CWG 2022: Everything you need to know about newly included disciplines | Commonwealth Games 2022 News – Times of India

NEW DELHI: The next edition of the Commonwealth Games 2022 is scheduled to be held in the British city of Birmingham from July 28 to August 8. A total of 72 countries and territories will be participating in the quadrennial event this time.
Interestingly, this will be the first time that a global, multi-sporting event will have more women’s events than men’s events.
This edition of the CWG will also see the inclusion of some new events after shooting and archery were dropped from the Games.
TimesofIndia.com here takes a look at the newly included events at the CWG in the Birmingham edition:
WOMEN’S CRICKET

(File image of the Indian women’s cricket team – Photo: BCCI Twitter)
The wait for cricket fans in Commonwealth nations to see their favourite sport in the CWG has finally ended. Cricket will make its comeback at the CWG after a hiatus of 24 long years in a new avatar. Birmingham CWG will not only see T20 Cricket make its Commonwealth Games debut, but it will also be a first ever appearance for women’s cricket at the Games. Cricket has been played once before at the CWG, in the 1998 Kuala Lumpur Games where South Africa won the gold medal in the men’s 50-over competition, beating Australia in the final. India also sent a squad for those Games, with Ajay Jadeja as captain and Anil Kumble as vice captain. Sachin Tendulkar was also part of the squad, but India didn’t make the semi-finals.
This time around, there’s no mens cricket at the Games and womens cricket will be played for the first time ever in a Commonwealth Games edition. Eight teams have qualified for the event with India featuring in Group A alongside Pakistan, Australia and Barbados. Group B comprises New Zealand, South Africa, England and Sri Lanka. England as host nation got automatic qualification while Australia, India, New Zealand, South Africa, Pakistan, and Barbados are among the six direct qualifiers on the basis of their rankings as of April 1, 2021. Sri Lanka grabbed the last place as the winners of the CWG Qualifier tournament.
The cricket competition will start from July 29 with India taking on Australia while the final will be held on August 7. Edgbaston Cricket Ground in Birmingham will host all the matches. The matches will be played in the T20 format. India is being captained by Harmanpreet Kaur.
BASKETBALL 3×3
Basketball’s 3×3 version has been introduced to enthrall the audiences with its fast paced action. The 5×5 version of the game has been played twice at the Games before, first in Melbourne in 2006, and then in the Gold Coast in 2018. The 3×3 version will be played at the Games for the first time.
The 3×3 game will be fast and furious with only half a court and just one hoop for both teams to attack. Not only has the court size been cut into half, the time on the shot clock has also been reduced from 24 seconds (permitted in full court basketball) to 12 seconds.
As the name suggests, each team will have three players and one substitute. Shots scored from inside the arc-shaped scoring zone are worth one point each, while shots taken from behind the arc area will add two points to the team’s account.
The first team to 21 points wins. If no team manages to reach the score after ten minutes, the team in the lead claims the win. The event will be played at the Smithfield site.
Eight teams in both men’s and women’s categories will participate in the event.
Qualified nations in men’s category for Basketball 3×3
Host: England
Regional Qualification: Kenya (Africa), Canada (Americas), Sri Lanka (Asia), Trinidad and Tobago (Caribbean), New Zealand (Oceania)
Direct Qualification: Australia
Home Nations Qualifier: Scotland
Qualified nations in women’s category for Basketball 3×3:
Host: England
Regional Qualification: Kenya (Africa), Canada (Americas), Sri Lanka (Asia), British Virgin Islands (Caribbean), New Zealand (Oceania)
Direct Qualification: Australia
Home Nations Qualifier: Scotland
WHEELCHAIR BASKETBALL 3×3

(Representational image – TOI Photo)
Along with Basketball 3×3, the Commonwealth Games Federation also brought the para version of the sport into the CWG roster for the first time. No wheelchair basketball discipline has been featured at the Commonwealth Games before. This event will also be staged at the Smithfield site.
The International Wheelchair Basketball Federation (IWBF) and the CGF announced that six wheelchair teams will take part in the CWG this time.
England, South Africa and Malaysia are placed in men’s Group A, while Canada, Australia and Northern Ireland are drawn in Group B.
In the women’s draw, Canada, Kenya and England are in Group A, with Scotland, Australia and South Africa in Group B.
A round-robin group phase will be followed by semi-finals and a final.
PARA TABLE TENNIS

(File image of India’s Paralympic medallist Bhavinaben Patel – TOI Photo)
Para Table Tennis was announced as one of the sporting disciplines added to the Birmingham 2022 programme in August 2019. The competition will be played at the National Exhibition Centre (NEC) Hall 3. Para Table Tennis will see 32 athletes (16 each in men’s and women’s draws) compete across four medal events at the Games.
The qualification criteria was – five places per event determined by the ITTF Para Table Tennis Rankings List; one for the Americas/Caribbean regions combined, plus one for each of the other four CGF regions. Another place per event is determined by the aforementioned rankings directly. The last two places in each event are determined by CGF/ITTF Bipartite Invitations.