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Sparks in India's sports arena

India demonstrates stellar performance as young athletes pour passion and dedication onto the playing field

In 2018, India took baby steps towards becoming a sporting nation. The year saw an evolution of unrecognised sports and talents from all across the country. It was a year when athletes bettered their performance of 2017, and achievement in cricket was usurped by proud moments in athletics, football, badminton, table tennis, wrestling, shooting, boxing, weightlifting and others.

It was also a year when gender equality saw movement on social media and women athletes proved that they too can perform better than men in track and field events as well as in indoor games. Hima Das became the first Indian to win a gold medal in the track event of a world championship. Her sprint in the final 50m stretch of a 400m race was a perfect example of changing India. Hima dug deep into her reserves to power her way to the finishing line at the IAAF World Under-20 Athletics Championships. There was spark, intensity and hunger, all of which were missing for years in Indian athletes. In badminton, P.V. Sindhu became the first Indian to win the BWF World Tour Finals tournament by defeating Nozomi Okuhara of Japan.

At 35 years, Mary Kom became the first woman boxer to win six gold medals in the AIBA World Boxing Championships. She is now the most successful female boxer in the history of the World Championships.
Manika Batra became the first Indian woman to bag a table tennis gold in Commonwealth Games by beating Yu Mengyu of Singapore. She also became the most successful Indian athlete in a single edition of the CWG with four medals from four events.

Mirabai Chanu broke the women's 48-kg category CWG record by lifting 196 kgs in total to win gold.
Rahi Sarnobat became the first Indian woman to win a shooting gold at the Asian Games after winning the 25m pistol event. Swapna Barman became the first Indian to win a gold medal in women's heptathlon event at the Asian Games.

Vinesh Phogat became the first Indian woman wrestler to win a gold medal at the Asian Games. She also won gold at the Commonwealth Games. Athletes performed exceptionally well in the CWG and Asian Games, raising hopes for a similar show in the Olympics. India won 66 medals (26 golds, 20 silvers and 20 bronzes) at the CWG and finished third behind Australia and England. In the Asian Games, India recorded the best-ever show with 69 medals (15 golds, 24 silvers and 30 bronzes).

Javelin-thrower Neeraj Chopra won gold in the Asian Games as he set the national record of 88.06m. He also bagged the CWG gold. Wrestler Bajrang Punia reached a career-high ranking of World No. 1 in the 65 kg category. He won gold at the CWG and Asian Games, and silver at the World Championship. Tajinderpal Singh Toor smashed the Asian Games record in men's shot put with a distance of 20.75m.

Virat & Co cricket kings

India continued to rule in the world of cricket. India lifted 2018 Blind Cricket World Cup by defeating Pakistan. India also won the Under-19 World Cup by beating Australia. There was a setback with 'Team India' losing the Test series in South Africa, but they dominated the one-days and T20s tournaments. Rohit Sharma led India to the seventh Asia Cup title. Prithvi Shaw became the youngest Indian to score a Test century on debut, and India went on to record its 100th Test win at home.

Significantly, India won a Test match in Australia in 10 years. Virat Kohli became the fastest to score 10,000 runs in ODIs. In the Women's T20 Asia Cup, Mithali Raj became the first Indian cricketer to amass 2,000 runs in T20Is. Harmanpreet Kaur became the first Indian woman to hit a T20I century.
In hockey, India shared the Asian Cup trophy with Pakistan after the final was called off due to heavy rain.

Hurdles remain

Despite successes in various fields, the biggest hurdle still remains - changing the perception and mindset of people to appreciate sports other than cricket. The turnout for national football team matches was so low that skipper Sunil Chhetri had to make an emotional plea requesting fans to come and watch them play in the Intercontinental Cup final against Kenya.

"To all of you who are fans of big European clubs and support them with passion; sometimes you think that the level isn't same, so why waste your time? I agree that the level isn't same, not even close. But with desire and determination, we will make sure to make it worth your time. I request you to come and watch us in the stadiums. It's not fun to criticise or abuse on the internet. Come to the stadiums and do it on our face. Scream at us, shout at us and abuse us. Who knows, one day we might change you guys. You might start cheering for us. Please come, for you have no idea how important you guys are and how important your support is."

His appeal worked as Mumbai Football Arena was packed to capacity and the skipper scored twice to help India lift the Intercontinental Cup in his 100th appearance.

Visionary step

It was a remarkable year made better by visionary move of the federal government to start Khelo India Youth Games for school and college students. Upto 1,000 students will receive scholarships for eight years to prepare for international events. This initiative will ensure that in few years' time, the country will have a league of new sportsmen and sportswomen who will be able to match and challenge the abilities of those from dominant sports nations like China, the US and Europe.

- ashwani@khaleejtimes.com