Complete list of current World Champions from India in individual sports

Neeraj Chopra is a javelin thrower
Neeraj Chopra is the reigning World U20 champion in javelin

India is in the process of undergoing a renaissance of sorts these days in the field of sports. In a nation where cricket has reigned supreme for so many years, other sports have finally found a strong foothold in the country, with news of more and more gold medals across various formats becoming ever greater.

In recent times, amid all the regular fiascos of corruption and mismanagement, there have been some incredible strides made by athletes in their respective sports and have brought massive pride to the nation as a whole.

In this article, we take a look at the recent achievements of individuals from the country who can call themselves world champions and have won gold in their respective sport's most recent World Championships!


#1 Neeraj Chopra (Javelin throw)

Neeraj Chopra is one of the champions of India who has proved himself at the world stage at a very young age. Still just 19 years old, Neeraj has raked up some major honours for himself already, the biggest of which has to be his epic gold medal triumph at the 2016 IAAF World U-20 Championships where Neeraj showed his true class.

He was dominant too, scoring an 86.48m throw, which was miles ahead of the second place throw of 80.59m and also created a new junior world record. He continues to be a huge prospect for the country as he transitions into top-level senior competition.

#2 Mirabai Chanu (Weightlifting)

Chanu is a weightlifter
Mirabai Chanu won gold at the World Weightlifting Championships

Mirabai Chanu has overcome some incredible hurdles in her young career and the weightlifter's crowning achievement came at the recent 2017 World Weightlifting Championships where the Indian bagged the gold medal in the USA following her incredible performance in the 48 kg category.

Chanu lifted a colossal 194 kg across the snatch and clean-and-jerk and cemented herself as the best in the division. She was also India's sole representative in weightlifting at the Rio Olympics last year.

#3 Parul Parmar (Para-Badminton)

Parmar is a para badminton athlete
Parmar won two gold medals at the World Championships

Badminton has seen its fair share of winners and champions lately, but here is one that you may not know all too well. Parul Parmar is one of India's top para-athletes and has truly excelled in the sport of badminton.

The athlete has emerged as India's best lately and she proved it beyond a shadow of a doubt in November this year when she bagged two gold medals at the recently concluded 2017 Para-Badminton World Championships held in Korea.

Parmar won in both the singles (SL 3) as well as the doubles (SL 3-4) category as India finished with an excellent tally of 10 medals in all.

#4 Sundar Singh Gurjar (Para-athletics)

Gurjar is a para javelin thrower
Gurjar won gold at the World Para Athletics Championships

Sundar Singh Gurjar suffered heartbreak at the Rio Paralympics in 2016, where he was unable to participate due to an official error and thus was denied what was expected to be a sureshot medal.

However, the 21-year-old made an incredible comeback from the debacle and showed his class by winning the gold medal at the 2017 World Para Athletics Championships in London earlier this year.

Competing in the F46 category, Sundar Singh Gurjar performed brilliantly, coming up with an effort of 60.36m, which was also his personal best.

#5 Pankaj Advani (Cue sports)

Advani is a billiards and snooker player
Advani has a mammoth 18 titles to his name

Pankaj Advani is a name that Indian sports fans are well-versed with thanks to his numerous achievements in the world of snooker and billiards. The Indian has not only consistently performed at world events, he is firmly considered as one of the sport's best following his incredible list of victories.

His latest big triumph comes as recently as November itself, with the 32-year-old winning gold in the IBSF World Snooker Championship as well as the IBSF World Billiards Championship, proving just why he's a master of both the fields.

Advani now has 18 world titles to his name and he appears to be gunning for more.

#6 Anish Bhanwala and Yashaswini Singh Deswal (Shooting)

Anish Bhanwala (centre)
Anish Bhanwala (centre)

Shooting has developed as a lucrative area of interest in the country and it was obvious that the junior division is doing a brilliant job in the same after the Indian Junior Shooting contingent bagged three gold medals in different categories at the 2017 ISSF Junior World Championships earlier this year, two of them being in individual events.

Anish Bhanwala won gold in the men's 25m Standard Pistol event while Yashaswini Singh Deswal clinched victory in the women's 10m Air Pistol event.

India also won gold in the men's double trap team event, which saw them finish second on the medal tally behind China.

#7 Kanchanmala Pande (Para-swimming)

Kanchanmala Pande
Kanchanmala Pande

Kanchanmala Pande created history in December this year by becoming the first Indian to win a gold medal at the World Para-Swimming Championships held in Mexico. She secured the first position in the 200m medley event in the S-11 category, which she later went on to say was a surprise for her as well!

Pande, who hails from Nagpur, is visually impaired and braved the odds to bring glory to the nation. She was the only swimmer from India to have qualified for the event but was unlucky to miss out on a medal in the other events.

#8 Viswanathan Anand (Chess)

Viswanathan Anand (left)
Viswanathan Anand (left)

Five-time classical chess world champion Viswanathan Anand defied the odds to win the World Rapid Chess Championships on Thursday, which are being held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The 48-year-old put on a flawless display, remaining unbeaten throughout the 15 rounds of the competition, before defeating Russian Vladimir Fedoseev 2-0 in the tie-breaker.

The Madras Tiger had not had the best of seasons in 2017 but he showed incredible resolve to take the title in Riyadh. His run to the trophy also included a win against World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen, which was celebrated by fans across the country.

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Edited by Shraishth Jain