Commonwealth Games 2022 All You Need To Know? 2022 Commonwealth Games is finally upon us. The event will be the magnet that attracts sports loving eyes from around the world as a multitude of sporting events take place over the course of next few days. India, with a 215-member contingent, will be a strong contender for medals across the multi-sport event. The likes of Neeraj Chopra, PV Sindhu, Hima Das and Lakshya Sen are part of the contingent that also holds players from team events such as hockey and even women’s cricket making its first appearance at the event.
Here’s all you need to know about the Indian contingent at the Commonwealth Games 2022.
Jeremy Lalrinnunga wins the Gold Medal in Men's 67kg weightlifting event. He successfully lifted 154kg, and 160kg, in 1st, and 2nd but failed in his 3rd attempt due to an injury.
After the first two days of the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, the Indian contingent has bagged four medals one gold, two silvers and one bronze which were won in the weightlifting discipline. Bindyarani Devi and Sanket Sargar won silvers in 55kg men's and women's categories. Gururaja Poojary won his bronze in the 56kg event. Mirabai Chanu bagged India's first gold in the 49kg category.
| RANK | COUNTRY | GOLD | SILVER | BRONZE | TOTAL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | India | 22 | 16 | 23 | 61 |
| 1 | Australia | 67 | 57 | 54 | 178 |
| 2 | England | 57 | 66 | 53 | 176 |
| 3 | Canada | 26 | 32 | 34 | 92 |
| 5 | New Zealand | 20 | 12 | 17 | 49 |
| 6 | Scotland | 13 | 11 | 27 | 51 |
Under the Patronage of Queen Elizabeth II with Prince Edward as the Vice Patron, the Commonwealth Games (CWG) has grown massively over the years. Starting in 1930, in Hamilton Canada, the Commonwealth Games, today, is only second to the Olympics and has sportspersons competing across various disciplines.
With just days left for the Birmingham Games 2022, all eyes are set on the top contenders. From table tennis, basketball and athletics to cricket, swimming and hockey, the event is also one of the highest platforms for para-athletes to take part as well.
Once every four years, the Commonwealth Games (CWG) are an international multi-sport event attended by countries who are part of the Commonwealth, a grouping of 72 nations that include many former British colonies.
Athletes from member countries compete for gold, silver, and bronze medals in a variety of sporting events, most of which take place in a single host city. The tournament, however, does not include sporting heavyweights like the United States, China, or EU countries.
In 1930, the first Commonwealth Games were held in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The British Empire Games were the name given to it at the time. The Games will be held in Birmingham for the 22nd time. The city will also host para-sports events at the same time.
There are now 16 sports in the core group which must be present at all CWG. In addition, there are also four core parasports. The core sports are swimming, athletics, road cycling, artistic gymnastics, lawn bowls, table tennis, triathlon, freestyle wrestling, badminton, boxing, field hockey, judo, netball, rugby sevens, squash and weightlifting. The core para sports are swimming, athletics, powerlifting and lawn bowls.
There are also optional sports, which the host nation has the power to choose from. At the Birmingham Games, women's cricket (T20), basketball 3x3, wheelchair basketball 3x3, and mixed synchronised diving will make their debut. Overall, there are 23 sports and seven para sports at Birmingham.
The CWG is one of three multi-sport events (the others being Olympics and Asian Games) for Indian athletes. It's a chance to go up against the best athletes from the world, especially from Australia, England, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa.
The 181 gold medals won by India in the CWG rank as the fourth-highest total in the event’s history. There are a total of 932 gold medals for Australia, followed by England with 714 gold medals and Canada with 62 gold medals (484 gold medals).
As a rule of thumb, the CWG is followed by the Asian Games for Indian athletes. Both competitions are excellent opportunities for athletes to make their name on the global stage's The Asian Games have been postponed this year because of the COVID-19 crisis in China.
Shooting is India's most successful sport at the CWG. India have dominated the sport, winning the most number of medals - 63 gold and 135 in total - in the event. At the last CWG in Gold Coast, shooting fetched the most number of medals - seven gold and 16 in total.
However, shooting comes under optional sports and the host nation decided to not include it in the 2022 roster. According to Birmingham 2022 chief executive Ian Reid, the proposed location for shooting, at Bisley in Surrey, "offered little or no benefit to the West Midlands".
