Birmingham: It was earlier predicted that India would be out of the top five at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games after the shooting event was dropped from the Commonwealth Games (CWG), however, due to the success of track and field athletes and players in the lone ball game. It managed to secure the fourth position with a total of 61 medals including 22 gold. India won 66 medals at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, 25 percent of which were in shooting, so it was believed that India would barely touch the 50 medal mark. However, the success in the track and field competitions proved to be important in placing India at the fourth position.
Despite the absence of Neeraj Chopra, Bharat won a total of 8 medals in track and field, India’s best performance in hosting these Games abroad. Aldous Paul and Abdullah Abubakar won gold and silver for the first time in triple jump, Avinash Sable broke Kenya’s dominance in the 3000m steeplechase and won silver, Tejashwan Shankar won India’s first silver medal in high jump, Murali Sreesankar won silver in long jump for the first time since 1978. Apart from this, Anu Rani bagged bronze in javelin throw, Priyanka Goswami and Sandeep Kumar won medals in 10000m walking race and contributed to India’s success story. India also won three medals in judo. Apart from this, medals in table tennis, badminton, as well as hockey and women’s cricket played an important role in India’s fourth position.
In Lone Balls, four working women made history and played their part in India’s success story
Four working women from India Lovely Chobe, Pinky, Rupa Rani Tirki and Nayanmoni Sekia, of whom a police constable, a sports officer, a forest officer and a physical education teacher together created a separate history by winning gold in the women’s Lone Balls Four, a sport unknown to Indians. Then in the men’s loan ball force event, the quartet of Navneet Singh, Chandan Kumar, Sunil Bahadur and Dinesh Kumar also sprung a surprise by winning silver in the game.
In wrestling, Indian wrestlers continued to dominate with 12 medals including 6 gold
At the Commonwealth Games, Indian wrestlers once again dominated the wrestling events and won medals in all 12 weight categories, including six golds. It was easy for Olympics medalists Bajrang Punia and Ravi Dahiya to win gold, while Sakshi Malik and Vinesh Phogat overcame their poor performances to win gold.