Year Ender 2019: A Glance Into Major Achievements by Indian Sportsmen

While it was Pankaj Advani who once again extended his hegemony across formats at the World Championship, the wrestlers and grapplers were second to none in booking their berths at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Indian sportsmen had yet another wonderful year across sporting disciplines in the international arena, proving their pedigree and skill to compete against the best in the world and come out as champions.

Year Ender 2019: Indian sportsmen had yet another wonderful year across sporting disciplines in the international arena, proving their pedigree and skill to compete against the best in the world and come out as champions. While it was Pankaj Advani who once again extended his hegemony across formats at the World Championship, the wrestlers and grapplers were second to none in booking their berths at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The shooters consistently medalled at the World Cup events and there were notable improvements in tennis and table tennis too. Last but not the least, the Rohit-Virat duo's batting heroics and Mohammad Shami's wicket-taking helped the 'Men in Blue' assert their supremacy in both Tests and ODI internationals.

Here is a look at the major achievements of Indian sportsmen in 2019 ACE CUEIST PANKAJ ADVANI WINS RECORD EXTENDING 23RD WORLD TITLE Pankaj Advani continued his title winning spree at the very top of cue sports, bagging a record extending 23rd World title in 2019. The ace Indian cueist defeated Myanmar’s Nay Thway Oo to win the 2019 IBSF World Billiards title and clinch his 22nd trophy, adding to his already glittering silverware. Advani combined brilliantly with fellow Indian Aditya Mehta to fend off a stiff challenge from their Thai opponents in the finals to win 2019 IBSF Team Snooker event and take his World titles tally up to a whopping 23. B SAI PRANEETH 2ND INDIAN MALE SHUTTLER TO MEDAL AT BADMINTON WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS Indian shuttler B. Sai Praneeth scripted history by becoming only the second Indian male shuttler since Prakash Padukone in 1983 to medal at the Badminton World Championships. Praneeth won the bronze in the men's singles at 2019 BWF World Championships held at St. Jakobshalle in Basel, Switzerland.  B. Sai Praneeth defeated World No.4 Jonatan Christie in quarter-final with a 24-22, 21-14 scoreline to reach the last four and secure a podium finish. AMIT PHANGAL WINS FIRST EVER SILVER FOR INDIA AT MEN'S BOXING WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS Amit Phangal scripted history when he became the first Indian boxer to win a silver medal at the World Boxing Championships. Panghal settled for silver after losing his 52-kg gold medal bout to Uzbekistan’s Shakhobidin Zoirov at the 2019 AIBA World Championship held in Yekaterinburg, Russia. The Asian Games gold medallist, surpassed World Championships bronze medallists - Vijender Singh, Vikas Krishan, Shiva Thapa and Gaurav Bidhuri after becoming the first Indian male boxer to breach the semi-final barrier and secure a place in the title clash. SHOOTERS SOURABH CHAUDHARY AND ABHISHEK VERMA  QUALIFY FOR TOKYO OLYMPICS Teen shooting sensation Sourabh Chaudhary and hobby shooter Abhishek Verma were consistently among the medals, hitting bullseye at the ISSF Shooting World Cup events all through the year. Sourabh won 10m Air Pistol golds at ISSF World Cup in New Delhi and Munich and followed it up with a bronze at Rio de Janeiro.

Sourabh's gold medal at Delhi saw him breaking the World record in the 10m pistol event and booking a place at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.  Meanwhile Abhishek won the yellow medal in the 10m Air pistol category at the Shooting World Cup events in Beijing and Rio de Janeiro to seal a spot at next year's Olympics in Tokyo.

Abhishek and Sourabh also medalled for India in the 10 m pistol team event at the 2019 Asian Shooting Championship held at Doha, Qatar.

DEEPAK PUNIA CLINCHES SILVER IN WORLD WRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIPS, SEALS SPOT IN TOKYO OLYMPICS Deepak Punia spearheaded a highly successful Indian campaign at the 2019 World Wrestling Championships, clinching silver in the 86 kg freestyle category at Nur-Sultan in Kazakhstan. Deepak Punia became the 4th Indian wrestler to bag 2020 Tokyo Olympics quota but unfortunately, had to settle for a silver in the World Wrestling Championships final due to his injury.

Bajrang Punia and Rahul Aware won bronze medals in their respective categories to round up India's highest ever medal tally across all editions at the World Championships.

ROHIT SHARMA ENDS 2019 AS HIGHEST ODI RUN GETTER, KOHLI TOPS RUN SCORING CHARTS ACROSS ALL FORMATS Rohit Sharma ended 2019 as the highest ODI run-getter after the belligerent opener notched up 1490 runs in the limited overs format in the calendar year. The strokemaker struck a purple patch with the willow and reserved his best at the 2019 ICC World Cup in the United Kingdom, amassing 648 runs laced with record breaking five tons to win the ICC Golden Bat.

Indian skipper Virat Kohli ended 2019 as the leading run scorer across all formats for a fourth straight year in a row with a staggering 2455 runs in total. Kohli scored 1,377 runs in 26 ODIs, 612 runs in eight Tests and 466 runs in 10 T20Is in 2019.

