There were many sportspersons who shone for India, but five among them made 2019 their own. Express fleshes out their year and what lies in store for them...
Teen sensation with bulletproof mettle
- Anmol Gurung
Indian shooting has produced many gems in the past. Saurabh Chaudhary is as rare as they come. He’s just 17, but the pistol shooter, whose pet event is 10m air pistol, has already scaled major heights that many can only dream of. In a sport that demands mental strength and focus, Saurabh has belied his age to become a serial winner.
Since 2013, shooting has been an obsession for the teen from Kalina village in Meerut. Someone who prefers to stay quiet, Saurabh’s comfort zone is the shooting range, where he spends most of his time.
It was in 2018 when he announced himself to the world, becoming India’s youngest Asiad gold-winner. A few months later, he won the junior world title. That was followed by a Youth Olympic Games gold. It showed his appetite for success, a trait that has helped him become a consistent performer. This year, Saurabh proved that all those hits were not flashes in a pan.
Moving to the senior level — a tricky phase for many young shooters — there were question marks if he could cope. Saurabh answered all those questions in emphatic fashion during the ISSF World Cup in Delhi. He aced it with a then-world record in the finals. More importantly, he won an Olympic quota. And winning the mixed pair event alongside Manu Bhaker, another young prodigy was the perfect start he would have hoped for.
A few months later, he finished No 1 at the Munich World Cup, rewriting his own world record. Like in Delhi, Saurabh, alongside Manu, dominated in the mixed event yet again.It didn’t stop there. He went on to record another podium finish (bronze) in the individual event of the Rio de Janeiro World Cup. And he won a fourth World Cup gold in the mixed section. A silver at Asian Shooting Championships happened in November. And another in the mixed event alongside Yashaswini Singh Deswal.
After 10 medals (7G, 2S and 1B), Saurabh was recently presented the ISSF Golden Target award for finishing 2019 as No 1 ranked shooter in air pistol.
Shuttler who turned water into wine
- Swaroop Swaminathan
Good athletes can bend time. The truly great ones can even freeze it. In 2019, the most talented Indian athletes failed in this. But one turned water into wine. PV Sindhu reeled her greatest hits for a week in Basel to be crowned world champion in a manner that’s considered alien. We’re used to seeing people graft and battle for scraps before emerging on top. But what Sindhu did in Roger Federer’s home city was pay homage to his greatest rival, Rafael Nadal. Raw power was unleashed, and opponents were bullied into submission.
Barring the match against Tai Tzu-Ying which went the distance, she lost just 84 points across four matches without dropping a set. It was a glorious throwback to the Sindhu who’d used her substantial height to create history in Brazil.
But in a weird way, what the 24-year-old did not come across as a surprise. Her medal collection is enough to flesh this point out: two Worlds bronze, as many silver and gold to go, and an Olympics silver. What’s even more remarkable is that she is doing what she is in an era in which women’s singles is loaded with once-in-a-generation gems. Since 2017, eight of the top nine have won at least one Worlds medal. But only one has won a medal all three years: the smash-hitting, fist-pumping, all-conquering girl from Hyderabad.
Sure, one can argue that she didn’t have the best of years. The Worlds gold — first by an Indian in the sport — was sandwiched by losses to inferior players. She won only six matches since September. But then, she has proved time and again that when the need arises, she is more than capable of channelling her inner Da Vinci. Even her personal coach’s (Kim Ji Hyun) exit was undersold. It takes time to recalibrate after that.
Time won’t be Sindhu’s friend in 2020. With the Olympics looming, she has to bury her last four months and rediscover that winning feeling. Luckily for her, she enjoys nothing more than performing on the greatest of stages.
One-day wonder set for bigger Tests
- Rahul Ravi Kumar
How do you sum up Rohit Sharma’s 2019 in just 300-odd words? After all, he’s probably the first batsman who’ll cross your mind if you’re wagering money on someone to hit those many runs single-handedly in a 50-over game.
