In 2023, Indian sports scaled new heights, and hit a low

As COVID-19 disrupted normal life across the world since 2020, sporting activities, too, were not spared. Among several events, the multi-discipline Asian Games 2022 too was a non-starter and had to be postponed by a year.

Despite the various setbacks due to COVID-related restrictions, Indian athletes were determined to excel whenever they got an opportunity, and three years after the pandemic struck, Indian sportspersons proved their mettle, and how.

Neeraj Chopra continues to rule

India’s athletes scripted a new chapter in 2023 in Hangzhou, China, during the Asian Games 2022. An unprecedented achievement came for India, with a record 107 medals (28 gold, 38 silver and 41 bronze).

For the first time in Asian Games history, India breached the 100-medal mark. It was a moment to cherish and the sign of great things to come for a nation where sports’ success stories are not many.

India’s Olympic champion javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra continued to rise in stature as he won the gold at the Asian Games. Also, there was another star born in Hangzhou in javelin throw as Kishore Jena won silver to make it 1-2 for India.

Before standing on the podium in China, Chopra broke new ground in Budapest, Hungary, by becoming the first Indian to win a gold at the World Athletics Championships. He is only the second from the country after long jumper Anju Bobby George (Bronze in 2003 in Paris) to claim a medal at the prestigious event.

Chopra has, arguably, emerged as India’s best-ever track and field athlete. He has won at every major event — Olympics, Commonwealth Games, Diamond League, World Championships, and Asian Games.

If Chopra ruled the javelin throw arena, other Indian track and field athletes were not far behind. They too made huge strides in 2023 with their stellar performances in the Asian Games.

India’s track and field athletes won 29 medals (6 gold, 14 silver, 9 bronze). This was the country’s second-best haul in athletics at the continent’s showpiece event. The best remains 34 medals at the inaugural Asian Games in 1951.

Also at the Asian Games, India claimed its highest-ever medals in shooting (22 medals), archery (9), squash (5), rowing (5), women’s boxing (4) and the first gold medals in women’s and men’s cricket events, squash mixed doubles. Besides these firsts, the athletes also ended a long wait for medals in various disciplines, including women’s shot put (after 72 years), men’s 4x400 metres (61 years), equestrian (41 years) and men’s badminton (40 years).

The stars of Asian Games

Archers Jyothi Surekha (3 gold) and Ojas Deotale (3 gold), shooters Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar (2 gold, 1 silver, 1 bronze) and Esha Singh (1 gold, 3 silver) were the top individual athletes with most medals for India at the Asian Games.

On the track, Avinash Sable became the first Indian man to win gold in the 3,000 metres steeplechase with a record time of 8:19.50 seconds.

In the women’s 5,000 metres, Parul Chaudhary produced a sensational run in the closing stages to edge Japan’s Ririka Hironaka for gold. She created history by becoming the first woman to win medals in 5,000 metres and 3,000 metres steeplechase, where she won silver.

Historic feat by para athletes

It was a double joy for India as the country’s para athletes too achieved a historic medal tally of 111 (29 gold, 31 silver and 51 bronze) at the Hangzhou Asian Para Games. Almost 50 per cent of the medals came from athletics — 55 (18 gold, 17 silver, 20).

The next best came from badminton, with 21 medals, including four gold. Chess and archery contributed eight and seven medals respectively while there were six medals from shooting.

India’s previous highest Asian Para Games tally was 72 medals (15 gold, 24 silver, 33 bronze) in 2018.

Chirag-Satwik become World No. 1

In badminton, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty became the first Indian pair to occupy the World No. 1 rankings in men’s doubles. The feat was achieved in October.

They won India’s first-ever gold medal in badminton in Asian Games, and also took the yellow metal in the Badminton Asia Championships, besides winning three BWF titles (Swiss Super 300, Indonesia Super 1000, Korea Super 500) in 2023.

The government recognised the pair’s achievements and the duo will receive India’s highest sporting honour — Khel Ratna.

