A Tribute to Indian women in sports on International Women’s Day

In the century of women empowerment, it is quite impossible to ignore the advancement of women in all aspects of life. From being denied proper opportunity and scope to express themselves, the women have come forward in more ways than one.

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Women in sports from India was a rare occurrence even in the last century. But in the last decade of the previous century, things began to take a turn. With the onset of the new century, there has been a gradual and drastic change with more women achieving wonderful things in the world of sports for the country.

Let’s have a look at a few of those brilliant ladies, who have made India proud in the world of sports.

1. Mithali Raj: Mithali Raj is the current skipper of the Indian Women’s Cricket Team. Born on 3rd December 1982 Mithali is a right-handed middle-order batsman.

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Mithali Raj recently listed herself in the elite list of players participating in 6 one-day World Cups with Sachin Tendulkar and Javed Miandad. Besides this, she is the current possessor of more than one record.

Mithali Raj is the highest runs scorer in Women’s international cricket and the only female player with more than 7,000 ODI runs. She is the player with most half-centuries in Women’s ODIs. Mithali also holds a rare record of scoring seven consecutive half-centuries in ODIs. During the 2018 Women’s T20 Asia Cup, she became the first player from India (both men and women) to go past 2,000 international T20 runs, also the first woman cricketer to reach the feat. Often termed as the “Female Sachin”, Mithali has made her country proud in more ways than one and has created a unique identity for herself.

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2.PV Sindhu: Pusarla Venkata Sindhu is a name in the Indian badminton circuit that has brightened the Indian map on the globe. Born on 5th July 1995, Sindhu has gone on to be the highest achiever in badminton for India.

Sindhu saw herself in the Top 20 of the BWF World Rankings at an early age of 17 years in 2012. She has five medals to her name in the BWF World Championships, only the second woman after Zhang Ning of China to achieve the feat. A silver medal in the 2016 Rio Olympics made her the first Indian badminton player to reach the Olympic final. She also has silver medals in Commonwealth Games and Asian Games.

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3.Mary Kom:

Mangte Chungnejiang Mary Kom has not limited her footsteps only on the sports field. Born on 24th November 1982, she is a boxer, politician and a Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha.
Mary Kom has achieved the feat of winning the World Amateur Boxing Championship six times. Besides this, she is the only boxer (male or female) to win eight World Championship medals.

In 2012, she became the only Indian female boxer to qualify for the flyweight category and win a bronze medal. Mary Kom has also graced the top rank of the female light flyweight category by the International Boxing Association. A gold medal in the Asian Games of 2014 and Commonwealth Games of 2018, made her the first Indian female boxer to achieve the feats. She also has the record of being the Asian Amateur Boxing champion six times.

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4. Avani Lekhara: Born on 8th November 2001, Avani Lekhara is an Indian Paralympian and rifle shooter.

Avani Lekhara won a gold medal in 10m air rifle standing, and a bronze medal in 50m rifle 3 positions at Tokyo 2020 Paralympics. She is currently ranked number 2 in Women’s 10m Air Rifle standing SH1. Avani has the achievement of being the first Indian woman to win multiple medals in a single Paralympic Games

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5. Mirabai Chanu: Saikhom Mirabai Chanu born on 8^th August,1994 is an Indian weightlifte who has glorified her country’s name in more than one occasion. Mirabai Chanu was a silver medalist in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics in the Women’s 49 Kg category. She has won the World Championships and medals at the Commonwealth games more than one time.

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