New Delhi. In the Tokyo Olympics, Indian players performed the best ever and the hero of this pride saga was Neeraj Chopra, whose spear wrote a golden chapter in India’s Olympic history. While eight-time Olympic champion Indian hockey’s four-decade-long wait ended with a bronze medal, Virat Kohli and Ravi Shastri’s win in cricket after India remained empty in ICC tournaments. The round has ended.
Sports fans also witnessed the fall of two-time Olympic medalist wrestler Sushil Kumar in the year 2021. Over a billion Indians staring at the TV brought tears to their eyes when the national anthem was played for the first time in track and field events at the Olympics. In the 74 years since independence, India got its first champion in track and field in the Olympics and the whole country put its head on its eyes. This was also inevitable as India had twice suffered the pain of missing out on an Olympic medal in athletics by a marginal margin in the past.
This was India’s second gold in the individual Olympic event after Abhinav Bindra won a gold medal in shooting at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. India won six more medals in the Olympics. On the very first day, Mirabai Chanu played India’s account by lifting 202 kg in the 49 kg category in weightlifting. Not able to do a single legit lift at the 2016 Rio Olympics, Chanu wrote a new story of determination, determination and commitment to the goal with the Tokyo silver.
Another history was created on the hockey field. The boys, who grew up from ordinary families after listening to the stories of India’s dominance in the Olympics, stood on the podium after 41 years and reminisced about that glorious history. The Indian players, led by captain Manpreet Singh and the wall-like PR Sreejesh, beat Germany 5 in the play-offs in Tokyo. 4 and won the bronze medal.
The Indian women’s team came back to medal after losing the first three matches but had to be content with fourth place. This was also no less achievement and it compelled sports enthusiasts to take women’s hockey seriously. Gave women’s hockey its respect and place.
In wrestling, eyes were on Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia but Ravi Dahiya proved to be a hidden ruthless. He won the silver medal in the 57kg category and became the second Indian wrestler after Sushil Kumar to achieve the feat. Bajrang got the bronze medal. Vinesh, however, was eliminated in the second round itself. Two-time Olympic medalist Sushil is in Tihar Jail for the murder of another wrestler Sagar Dhankar.
In badminton, PV Sindhu became the second Indian player after Sushil to win two medals in the individual event at the Olympics. Sindhu won the bronze medal. Kidambi Srikanth finished the year well with a silver and Lakshya Sen won a bronze medal at the World Badminton Championships. In boxing, Lovlina Borgohain won the bronze medal at the Olympics but MC Mary Kom, Pooja Rani and four male boxers failed.
While India got new heroes in sports this year, Virat Kohli’s shine in cricket faded away. After the World Cup, Kohli decided to step down from the captaincy of the T20 team. He had no intention of giving up the captaincy of the ODI team but Rohit Sharma was made the captain in his place. After this the differences between BCCI President Ganguly and Kohli came to the fore. Both publicly denied each other’s statements. Kohli and Ravi Shastri’s era also ended with India’s early exit from the T20 World Cup. Now the command in limited overs is in the hands of Rohit and new coach Rahul Dravid.
India lost to New Zealand in the final of the World Test Championship though defeated Australia in the Test series on their soil. In football, India won the SAIF Championship for a record eighth time. Sunil Chhetri surpassed Pele to equal Lionel Messi in terms of most international goals.