National Sports Day Special: Top 5 achievements by Indians in 2014

India is slowly expanding its presence in world sport. Apart from mainstream sports such as cricket and football, India has begun to expand its wings to various Olympic sports. Here are the best sporting achievements by Indians in the 2014.

#1 Kashyap Parupalli wins gold medal at Commonwealth Games

KashyapParupalli

Kashyap Parupallientered the2014 Commonwealth Games as the second seed.The final was an intensematch which went the distance. Kashyapdefeated Derek Wong of Singapore 21-14, 11-21, 21-19 to win the gold medal for India. It was Indias first gold medal in badminton in 32 years.

#2 Gagan Narang wins silver and bronze medal in shooting

Gagan Narang (left)

Gagan Narang, India’s hero in the 2012 Olympic Games achieved further success at the 2014 Commonwealth Games. Narang won the silver medal in 50-metre rifle prone and the bronze medal in 50-metre rifle 3 position. He was the only Indian to win two medals the Games in Glasgow.

#3 Sania Mirza reaches final of Australian Open and wins WTA Portugal Open

Sania Mirza (right)

Sania Mirza has broken several records throughout her career. In January 2014, she added another trophy to her cabinet after reaching the finals of the Australian Open mixed doubles. Having won the Australian Open and French Open before, Mirza continues to lead Indias challenge in womens tennis.

#4 Saina Nehwal wins Australian Super Series and India Open Grand Prix Gold Tournament

Saina Nehwal

Saina Nehwal’s dominance in badminton reached new heights in 2014. She started the year brightly by beating world championship bronze medalist P. V. Sindhu 21-14, 21-17 to win the India Open Grand Prix Gold tournament.

Later in June 2014, Nehwal defeated Spain's Carolina Marin 21-18, 21-11 to win 2014 Australian Super Series. The two victories in the year helped her become world number 7.

#5 Jitu Rai becomes world number 1

Jitu Rai (right)

Jitu Rai became an Indian sensatiion for his achevements in shooting. At the 2014 International Shooting Sport Federation world cup in Munich, Rai won a silver medal in the 10 metre air pistol event. He bettered his performance in Slovenia by winning the gold in the same event. He also won a silver medal in the 50 metre pistol event. He became the first Indian to have won two medals at a single world cup.

At the 2014 Commonwealth Games, Rai created the record in the qualification round of the 50 metre pistol event, having scored 562 points. He won the gold medal in the event and created another record in the process by scoring 194.1 points in the final.