Common Wealth Games 2022: India Sending 215-Member Contingent

On Thursday, India announced that it was sending a 215-member contingent, covering 16 disciplines, for the Commonwealth Games beginning on 28 July in Birmingham.

At the Send-off Ceremony for the Common Wealth Games (CWG) bound athletes, IOA acting president Anil Khanna called it a 'gender-neutral contingent' with 108 men and 107 women being part of the touring party. Neeraj Chopra will be India's flag-bearer at the opening ceremony.

The biggest contingent is in athletics and hockey with 36 applicants in each discipline.

India will also take part in women's cricket, which is making its CWG debut, aquatics, badminton, table tennis, boxing, cycling, gymnastics, triathlon, wrestling, weightlifting, lawn bowls, squash, judo and Para sports.

As of now, India won only 28 medals in Common Wealth Games. The world championship medal-winning long jumper Anju Bobby George is expecting a rich haul of at least seven medals this time.

"We have about 13 athletes who could be in the medals bracket for the second and third position but we are expecting seven medals at least across javelin, long jump, triple jump and discus," Anju Bobby said.

World champion Nikhat Zareen from Telangana is also expecting to win a record haul of four golds from the Indian boxing contingent at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games.

IOA secretary general Rajeev Mehta announced that IOA will be rewarding CWG gold medallists with Rs 20 lakh, Rs 10 lakh for silver medallists and Rs 7.5 lakh for the bronze winners.

The send-off ceremony was attended by Sports Minister Anurag Thakur, who also reviewed India's preparations for CWG in a Mission Olympic Cell meeting held before the function.

Sports Minister @ianuragthakur reviews India’s preparedness for #CommonwealthGames2022 says momentum of training and competition enhanced post Olympics.

Read more: https://t.co/rqXxIUi230 @Media_SAI @YASMinistry @tapasjournalist pic.twitter.com/Bg0t0f3ea9
— DD News (@DDNewslive) July 7, 2022