National Sports Day Special: Top five sporting achievements of India

India is celebrating its 11^th National Sports Day today. It is celebrated every year on 29^th August to commemorate the birth anniversary of Hockey Legend, Major Dhyan Chand. The day is also dedicated to all the sportspersons who have represented India in their respective fields and won laurels for our motherland.

India has a rich sporting history which began way back in the year 1900 when we participated in the Olympic Games for the first time. Over the years, the country has recorded many major achievements in Sports which put us in the reckoning in various sporting events of the world.

On this National Sports Day, let’s take a look at the top five major achievements of India in the sporting arena:

1. Cricket World Cup win in 1983 –

1983 World Cup: (Image Source: Twitter)

The Indian team came into the tournament as a weak link whom everyone expected to get knocked out in the first stage. However, the team led by Kapil Dev did the unthinkable when they beat the hosts England in the semi-final of the tournament. India were up against the mighty West Indies in the finals, who had won the previous two editions of the world cup.

India batted first and got dismissed for a partly 183 as West Indies already began celebrating their third consecutive World Cup win. However, the ‘Kapil’s Devils’ took the entire world by storm as they skittled Clive Lloyd’s two-time champion team for 140 and won the match by 43 runs. India were crowned the world champions and built the foundation of becoming a strong cricketing powerhouse in the future.

2. Neeraj Chopra’s Gold Medal in 2020 Tokyo Olympics –

Neeraj Chopra: (Image Souce: Twitter)

The Olympic games have not been a highly successful event for India over the years. Despite having a population of over 1 billion, India have only got a handful of medals in the history of the sporting extravaganza. India had only a single individual Gold medal in its kitty till 2021 and one man was determined to change it.

Neeraj Chopra emerged as India’s first-ever medalist in the track and field event. He won the coveted Gold Medal in the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. The 23-year-old made the entire country proud as he brought home only the second individual Gold medal for India. Chopra’s achievement has once again ignited the spark of ‘winning’ in Indian athletes.

3. India finishing second in the Commonwealth Games 2010: 

Commonwealth Games 2020: (Image Source: Twitter)

India was selected as the host of the Commonwealth Games 2010. Being the host nation, there was extra pressure on the athletes to go big in the mega event and they didn’t disappoint. The 2010 edition of the quadrennial event turned out to be India’s most successful outing in its history.

India finished second in the overall medals tally, winning a total of 101 medals, which included 38 Gold, 27 Silver and 36 Bronze. It was also the first time when India managed to win over 100 medals at the event.

4. Mary Kom’s Boxing Achievements:

Mary Kom: (Image Source: Twitter)

Boxer Mary Kom has made the nation proud on several occasions in her illustrious career. She took the boxing world by storm, taking giant strides in her career with her stupendous performances one after the other. She is the only woman to win the World Amateur Boxing Championship six times and the only female boxer to have won a medal in each one of the first seven World Championships.

She added another feather in the cap when she became the only boxer (male or female) to win eight World Championship medals. Her continuous hard work also saw her being ranked as the world’s No. 1 female light-flyweight by the International Boxing Association (amateur) (AIBA). She is also the only boxer to become Asian Amateur Boxing Champion a record six times. Kom’s achievements have made the nation proud on numerous occasions and made our tricolour fly high on the global stage.

5. India’s Gold medal win in Hockey in 1936 Olympics:

Hockey: (Image Source: Twitter)

India has had a rich history in hockey which has fetched them eight gold medals, which is a record till date. India were a dominating force in hockey at the Olympics from 1928-1960 during which they won six consecutive gold medals and also had a 30-0 winning streak. One of the most memorable victories from this era came against Germany in the 1936 Berlin Olympics.

The Indian team, led by the legendary Major Dhyan Chand, blew away the Germans by 8-1 in the finals. Dhyan Chand scored three goals in the final and India conceded only one goal which was the only goal conceded by them in the entire event.

India’s performance impressed Adolf Hitler, who even offered German citizenship to Dhyan Chand and a position of Colonel in the German Army. However, Dhyan Chand, who had a full commitment to serving India, refused the offer.

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