India, Aug. 3 -- Heading into the Glasgow Commonwealth Games, India had two streaks to protect: a top-five finish and at least 50 medals, benchmarks the country had maintained at every edition since 2002. At a heavily downsized Games, where several of India's strongest medal-winning sports were absent, both goals looked under serious threat.

When the curtain came down after 11 days of competition, India returned with 39 medals (13 gold, 17 silver, 9 bronze) and finished fourth in the medals table. The top-five streak survived, but the 50-medal run did not. On paper, it looked like a step backwards from Birmingham's 61 medals four years ago. The numbers, however, tell a different story.

India sent 122 athletes to Glasgow compared to 210 ...