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#5 Maria Irudayam
There are several athletes who struggle to make a successful transition from national to the international stages. Ace carrom player Maria Irudayam isn't one of them.
The Chennai born lad won nine National Championships and played an integral role in international team events as well. Irudayam was part of the Indian team that won the World Carrom Championships in 1991, 1995 and 2000.
He is best remembered for his exploits in singles when he captured the World Carrom Championships in 1991. Irudayam also tasted success in the International Carrom Federation Cup in 1989 and 1997.
He was honoured with the Arjuna award in 1997.
#4 Pankaj Advani
He got interested in snooker at the age of 10 when he accompanied his brother Shree to a snooker parlour near his home every day. He has not looked back since and has gone on to create new records in the sport.
Known for his versatile play, Advani is a 12-time World Champion in cue sports. The 29-year old is the only person to have claimed both billiards and snooker World championships in all formats.
The Bangalorean has won two Asian Games gold medals and is a 5-time Asian Games champion.
#3 Sushil Kumar
The story of Sushil Kumar's life is truly an inspirational one. From training in the local akhadas with little or no facilities to winnning two Olympic medals, the man from Baprola has come a long way.
The struggles he underwent during his younger days has shaped him into a great champion.
It wasn't a great start for Kumar at the 2008 Beijing Olympics where he lost in the opening round. He showed tremendous resolve to win two repechage rounds in order to qualify for the bronze medal match. Kumar clinched bronze beating Spiridonov in three tough rounds in the 66 Kg category.
Kumar became the first Indian to win gold at the 2010 World Wrestling Championships in Moscow beating local favorite Alan Gogaev in the finals. He added another cap to his impressive career by winning silver at the 2012 London Olympics. Tatsuhiro Yonemitsu got the better of Kumar in the final to deny India her second individual Olympic gold medallist.
#2 Mary Kom
In a sport that was predominantly played by men until a few years ago, Mary Kom showed why women are equally if not better equipped at donning the boxing gloves.
Inspired by Dingko Singh's gold winning effort at the 1998 Asian Games, Mary took up the sport and started training without proper equipment.
Her persistence started showing results as she won the National boxing championship in 2001 and finished second in the World Championships the same year.
She learnt from her silver winning effort and went on to claim the World Championships on five occasions. She was successful at the Asian boxing championships as well winning four golds and one silver.
Women's boxing was introduced in the Olympics for the first time in 2012. Mary was the lone Indian representative in the 51-Kg category. She lost a close fight against local favorite Nicola Adams in the semfinals and settled for an historic bronze.
Her first gold at the Asian games last year just goes to show the passion that Mary has for the sport and not to give up on your dreams.
#1 Viswanathan Anand
Anand was looked upon as a potential international champion thanks to his early exploits in the juniors. He is the youngest Indian to be named International master, the first Indian to win the World Junior chess championship, the first Indian Grandmaster.
The 45-year-old is a 5-time World Champion. The chess wizard held the title between 2000 and 2002. After becoming the undisputed World Champion in 2007, he defended his title successfully against Vladimir Kramnik in 2008.
Anand also defended his title against Veselin Topalov in 2010 and Boris Gelfand in 2013.
