Few Inspiring Moments In The History Of Indian Sports.

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Few Inspiring Moments In The History Of Indian Sports.

INDIA is a huge country with a population of over 1.3 billion. Sports is a vital part of any progressive society and Indian culture is no exception. The country’s unique history is shown through the large variety of mainstream and local sports played and followed by its citizens.

By far, cricket is one of the most popular sports in India. However, other sports are also prominent, including traditional Indian sports like kadabbi, football, tennis, basketball, and others.

The history of Indian athletes has been jaw-dropping and inspiring, to say the least. For years, India has produced some of the finest athletes who showcased glorious moments and medals in sports history.

From grabbing the cricket World Cup trophy to Sachin Tendulkar’s emotional retirement to being the undefeated Kabaddi champions to Mary Kom’s amazing comeback, here are a few memorable moments of Indian sports history that you will love to go back in time and relive!

India has some amazing talents in various fields and sports is indeed one of them. From the most talked about game of cricket to making headway in some lesser-known sports as well, and gradually increasing medal tallies at international events, India has come a long way.

1. The Golden Era of Indian Football between 1951 and 1962

The 1950s and 1960s were the glorious years for the Indian Football team and it ranked among the top 20 teams of the world.

Under the legendary Syed Abdul Rahim, they won the 1951 and 1962 Asian Games and finished fourth in the 1956 Olympics.

During the team’s peak period, they were automatically advanced to play in the 1950 FIFA World Cup. But they could not participate in the games due to a lack of resources, financial constraints, and other internal issues.

2. Khashaba Jadhav, the first Indian to win an individual Olympic medal for India

His name was Khashaba Dadasaheb Jadhav. he was a wrestler and by winning a bronze medal at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Finland and he became the first Indian to win a medal on this platform.

With this achievement, he gave India one of its most glorious moments.

His bright future in wrestling was visible ever since he won his first wrestling bout at the age of eight in just two minutes against a local champion wrestler.

He won his Olympic medal after defeating players from Mexico, Canada, and Germany.

Unlike today, when players are welcomed with a lot of media attention, Jadhav was just greeted by his fellow villagers after the remarkable feat!

3. Milkha Singh won gold at the 1958 Cardiff Commonwealth Games

Milkha Singh will always be remembered for putting India on the athletics map. He became the first Indian to clinch a gold medal at the 1958 Commonwealth Games in the 440 yards category.

4. 1980 All England Badminton Championships

India's badminton legend Prakash Padukone created history by winning the All-England Open at just 24 years of age.

The title was historic since it was India's first triumph and Padukone was the first Indian ever to achieve the feat.

5. 1983 World Cup triumph at Lords

The face of cricket in India changed following the country's historic 1983 World Cup triumph against West Indies in the final at Lords.

The Men in Blue went on to achieve the feat once again back in 2011 under MS Dhoni.

6. Vishwanathan Anand Wins Chess World Championship

Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore's silver medal at the 2004 Athens Olympics was India’s only medal in the event.

Before taking part in Athens Olympics, Rathore served as a colonel in the Indian Army and fought in the 1999 Kargil war.

7. India won World Cup Hockey in 1975

In this historical victory against Pakistan on 15th March 1975, India won the Hockey World Cup held at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia with a score of 2-1.

Players like Ajit Pal, who was the captain of the team, and Aslam Sher Khan played a crucial role in this victory. India has 8 Olympic Gold Medals under its name which is a great achievement in itself.

8. P. T. Usha’s victory at Asian Games in 1986

Usha won four gold medals and one silver medal in the track and field events of the 1986 Asian Games.

She was also awarded the trophy for the Best Athlete in the world. Her splendid victories made her a household name and brightened the prospects of female athletes in India.

9. Athens Olympics (2004)

It was a special gaming event for India. Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, the army colonel, won a silver medal in the sports shooting category.

At that edition, it was India’s only Olympic medal. He served in Kargil during the 1999 war with Pakistan.

10. Beijing Olympics (2008)

The Beijing Olympics was historic for India with the country making history in shooting and boxing.

Abhinav Bindra became India's first gold medalist in Beijing Olympics, while Vijender Singh won the bronze medal in the middleweight category to give India its first-ever Olympic medal in boxing.

11. India's best performance at the 2010 Commonwealth Games Delhi

The 2010 Commonwealth Games were held in India and athletes of the host nation took full advantage of it producing their best-ever performance in the multi-sport event.

India won a total of 101 medals which included 38 Gold medals, 27 Silver & 36 Bronze medals. The country had their best finish ending up at 2nd position in the medals table that year.

This is the only instance when India won more than 100 medals in a Commonwealth Games event.

12. India lifts the 2011 World Cup at home

MS Dhoni ended India's 27-year-long wait to win their 2nd World Cup title on 2nd April 2011.

In the final which was played at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, India beat Sri Lanka by six wickets to become the first country to win the Cricket World Cup final on home soil.

13. Indian athletes' performance at Tokyo Olympics 2020

The 2020 Tokyo Olympics will be remembered by Indian fans for a lot of reasons.

The first one was Neeraj Chopra's historic Gold medal which made him only the second Indian after Abhinav Bindra to achieve the feat.

Besides Chopra, Mirabai Chanu won silver in the Women's weightlifting 49kg category.

PV Sindhu became the first Indian woman to win two Olympic medals after her bronze medal performance.

In Wrestling Ravi Kumar Dahiya won the silver medal on his debut, while Bajrang Punia won the bronze after overcoming injury concerns.

India's men's and women's hockey teams also made history in Tokyo. While the men's team won the bronze medal, the women's team finished fourth. Lovlina Borgohain became the third boxer after Vijender Singh and Mary Kom to win a boxing medal in the Olympics.

14. Weightlifters, Wrestlers make history at Commonwealth Games 2022

India finished 4th in the medal tally with 22 Gold, 15 Silver, and 23 Bronze medals and with a total of 61 medals at the Commonwealth Games 2022 held in Birmingham.

The Wrestling event was India's most successful discipline at CWG 2022 with wrestlers winning 12 medals.

The weightlifting contingent was a close second with 10 Indians winning medals which also included three gold medals. The boxers and table tennis teams ended up winning seven medals.

Eldhose Paul and Abdulla Aboobacker claimed gold and silver in the men's triple jump.

The Indian women's lawn bowls team won a gold medal which was also the country's first medal in the spot.

PV Sindhu finally managed to lay her hands on the gold medal in badminton singles, while the men's and women's hockey teams won silver and bronze respectively.

The Indian women's cricket team ended up winning the silver medal with women's cricket making its debut at CWG 2022.