24 Most Glorious Moments In The History Of Indian SportsShreya PareekFebruary 17,

2015Inspirational,Lists,Sports2.3kSHARESSpread the wordLinkedinFrom grabbing the cricket World Cup

trophy to Sachin Tendulkar’s emotional retirement tobeing the undefeated Kabaddi champions to Mary
Kom’s amazing come back, here are 24 memorable moments of Indian sports historythat you will love to
go back in time and relive!India has some amazing talents in various fields and sports is indeed one of
them. Fromthe most talked about game of cricket to making headway in some lesser known sports as
well, and gradually increasing medal tallies at international events, India has come a long way.Here are
24 such amazing and memorable events in Indian sports history which still fill us with pride and respect
–1951 – 1962: Indian Football team’s glorious yearshttp://www.thehardtackle.com/The 1950s and
1960s were the glorious years for the IndianFootball team and it ranked among the top 20 teams of the
world. Under the tutelage of the legendarySyed Abdul Rahim, they won the 1951 and 1962 Asian
Games, and finished fourth in the 1956Olympics.During the team’s peak period, theywere automatically
advanced to play in the 1950 FIFA World Cup. But they could not participate in the games due to lack of
resources, financial constraints and other internal issues. Let’s tap the hidden talent in our country and
bring back Indian football into the league?1952 – Khashaba Jadhav, the first Indian to win an individual
Olympic medal for Indiahttp://icc-worldcupcricket2011.blogspot.in/Born in a family of wrestlers,Jadhav
won a bronze medal at the 1952 Summer Olympics and became the first Indian to win a medal at this
platform.His bright future in wrestling was visible ever since he won his first wrestling bout at the age of
eight in just two minutes against a local champion wrestler. He won his Olympic medal after defeating
players from Mexico, Canada and Germany. Unlike today, when players are welcomed with a lot of
media attention, Jadhav was justgreeted by his fellow villagers after the remarkable feat!1958 – Mihir
Sen crossed the English Channel and became the first Indian to do sohttp://who-is-the-
first.blogspot.in/Known as the first Indian to conquer the English Channel from Dover to Calais in 1958,
Mihir also created history by being the only man to swim the five oceans in one calendar year in 1966.
By the time of his death at the age of 66 in 1997, Sen also had his name recorded in the Guinness Book
of World Records for long distance swimming. Enough reasons to feel proud of this amazingsportsman,
we guess!1960 – Milkha Singh broke the 400m Olympic record but lost the bronze by just 0.1
secondshttp://www.allposters.com/Who doesn’t know about this Flying Sikh’s contribution to Indian
sports? And when we talk about some of India’s most memorable sporting moments, we cannot skip
Singh’s performance in the 1960 Olympics wherehe broke the 400m Olympic record but still lost the
bronze by just 0.1 seconds.He also won Gold medals in the 1958 and 1962 Asian Games.1960 –
Ramanathan Krishnan reached world no.6 in Tennis rankingshttp://indiansports.quora.com/We all know
about tennis sensation Sania Mirza’s amazing contribution to popularizing the sport in India. But, did
you know thatRamanathan Krishnan was one of the leadingtennis players in the world during his peak
gaming period in the 1950s and 1960s? He was a semi-finalist at the Wimbledon in 1960 and 1961 and
reached an amazing world ranking of number six.In 1954, he became the first Asian player to win the
boys’ singles title at Wimbledon.1975 – India won World Cup Hockey,
Malaysiahttp://www.bharatiyahockey.org/In thishistorical victory against Pakistan on 15th March 1975,
India won the Hockey World Cup held at Kuala Lumpur,Malaysia with a score of 2-1. Players likeAjit Pal,
who was the captain of the team, andAslam Sher Khanplayed a crucial role in this victory. India has 8
Olympic Gold Medals under its name which is a great achievement in itself.When it comes to Hockey,
the contribution of Dhyanchand cannot be skipped. “The Wizard”led the Indian Hockey team to victory
several times including the 1936 Berlin Olympics victory over Germany which was witnessed by over
40,000 people including Hitler. Hitler got so furious with the match result that he left the stadium in
frustration and anger.Legend has it that the next day, he invited Dhyanchand to meet him and offered
him German citizenship along with a high post in the German army, which Dhyanchand politely
refused.1980 – Praksh Padukone wins All England Badminton TitleMussarat Kang/ WikipediaAfter
registering a victory over Liem Swie King of Indonesia,Padukone became the firstIndian to win the All
England Badminton championships. One of the finest badminton players produced by India, Padukone
was awarded the Arjuna Award and also the Padma Shri for his achievements.He has won the nationals
championships for a record nine times.1982 – India’s Golf stars win Gold at the Asian GamesJeev Milkha
SinghPvt Pauline/ WikimediaIndian Golf teams brought India into the spotlight by winning gold in the
1982 and silver in the 2006 Asian Games respectively.‘Bunny’ Laxman Singh, Rajiv Mohta, Rishi Narain
and Amit Luthra represented the Indian Golf team. Apart from these amazing victories,Jeev Milha
Singh’s contributions tothis sport cannot be ignored as he became the first player from India to join the
European Tour in 1998. He haswon three European Tour Titles, four Japan Golf Tour titles and six Asian
Tour tiles, after defeating some of the best players in the world.1983 – Cricket World Cup Victory.
