Can India better its 2010 performance at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games?

Indian contingent at the 2010 Commonwealth Games

The year 2014 is a scintillating package for all those sports fanatics, as the XX Commonwealth Games are around the corner, only nine days after the completion of the thrilling FIFA World Cup finals. This particular edition of the Games has Glasgow, Scotland as the host city, and features 71 nations who will battle it out across 17 sports, in 261 medal events.

The 2010 Commonwealth Games – a resounding success for Indian athletes

The 2010 Commonwealth Games held in Delhi involved 21 sports and a total of 271 medal events, wherein India had a record participation of 495 athletes, and a record medal tally of 101 (which includes 38 gold, 27 silver, and 36 bronze). The country stood an impressive second behind Australia in the final medal standings, a phenomenon never seen before in India’s sporting history.

The Delhi Commonwealth Games have provided a rudimentary skeleton by which to work efficiently for these particular games, and this seems to have aided them in the allocation of resources for this year’s games.

The situation this year – how the Indian contingent has been portrayed by the authorities

This year, 224 athletes participating across 14 sporting disciples will represent India, which also includes seven para-athletes. There will also be a contingent of 85 support staff and 13 officials travelling to Glasgow. The budget which was presented to the Lok Sabha allocated an amount of Rs. 100 crores for sports, and Rajiv Mehta, the secretary general of the Indian Olympic Association, maintains that the Indian contingent seems to be a consistent one, which indicates that replicating or improving the medal tally of the previous games is possible, at least in theory.

Events like rugby sevens and netball will not see India representation, as the sports ministry has confirmed that neither is “a viable option for a medal or satisfactory performance”. Triathlon is another event which will not feature any Indian athlete.

The sports ministry of India has set the bar high, and expects at least a third position finish, with a higher medal tally than last time – 125. The Asian Games, in Incheon South Korea, which begins in September, is also expected to feature an improvement in performance, with an expected medal tally of 75, in comparison to last time’s 65.

Where the medals might come from in Glasgow

India’s athletic team of 41 members is the biggest squad, followed by 32 for hockey, including both men and women, and 30 shooters. The other events which will see significant Indian participation are swimming (4), badminton (10), boxing (11), cycling (13), gymnastics (7), lawn bowls (10), squash (6), table tennis (10) and weightlifting.

The medal prospects of India at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games are many, but here are some of the more notable names:

Wrestling – Sushil Kumar and Yogeshwar Dutt

Shooting – Abhinav Bindra, Vijay Kumar, Gagan Narang, Jitu Rai, Heena Sidhu and Manavjit Sandhu

Athletics – Vikas Gowda, Krishna Poonia, Mayookha Johnny and Tintu Luka

Badminton – Saina Nehwal, P V Sindhu, Ashwini Ponnappa and Jwala Gutta

Boxing – Vijender Singh, Shiv Thapa, Devendro Singh and Pinki Rani

Hockey – men’s and women’s teams

Gymnastics – Ashish Kumar

Cycling – Deborah

Squash – Saurav Ghosal, Dipika Pallikal and Joshana Chinappa

Weightlifting – K Ravi Kumar

The opportunities lost – events not featuring at the Games this year, and lower funding

This particular edition of the Commonwealth Games will not feature sports such as archery, tennis and Greco-Roman wrestling. In addition to this, the 44 medal events in shooting have now been reduced to 19, all of which might have significant effect on the final medal tally of India, as these were the events which contributed in a major way to the overall medal haul at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi (30 medals including 14 golds).

In addition, the funding for the athletics division has been on the lower side this time around. The sports ministry’s reluctance to support individual sports for the 2014 Commonwealth games and the Asiad is largely based on the performance that the athletes displayed at the London Olympics. The budget reserved for athletics has been reduced significantly from what was allocated for the 2010 Games. The laxness that the government seems to maintain regarding athletics is partly to do with the below-par performance of the athletes last year. So the 12 medals that India won in athletics in 2010 may also be significantly reduced this time around.

The big question – can India better its overall performance from 2010?

The latest developments around the Indian contingent include the appointment of foreign coaches for various sports, thus reinstating India’s desire to make its mark at this year’s games. Although the exclusion of a few events could prove disadvantageous to the total medal count, the shooting, hockey, badminton, boxing and wrestling stars could well replicate the feats from 2010 and earn as many, if not more, honours for the country.

The hockey team is fairly confident of a medal, while the badminton team can now boast of a legitimate world-beating group of players, marked by the rise of PV Sindhu. The shooting contingent remains as strong as ever, and the boxing and wrestling stars have consistently been winning laurels for the country.

However, the numbers may still not add up: with less shooting events and no archery or tennis, the tally of 125 medals predicted by the sports ministry sounds a little too ambitious. The improved strength in badminton, boxing and squash could counterbalance that to an extent, but expecting more than 100 medals might be stretching it a bit. As things stand, a tally close to or slightly greater than the 2010 count (i.e., 101) sounds like the most reasonable prediction.

All said and done, India will hope to make a significant mark in this edition of the Games, irrespective of whether it matches, exceeds or falls shorts of its 2010 performance. The Glasgow event will serve as a testing ground for bigger challenges including the Asian Games in later in September, and the Olympic Games in Rio in 2016, which makes it crucial to the legacy of many of India’s most celebrated athletes.