India’s hope at 2018 Commonwealth Games

India’s   strong 225-member contingent has arrived in Australia to take part in Commonwealth Games 2018 being held from April 4 – 15 in the gold coast as the south Brisbane city is festively decorated to welcome competitors from around the world by countries that are part of the commonwealth. 5000 athletes in all have landed in the Gold Coast from 71 countries to compete in 251 events spread across 15 sports.

Badminton, shooting, boxing are some of the disciplines where a rich haul of medals is expected by India. in these  quadrennial games, India in 2014 won 64 medals. As expected there will be a string of victories by the Indian athletes who are   world ranked and a favourite to achieve the top places and break previous held records.

They are:

P V Sandhu in Badminton who had won a bronze in Glasgow four years ago and a silver in Rio olympics, she is definitely the queen of badminton.

Sakshi Malik who won silver in Glasgow in wrestling is another glorious hope for India.

Neeraj Chopra, Javelin thrower,   is another bright prospect, the current junior world record holder, and with many top Indian athletes of yore having singled him out as a “Once-in-a-Lifetime” javelin thrower.

Boxer Mary Com is another hope for India, her having regained her title of Asian champion by beating Hyang Mi Kim in the 48kg final to claim her fifth gold medal at the Asian Boxing Championships.

Shuttler Saina Nehwal who won a bronze medal at the World Championships, a Grand Prix Gold and her third national title is another strong Badminton player.

India has won 56 gold medals in shooting and spearheading India’s challenge in Gold Coast will be Jitu Rai.  Last year, Jitu won four gold medals and a bronze at ISSF events and two bronze medals at the Commonwealth Shooting Championships.

Also Kedambi Srinath another badminton player should not be overlooked someone who reached the final of the Singapore Open.

Sanjita Chanu is the defending champion at the Commonwealth Games, having won gold four years ago in Glasgow. Sanjita, along with Mirabai Chanu, are amongst the top medal contenders for India in weightlifting.

Mehuli Ghosh (Shooting)  is one of the youngest members of the Indian contingent, the teenager is making her Commonwealth Games debut. At 17, she is one of the rising stars on the Indian shooting circuit having won bronze at the ISSF World Cup in Mexico.

Vikas Krishan will compete in the 75kg category in boxing and remains India’s best bet ”“ along with Manoj Kumar ”“ to win a boxing medal.

The women’s wrestling team comprising of Ritu’s sister Babita and cousin Vinesh Phogat are among others expected to return from Australia with an impressive haul of medals.

The story of the Phogat sisters, immortalised by the Hindi movie  Dangal, is now part of popular folklore and has fueled the dreams of many Indians to take up the sport.

The patriarch of the Phogat family, Dronacharya awardee Mahavir Singh Phogat, played by Amir Khan, has opened academies in the states of Haryana and Rajasthan to impart training to interested young wrestlers.

Although the Indian boxing contingent found themselves in syringe controversy and cleared of any doping violation, the Commonwealth Games 2018 start on April 5 with opening ceremony on April 4.

 

 

 

 

 

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