CWG 2022: India's top medal hopes in wrestling including Ravi Dahiya, Bajrang and Vinesh

Indian athletes will be aiming to improve the country's medal tally in the upcoming edition of the Commonwealth Games (CWG) which gets underway in Birmingham on July 28. During the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, India had won 66 medals, which included 26 gold medals as they recorded their second-best tally in the history of the competition. The country also finished third on the medals table. In the last edition, the Indian wrestlers bagged 12 medals and are expected to better the tally in the 2022 edition. Here are the Indian wrestlers who are favourites to win medals at the Commonwealth Games.

Commonwealth Games: Indian wrestlers are favourites ot bag medals 

Ravi Dahiya (Men's 57 kg) 

The Olympics silver medallist will be one of the favourites to capture the gold in his weight category. The three-time Asian champion however is likely to face a tough challenge from his main competition which should be Nigeria's Ebikewenimo Welson. While Nelson won a bonze medal during the last Commonwealth Games, Ravi Dahiya will be looking to try and change the colour of his Olympics medal in Commonwealth Games.

Bajrang Punia (Men's 65 kg) 

Bajrang Punia won the gold medal in the 2018 Commonwealth Games which took place at Gold Coast. The defending champion will be hoping to retain the title following his bronze medal success at the Tokyo Olympics.

Vinesh Phogat (Women's 53 kg) 

Having won back-to-back gold medals at the 2014 and 2018 Commonwealth Games, Vinesh Phogat will be looking to make it a hattrick of titles when she takes the wrestling mat in Great Britain. 

Sakshi Malik (Women's 62kg)

Sakshi Malik had won the Bronze medal in the last edition of the Commonwealth Games. She will be aiming to not only add her third CWG medal but also upgrade the colour of the medal from the previous edition.

Anshu Malik (57 KG)

A promising talent who failed to win a medal at the Tokyo Olympics 2020. Despite the Olympics disappointment, Malik bounced back to win silver at World Wrestling Championships in October 2021 making her the first female wrestler to do so. She once again won a silver medal at the Asian Wrestling Championships in April 2022. The 20-year-old will look to keep the momentum going and add CWG medal.

Deepak Punia (86 kg )

This 23-year-old wrestler will be the one to keep an eye on especially after his semi-final finish in the Tokyo Olympics. At this year's Asian Wrestling Championships, he won a silver medal in the men's freestyle 86 kg category. Currently, he is training with Yogeshwar Dutt in the US before heading to Commonwealth Games where he will only eye for glory rather than finishing second best.

India Wrestling squad for CWG

Men’s Squad 

57 kg: Ravi Kumar Dahiya

65 kg: Bajrang Punia

74 kg: Naveen

86 kg: Deepak Punia

97 kg: Deepak

125 kg: Mohit Grewal

Women’s Squad 

50 kg: Pooja Gehlot

53 kg: Vinesh Phogat

57 kg: Anshu Malik

62 kg: Sakshi Malik

68 kg: Divya Kakran

76 kg: Pooja Sihag