XtraTime Web Desk: In our country, sports is something which plays an integral role to inspire the nation. Hence, www.xtratime.in writes about three women superstars who have taken Indian sports to a new height.
Saina Nehwal: Saina Nehwal was the first in India who showed the world that India can be a dominant nation in badminton. With 24 international titles till date, Saina Nehwal is the first Indian female athlete to bag no.1 ranking in tennis singles. Saina also bagged a bronze medal in London 2012 Olympics. Nehwal is also the first Indian to win two gold medals in Commonwealth Games (2010 and 2018).
Sania Mirza: Sania Mirza can easily be referred to be the first poster-girl in Indian sports. Perhaps there is hardly any person in India who is unaware of Sania Mirza’s name. She has represented the nation worldwide and brought precious silverware for the nation. She has been ranked the no.1 female tennis player to ever born in India. She has won six Grand Slam titles in her career and her achievements in women’s doubles along with partner Martina Hingis is something not to miss. Noting her achievements in the sport of tennis, Indian Government honoured her with prestigious Anjuna award, Padma Shri, Khel Ratna and Padma Bhushan.
MC Mary Kom: Mary Kom will go down as one of the finest sportspeople in the history of Indian sports for multiple reasons. the only woman to become World Amateur Boxing champion for a record six times, and the only woman boxer to have won a medal in each one of the seven world championships. Nicknamed Magnificent Mary, she is the only Indian woman boxer to have qualified for the 2012 Summer Olympics, competing in the flyweight (51 kg) category and winning the bronze medal. She had also been ranked as No. 1 AIBA World Women’s Ranking Light Flyweight category. She became the first Indian woman boxer to get a Gold Medal in the Asian Games in 2014 at Incheon, South Korea and is the first Indian woman boxer to win gold at the 2018 Commonwealth Games. On 26 April 2016, Kom was nominated by the President of India as a member of the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Indian Parliament. In March 2017, the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Government of India, appointed Mary Kom along with Akhil Kumar as national observers for boxing. Mary Kom won the Gold Medal In Asian Boxing Championship. She defeated Kim Hyang-mi of North Korea in the title match. After her sixth world title, the Government of Manipur has conferred on her the title “Meethoi Leima” (It means a great or exceptional lady) in a felicitation ceremony held at Khuman Lampak Sports Complex in Imphal on 11th December 2018. At the function, CM N. Biren Singh also declared that the stretch of road leading to the Games Village in Imphal West district, where Kom currently resides, would be named as ‘MC Mary Kom Road’.
