Online trends by Indian fans on Google indicates that Olympic wrestling medallist Sushil Kumar emerged the most searched Indian athlete among those competing at the 2014 Commonwealth Games at Glasgow. Badminton was the most searched sport by Indian sports followers online.
London Olympic Games silver medallist in 66 kg freestyle wrestling, Sushil clinched gold in 74 kg at the CWG, defeating Qamar Abbas of Pakistan in one minute, 47 seconds. He was followed by teenager Vinesh Phogat, women’s 48kg freestyle champion, among Indian wrestling competitors.
Badminton emerged the most searched sporting discipline, followed by boxing and wrestling. Parupalli Kashyap’s victory in men’s singles final, giving India a CWG badminton gold after 32 years. Shooting and weightlifting were other sports which saw fans tracking results and individual performances online due to the Glasgow event.
India’s first ever Olympic individual champion, marksman Abhinav Bindra, was the second most searched athlete during the Games. He added the CWG gold to his collection, winning the men’s 10m air rifle title with a Games record score of 205.3 points.
Other Indians widely searched online on Google were Olympic medallist boxer Vijender Singh and wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt, besides men’s discus throw gold medal winner Vikas Gowda. India were fifth in the overall CWG medals tally, behind England, Australia, Canada and Scotland.
