The Quest for Medals Begin...

Around 4,500 competitors, 3,500 technical, and team officials will be taking part at the 2006 Commonwealth Games at Melbourne, which begin on March 15th. There are plenty expectations from the 270 (103 men and 83 women, 84 assisting staff) member Indian squad that will be representating the country. The Indian squad is under extreme pressure to perform well since India will play host to the next commonwealth games in 2010. India though has a decent history at the games by finishing fourth to Australia (1st) and England (2nd) and Canada (3rd) in the 2002 Manchester Commonwealth Games.
We have a look at our medal prospects and the event in which we are most likely to win medals...
BOXING: Boxing which is a non-traditional performance for India, won three medals (1 Gold, 1 Silver and 1 Bronze) at the Manchester Games. Indian squad for this event looks quite decent. Super Heavyweight Varghese Johnson in the 91kg class is considered a medal chance in his Games debut, as is 2004 Olympian Vijender Kumar in the 69 kg division. Som Bahadur Pun, the Indian silver medalist at Manchester in the 57 kg category is the Indian hope in the 64 kg class. Young Indian boxer Diwakar Prasad will make his return from injury at the Games, looking to build on the promise he showed in the Athens Olympics two years ago. He will challenge in the 57 kg category.
However, one surprise omission from the squad is Manchester 48 kg gold medalist Mohammed Ali Qamar, widely considered one of India’s best. Jitender Kumar takes his place. The rest of the team filled out by 48 kg powerhouse Mohammed Suranjoy Singh, 54 kg Akhil Kumar, 60 kg newcomer Jai Bhagwan, 75 kg Parwinder Singh, 81 kg fighter Ajay Kumar and 91 kg Harpreet Singh.
BADMINTON: Well, one cannot consider India as hot favourites in this particular event for a gold medal, but still there are many opportunities for young talent representing the country at the games. Aparna Popat, who won Bronze medal at the Manchester Games, is considered the sole Indian challenge. In addition, the youngster Saina Nehwal is also expected to create upsets at the games. In men’s Arvind Bhatt and Chetan Anand look to be best Indian, challenge.
WEIGHTLIFTING: This has always been an event in which India has won a medal or two. India won 27 medals in this particular event at the 2002 Manchester Games. This time though the team has a setback of losing one of the major medal contender Shailaja Pujari who won three gold medals at the Manchester Games. She was axed from the squad after testing positive for banned drugs.
Kunjarani Devi remains is the spearhead of the Indian weightlifting squad. She will challenge in the 48 kg category. Renu Bala, who will compete in the 58 kg category, is also considered to be the medal contender. In men’s Vicky Batta who will be competing in the 56 kg category will be the major medal contender after he won two medals, one silver and one bronze at the Manchester Games. Sateesha Rai, who was stripped of his medals in the 2002 games, is also included in the squad.
The team: Men: R Edwin and Vicky Batta (56kg), M Arun (62kg), C P R Sudhir Kumar (69kg), Mohammed Zakir (77kg), Tejinder Singh and Sateesha Rai (85kg).
Women: Kunjarani Devi (48kg), Renu Bala (58kg), B Prameelavali (63kg), L Monika Devi (69kg), Geeta Rani and Simple Kaur Burmah (plus 75kg)
ATHLETICS: Ace long jumper Anju Bobby George, heptathletes Soma Biswas and J.J. Shobha will lead from front the 26 member Indian athletics squad. The Indian squad comprises of 10 men and 15 women. While there is a remote possibility of India winning a medal in 800 meters race, shot put, discus throw, the decathlon and the walk, the onus is on these three athletes to win a medal for the country.
Squad: Men: Ghamanda Ram (800 meters), Vikas Gowda (discus and shot put), Jora Singh (decathlon), P.S. Jalan (20 km walk)
Women: Manjeet Kaur, Chitra K. Soman, Sathi Geetha, Pinki Pramanik, Rajwinder Kaur Gill and Ashiq Beevi (4x400m relay). Pinki Pramanik (800m), O.P. Jaisha (1,500m), Seema Antil and Krishna Punia (discus throw), Anju Bobby George (long jump), Sushmita Singha Roy, Soma Biswas and J.J. Shobha (heptathlon), Deep Mala Devi (20 km walk).
SHOOTING: An astounding 40 gold medals are up for grabs in the Melbourne Commonwealth Games shooting competitions. India's 27-strong shooting squad lead by Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore will be aiming to improve on the 14 gold medals they won in 2002 at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne. Samaresh Jung, Gagan Narang, Abhinav Bindra, Anjali Bhagwat all are major medal contenders.
Indian shooters will look to continue their medal-winning spree at the Games after a impressive performance Australia Cup in Melbourne held in February, marking themselves as the team to beat in Shooting during the Commonwealth Games.
HOCKEY: We always remain to be optimistic about India’s performance in hockey, don’t we? Indian chances of winning a medal in hockey look very slim for both, the men as well as the women, who are the defending champions. With top players like Gaganajeet Singh, Deepak Thakur, Viren Rasquinha and Prabhjot Singh axed on basis of performance, there will a lot of pressure on the young guns to deliver the goods.
The team: Bharat Chetri, Baljit Singh (Goal Keepers)
Full backs: Dilip Tirkey (captain) Kanwal Preet Singh, Harpal Singh and Raghunath
Mid-fielders: V.S. Vinaya, Vikram Pillay, Ignes Tirkey, Prabodh Tirkey and Sandeep Singh
Forwards: Rajpal Singh, Didar Singh, Sardara Singh, Tushar Khandekar, Tejbir Singh, Arjun Halappa, Adam Sinclair, Shivinder Singh and Hari Prasad
The men’s team kicks off their campaign on March 17 against Malaysia and women’s team face Australia on March 16.
Besides these, India will also be participating in events such as Swimming, Basketball, Gymnastics and Table Tennis. Overall, India will be participating in 10 events. We can also expect some medals in table tennis with Chetan Baboor, the ace Indian player representating the country.
Look out for the closing ceremony... With India hosting the 2010 Commonwealth Games some of India's legendary sportspersons, like cricketer Sunil Gavaskar, athlete Milkha Singh and tennis ace Vijay Amritraj, will feature in the 15 minutes allotted to India during the closing ceremony in Melbourne March 26. P.T. Usha, badminton ace Prakash Padukone, India's lone World Cup-winning hockey captain Ajit Pal Singh, billiards champion Michael Ferreira, ace swimmer Khajan Singh and wrestler Satpal will also join the ceremony.
Bollywood is going to shine at the closing ceremony of the games. Aishwarya Rai, Saif Ali Khan, Rani Mukerji, Lara Dutta, Isha Sharvani, Sunidhi Chauhan, Shreya Ghosal, Shankar-Ehsan-Loy as well as percussionists Taufiq Quereshi and Sivamani and 408 dancers from Shiamak Davar’s troupe will ensure the world remembers the day...