Let’s try numbers. Most tons in 2019? Checked with 10. Most ODI runs this year? Double checked with 1,490. Most sixes? Blown away with 78. Numbers will tire while telling you that 2019 was the year of the Hitman.
Let’s try lessons learnt. For a man accused of being lazy while starting an innings, the World Cup was Rohit’s riposte. His umpteen-year itch to flash and flash hard at anything outside off-stump was curbed. That abstemiousness catalysed consistency; not every day do you see a man come back from that event with five tons.
It wasn’t as if all this saw Rohit change what he does best: aggression. As underscored by that statistic of 78, he’s churned out maximums like a conveyor belt that’s been manufactured in Germany. Heck, he’s one among the two this year who’ve sent the ball over the ropes while doing a faceplant.
It isn’t as if this purple creeper of form saw only Rohit climb it. KL Rahul grew in the shade of stability that his senior provided with the white ball. Mayank Agarwal was allowed to do the same when the ball turned red. He also allowed the young crop to express themselves in the middle order; a piece that solved India’s No 4 jigsaw puzzle.
The best part about Rohit’s 2019 is that those learnings weren’t just restricted to the white ball. He didn’t see red with the red one; that discipline spilled over. The Achilles Heel that has stop-started his Test career seemed to heal. The art of six-hitting was married to diligence. South Africa’s bowlers had a painful October. And India found a man to lead their batting might in whites from the front.
Going by this year, we’d be tempted to say that 2020 too will be the year of the Hitman. But bigger tests in Tests await. There’s New Zealand’s green Middle Earth, followed by the brown of Australia. Rohit’s ship has sailed. Fingers crossed for it to come back from those choppy waters, its sails billowing.
Heartbreak forgotten, new hopes shouldered
- Firoz Mirza
Freak knee injury cut short her Olympics campaign in 2016. A medal prospect in 48kg then, Vinesh Phogat has come a long way since. In her bid to make up for the loss, the Haryana wrestler shifted to 53kg earlier this year. As expected, a few results didn’t go her way. But she found her groove, winning three back-to-back gold in international meets ahead of the World Championships.
Vinesh’s finest hour of 2019, however, came in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan: a Worlds bronze. That made her the first Indian wrestler to qualify for the 2020 Olympics. More importantly, she also became the first Indian woman wrestler to make the cut through Worlds. Though the 25-year-old lost in the Round of 16, she made her way back into the competition through repechage. She won three consecutive bouts to win the medal.
With Sakshi Malik struggling, Vinesh will be India’s best hope for glory in Tokyo. The 2018 Commonwealth and Asian Games gold medallist recently underwent high-altitude training in Bulgaria. During her training in sub-zero temperatures in Bulgaria, Vinesh got the opportunity to spar with wrestlers from the nation, Russia and Azerbaijan. That included Olympic and world champion Mariya Stadnik. “It’s always useful to spar with one of the best,” Woller Akos, Vinesh’s Hungarian coach had said on his ward’s sparring session with Stadnik.
Next year will see Vinesh participate in select events to keep herself fit for Tokyo. She will train in Ukraine with her foreign coach before participating in the Ranking Series in Rome from January 15 to 18. The World No 2 is expected to take part in the Asian Championships scheduled in New Delhi in February.
“We’ve prepared training blocks till Asian Championships. Olympics is priority but we are looking that far at the moment,” the coach had said.
A few more women wrestlers may join Vinesh after the two remaining Olympic qualifiers but she will remain the brightest medal hope no matter who joins.
One-man Army ready to write history
- Anmol Gurung
Amit Panghal had just entered the national scheme of things in 2016. Making his bow at the national championships, the boxer impressed many by topping the podium. His promise was visible. Donning India’s colours looked imminent. That arrived the very next year, and he lived up to his promise in his maiden international meet: bronze at Asian Championships in Tashkent. But not many would have predicted that a diminutive boxer from a tiny village in Rohtak would become a pathbreaker within just two-odd years. Two Asian Championships medals, an Asiad gold, a Commonwealth Games silver and a historic Worlds silver (his latest hit). Remarkable returns, indeed.
