IOA declares 322-strong Indian contingent for Birmingham Commonwealth Games

The Indian Olympic Association on Saturday announced a 322-strong contingent including 215 athletes and 107 officials and support staff for the upcoming Birmingham Commonwealth Games.

The Games are scheduled to be held in British city from July 28 to August 8, and the India contingent will look to improve upon its Gold Coast 2018 CWG performance, where it finished third behind traditional powerhouses Australia and England.

Sharing his thoughts, IOA secretary general Rajeev Mehta said, "We are sending one of our strongest squads ever to the CWG and even with a strength sport for us like shooting not being there, we are confident of bettering our performance from the last edition.

"Make no mistake, the competition will be world class and fierce but our athletes have prepared well and are fit and raring to go. We wish them all the very best."

The Games-bound Indian athletes and officials will be staying at five different "Villages" with the women's cricket team being put up in a separate facility in the Birmingham city centre.

In a press release issued by the IOA, the apex sports body's top office-bearer thanked the government for its support to the athletes and federations.

Mehta said, "It needs to be said that the Government of India led by the Hon. Prime Minister have provided unprecedented support to Olympic sports in recent years and our best ever performance at the Olympic Games stand testimony to that.

"We remain ever grateful for the same and are sure our athletes will ensure that rich rewards are reaped for the untiring efforts put in by them, most of all the Union Sports Ministry and the Sports Authority of India."

Some prominent names in the squad include Olympic medallists Neeraj Chopra, PV Sindhu, Mirabai Chanu, Lovlina Borgohain, Bajrang Punia and Ravi Kumar Dahiya.

Defending CWG champions Manika Batra, Vinesh Phogat as well as 2018 Asian Games gold medallists Tajinderpal Singh Toor, Hima Das and Amit Panghal are also part of the contingent.

Rajesh Bhandari, vice president of Boxing Federation of India (BFI), is the Chef de Mission of the squad.

Team India will compete in 15 sporting disciplines as well as four disciplines in the para sports category.

Some of the disciplines where India look to perform well include traditionally strong sports like boxing, badminton, hockey, weightlifting, women's cricket (making its debut at the CWG) and wrestling.

The Indian squads in athletics, cycling, swimming and table tennis are also strong and primed up for the challenge.

Various members of the squad have already reached Birmingham over the past few days, depending on their training regimes laid out by their respective coaches.

Some members are competing at various global tournaments and would reach the venue directly while the rest of the contingent will leave from New Delhi.

The CWG village will officially open its doors to contingents on July 23.