Commonwealth Games 2014: 10 most remarkable Indian medal winners

After 11 days of non-stop sports action, the 2014 Commonwealth Games ended with a colourful closing ceremony. 215 Indian athletes from 14 sporting disciplines participated in order to get medals in their respective disciplines. However, the country managed to get only 64 medals this time with 15 gold medals, which is way behind what they achieved four years ago in Delhi. In 2010 India won 101 medals in total, including 38 gold medals, enabling it to finish the Games at second position behind Australia. For the first time in the history of the Games, India had won over 100 medals in total. That said, it is better for us to not compare the performances of 2010 and 2014 as India was the host nation of the 2010 edition of the games.How are the performances ranked?There are no criteria or algorithms by which we can judge the performances. The best way to judge is to check how the athletes delivered in crunch situations. We also need to see how tough the competition was, how many hurdles he/she overcame during the performance, whether he/she created any records during the journey to get the medal, what the conditions were like, what his/her seeding was, and whether he/she beat a player ranked above him/her in order to win. For example, Jitu Rai is currently ranked World No. 1 in the 50m pistol category. So it was not a surprise to watch him getting the gold medal. But in that same event, Gurpal Singh won the silver medal which was a terrific performance by the Indian shooter as he was not an expected medal prospect for India.Similarly, all the 15 gold medals cannot be judged as the most notable performances because in many events the competition was not so tough, especially in wrestling, where India dominated the medals tally.So according to the above listed criteria, here are the 10 best Indian performances at CWG 2014.

#10 Vikas Gowda Gold Medal, Mens Discus Throw

Vikasdid not face too many difficulties to win this medal. He is currently ranked8th in world ranking. He reached the finals after his first throw of 64.32 m. However, his best throw was 63.64m in the finals, which came during his third attempt.

He became the first gold medalist from India in men's athletics in 56 years.

#9 Mens Hockey team Silver Medal

Before the Common wealth games, no one had ever thought that this Indian team could make it into the finals. After their recent performance at World Cup where they finished in9th place, they prepared themselves for this tournament under Chief coach Terry Walsh.

They played exceptionally well in the semi finalagainst New Zealand beating them 3-2. They couldnot replicate the same performance in the finals against Australia. It was nevertheless a great achievement after the World cup debacle.

#8 K. Ravi Kumar Silver Medal, Mens Weightlifting 77 kg

Four years ago at CWG Delhi, Ravi Kumar was the lone Indian male weightlifter who won a gold medal with the CWG record in 69 kg category. But for this time he was not even a medal prospect for India as he switched his class to 77 kg.

In Weightlifting, 8 kg is a massive difference in order to achieve the same feat. He also had surgery on his shoulder few months ago. No one imagined that he will finish in top 3. But he crossed all the hurdles and might have won the gold medal if the other Indian weightlifter Sathish Sivalingam was not there.

This was one of the most memorable performances in Indian Weightlifting history where two Indians battled each other in order to get the gold medal. At last Sathish won the yellow medal with the games record, and Ravi Kumar settled for silver.

#7 Arpinder Singh Bronze Medal, Mens Triple Jump

Many people may laugh at this award, but the obvious truth is that an Indian athlete won a medal in the field events. Truth to be told athletics and swimming are the two events where Indians never expect any medals from the athletes. However, the Indian athletics team was hoping for a medal from Arpinder after he leapt a brilliant 17.17m in June.

In the final he lived up to the expectations by winning a bronze with a best jump of 16.63m. He gave India its third medal in athletics.

#6 Dipika Pallikal and Joshna Chinappa - Gold Medal, Women\'s doubles squash

They were seeded fifth and no one expecteda medal from them. The only expectation from them was to play in the semi finals and if possible they could win the bronze medal. But these girls had other ideas. The way they played in the semi final against Australia was simply incredible.

In finals, they were untouchable and beat the English pair 11-6, 11-8 to clinch the gold medal.

#5 Sushil Kumar Gold Medal, Mens Wrestling 74kg

Any surprises?

New events and new opponents always create big problems for every athlete in every sport. Sushil Kumar switched his category from 66 kg to 74 kg. He won the silver medal at the International Freestyle Championship in Sassari a few months ago.

Apart from the semi final bout against the Nigerian grappler, he did not have much trouble at the games. He totally outplayed Pakistani wrestler Abbas in the finals, which he finished under 2 minutes. So he delivered when India required a strong performance from him.

#4 Apurvi Chandela Gold Medal, Womens 10m air rifle

This 21 year old female shooter from Rajasthan became a nation-wide sensation after she won the gold medal in 10m air rifle event. She was influenced by the performance of Abhinav Bindra when he won the gold medal at the 2008 Olympics game and took up shooting. At CWG 2014, both Bindra and Chandela were participating in 10m air rifle event. On 25th July Bindra won the first shooting gold medal for India. The very next day Apurvi won the gold medal with a CWG record.

She was not a top medal contender for India as her world ranking was 17 at that moment. By the way, the other Indian shooter Ayonika Paul was the top medal prospects for India at this category as she was ranked 8 in the world. But she beat Ayonika in an exciting final.

Apurvi scored 415.6 points in qualifying and led in the finals right from the start and shot 206.7 to clinch the yellow medal.

#3 Dipa Karmakar Bronze Medal, Womens Gymnastics (Vault)

Dipa Karmakar became the first Indian woman and the second person from the country to clinch a historic bronze medal in artistic gymnastics.

England's Claudia Fragapane won the gold with an average score of 14.633 while Canada's Elsabeth Black took home the silver with 14.433.

Agartala-born Dipa got the bronze with an average score of 14.366. The 20-year-old had scored a mere 13.633 points in Vault 1, the lowest out of eight competitors in the final. However, in a remarkable comeback, Dipa scored the highest in Vault 2 with 15.100 to bring up her average to 14.366.

#2 Abhinav Bindra Gold Medal, Mens 10m air rifle

Before this medal, the golden boy from India had everything in his pocket. He had already won the gold medal at world championships and the Olympic gold medal in an individual event.

He was never able to win an individual gold medal at CWG. In 2010, he got the silver medal. Before this CWG, he had announced that this is going to be his last performance in CWG. So he was desperate to win a gold medal for the last time.

He was under tremendous pressure in the qualifications. Things looked more complicated when he finished at the third position in the qualifiers. But he kept his nerves in the final and won the gold medal with a final games record score of 205.3, and proved himself that still he is the best medal prospect for India at 2016 Rio Olympics.

#1 Parupalli Kashyap Gold Medal, Badminton Mens Singles

We never come close to winning a gold medal in Olympics or Asian games or theWorld championships. The obvious reason is the Chinese dominance in this sport. They are not part of the Commonwealth and hence did not feature in the CWG. When PV Sindhu lost hersemi final match, many Indian had never imagined about a gold medal from Indian shuttlers.

Kashyap was not the top seed so we were not expecting too much from him. In the semifinal, after losing the first gamehe came out to win the next two games to reach the finals. Similarly in the final match he came from behind in the deciding game and won the game 21-19. At27, he becamesecond Indian to clincha gold in CWG after Syed Modi in 1982.