Repeated in 2011.Pic Source: AshwiniKalantri / WikimediaIndia created a much talked about history
when itwon the ICC Cricket World Cup in 1983 by defeating the West Indies.In the nail-biting final, India
lost the toss and was asked to bat first against WI, which arguably had the world’s best bowling attack at
the time. India managed to score just 183 runs overall and were in low spirits.“Team, if this is not a
winning total its definitely a fighting total,”Kapil Dev, the then captain of the team said. And, India did
put up a brave fight, defeating the opponent by 43 runs in a remarkable way. Catch the highlights of
thatApart from the 1983 victory, India created history once again by winning its second World Cup title
in 2011 by defeating Sri Lankaat the Wankhade Stadium in Mumbai. India became the first country ever
to win the World Cup on its home ground.The much-awaited victory won millions of hearts and was
certainly an emotional and proud moment for the entire nation. Remember the last over? Here it
is!1986 – P. T. Usha’s victory at Asian Gameshttp://www.southdreamz.com/Usha won four gold medals
and one silver medal in the track and field events of the 1986 Asian Games.She was also awarded the
trophy for the Best Athlete in the world. Her splendid victories made her a household name and
brightened the prospects of female athletes in India.1999 – The amazing duo of Leander Paes and
Mahesh Bhupathiwww.internationalpremiertennisleague.comThe Paes – Bhupathi duo was unbeatable
and created history whenever they played together. They reached the finals of the men’s doubles in all
four grand slams and the ATP Masters in 1999 and also won the French Open and Wimbeldon.Paes’
amazing performance also took India to the semi finals of the Davis Cup in 1993. We sure missthe duo’s
amazing performances together now!2000 – Karnam Malleswari’s glorious performance at the
Olympicshttp://www.olympic.org/Malleswari wrote yet another golden chapter in Indian sports history
by becomingthe first Indian woman to win an Olympic medal. Malleswari bagged a bronze in the 69 kg
category of the weight-lifting championship at Sydney Olympics in 2000.She started the competition
with a brave lead where she entered the competition at 105 kgs, while other lifters opted for a 100 kgs
weight, and she later went up to 110 kgs over the next two attempts. Watch for yourself how effortless
she made it look!2000 – Viswanathan Anand wins the World Chess ChampionshipPicture SourceOnce
nicknamed the“Lightning Kid”, Anand marked a remarkable victory by winning the FIDE World Chess
Championship in 2000.Hebecame the first Indian to win a world chess championship.He again won the
FIDE championship in 2007. He has won world championships five timesand Lubomir Kavalek, the great
chess player, once called him one of the most versatile world champions ever.2002 – Kumble bowled
with a broken jawhttp://www.cricketcountry.com/There are some moments in history where one man
steals the show, and this was one such moment where Kumble’s passion for the game even
overshadowed his jaw injury.In 2002, when India was playing a Test matchagainst West Indies and it was
Kumble’s turn to bowl, he came out from the pavilion end with a bandage tied across his jaw and
bowled 14 overs against Brian Lara till he finally got him out.Though the match tied butKumble won
many hearts.Another inspiring moment came when spinnerKumble took 10 wickets in a match against
Pakistan in 1999. After the magical bowling by Kumble (10 for 74), at the moment he took the final
wicket, the entire crowd of thousands of viewers started chanting his name and the Indian team carried
Kumble back to the pavilion in their arms. We still get the chills when we think about this amazing event.
