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The 2015 Oscars came to a colourful end in Hollywood yesterday. The who's who of the glamour world made their presence felt as the best performers took home the coveted awards.The Indian athletes put up some incredible performances over the last year and deserve all the accolades for their efforts.[Note: Cricketers and Footballers are not included in this list.]Let us look at all the awardees:
#10 Best team of the year - Indian hockey team
It wasn't a great start to 2014 as Terry Walsh took over the reigns of the Indian hockey team. The team finished sixth in the eight-team Hockey World League final. The World Cup in the Hague was an ideal opportunity to get back to winning form, but the Sardar Singh side finished a disappointing ninth. It was a tournament highlighted by India conceding late goals to let the opposition back into the game.
The team performed exceedingly well at the Commonwealth Games eventually losing to World Champions Australia in the final. A silver medal finish was a morale booster for the Walsh side.
The icing on the cake was winning the Asian Games gold after 16 years, beating arch rivals Pakistan in the final. With the win, the Indian team qualified for the Rio Olympic Games in 2016.
Buoyed by the success in Incheon, India got the better of Australia 3-1 in the test series down under.
Walsh resigned after his demands for higher pay and more say in team selection wasn't agreed by Hockey India.
The Indian team has improved leaps and bounds over the last year and is a strong contender heading into Olympics next year.
#9 Best doubles team of the year - Dipika Pallikal and Joshna Chinappa
History was created at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games when the pair of Dipika Pallikal and Joshna Chinappa won India's first gold medal in squash.
The Indian duo beattop-seeded English pairJenny Duncalf and Laura Massaro 11-6, 11-8 in just 28 minutes. No one gave Indian team a chance with the likes of England, Australia and New Zealand in the fray.
Dipika was visibly happy after the win.
"Doubles was a tough competition," Dipika said. "It was important for us to take one match at a time, not thinking about whom we were going to play if we advanced. I guess that paid off as it took away the pressure."
#8 Best comeback player (Female) - Mary Kom
After missing out on a berth to the Commonwealth Games, Mary Kom bounced back in style at the Asian Games in Incheon.
Mary was coming back after almost two years, but insisted that she was completely fit before the trials for the Commonwealth Games. She lost a close bout to Pinki Jangra in the 51 Kg category. Pinki Jangra (51 kg), L Sarita Devi (60 kg) and Pooja Rani (75 kg) represented India in Glasgow.
Mary stormed back in brilliant fashion as she qualified for the Asian Games beating Jangra in the qualifiers. She registered comfortable wins in the main competition to reach the final.
The 31-year old defeated Zhaina Shekerbekova of Kazakhstan to win her first gold in the Asian Games.
After missing out on a berth to the Commonwealth Games, Mary Kom bounced back in style at the Asian Games in Incheon.
Mary was coming back after almost two years, but insisted that she was completely fit before the trials for the Commonwealth Games. She lost a close bout to Pinki Jangra in the 51 Kg category. Pinki Jangra (51 kg), L Sarita Devi (60 kg) and Pooja Rani (75 kg) represented India in Glasgow.
Mary stormed back in brilliant fashion as she qualified for the Asian Games beating Jangra in the qualifiers. She registered comfortable wins in the main competition to reach the final.
The 31-year old defeated Zhaina Shekerbekova of Kazakhstan to win her first gold in the Asian Games.
#7 Best comeback player (Male) - Yogeshwar Dutt
A prolonged injury kept Yogeshwar Dutt away from the wrestling ring. Dutt did not show any signs of vulnerability as he breezed through to the final without much of a test. In the final, he beat Canada's Jevon Balfour via technical superiority after taking a 10-0 lead with positive play in just 103 seconds.
Dutt also ended India's 28-year old gold draught at the Asian Games with a commanding display in Incheon. The 32-year old beat Tajikistan's Zalimkhan Yusupov in a tough final.
Yusupov was defending well, but Dutt scored 3 points by adopting an aggressive style from the word go.
Dutt is one of India's hopes for a medal in Rio games.
