P V Sindhu
A silver medallist in Rio Olympic, badminton star P V Sindhu received Padma Shri in 2015. Incidentally, she is also the youngest recipient of this award. 2018 was good for Sindhu but she had a string of six silvers in major finals. However last week saw Sindhu win World Tour Finals in Guangzhou beating Nozomi Okuhara 21-19, 21-17. She claimed gold after repeated losses — seven in minor and major events this year alone. Today she is No 3 in the players’ rankings. She also won Bronze in Asian Games 2018.
Mary Kom
An ageless wonder. Hers is the story of struggle, determination and hard work. The Manipuri boxer had an eventful 2018 as she won a historic sixth gold medal in world championships in November. She beat Ukraine’s Hanna Okhota in a unanimous 5-0 verdict in the 48 kg category summit clash. Soon after winning the title, Kom was adjudged the best pugilist of the 10th World Women’s Boxing Championships. And what more, she has promised to win Gold in Olympics 2020 in her sport. The only woman boxer to have won a medal in each one of the six world championships, Mary Kom became the first Indian woman boxer to get the gold medal in the Asian Games in 2014 in Incheon, South Korea.
Saina Nehwal
Saina Nehwal clinched bronze after losing to reigning World No. 1 Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei in the Asian Games 2018 women’s singles badminton. This Indian shuttler went down fighting against her higher-ranked opponent as the match ended 17-21, 14-21 in 36 minutes. This is the first time that an Indian woman shuttler has claimed a singles medal at the Asian Games and it was also the first singles medals in badminton after the 1982 Asiad when Syed Modi won the bronze. She won gold in 2018 Commonwealth Games. At Denmark Open, she lost in quarters. She lost in 2018 French Open. She married Badminton player P Kashyap this year.
Joshna Chinappa
She clinched the women’s singles titles at the National Squash Championships in New Delhi recently. It was a remarkable win for it was her record 16 national titles. Joshna with Dipika Pallikal won a Silver medal at the event’s 2018 Gold Coast edition losing to team New Zealand, Joelle King and Amanda Landers-Murphy. Joshna Chinappa trains at the Indian Squash Academy, Chennai. In April 2018, Joshna upset Nicol David in the second round, in straight games, of the El Gouna World Series Event.
Mithali Raj
At the age of 36, Mithali Raj, is India’s leading run-scorer in T20Is in women’s cricket. Mithali, with 2,283 runs, leads the T20I run-scorers charts in India, with Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli behind her with 2207 and 2102 runs. Mithali also surpassed men’s game’s highest T20I run-scorer Martin Guptill (2271 runs). She has a better record in her favourite One-Day Internationals (ODIs). India’s ODI captain is the leading run-scorer in women’s ODIs. With 6,550 runs at an average of 51.17, Raj is well ahead of the pack which has several big names from women’s cricket.
However, she was dropped from semi-finals squad in T20 World Cup when they faced England. The team lost and there were confusion and in-fight thereafter following her axing.
Swapna Baron
Hailing from a small town in North Bengal, nursing a severe toothache, competing with six toes on both her feet, Swapna waded her way through seven events to win India’s first-ever Asian Games gold medal in the heptathlon. Swapna often had a tough time finding the right competition shoes that would fit her as she was born with six toes in both feet. The extra width of her feet makes landing painful and shoes wear out quickly.
Dipa Karmakar
This celebrated gymnast from India, Dipa Karmakar won a gold medal in the vault event of FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Challenge Cup at Mersin, Turkey in July 2018. She thus became the first Indian gymnast to win a gold medal at a global event. In the same competition, she reached the finals of the balance beam event, finishing fourth. Failed to qualify for vault final at the 2018 Asian Games. She hurt her right knee, on which she had undergone surgery for an injury while landing during a practice session ahead of her participation in the women’s qualification for team and apparatus finals. She also pulled out of team final. In 2016 Olympic Test Event, Karmakar became the first female gymnast from India to qualify for the final vault event at the Olympics, with a score of 14.833. She missed out on the bronze medal, finishing fourth in the finals of the event with a score of 15.066.