A cursory glance at the state of Indian sport does not make for pleasant viewing. The tale, by now, is a familiar one: aside from cricket, there is a rueful lack of infrastructure and facilities for most other sports in India. The few icons that have broken through such as tennis stars Leander Paes and Sania Mirza – both of whom have had a very successful 2015 – are celebrated not just for their achievements, but for also for scaling heights in spite of a system in which all the odds were stacked against them.
But let us look at the brighter side. Despite the obstacles, India continues to throw up some incredible talent across the sporting spectrum. Perhaps, it is time to start recognising and celebrating their achievements as well.
Joshna Chinappa: Squash
Dipika Pallikal has (justifiably) been grabbing eyeballs with her exploits on the squash circuit, but her Chennai compatriot Joshna Chinappa is not too far behind. Ranked 17th in the world currently (just three places behind Pallikal), Chinappa became the first Indian player to win a British Junior Open title in 2005. In 2014, she teamed up with Pallikal at the Commonwealth Games to win India a gold, the country’s first ever medal in squash.
On October 31, Chinappa pulled off the unthinkable. In one of the biggest upsets in squash, she defeated world number one, Egypt’s Raneem El Welily, in the first round of the Qatar Classic Squash Championship. Not surprisingly, she described it as “the best win of my career”.
Saurav Ghosal: Squash
It would be fair to say that Saurav Ghosal has not got the adulation he deserves. Ranked 17th in the world currently, this 29-year old from Kolkata has been single-handedly carrying the mantle for men’s squash in the country for the past few years. At 40 places below Ghosal, Mahesh Mangaonkar is the next highest-ranked Indian. Ghosal’s list of achievements make for proud reading – the first Indian to be ranked junior world number one, a team gold medal at the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon and a silver in the singles. His next target is to break into the top 10 in the world.
Srikanth Kidambi: Badminton
The lanky 22-year old from Andhra Pradesh is helping carry forward the legacy of Indian badminton greats Pullela Gopichand and Prakash Padukone. From a world ranking of 240 in 2012, Kidambi has swiftly climbed up the ranks and is now ranked fifth in the world. He has shown that he can be quite the giant-killer.
Kidambi made history in 2014 by beating then-number one Lin Dan to win the China Open, making it the first time an Indian male shutter had won a Super Series Premier event. With the 2016 Rio Olympics coming up, there will be great expectations for Kidambi to deliver a medal.
Dipa Karmakar: Gymnastics
For a young girl who had flat feet at the age of six, Dipa Karmakar has come a long way. After becoming the first Indian woman to win a Commonwealth Games medal in 2014, Karmakar became the first Indian to qualify for the finals of the World Gymnastics Championship, where she finished fifth on October 31. Aged 22, this Tripura girl is already considered to be among the finest gymnasts that India has ever produced. And if her performance at the World Championships was any indication, she is just getting started.
Yuki Bhambri: Tennis
While Sania Mirza and Leander Paes win plaudits for their exploits on the doubles circuit, 23-year-old Yuki Bhambri is probably India’s biggest hope when it comes to the singles. On November 1, Bhambri beat Evgeny Donskoy in Pune to win the ATP Challenger, his second major triumph in 2015 after he won the Shanghai Challenger in September. His consistent performances allowed him to break into the top 100 in world tennis this year, the first Indian since 2010 to achieve the feat.
We welcome your comments at
letters@scroll.in.
But let us look at the brighter side. Despite the obstacles, India continues to throw up some incredible talent across the sporting spectrum. Perhaps, it is time to start recognising and celebrating their achievements as well.
Joshna Chinappa: Squash
Joshna Chinappa beat the reigning world number one on Saturday.
Source: Facebook
Dipika Pallikal has (justifiably) been grabbing eyeballs with her exploits on the squash circuit, but her Chennai compatriot Joshna Chinappa is not too far behind. Ranked 17th in the world currently (just three places behind Pallikal), Chinappa became the first Indian player to win a British Junior Open title in 2005. In 2014, she teamed up with Pallikal at the Commonwealth Games to win India a gold, the country’s first ever medal in squash.
On October 31, Chinappa pulled off the unthinkable. In one of the biggest upsets in squash, she defeated world number one, Egypt’s Raneem El Welily, in the first round of the Qatar Classic Squash Championship. Not surprisingly, she described it as “the best win of my career”.
Saurav Ghosal: Squash
Saurav Ghosal is the highest-ranked Indian in world squash.
Source: Pornchai Kittiwongsakul/AFP
It would be fair to say that Saurav Ghosal has not got the adulation he deserves. Ranked 17th in the world currently, this 29-year old from Kolkata has been single-handedly carrying the mantle for men’s squash in the country for the past few years. At 40 places below Ghosal, Mahesh Mangaonkar is the next highest-ranked Indian. Ghosal’s list of achievements make for proud reading – the first Indian to be ranked junior world number one, a team gold medal at the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon and a silver in the singles. His next target is to break into the top 10 in the world.
Srikanth Kidambi: Badminton
Srikanth is currently ranked fifth in the world.
Source: Xinhua
The lanky 22-year old from Andhra Pradesh is helping carry forward the legacy of Indian badminton greats Pullela Gopichand and Prakash Padukone. From a world ranking of 240 in 2012, Kidambi has swiftly climbed up the ranks and is now ranked fifth in the world. He has shown that he can be quite the giant-killer.
Kidambi made history in 2014 by beating then-number one Lin Dan to win the China Open, making it the first time an Indian male shutter had won a Super Series Premier event. With the 2016 Rio Olympics coming up, there will be great expectations for Kidambi to deliver a medal.
Dipa Karmakar: Gymnastics
Dipa Karmakar won a bronze medal at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
Source: Indranil Mukherjee/AFP
For a young girl who had flat feet at the age of six, Dipa Karmakar has come a long way. After becoming the first Indian woman to win a Commonwealth Games medal in 2014, Karmakar became the first Indian to qualify for the finals of the World Gymnastics Championship, where she finished fifth on October 31. Aged 22, this Tripura girl is already considered to be among the finest gymnasts that India has ever produced. And if her performance at the World Championships was any indication, she is just getting started.
Yuki Bhambri: Tennis
Bhambri broke into the world's top 100 this year.
Source: IANS
While Sania Mirza and Leander Paes win plaudits for their exploits on the doubles circuit, 23-year-old Yuki Bhambri is probably India’s biggest hope when it comes to the singles. On November 1, Bhambri beat Evgeny Donskoy in Pune to win the ATP Challenger, his second major triumph in 2015 after he won the Shanghai Challenger in September. His consistent performances allowed him to break into the top 100 in world tennis this year, the first Indian since 2010 to achieve the feat.
