After a successful 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, India will attempt to up their medal count in Birmingham. Over 200 Indian athletes will compete in 16 disciplines at the Games starting on July 28. (More Sports News)
Let’s take a look at a few of the country’s greatest medal hauls at CWG history.
Manchester 2002 (30 gold, 22 silver, 17 bronze)
India won 69 medals in Manchester, of which 24 were from shooting. Fourteen of those 24 were gold medals. Manchester proved to be one of the inflection points in shooting’s evolution in India.
Some of the stars of the contingent were Jaspal Rana, (four gold, a silver and a bronze), Samaresh Jung (two gold, three silver), Anjali Bhagwat (four gold) and Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore (two gold).
Delhi 2010 (38 gold, 27 silver, 36 bronze)
India recorded their best ever performance in Commonwealth Games in Delhi, grabbing 101 medals in all. Saina Nehwal won the first of her three career CWG gold medals. In table tennis, Sharath Kamal, a CWG legend, won the third of his four career gold medals. Fresh from his success at the 2008 Olympics, shooter Abhinav Bindra claimed a gold and a silver. Ashish Kumar, with a silver and a bronze, became the first Indian gymnast ever to win a CWG medal.
Glasgow 2014 (15 gold, 30 silver, 19 bronze)
India’s performance dipped by a considerable amount to 64 medals. A lot of times, however, there is more to a performance than just the final medal count. In Glasgow, Joshna Chinappa and Dipika Pallikal made history by becoming the first from India to win the squash gold at the CWG. Also, P Kashyap became the first Indian to win the badminton gold after the late Syed Modi’s triumph in 1982. And Dipa Karmakar became the first Indian woman to win a gymnastics medal.
Gold Coast 2018 (26 gold, 20 silver, 20 bronze)
This was India’s best performance after Delhi 2010. While the shooters were productive as usual, the table tennis and badminton teams also won India golds. Manika Batra won two golds, a silver and bronze. In boxing, the legendary Mary Kom won the only CWG gold of her career. Also among the winners was a certain Neeraj Chopra, who gave notice of his talent by winning the gold.
