From PV Sindhu to Lakshya Sen: India's top medal contenders in badminton at CWG 2022
he Indian shuttlers came home with a total of 6 medals from Commonwealth Games 2018 and there are high hopes from them going into the Commonwealth Games 2022. PV Sindhu won a silver medal at CWG 2018 and the fans are assured of a medal from the star Indian shuttler..
The hopes are high from the Indian badminton contingent at the Commonwealth Games 2022. Given Indian shuttlers' success in the previous edition of the event, which took place in Australia in 2018, the fans are hoping for multiple medals from the players. In 2018, India won 6 medals - 2 golds, 3 silvers and 1 bronze - in badminton..
Two-time CWG gold-medallist, Saina Nehwal, though will not be part of the event. The face of Indian badminton, Nehwal defeated PV Sindhu in the final of CWG 2018 to clinch the gold medal. In her absence, there are high expectations from Sindhu..
As the Indian athletes continue their preparations for CWG 2022, here's a look at the country's top medal contenders in badminton at CWG 2022 -.
PV Sindhu.
India's flag-bearer in the opening ceremony of CWG 2022, PV Sindhu is India's biggest medal hope. A two-time Olympic-medallist, Sindhu is in form in 2022 and has won Syed Modi International, Swiss Open and Singapore Open this year. The star Indian shuttler is among one of the best players in the world at the moment and is probably at the peak of her career. The fans are confident of a medal from her and Sindhu is also a top contender to clinch the elusive gold medal.
Lakshya Sen.
Debutant Lakshya Sen is another medal contender. The last time he was in England for a high-profile tournament, Sen made it to the final of the All England Championships. The 20-year-old has the experience of competing on the big stage against the best performers and that experience can come in handy at CWG.
Commonwealth Games 2022: Badminton player Kirsty Gilmour's letter to her 16-year-old self
Two-time Scottish badminton medallist Kirsty Gilmour will be taking part in her fourth Games in Birmingham. BBC Sport asked her to write a letter to her 16-year-old self as she was preparing for her very first....
Hey Kirsty! You're 16 and in your final year of high school. It feels like the end of something but, let me tell you, this is very much just the start. The start of so much.
In this next year alone, you are going to compete in a Commonwealth Games, graduate high school, pass your driving test and start university. And it will all go past in a magnificent blur until you are 28, sitting in your flat, trying to think back and reflect on it all.You are in that perfect spot where you feel like an adult and a child all at once.
Your journey to Delhi won't start at the airport but at the information and kit day. You will be sitting in a lecture theatre with 300 other athletes and be bombarded with more information than your little brain can handle. Then the good bit: the kit. Fresh and smart. It will all feel a little surreal right now and, to be honest, it will continue to.
After the awkward picture by the front door with your new kit on and your bags packed, it will be time for your mum to drop you at the airport. Savour this because soon someone dropping you off will require them to take out a bank loan.
Now the real journey begins. In a few years, you will be raging at having a middle seat for a 15-hour journey but you won't bat an eyelid. You're just buzzing to be there. Plus, the athlete to your right is some kind of big deal, apparently. Eilidh Child? I wonder if she ever made it?
Then you'll arrive in beautiful, vibrant, colourful India. The furthest you've ever travelled to play badminton. And it will be great. I promise. You'll be nervous, but not too nervous. You'll play some good games, some not so good games. You'll start to see what professional behaviours look like, and some not so professional ones.But you have one job: to play as much badminton as possible. You'll play singles, doubles and mixed and you'll learn a lot. No-one is counting on you to win a medal. Zero expectation and minimum pressure. Enjoy it now because that won't last long...
One overriding memory you'll take away from these Games is the kindest of one of your team-mates, Emma. You'll have a couple of rough days mentally and she'll be unnecessarily generous and kind. It will take more than a decade for you to say thank you when you cross paths at the Tokyo Olympics, but that won't even be on your radar yet.
Elena Johnson: Guernsey badminton player set for sixth Commonwealth Games
When Elena Johnson was making her Commonwealth Games debut in Manchester back in 2002, Gareth Gates was at number one with 'Anyone Of Us', Arsenal had just won the Premier League and Tony Blair was still Prime Minister.
Twenty years on, the 36-year-old badminton player from Guernsey is still competing and preparing for a sixth successive Games in Birmingham where she will be her island's flagbearer at the opening ceremony.
I was a 16-year-old in Manchester and a student at the school I now teach at," said the former England youth international and ex-British Universities women's champion.
I remember straight after Manchester I went to a national training camp with all the other England Under-15 players and they were like 'Oh my God, you got to go to a Commonwealth Games'.
Some of them did go on to Olympics or Commonwealth Games, but as a junior that was the aspiration, to play senior level,
Johnson recalls.
While making it to the senior international ranks ultimately proved a stage too far, being from Guernsey has allowed Johnson to continue to play at a high level while working as a PE teacher at the island's Ladies College.
When I first finished university, I worked in London and it was an hour either way to get to training, so I didn't play as much when I was working in London,
she said.
When I moved back to Guernsey there was an Island Games and I was able to train almost as much as at university because I would finish work and it took two minutes to get up to the badminton hall.
Some nights I'd play a badminton match and a hockey match or a football match in the same night. That's the beauty of living in the Channel Islands, you can do all kinds of things at the same time.