With Commonwealth Games 2022, which is to be held in Birmingham, around the corner, all eyes are on the Indian contingent after their brilliant show at the previous CWG held at Gold Coast in Australia. India had brought home a total of 66 medals from the 2018 showpiece event. Since 2018, several Indian athletes have been in the spotlight after winning big on the international stage, which is also a reason there is a lot of hope from India at Birmingham.
Indian athletes will take part in several events across 15 sports at CWG 2022 that is starting from July 28. India will field a 205-member contingent for the quadrennial event. Of the 205 athletes, some are medal prospects — such as reigning world champion in boxing Nikhat Zareen, Tokyo Olympic bronze medalist in boxing Lovlina Borgohain. Lakshya Sen, Kidambi Srikanth and PV Sindhu, who proved their prowess in Badminton earlier, are also top contenders for medals at Birmingham.
But unfortunately, there are several top athletes who will be missing the showpiece event. And they were India’s big medal hopes.
Here are the top five athletes who will miss flight to Birmingham CWG 2022.
Neeraj Chopra: India’s stalwart javelin thrower, who clinched gold at Tokyo Olympics and bagged a silver in the recent World Athletics Championships, will miss the Commonwealth Games. It has been reported that he has sustained a thigh injury during the recently concluded World Championships.
Mary Kom: The CWG defending champion in women’s light weight (45-48 kg) category, Mary Kom, picked up an injury during the CWG trials, which forced her to be ruled out of Birmingham 2022. In the first round of the 48kg category for the CWG trials, Kom was taking on two-time world champion Neetu Ganghas, and the bout ended leaving the former’s knee injured declaring Neetu a clear winner.
Saina Nehwal: The two-time gold medal winner at Commonwealth Games, Saina Nehwal skipped the badminton selection trials questioning the logic behind holding them when the playing schedule is packed. She also said that the players need more time to practise for the trials. However, as per the BAI rules, the top 15-ranked players in the BWF ranking were picked up directly while the players ranked between 16 and 50 were supposed to go through trials to bag a CWG ticket.
Rani Rampal: India women’s hockey star striker Rani Rampal, who led the team to a historic fourth in the last year’s Tokyo Olympics, was dropped from the 18-member squad for the much-awaited CWG as she couldn’t completely recuperate from a hamstring injury. She couldn’t be part of the recently concluded hockey women’s World Cup also.
Vikas Krishnan: The Haryana-born boxer is the first Indian male boxer to clinch gold at both Commonwealth Games and Asian Games. He made history by winning a gold medal at the 2018 edition of CWG. He wasn’t available for the CWG trials in June 2022, and hence missed the flight to England.
India had big medal hopes from these five athletes, and their absence is disappointing for the fans. Nevertheless, it’s time to root for and cheer for the 205-member contingent.