The Indian Olympic Association [IOA] on Saturday announced a 322-member Indian squad including 215 athletes and 107 officials and support staff, for the 2022 Commonwealth Games scheduled in Birmingham from July 28 to August 8, 2022.
Some prominent names in the squad besides Neeraj Chopra include the likes of Olympic medallists P. V. Sindhu, Mirabai Chanu, Lovlina Borgohain, Bajrang Punia & Ravi Kumar Dahiya. Defending CWG champions Manika Batra, Vinesh Phogat as well as Hima Das & Amit Panghal.
Mr. Rajesh Bhandari, Vice President, Boxing Federation of India [BFI], has been appointed 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 disciplines like Boxing, Badminton, Hockey, Weightlifting, Women’s Cricket [making its debut at the CWG] and Wrestling.
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 at various stages over the past few days, depending on their training regimes laid out by their respective coaches. Some members are competing at various global locations and would reach the venue directly while the rest of the contingent will leave from New Delhi.
Team India will look to improve upon its Gold Coast 2018 CWG performance, where it finished third behind traditional powerhouses Australia and England.
