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Success in recent times
These are early times, but the indications are quite clear. The Indian sports scene is finally growing beyond cricket and it seems that the time is here when other sports will gain the same amount of recognition.
India has always been a strong presence in shooting with Abhinav Bindra clinching the gold medal in the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, being the prime moment of the sport for Indians. Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, the current minister of state for information and broadcasting, is another name synonymous with shooting in India after his silver medal in the Athens Olympics in 2004. With the addition of Mary Kom as one of the leading boxers in the last Olympic Games, the country has taken notice of these games. But these are still niche sports, and are not followed that widely.
The Indian hockey team successfully qualified for the Rio Olympics to be held in 2016 by virtue of winning the Asian Games gold. Over the last few weeks, Sania Mirza and Saina Nehwal moved to the pinnacle of their respective sports. These clearly reflect the rise in the standards of sports played in India, apart from cricket and football. Badminton has evolved into a very popular sport among the Indian audience with Saina and the new batch of shuttlers leading the charge for India on the world stage. Apart from Saina, P V Sindhu has evolved into a force to be reckoned with in the women's game, while Parupalli Kashyap and Kidambi Srikanth are climbing up in the men's rankings.
Anirban Lahiri made the cut in the first golf major of the year, the Augusta Masters by finishing 49th . The Indian ice hockey team displayed tremendous grit in their 6-5 loss against Oman in penalties.
Promotion of other sports
The recent success of Indian athletes and the surge in global rankings across a variety of sports has contributed a lot to the growing interest in these sports among Indian sports fans. But this cannot continue without proper initiatives from the authorities and government federations. The first step to be taken is to develop television-friendly formats for these games like the Hockey India League (HIL) and the much publicized Pro-Kabaddi league (PKL). A very important point in developing commercially successful leagues is the fan loyalty and passion which comes from identifying with the teams. Thus, it is necessary to make sports interesting and engaging for the Indian audience.
The other factor is the access to proper infrastructure when it comes to coaching and training facilities on the national and local level. It is not possible for young athletes to climb the ladder in the international sports without a plan to develop the talent from grassroots level and the biggest responsibility of the state is to provide equal opportunity to all the athletes.
This can be seen as the start of a shift in focus sports apart from cricket when it comes to the Indian audience.
