India aims to finish in top three
The Indian contingent finished second in the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi. The 101 medals overall in that edition was a record that the country would hope to replicate and perhaps even better
PTI
GLASGOW, JULY 22
THE unprecedented success achieved in the last edition would be hard to replicate this time after the dropping of a few disciplines but upbeat after getting back in the Olympic fold, a 215-strong Indian contingent would nonetheless seek a top-five finish in the 20th Commonwealth Games which begin here from Wednesday.
India finished second behind Australia with a record 101 medal haul in New Delhi in a Games marred by corruption scandals and construction delays but praised for the stunning success in terms of delivery of the event and performance by the athletes.
The Delhi CWG triggered an ascent in sports achievements with another record-breaking show in the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou where India won 65 medals. Two years later, the country won six medals in London, almost half of the individual medals won in the entire Olympic history.
But in Glasgow, the most realistic target for India would be a third-place finish with the top spot expected to go either to Australia or England.
The Games will see 4,500 athletes from 71 nations of the erstwhile British Empire compete for the top honours with superstar sprinter Usain Bolt of Jamaica and middle and long distance king Mo Farah of England expected to set the Hampden Park Stadium ablaze.
A total of 261 medal events across 18 sports will be contested across 11 days in the third-biggest multi-sporting event after Olympics and Asian Games. The Games will also include the highest ever number of para-sport events with 22 gold medals up for grabs across five sports.
India, which has sent 215 athletes in 14 sports, its largest ever after 2010 Delhi CWG, will be hit hard by the scrapping of archery and tennis from Glasgow Games and the reduction in the number of medal events in shooting and wrestling.
The country had won a combined 12 medals from archery and tennis in 2010 while bagging 14 medals from the 18 events dropped this time from shooting. Greco-Roman category in wrestling, from which India won eight medals in 2010, has also been done away with in Glasgow.
Vijay Kumar named India’s flagbearer
INDIA’S Olympic silver medallist pistol shooter, Vijay Kumar will be the flag-bearer for the country during the opening ceremony of 2014 Commonwealth Games, scheduled to take place on Wednesday.
“Vijay Kumar has been named as the flag bearer for Indian contigent at the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Games,” Chef-de-Mission of the Indian contingent, Raj Singh told PTI on Monday. London Olympics bronze medallist Yogeshwar Dutt has been kept as a reserve.
Sports Secretary Ajit M Saran, IOA President N Ramachandran and IOA secretary general Rajeev Mehta today visisted the Indian contingent at the Games village and interacted with the athletes.
INDIA’S hopes of fetching five badminton medals at the Commonwealth Games suffered a massive jolt on Friday as ace shuttler and defending champion Saina Nehwal pulled out of the Glasgow event after failing to recover from leg blisters sustained during the Australian Open Super Series triumph last month.
“It is an extremely difficult decision but an important one,” a heartbroken Saina told PTI ahead of the event which starts on July 23.
“I had suffered a groin injury during the first round in Australia and then there were those blisters on my leg but I still won the title. After I came back I had two and a half weeks but I took one week to recover, so hardly got a week to train. So, I decided to pull out. It’s heartbreaking for me as well,” she said.
The Olympic bronze medallist, who is believed to be suffering from a knee injury as well, said she had to take the decision of withdrawing from the Glasgow Games in order to get fit for the rest of the season which includes important tournaments like the World Championship and the Asian Games.
Currently world number seven, Saina had defeated Wong Mew Choo of Malaysia in a thrilling final during the 2010 Commonwealth Games to bag a gold. “I know I am a favourite at Commonwealth Games. I am the defending champion but I still have to play and give my 100 percent to win the title. In sports, it is difficult,” the 24-year-old insisted.
India had won four medals in the previous edition of the Games at New Delhi. Besides Saina’s gold in women’s singles, the pair of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa won the yellow metal in women’s doubles, Parupalli Kashyap earned a bronze in men’s singles, while the hosts settled for silver in the team event.
Saina’s withdrawal is a big blow to India as the shuttlers were hoping to win at least five medals this time around, with P V Sindhu in women’s singles and K Srikanth in men’s singles also having bright chances of a podium finish.
