Sports, India: 2017
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The best Indian sportspersons, 2016-17
INDIAN SPORTS' SHINING STARS, Mar 21, 2017: The Times of India
TOISA aims to honour the past, celebrate the present and nurture the future in Indian sports. True to its mission statement, badminton ace PV Sindhu, received the jury's Sportsperson of the Year Award, gymnast Dipa Karmakar and young golfer, Aditi Ashok walked away with the Inspiration of the Year and Emerging Player awards respectively on a glitzy awards night. Ajit Pal Singh, the doyen of Indian hockey, was conferred the Lifetime Achievement Award
SPORTSPERSON OF THE YEAR
Badminton
SINDHU, rises like a phoenix
Following the surprise exit of former World No. 1 Saina Nehwal after her defeat to 61st ranked Maria Ulitina in her second match at the Rio Olympics, it was left to PV Sindhu to carry the hopes of Indian badminton.In her maiden Olympics, the 21-yearold entered the pre-quarters with a gruelling 72-minute win over Canada's Michelle Li 21-19, 21-15, setting up a very tough match against the London Olympics silver-medallist Wang Yihan of China. In the end, she beat Yihan -seven years older than her -22-20, 21-19 to become the second Indian after Saina to reach the last four at the Olympics. Sindhu then beat Japan's Nozomi Okuhara in straight sets 21-19, 21-10 to become the first Indian to reach an Olympics badminton final. On the biggest day of her career, Sindhu faced the World No. 2 Carolina Marin and never stopped fighting until the Spaniard won gold. And, yet it did not feel like Sindhu had lost, for in her hands was the biggest prize in the history of Indian badminton -an Olympic silver, to go past Saina's bronze four years ago in London. Later in the year, Sindhu won her first China Open Super Series, then finished second at the Hong Kong Super Series.
TENNIS
SANIA MIRZA
It was another memorable year for the queen of Indian tennis, which began with her sixth Grand Slam, the Australian Open Doubles title, with Martina Hingis. Sania Mirza and Hingis stretched their unbeaten winning streak to 41 matches before losing in the quarterfinals of the Qatar Open. During the Olympics, Sania and Rohan Bopanna finished second best in the mixed doubles' bronze medal play-off match. Later that month, Sania took sole possession of the WTA doubles No. 1 ranking. To remain No. 1 in the WTA doubles rankings for 84 consecutive weeks added to her excellent 2016.
ARCHERY
ATANU DAS
Having taken to the sport at the age of 14, and trained by Lim Chae Wong at the Tata Archery Academy, Atanu Das edged out experienced campaigners like Jayanta Talukdar and Mangal Singh Champia to qualify for his maiden Olympics. In Rio, the 24-year-old made it to the pre-quarters of the men's individual event on the back of some stunning performances and bowed out after a close contest against South Korea's Seungyun Lee, losing 6-4.
ATHLETICS
LALITA BABAR
L alita Babar, 27, was the first Indian to qualify for the final of an athletics track event at the Olympics since PT Usha in 1984. In the women's 3000m steeplechase event at the Rio Olympics, Lalita finished fourth in Heat 2 with a national record timing of 9:19.76 to earn a spot in the final, where she finished 10th.
BILLIARDS
PANKAJ ADVANI
A record haul of 16 World Championship titles at the age of 31 years is proof enough of Pankaj Advani's prodigious talent and hunger for success. In May 2016, Advani won the Asian 6-Red Snooker title for the third time and became the first player to hold the world title as well as the continental title at the same time. In December, he won his 11th World Billiards (150-Up format) Championships title by beating multiple world champion Peter Gilchrist six games to three.
BOXING
VIKAS KRISHAN
A quarterfinalist at the age 20 at the 2012 London Olympics, where his victory was controversially overturned, Vikas Krishan was one of only three Indian pugilists in Rio. In his second and final Olympics, Vikas cruised into the round of 16 in the 75kg category before Bektemir Melikuzeiv of Uzbekistan halted his progress in the quarters.
CHESS
HARIKA DRONAVALLI Grandmaster Harika Dronavalli had the stamp of approval of the great Viswanathan Anand at a young age, and has made rapid strides to become one of India's top chess players. In 2016, Harika's championships wins included the Chengdu GP and the Eurasian Blitz in Kazakhstan.She then entered the top five in the world chess rankings after a commanding show in the Isle of Man International tournament.
FOOTBALL
JEJE LALPEKHLUA
In 2016, Jeje Lalpekhlua helped the India football team regain the SAFF Championship title with a goal in the final -his third of the competition in four games -and was adjudged Player of the Year by the All India Football Federation. The India, Mohun Bagan and Chennaiyin FC striker also scored six goals in the AFC Cup and was third highest Indian scorer with three goals during the 2016 ISL.
GOLF
ANIRBAN LAHIRI
In 2016, for the first time in his career, Anirban Lahiri -ranked 73rd in the men's game -made it to the prestigious PGA Tour. And despite a shoulder injury that hampered his performances during the season, he made the cut in 16 of 21 tournaments. He had one top-10 finish and two top-25 finishes.
GYMNASTICS INSPIRATION OF THE YEAR
DIPA KARMAKAR
At her maiden Olympics -in which she became India's first gymnast at the Summer Games in 52 years -the 23-year-old qualified for the vault final where she finished fourth with a personal best score of 15.006 and missed bronze by just 0.150 points. Dipa was awarded the Khel Ratna.
