Indian women are not famous from their achievements in sport. They more recognized by the world from the showbiz, as Indian women have their own natural beauty and curvy body. We have familiar with many famous figures from entertainment world, such as
Aishwarya Rai,
Katrina Kaif,
Kareena Kapoor,
Freida Pinto,
Zuleikha Robinson,
Padma Lakshmi, etc. Now, who're Indian female athletes that known by the world?
Even though Indian no.1 sport is cricket, apparently the most famous female athletes come from racquet (or racket) sports. Racket sports are including tennis, table tennis, squash, and badminton. Here are some noticeable Indian sportswomen, who's not just talented, but also beautiful as well:
Sania Mirza (Tennis)
Although international tennis fans always consider Sania Mirza as a overrated player, to Indian people she is a local hero. She is the first ever Indian to break into the top 30 WTA rankings. Sania Mirza has been awarded Padma Shri and Arjun Award by the Indian government.
On her best performance, Sania Mirza can defeated many world's top players, such as
Svetlana Kuznetsova and
Martina Hingis. Unfortunately, her lack of consistency only granted her 1 WTA title and the world's highest rank of 27 throughout her career. Per 4 July 2011, her WTA rank is 63.
Born 15 November 1986, Sania Mirza has never passed higher than 4th round in any grand slam tournaments. Her best achievement came from mixed double, when she won the
2009 Australian Open, paired with Indian
tennis legend,
Mahesh Bhupathi.
Neha Aggarwal (Table Tennis / Ping-Pong)Neha Aggarwal is an Indian table tennis player who participated in the
2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, the only woman from India to feature in that discipline. Her career highlights are including gold medal in
2008 Commonwealth Youth Games, bronze medal in
2009 Commonwealth Championships in Glasgow, 4 times
Junior National Champion, and bronze medal in
2006 Asian Championship.
Neha Aggarwal probably hasn't made anything extraordinary with her table-tennis career. But since age still on her side (born January 11, 1990), only she can set limit to her future achievements.
Joshna Chinappa (Squash)
Squash is probably not a popular sport, as it's usually only played for fun, not as a professional sport. But since the IOC is still recognized it and remains in contention for incorporation in next Olympic program, Squash is probably gonna have a better future.
While Joshna Chinappa is nicknamed as "The Sania Mirza of Squash". She was the first Indian girl to win the
British Squash Championship title in 2003 in the under 19 category, at Sheffield, U.K, and was also the youngest Indian women's national champion. The 1986-born athlete world's highest ranking is 31.
Saina Nehwal (Badminton)
Saina Nehwal is arguably the best female badminton player that India ever produced. She is the first Indian woman to reach the singles quarterfinals at the Olympics, and the first Indian to win the
World Junior Badminton Championships. In 2009, Saina Nehwal also made history for her country, as she became the first Indian to win a Super Series tournament, by clinching the Indonesia Open. After this title, she won the Singapore Open, Indonesia Open, and Hong Kong Super Series, all in the year 2010, which granted her the world's no.2 rank in December 2010.
Because of injury, Sania Nehwal hasn't won any Super Series title this year, which results in her rank dropped to 6th, per 1 July 2011. But since she still so young (born March 17, 1990), Sania Nehwal is Indian biggest hope for elite titles, whether it's world's no.1, All England, Olympic gold medal, or World Championship title.
Jwala Gutta (Badminton)The 1983-born Jwala Gutta can be considered as Indian best player for women's double badminton. The left-handed player used to pair with
Shruti Kurien, and later
Ashwini Ponnappa. She has won the
National Badminton Championships thirteen times until 2010. Her international titles are including a Gold medal in Mixed and Women's Doubles in Commonwealth Games 2010. Her highest world's ranking is 6th, while per 23 June 2011 she was ranked in 21th.
