The rising stars of Indian Sports in 2015
2015 has been an eventful one in Indian sports with brilliant performances from across sports. Between the headlines of Sania & Saina’s rise to No.1, and Indian Cricket team’s heroics, there were also some young guns who made a name for themselves in the Indian sports circles. With the year coming to a close, we take a look at the five rising stars of Indian sports in 2015.
1. Shiva Thapa – Boxing
The 22-year-old Guwahati lad has been India’s most promising boxing talent for a while. In 2012, the bantam weight boxer became the youngest Indian boxer to qualify for the Olympics. He also won India a Gold at the Asian Championships in 2013.
However, the last couple of years have been a nose-dive for Indian boxing. De-recognition of the Indian boxing federation has left the boxers deprived of financial and training support.
Overcoming these obstacles, young Shiva Thapa boxed his way into the Indian history books after securing a bronze at the 2015 World Championships – third Indian after Vijender Singh (2009) and Vikas Krishan (2011).
The pugilist narrowly missed out on an Olympic quota after losing to Belarus’ Dzmitry Asanau in a box-off for the third spot. Thapa, who also secured a bronze at the 2015 Asian Boxing Championships, ended a stellar 2015 as World No.2 in the 56kg category. The Assam pugilist will be India’s biggest medal hope in the boxing ring in 2016 Rio Olympics.
2. Apurvi Chandela – Shooting
The World No.7 in 10m Air Rifle had a stellar year, bagging a bronze at the ISSF Rifle and Pistol World Cup in Changwon, Korea to qualify for the Olympics and silver at the ISSF Rifle and Pistol World Cup Finals in Munich. The 2014 Commonwealth Games gold medallist finished her season by adding another medal to her kitty by winning gold at the 59th National shooting championship.
The 22-year-old shooter is also the only Indian woman shooter to have qualified for the 2016 Rio Olympics till date. Following in the steps of Anjali Bhagwat and Suma Shirur, the youngster has the potential to become the flag bearer of Indian women’s shooting in the coming years.
3. Deborah Herold – Cycling
Deborah Herold became the highest-ranked Indian woman cyclist in history when she climbed to fourth place in the World Elite Women Ranking in December. A literal unknown in the Indian sporting arena, the Andaman and Nicobar girl survived the 2004 tsunami, when she was just nine years old by clinging to a tree for a whole day in the Car Nicobar Island.
The 20-year old cyclist won the women's elite section at the Taiwan Cup in October and added one gold, three silver and one bronze medal to her kitty. The Indian cyclist sensation also won gold in the women's elite sprint event and two silvers in the Track Asia Cup to guide India to a third-place finish. Deborah will be pushing for a spot at the 2016 Rio Olympics after announcing her arrival at the Indian sporting scene.
4. Dipa Karmakar – Gymnastics
The 2014 Commonwealth games bronze medallist was another sports star to have a glorious 2015. She started the year by clinching five individual gold medals in all-round, table vault, balancing beam, uneven parallel bars and floor exercises at the 35th National Games in Kerala. The 22-year old continued her medal run in the 2015 Asian Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Japan by winning a bronze medal.
Dipa went on to create history at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Glasgow by qualifying for the final – the first Indian to do so. The Olympic dream just vanished inches away from the Indian as she finished fifth in the finals missing the bronze medal by 0.4 of a point. Dipa’s hardwork and dedication has helped her in delivering soaring vaults to success despite the obstacles along the way - of makeshift apparatuses and lack of support.
5. Aditi Chauhan – Football
Aditi Chauhan became first Indian woman to play in English league football when she signed for West Ham this year during her studies at the Loughborough University. The 23-year old, who was part of the Gold medal winning Team in South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Championship 2012, also added another feather to her cap, when she bagged the Women in Football Award at the third Asian Football Awards in London.
In a country, where the male football team languishes at the bottom half of the World football, Aditi’s achievements ranks higher than the glitz and glamour provided by the Indian Super League (ISL).
We surely hope these rising stars of Indian sports will carry the country forward in the years to come.P.S: Do also read - 5 most inspiring of Indian sports in 2015!
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