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Commonwealth Games are finally set to begin in Gold Coast, Australia. The 218 member contingent of India are all set to bag a handful of medals in the Games and make the tri-colour flutter high.
India will be starting its campaign in several events tomorrow. Let's look into the events in which Indian athletes would be up to showcase their skills on Day 1 of the Games.
#8 Artistic Gymnastics
The Men's Team Final and Individual Qualifications will take place on Thursday. The Indian team will be represented by Yogeshwar Singh, Rakesh Patra and Ashish Kumar.
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Ashish Kumar has been the bronze medalist in the floor exercise event of 2010 Asian Games. He went onto win 4 Gold Medals in the South Central Asian Gymnastics Championships in Dhaka in December 2011.
Rakesh Kumar Patra has an experience of competing in the 2013 World Artistic Gymnastics Championship held in Antwerp, Belgium.
It will take some extraordinary performances by the gymnasts in order to qualify for the Finals. However, the gymnasts are highly capable of doing it.
#7 Badminton
The Mixed Team events will take place on Thursday in the Games. India is lined up in Pool A along with Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Scotland.
India will be playing against Sri Lanka in the morning and Pakistan in the evening of Thursday. The Indian shuttlers would be looking forward to winning both the games by a clean-sweep.
The Indian Mixed Team consists of shuttlers like PV Sindhu, Saina Nehwal, Kidambi Srikanth, HS Prannoy, Ashwini Ponnappa.
#6 Basketball
India will be starting its campaign in both the men and women categories on Thursday. In the women's category, India is lined up in Pool B along with Jamaica, Malaysia and New Zealand. They will be facing the Jamaican team on Thursday.
The Women Basketball team consists of players like Barkha Sonker, Madhu Kumari, Anmolpreet Kaur and Sruthi Menon who will be up to lead their team to a winning start.
In the men's category, India is lined in the Pool B along with Cameroon, England and Scotland. They will be facing the Cameroon side on Thursday.
The Men Basketball team consists of players like Satnam Singh, Ratnam Bharadwaj, Akilan Pari and Yadwinder Singh who will be up to amaze the Cameroon side and start their campaign with a winning streak.
#5 Boxing
Manoj Kumar will be up against Osita Umeh of Nigeria on Thursday. He certainly has high expectations for a Gold Medal in the Games because of the accolades he has achieved.
He won the Gold Medal in the light welterweight category in the 2010 Commonwealth Games. He has also won two bronze medals in the Asian Championships in 2007 and 2013 respectively. He also won the Gold Medal in 2016 South Asian Games.
Manoj will be up to dominate the Nigerian boxer and make it into the pre-quarters.
#4 Hockey
Indian Women's team will be starting their campaign against Wales on Thursday. They have been lined up in the Pool A with Wales, Malaysia, South Africa and England.
Rani Rampal and Co. will be looking forward for a Gold Medal in the Games. It is going to be a difficult task for the team but they have been creating many wonders in the recent years.
Apart from Rani Rampal, the experience of Sunita Lakra, Poonam Rani, Nikki Pradhan and Navjot Kaur will be up to give India a winning start in the Games.
#3 Squash
There will be several matches on Thursday where the Indian squash players would be showing up their skills on the court.
Harinder Pal Sandhu will be facing up Cameron Stafford of Cayman Isles. The 14th seeded player had won the Gold Medal in Men's team events in 2014 Asian Games. He will be up to start his campaign on a winning note.
Vikram Malhotra will be facing Manda Chilambwe of Zambia in the round of 64 match. The 16th seeded player is currently ranked 68th in the world and he will be up to dominate the Zambian squash player.
Saurav Ghosal is the 3rd seeded player in the men's category. He will face the winner of the match between Christopher Binnie of Jamaica and Jason Doyle of St. Vincent and Grenadines. He won the Gold Medal and Silver Medal in team and singles category respectively at the 2014 Asian Games.
Joshna Chinappa will be up against Lynette Vai of Papua New Guinea in the round of 32 match. Chinappa is seeded 8th in the tournament. She won the Gold Medal in the Women's doubles category along with Dipika Pallikal in the 2014 Commonwealth Games.
Dipika Pallikal will be meeting Charlotte Knaggs of Trinidad and Tobago on Thursday. She is seeded 9th in the tournament. She is a Padma Shri as well as Arjuna awardee.
#2 Table Tennis
Indian Men's Team and Women's team will be starting their campaign on Thursday.
Indian Men's Team is lined up in the Group 1 along with Northern Ireland and Trinidad and Tobago. India will be playing both of their group matches on Thursday. They'll be up against Trinidad and Tobago in the morning, followed by Northern Ireland in the evening.
The Men's team will be represented by players like Sharath Kamal and Antony Amalraj who will be looking forward to winning both of their games tomorrow and head towards the pre-quarters.
Indian Women's team is lined up in the Group 2 along with Fiji and Vanuatu. They will be playing both of their group matches on Thursday. They will be facing Vanuatu in the morning and Fiji in the evening.
The Women's team will be represented will be represented by players like Manika Batra and Mouma Das who will be up to win both the games tomorrow and book their spot in the pre-quarters.
#1 Weightlifting
Saikhom Mirabai Chanu will be competing in the 48 kg category at the Games. This will be the only medal event for India on Day 1 and Chanu has huge responsibilities on her shoulders to open up the medal tally for India at the Games.
She won the Silver Medal in the 48 kg in 2014 Commonwealth Games. She recently won the Gold Medal in 2017 World Weightlifting Championship held at Anaheim, CA, USA.
She also made a World Record at the World Championships after lifting a total weight of 194 kg (85 kg snatch and 109 kg clean & jerk). She was nominated for the Padma Shree in 2018 as she broke the world record in the 48 kg.
