CWG 2014: Meet the athletes who are medal hopes for India

New Delhi: The 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games (CWG) with its 20th edition is set to begin in Glasgow, Scotland from 23rd July to 3rd August 2014. India on its part has fielded their second largest contingent ever with 215 athletes and will be competing in 14 out of 17 disciplines at play. India will hope to better their tally of 101 medals they won in 2010 Delhi CWG. If this happens, it will be only the second time in the history of competitions that India would have won more than 100 medals. India also performed above expectations at the London Olympic Games in 2012, winning six medals, country's best performance so far. Absence of home support and Saina Nehwal in badminton may hinder the hopes of medal in the sport, but shooting, boxing, weightlifting and hockey can be the hopeful events. Some of India's favorite events will also not be featured in this edition. In 2010, 30 medals came from archery, tennis and Greco-Roman wrestling, but this year Archery and tennis have been replaced by triathlon and judo. Greco-Roman wrestling has also been removed, thus limiting India's chances.The number of Indians, who were hot favorites in shooting event, has also gone down to 19 from 44 in 2010. In Glasgow, India has a contingent of over 224 athletes as compared to over 400 in Delhi edition. Indians however would still be hoping to match to their 2010 performance. India TV would like you to meet the athletes who are the biggest hopes for India this year in CWG:Abhinav Bindra (Shooting)Lying low since his early exit in London Olympics, Bindra is expected to jump to top form in British Isles. Gold medalist at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Gold at Asian Championship Doha 2012, Gold in pairs and silver in singles at Delhi CWG 2010, he would certainly like to hit the bull's eye in Glasgow too, where he will be competing in 10 metre Air Rifle event. Gagan Narang (Shooting)Gagan Narang will also be a genuine medal hope for India. Having reportedly recovered from a career threatening neck injury, the highly-decorated shooter will compete in 50 metre 3P and prone events. Bronze medalist at 2012 London Olympics in 10m Air Rifle Event, Bronze at 2010 Munich World Cup, Gold at Changwon 2009 and Guangzhou 2006 World Cups and 4 gold medals at Delhi CWG 2010 (10m and 50m – 3P singles and pairs) is now set to rule the shooting range in Glasgow.Sardar Singh and co. (Hockey)Indians might have been hammered 0-8 by Australia in the final of 2010 Commonwealth Games, captain Sardar Singh said he doesn't fear facing the mighty Kangaroos again in the clash of the upcoming edition of event in Glasgow. The morale of the team is on a high, especially after the 3-2 win over England in a practice match ahead of the Games.Sushil Kumar (Wrestling)Perhaps India's best medal hope, wrestler Sushil Kumar is the only Indian athlete to win individual medals in two Olympics. His last CWG appearance saw him finish at the top of podium, and despite Greco Roman style being ruled out of Glasgow Games, wrestling- a discipline that fetched India a whopping 19 medals in 2010- is expected to bring a rich haul. With Yogeshwar Dutt, Kumar is the face of India's wrestling squad, and the duo will be eager to repeat their big stage heroics. Currently out of world rankings due to their prolonged non-participation in international events, Sushil and Yogeshwar recently proved their mettle in the senior international wrestling tournament in Sassari, Italy, winning in the new-weight categories for the first time. Yogeshwar won the gold medal in the 65kg category and Sushil settled for silver medal in the 74kg. Sushil and Yogeshwar had claimed the yellow metal four years ago in the 60kg and 66kg categories respectively. Vijender Singh (Boxing)India would be hoping to better their tally of seven medals which they won in the previous edition of CWG with Vijender Singh leading the boxing contingent and Devendro Singh who currently ranked three in world in the 49-kg category and also won silver in the Asian Confederation boxing championship last year.Boxing came into the limelight at the 2008 Beijing Olympics when Vijender Singh, the boxer from Bhiwani, punched his way to a bronze medal in the 75kg category, giving the nation its first medal in the sport. He followed it up with a bronze at the CWG in Delhi and gold at the Asiad, where he fought bravely despite a broken thumb. The boxer also acted in a Bollywood movie, but he hasn't lost focus and is sweating it out for the elusive gold.PV Sindhu (Badminton)With defending champion Saina Nehwal skipping the 20th Commonwealth Games, India will be pinning their hopes on P.V. Sindhu, Parupalli Kashyap and the pair of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa to repeat their success in badminton that they achieved four years ago at home. The 19-yearold Sindhu, the only Indian to win a women's singles medal at the World Championships, is seeded second and could have been in the lower-half of the draw to ensure an all-India final had Saina played. The tall shuttler struck gold in Macau open Malaysia Open last year. India won four medals at the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games. Saikhom Mirabai Chanu (Weightlifting)Mirabai won gold in 2013 Commonwealth Championships with a total lift of 166kg (73ᄩ). Khumukcham Sanjita and Saikhom Mirabai Chanu are competing in women's 48kg and India has the chance to win two medals from this category. This has been a strong category for India since the days of Kunjarani Devi. India had won a silver and bronze in this category in 2010. India had done exceedingly well in the 2013 Commonwealth Championships in Johannesburg last November. Many Indian lifters are among top three of the latest Commonwealth rankings. 2010 CWG gold medallist in men's 69kg, K Ravi Kumar is again in the team but he is competing in 77kg this time, and is not expected to win gold in his new weight category having laid low for a long time due to injury