CHENNAI: With several sports like wrestling, badminton, squash, hockey, table tennis not a part of the upcoming Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, former national hockey captain Viren Rasquinha feels the medal tally may take a hit, but remains hopeful that India's position in the table will not be affected.
"I think a lot of our medal-winning sports are not going to be there. Last CWG, wrestling won 12 medals. Badminton, six medals. Table tennis, seven medals. Hockey, two medals. Squash, two medals. It's 100 per cent going to affect our medal tally," Rasquinha said in a select media interaction facilitated by Sony Sports Network, the official broadcaster of the event.
"In terms of position on the table, I think it will still be Australia and England who are by far the strongest at the Commonwealth Games level. For that third place, which India ideally should be aiming for, it's always a battle between New Zealand and Canada and India. At major competitions, margins are so fine between the colours of medals. And that's going to be the big difference. From the last time where we won 61 medals, 30 of those 61 medals came from sports that are not there this time. It's surely going to affect our medal tally but hopefully not our eventual position on the table," he added.
In recent years, CWG has become an event that countries are hesitant to bid for. The upcoming one was originally supposed to be held in Victoria before Glasgow eventually securing the rights. India, after 20 years, will host the next event in 2030. Rasquinha felt that the significance of the CWG event has not diminished from an athlete's point of view. He believes that it remains the first big stage at the international level for up and coming athletes. "I would never be complacent about saying that the Commonwealth Games nowadays are of no value. Athletics, for example, has Neeraj Chopra's event. There's Neeraj, Arshad Nadeem, Rumesh Pathirage who can possibly be one, two, three at CWG, at the Olympics. Take men's high jump, last time Tejaswin Shankar got bronze. I think Avinash Sable's event last time in the 3000 metres steeplechase was one of the best ever. And first time since 1994 that a non-Kenyan was on the podium. So, it was to show the quality of athletics. Boxers are very good in terms of being able to handle competition. It's not something to be taken lightly. And especially for younger players, I think the Commonwealth Games is a great platform to make a name for yourself. I remember the 2018 Commonwealth Games was the first major senior international gold medal for Neeraj Chopra. I think he really burst into the limelight after that. When you look at young Indians, say female boxers like Preeti Pawar, Priya Ghanghas, so many of them, it's so important for them to be able to make a mark in these games," he explained.
Watch Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games – Day 1 on July 24, 2026, from 1:00 PM IST live on Sony Sports Ten 2 SD & HD.