See each of these wickets taken here:2003 – Anju Bobby George’s remarkable long
jumphttp://www.currentaffairsonline.in/Anju Bobby George created history and became the first Indian
medalist at the World Athletics Championships, when she took the long jump (6.70 m) bronze in Paris in
2003.Later, in 2005, she won a gold medal at the IAAF World Athletics, which she considers her best
performance. Her success brought her from the 61st place in 2001 to the 6th place in the world rankings
in 2003.She holds the current Indian national record in long jump with her personal best of 6.83
meters.2004 – The unbeaten Indian Kabbaddi team marks its first win at the first Kabaddi World
CupIndian men Kabaddi team at Asian Games 2014Did you know that India has won all five Kabaddi
world cups played till now?How amazing is that! With the recent 2014 Asian Games win by both the
men and women Kabaddi teams, India has marked its unbeaten territory in this sport. Apart from 2014,
India has won Gold medals in the AsianGames in 1990, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006 and 2010.2004 –
Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore’s much talked about Silver medalhttps://www.withfriendship.com/When
India’s ace shooter Rathore bagged asilver medal after scoring 179 points at the Athens Olympic Games
in 2004, it created quite a stir nationwide. He gave India its first silver medal in an individual event at the
Olympics.2005 – Pankaj Advani won the World Billiards ChampionshipsPic Courtesy: Benutzer: Bill da
Flute / WikimediaNational snooker star Pankaj Advani created a sensation when hewon the IBSF World
Billiards Championship in 2005 at Qawra, Malta, and became the first player to achieve a “grand double”
by winning both time and point formats.He also won the World Championship in 2003 at the age of 18
and became the youngest Indian to win the title. He has eight world titles under his name so far.Apart
from Advani, Snooker has seen yet another amazing playerGeet Sethiwho has six professional titles and
three amateur levelWorld Cup titles along with two world recordsunder his belt.2005 – Narain
Karthikeyan became first F1 driver from IndiaPic Source: Cobra bubbles/ WikimediaIn a country like
India where obsession with cricket is not hidden, we saw a new sports sensation inNarain Kathikeyan
when this young racer became India’s first Formula Onemotor racing driver.After him, Karun Chandok
too joined the sport, and thanks to their initial momentum, now there is an Indian F1 team and an
Indian Grand Prix circuit.2007 – Six sixes in an over by Yuvraj Singhenter10mentonly.blogspot.comWho
can forget theamazing six sixes in one over by Yuvraj Singh in the T20 Cricket World Cup 2007 match
against England? Singh’s incredible batting against Stuart Broad was a treat for cricket fans across the
globe.The first ball was hit hard and sent to cow corner while the second ball went to backward square
leg followed by four other amazing sixes.His incredible innings won him a record of making a half
century in just 12 balls.Singh’s incredible batting paid off and India won the match (also becoming the
first T20 champions).Watch this video to relive the amazing over –2008 – Abhinav Bindra’s gold medal at
the 2008 OlympicsAbhinav Bindra’s gloriousgold medal in the men’s 10m air rifle shooting competition
at the 2008 Beijing Olympics marked India’s arrival in the international sports scene apart from
cricket.This splendid victory not only brought India in the limelight but also made Bindra the first Indian
to win an individual gold medal at the Olympic Games. Check out the gold winning moment here:2009 –
Saina Nehwal becomes the firstIndian woman to win a Super Series
Tournamenthttp://webdelhi.wordpress.com/Nehwal is among those very few players whohave brought
badminton into the limelight.She became the first Indian to win a Super Series tournament as she
grabbed the much deserved title after defeating a higher ranked Lin Wang from China in Jakarta.Nehwal
also made India immensely proud when she won a bronze medal in the 2012 Olympics. After the victory,
instead of celebrating the victory in the court, Nehwal showed a more humble side and first went tothe
Chinese player who was retired from the match after an injury.2012 – Sachin Tendulkar’s 100th century
and retirementhttp://askuwantfree.blogspot.in/The “God” of Indian cricket, Sachin Tendulkar,has
always been the country’s pride. At each match he played throughout his career, the entire nation kept
faith in him to lead India to a victory.In 2012, Tendulkar proved his amazing batting capabilities yet again
as he became the first batsman to make a 100 international centuries.People across the globe talked
about this much awaited event and even created a Facebook page namedI Was Alive When Sachin Made
100th Century!Another emotional moment in the history of Indian cricket was Tendulkar’s
retirement.Millions of fans shed tears as the master blaster bid goodbye to his 24 year long cricketing
career. Take a peek at Tendulkar’s retirement speech that made everyone emotional –2014 – Mary
Kom’s “golden” come backhttps://www.facebook.com/MCMaryKomofficialFive time world champion
and Olympic bronze medallist Mary Kom captured everyone’s heart with her first Asian Games gold
medal in the women’s 48-51 kg boxing. The victory was even more special for her as she had returned to
the ring after a break of two years in which she delivered her third baby. Three cheers for the strong
come back!Like this story? Or have something to share? Write to us:contact@thebetterindia.com, or