Recently in a campaign, Nike has featured India’s eight lesser known sportswomen along with Bollywood biggest stars like Deepika Padukone. The message is clear; women are here to stay and it is time our country takes them seriously.
Here are six sportswomen of India who continue to make all of us proud.
Akanksha Singh – Basketball
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Don’t fool yourself if you think how useful a girl of average height can be in a game that is known for tall players. Hailing from the small town of Varanasi, Akanksha has made a name for herself in the Indian basketball arena and has led Indian women’s basketball team in various international tournaments. What’s more? She hails from the famous family of Singh Sisters and all her sisters have made their own place in Indian basketball.
Dipika Pallikal – Squash
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Originally belonging to Chennai – Dipika is a well known name in Indian squash. In December 2012, she achieved her career best ranking of 1o. During the same year, she became the first squash player to win the Arjuna award.
Dipa Karmakar – Gymnastics
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Dipa got into gymnastics at the early age of 6 and made a name in a sport which is not much famous in the cricket crazy nation. She is the first female gymnast who won the bronze medal in the Commonwealth Games 2012. This year she will be representing India in the Rio Olympics.
Heena Sidhu – Pistol shooting
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An ace shooter from Punjab, Heena along with her two team mates won a silver in Women’s 10 m Air Pistol Team event at the 2010 Asian Games held in Guangzhou, China. She is also the third Indian to win at pistol shooting in World Cup finals.
Sakshi Malik – Wrestling
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Wrestling is one sport that has traditionally been dominated by men. Yet, Sakshi Malik not only made a mark for herself in domestic wrestling arena, she also went on to win silver in Commonwealth game in 2014. This year, she will be the face of Indian women’s wrestling in the Rio Olympics.
Deepika Kumari – Archery
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Hailing from Ranchi, Deepika is the current world number 5 (former world number 1) in the game of Archery. Her dad is an auto rickshaw driver whereas her mother is a nurse. She was awarded Arjuna Award in the year of 2012 and will be the face of India in Rio Olympics 2016.
We are proud of you, girls !
Author: Anusheel
