Behold the glory: Top 5 sporting years of Independent India

2003

The Indian hockey team of 2003 – a world-beating unit

Hockey brought laurels to the nation after a long time in 2003. The national team beat Pakistan in the finals to win the Asia Cup (for the first time), and they also won the Afro-Asian games.

Two Indians whose names we recall with pride in the field of athletics are PT Usha and Milkha Singh. However, they even they never won any medal in a World Championship event. A certain Anju Bobby George set this record right by winning bronze in the women’s long jump in the World Athletics Championship in Paris.

Golf is a game of the rich and India has had barely a handful of golf players of international stature. Given this background, 2003 was a successful year for Indian golf as well. Arjun Atwal became the first player in Asian PGA Tour history to move past $1 million in career earnings. He also became the first Indian to qualify for the US PGA Tour.

It was the year of cricket World Cup and fans were hoping that Ganguly’s team would bring back the Cup home after a gap of 20 years. Well, they could not get the Cup back, but finished as respectable finalists losing to the eventual champions Australia. The most memorable memory that the Indian fans took back from this tournament was an inspired batting performance led by none other than Tendulkar, who thrashed the Pakistani quicks to every corner of the ground.