Not so long ago, many boxers felt the repercussions of the infighting that went on in boxing’s administrative circles. That just three made the cut for the Rio Olympics was a sorry reflection of the sport’s state during those difficult days.
The manner in which Amit has been going about his business, it seems like he’s looking to make up for that lost time. Barring a few names like MC Mary Kom, no other Indian pugilist has won as regularly like Amit.
Even shifting from 48kg to 51 kg has not interrupted his run. That sense of discipline he’s mastered in the Army has made him dynamic. It’s easier for him to adapt to the challenges thrown at him.
It goes without saying that Amit is getting sharper with every experience. An Olympic champion might intimidate anyone, but not Amit. In the 2017 Worlds quarterfinals, he’d suffered a tough defeat against Rio Games gold-medallist Hasanboy Dusmatov. “This time I fell just short but I want to win medals for the country in future, either at Worlds or at Olympics,” he had told this daily then.
One of those goals has already come to fruition. Moreover, he’s beaten Dusmatov twice since then. But the Olympic medal remains. Given Amit’s hunger and his giant-slaying exploits, the next summer in Tokyo might become his.
Hima Das
Where to even begin? After a whole year, the 19-year-old’s biggest achievements are still her gold at last year’s U-20 Worlds and Asian Games. She did win many medals this year. In fact, she was on a spree — eight gold, to be exact — in July, in Poland and Czech Republic. While Indian media labelled her as golden girl, not many questioned the standards of those events. She was way below her personal best in all those races. To top that, a dramatic back injury ruled her out for the 2019 Worlds. With Tokyo looming, whether Hima rediscovers her form is the big question.
Kynan Chenai
Exceptional is an understatement for Indian shooting this year. But trap shooters would like to forget 2019. Kynan Chenai, in particular, had a series of heartbreaks. At the World Cup in Acapulco, he finished 10th. At the next event in Al Ain (UAE), he narrowly missed out on the final. At the Asian Championship last month, his last chance for an Olympic quota, Kynan reached the six-man final. All he had to do was beat one of his rivals from either Chinese Taipei or Qatar. But he finished sixth. Given his talent, that outing was a big letdown for India.
Kidambi Srikanth
In what turned out to be a less than ideal year for badminton, Srikanth’s non-performance attracted most eyeballs. In 16 events, he had four first-round exits as compared to two semifinals. The most worrying aspect of the 26-year-old’s drop in form is that it is now worse than a slump. He was expected to reach another level after a magical 2017. But he hasn’t won a single title in the last two years. Even though he may still qualify for Olympics, his current rankings (World No 12) could mean trouble when the groups are announced for Tokyo.
Prithvi Shaw
After a dream start to his Test career, one expected Shaw to play a pivotal role in 2019. After an injury ruled him out of the Australia series, there were reports on his indisciplined life. Even Sachin Tendulkar took time to guide the Mumbaikar. Just as many believed that his worst is over, then came the biggest blow of all. Shaw failed a dope test conducted during the 2018-19 Syed Mushtaq Ali T20s, but still participated in the IPL because the results were delayed. Although it created controversy, Shaw spent six months away from the game. He returned in November.
Shubhankar Sharma
It’s fair to say that the 23-year-old failed to hit the heights expected of him this year. After taking part in all four Majors in 2018, he managed to qualify for only one in 2019 (The Open Championships). Further, his rankings nosedived as the wins and top-10 finishes dried up. In fact, he made his first top-10 finish of the year in November, a reflection of his sub-par season. That culminated in him failing to qualify for the PGA Tour next year. Even though he has his European Tour card, it’s back to the drawing board for the Chandigarh lad.