A cursory glance at some of the international sports feats reminds us that women again held centrestage in 2015.
Tennis ace Sania Mirza made the country proud with her outstanding show with 10 titles (partnering Swiss great Martina Hingis) including two Grand Slams. Most importantly, having scaled the summit – World No. 1 in women’s doubles – in April, she retained that position by yearend also.
Saina Nehwal has not set the badminton circuit on fire but served repeated reminders about her stature as one of the premier shuttlers in the world by reaching the All England final, the World championship final to be the first-ever Indian woman to achieve this feat besides winning a couple of major events.
Not far behind in the big league of women’s badminton was P.V. Sindhu who completed a rare hat trick of title triumphs in the Macau Open defeating Japan’s Minatsu Mitani in the final. However, she had the disappointment of losing in the Indonesian Open quarterfinals this year.
In women’s doubles badminton, Gutta Jwala (along with Ashwini Ponappa) continues to be a force to reckon with, winning the Canadian Open and reaching the US Open semis. The yearend world ranking of No. 14 for this formidable doubles player also reflects the yawning gap between them and the rest of the contenders in this category and why they continue to be the best medal hopes in the coming Olympics in women’s doubles.
Another young tennis player Yadlapalli Pranjala has shown promise having won the prestigious WTA Future Stars (under-16) singles title in Singapore.
Dronavalli Harika, a quiet achiever, has become the first-ever Indian to win the FIDE World Online women’s blitz championship last month. This former Asian women’s champion also clinched a bronze in the World championship women’s category.
Far away from the big guns, diminutive paddlers Akula Sreeja and Naina Jaiswal are making a mark in table tennis having played a key role in helping the Indian team win medals in the South Asian junior and Cadet Table Tennis Championship and Junior Nationals respectively.
In weightlifting, one of the standout performances has been the 15-year-old Warangal girl Thuram Priyadarshini winning gold in the Pune Commonwealth championship in 44 kg. Among the men, shooter Gagan Narang stays in the hunt for that Olympics gold by booking his slot to the Rio Olympics winning the 50 m rifle prone bronze in the World Cup this year.
In a way, much was expected from 22-year-old Kidambi Srikanth who was ranked World No.3 in June, after he shocked two-time Olympic and five-time World Champion Lin Dan in the triumphant campaign in the last year’s China Open. But, he had to be content with Swiss Open Grand Prix and the India Open titles but finished the year with the Indonesian Super Series final appearance.
In the case of 29-year-old Parupalli Kashyap, the first-ever Indian to reach the men’s singles quarterfinal in the Olympics (2012 edition), it was misfortune in the form of a calf muscle tear which put him off the circuit just when he was peaking after a grand start to the year by winning the Swiss Open Grand Prix and the India Open titles.
In chess, Pentyala Harikrishna hogged the limelight for all the right reasons and he believes that 2015 has been one of his best and takes pride in being the second highest rated player (ELO2743) from India after the former world champion Viswanathan Anand.
Tennis star Saketh Myneni has made it to the Davis Cup squad again and has been performing consistently in the circuit to merit attention.
On the coaching front, Ismail Baig continues to train his rowers to stunning performances in international meets while SAI athletics coach Nagapuri Ramesh has virtually given a ‘second life’ to gifted young athlete Dutee Chand who fought against the IAAF regulations on hyperandrogenism successfully and is back in contention to earn a slot for the Rio Olympics in 200 m.