'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Even as women’s security continues to remain one of the most heavily debated subjects in India, female athletes across the world are giving the wome of the country plenty of reason to cheer with their many accomplishments. Saina Nehwal became the first Indian woman badminton player to top the BWF Rankings after winning the India Open, while Sania Mirza is currently ranked three on the WTA doubles circuit. Pairing up with Martina Hingis, Sania even went on to win the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells. Let us now take a moment to look at five Indian women athletes carrying the expectations of India on their shoulders.
#1 Saina Nehwal (Badminton)
From becoming the first Indian to win a medal in badminton at the Olympics (she won the bronze in London 2012), to ascending to the top of the BWF rankings, Saina Nehwals feats and achievements are many and glorious. Her many illustrious accomplishments have made her the flagbearer for Indian badminton.
The bronze medal that she won at the London Olympics in 2012maybe the crown jewel in her trophy cabinet, but Saina began hogging the limelight much earlier. Sainas tryst with glory began when she was a 16-year old. Seeded 86, Saina would go on topple then World Number four Xu Huawein en route to winning her maiden international title, the Phillipines Open.
Before she won the bronze at London, Saina had already rewritten history books by becoming the first Indian to enter the quarter-finals in badminton at the Olympics at Beijing in 2008.
Unfazed by the loss in the Olympics, a dtermined Saina continued to take gigantic strides in the world of badminton. In 2009, she became the first Indian to win a BWF Super Series by clinching the Indonesia Open, the accomplishment placing her alongside Prakash Padukone and her coach P Gopichand, both of whom clinched the All England Series, similar in status to a Super Series.
Throughout her career, Saina was probably the only threat to Chinas hegemony in Asian badminton.
More recently, players such as P V Sindhu and K Srikanth have succeeded in enhancing Indias reputation as a badminton powerhouse. Their many achievements notwithstanding, Saina Nehwal remains the most popular and maybe, even the most cherished badminton player in the country.
#2 Sania Mirza (Tennis)
In January 2005, a sprightly 18-year old tennis player hailing from Hyderabad made the entire country stop and take stock of her achievement. Entering the Australian Open on a wild card, Sania Mirza had become the first Indian woman to enter the third round of a Grand Slam event. Cricket, it seemed, for a fleeting instant, was not the be all and end all of Indian sport.
Sania only continued to scale greater heights in 2005, even going as far as the fourth round in the US Open, where she eventually lost to Maria Sharapova. At the Australian Open in 2006, she became the first Indian woman to be seeded at a Grand Slam event. In 2007, a year when she took out three top ten players, Martina Hingis, Svetlana Kuznetsova and Nadia Petrova, she attained her career best singles ranking of 27.
However, her showing at the Grand Slam events in this period left a lot to be desired for as she failed to progress beyond the second round in three majors in 2007.
in 2009, she became the first Indian woman to win a Grand Slam when she lifted the Mixed Doubles title at the Australian Open, partnering with Mahesh Bhupathi. She has since gone on to win two more Mixed Doubles titles.
A recurring wrist injury forced her to give up her singles career and she has focused on her doubles career ever since. Although she is yet to win a Grand Slam title in the womens doubles category, she is considered among the best doubles players today.
#3 Mary Kom (Boxing)
Olympic medallist Mary Kom is the undisputed face of Indian women’s boxing. Her exploits in the ring have made also transformed her into one of the leading women’s voices in the country.
The only boxer ever to have won a medal in six Amateur World Boxing Championships, Mary Kom comes from extremely humble beginnings. Born in Manipur, Mary Kom began taking a keen interest, inspired by the success of Dingko Singh (Dingko Singh won the Gold at the Asian Games in 1998).
In 2001, she went on to win the silver in the Amateur Boxing Championships. But, beginning of 2002, she went on win the Gold at the event for a staggering five times in a row, rewriting the record books. However, it wasn’t until her sensational run at the London Olympics in 2012 which saw her win the bronze in the flyweight (51 Kg) category, that she became a household name.
The mother of three sons, Mary Kom, apart from being one of the country’s leading athletes, is also an icon of women empowerment in the country.
#4 Deepika Kumari (Archery)
20-year old Deepika Kumari is a former World Number One archer, who, at the tender age of 16, went on to win the Gold in the Delhi Commonwealth Games.
A prodigy, Deepika Kumari was 12 years old when she became only the second India to win the junior compund competetion at the Archery World Cup in Mexico in 2006 before winning the bronze at the Guangzhou Asiad as a member of the Recurve team.
She missed out on an olympic medal at London in 2012 despite being the top ranked archer heading into the event. However, she won a Gold Medal in stage 3 of the Archery World Cup, where India ended fourth. Along with Indian cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Deepika Kumari is the leading sport icon in Jharkhand.
#5 Heena Sidhu (Shooting)
In April 2014, Heena Sidhu became the first Indian pistol shooter to ascend to the top of the ISSF rankings.
After finishing first in the 10m Air Pistol event in the national championships in Kerala in 2009, Sidhu went on to win the silver medal in the Womens 10m Air Pistol team event, along with Annu Raj Singh and Sonia Rai.
Heenas tryst with shooting, however, began as a 17-year old when she was studying in 12thstandard. She made it to the national junior team later that year before breaking her way through to the senior team. In the Commonwealth Games held at Delhi in 2010, she won the Gold medal in the 10m Air Pistol team event and the silver medal in the individual category.
Her most notable accomplishment, though, came in Germany in the year 2013, when she clinched the Gold at the ISSF World Cup finals to become only the third Indian after Anjali Bhagwat and Gagn Narang to win the Gold Medal in a Rifle/ Pistol Word Cup finals.
Heena is a dentist, by qualification, she obtained her BDS (Bachelor of Dental Surgery) dgree in 2013.
