NEW DELHI: In a serious blow to India’s medal probabilities on the Commonwealth Video games, the organisers of the 2026 version of the multisport occasion in Glasgow on Monday confirmed the exclusion of hockey, badminton, desk tennis, capturing and wrestling amongst outstanding sports activities from the Video games’ programme. Girls’s cricket – which had made its debut in a T20 format in 2022 Birmingham CWG the place India gained silver after shedding the ultimate to Australia – and squash have additionally been dropped.
The Birmingham version had featured 19 sports activities. For Glasgow, simply 10 sports activities disciplines have been picked – athletics and para-athletics (observe & discipline), swimming and para-swimming, inventive gymnastics, observe biking and para observe biking, netball, weightlifting and para powerlifting, boxing, judo, bowls and para bowls and 3×3 basketball and 3×3 wheelchair basketball.
On the 2022 CWG, India had gained 61 medals, together with 22 gold. Wrestling (12), weightlifting (10), athletics (8), boxing and desk tennis (7 every) contributed essentially the most to the general tally.
The twenty third version of the CWG will happen in Scotland from July 23 to Aug 2, returning to the town 12 years after the profitable conduct of the 2014 version. The Video games will happen throughout 4 venues – Scotstoun stadium, Tollcross Worldwide swimming centre, Emirates area – together with the Sir Chris Hoy velodrome, and the Scottish Occasion Campus (SEC). Athletes and assist workers can be housed in lodge lodging.
The Australian state of Victoria was initially scheduled to host the 2026 CWG however it pulled out attributable to a major enhance within the projected prices. In consequence, the Victorian authorities needed to pay a compensation of 380 million Australian {dollars} (roughly $256 million) to the Commonwealth Video games Federation (CGF). Glasgow later agreed to host a “scaled down” Video games.
Hockey remained part of the CWG since 1998 and India have been the second-best group in CWG historical past with the women and men’s groups securing six medals – together with one gold, 4 silver and a bronze. In Birmingham, Indian males completed second whereas the ladies settled for bronze.
The nation has historically been a powerhouse in capturing occasions on the CWG bagging 135 medals, together with 63 gold over all editions. Although there was no capturing in Birmingham CWG, within the earlier version in 2018, India had a wealthy haul – 17 medals, essentially the most by any nation in that version. It included 4 gold, 9 silver and 4 bronze.
India will miss out on wrestling as they’ve been a dominating drive on the Video games through the years. The nation has gained 114 medals in wrestling within the Video games to date with 49 gold, 39 silver and 26 bronze. Their tally included 12 medals from the Birmingham CWG which included six gold.
In badminton, India gained a exceptional six medals in Birmingham, together with three gold: PV Sindhu in ladies’s singles, Lakshya Sen in males’s singles and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty in males’s doubles. India’s efficiency in badminton on the earlier CWG version was historic because the nation topped the rankings desk for the primary time, forward of Malaysia and England.
Desk Tennis was launched in CWG in 2002. Since then, India have gained medals within the sport in each version. The nation has a complete of 20 medals in TT on the quadrennial occasion.
Throughout CGF president Chris Jenkins and CGF CEO Katie Sadleir’s latest go to to India final month, the government had lodged a powerful protest over the proposed exclusion of outstanding sports activities from the Glasgow Video games programme.
