Sports

Indian Games 2022 good for hockey, better for badminton and best for Neeraj

Historic Thomas Cup triumph turns into legend for Indian badminton as Neeraj Chopra adds to his ‘superstar’ status by clinching Diamond League title but cricket team’s struggle on 22-yard pitch spells bittersweet results for Indian Games in 2022 . In hockey, the women’s team continued its inspirational performance to win a silver medal at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games. Olympic champion Neeraj may not have been able to throw the javelin at 90 meters but his stature of greatness continued to rise from the top of the podium in the elite tournament.

However, wrestler Ravi Dahiya could not live up to his Olympic success and was eliminated in the first round of the World Championship. For a passionate and hardworking wrestler like Dahiya, this defeat would have cost him the most. He is now eyeing a better performance in 2023 with a berth for the Paris Olympics at stake. While Dahiya’s exit was not expected at all, it was the same with the men’s badminton players in the Thomas Cup, who have put India on the path of becoming a ‘powerhouse’ in badminton with a historic title win.

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty have been in fine form for the last two years and their performances played a key role in ending the dominance of China and Indonesia in the prestigious tournament played in Bangkok in May. Established stars like PV Sindhu and Lakshya Sen have not been able to perform on the court as expected but have made their presence felt on the BWF Tour by winning multiple titles. Badminton players continued their dominant run at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games, bagging three gold and six medals (one silver and two bronze).

Though Neeraj missed the Commonwealth Games due to a groin injury, he had earlier won a silver medal at the World Championships in the US, becoming only the second Indian athlete after Anju Bobby George to achieve the feat. Anju had won a bronze medal in the 2003 Paris stage. In September, he became the first Indian to achieve this feat by winning a gold medal at the Diamond League Series Finals. He finished second in the Stockholm leg of the Diamond League and came close to 90m with a throw of 89.94m.

While at least six top Indian athletes were caught using banned substances and these positive dope cases affected the preparations for the Commonwealth Games. Indian wrestlers were expected to dominate the Commonwealth Games but while Dahiya struggled, Aman Sehrawat progressed in the 57kg category to become the under-23 world champion by winning the gold medal at Bolat Turlikhanov in Almaty. Vinesh Phogat also struggled but the Greco-Roman wrestlers and junior wrestlers put up a stellar show on the big stage to wrap up a great year for Indian wrestling.

The last Panghal became the Under-20 world champion and when Vinesh is not there, she could be the best wrestler for India in the 53kg category. The Indian hockey teams continued their upward trend with the women outperforming the men. The women’s team won a bronze medal at the Commonwealth Games after 16 years. The men’s team also won a silver medal, but a 0–7 loss to Australia in the final was disappointing. The Indian men’s hockey team suffered a 1-4 defeat in the series against Australia.

Weightlifter Mirabai Chanu won a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games and a second medal at the World Championships. And the sport found new heroes in the form of Jeremy Lalrinnunga and Achinta Sheyuli, who were among the 10 medal winners in Birmingham. India got its junior world champion in the sport in Harshada Garuda. Indian fans will never forget Virat Kohli’s scintillating shots in the T20 World Cup thriller against arch-rivals Pakistan and would love to watch the innings again and again.

Kohli proved that batting is an art even in T20 format. Kohli relinquished the captaincy in the longer format which further soured his relations with the BCCI when he was stripped of the ODI captaincy. It can be said that in Indian cricket in 2022, the atmosphere inside and outside the field was full of chaos. The struggles of the frontline batsmen remained a matter of debate, with skipper Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul involved.

His batting approach has been questioned as the team has often had to pay for his struggles in the powerplay overs. Meanwhile, Hardik Pandya emerged as the new captain of the national team as Rohit suffered another World Cup semi-final loss to England. The Indian team also lost a Test series in South Africa. . While established players struggled, one batsman who enthralled fans and experts was Suryakumar Yadav.

His ability to strike the ball was exceptional, leading him to be compared to the great cricketer AB de Villiers. The manner in which Sourav Ganguly’s tenure as the BCCI President ended was also heavily criticized. The Supreme Court allowed him to continue but the board appointed Roger Binny as the new chairman.

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