India's campaign at the Commonwealth Games 2022 came to an end with their athletes adding a few gold medals on the last day of the event. The South Asian country added as many as four gold medals on the final day with Sharath Kamal adding a gold in the table tennis men's singles, Satwik Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty clinched gold in the badminton mens' doubles, PV Sindhu winning gold in badminton men's singles and Lakshya Sen taking the ultimate prize in the badminton men's singles in Birmingham.
All of this added to the work done by the athletes over the first 10 days of sporting action meant India ended their campaign with as many as 22 gold medals and ended CWG 2022 at the fourth position with 16 silver and 23 bronze to go with the gold haul. Yet India's story could easily be seen as a story of what ifs.
2018 Commonwealth Games vs 2022 Commonwealth Games:
2018 Gold Coast India's Medal Tally
| Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| 26 | 20 | 20 | 66 |
2022 Birmingham India's Medal Tally
| Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| 22 | 16 | 23 | 61 |
A quick glimpse at the medals tally from both editions of the Commonwealth Games suggests that the country has won 5 less medals than the previous editions. While in Gold Coast 2018, India had bagged 66 medals and 26 golds in the 2018 edition, they have failed to surpass that tally and have won a total of 61 medals including 22 golds.
India's biggest positive would be their weightlifting contingent. The country's 15-member weightlifting team won 10 medals, including three gold as they were easily the best team in the discipline. Having said that, the victory should only be looked at as a starting point, especially for youngsters like Achinta Sheuli and Jeremy Lalrinnunga because truth be told they both were unlikely to finish on the podium had they lifted the same weight in the Olympics.
| Sport | Gold medal | Silver medal | Bronze medal | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weightlifting | 3 | 3 | 4 | 10 |
| Judo | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| Lawn bowls | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Table Tennis | 3 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
| Badminton | 3 | 1 | 2 | 6 |
| Squash | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Para Powerlifting | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Athletics | 1 | 4 | 3 | 8 |
| Wrestling | 6 | 1 | 5 | 12 |
| Boxing | 3 | 1 | 3 | 7 |
| Para Table Tennis | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Hockey | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Cricket | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| TOTAL | 22 | 16 | 23 | 61 |
A sport-wise look at the Commonwealth Games 2022 in Birmingham suggests wrestling was the sport with the maximum number of medals for India which was along expected lines. India won 6 gold, 1 silver and 5 bronze in this which means also gave India the maximum number of gold medals.
Boxing, Weightlifting, Table tennis and badminton gave India 3 golds each but again there were a few disappointments. Punam Yadav, who was regarded as a major medal prospect, failed to register a single lift in the clean and jerk round. Lovlina Borgohain, riding on the back of an Olympic medal, failed to bag a single medal in Birmingham. Similarly, a lot was expected from Manika Batra but she will return to India without any medal. India also missed out on a chance to win a mixed team gold in badminton.
Another heartbreaking event was the women's T20 final as well as the men's hockey final- both India vs Australia clashes and in both India eventually won silver. But at least with cricket, the Women in Blue had come close and were at one stage looking set to win the gold. What if a few errors in judgments hadn't happened? In hockey, the men's team was completely outplayed.
India's joint-fourth best gold medal haul
While India did manage to equal the gold medal tally they had managed at the Commonwealth Games in 2006, which makes it their joint-fourth best performance in the history of these games, these what-ifs can be the difference between the journey from the joint-fourth to the best ever and can improve India's fourth position at the tally. India's 38 gold medal haul at the 2010 Games is their best ever tally, while 30 at CWG 2002 and 26 at the 2018 Gold Coast edition of the event are the second and the third best gold medal hauls by India.