HOCKEY
RUPINDER PAL SINGH rag-flick specialist and India's
Drag-flick specialist and India's leading goal scorer in 2016, Rupinder Pal Singh has become one of the pillars of the men's hockey team. The penalty corner expert scored six goals in India's 10-2 victory over Japan in the Asian Champions Trophy, which India won, and emerged as the highest goalscorer with 11 overall. Rupinder was also part of the Indian team at the Rio Olympics.
KABADDI
AJAY THAKUR
Ajay Thakur was India's star performer in 2016. The raider top-scored with 12 points during the win over Iran in t h e World Cup final.
CRICKET
R ASHWIN
India's premier spinner and the top-ranked bowler and all rounder in Tests, R Ashwin was pivotal to India's rise to the top of the ICC Test Championship, and no other bowler took more than his 72 wickets at an average of 23.90 from 12 Tests in 2016.During these 12 months, Ashwin broke Virender Sehwag's record of most Man-of-the-Series awards in Tests, picked up his 200th Test wicket in his 37th match, the second-fastest ever to the landmark, and became just the second Indian after Kapil Dev (in 1979 & 1983) to make over 500 runs and take over 50 wickets in Tests in a year.
ROWING
DATTU BHOKANAL
Just the ninth rower to represent India at the Olympics, Dattu Bhokanal finished fourth in the quarterfinals of the men's single sculls. For Bhokanal to achieve this in his maiden Olympic Games, while his ailing mother lay in a Pune hospital, brain-damaged after an accident, was a huge achievement.
SHOOTING
ABHINAV BINDRA
In his last appearance on the Olympic stage, the 2008 Beijing gold-medallist came within 0.1 of winning a second medal. In the end, he bowed out of the competition at fourth place in the final of the men's 10m air rifle with a cumulative score of 163.8.
SQUASH
DIPIKA PALLIKAL KARTHIK
The only Indian squash player to win an individual world title last year, claiming the Australian Open, Dipika Pallikal Karthik was also part of the gold medal-winning Indian women's team at the South Asian Games and the one that won silver at the Asian Team Championships. She also dethroned defending champion Joshna Chinappa to regain the women's title at the 73rd Senior National Squash Championship.
WRESTLING
SAKSHI MALIK
Sakshi Malik became the first woman wrestler from India to bag an Olympic medal -and India's first medallist in Rio -when she earned a bronze after beating Kyrgyzstan's Aisuluu Tynybekova.
EMERGING PLAYER
ADITI ASHOK
Aditi Ashok ended 2016 as a teenage golfing sensation.The youngest in the field in Rio and at the time ranked 462, Aditi finished tied-41st and in November became the first Indian to claim successive titles on the Ladies European Tour, with wins in the Indian Open and Qatar Open. The 18-yearold's wonderful year was capped with the LET `Rookie of the Year' award.
COACH
P GOPICHAND AND BISHESHWAR NANDI
Under Gopichand's tutelage, PV Sindhu won the biggest prize in Indian badminton, a silver medal at the Olympics, while the unsung Nandi is the man responsible for the emergence of Dipa Karmakar.
PARALYMPIANS
These four lion-hearts scripted India's most successful Paralympics ever.Javelin thrower Devendra Jhajharia broke his own record while claiming his second gold medal; Deepa Malik won silver in the shot put F-53 event to become the first Indian woman to win a Paralympic medal; and high jumper Mariyappan Thangavelu created history by winning gold while his counterpart Varun Bhati claimed bronze.
STATE
HARYANA
Haryana left the biggest imprint on the country's sporting fabric in 2016, contributing 21 of the 120 athletes that formed India's largest contingent to the Olympics, of which wrestler Sakshi Malik emerged as the country's first medallist, followed by the breakthrough medal that Deepa Malik won at the Paralympics and the sustained success of boxer Vijender Kumar to go with six hockey players that were part of the first women's team to qualify for the Olympics for the first time since 1982.
TEAM
JR MEN'S HOCKEY TEAM
Under the captaincy of Harjeet Singh, the Indian colts lifted the Junior Hockey World Cup for the first time in 15 years, beating Spain 2-1 in the final in Lucknow. In October, the team won the Four-Nations Invitational Tournament in Valencia, Spain after crushing Germany 5-2. In the Australian Hockey League, India reached the semifinals on the back of Varun Kumar's seven goals, including a hat-trick, and Armaan Qureshi's four.
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT
AJIT PAL SINGH
TOISA is an endeavour to honour the past, celebrate the present and nurture the future in Indian sport. And Ajit Pal Singh, who has the distinction of being the only Indian captain to lift the World Cup, is a part of that rich legacy of Indian sport. The captain of India's first World Cup team and the only hockey player to lead the country at the coveted tournament twice, Ajit Pal Singh represented the country in three Olympics from 1968 through 1976, winning bronze medals in his first two Games. In an international career spanning nearly 11 years, he was often selected for the Asian XI and World XI and was considered the world's best centre half of his times. After his playing career ended in 1980, Singh assumed various roles as selector, observer and coach and for his outstanding contribution to Indian hockey, he was conferred the Arjuna Award in 1970 and the Padma Shri in 1992.