#6 Best performer in a supporting role (Female) - Sania Mirza
In one of her best seasons on the WTA tour, Sania Mirza continued to impress by putting up consistent performances. At the Asian Games, the pair of Mirza and Saketh Myneni won gold in the mixed doubles beating Chinese Taipei's Hsien Yin Peng and Hao Ching Chan 6-4, 6-3in the final.
Mirza added another medal to India's kitty in women's doubles as the Indian pair settled for bronze after losing to Chinese Taipei's Chan Chin-wei and Hsieh Su-wei 6-7 (1), 6-2, 4-10.
The Hyderabadi won her third mixed doubles Grand Slam at the US Open partnering Brazilian Bruno Soares. The Indo-Brazilian pair beat American Abigail Spears and Mexico's Santiago Gonzalez 6-1, 2-6, 11-9 in the final.
Her best result however came at the WTA finals in Singapore when she became the first Indian to clinch the season-ending finale. Mirza and Cara Black capped off a brilliant week beating Su-Wei Hsieh (TPE) and Shuai Peng (CHN) 6-1, 6-0 in a one-sided final.
The duo couldn't have asked for a better finish to their doubles partnership.
#5 Best performer in a supporting role (Male) - Saurav Ghosal
Easily the best men's squash player in the country, Saurav Ghosal came tantalisingly close to winning India's first singles gold medal at the Asian Games. He faltered in the final against Abdullah Al-Muzayenof Kuwait after leading by two games to love. A silver medal was still a good result considering the tough competition that the Indian had to face.
Ghosal put the loss behind him quickly to help the men's team clinch an historic gold. The Kolkata lad beat Ong Beng Hee in a tough five game encounter that lasted 88 minutes.
#4 Best performance of the year (Female) - P V Sindhu
P V Sindhu was India's only hope for a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games after Saina Nehwal pulled out of the games due to fitness concerns. The 19-year old reached the semifinals without dropping a game. However, she couldn't handle her nerves in a tight match losing to eventual champion Michelle Li 22-20, 22-20.
After losing her pre-quarterfinal match in singles in Incheon, the Hyderabadi went on to win bronze in the women's team event.
The best performance most certainly came at the World Championships in Copenhagen. She did not improve upon her result from 2013, but took out No. 2 seed China's Wang Shixian after dropping the first game.
The bronze medal is a very good result against the best players in the world.
#3 Best performance of the year (Male) - Kidambi Srikanth
India No. 1 Kidambi Srikanth had a breakthrough year which saw his rankings rise from No. 47 in the world to No. 4 at the end of the season.
He caused one of the upsets of the year beating 5-time World champion and 2-time Olympic gold medallist Lin Dan 21-19 21-17 in the China Open final. Srikanth became the first Indian man to win a Super Series Premier title.
He ended the year with a semifinal appearance at the World Super Series finals.
#2 Best Performer in a leading role (Female) - Saina Nehwal
Indian badminton queen Saina Nehwal had a terrific year which saw her break into the Top 5 of the World rankings. She started off with a bang winning the Indian Open beating her compatriot Sindhu 21-14, 21-17 in the final.
Saina added Australian Open title to her impressive trophy cabinet overcoming Wang Shixian in the semifinal and followed it up with a comfortable 21-18, 21-11 win over Spain's Carolina Marin in the final.
There was plenty to cheer for Indians at the China Open as Saina joined Srikanth after winning the title. She is the first Indian woman to do so. The 24-year old defeated Japan's Akane Yamaguchi 21-12, 22-20 in the final.
She is currently ranked No. 2 in the world.
#1 Best Performer in a leading role (Male) - Jitu Rai
The shooter from Uttar Pradesh tops this list after an unbelievable year. He claimed an array of medals at the ISSF World Cups in the 10 m air pistol event which took him to the top of the world rankings.
He continued his run at the Commonwealth Games scoring an impressive 194.1 points in the 50 m pistol final, a Games record. Jitu added two medals to India's tally at the Asian Games , courtesy a gold in the 50 m pistol event and a bronze in the 10 m air pistol team event.
