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The buzz created by the wedding of Dinesh Karthik and Dipika Pallikal is still fresh and the couple will officially complete their wedding tonight with the Hindu ceremony that will be held in Chennai. They are the latest sporting couple to tie the knot and there is no shortage of that in India – at least with an Indian connection when you consider Sania Mirza’s marriage to Pakistan cricketer Shoaib Malik.There is a lot of hard work put in by the athletes that bring laurels to their nation. A lot of it goes unseen behind the scenes, but the fellow athletes can make it out more often than others. A sportsperson’s life involves a lot of travel, training and is generally in the media spotlight at most times. So it’s no wonder that sportspersons from the same or different fields often form a great friendship which later develops into a relationship.While some couples split after some time, there are many pairs who have decided to get married and are still going strong! Here is a look at the Top 10 famous sports couples in India who are equally brilliant in their respective fields.
#1 Manjeet Kaur - Gurwinder Singh Chandi
The first of three Punjabi couplesin the list withGurwinder Singh Chandi & sprinter Manjeet Kaurs marriageheld on March 30, 2015,kicking off the list.
The pair hail from Jalandhar and have represented India at the Olympics. Gurwinder made his international debut in 2008 and is just 3 games short of making 100 appearances for the national team. He was also a member of the Indian team that defeated Pakistan in the Asian Games, securing a gold medal after a wait of 32 years as well as the team that won silver at the 2014 Commonwealth Games.
Manjeet Kaur has a much more illustrious career behind her having won gold at the 2006 and 2010 Asian Games.She also holds the national record (50.05 seconds) in the 400-m sprint, a feat that has stood for more than 10 years. She also won at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in the 4*400 m relay event and was part of the 2012 Olympics team that reached the finals in the event. She was awarded the Arjuna award in 2005 for her contributions to Indian athletics.
Heres an interesting snippet about the couple Gurwinder is 25 while Manjeet is 33.
#2 Rajpal Singh - Avneet Kaur
Another hockey player makes the cut with former skipper Rajpal Singhs marriage to shooter Avneet Kaur making the list at the No 9 spot. The pair met first in Pune in 2009 and tied the knot two years later.
Rajpal Singh shot to fame with his performances at the 2001 Youth Asia Cup where he emerged as the Player of the Tournament. His leadership skillshasearned plaudits with India finishing joint winners at the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup in 2010 and was second at the Commonwealth Games. He also led India to victory at the 2011Asian Men's Hockey Champions Trophy.
Avneet Kaur won the gold medal in the womens 10m air rifle (pairs) event partnering Tejaswini Sawant at the 2006 Commonwealth Games and also secured silver in the singles event. She became the pride of Punjab by representing India at the 2008 Olympics, the first woman shooter from the state to do so and was awarded the Arjuna award the same year.
The couple were in attendance at Gurwinder and Manjeets wedding earlier in the year and talked about how wedlock has treated them.
The mutual understanding has been the best. Sportspersons prove to be perfect matches. We are very happy for Chandi and Manjeet Kaur, Avneet said, as reported byThe Hindustan Times.
#3 Anju Bobby George - Robert Bobby Geeorge
Anju Bobby George and Robert Bobby George, the athletics couple from Kerala features in the list at the No 8 spot.
Anju was the torchbearer of Indian athletics in the early 2000s and quickly established herself as the long jump queen in the country. But she had started her career in other track and field events, including hurdles, relay, high jump and triple jump bagging medals at the national level before concentrating on the long jump event alone.
Shewon bronze at the 2002 Commonwealth Games and a gold at the Asian Games and created history by becoming the first athlete to win a medal at the World Athletics Championships in 2003. But her highest achievement came in 2005 when she clinched the gold medal at the World Athletics Finals in 2005. She was awarded the Arjuna award in 2002 and went one better winning the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award the following year.
Her husband Robert is a former national champion in triple jump and is Anjus coach as well. He bagged the Dronacharya award after Anju bagged medals at the World Championships and he has revealed that he has been a constant support to his wife in more ways than one.
In the beginning when I had married Anju, she did not know how to cook as she was busy in the sports field and I was the one who used to cook, but now, she is far better than me, Robert toldManorama.
