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The infrastructure for sports in India falls short of the world standard on several occasions. This thwarts the growth of an athlete, who is looking to transition from being at the national level to the international level.Citing the problems with infrastructure, a lot of Indian sportspersons have turned to foreign facilities in an attempt to make it big. From winter sports to table tennis, the facilities provided by the Indian government at times, falls shot in comparison to the athlete’s talent.So, let’s have a look at five Indian sportspersons, who are making the country proud abroad:
#1 Shiva Keshavan (Luge)
Often considered as one of the most undermined athletes in India’s sporting landscape, Keshavan recently tied up with coach Duncan Kennedy to prepare for the 2018 Winter Olympics. The 33-year old used to previously train in the streets of Manali, before becoming the youngest ever Olympic luge participant in 1998.
Keshavan was last seen training in Latvia for the World Luge Championship. He has also had various training stints at countries such as Italy, where he was also offered the country’s citizenship, which he declined.
The Manali-born luger has won consecutive gold medals at the 2011 and 2012 Asia Cup and was also the first ever Indian participant at the Winter Olympics.
#2 Achantha Sharath Kamal (Table Tennis)
Currently ranked 53RD in the world, Sharath Kamal is the highest placed Indian in the World Rankings, however, that has not come easily. The 32-year old currently plies his trade for German club Borussia Dusseldorf, for whom he signed for in 2013.
He moved to Germany in 2011 to train with better coaches as he went onto secure a contract with Bundesliga side TSV Graflefing and then moving onto Werder Bremen.
Sharath Kamal reached a career high ranking of 38 in 2013, which also made him the most successful table tennis player from India. He has also won three gold medals across various Commonwealth Games.
#3 Gurpreet Singh Sandhu (Football)
One of the more recent inductees on the list, Sandhu trained with Norwegian first division club, Stabaek, before making his move permanent in 2014. The 2015 season also saw Sandhu make his first appearance for the club, which meant that he was the first Indian in 76 years to play in a top flight European league.
The last one was Mohammed Salim, who played for Scottish side Celtic in 1936. There has also been a significant improvement in his game as per coach Michael Bradley, so much so that he graduated to the team’s second keeper in a year’s time.
Regardless of his future, Sandhu managed to create a trend of Indian footballers leaving to ply their trade abroad. Five Indian footballers now are playing football across various parts of the world.
#4 Somdev Devvarman (Tennis)
The Arjuna Awardee for Lawn Tennis in India is still the highest ranked Indian Men’s singles player in the country (175). Despite a drop in form, he reached the world no. 62 position in 2011, defeating players such as Marin Cilic on his way.
However, his success cannot be attributed to the facilities available in the North-Eastern state of Tripura, Devvarman’s hometown. In fact, it’s when he moved to the University of Virginia, USA, where his talent started to blossom.
During his tenure in college, he became the first ever tennis player to reach three consecutive NCAA finals. For India, Devvarman won gold medals at the 2010 Commonwealth and Asian Games.
#5 Vikas Gowda (Discus)
The first Indian to win a gold medal in an Individual Athletics event in 56 years, since Milkha Singh, Gowda’s performance raised several eyebrows. Born in Mysore, Karnataka, he moved to the United States of America at a very young age.
His father, Shive Gowda was the coach of the Indian Olympic Track team in 1988. After moving to Maryland, Gowda immediately showed promise wining the 2006 NCAA title for discus.
At the 2010 Asian Games, he scored a bronze medal and a silver medal at the Asian Games in the same year.
With a personal best throw of 66.28, Olympic glory might not be too far away.
