Upcoming Female Players Of The Country That We Can Be Proud Of!

Sports- be it cricket, tennis, badminton, hockey or even wrestling, have always bonded our nation together.

We have seen some extraordinary men and women rising and shining from our country that have led us around the world and made us all proud. In all this action though, the female counterparts of the dominant sports teams have always been given a back seat, without much attention and focus being given to them.

Yet, there have been some powerful women who have risen high above the crowd and forced our nation and the world to acknowledge their talents.

Following the path of the prominent women of the sports fraternity like Anjum Chopra, Anjali Bhagwat and Mary Kom, we have a new league of young upcoming stars of the female sports world, which have proven their mettle and continue to astound us with their continually improving performance.

Take a look at upcoming Female Players of India:

1. Ankita Raina

At the age of 22, Ankita has proven her mettle to the world by securing herself Tennis singles world ranking of 222. Started her seniors career in 2009 with a few small ITF tournaments but finally got recognition in 2012 when she won her first singles title in New Delhi. Ever since then, her career graph has shown a steep growth. Born in Ahmedabad, trained at Pune, Ankita has performed visibly well and it would not be wrong of the Country to have expectations from her to make us all proud.

2. Rani Rampal

The youngest player of the Indian National Hockey team to participate in the 2010 World Cup. Trained at Shahbad Hockey Academy, Rani has represented her country in various tournaments around the world, including Champions Challenge Tournament 2009 held in Russia, where she scored 4 goals winning herself the top scorer and the Young Player of the Tournament Awards. After playing in the 2010 Commonwealth Games and Asian Games, she was included in the All Star Team. In the 2010 Women’s Hockey World Cup, Rani scored 9 goals, becoming the only Indian to be nominated for the FIH Women’s Young Player of the year Award, 2010 and was also given the Young Player of the Tournament Award.

Rani’s performance has been exceptional which is proven by the Awards she has been conferred upon ever since. No wonder, she is a star to look out for.

3. Apurvi Chandela

Apurvi hails from a Rajput family of Udaipur and has stood by her family name by becoming one of the most promising shooters from India. She won the Gold Medal at the 2014 Commonwealth Games held in Glasgow in the 10 meter Air Rifle event and is expected to perform even better at the upcoming Summer Olympics 2016. This Jesus and Mary College, Delhi University pass out has gained recognition from all over the world and is surely one of the upcoming sports persons to look forward to.

4. Akansha Vora

Akansha has been making a splash and hogging limelight ever since the National Games 2015. Along with scoring 6 medals out of which 5 were gold, Akansha also became the only swimmer to set two national records at the tournament in 1500 m freestyle and 200 m IM. With such sterling performance, Akansha’s career is surely sky facing and bound to reach the never known before heights. She has given a stupendous display of talent and strength raising expectations and hopes of the country which waits to be made proud.

5. Khumukcham Sanjita Chanu

Our gem from the east, Khumukcham is India’s most impressive weight lifter who if could not break, but equaled the Commonwealth Games record in the 77kg snatch event. She bagged the Gold Medal in the 2014 Commonwealth Games, giving India its first medal of the games. Sanjita won a total lift of 173 kg missing the games record by just 2kg. Surely, this power puffed lady from the east has serious promises to make and the country will look forward for her in the forthcoming sports events.

6. Vinesh Phogat

Following the footsteps of cousin Geeta Phogat, Vinesh has continued to carry forward her family’s legacy of wrestling beautifully well by bagging a gold medal at the 2014 Commonwealth Games, Glasgow. Representing India in the women’s freestyle 48 kg championship, Vinesh displayed unmatched performance and made India proud. She also got the bronze medal at the 2014 Asian Games. Hailing from a family of wrestlers, Vinesh did not have much choice for a career as wrestling was her only option and she seems to have done complete justice to the game. At the age of 21, Vinesh stands tall and proud with her laurels and is surely a feather in India’s cap.

Far from being the unwanted child of the sports fraternity, the Indian women’s sports facilities have a come a long way and offer a glowing, promising career to the talented women of our country. Not just Sania Mirza and Saina Nehwal, there are hundreds of budding gems, waiting to be recognized and brought to the forefront. These women are the future of female sports in India and will surely make the country proud!