6 August 2014

2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games concluded; India finished 5th with 64 medals

20th Commonwealth Games (CWG) 2014 concluded at Hampden Park stadium in Glasgow, Scotland on 3 August 2014 at. The game that saw 17 sports in a competition of 11 days was held from 23 July to 3 August 2014.

The Glasgow 2014 CWG was declared closed in presence of British Prime Minister David Cameron, Prince Edward, the Earl of Wessex and vice patron of Commonwealth Games Federation. The 21st Commonwealth Games will be held in Gold Coast in Australia.

4929 athletes from 71 countries and territories of the erstwhile British Empire participated in the 11-day competition.

India in the 2014 Commonwealth Games, Glasgow, Scotland
India in the 2014 Commonwealth Games, Glasgow, Scotland stood at the fifth position in the rankings after closing its account with total 64 medals (15 Gold, 30 silver and 19 Bronze). This was third highest medal haul after 2010 Delhi CWG (101 medals) and 2002 Manchester CWG (69 medals).

On the final day of the games, i.e. on 3 August 2014, the Indian team won three medals and they were
• Parupalli Kashyap - clinched a historic Gold in men's badminton singles. Kashyap registered win over Singapore's Derrik Wong in final of Men's Singles event in a three setter game 21-14, 11-21, 21-19. He is the third Indian to win Gold medal at CWG after Prakash Padukone (1978)and Syed Modi (1982)
 Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa - settled for Silver in the badminton women's doubles. They lost to Malaysian team of Khe Woon and Vivian Hoo in the Women's Doubles in straight sets of 21-17, 23-21
• The men's hockey team: India got Silver medal after losing to World Champions Australia 4-0 in the final

On closing ceremony, the Indian contingent’s flag bearer was Seema Punia, who won Silver in women's discus throw. While, the torch bearer in the opening ceremony was ace shooter Vijay Kumar, the 2012 London Olympics Silver medalist.

England topped the medals tally while Australia got the second position. Canada was third followed by Scotland.

Medal Standings
Rank
Nation
Gold
Silver
Bronze
1
England
58
59
57
2
Australia
49
42
46
3
Canada
32
16
34
4
Scotland
19
15
19
5
India
15
30
19

15 Indians who won gold at 2014 Commonwealth Games, Glasgow

• Yogeshwar Dutt: Men's wrestling, 65 kg freestyle
• Babita Kumari: Women's wrestling, 55 kg freestyle
• Sushil Kumar: Men's wrestling, 75kg
• Amit Kumar: Men's wrestling, 57kg
• Vinesh Phogat: Women's wrestling, 48kg
• Satish Sivalingam: Men's weightlifting, 77 kg (broke the Commonwealth Games record for the snatch with a mark of 149kg)
• Vikas Gowda: Men's discus throw (first person to win a gold medal for India in 56 years in Men's Athletics after Milkha Singh in 1958)
• Jitu Rai: Men's shooting, 50 m Pistol
• Rahi Sarnobat: Women's shooting, 25 m Pistol
• Apurvi Chandela: Women's shooting, 10 m Air Rifle
• Abhinav Bindra: Men's 10m Air Rifle
• K Sanjita Chanu: Women's weightlifting 48 kg category
• Sukhen Dey: Men's weightlifting 56 kg category
• Dipika Pallikal and Joshana Chinappa: Women's squash
• Parupalli Kashyap: Men's Badminton

Dipa Karmakar on 31 July 2014 became the first Indian woman gymnast and second person of the country (after Ashish Kumar, male who won in the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games) to win a medal at the Commonwealth Games. She bagged a bronze.

The 17 sports in a competition were Hockey, Boxing, Weightlifting, Wrestling, Gymnastics, Squash, Table Tennis, Cycling, Aquatics, Netball, Athletics, Rugby Sevens, Badminton, Shooting, Judo, Lawn bowls and Triathlon.

Closing Ceremony of 2014 CWG
The closing ceremony of 90 minutes began with the theme, All Back To Ours with a narrative of a typical night out in Glasgow sung by Scottish singer and actress Lulu. Besides, Deacon Blue, the Glasgow legends also performed their famous song, Dignity that tells the story of an ordinary man – a worker. The workers of Glasgow (emergency services and various council services) participated to celebrate the end of the games and 220 of them entered the stadium carrying a banner, Let Glasgow Flourish.

About the Commonwealth Games
The Commonwealth Games is an international sporting event that involves athletes from 71 nations and territories connected with the Commonwealth. The Commonwealth Games is a unique, world class, multi-sports event which is held once every four years. It is often referred to as the Friendly Games.

Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) is an organisation that is responsible for the direction and control of the Commonwealth Games.

What is the Commonwealth?
Commonwealth is an association of independent sovereign states of 53 developed and developing nations. It contains about 2 billion people, which is almost a third of the world’s population of which more than half of them are young people under age group of 25.

This year 71 nations and territories participated at Glasgow 2014, because some countries, like the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (UK), are made up of a number of territories or dependencies.

Origin of the Commonwealth 
Commonwealth came into its present form in 1949, when its members agreed that all member nations should be free and equal to each other. The aim of formation of Commonwealth was to focus on equality and tackle issues like poverty, racism and decolonisation.

History of Commonwealth goes back to over 140 years, the time when most of the commonwealth countries and territories were part of British Empire. This empire gradually was dismantled after World War II.

Queen's Baton Relay
The Queen’s Baton Relay was introduced in 1958 at the British Empire and Commonwealth Games in Cardiff. From there, it has developed as a symbolic celebration of both unity and diversity that binds 71 nations and territories of the Commonwealth. Its message is peace and harmony through sports.

The Queen's Baton Relay for the 2014 Commonwealth Games, Glasgow was launched on 9 October 2013 at Buckingham Palace. The message to the Commonwealth was placed into the baton by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, who is Head of the Commonwealth.