National Sports Day special: Top achievements in Indian sports over the past year

The past year has had a lot to offer in terms of sports. Even more so, if you look at it from an Indian perspective. Here, we cover the top achievements by Indian athletes over the past year.

PV Sindhu wins bronze at Badminton World Championships

P V Sindhu

10th August 2013 was a historic day for Indian badminton as PV Sindhu became the first Indian woman to win a medal in singles at the Badminton World Championships.

Sindhu’s effort was all the more remarkable as she defeated two higher ranked Chinese players along the way – former World No. 1 Wang Shixian and World No. 2 (current World No. 5 Wang Yihan) – in straight sets.

The bronze medal was the culmination of a superb year for Sindhu, who had also won the prestigious Malaysian Open 2013 and defeated Olympic gold medallist Li Xuerui at the 2012 China Masters.

With her incredible achievements, Sindhu is fast becoming the poster girl of Indian badminton along with Saina Nehwal.

Indian women’s team wins bronze at Junior Hockey World Cup

Players and support staff of Indian Women’s Junior Hockey team which won bronze medal at Junior Hockey World Cup pose with their medals after their arrival at the Indira Gandhi International Airport on August 6, 2013 in New Delhi, India. Indian girls scripted history at the seventh FIH Junior World Cup in Monchengladbach, Germany by beating England 3-2 in a penalty shootout in bronze medal play-off match on August 4 to finish on the podium.(Photo by Sushil Kumar/Hindustan Times via Getty Images)

Probably the biggest surprise of the past year, the Indian women’s junior hockey team, consisting of girls mostly from small Indian towns and villages, stunned the hockey world and the country by winning a bronze medal at the Junior Hockey World Cup in Monchengladbach, Germany.

It was reminiscent of the popular Bollywood movie ‘Chak de India’ as the junior women’s team lost to Australia 1-6 in the opening match of the tournament, before going on a stunning spree, posting wins against Russia, New Zealand, England and Spain.

In the semi-finals, they lost 0-3 to Netherlands, who would go on to win the tournament, but managed to draw the praise of the hockey world with their spirited performances.

Former Indian coach Michael Nobbs has since revealed that he found several of the Indian women’s players to be anaemic, which makes this performance all the more impressive.

Yuwa girls finish third at Gasteiz Cup in Spain

The Yuwa Supergoats

One of the most heart-moving stories of the year came from the Yuwa girls, who finished third at the Gasteiz Cup in Spain.

The girls belonged to the NGO Yuwa, which rescued the girls from the clutches of illegal human trafficking and provided them with education and training in their beloved sport of football.

Their talent was impressive and they were invited to participate in two of the biggest Spanish tournaments – the Donosti Cup and the Gasteiz Cup. The Yuwa Supergoats team comprised entirely of tribal girls between the ages 10-14, finished third in the Gasteiz Cup.

The girls received more support in Spain than they ever did at home. When the girls went to the Panchayat office to collect their birth certificates, they were slapped and made to sweep the floors.

In Spain, the organizers took it upon themselves to take care of the girls’ expenses, while a company called Gamesa Wind Turbines Pvt Ltd decided to sponsor them the rest of the tour. The girls were also given a tour of the iconic Santiago Bernabeu stadium, home to legendary football club Real Madrid.

Indian men’s cricket team wins ICC Champions Trophy

India celebrate their victory with the Champions Trophy during the ICC Champions Trophy Final match between England and India at Edgbaston on June 23, 2013 in Birmingham, England. (Photo by Christopher Lee-ICC/ICC via Getty Images)

A young Indian team devoid of seniors like Virender Sehwag, Yuvrag Singh, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, and the retired Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid was written off in the face of the testing conditions in England.

Just like the unfancied 2007 team, which went on to win the T20 World Cup, this young team too surprised one and all with their performances, as they went on to lift the Champions Trophy, beating the hosts by just five runs in a thrilling final.

The tournament saw the Indian youngsters stepping up convincingly to fill the void left by the seniors, as we saw terrific performances by the likes of Shikhar Dhawan, Ravindra Jadeja, Rohit Sharma and Dinesh Karthik.

Asian Athletics Championships and Asian Youth Games

Anjana Thamke

The Asian Athletics Championships saw hosts India take home two gold medals, six silvers and nine bronze medals, as the country finished sixth in the medals tally.

Vikas Gowda took gold in discus throw while the Indian women’s 4x400m relay team of Nirmala, Tintu Luka, Anu Mariam Jose and Poovamma MR also finished top.

At the Youth Asian Games, the Indian athletes participated under the Olympics flag as the Indian Olympic Association remains suspended.

Anjana Thamke provided the biggest surprise by winning the girls’ 800m run. Born in extreme poverty, Thamke has now become a ray of light in Indian athletics, which has been mired in controversy. Her home has neither an internet connection nor a television, and her parents live in a mud hut, which make her efforts all the more incredible.

In addition, Kush Kumar won gold in the boys’ squash final and Venkat Rahul Ragala took top honours in weightlifting (77kg category).

India overall claimed three gold, four silver and seven bronze medals at the Youth Games, to finish 10th in the standings.