In a country infatuated with one sport, cricket, the accomplishments of people who play other sports are sometimes overlooked. Even though they are less known, India has produced some of the best athletes in every sport imaginable, from hockey to tennis to chess. These athletes should be commended for winning trophies and medals for the country and popularizing sports that are frequently eclipsed by cricket. Even though cricket is still the most popular for sports betting India, like found on this site https://www.sportsbetting24.in/, other sports can be just as interesting. Without further ado, here are the seven most well-known Indian non-cricket athletes you should be aware of.
Viswanathan Anand
Viswanathan Anand, or Vishy as he is affectionately called, is not only India's finest chess player, but also one of the best in the world. When he was only 20 years old, he became India's first chess grandmaster. In 2013, the five-time World Champion was defeated by Norwegian chess prodigy Magnus Carlsen in a hard-fought game. Anand is the first person to get the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, India's highest sporting honor.
Sania Mirza
There were a few famous male tennis players from India before Sania Mirza, including Vijay Amritraj, Leander Paes, and Mahesh Bhupati. But before Mirza arrived on the scene, no woman had ever earned a reputation for herself in the sport. When she was paired with the tennis legend Martina Hingis, she became the world number one in the women's doubles category. Mirza is one of India's highest-paid sportswomen, having won multiple grand slam titles in the doubles and mixed-doubles categories.
Dhyan Chand
With all of the attention on cricket, it's easy to forget that hockey is India's national sport. Back in the days, India actually ruled the international hockey scene, and Dhyan Chand was the driving force behind all of these victories. In 1928, 1932, and 1936, he helped India capture three Olympic gold medals. Dhyan Chand, dubbed the 'Wizard' for his incredible goal-scoring abilities, is still regarded as the greatest sportsman ever to play the game.
Saina Nehwal
Saina Nehwal became the first ever Indian woman to reach the world number one ranking in badminton in 2015. She is the second Indian woman to reach this accomplishment, and Nehwal is credited for making badminton a popular sport in India. In 1980, Prakash Padukone was named number one. She has won one Olympic bronze medal and more than 21 international titles.
Milkha Singh
Better known as the 'Flying Sikh,' Milkha Singh is India's most famous sprinter and one of the country's first sporting idols. He was the first athlete from India to win a Commonwealth Games gold medal. In 1958, he took first place in the 400-meter dash. During the 1947 partition of India and Pakistan, Singh was separated from his family and orphaned. Singh's exploits are all the more impressive because he had limited resources to maintain himself as a sportsman at the time. He is claimed to have grown disillusioned with life and considered becoming a dacoit, but instead enlisted in the Indian Army and brought the country honours.
Mary Kom
Mary Kom is the most well-known female boxer in India. Kom is a five-time World Amateur Boxing champion, hailing from the northeastern state of Manipur. She took bronze in the 2012 Olympics and gold in the Asian Boxing Championship. Kom has become an example to young sportswomen across the country after rising from low beginnings to achieve so much. Priyanka Chopra portrayed the boxer in a Bollywood film based on her life in 2014.
Pankaj Advani
Pankaj Advani has won the World Billiards and Snooker Championships an unprecedented 18 times. At the young age of 18, he earned his first World Title. He is the only player in history to win both the IBSF World Titles in both billiards and snooker, and the World Professional Billiards Championship. While learning just one genre of the game is difficult enough, Advani has mastered both billiards and snooker with ease.
