Kolkata: India with 126 athletes are all set to battle out for medals in Glasgow Commonwealth Games 2026 starting from July 23.
Team India has high hopes from their medal prospects like Neeraj Chopra, Mirabai Chanu and so on. Also, India are next hosts in 2030 Commonwealth Games at Ahmedabad.
However, this edition is not the one Indians would dream for, as, major medal heavy sports for them are excluded. India won record 61 medals in Birmingham (2022) might likely see a decrease in Medal tally this edition as their strengths like Cricket, Hockey, Shooting, Wrestling, Badminton, etc are missing, hence, big names like PV Sindhu, Indian Hockey Team captain Harmanpreet Singh, Cricket team, Manu Bhaker, etc will be missing.
The ten sports in Glasgow are athletics, swimming, track cycling, weightlifting, 3×3 basketball, lawns bowls, netball, artistic gymnastics, judo and boxing. Six of these sports will simultaneously running para events as well — athletics, swimming, track cycling, weightlifting, lawn bowls and basketball.
The sports which were removed are badminton, cricket, hockey, squash, table tennis, triathlon, wrestling, beach volleyball and rugby sevens. This list features some of India’s core, Olympic medal winning sports.
In the 61 medals tally , 30 of those had events that will not feature in Glasgow. That’s nearly half of the haul. Similarly, 47% of the entire contingent from 2022 was part of now removed sports.
Why the India’s medal guaranteed Sports are excluded from Commonwealth Games 2026 ?
The major reason for exclusion is Economy or Financial reasons. Initially, thie edition was supposed to be held in Australia but they pulled out in 2023 citing escalating costs. Getting an alternate host at such short notice was difficult till the Scottish city stepped in. However, they said that the limited time of just three years was not enough to plan and put up a full-scale event. Hence, this new, lean version.
Hosting Commonwealth Games is cost-intensive with 74 Commonwealth nations and territories participating and many former hosts see lack of return of investment on this, which explains the reluctance to take over from Australia.
How does exclusion of these Sports affects India’s medal tally?
Exclusion of major medal heavy sports will affect India’s chances quiet adversely if they don’t display a miracle in the participating ones.
In 2022, India sent 210 athletes across 16 sports and won 61 medals. Of those, 30 were from sports that won’t be in 2026 — badminton (6), cricket (1), hockey (2), squash (2), table tennis (7) and wrestling (12).
Additionally, from the ten sports that do feature, India’s performances have been a mixed bag since. Boxing (7), judo (3) and weightlifting (10) have taken quite the downturn, with disappointing performances at the 2024 Olympics from the likes of Mirabai, Lovlina Borgohain and Nikhat Zareen.
The 2022 CWG was already without the heavyweight sport of shooting and archery. Now this further reduces medal guarantees for India.
What are India’s medal hopes after major sports exclusion?
India still have hopes on several heavyweight athletes to win medals in Commonwealth Games 2026. Athletes and medal prospects like Neeraj Chopra (Javelin Throw) Mirabai Chanu (Weightlifting), Lovina Borgohain (Boxing), Tulika Mann (judo) and long jumper Murali Sreeshankar are solid medal prospects. Apart from them, India’s para-sports contingent is significantly strengthened by athletes like wheelchair racer Romesh Shanmugum and sprinter Dilipit, both arriving with excellent recent form and Grand Prix pedigree.