#4 Pullela Gopichand - PVV Lakshmi
Saina Nehwal may be India’s top shuttler at present, but she has the badminton couple from Andhra Pradesh, Pullela Gopichand and PVV Lakshmi to thank a great deal for her rise to the world No 1 ranking. It was at the Gopichand badminton academy set up by the former Olympians that Nehwal had her initial training in the game.
Gopichand’s greatest achievement came in 2001 when he won the All England Badminton Championships, becoming only the second Indian to achieve the feat after the legendary Prakash Padukone. He was awarded the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna the same year and he is the only person to have won both the Arjuna Award and the Dronacharya Award. He has also been awarded the Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan.
PVV Lakshmi is a former national champion and secured her place in history as the first Indian woman to play badminton at the Olympics, representing her nation at the 1992 Games. She also turned out for India at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.
The couple got married on June 5 2002.
#5 Milkha Singh - Nirmal Kaur
Old is Gold! Especially when it is about one of Indias greatest ever sportsman Milkha Singh who has been married to former volleyball player Nirmal Kaur for more than 50 years and is arguably Indias first sports couple.
Known as the Flying Sikh, Milka Singh is a sporting icon and came agonisingly close to winning an Olympic medal for India in the 400m finals at 1960 Games. He became the first Indian male athlete to win an individual athletics gold at the Commonwealth Games in the year 1958. He also won gold at the 1958 and 1962 Asian Games. He has often been labelled the finest athlete India has ever produced. He has been awarded the Padma Shri, Indias fourth highest civilian honour in recognition of his contributions.
Nirmal Kaur was a former captain of the Indian womens volleyball team and she met Milkha Singh in Sri Lanka in 1957. The couple got married seven years later and the couples son Jeev Milkha Singh is a professional golfer.
Heres Milkha describing the run of events leading to the marriage.
"It was in 1957 during Indo-Ceylon sports meet that I met Nirmal for the first time," he said, as reported byThe Tribune. "It was in 1961 that Nirmal joined the Punjab Sports Department as Assistant Director. That is when I got interested in her again. And in 1962, we got married."
#6 Heena Sidhu-Ronak Pandit
The duo of Heena Sidhu and Ronak Pandit is Indias most famous shooting couple and they got married on February 7, 2013. Both come from a family with a background in the sport and it was no surprise that they took up the game and have been pretty good at it too.
Heena, who specialises in the 10-metre air pistol event, shot to fame by winning the gold medal in women's (Pairs) with Annu Raj Singh and securing second placein singles competition at the 2010 Commonwealth Games. She created history by becoming the first shooter from the country to win a gold medal at the ISSF World Cup finals held in Munich in the year 2013, with a world-record score of 203.8.
Ronak won the gold medal in the Men's 25m Standard Pistol (Pairs) partnering Samaresh Jung at the 2006 Commonwealth Games. In all, Ronak has represented India in about 55 competitions winning 40 medals.
Ronak is also Heenas trainer and though she might have overshadowed her husband with her accomplishments, the pair are all respect for each other. She has credited her husband for her abilities to handle pressure situations besides also helping her with match strategy, while Ronak said, as reported bySportstar:Often I put myself in Heenas shoes, find answers and advise her. And when she implements those answers and wins, it is as good as me winning.
#7 Stuart Binny - Mayanti Langer
Well, not an actual sports couple technically, but the pairing of Indian cricketer Stuart Binny and sports journalist Mayanti Langer definitely deserves a spot in the list because of their wonderful love story.
Stuart Binny is slowly but surely coming out of the shadows of former cricketer Roger Binny and has already made his name holding the record for Indias best bowling figures in an ODI, picking up 6 wickets conceding just four runs in a match against Bangladesh in 2014.He is a destructive lower order batsman as well and is considered a top all-rounder in the domestic cricket and has played three Tests and 11 ODIs for the national team.
Mayanti Langer is one of Indias top female sports show presenter and came to national prominence hosting the 2010 FIFA World Cup telecast in India. Further appearances on the small screen managed to catch the attention of Binny and the couple got married in 2012.
The marriage has certainly marked wonders for the cricketers career with all his major achievements, including his performance in IPL 2014 which earned him a call-up to the national team. And yes, Mayanti was a host of the T20 event that year.
Heres a YouTube video celebrating the couples love story.
#8 Sardar Singh - Ashpal Kaur
The love story of hockey players Sardar Singh and AshpalKaur is one which blossomed over the internet.
