2017, undoubtedly, has proved to be a great year for the sportswomen of India. From Sindhu bagging 3 Super Series titles and 3 runners-up to Mithali Raj leading the women’s cricket team to the finals of the Women’s World Cup, it has been a glorious year for Indian sports.
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As the year draws to a close, let’s take a look at 5 sportswomen or women teams that made the nation proud in 2017:
Mithali Raj:
The Indian women’s cricket team captain marshalled the troops to the finals of the World Cup. The team that was ranked 7th had minimal hopes pinned on them. They played out of their skins, showed grit and proudly made it to the World Cup finals. Mithali was one of the biggest reasons for India’s spectacular performance at the finals. She was the second highest run-getter with 409 runs in 9 matches, which comprised of a century and 3 half centuries.
PV Sindhu:
The Rio Olympic medalist won 3 major super series titles (Syed Modi International, India Open and Korea Open). She also finished as runner-up in 3 tournaments. It was a good year for Sindhu as she asserted her place in the badminton space as a major challenger. She emerged as a runner-up in the last tournament of the year, the Dubai Super Series Finals, where she lost to Akane Yamaguchi in a hard-fought three-setter.
Manpreet Kaur:
Winning the first gold medal for India, Kaur’s performance of 18.28 meters in women’s shot put is said to be her second best performance till date, granting her a slot in the World Championships in London. She also holds a unique feat of breaking the national record twice in a span of 20 months.
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Indian women’s hockey team
India had to wait long for their second Women’s Asia Cup title with the last one coming way back in 2004. India pipped past China in a thrilling 5-4 shootout to win the women’s Asia Cup hockey title.
Nirmala Sheoran:
The 22-year old quarter miler’s semi-final qualification in the women’s 400m was the saving grace for India at the World Athletics Championship 2017. Earlier in 2016, Sheoran had qualified for the 400m finals at the Rio Olympics.
With Indian sportswomen coming to the fore and bringing glory to the nation, we are surely in for an exciting 2018.
