Indians aiming for their best Games haul

NEW DELHI - Having trained hard over a year in each of the 17 disciplines at the Commonwealth Games, India’s 619-member athletic contingent are now all keyed up to bag a good share of the 829 medals up for grabs in the biggest international meet held in the country after the 1982 Asian Games.

India’s billion plus population would be keenly watching the performance of the home athletes - 379 men and 240 women - who promise to erase the bad memories of all the controversies and adverse publicity associated with tardy preparations for the Games.

So far, India’s best Commonwealth Games performance was in Manchester (2002), when they picked up a rich haul of 69 medals comprising 30 gold, 22 silver and 17 bronze to occupy the fourth position after Australia, England and Canada.

The medal count came down to 49 four years ago at Melbourne (2006), with 22 gold, 17 silver and 10 bronze but India was still in the fourth position.

With India hosting its first Commonwealth Games, the country’s sports chiefs have set a target of moving up to at least the “third position” by getting over 100 medals, but the task is anything but easy considering the tough field in many of the disciplines despite a few pullouts.

However, on current form, a medal bounty is expected from shooting, badminton, archery, tennis, weightlifting and wrestling.

In shooting, the Indians are a force to reckon with in the international arena.

The 28-member shooting team includes 2004 Athens Olympics silver medallist double-trap shooter Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore and Beijing Olympics gold winner Abhinav Bindra, besides other top class compeitors like Gagan Narang, Ronjan Sodhi, Manavjit Singh Sandhu, Samaresh Jung and the latest sensation and India’s first woman world champion, Tejaswini Sawant.

At the Melbourne Games, Indian shooters had won 27 medals, including 16 golds. Pistol shooter Jung, with five golds, was adjudged the best athlete.

The shooters did even better in the Commonwealth Shooting Championships at the Karni Singh Shooting Range in Delhi in February, bagging 35 gold, 25 silver and 14 bronze for an overall tally of 74.

Indian wrestlers have a good record at the Commonwealth Games, and the discipline, which was not part of the Melbourne Games, is expected to boost India’s medal tally in the Games.

However, in a setback, four grapplers in the squad had tested positive for a banned substance methylhexaneamine and had to be dropped.

However, Sushil Kumar’s s world title in Moscow has lifted the morale of the 21 wrestlers, who are all geared up to target at least 13-14 gold medals from the 21 weight categories.

The Indian lifters are also expecting 14 medals that could give a big push to the country’s prospects in the competition. Nine medals had come at the Melbourne Games.

In tennis, India’s chances of winning gold medals in the men’s and women’s singles have brightened with top stars from Australia, England, Scotland and Canada deciding to skip the competition.

Somdev Devvarman is the men’s singles top seed while Sania Mirza is the second seed in the women’s singles.

In the men’s doubles, the famed pair of Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi are top seeds while Rohan Boppana and Somdev are second seeds. Sania and Paes are the second seeds in the mixed doubles.

In boxing, spearheaded by the likes of Vijender Singh (75 kg) and Akhil Kumar (56 kg), the pugilists have raised expectations of a good showing at the Games where 40 medals, including 10 golds, are at stake.

Vijender, a popular draw for his powerful punches as also his good looks, had won a bronze at the Beijing Olympics.

At the Melbourne Commonwealth Games, India won one gold (Akhil), two silvers (Vijender, Harpreet Singh) and two bronzes (Jitender, Varghese Johnson).

After spectacular performances in top-rated tourneys like the World Cup, the Indian archers are hoping to rain a good number of medals, including golds, in an event that returns to the Commonwealth Games after a 28-year hiatus.

Of the 24 medals, including eight gold, that are up for grabs, the hosts are expecting between 12 and 16, mainly from the recurve bow section where Indian archers tower over the rest in rankings.

Up against some top guns of world hockey, the Indian men’s team faces a tough challenge and a medal could be hard to come by. This is largely because seven of the world’s top 10 teams are part of the competition.

In table tennis, the Indian men’s team are the favourites and world No. 41 Sharath Kamal has an enormous task to ensure a team gold, as also the singles title.

In badminton, world number three Saina Nehwal is a strong contender for the women’s singles gold, while the mixed doubles pair of Jwala Gutta and V. Diju, along with the men’s pair of rupesh Kumar and

Sanave Thomas, are expected to finish on the podium.

In the mixed team event, India had won a bronze at Melbourne and look good for a medal in Delhi.

(Sirshendu Panth can be contacted at s.panth@ians.in)