2022 Commonwealth Games: When dreams—and predictions—come true

Sagar Ahlawat, 23, will go up against the UK's Delicious Orie in the super heavyweight boxing final of CWG 2022, at 1.15am IST on August 8. (Image: Twitter/Boxing Federation of India)

There’s nothing quite as satisfying for a sports writer as when she or he predicts possible outcomes in an ongoing tournament, and those declarations come true. This is less about ego—“I told you so!”—and far more about a certain kind of wish fulfilment. Because these predictions are never made on the back of just cold calculations, but also a “feeling”, and a deep-seated desire to see a dream come true, no matter the odds.

In the course of the Commonwealth Games (CWG) 2022, I wrote about Smriti Mandhana being on course for batting greatness. On August 6, Mandhana played a spectacular innings—one of the finest in her career—to lift India into the finals of the women’s T20 event, beating home favourites England in the process.

Another article was about long jumper Murali Sreeshankar’s struggles on the big stage, and why the CWG offered a chance at breaking that jinx. That’s exactly what happened, and he became the first male jumper from India to win a silver at the CWG.

I wrote about the boxers Amit Panghal looking for redemption after a terrible low at the Tokyo Olympics and Nikhat Zareen looking to tighten her stranglehold in her weight class. Both are now in the finals of their respective categories, and we will have the privilege of watching them in action today.

On the day the wrestling began, my bet was that all 12 of our wrestlers will finish on the podium, and six of them will end up with gold. That’s come to pass.

I had hoped more than predicted that Avinash Sable, a runner whose promise has dazzled me for the last three years, will win a medal in the 3000m steeplechase. Yet, when the race unfolded on August 6, I could not believe what I was watching. It was the stuff of dreams (and indeed, I am watching The Sandman OTT series on the side as well) as Sable broke a Kenyan hegemony in the event that began in 1998, reset his own national record for the ninth—ninth!—time, blasted through the Kenyan’s team running tactics (the Kenyans held on to the 1-2-3 positions all the way till the last lap), overtook two of the Kenyan greats and, and played a cat-and-mouse game with the eventual winner, Abraham Kibiwot, finishing second by 500th of a second.

Almost equally wild and dreamlike was another little spark that went almost unnoticed on the same day, a thing so unlikely that I would have never dared to make such a prediction—an Indian man entered the finals in the boxing event in the Super Heavyweight category.

In boxing, of course, heavyweights rule the world. India has never produced a truly talented fighter in that category. Haryana’s Sagar Ahlawat, 23, may be able to change that. For someone who only came into the elite boxing set up in India less than a year ago and is on his very first major tournament (in fact, this is the first time the 6ft 2 boxer has travelled outside India), his confidence and technique in the ring is a revelation. In his run to the final, he has shown everything you want in a boxer: quick, light footwork, a great sense of positioning and angles in the ring, accuracy, a good jab for range, a powerful straight to follow up the jab, and the ability to bring out big hooks from different angles. Even better, in the semis against Nigeria's Ifeanyi Onyekwere on August 6, he fought from the ropes—that needs not just confidence and courage, but also superior power and technique if it has to be effective.

On August 7 (1.15 am on August 8 in India), the Indian debutant will find himself headlining the boxing event—the very last match of the night—against home-favourite Delicious Orie, whose father is from Nigeria and mother from Russia, and who spars with former world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua.

If Ahlawat and Orie have one thing in common, it’s that they are both eyeing Paris 2024. Orie will, in all probability turn professional immediately after the Olympics. If Ahlawat stays the course, and makes the intelligent choice, that should be his aim too. And, who knows, perhaps one day he will be headlining Madison Square Garden. Now that’s not a prediction. It’s just a wild dream. For today, let’s just enjoy the thrill of watching two young, rising heavyweights clash.