10 upcoming Indian athletes to watch out for in 2015

Despite the controversies and organisational issues in Indian sport, the Indian athletes achieved a decent level of successin 2014. With every passing year, new athletes arrive on the big stage as they look to make their mark and stay there. 2015 has several sporting events lined up, which means that the new generation will have many opportunities to win medals and championships. Let’s look at the top 10 upcoming Indian athletes to watch out for in 2015:

#1 Ankita Raina (tennis)

Born in Ahmedabad, the 21-year-old is currently nation’s top ranked woman singles player. She has won five singles and seven doubles titles on the ITF tour in her career.

Ankita, who reached her career best ranking of 246 a few days ago, won the ITF $25000 title in Pune on 27th December 2014. With this title, Ankita became the first Indian woman to win an ITF $25000 title on Indian soil and only the third Indian after Nirupama Vaidynathan-Sanjeev and Sania MIrza to win the title worldwide.

Ankita, who has a doubles ranking of 260, is supported by the Gujarat government. Ankita’s first major tournament this year will be the National Games which will be held in Kerala from 31^st Jaunary to 14^th February.

#2 Ruthivika Shivani (badminton)

Ruthvika Shivani, who is currently ranked 7th in the BWF Junior Rankings is probably one of the best upcoming player of the country.

Shivani, a rising 17-year-old shuttler from Khamman, Andhra Pradesh recently grabbed the USD 25,000 Tata Open India International Challenge Badminton tournament after stunning the fourth seed and higher experienced Arundhati Pantawane 19-21, 21-18, 21-14 in the final encounter.

At the 2014 Asian Junior Badminton Championships in Malaysia, Ruthvika spearheaded the Indian attack, and went all the way till the quarter-final. Ruthvika currently trains at Gopichand Badminton Academy and is sponsored by GoSports Foundation.

#3 Vijay Zol (cricket)

Vijay Zol, a 20-year-old left-handed top order batsman who represents Maharashtra in first class matches is India’s one of the best emerging player.

Zol came into limelight when he scored a century on first-class debut for India A against New Zealand A and a double-century on Ranji debut for Maharashtra. He was a part of the Indian team who won the U-19 World Cup in 2012 and captained the side in the next edition in 2014.

Zol is currently the part of Royal Challengers Bangalore squad in the Indian Premier League.

#4 Apurvi Chandela (shooting)

Apurvi Chandela is one of the brightest prospects of Indian Shooting in the near future. Hailing from Jaipur, the 22-year-old shooter grabbed the eyes of the nation when she won the gold medal at the 2014 Commonwealth Games.

Apurvi, who is ranked 27th in the world in women’s 10m Air Rifle event recently won the gold medal at the 58th National Shooting Championships in Pune.

Supported by Olympic Gold Quest, this Rajasthan markswoman also bagged four medals at the 37th edition of the Intershoot Championships held at the Hague, Netherlands in February 2014 and she finished in the top 15 in 2 out of 3 World Cups she participated in 2014.

This young talented Shooter has a bright future waiting for her and she can be one of India’s best medal prospect in the next Olympics.

#5 Atul Verma (archery)

Atul Verma is India’s one of the best rising and promising stars in Archery. Aged 17, Verma made the nation proud by winning the bronze medal at the Nanjing Youth Olympics last year. This medal was also the first ever medal in archery for India at the Youth Olympics.

He won the bronze in boy’s individual recurve archery event after defeating Mete Gazoz of Turkey 6-4. He was also a member of the Indian team, who won the silver medal at the Asian Grand Prix II Leg in Chinese Taipei in August, 2014.

#6 Mithra Varun (athletics)

Mithra Varun, a 17-year-old discus thrower from Tamil Nadu, who created a new meet record at the 26th South Zone Junior Athletics championships by hurling the discus to a distance of 57.95m is surely one of the best prospects for India in this sport.

Varun, who missed the bronze medal at the Nanjing Youth Olympics by just 42 cm’s came into spotlight when he won the gold medal at Coimbatore Sports Meet by creating a new record in the under-19 boys’ section.

Hopes will be high from this young discus thrower in 2015 as he will be participating in some big tournaments like Youth Commonwealth Games and Junior National Athletics.

#7 Sandesh Jhingan (football)

21-year-old defender from Chandigarh, Sandesh Jhingan was named as the best Emerging Player in the inaugural edition of the Indian Super League.

Jhingan began his career at the St Stephen's Football Academy and was selected to join the Indian national team camp in 2013. In ISL, he made the most number of tackles (42) for the Kerala Blasters FC.

Jhingan was also selected as the 2014 Emerging Footballer of the Year by All India Football Federation in 2014. Let’s hope this young and extremely talented footballer has a very bright future in 2015.

#8 Rahul Venkat Ragala (weightlifting)

Rahul Venkat Ragala, a 18-year-old weightlifter made the nation proud by winning the silver medal at the Youth Olympics in Nanjing, China last year. Rahul lifted 141 kg in snatch, followed by 175 kg in clean and jerk in 77kg wt. category to finish with a total of 316 kg.

Rahul also won two golds and a silver at the 16th Asian Youth Weightlifting Championships last year. Rahul, a student of A.P. Sports School, Hakimpet would be eyeing for an Olympic quota which will be up for grab in the 2015 IWF World Championships which will take place in Houston, USA later this year.

#9 Harmanpreet SIngh (hockey)

Harmanpreet Singh shot in to limelight in October last year when he struck two goals in the under-21 championship match to help India beat Great Britain 2-1. Not only did he scored the highest (9) goals but was also selected as the best player of the tournament.

The 21-year-old dragflicker from Punjab was then picked by Dabang Mumbai for an impressive $51,000 during the Hockey India League auctions. Harmanpreet, a product of the Surjeet Singh Academy in Jalandhar will look to make his name in the senior squad in 2015.

#10 Vinesh Phogat (wrestling)

Vinesh Phogat is one of India’s most promising stars in women’s wrestling. Cousin sister of Geeta Phogat, Vinesh brought laurels to the nation by winning the gold at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games and bronze at the Incheon Asian Games.

Born in Balali, Haryana, the 20-year-old wrestler represents the nation in 48 kg freestyle category. Her primary aim this year would be to qualify for the 2016 Rio Olympics by performing well at the World Wrestling Championships that will be held in Las Vegas from September 7th to September 12th.