- Tuesday, February 25, 2025
From Virat Kohli to Neeraj Chopra to the badminton pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, a number of Indian sportsters made their country proud in the outgoing year.
By: Shubham Ghosh
THE year 2023 was a significant one for India in the sporting arena. Apart from cricket, a sport that is nothing short of a religion in the country, India did well in other disciplines at the global level and the feats achieved in the year that is ending will make its billion fans hopeful about the country’s sporting future.
Here are top five achievements that India accomplished in sports, be it in individual or team disciplines:
Ace India batter Virat Kohli, who turned 35 this year, had a memorable 2023 with the bat. After having a prolonged dry patch, the batter had an extended good form throughout the year in which he scored more than 2,000 runs — the seventh time he did it in a calendar year.
However, Kohli’s highest point in the year would remain his 50th century in 50-over cricket which he hit in the semi-finals of the World Cup at home against New Zealand. He eclipsed Sachin Tendulkar’s record 49 centuries in the format at the latter’s homeground and in front of him. Kohli finished as the highest run-getter in the tournament but India fell in the final hurdle after winning 10 games in a row.
Javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra has repeatedly made India proud with his on-ground feats ever since he won a gold at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. The 24-year-old athlete also had a memorable 2023 as he bagged the gold medal at the Hangzhou Asian Games held in China.
He also clinched gold at the World Athletics Championship (WAC) in Budapest, Hungary, earlier in the year. Besides Chopra, Kishore Kumar Jena also made India proud in javelin throw by bagging silver at the Asian Games and finishing in the top 10 at the WAC and qualifying for the Paris Olympics in 2024.
India won their record ninth SAFF Bangabandhu Championship title in Bengaluru in July when they defeated Kuwait 5-4 in a penalty shootout in the final. India captain Sunil Chhetri was the highest goal scorer in the tournament (five). He now has 93 international goals which places him fourth in the all-time list, behind Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo, Iran’s Ali Daei and Argentina’s Lionel Messi.
India also had a good start to their qualifiers campaign for the 2026 football world cup when they defeated Kuwait 1-0. It was their first win in an away world cup qualifier in more than two decades. They lost to Qatar, the current Asian champions, 0-3 in the next match but still are in the race to qualify for the marquee tournament.
India’s young chess grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa had a dream run at the FIDE World Cup in Baku, Azerbaijan. His crown dream, however, was shattered in the title round where he lost to world No.1 Magnus Carlsen of Norway in tie-breaker.
But Praggnanandhaa’s talent got recognised and he also won the silver medal at the Hangzhou Asian Games.
India’s badminton exploits:
In 2023, India’s male badminton pair Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy produced some brilliant performances that earned them three Badminton World Federation (BWF) titles during the year — The Swiss Open, the Indonesian Open and the Korea Open. They also won India’s first-ever gold in badminton at the Asian Games and also at the Asian Championships in 2023. Also in October, the pair became the first in India’s badminton history to become world No.1 in BWF rankings.