Praggnanandhaa’s perfect moves

R Praggnanandhaa, at the age of 18, became the youngest player to enter the final of the FIDE World Cup chess in August. He was only the second Indian to reach the title round of the event after Viswanathan Anand.

Though Praggnanandhaa lost the FIDE World Cup final to World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen, he qualified for the Candidates 2024 tournament in Canada.

In December, Praggnanandhaa’s sister Vaishali Rameshbabu became India’s third woman chess grandmaster. The duo have become the world’s first-ever grandmaster siblings.

Pankaj Advani wins two more world titles

In cue sports, Pankaj Advani continued to add to his trophy cabinet as he won two more global championships this year. Advani now has 27 world titles, the most by an Indian in any sport.

Advani completed a double in Doha, Qatar, in November by winning both formats (point format and long format) in the IBSF World Billiards Championship.

India’s bid to host Olympics

Another massive moment for India in sport this year was the announcement that the country would bid to host the 2036 Olympics.

India hosted the 141st International Olympic Committee (IOC) Session in Mumbai in October and while inaugurating it, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, “India will leave no stone unturned in our efforts to organise the 2036 Olympics.”

This was only the second time India hosted an IOC Session, the last one being in New Delhi in 1983. The IOC Session is the annual general meeting of the IOC, the apex global governing body of the Olympic Movement.

Virat Kohli’s landmark century

In cricket, Virat Kohli broke Sachin Tendulkar’s world record of 49 ODI hundreds. Kohli reached the landmark 50th one-day century against New Zealand during the ICC World Cup 2023 semi-final at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium.

The Indian ODI team was brilliant in the World Cup, winning 10 matches in a row but could not cross the final hurdle as the Rohit Sharma-led side was beaten in the title clash by Australia at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.

Over 90,000 spectators were at the venue and it was a heartbreak for them and millions of fans of ‘Men in Blue’. The loss meant that India’s wait for an ICC trophy continued, with the last global silverware (ICC Champions Trophy) won in 2013, under MS Dhoni’s captaincy.

India win SAFF football championship

In July, the Indian football team won the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Championship title in Bengaluru. The hosts defeated Kuwait in the final in a thrilling penalty shootout. This was India’s ninth SAFF trophy.

Wrestlers protest, Sakshi Malik quits

Amid all the highs on the field, there were heartbreaking images of India’s decorated wrestlers sitting on a protest demanding the arrest of Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, who is a BJP MP.

Women wrestlers accused Brij Bhushan of sexual exploitation and intimidation. The protests began in January at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi.

In May, Delhi Police manhandled the protesting wrestlers and detained them for violation of law and order. The images of police action went viral on social media and drew strong reactions from many including top political leaders.

They called off their protests after the Union government promised to take action against Brij Bhushan. The issue is in court now.

On December 21, Brij Bhushan loyalist Sanjay Singh won the WFI elections to become the president of the federation. His team won 13 of the 15 posts in WFI.

Protesting against Sanjay being elected, 2016 Rio Olympics bronze medallist Sakshi Malik retired from the sport. She broke down as she announced her decision to quit at a press conference in Delhi.

A day later, 2020 Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist wrestler Bajrang Punia too protested against Sanjay, and said he will return his Padma Shri award to PM Modi. He wrote a long letter addressed to the prime minister on X (Twitter).

Bharat MotoGP

The year also saw India hosting the FIH Hockey Men's World Cup 2023 in Bhubaneswar, Rourkela, Odisha. Germany beat Belgium in the final. India finished a disappointing joint-ninth with Argentina.

In a breakthrough for motorsports in India, the first-ever MotoGP Bharat, one of the races of the prestigious MotoGP series, was organised at the Buddh International Circuit, Noida. MotoGP is the top-tier motorcycle road racing event.

India also hosted the IBA Women’s World Boxing Championship 2023 in Delhi on March 23. The hosts were declared the best team of the championship as women boxers Lovlina Borgohain, Nikhat Zareen, Nitu Ghanghas and Saweety Boora claimed a gold medal each.