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Top Achievements Of India In Sports After Independence: A Tribute To Indian Heroes

Over the past seven decades, the country has seen many path-breaking achievements in the field of sports

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Top Achievements Of India Post Independence (Image Source: Twitter)

India will be celebrating its 75th Independence Day tomorrow. Over the past seven decades, the country has grown leaps and bounds and has excelled in various fields of technology, art, armed forces etc. Similarly, the country has seen many path-breaking moments in the field of sports. On the special occasion of Independence Day, let’s look at some of the iconic moments of Indian sports post independence.

1 – Hockey Gold Medal In 1948 Olympics

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India won its first-ever gold medal in hockey post independence in the London 1948 Olympics. They defeated England 2-1 to win an elite gold.

2 -The Rise Of Football In India

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Indian football is gaining popularity but we still have a lot of distance to cover before we become one of the best teams at the international level. India’s best performance post independence came in 1951 when India won a gold medal in the Asian Games under the able leadership of Syed Abdul Rahim. The team repeated the feat in the 1960 Asian Games too.

3 – KD Jadhav Makes India Proud

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KD Jadhav is one of the first Indian athletes to win a medal in the Olympics. In 1952 Helsinki Olympics, he won a bronze medal in the bantamweight category to give India its first wrestling Olympic medal.

4 – India’s First Superstar In Athletics Milka Singh Wins Gold

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Milkha Singh was India’s first athletic superstar post independence. He became the first Indian to win a Commonwealth Gold. He won a gold in the 440 yards category in the 1958 Commonwealth Games.

5 – Ramanathan Krishnan Reaches Wimbledon Semi-Final

India’s first tennis sensation, Ramanathan Krishnan reached the semi-final of Wimbledon in 1960 and then backed his performance with another semi-final appearance in 1961.

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6 – Prakash Padukone Wins England Open Badminton Championships

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The father of Bollywood diva Deepika Padukone, Prakash Padukone is India’s first badminton star. He won the England Open Badminton Championship in 1980. Sadly he could never participate in Olympics as the sport was recognized in the 1992 Olympics.

8 – 1983 Cricket World Cup

India celebrate the win. From left: Balwinder Sandhu, Kapil Dev, Madan Lal, Sunil Gavaskar. India v West Indies, World Cup final, Lord's, June 25, 1983

This is the most iconic moment in Indian cricket history as Kapil Dev-led India defeated West Indies in the final to win their first ever World Cup.

9 – Vishwanathan Anand Wins World Championship

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Vishwanathan Anand became the first Indian to win World Championship in 2000. He was India’s first star in Chess and went on to win World Championship five times.

10- Vijender Singh Becomes The First Indian Boxer To Win An Olympic Medal

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In the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Vijender Singh won a bronze medal to give India their first Olympic medal in Boxing.

11 Abhinav Bindra Wins Gold In 2008 Beijing Olympics

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The 2008 Olympic was special for India. After Vijender, Abhinav Bindra won a gold medal in the 10m air rifle shooting event to become the first Indian to win Olympic gold at an individual event.

12 -2007 T20 World Cup

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T20 was a new format and most teams had no clue how to approach the game. In the same year, India were knocked out of the 50 Over World Cup in West Indies in the first round itself. Not a lot was expected from India but the young guns under the leadership of MS Dhoni won the T20 World Cup.

13 – 2011 World Cup

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This time Team India were favourites to win the World Cup at home and they did it in style, beating Australia, Pakistan and Sri Lanka in the quarter-final, semi-final and final respectively to win their second 50-over world cup.

14 – Neeraj Chopra Wins Gold In Tokyo Olympics

Neeraj Chopra - India

Javelin Thrower Neeraj Chopra became the second India to win individual gold in Olympics. He won a gold medal in javelin throw event of the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. This was India’s first Olympic gold in track and field event.

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