The Indian contingent's performance at the truncated Commonwealth Games in Glasgow was stellar. Bagging a total of 39 medals, with 13 golds, India finished fourth in the overall standings, though far below the might of Australia, which bagged 171 medals, including 70 golds.<\/p>\n
India is not yet a sporting powerhouse, though it is a cricketing powerhouse, with the IPL recently rated as the second most valuable league in the world, just below the American football league. But the Glasgow performance showed that a bit of planning and lots of funding are the right way to go about it.<\/p>\n
India's performance has improved considerably due to the infusion of private funding, mostly from the Jindal Group, whose sports excellence centre in Ballari is producing a good percentage of champions.<\/p>\n
The Indian Army has contributed close to half the number of medals. Out of the 20 Army athletes, 16 won medals, which is a grand performance. But the Indian Army needs to consider upgrading its medal winners to officer level instead of keeping these proud and hard-working athletes as sepoys and lance naiks, which is really a shame.<\/p>\n