India, Aug. 2 -- The last time India finished outside the five best performing nations at the Commonwealth Games (CWG) was before the turn of the century, at the 1998 Kuala Lumpur edition.

India's fourth-place finish in the medals table of the 2026 Glasgow CWG, in that sense, may seem par for the course.

But in a 10-sport edition that had no takers until a last-minute scramble and was heavily downsized with most of the country's traditionally strong sports axed, the Indian contingent in Glasgow still managed to stand its ground. And that India still managed to keep their place among the top five nations with 39 medals (13 gold, 17 silver, 9 bronze) is a creditable statement.

It's a statement that also augers well for what's to come at ...