CWG 2022: 10 Indian stars to watch out for at Birmingham Commonwealth Games

In absence of the shooters, here are the top ten individual sportspersons from India who are going to be the showstoppers at Birmingham 2022. The list obviously includes Neeraj Chopra

With each passing day, the curiosity, as well as the hopes of the Indian sports fans, is increasing for the upcoming Commonwealth Games. The 25th edition of the prestigious event will be held in Birmingham, England. 

 

India, which finished third in the last edition at Gold Coast, Australia, in 2018 with 26 gold medals, would be looking to improve its showing. However, its biggest medal-earning sport, shooting, has been removed for this edition of the games. 

 

So, in the absence of the Shooters, here are the top 10 individual sportspersons from India who will be the showstoppers at Birmingham 2022. 

 

1 Neeraj Chopra

 

The name needs no introduction now. Right after Neeraj became the first Indian to win an Olympic medal and that too gold in Athletics, he became a household name in the world's second most populous nation. He was in ads, interviews, billboards and where not. 

 

Even after all the fame, the focus of the Haryana-born, Indian Army-trained athlete remained on his sport. Since the Olympics, he has already improved upon his national record.

 

The 24-year-old has won three medals (two silvers and a gold) in three events he has participated in since Tokyo 2020. He is currently participating in his first-ever World Athletics Championships in Oregon, US. Having won gold at Gold Coast, he is expected to win gold once again at the Commonwealth Games. 

 

2 PV Sindhu 

 

Indian badminton's flag bearer in the world, PV Sindhu, has remained consistent after her Olympics bronze-winning performance at Tokyo 2020. Since then, she has won a bronze at Asian Championships 2021, made it to the Quarterfinal at World Championships 2021 and won the Swiss Open and Singapore Open in 2022. 

 

3 Lakshya Sen

 

An up-and-coming sensation in Badminton, Lakshya Sen has had a glorious last year. He has been in the final of the All England Championships 2022, where he lost to Denmark's Viktor Axelsen. He reached the semi-final of the World Championships 2021, where he lost to fellow Indian Kidmabi Srikanth. Sen was also part of the historic Indian side, which recently won the Thomas Cup 2022. 

 

Sen was chosen over the much-experienced Srikanth in this list because the Uttrakahand-born has beaten two of India's toughest competitors in the upcoming event. He beat Singapore's Loh Kean Yew (India Open 2022 final) and Malaysia's Lee Zii Jia (World Championships 2022 semi-final), while Srikanth has been beaten by both recently. 

 

4 Nikhat Zareen

 

Nikhat Zareen's has been the biggest rags-to-riches story recently to come out of India. Representing India in the flyweight category, the woman from Telangana has wings and flown herself from the humble background of Nizamabad to become Adidas' brand ambassador in India. 

 

Zareen, who has won back-to-back gold medals at prestigious tournaments like the Strandja Memorial Boxing Tournament and the IBA Women's World Boxing Championships in 2022, has a lot of hopes riding on her to win Gold at Birmingham 2022. 

 

5 Amit Panghal

 

Amit Panghal was considered the next big thing in Indian Men's boxing after he became the first Indian to win a silver medal at the World Boxing Championships in 2019 in the Flyweight category. He carried that form till 2021 and qualified for the Tokyo Olympics 2020 [2021] as world number one. However, after a first-round loss, the dreams of both Panghal and his fans came crashing down. 

 

Now, heading into another multi-sport event, Panghal has been pinned to do well, and if learning from mistakes is an art, he would have to master it to succeed. 

 

6 Saurav Ghosal

 

Silver medalist in mixed doubles from the Gold Coast edition of the Commonwealth Games in 2018, Sourav Ghosal looks in great touch for the 2022 edition of the games. He recently won the Mixed Doubles gold in World Squash Doubles Championship held in Glasgow, Scotland, early this year. 

 

In 2019, the veteran player from Bengal also won Gold at Asian Individual Championships. At the dawn of his career at 35, the Indian legend would want nothing less than a grand finish at one of his favourite sporting events. 

 

7 Manika Batra

 

With four medals around her neck, which included two golds, a silver and a bronze, India's Manika Batra was one of the most decorated athletes of the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games in 2018. Since then, she has kept on improving. 

 

In the Asian Games 2018, held in Jakarta-Palembang in Indonesia, only months after the Gold Coast CWG, the pairing of Batra and Achanta Sharath Kamal beat third seed South Korean pair in the round of 16 and then an experienced North Korean pair in the quarterfinals to win India's first ever medal in Table Tennis. In the semi-final, the Indian team went down, fighting against the Chinese. 

 

Batra, ranked 41, has slipped a bit due to a loss of form in 2022. However, she is only behind Singapore's Feng Tianwei among players from Commonwealth nations and therefore packs a punch to complete a double of gold medals individually. 

 

8 Saikhom Mirabai Chanu

 

Saikhom Mirabai Chanu, the poster girl of Indian weightlifting, has had a brilliant career. In her two Commonwealth Games appearances, she won a silver at Glasgow 2014 and a gold at Gold Coast 2018. Now appearing in her third CWG, the Manipuri will be pumped up with her Olympics silver won at Tokyo 2020 and would want nothing less than gold to complete the treble of CWG medals. 

 

9 Ravi Kumar Dahiya

 

Wrestling has been a medal-winning event for India since its re-introduction in the Commonwealth Games in 2010. In 2014, though India was not able to win the highest number of gold medals, it still won the most medals (13 vs Canada's 12). In the last edition, India won a medal in each category. 

 

Ravi Kumar Dahiya, the silver medalist from Tokyo Olympics, will be participating in his first Commonwealth Games and being ranked number one among all competitors from the Commonwealth; he would want nothing less than the Gold at Birmingham 2022. 

 

10 Bajrang Punia

 

One of the best to touch the wrestling mat in India, Bajrang Punia has nothing else to prove to the world. Bronze winner at Tokyo 2020, three-time World Championships medalist, two times Asian Games medal winner and two times Commonwealth Games medalist, Punia has seen everything there to be seen. 

 

Yet, there are things he would love to achieve- a gold at World Championships and a gold at Olympics. Between the preparation for these two targets, the Haryana lad has got an opportunity to add another medal to his country's and his own Commonwealth Games tally. 

 

Thus when the 28-year-old would touch the mat at Birmingham 2022, India would want nothing less than the yellow metal around his neck after all his bouts have ended.