Top five sports-persons of Indian descent

Almost all of us know about Sunil Chetri, Sourav Ganguly or Abhinav Bindra. But how many of you know about Mohini Bhardwaj and Vijay Singh?

They are some sports-persons who have ruled the world of sports while representing other nations. Sportskeeda now lists the Top 5 of these sport-persons from around the globe.

5. Harmeet Singh, Football

Harmeet Singh is a defensive midfielder currently playing for Feyenoord Rotterdam F.C. in Eredivisie ( the highest echelon of professional football in the Netherlands).

He was born in the Norwegian capital city Oslo to Indian parents, both of whom were from the Ludhiana area of the northern state of Punjab. His parents realised his immense talent in football and soon admitted him to the local youth multi-sports club Furuset F.C.

Then he joined the Vålerenga Sports Academy in 2003 at just the age of 13. He moved to Vålerenga’s senior team in 2007 and made 101 appearances for them before signing a 2 year contract with one of the country’s most famous club Feyenoord for €300,000 in 2012.

He is not only known for his agility and fitness but also makes some good assists in the football pitch.

Singh has represented Norway in all junior and senior levels. He made his debut for the national senior team in a friendly against Denmark in 1-1 drawn match, when he replaced Simen Brenne at half time on 15 January 2012.

4. Vikash Dhorasoo, Football

Vikash Dhosaroo

Vikash Dhosaroo is a French midfielder of Indo-Mauritian descent. He was considered a talented substitute all through his playing career.

Born in the Harlfleur area of France, he began his professional career with Le Havre A.C. in 1993. Then, he played for Olympique Lyonnais from 1998-2004.

He came back to France to play for Paris Saint Germain in 2005 after making 12 appearances for AC Milan. He scored some brilliant goals for PSG. In 2007, he also played for Livorno F.C.

After making his debut for the French national team in a goalless draw against Ukraine on 27 March 1999, he played 18 matches in all for the French national team.

3. Mohini Bhardwaj, Gymnastics

Mohini Bhardwaj

Mohini Bhardwaj is a world renowned American gymnast of Indian descent who retired in 2005. In her brilliant career stretching from mid-1990s to 2005, she has been very successful winning a Olympic silver and a bronze at the World championships.

Born to a Russian mother and an Indian father in Pennsylvania, she converted to Hinduism at a young age. Bhardwaj used to attend the Seven Hills High school in Cincinnati, but later moved to Orlando to join the famous Brown’s Gymnastics.

But, soon everything changed when she moved to Houston with her coach Alexander Alexsandrov. Slowly, heavy partying, smoking and drinking started to overpower her and she started to loose her form. She ended up finishing 10th in 1996 US Trials and missed a spot in the Olympic team by a mere 0.075. However she managed to improve her performance in 1997, and qualified for the ’97 World Championships but her wild life continued.

However, she changed her ways in around 1999, when she was under constant observation and training by UCLA head coach Val Kondos.

At the 2001 U.S. National Championships, she won the vault title and was placed 3rd in all-around. She was included in the American team for the 2001 World Championships in Ghent, Belgium, where she contributed to the U.S. squad’s bronze medal, and was placed 18th in all-round and 7th in the vault event final. But her constant injuries had a huge impact in her career. A dislocated elbow ruled her out of all competitions in 2003.

But, her return to mainstream gymnastics in 2004 was a grand one. He won the silver medal in Artistic Gymnastics team competition along with Annia Hatch, Terin Humphrey, Courtney Kupets, Courtney McCool and Carly Patterson in the Athens Olympics. They finished behind first-placed Romania. Her Grand total at the end of the competition was 28.225.

For her Olympic achievements, Bhardwaj was named the India Abroad Person of the Year for 2004.

After her retirement in 2005, she married fellow American Marine Jeff Barry and had a son in 2009. When she retired, she had a huge tally of medals. They included a bronze in 2004 Athens Olympics, silver in 2001 Ghent World Championships and a total tally 7 medals at the U.S. Senior Nationals.

2. Vijay Singh, Golf

Vijay Singh

Nicknamed “The Big Fijian”, Vijay Singh was a professional golfer of Indian descent from Fiji. He was at his top form in between 2004-2005, when he was ranked World Number One for about 32 weeks.

Son of Mohan Singh, an aircraft technician, he showed immense talent in many sports like Snooker, Cricket, Football and Rugby. But, his favorite sport was Golf.

He started his professional career with a win in the Malaysian open in 1984. He also won the Nigerian Open in 1988.

He was first spotted by experts when he won the Volvo Open Championship in 1989 at Italy. 1989 was a great year for him as he won 4 titles — Volvo Open di Firenze, Ivory Coast Open, Nigerian Open and Zimbabwe Open.

After entering the PGA tour, he won the Buick classic in 1993. In 1995, he won the Phoenix Open along with the Buick Classic. 1997 saw him win both the Memorial Tournament and the Buick Open.

After 1998 , he won several PGA Championships. 2004 was the year in which he was most successful. Singh began 2004 by winning the AT; T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am winning $954,000 as prize money. This was his first tour win in 2004 and his 16th all-time win on the PGA Tour. It was his 12th consecutive top-10 finish, which is two shy of Jack Nicklaus’ all-time record. A win at the Deutsche Bank Championship followed. With this win, he overtook Tiger Woods at the top of the Official World Golf Ranking ending Woods’ streak of remaining at the top for 264 weeks.

He was successful even after he turned 40 in 2005 and won many championships. After 2005, his biggest achievement was finishing at the top of the 2008 FedEx Cup.

1. Ramesh Patel, Hockey

Ramesh Patel in 2006

Not many know his name, but Ramesh Patel was the first person of Indian descent to win an Olympic Gold without representing India. He made his debut for the Kiwi national team in 1971.

Born in September 12, 1953 in Auckland, he was a part of the national squad that participated in 1976 Montreal Olympics. He took an instrumental part in the team’s Gold Medal win.

He was known throughout his career for excellent passing skills and agility in the field.

After his retirement in 1986, he won the Queen’s Service Medal in 1988 for his service to the nation. He later shifted to sports administration and became the Chief Executive of New Zealand Hockey in 1989. As the CEO, he made huge changes in the structure of the game in this country .