India will face a significant disadvantage in the Commonwealth Games 2026, as the event has dropped several major sports where the country had hopes of winning medals. When thinking about potential medal winners, sports like hockey, badminton, wrestling, and cricket immediately come to mind. Unfortunately, these sports will not be featured in the next edition of the Commonwealth Games.
Athletes like Harmanpreet Singh, Manika Batra, Aman Sehrawat, Lakshay Sen, and many others, who made headlines with their stellar performances at the Paris Olympics, will also be absent from the Commonwealth Games.
“The sports programme will include Athletics and Para Athletics (Track & Field), Swimming and Para Swimming, Artistic Gymnastics, Track Cycling and Para Track Cycling, Netball, Weightlifting and Para Powerlifting, Boxing, Judo, Bowls and Para Bowls, and 3×3 Basketball and 3×3 Wheelchair Basketball,” the Commonwealth Games Federation said in a statement quoted by Economic Times.
List of sports dropped from Commonwealth Games 2026
- Hockey
- Cricket
- Badminton
- Wrestling
- Table tennis
- Diving
- Rugby sevens
- Beach volleyball
- Mountain biking
- Squash
- Rhythmic gymnastics
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India’s major medal grabbing events
India have two events from which they earn the maximum number of medals, which are shooting and wrestling. Both are not included in the next edition of the Commonwealth Games. Shooting was excluded from the event in the previous edition, and the exclusion continues for the upcoming edition.