Commonwealth Games 2022 Day 8: India Medal Contenders to Watch

India's hope lies on the women's hockey team and freestyle wrestlers to bag some more medals on the eighth day of CWG 2022 Birmingham. Bajrang Punia, Deepak Punia enters quarterfinals on Day 8.

Indian athletes exhibited extraordinary sportsmanship in the past week, taking their medal tally to 20. Till now, India has won 6 gold, 7 silver and 7 bronze medals. While Weightlifting was India’s strongest point, there are no medals in wrestling and hockey in CWG 2022.

India won two medals on Day 7 as Sudhir bagged gold in para-powerlifting, whereas Murali Sreeshankar bought the much-needed silver in men’s long jump. Hima Das was another big name who made it to the semi-finals of the 200-metre race.

Also Read: CWG 2022 Day 7 Highlights: Sudhir, Sreeshankar shine with historic medals

Day 8 of the Commonwealth games will have one medal match, which is India vs Australia semi-final in women’s hockey. However, some big names in Freestyle wrestling could be some of the biggest contenders for Day 8.

Indian Hockey Team – Women’s Semi-final

India would be facing Australia in the semi-final after a marginal win against Canada by 3-2. If they win tonight, they’ll be one step away from winning gold.

Australia dominated Pool B after winning each of their four matches. They scored 16 goals and conceded none at the group stage. Also, the Indian Women’s Hockey team secured fourth place in the Tokyo Olympics and has managed to perform consistently.

Also, India won three and lost four matches and stayed in the second position in Pool A. So, there are high chances of coming with a medal. If they win the semi-final, they will secure a medal. Otherwise, they might have to fight for the bronze medal.

India Team - Men's Freestyle Wrestling

There will be three categories in Men’s freestyle wrestling. While Bajrang Punia has already stormed into the quarterfinals in Men’s 65kg category, we can expect an exemplary performance from Deepak Punia and Mohit Grewal in the 86kg and 125kg categories respectively. 

Also, Ravi Kumar Dahiya is another contender in the 57kg category but he will fight on August 6, 2022.

India Team - Women's Freestyle Wrestling 

Women’s freestyle wrestling will have three categories: 57kg,62kg and 68kg. Sakshi Malik will be competing in the 62kg category at CWG 2022. She recently won gold at the UWW Ranking series in Kazakhstan making her a strong contender for a medal. Besides, Anshu Malik will participate in the women’s freestyle 57kg category.

Other than that, Divya Kakran will be seen fighting in the 68kg category. The bronze-medal winner of the 18th Asian Games and CWG would be looking to add some more medals to her account.