Year Ender 2019: A Look At Major Achievements By Indian Sportswomen In 2019

2019 witnessed many monumental landmarks achieved by India's female athletes which turned out to be path breaking moments in the annals of the nation's sporting history

Year Ender 2019: A Look At Major Achievements By Indian Sportswomen In 2019/ Photo: AFP

Indian sportswomen continued to prove their pedigree in the international sporting arena and many of them excelled in their chosen sport at major events in 2019. Be it the shuttlers, shooters, boxers or grapplers, India's female athletes rubbed shoulders with the best in the world and came out on top on numerous occasions, winning laurels for the nation. 2019 witnessed many monumental landmarks achieved by India's female athletes which turned out to be path breaking moments in the annals of the nation's sporting history. Here is a look at some of the major achievements by Indian female athletes in the sporting arena P V Sindhu Becomes India's First Ever Badminton World Champion PV Sindhu scripted history after becoming the first Indian shuttler to clinch the gold medal at the BWF World Championships. India's ace female shuttler achieved the historic feat after beating her arch rivals Nozomi Okuhara 21-17,21-7 in the finals of the women's singles at the 2019 BWF World Championships held in Basel, Switzerland. The tall and well-built shuttler broke her gold jinx after ending up as second best in the previous two editions of the marquee event. Sindhu will now spearhead India's challenge in women's badminton along with her experienced campaigner Saina Nehwal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and look to replicate her World Championships performance at the Olympics. Dutee Chand – First Indian to win a 100m gold in a global event India's sprint queen Dutee Chand made her mark in the international athletic circuit after winning the gold medal in the 100m dash at the 30th Summer University Games in Napoli, Italy. Dutee became the first Indian athlete to win the yellow medal at the prestigious event. Dutee continued to blaze way on the track winning gold in the 100 m at the Indian Open Grand Prix. She brought laurels to the nation by clinching bronze in the 200m at the Asian Athletic Championships in Doha, Qatar. The speed merchant closed the season on a high, clean sweeping the 100 and 200 m sprints at the National Athletic Championships held at Ranchi. Chand smashed her own national record by clocking a timing of 11.22 seconds in the semi finals. MC Mary Kom Won Record 8th Medal At Boxing World Championships MC Mary Kom became the most decorated female boxer at the Women’s World Boxing Championships after she clinched a bronze in the 51 kg category at the AIBA World Boxing Championship held at Ulan Ude. The diminutive powerhouse from Manipur won her record 8th medal across all editions of the World Cup, surpassing Cuban legend Felix Savon's haul of seven medals. The multi-time World and Olympic medallist continued to prove her mantle in the ring, winning gold medals for India at the President's Cup and Indian Open. Vinesh Phogat Clinches Bronze at World Wrestling Championships, Qualifies for Tokyo Olympics One of India's leading female wrestlers, Vinesh Phogat made the nation proud after winning bronze at the 2019 World Wrestling Championships at Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan and securing a berth at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The star grappler who belongs to the highly acclaimed Phogat family won her first medal at the world championships and rose to the number 2 position in the rankings. Vinesh became the fifth Indian woman wrestler to win a World Championship medal after Alka Tomar (2006), Geeta Phogat (2012), Babita Phogat (2012) and Pooja Dhanda (2018). Hima Das Gold Medal Winning Spree At International India's leading 400 m runner Hima Das trail blazed her way in the international athletic circuit winning a spree of medals at the sprint events. Hima struck a purple patch on the track winning five consecutive golds at major athletic events in Poland and Czech Republic. She won four straight golds at the 200 m event in Poznan Athletic Grand Prix, Kutno Athletic Meet, Kladno Athletic meet and Tabor meet and followed it up with a fifth gold in 400 mtrs at the meet in Czech Republic. Manu Bhaker Hits The BullsEye At Major Shooting Events Manu Bhaker had a sensational year in the international shooting events as won a bagful of medals at international events and brought laurels to the nation. Baker scripted history at 2019 ISSF World Cup as she bagged India's first gold medal in the event this year in Women's 10m Air Pistol category. Bhaker's gold medal feat saw her breaking the junior world record with her total of 244.7. Meanwhile, she also became only the second Indian shooter after Heena Sidhu to win a gold medal Women's 10m Air Pistol at the ISS World Cup. Bhaker also clinched gold in the 10 m pistol event at the Asian Shooting Championship. The shooting sensation combined well with Sourabh Chaudhary to win medals in the mixed pistol events at the ISSF Shooting World Cup. Besides Bhaker's exploits, young Indian shooters Elavenil Valarivan and Yashaswini Singh Deswal showcased their prowess at the ISSF World Cup events in China and Rio de Janeiro. Valarivan became only the third shooter after Apurvi Chandela and Anjali Bhagwat to win a senior ISSF World Cup gold. Meanwhile, Deswal shot gold in 10 m Air Pistol event in Rio de Janeiro to qualify for 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. Seasoned campaigner Rahi Sarnobat and Apurvi Chandela were in fine shooting form, making it to the podium consistently at the ISSF World Cup events. Shafali Verma Shafali Verma made a gigantic leap from being a teen prodigy to making her way into the Indian women’s cricket team. The 15-year-old hard hitting batsman was picked in the Indian squad as a replacement for outgoing captain and seasoned campaigner Mithali Raj. Shafali made an emphatic international debut after smashing a whirlwind 73 off 49 ballsin the first T20 International against West Indies. She became the youngest Indian cricketer to score a half century in an international match. She broke a 30-year-old record previously set by her idol and Indian batting great Sachin Tendulkar.