him, Gururaja Poojary and Vikas Thakur are two names who already have the experience of winning medals in the Commonwealth Games. Poojary bagged the 56kg silver in 2018, while Thakur has a silver in 85kg and a bronze in 94kg from the 2014 and 2018 editions, respectively.
India's squad
Women: Mirabai Chanu - 49kg, Bindyarani Devi - 55kg, Popy Hazarika - 59kg, Harjinder Kaur - 71kg, Punam Yadav - 76kg, Usha Kumara - 87kg, Purnima Pandey - +87kg.
Men: Sanket Mahadev - 55kg, Gururaja Poojary - 61kg, Jeremy Lalrinnunga - 67kg, Achinta Sheuli - 73kg, Ajay Singh - 81kg, Vikas Thakur - 96kg, Lovepreet Singh - 109kg, Gurdeep Singh - +109kg.
Read: Commonwealth Games 2022 Live Streaming & Broadcast Details - When and where to watch in India?
#2 Boxing
Boxing brought home nine medals in the last edition, including three gold, silver and bronze medals apiece. All three gold medalists from the Gold Coast – Mary Kom, Gaurav Solanki, and Vikas Krishan Yadav – are not part of the contingent this time around.
Nevertheless, India's boxing squad still has enough talent at its disposal to create fireworks in Birmingham.
Nikhat Zareen was crowned the world champion in the flyweight division in May and will be a favorite for the gold. Having won a prized Olympic bronze medal last year, Lovlina Borgohain will be eyeing a medal in the 70kg category.
Amit Panghal missed out on the light-flyweight gold medal in the last edition and had to settle for silver. Since then, he has added the Asian Games gold, Asian Championships gold as well as the World Championships silver medal to his resume. He will be looking to go all out to lay his hands on the glittering CWG gold this time around.
Veteran pugilist Shiva Thapa has as many as five Asian Championships medals in his kitty. A Commonwealth Games medal has so far been missing from his cabinet, which he will be keen to add to in Birmingham.
Mohammad Hussamuddin won the bantamweight bronze in the last edition and will be hoping to change the color of his medal in the upcoming edition.
Reigning Asian champion Sanjeet Kumar and 2019 Asian Championships silver medalist Ashish Kumar are two other medal prospects as well.
India's squad
Men: Amit Panghal - 51kg, Mohammad Hussamuddin - 57kg, Shiva Thapa - 63.5kg, Rohit Tokas - 67kg, Sumit Kundu - 75kg, Ashish Kumar Chaudhary - 80kg, Sanjeet Kumar - 92kg, Sagar - 92+kg.
Women: Nitu Ganghas - 48kg, Nikhat Zareen - 50kg, Jaismine Lamboria - 60kg, Lovlina Borgohain - 70kg.
#3 Wrestling
In 2018, wrestling contributed 12 medals, including five golds, to India's tally. It was India's second-most successful sport at the Gold Coast Games.
Four years on, wrestling is still one of India's most reliable sports to win medals. At the Tokyo Olympics, it was the only sport in which India grabbed multiple medals through Ravi Kumar Dahiya (silver) and Bajrang Punia (bronze).
With both being part of the Birmingham-bound contingent, hopes will be high from the squad. The highly accomplished Bajrang is also the defending champion in the 65kg category and will be leaving no stone unturned to make it two golds in a row.
Deepak Punia is another medal hopeful, having bagged the silver medal in 86kg at the 2019 World Championships.
Among the women, all eyes will be on Vinesh Phogat. She has returned with nothing but gold from the last two editions of the Commonwealth Games and will be aiming to make it a hat-trick.
Among others, Anshu Malik is an Asian champion as well as a World Championships silver medalist in 57kg. Divya Kakran is a 2018 CWG bronze medalist while Pooja Gehlot has a silver medal from the 2019 U23 World Wrestling Championships. Sakshi Malik, a bronze medalist at the Rio Olympics and Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, will be hoping to recapture her form.
India's squad
Women: Pooja Gehlot - 50kg, Vinesh Phogat - 53kg, Anshu Malik - 57kg, Sakshi Malik - 62kg, Divya Kakran - 68kg, Pooja Sihag - 76kg.
Men: Ravi Kumar Dahiya - 57kg, Bajrang Punia - 65kg, Naveen - 74kg, Deepak Punia - 86kg, Deepak - 97kg, Mohit Grewal - 125kg.
Here's the list of countries at the Commonwealth Games 2022.
Honorable mention - Badminton
With PV Sindhu winning the Singapore Open right before the Commonwealth Games, there will be huge expectations from the two-time Olympic medalist, who is eyeing her maiden CWG women's singles gold.
India's Thomas Cup stars Lakshya Sen, Kidambi Srikanth and the pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty are part of the squad among the men. They will be looking to put in their best efforts and swell the nation's medal tally as well.
India's squad
Men's Singles: Lakshya Sen, Kidambi Srikanth.
Women's Singles: PV Sindhu, Aakarshi Kashyap.
Men's Doubles: Satwiksairaj Rankireddy / Chirag Shetty.
Women's Doubles: Gayathri Gopichand / Treesa Jolly.
Mixed Doubles: Sumeeth Reddy / Ashwini Ponnappa.
Read: Commonwealth Games 2022: Badminton full schedule, squads & live streaming details