Sardar Singh is India mens hockey team skipper and one of the best players in the world. He usually plays the centre-half position and is a constantfixture in the World Hockey Federation's World XI over the years. He became India's youngest skipper when he was handed the captains armband at the age of 22 at the 2008 Azlan Shah Cup.
In fact, the tournament has a special place in Sardars heart as he won the Player of the Tournament award at the 2010 and 2012 editions. Having made his debut against Pakistan in 2006, the 29-year-old has already achieved more than 200 international caps for the national team.
It was announced two weeks back that he would be getting married to England's hockey player, Ashpal Kaur, though the dates are yet to be finalised.Ashpal, who has her family roots in India, was the first British Asian woman to represent England in hockey.
Sardar recalled that the seeds of love were laid on Facebook.
"I was reading the messages when I noticed a post saying 'Sardar Singh you are a great player, I love you' by someone called Ashpal Kaur," he said, according toIndia Today.Though the pairs plantomeet at the 2012 Olympics held in London failed to materialise, Sardar paid a visit to Ashpal and her family in London and quickly developed a bond that grew in leap and bounds and now sits on the verge of marriage.
#9 Sania Mirza - Shoaib Malik
The Indo-Pak pairs marriage created shockwaves and was mired in controversies, with both of them linked to other people, but the couple have been able to withstand the troubles and is one happy couple now.They havealso been extremely popular in the social media with theirdubsmash video going viral on the internet.
Sania Mirza is at the pinnacle of her sporting career having won Indias highest sporting honour, the Khel Ratna award having previously won the Arjuna award and the Padma Shri.She is by far the most successful female Indian tennis player and achieved a singles ranking of 27 in mid-2007. She has won 14 medals, including six golds, in the three major multi-sport events Asian Games, Commonwealth Games and the Afro-Asian games.
Since switching her attention to doubles competition, her career has taken an upward curve and is the current world No 1 in doubles. Her partnership with Martina Hingis has already yielded the Wimbledon title in 2015 and things are only looking upward for the pair.
Shoaib Malik is a former skipper of the Pakistan national team and has featured in 32 Tests and 224 ODIs for the national team. Having started off as an off-spinner, he made a successful transition to a proper batsman and is one of their most useful all-rounders. Under his captaincy, his club side Sialkot Stallions has won a record 8 domestic T20 titles.
Malik recently made his comeback to the national team and he has credited Sania for his careers revival.
I know how hard she has worked for her success and it has also driven me to do the same in cricket. That is why I was able to make a successful comeback to the Pakistan team which makes me very happy now, he said, as reported byThe Indian Express. She gives me that required cushion where I can discuss things with her at a sportsmans level and get good advice.
Sania also clarified that matches between their two home countries does not lead to any disputes in their personal life.
Whenever the two countries play, its not a heavy duty fight between us at home as people make it sound. He knows I support India and he also knows I support his game, Sania said, according toThe Indian Express.
#10 Dinesh Karthik - Dipika Pallikal
Dinesh Karthik and Dipika Pallikal The Chennai-based couple which is undoubtedly the talk of the town at present, tops the list. The two of them seemed to be a very unlikely pair with the squash champion publically expressing her dislike for cricket as she felt it was affecting the growth of other sports in the country.
Dipika is Indias top-ranked squash player and is the first female from the country to break into the Top 10 in the WSA rankings. She also created history by partnering JoshnaChinappa at the 2014 Commonwealth Games to win Indias first-ever medal in the sport at the quadrennial competition by securing the gold medal in the doubles event.
The current world No 18is also the first Indian to reach the finals of a Silver event and the semi-finals of a Gold event. She was awarded the Arjuna award in 2012 and the Padma Shri in 2014 in recognition of her outstanding achievements.
Dinesh Karthik is one of Indias top wicketkeeper-batsman and has played 23 Tests and 71 ODIs for the national team. He was a member of the Indian team that won the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy and was the top scorer in Indias tour of England in 2007 with 263 runs, when they won a series in the country for the first time in 21 years.
This is what the pair has to say about each other.
Frankly, I like him because he is grounded and a homely guy, Dipika says before quipping: I can't help if he happens to be a cricketer. It is a funny feeling now. Our common friends pull my leg for my known dislike for cricketers.
As for the cricketers opinion on her: She is very simple and elegant. And we complement and understand each other very well.
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