The Women Superstars of the Nation - A Women's Day Special

When we talk about sport in India, especially in the 21st century, we notice that women are equally at par with men in some games and completely outshine them in others. Let us look at the laudatory achievements of the glorious ladies of the nation.

The first two names that obviously pop up when one talks about ladies and sport are Saina Nehwal and P V Sindhu. Saina Nehwal reached the ranking of World No.1 in 2015 and became only the second Indian player to do so after Prakash Padukone. She has represented India in the Olympics and won a Bronze Medal in her second appearance. She has numerous laurels crowning her head including twenty-four international titles. She is often credited for popularising the sport amongst the common folk. Having recognised her supreme talent and commendable achievements, the Government of India bestowed her with the Arjuna Award, the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award and the Padma Bhushan. She is definitely one of the greatest athletes of the century. Her contemporary, P V Sindhu, is equally good at the sport. Having achieved a career high ranking of World No.2, she went on to win a Silver Medal at the 2016 Olympic Games. She is the first Indian to become the Badminton World Champion. She still has a long career left and already has fifteen titles to her name. She was conferred with the Arjuna Award, the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, the Padma Shri and the Padma Bhushan.

Similarly, holding a racquet and winning laurels for the country was the tennis player, Sania Mirza. Predominantly a doubles player, Sania has six Grand Slam Titles to her name, conquering every single tournament (Australian Open, French Open, US Open and Wimbledon). She started peaking in her singles career in mid-2007 and even defeated Martina Hingis, Dinara Safina, and Victoria Azarenka. However, a major wrist injury made her give up her singles career and focus on the doubles circuit. In hindsight, it proved to be a blessing in disguise as she reached a rank of World No. 1 in doubles.

Let us talk about cricket. Are men the only pioneers of the game? Not at all. Women have been equally good at the sport, just not recognised as much. The modern legends of the game include Mithali Raj and Jhulan Goswami. Mithali Raj has several feathers decorating her cap and is considered to be one of the best batswomen to have graced the field. Despite being well past the usual retirement age, she is still a force to reckon with. Jhulan Goswami is a true all-rounder of the game and has been a great asset to the Indian team in the last two decades. Though the prized World Cups have been eluding India forever, fans can be rest assured that with these two giants helping the team, there is a lot of hope for the future. Speaking of the future, let us look at the current Indian team. The Indian spinners, led by Poonam Yadav, always terrorise opposition. Fans following the Women's T20 Championship held in 2020 will never forget how she battered Australia in their own backyard in the league stage. Another promising star and the possible future captain is the young Smriti Mandhana who opens the batting and more often than not, she gives India the starts they require. Paired with the seventeen-year-old Shefali Verma, who is a powerhouse of talent and an extremely aggressive player, the Indian batting lineup looks incredible. Shefali Verma debuted at the age of sixteen, right before the 2020 World Cup. Her skills were the talk of the town as she blasted the opposition bowlers right into the stands. She even broke Sachin Tendulkar's long-standing record of being the youngest Indian player to score an international half-century. During the course of the tournament, she even topped the rankings for T20I batswomen, going past experienced English and Australian batswomen. Suffices to say that the future is in safe hands.

Do you remember the 2016 Olympics when a young gymnast made the headlines? Dipa Karamakar was the breakout star in 2016, when she represented India in the Olympics. She closely missed out on winning a medal for the country and finished fourth in the Women's Vault Event. India is hopeful that she will bring future laurels and medals to the country.

Another huge event that happened in 2016 was the movie Dangal. The movie threw light on how talented the women wrestlers are. The Phogat sisters, Geeta and Babita are indeed legends of the game and have paved the way for many more young women to join them. They have many, many accolades to their names. Another extremely talented wrestler is Sakshi Malik, who won a Bronze Medal in the 58 kgs Category at the 2016 Olympics. Another Phogat who has been in the limelight is Vinesh Phogat, a cousin of Geeta and Babita. She has won a medal in every single tournament she has taken part in except the last two editions of the Olympics. She has been awarded the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award.

Just like wrestling, India also has a boxing legend. Mary Kom is a highly decorated boxer with tons and tons of accolades to her name. One can go on listing her achievements all day long. She is the only female to become World Amateur Boxing champion for a record six times, the only female boxer to have won a medal in each one of the first seven World Championships, and the only boxer, male or female, to win eight World Championship medals. She also represented India in the 2012 Summer Olympics and won a Bronze Medal. She is a living legend and inspiration to all on how to perfect the work-life balance.

Of course, this article would not be complete without a mention of all the women who made us proud last year at the Tokyo Olympics – Mirabai Chanu with a Silver in Weightlifting, Lovlina Borgohain with a Bronze in Boxing and P V Sindhu, who added to her Olympic tally with a Bronze. The women’s hockey team, Aditi Ashok and Mary Kom also put in splendid performances and came very close to bagging medals.

In a world filled with pseudo feminists and unnecessary complications, these women have proved to the world that they are indeed at par with men, if not better. Let us celebrate our women achievers and allow more girls to play and enjoy sports.