Athletic India: Women on the Rise
Women athletes in India are playing the same sports as men. In fact, they are doing extremely well because of their courage, sportsman spirit, and self-confidence. In a country like India, it becomes very difficult for a woman to make her career in sports. Despite of all these issues the women fight back against the society and make the country proud worldwide. Here are some mind-blowing examples:
Sakshi Malik
This sportswoman is just 24 years of age. She is an excellent wrestler and is the first woman who has won an Olympic medal for India. This young and talented girl hails from a very remote village in Rohtak, India. Her journey from Rohtak to Rio has been very bitter and a difficult path for her. She is a brave woman who has fought against the embedded patriarchy in the society in order to peruse her passion. Currently, she is Haryana’s brand ambassador in the Beti Bachao campaign (Save the daughter) lead by the government.
Residing in Haryana has been very tough for her. Being a woman, her neighbours were dead against her playing a men’s game. Sarcastically enough, the same neighbours today visit her with flowers, sweets and gifts.
This vibrant young lady started playing at the early age of 12 way back in 2004. Internationally, she has won two gold medals, two silver medals, and two bronze medals. Right now, she ranks fourth in the world in wrestling.
Deepika Kumari
This dynamic and fiery young lady is just 23 and she has already won two gold medals at the Commonwealth games in the year 2010. She is an archer and is so focussed that she herself does not get to know when she is in the headlines. Deepika comes from a very poor family and her father is a rickshaw driver. At the age of 13, she started playing archery with stones and bows made at home. She has won 23 major tournaments of archery out of 30. Presently, she is world number 5 in archery. Deepika also adds to her credit six gold medals, six silver medals and three bronze medals.
Mithali Raj
Mithali is an excellent player and is also the first Indian woman who scored over 5000 runs in women’s ODI. Mithali Raj, a middle-aged cricketer, started playing the “gentleman’s game” at the age of 10. She converted this authentic British gentleman’s game into a gentlewoman’s game. Raj is like any one of us. She hates getting up too early. Along with captaincy of the Indian woman’s cricket team, she is also the brand ambassador of Zevenworld. Also known as the “Female Sachin Tendulkar”, she has had a career of over 15 years. She is ranked number 3 in the ICC Woman’s ranking. In 2013, she was declared as the Worlds number 1 cricketer in the ODI chart.
Mithali started playing cricket with her brother when she was only 10 years of age. At the age of 17, she was chosen in the Indian team. By 2004, she gained enough respect by being the captain of the Indian Woman’s cricket team.
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