Commonwealth Games 2026: Major Sports Missing—Is The Event Losing Its Shine?

The 2026 Commonwealth Games (CWG) were flagged off on July 23rd. at Glasgow (Scotland) with all 74 Commonwealth nations participating in it. But due to escalating cost projections and lack of time to organise the event, this year will have only 10 sporting categories. This will be the lowest number of sports offered at the Games since 1994. Question arises whether Games are losing their true wealth.

After the Australian state of Victoria pulled out as host in 2023 because of spiralling costs, throwing the future of the Commonwealth itself into uncertainty, Glasgow stepped in to rescue the Games. This year Sports and disciplines dropped from the previous Games include Badminton, Hockey, Wrestling, Squash, Table Tennis, Cricket, Rhythmic Gymnastics, Rugby, Diving, Triathlon. In 2022 CWG, which was held at Birmingham, India finished fourth in the medals tally with 61 medals (22 gold, 16 silver, 23 bronze). This year we are going with 126 athletes, 84 less than the previous edition. India won 12 medals from wrestlers in 2022.

Badminton, Hockey, Cricket, Table Tennis combined bagged 18 medals for the country. And these categories do not exist in the current edition of Commonwealth games. This is worrying as it reduces our chances with medals. And gives rise to the discussion of relevance of the games in he current world.

India's gold medalist at 2022 CWG Sathiyan Gnanasekaran expressed his views on Table Tennis not being part of this year's edition. ''When we heard the news that Table Tennis will not be part of the CWG at Glasgow, it was certainly disheartening,” admitted Sathiyan.

“I think in our international journey, the first stepping stone was the Commonwealth Games. We have won multiple medals there. Table tennis has always done really well. I have myself won like six Commonwealth Games medals. Definitely, you know, it's a big loss for the Indian table tennis fraternity for not being at the Commonwealth Games,'' he shared.

''Table Tennis has always contributed to India's medal tally at the CWG. Many other sports like badminton and you know wrestling-a lot of medal-winning sports for India is not there in CWG. This will definitely affect the overall medal tally of India. IBut, yes, I think as table tennis players, definitely not being in the CWG is very disheartening, disappointing. Hopefully, in 2030 when India will host it, all these sports will be back,'' Sathiyan expressed.

Maneyapanda Muthanna Somaya, who was part of Olympic Gold Medal winning Indian men's team in 1980 shared interesting views on hockey being not part of CWG. ''Yes, as a former hockey player, it's sad that our team won't participate this year,” said Somaya.

“However, it can turn out to be a blessing in disguise. India will be playing both Men's and Women's Hockey World Cup in the month of August. Then in September, we will be participating in the Asian Games, which serves as a qualifying tournament for the Olympics. So both teams will face a lot of challenges ahead. Not participating in CWG this time will give them a breather and more time to prepare for upcoming tournaments. For Hockey players, the Olympic, World Cup and Asian games are top priority and that's a fact,'' he confessed.

In 2022, Shooting was scrapped from CWG. It was also one of the strong zones of India. In the 2018 edition, India won the highest number of medals in shooting including 7 golds. India also finished at 3rd in the medals tally that year.

Renowned Badminton Coach Pullela Gopichand also admitted being disappointed because badminton is not a part of the Commonwealth Games.

''The Commonwealth was an important event and badminton not being there in Glasgow was quite shocking. It's done and dusted for this edition, but we are hoping that in our edition in Ahmedabad, we would have badminton featuring back again,'' Gopichand said during an interaction organised by the Sports Authority of India a few days ago.

Nevertheless, as the Games have already started, our biggest medal contenders this time are starboy Neeraj Chopra, Lovlina Borgohain and Mirabai Chanu.

India will also hope for a few medals in sports such Athletics, Boxing, Weightlifting and some surprising talent at Glasgow.

India to host the next CWG

India has been awarded hosting rights for 2030's Commonwealth Games. Hence, this year's CWG has become important for our players' perspective and organising point of view. Previously, India hosted the 2010 CWG in New Delhi, where it recorded a best-ever second-place finish with 101 medals (38-27-36), although the build-up was overshadowed by organisational chaos. India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to be present at the closing ceremony on 2nd August. His attendance will mark a highly significant moment as India formally receives the Commonwealth Games flag. This ceremony will officially transition the hosting responsibilities to India, setting the stage for the 2030 Commonwealth Games in Ahmedabad.