Top 10 Indian women sportspersons of the decade
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PV Sindhu, Saina Nehwal, Mary Kom and Sania Mirza (L-R)
Till 2010, the start of this decade, only one woman had the privilege of stepping on an Olympic podium for India. It was Karnam Malleswari, who clinched the bronze in the 69kg category at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. With the feat, she became the first Indian women athlete to win an Olympic medal. But it was her success at the grandest stage which sparked a revolution. And it was this decade which finally saw the results of it.
This decade saw as many as four women athletes bag Olympic medals for the nation. It all started with Saina Nehwal‘s bronze medal at the 2012 London Olympics. At the 2016 Rio Olympics, India won two medals, silver and a bronze. And the most honourable thing was both were won by women athletes, PV Sindhu and Sakshi Malik. Apart from these big names, numerous women athletes brought laurels to the nation with their determination and hard work.
As the decade draws to a close, let us take you through a list of current Indian women athletes, have broken barriers in a socially orthodox country of ours. And excelled at the grandest stage of their respective fields.
1. PV Sindhu
The second half of the decade saw ace shuttler PV Sindhu shine at the highest level. Making her international debut in 2009, Sindhu broke onto the international scene as she stormed into the top 20 of the BWF World Ranking in 2012. She won her first Superseries title at the 2016 China Open as the Rio Olympics silver medallist rose to a career-high rank of No. 2 in April 2017. Sindhu scripted record as she went on to win medals at every World Championships, the exception being of 2015. Her five World Championship medals are the most for any singles player this decade.
And it is only the second time a woman pocketed five or more medals at the World Championships. Sindhu’s greatest achievement came last year as she stormed to the Worlds title. She defeated world No. 1 Tai Tzu Ying and former champion Nozomi Okuhara on her path to the pinnacle. The ace shuttler also won the women’s singles title at the inaugural World Tour Finals in 2018, which saw her streak of seven final losses finally end. Her feats also include silver in the women’s singles at Iran Fajr International Badminton Challenge in 2010, Asia Youth U/19 Championship in 2012 and Bronze medal at World Championship in 2012 and 2014.
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2. Saina Nehwal
Saina Nehwal scripted history as she the first Indian badminton player to have won an Olympic medal. And is renowned for her undying passion for the game. The former World No. 1 has as many as 24 international titles, including eleven Superseries titles to her name. Saina climbed to the number 2 spot in world rankings in the year 2009. But it took her six long years to attain the No. 1 ranking. In 2015 she became the second Indian player, after Prakash Padukone, to achieve this feat.
She won two medals (a silver and a bronze) at the Worlds besides winning the singles gold at the Commonwealth Games in 2010 and 2018. This was yet another record for Saina as she became only the second woman to win two singles golds at the tournament. In the 2014 Uber Cup, she captained India and remained undefeated, helping India to grab the bronze medal. It was India’s first medal in any BWF major team event. Although a plethora of injuries have slowed down her career lately. It is her hard work and dedication which paved way for India to rise in the world of badminton.
3. Mary Kom
Mary Kom is the face of the revolution that has shot women sports in India to new heights. The woman boxer, who is renowned for her determination and courage, boasts of six world titles, an Olympic bronze medal (2012), five Asian titles, gold at the Asian Games and the Commonwealth Games (this decade), besides numerous other laurels. Mary’s first World Championship medal was a sliver in the 48kg category. She followed it up with a gold medal in 2002 before adding to more gold medals in 2005 and 2006. The 37-year-old went on to add medals in 2008, 2010 and 2018 to her tally.
Mary is one of the rare Indian athletes who continued to shine for almost two decades. And her eight medals at the World Championships are the most by any boxer at the tournament. The Manipuri legend never turned pro, and became the first amateur boxer to win the Padma Bhushan, India’s third-highest civilian honour. After numerous obstacles, Mary continues to amaze the world. She is currently training hard for another Olympic medal as she gears up for Tokyo 2021.
4. Vinesh Phogat
Hailing from a family of world-class wrestlers, Vinesh Phogat followed her sisters into the family business. She won a gold medal at the 2014 Commonwealth Games as well as in the 2018 edition. At a tender age of 25, Vinesh has been one of the most successful Indian wrestlers in history, outdoing her sisters by a mile. She has been in great form lately winning the Asian Games gold medal in 2018 and a bronze at the World Championships in Nur-Sultan last year. In 2013, she stormed on to the international scene as she went on to clinch a bronze medal at the Asian Wrestling Championship in 51kg category at 19. She followed it up with silver at the Commonwealth Championship in South Africa in the same year.
She went on to win a silver medal at the 2015 Asian Championships in Doha before bagging the Olympic qualification tournament in Istanbul. But a knee injury ruled her out of the Rio Olympics. She forged a comeback into the mat in 2018 with a silver medal at the Asian Championships in Kyrgyzstan. And bagged a maiden World Championship medal last year in the women’s 53kg category. She became the first Indian wrestler to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics 2020 by virtue of her top-six finish. And is training hard to shine on her Olympic debut.
5. Deepika Kumari
Deepika Kumari is one of the most, if not the most, decorated archers going around lately. The 26-year-old first broke into the news as she clinched bronze at the Asian Games before capturing two gold medals at the Commonwealth Games 2011. She followed up her Commonwealth Games heroics with four silver medals at the Archery World Cup. And went on to clinch another silver at the Asian Archery Championship in 2011. Deepika captured her first gold medal at the Archery World Cup in Antalya in 2012 as a 17-year-old.
