Commonwealth Games 2022
5 Indian athletes to watch out for in the Commonwealth Games 2022
There is already an Olympic champion in the contingent of the Commonwealth Games for India while a few other Olympic medalists are also there. India might perform exceptionally to break all previous records.
The Indian contingent is all set to participate in the 22nd edition of the Commonwealth Games commencing on July 28 (Friday) next week. A total of 215 Indian qualified athletes for CWG are gearing up to bring glory to the nation in one of the highest sporting competitions across the world.
India bagged a handsome number of 66 medals at the Commonwealth Games in 2018 held on the Gold Coast. The Indian contingent is one of the strongest contingents among the participating nations in the Commonwealth Games. Each and every sports fan in India is expecting the Indian athletes to finish on top at Birmingham.
There is already an Olympic champion in the contingent for India while a few other Olympic medalists are also there. India might perform exceptionally to break all previous records.
Here, we’ll have a look at five of the top contenders for the gold medal in the games in India.
Mirabai Chanu (Weight Lifting)
The 27-year-old Mirabai Chanu has won two medals in the Commonwealth Games and she is also the defending champion. She also won the silver medal in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. She will be now eyeing adding the third medal to her own list.
It is the consecutive third edition of the Commonwealth Games for Chanu since she participated for the first time in Glasgow Games in 2014. She bagged a silver in her first appearance in the CWG in 2014. Later, the Olympic medalist successfully changed the color of the medal to Gold in Glasgow during CWG 2018.
Neeraj Chopra (Javelin-Throw)
The Karnal-based Olympic champion has a burden of 1,5 billion expectations and he is performing according to the same in the ongoing World Athletics Championships 2022 in Oregon. Chopra went on to break his national record which was earlier owned by himself in the Stockholm Diamond League. In this meet, he threw the javelin to the distance of 89.94m and almost reached very near to breaching the remarkable mark of 90m.
He is defending the champion in javelin throw in Commonwealth Games as he grabbed a gold medal at the CWG 2018 in Gold Coast. Having a gold medal in CWG followed by a medal of the same color in the Tokyo Olympics, the 24-year-old is one of the favorites for the medal in the CWG 2022 at Birmingham.
PV Sindhu (Badminton)
Two-time Olympic medalist and prime badminton prodigy have almost all honors on her credit. But gold in Commonwealth Games is still to be achieved for her. She has amazed everyone with her consistency in the game so far.
The World number seven is coming off a comprehensive win in the recently-concluded Singapore Open Super 500. She is going with a lot of confidence in the Birmingham Games so the country has very high expectations from her to win a medal and she is also a top contender for the same.
Bajrang Punia (Wrestling)
The veteran of his game, Jhajjar-based senior Indian wrestler Bajrang Punia is definitely the player India can count on in the Commonwealth Games 2022. The Olympic medalist and defending gold medal winner champion of Commonwealth Games 2018 will be eyeing to defend his crown in Birmingham.
The Padma Shri awardee wrestler won the silver medal at the Commonwealth Games 2014 in Glasgow. Later on, he successfully changed the color to the yellow metal in the CWG at Gold Coast in 2018.
He is coming into the Birmingham Games with a lot of confidence and a good number of medals. It also ensures that he will be the one to watch out for.
Manika Batra (Table-Tennis)
The 27-year-old table tennis star Manika Batra stunned everyone when she bagged a gold in the Commonwealth Games 2018. She is also among the potential medal winners for India in Birmingham. The country is expecting her to come up again with the heroics in the 22nd edition of the Commonwealth Games.
She also won a bronze in the mixed doubles alongside Sathiyan Gnanasekaran in 2018. Apart from that, the Delhi-based girl was also a part of the Indian women’s team which won a gold at the Commonwealth Games 2018 on the Gold Coast.
Manika will also be eyeing to defend her title in the Commonwealth Games.
