India at the 2011 Commonwealth Youth Games

Background

India has participated in the Commonwealth Games since their second revision in 1934 (the then-British Empire Games), held in London, England. The Indian Olympic Association, the country's National Olympic Committee, is responsible for the Commonwealth and Commonwealth Youth Games in India. The nation has sent its delegation to all the editions of the Commonwealth Youth Games. India has hosted the Commonwealth and Commonwealth Youth Games in 2010 and 2008 in New Delhi and Pune, respectively. In the 2008 Commonwealth Youth Games, India won the most gold (33), silver (26) and total medals, and finished first in the final medal table standings. In the 2011 Commonwealth Youth Games, Indian Olympic Association sent a delegation consisted of twenty athletes (twelve men and eight women) and eleven officials (including coaches and supporting staff).

Medalists

Indian athletes won a total of nine medals at the Games, equally distributed among all categories of medals. India devolved to ninth position in the final medal table standings, behind Malaysia; India was ranked first in the medal table of the previous Commonwealth Youth Games, with total 76 medals.

Pusarla Venkata Sindhu, supported by the Olympic Gold Quest, won a gold for India in the women's singles event of badminton. The other two gold medals came from Durgesh Kumar and Navjetdeep Singh, who finished on the top of the podium of 400 m hurdles and shot put, respectively. Badminton player Srikanth Kidambi was the only multiple medal winning Indian athlete at the Games, winning a silver in mixed doubles and a bronze in men's doubles. Two pugilists, Rahul Poonia and Surender Singh, won medals in their respective weight categories. Poonia won silver in light flyweight and Singh won bronze in middleweight.

Athletics

Navjeet Kaur Dhillon was one of seven athletes to participate in the women's discus throw event. With a throw of 45.27 m, Dhillon won a bronze medal. Durgesh Kumar completed his heat of 400 m hurdles with a time of 53.15 and qualified for final. He won a gold in the final after finishing race with a time of 51.76. Another medallist from the Indian side was Navjetdeep Singh, who won a gold medal in shot put event with a throw of 18.81 m.

Badminton

Seven Indian badminton players went to the Games, competing in all five badminton events. Malaysia dominated in the sport, winning all but one of the five gold medals, the only other gold was won by Pusarla Sindhu in women's singles. Sindhu defeated Malaysian Sonia Cheah in the final match by 22–20, 21–8. Sameer Verma won silver after losing to Zulfadli Zulkiffli of Malaysia by 16–21, 21–17, 15–21 in the final of men's singles. In men's doubles, the pair Srikanth Kidambi/Hema Thandarang won a bronze after defeating Canadian pair Nathan Choi/Nyl Yakura. Kidambi, pairing with Maneesha Kukkapalli, also won silver in mixed doubles event.

Boxing

Indian Boxing Federation selected four boxers to represent India in the Games. The boxing delegation was also accompanied by two coaches. Rahul Poonia (light flyweight) and Surender Singh (middle weight) won medals for India. Poonia, winning all his preliminary bouts by large margins, lost to Jack Bateson of England with a point difference of 6–13 in the final bout, and won a silver medal. In Singh's middleweight event, only eight pugilists competed, making first round a quarterfinal match. Singh defeated Nathan Thorley of Wales in his first bout. In the semifinal match, Singh lost to Scottish boxer Grant Quigley, but his semifinal appearance guaranteed him a bronze medal, which he shared with Cody Crowley of Canada.

Cycling

Two entrants competed for India in the cycling events: Abhinandan Bhosale and Anjitha Parambil. Bhosale was ranked 37 in his time trial event and drove 11.24. Parambil did not finish her time trial event. She was expected to participate in the road race, but she did not start the event.