India’s largest ever contingent at the 2022 Commonwealth Games returned with an impressive 61-medal tally. Now that we have a day to think, the post-mortem may actually begin.
Here’s how ESPN rated the performance of India’s sports contingent in Birmingham:
Athletics – Grade: A
38 athletes, 8 medals – India’s best medal tally in Commonwealth Games in athletics since the 2010 edition in Delhi. Avinash Sable’s silver medal went viral; Aldhos Paul and Abdullah Abubakar gave us the rare sight of a double podium for India in athletics; Murali Sreeshankar and Tejaswin Shankar jumped taller and higher in the Birmingham night sky – a memorable game for India’s athletic contingent. *And he did it without Neeraj Chopra*
tl; Doctor: More than expected.
Read more: Accountant and now CWG medalist: Tejaswin Shankar wins bronze after winning big fight to reach Birmingham
Badminton – Grade: B
India won one medal in every badminton event except mixed doubles, and while the medals were similar in number compared to 2018 (6), this time there were more gold medals (3 gold, 1 silver, 2 bronze) on offer. PV Sindhu, Lakshya Sen and Saitwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty made their way to the top of the podium with little ruckus, making the silver medal in the mixed team event even more disappointing. The 19-year-olds Trisa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand won a scintillating bronze medal which may be a sign of things to come.
Nevertheless, with the absence of most of the top countries/players from the BWF Tour at the Commonwealth Games, this is probably the minimum that can be expected of a team that has enhanced its prestige prior to the Games.
tl; Doctor: To be Asha Puri
Boxing – Grade: B-
Three of the four women in the twelve-man boxing contingent returned with medals, with Olympic medalist Lovlina Borgohain looking hopelessly and worryingly rusty. Nikhat Zareen, Neetu Ghanghas and Amit Panghal underlined their reputation with gold, while Sagar Ahlawat is arguably the boxing discovery of these sports, having taken to the sport only five years ago. The race for seven medals is down from 2018’s nine, but a reasonable return nonetheless.
tl; Doctor: To be Asha Puri almost.
Read more: Nikhat Zareen is a champion: of world, Commonwealth Games and her own place
Cricket – Grade: A-
There’s no point in re-living this heartbreaking finale, though for those of you masochists, here’s the report. The Australian bogey of the Indian women’s cricket team continued, but a silver medal is still a solid comeback, which is expected to improve the future of the often neglected women’s cricket landscape in India. Fingers crossed, anyway.
tl; Doctor: More than expected. right now.
Cycling – Grade: B
India’s cycling contingent didn’t expect much from the pre-games, and not much would be expected after the games. As harsh as it sounds, even reaching the finals of most events proved difficult for 13 cyclists, which is worrying. El Ronaldo Singh and David Beckham will be disappointed that they return with Indian audiences knowing them more for the novelty of their names and not their feats.
tl; Doctor: There were no expectations.
Gymnastics – Grade: B
See cycling above. Although some very beautiful pictures of her.
tl; Doctor: There were no expectations.
Hockey – Grade: A-
Oh boy where do we begin? Dramatic firing controversy for women’s side against Australia that left Savita Punia in tears? Or a day later Shootout Redemption, which left Savita Punia in tears, happy this time. This is the first medal for the women’s side in ages, and is very well deserved.
The men’s side continued its upward progress following the Tokyo Olympics and the FIH Pro League campaign, as the days went by… a more cohesive outfit appeared before racing to Australia (again). They were knocked out in the final, and that silver, while impressive, looks a bit more silver than it is.
tl; Doctor: More than expected.
Read more: India won hockey bronze, Savita Punia rocked the shootout bogey
Judo – Grade: A-
Catch, kick, ippen. Most of Shusheela Devi Lickambam’s matches went on like this till the final. She had come for the gold and returned with the silver – even at the medal ceremony she had a mark of pain on her face. Tulika Mann had said similar things even after the silver medal, but was impressed with her Commonwealth Games debut. With Vijay Kumar Yadav’s bronze, it is medal shy of 2014’s comeback (2 silver, 2 bronze; Judo was not in 2018), but Indian judokas should be happy with their overall performance.
tl; Doctor: More than expected. little.
Lawn Bowl – Grade: A+
Lovely Choubey, Pinky, Nayanmoni Saikia and Roopa Rani Tirkey – names burned in the memory of a nation as the quartet earned the most unexpected gold medals in women’s fours. The men’s fours team of Sunil Bahadur, Navneet Singh, Chandan Kumar Singh and Dinesh Kumar also earned silver later.
From afterthought to thrilling India in the memorable final that had the most scramble for the rule book – it was absolutely spectacular.
tl; Doctor: There were no expectations. Very wonderful
Read more: Bowling to them: Fab four rip up conservatism as India clinch historic medals
Squash – Grade: B
Saurav Ghosal became India’s best male squash player ever to earn the country’s first singles CWG medal after a long, long career. It’s no wonder he was overcome with emotion, and his bronze with Dipika Pallikal Karthik (returning to the sport after giving birth) only underlined his legend. Joshna Chinappa will be disappointed to return empty-handed after raising hopes with a doubles gold at the Worlds earlier this year.
tl; Doctor: Some exceeded expectations. Some fell short.
Swimming – Grade: B-
Srihari Nataraja raised his prestige several times in the final – not usually the case for India. The rest of the team fought as expected, but still made a good fist.
tl; Doctor: To be Asha Puri
Table Tennis – Grade: B+
Achanta Sharath Kamal. 40 years old youth. Legend of the Commonwealth Games. Won medals in every event in which he was involved. At the other end we have Manika Batra, who returned empty handed after her heroism in 2018 – what a difference four years make. G Sathiyan, Sanil Shetty, Harmeet Desai and Sreeja Akula were also involved as the Indian table tennis contingent was brought in a rich run of medals, although it was not the most intimidating field in China’s absence.
Bhavna Patel and Sonal Patel created another double podium for India in Para Table Tennis.
tl; Doctor: Would have been a lower grade but Bhavina’s Para TT Heroes took it up a notch.
Read more: Sharath Kamal in numbers – Indian Table Tennis Goat
Triathlon – Grade: C
India’s four-man strong triathlon contingent was all making its Commonwealth Games debut, which also included 16-year-old Sanjana Joshi. There were dim hopes of Pragya Mohan pulling off a surprise, but overall, the quartet didn’t move the needle.
tl; Doctor: lack of expectations.
Lifting – Grade: B+
Mirabai Chanu’s smile, Jeremy Lalrinnunga’s coming-of-age moment, Achinta Shuli’s inspiring path to gold, Sanket Sargar injured to earn silver on debut – India’s 15-man strong weightlifting contingent won 10 medals (1 from 2018) better), while Sudhir also earned gold in Para Powerlifting. Still, in the absence of East-European giants and China, it was the expected return.
tl; Doctor: do you even lift? Yes very well. To be Asha Puri
Read more: It was Mirabai vs Mirabai, and there can be only one winner
Wrestling – Grade: A-
12 wrestlers, 12 medals. One could argue that it was difficult for Indian wrestlers to make it to the Games at the national trials. Still, one can only beat what is in front of them, and Bajrang Punia, Vinesh Phogat, Ravi Kumar Dahiya, Deepak Punia, Sakshi Malik and Naveen Malik had little trouble rolling onto the mat, rendering their opponents and in seconds. Had some trouble winning gold. ,
tl; Doctor: More than expected. Met him if expectations were high to begin with.