India’s phenomenal feats at the 2022
Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England
Mahadev Desai
England hosted the 2022 Commonwealth Games, commonly known as Birmingham
2022 in Birmingham, England. The international multi-sport event for members
of the Commonwealth of Nations took place 28 July to 8 August 2022. This
time, the event was the largest ever held, with 72 participating nations,
and the first one to have more events for women than men. At the spectacular
opening ceremony, at the Alexander Stadium on 28th July, 2022, which
included parades of athletes from the participating nations, joyful music
and dance performances and fireworks , Prince Charles, read the Queen's
message and officially opened the Games.
In addition to the ten core sports, athletics,
badminton, boxing, hockey, lawn bowls, netball (for women), rugby
sevens, squash, swimming and weightlifting — five new sports were integrated
into the core sports, viz., road cycling, judo , triathlon, table tennis,
and wrestling. Shooting was excluded but Women’s Cricket was included. From
India, a total of 215 athletes participated in 141 events across 19 sporting
disciplines. India bagged 22 Gold, 16 Silver and 23 Bronze medals in various
disciplines, and finished 4th in the Medal tally.
Notable and heartwarming Indian Performances:
In Lawn bowls, Women’s Team won the Gold Medal, while Men’s Team won a
Silver Medal. Avinash Sable won the 3,000-meter steeplechase, while Murali
Sreeshankar won Silver medal in long jump. Indian shuttlers won all the
three titles, while Sharath Kamal bagged his seventh gold in Table tennis.
As in Badminton, in table tennis too, India players put up a dazzling
performance winning seven medals in all. Priyanka Goswami won a silver and
made history by being the first-ever Indian woman to win a medal in 10,000
meters race walk. Annu Rani won a historic bronze in Javelin throw, while
Saurav Ghosal won a historic bronze in Squash. Team India participants did
very well in wrestling; weight lifting, and boxing; however, Men’s hockey
team ‘s loss 0-7 against formidable rivals Australia was very disappointing.
India Women’s Cricket Team performed well to reach the Finals but in a
nail-biting final, again against Australia, India lost by nine runs.
The Commonwealth Games 2022 came to an end with a dazzling closing ceremony
on Monday, August 8. During the ceremony, the athletes from the
participating countries cheerfully took a walk around the Alexander Stadium,
and the fans were treated to stellar music and dance performances from noted
artists; and also included the formal handover to the Australian state
of Victoria, host of the 2026 Commonwealth Games.
Please see the Table of India’s Medal Tally below
Prime Minister Narendra Modi felicitated the Indian contingent for the
Commonwealth Games (CWG) 2022 in New Delhi. The felicitation was attended by
both athletes and their coaches and also Union Minister for Youth Affairs &
Sports and Information & Broadcasting Anurag Singh Thakur and Minister of
State for Youth Affairs and Sports Nisith Pramanik.
The Prime Minister welcomed the athletes and coaches and expressed immense
pride in the accomplishments of India’s athletes at CWG 2022. The PM said,
inter alia, that it is a matter of pride that due to the splendid hard work
of the sportspersons, the country is entering into the Azadi ka Amrit Kaal
with an inspiring achievement.
He said that India has found a new way of winning in 4 new games as compared
to last time. From lawn bowls to athletics, the athletes have performed
phenomenally. With this performance, the trend of youth towards new sports
in the country is going to increase a lot, the Prime Minister said. The
Prime Minister also highlighted the achievements of the daughters of India
in boxing, judo, wrestling and their domination in the CWG 2022. He said 31
medals came from the players who were making their debut indicating the
growing confidence of the youth.
The Prime Minister said that the athletes have strengthened the resolve of
‘Ek Bharat Shrestha Bharat’ not just by gifting a medal to the country, but
also by giving the opportunity to celebrate and to be proud. The Prime
Minister added the athletes inspire the youth of the country to do better
not only in sports but also in other sectors.
The Prime Minister expressed happiness upon the players who emerged out of
the Khelo India stage and had done extremely well on the international
stage. He also mentioned the positive effect of TOPS (Target Olympic Podium
Scheme) which was now being seen. The Prime Minister highlighted the need to
intensify our efforts to discover new talent and take them to the podium.
“We have a responsibility to create a sports ecosystem that is globally
excellent, inclusive, diverse and dynamic. No talent should be left behind”,
he stressed. The Prime Minister also acknowledged the role of coaches,
sports administrators and support staff in the success of the players.
Modi ji concluded his address by congratulating the athletes on their ‘Vijay
Yatra’ and wished them the very best for future endeavors.
The closing ceremony took place on 8 August 2022 at Alexander Stadium, and
included the formal handover to the Australian state of Victoria, host of
the 2026 Commonwealth Games.
My Salute to TEAM INDIA, JAI BHARAT !
