IOA announces 322-strong Indian contingent for CWG

NEW DELHI: The Indian Olympic Association on Saturday announced a 322-strong contingent including 215 athletes and 107 officials and support staff for the upcoming Birmingham Commonwealth Games.

The Games are scheduled to be held in the British city from July 28 to August 8, and the Indian contingent will look to improve upon its Gold Coast 2018 CWG performance, where it finished third behind traditional powerhouses Australia and England.

Sharing his thoughts, IOA secretary general Rajeev Mehta said, “We are sending one of our strongest squads ever to the CWG and even with a strength sport for us like shooting not being there, we are confident of bettering our performance from the last edition.

“Make no mistake, the competition will be world class and fierce but our athletes have prepared well and are fit and raring to go. We wish them all the very best.”

The Games-bound Indian athletes and officials will be staying at five different Villages with the women’s cricket team being put up in a separate facility in the Birmingham city centre.

India will compete in 15 sporting disciplines as well as four disciplines in the para sports category. Various members of the squad have already reached Birmingham over the past few days, depending on their training regimes laid out by their respective coaches.

The CWG village will officially open its doors to contingents on July 23.