MOHAMMAD SHAMI -  LEADING ODI WICKET TAKER IN 2019 India's frontline seamer Mohammad Shami was on a rich wicket taking spree, scalping 42 wickets in just 21 ODIs in 2019 . Shami was in terrific form in the 2019 ICC World Cup, contributing significantly to India's semi final campaign with 14 wickets. His moment under the sun came with a hat-trick against Afghanistan in a thrilling round robin match at the World Cup. LEANDER PAES BECOMES MOST SUCCESSFUL DOUBLE PLAYER IN DAVIS CUP HISTORY India's veteran tennis star Leander Paes once again proved that age is just a number in sport. At the ripe old age of 46, Leander bettered his own Davis Cup record by winning his 44th doubles match along with debutant Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan to help India trounce Pakistan in the Asia-Oceania Group 1 Davis Cup tie played out at Nur-Sultan in Kazakhstan Paes last year had become the most successful doubles player in the history of Davis Cup when he won his 43rd doubles match, surpassing Italian great Nicola Pietrangeli during the tie against China. SUNIL CHHETRI BECOMES SECOND HIGHEST GOAL SCORER IN INTERNATIONAL FOOTBALL AMONG ACTIVE PLAYERS India football team captain Sunil Chhetri overtook Argentine star striker Lionel Messi to become the second-highest international goalscorer among active players. The talismanic striker added another goal to his international  kitty when he netted a fourth-minute penalty against Tajikistan in the Intercontinental Cup. The skipper scored his 69th international goal with a clever panenka to reach the second spot on the goal scoring charts, only below Portuguese striker Cristiano Ronaldo who leads the pack with 99 goals for Portugal. Chhetri has been a prolific goal scorer for India, netting a record 72 goals in his 115 appearances for the 'Blue Tigers'. The ever consistent goal poacher is 13th on the all time list of top goal scorers in international football.

G SATHIYAN SECURES HIGHEST EVER RANKING BY INDIAN PADDLER ON ITTF WORLD TOUR

G Sathiyan did a first of sorts by reaching the round of sixteen at the 2019 ITTF Table Tennis World Cup held in Chengdu, China. The lone India representation in the draw, made it to the last sixteen on the back of wins against higher ranked opponents in Simon Gauzy and Jonathan Groth.

Sathiyan secured the highest ever World ranking of 24 by an Indian paddler following his impressive performances at the Asian and ITTF World Championships. Sathiyan also clinched a silver for India at the Commonwealth Table Tennis Championships losing out to fellow countryman Harmeet Desai in the title clash.

PRAJNESH GUNNESWARAN MAKES GRAND SLAM DEBUT AT AUSTRALIAN OPEN Prajnesh Gunneswaran added a feather to his fast improving tennis career by making his grand slam debut at the 2019 Australian Open. The tall and lanky tennis star made the main draw at Melbourne after securing notable wins in his qualifying matches. His dream run ended in the opening round with a straight sets first round loss to Frances Tiafoe. The highest ranked tennis player also marked his ATP Masters 1000 Series debut at the Indian Wells Masters with wins over higher ranker opponents in Nikoloz Basilashvili and Benoit Paire before losing to Ivo Karlovic in the third round. Gunneswaran also reached the singles finals of the ATP Challenger singles at Anning, China. He broke into the top 100 in the ATP men's tour and rose to a career-high singles ranking of 75 in the season. 14-yr Old Grandmaster Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa Racks Up 3 Titles Teen chess prodigy Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa left many awe inspired with his sheer  brilliance on the 64 squares,  clinching three titles on the international chess circuit in 2019. After winning the World U-18 Chess Championship and triumphing at the Xtracon Open, the 14-year old capped off the year with a resounding  win at the London Chess Classic FIDE Open.

This victory helped the youngster join the elite 2600-club. It is notable that he is the fourth-youngest person ever to achieve the title of Grandmaster (GM), behind Sergey Karjakin, Gukesh D and Javokhir Sindarov.

Honorable Mentions -

Athletics - Tejinder Pal Singh Toor (Shot Put -Gold), Shivpal Singh (Silver - Javelin) at 2019 Asian Athletic Championships

Boxing - Manish Kaushik Bronze in Lightweight at 2019 AIBA World Championships

Wushu - Praveen Kumar Won Gold at World Wushu Championships

Shooting - Divyansh Singh Panwar - 50m Rifle Prone Gold at 2019 ISSF World Cup Final

Badminton - Sourabh Verma Won Hyderabad and Vietnam Open

Lakshya Sen Won  Dutch Open and SaarLorLux Open

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy - Chirag Shetty Pair Won Doubles Title At BWF 500 Series Thailand Open

Tennis - Divij Sharan  Won Men's Doubles Titles At Mahrashtra Open and St. Petersburg Open (ATP 250 Series)

Table Tennis - Harmeet Desai Clinched titles at  Indonesian Open and  Commonwealth Championships