The Indian Olympic Association strongly objected to the decision, and the country’s greatest shooters voiced their displeasure, with India threatening to skip the event. There was a compromise reached afterwards with the International Archery Association (IOA) in which a Commonwealth archery and shooting tournament would be held in Chandigarh, India, and the medals would be added to the overall count after the closing ceremony was finished. Because of problems with COVID-19, these activities were cancelled.
Archery, like shooting, is an optional sport in the charter of the CWG. Only two CWGs were held without archery, the most recent of which was the 2010 Delhi Games.
With a huge 205-member contingent that will compete in 15 different sports, India will be a major medal contender for gold across the board in the mega multi-sport event. Olympic javelin champion Neeraj Chopra was India’s best bet for a gold medal. But the star athlete has been forced to miss out due to a groin injury after winning a silver medal at the Athletics World Championships in Oregon earlier this month.
India’s 12-member strong weightlifting contingent for the Commonwealth Games 2022 was one of the first to be finalised. Jeremy Lalrinnunga, Achinta Sheuli, Ajay Singh and Purnima Pandey secured their spots by winning gold medals in their respective categories at the Commonwealth Weightlifting Championships 2021 in December while the remaining eight made the cut at the Singapore Weightlifting International 2022.
In India, the broadcasting rights of the Commonwealth Games 2022 have been acquired by Sony Pictures Network. You can catch all the action live from Birmingham across various Sony channels including Sony TEN 1, Sony TEN 2, Sony TEN 3, Sony SIX and Sony TEN 4. You can also tune into the Sony LIV app or website for all the updates in Birmingham.
India has a total of 503 medals at the Games so far with 181 gold, 173 silver and 149 bronze. Their best ever showing remains and a second-place finish at their home Games in New Delhi in 2010 while in the last edition at Gold Coast, India finished third with a tally of 26 gold, 20 silver and 20 bronze medals. Overall, India is 4th in terms of gold medals won in the history of the games behind Australia, England and Canada.
| Year | Host City | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total | Final Position |
| 2018 | Gold Coast, Australia | 26 | 20 | 20 | 66 | 3rd |
| 2014 | Glasgow, Scotland | 15 | 30 | 19 | 64 | 5th |
| 2010 | New Delhi, India | 38 | 27 | 36 | 101 | 2nd |
| 2006 | Melbourne, Australia | 22 | 17 | 11 | 50 | 4th |
| 2002 | Manchester, England | 30 | 22 | 17 | 69 | 4th |
| 1998 | Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia | 7 | 10 | 8 | 25 | 7th |
| 1994 | Victoria, Canada | 6 | 11 | 7 | 24 | 6th |
| 1990 | Auckland, New Zealand | 13 | 8 | 11 | 32 | 5th |
| 1986 | Edinburgh, Scotland | did not participate | ||||
| 1982 | Brisbane, Australia | 5 | 8 | 3 | 16 | 6th |
| 1978 | Edmonton, Canada | 5 | 4 | 6 | 15 | 6th |
| 1974 | Christchurch, New Zealand | 4 | 8 | 3 | 15 | 6th |
| 1970 | Edinburgh, Scotland | 5 | 3 | 4 | 12 | 6th |
| 1966 | Kingston, Jamaica | 3 | 4 | 3 | 10 | 8th |
| 1962 | Perth, Australia | did not participate | ||||
| 1958 | Cardiff, Wales | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 8th |
| 1954 | Vancouver, Canada | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - |
| 1950 | Auckland, New Zealand | did not participate | ||||
| 1938 | Sydney, Australia | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - |
| 1934 | London, England | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 12th |
| 1930 | Hamilton, Canada | did not participate |
More than 1.5 million tickets have already been sold for the games, but they are still on sale for a number of events - including Rugby 7s and women’s cricket T20 this weekend.
The Commonwealth Games 2022 will start from Thursday, 28 July and ends on Monday, 8 August 2022.
The Commonwealth Games 2022 will be played in Birmingham, United Kingdom. The opening ceremony for the Birmingham Commonwealth Games 2022 will be held at Alexander Stadium on July 28. Events begin on July 29 and run through August 8th.
India's overall medal tally will get impacted due to the absence of shooting, but there are also other sports where India have traditionally done well. They can expect multiple gold medals in wrestling, boxing, weightlifting and badminton, which will see a field where Indian athletes will be the favourites.
A 205-member contingent will be in Birmingham with athletes competing in events across 15 sports. Here's the full list of Indian athletes.
The events start at 9 AM Local Time and will go on till 10 PM Local Time. Due to the time difference, the events will start in India at 1:30 PM IST and go on till the early hours of the next day 2:30 AM IST.