In her decade-long career, a whopping, 23 Archery World Cup medals, including five golds and six Asian Archery gold medals which includes a mixed team gold in 2013. Deepika clinched two bronze medals at the Asian Archery Championships last year. With this feat, she has won an international title in all but one year, 2017, of the past decade. Despite all the laurels to her name, the young talent strives to clinch an Olympic medal and is working hard to make her dream come true at the Tokyo Games 2021.
6. Sania Mirza
India’s most decorated women’s tennis player Sania Mirza‘s singles career came to a screeching halt at the turn of the decade. Recurring injuries saw her glorious singles career cut short. And it felt like it was the end of the road for Sania. However, Sania had different plans as she transformed into a doubles player. Her doubles career gained speed as she stormed into the French Open final in 2011 but fell short. Sania came back strong in the next season as he lifted the mixed doubles title in Paris in 2012. Sania then went on to win her second mixed doubles Grand Slam title at the US Open in 2014.
But the turning point in her career came in 2015 as she paired up with Swiss star Martina Hingis. The duo won three successive titles, propelling Mirza to No.1 in the women’s doubles ranking. She became the first Indian player to achieve that feat as the duo embarked on a record-breaking run of 41-straight wins. Sania and Martina parted ways in 2016 but the former continued her journey in the doubles till 2017. Injuries and pregnancy meant Sania took the foot off the gas but is set to return at the Hobart International.
7. Dutee Chand
Sprinter Dutee Chand‘s road to glory is full of hurdles, yet the 24-year-old never faltered. Hailing from a poverty-stricken family, Dutee not only had to overcome her financial struggles. But also had to overcome a roadblock of scandals. It was in 2012, the sprinter from Odisha hogged the limelight at the National Youth U-18 Junior Athletics Championships in Bengaluru. She clocked 11.8 seconds in the 100 metres category to set a national record and never looked back again. Dutee bagged a bronze medal in the 200 metres category at the 2013 Asian Athletics Championships. She then went on to script history at the Athletics World Youth Championships in the same year. She became the first Indian to reach the final of 100 meters category.
Next year Dutee shined at the Asian Junior Athletics Championships held in Taipei, Republic of China. She won two gold medals each in the 200 metres category and in the 4 X 400 metres relay. It is at such a high in her career that she was dropped from the Commonwealth Games for high levels of testosterone in her body. Dutee’s career was on the verge of bidding goodbye to her athletics career. But she showed courage to take on the IAAF’s hyperandrogenism clause in the Court of Arbitration for Sport. She came back strong as she clinched double silver medals at the Jakarta Asian Games 2018 before winning gold in the 100m race at the 2019 Summer Universiade.
8. Dipa Karmakar
The flagbearer of gymnastics in India, Dipa Karmakar shocked the world as she successfully attempted the Produnova twice. It was at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, that Dipa stunned all those in attendance by attempting and landing the Produnova for the first time. And becoming only the fifth woman in history to successfully execute the move. She finished third at Glasgow as she became the first female Indian gymnast to win a Commonwealth Games medal.
Dipa went on to become the first gymnast to represent India at the Summer Olympics as she qualified for Rio 2016. The then 23-year-old attempted the Produnova on the grandest stage of them all and managed to execute it yet again. Although she missed the podium after coming agonisingly close, finishing fourth. Dipa garnered praise around the world for her courage and skills.
9. Aditi Ashok
Aditi Ashok is undoubtedly the biggest name in Indian women’s golf. She became the first Indian woman golfer to bag the 2016 Ladies European Tour. Aditi holds the pride of being the youngest contender in the field of golf at the Rio Olympics. The 22-year-old is also the first and the only Indian golfer to have competed at the Asian Youth Games in 2013, Youth Olympic Games in 2014, Asian Games in 2014 and the Olympic Games in 2016. But the firsts in her career doesn’t get over yet.
She became first Indian to win a Ladies European Tour title as she clinched the 2016 Hero Women’s Indian Open. Aditi picked up a second win at the Qatar Ladies Open a few weeks later. And finished second on the Order of Merit. She also attained an LPGA Tour card for 2017 by competing at the LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament. The rising star is also the first-ever Indian LPGA player and finished in the eighth position in the Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year rankings table. It is her successes that has garnered a lot of attention to the sport in the country.
10. Jhulan Goswami
Jhulan Goswami has been the Indian bowling spearhead since her debut in 2002. The fiery pacer has a total of 225 wickets in 182 ODIs – the most in Women’s ODIs. The 5’11” bowler also led the Indian attack in the 2017 ICC World Cup. During their run to the final in the tournament, Jhulan scalped 10 wickets in nine matches at an economy of 4.14 runs per over.
The tall pacer from Bengal was among the six players shortlisted for the ICC Woman ODI Cricketer of the Decade Award. Goswami, who was known as being one of the fastest female bowlers during her time, has been the recipient of an ICC Award before. She won the Women’s Cricketer of the Year Award in 2007. The 38-year-old is far from hanging her boots as she gears up for yet another crack at the Women’s Cricket World Cup in 2022. Jhulan is currently playing a mentor cum player role in the side as she is grooming the upcoming youngsters in the side.
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Anshuman Mahapatra
(1496 Articles Published)