Star Indian pistol shooter Manu Bhaker was named the BBC Indian Sportswoman of the Year on Monday, following her outstanding performance at the Paris Olympics. Manu was among five nominees for the award, alongside golfer Aditi Ashok, para shooter Avani Lekhara, India women’s cricket vice-captain Smriti Mandhana, and wrestler Vinesh Phogat — each recognised for their exceptional contributions to Indian sport. The nominees were shortlisted by an eminent jury of sports journalists and writers.

Now in its fifth edition, the ISWOTY Award celebrates and honours remarkable achievements of women athletes in India.

Manu, 22, won the award for winning two bronze medals at the Paris Olympics, becoming the first Indian athlete since Independence to win multiple medals at a single Games.

She secured bronze in the 10m air pistol individual event as well as the 10m air pistol mixed team event.

In 2018, Manu made history as the youngest Indian shooter to win a World Cup gold at just 16.

A recipient of the Arjuna Award, she previously won BBC’s Emerging Player of the Year award in 2021.

Other award winners on the night included para archer Sheetal Devi (BBC Emerging Player of the Year), former India women’s cricket captain Mithali Raj (BBC Lifetime Achievement Award), and para shooter Avani (BBC Para Sportswoman of the Year).

Chess player Tania Sachdev was conferred with the BBC Changemaker Award.

Manu expressed gratitude for the recognition and reflected on her journey to Olympic success.

“I thank BBC for honouring me. A few years ago, I won the Emerging Player award and now this year I got the big one. My journey was full of ups and downs,” Manu said in her address.

“After Tokyo I struggled a lot, lost many events but journey didn’t end, it continued. You can only write your own story and I did that in Paris. Now the journey will continue, and I would like to change the colour of the medal in Los Angeles (2028 Olympics).” 

The year is coming to an end but the heartbreaks India witnessed in the Paris Olympics 2024 continue to haunt. It’s been months since an excruciating campaign for India came to an end in Paris, fetching the Indian contingent a total of 6 medals. After the golden glory in the Olympics back in the Tokyo Games, India failed to fetch a single yellow metal in the Paris Games, with ‘Golden Boy’ Neeraj Chopra also settling for a silver medal. If one is to sum up the country’s 2024 Paris Olympics campaign, it wouldn’t conclude without highlighting the ‘near-misses’ the country witnessed.

India’s marquee shooter Manu Bhaker did manage to fetch two medals in the Paris Games, a record for an athlete from the country, but it could’ve been a hat-trick of medals for her. Here we take a look at some similar ‘near-misses’ for India in the 2024 Paris Olympics:

Arjun Babuta: Shooting remained India’s most promising sport in the Paris Games and Arjun Babuta could’ve earned India more glory in the men’s 10m air rifle event. He stood second after the 12th shot in the final, but a few unexpected errors in the final stages pushed him to fourth place, hence missing out on a bronze.

Maheshwari Chauhan and Anantjeet Singh Naruka: In what was another near-miss for India in shooting, the pair of Maheshwari Chauhan and Anantjeet Singh Naruka lost to China in the bronze medal match. The difference between the two duos at the end was just one point.

Dhiraj Bommadevara and Ankita Bhakat: Archery has been one of India’s biggest pain points in the  Olympics. This year was no different The duo of Dhiraj Bommadevara and Ankita Bhakat delivered India’s best-ever Olympic performance in the event, yet they fell short in the bronze medal match.

Mirabai Chanu: A legend in the country’s sporting spectrum, Mirabai Chanu was expected to fight for gold in the women’s 49kg weightlifting event but ended up empty-handed. She finished in fourth place with a final score of 199 kg to her name.

Lakshya Sen: In what was a shocking year for India in badminton, Lakshya Sen emerged as India’s biggest medal hope. He ought valiantly through the rounds but eventually only finished 4th, hence missing out on a podium spot.

Manu Bhaker: Despite earning two bronze medals, Manu Bhaker would always rue the opportunity to miss out on her hat-trick of medals. She came 4th best in the women’s 25m pistol final, losing to Hungary’s Veronika Major in a shoot-off.

Vinesh Phogat: In unarguably the biggest heart-breaking moment for India from the Paris Games, Vinesh was disqualified from the 50kg women’s freestyle wrestling final. She was found 100 grams overweight in the mandator weigh-in ahead of the title match and was deemed ineligible for the bout.

Pralympians Ease India’s Olympics Pain

While the Paris Olympics Games was largely a disappointment, India did make up for the heartbreak in the following Paris Paralympics. Securing its best-ever 18th spot in the medals tally, India fetched a total of 29 medals at the event – 7 gold, 9 silver and 13 bronze. In the Tokyo Games, India had only claimed 19 medals.

India enjoyed a never-seen-before golden rush in the Paris Paralympics. The list of standout performers included the names of Avani Lekhara, Nitesh Kumar, Sumit Antil, Harvinder Singh, Dharambir, Praveen Kumar and Navdeep Singh. They all bagged the top podium spots in their respective events.

The record haul helped India cross the 50-medal mark cumulatively in its Paralympics history.

A file image of Ravi Shastri
| Photo Credit: The Hindu

India “paid a heavy price for being a little complacent” against New Zealand and the team needs to start well in the first two Tests against Australia to put behind their unprecedented loss to New Zealand at home, believes Ravi Shastri.

The former captain and coach Shastri said India, who were caught “unawares” by New Zealand, would be hurting after the defeat which ended their unbeaten run at home that lasted over 12 years and 18 series.

“India will be smarting from that defeat in that series against New Zealand because they were caught unawares,” Shastri told The ICC Review.

“They were a little complacent and they paid the price for it. But having said that, it’s a very proud team, this Indian team.” He said. “They would be hurting and they’d like to get back on track ASAP. The best way to bounce back from such a series, is (to) start off another series in a good manner, so the first two Test matches become extremely crucial going ahead,” he added.

Shastri said India’s coaching staff under head coach Gautam Gambhir will have to ensure that the players are in a “good state of mind” going into the five-Test affair starting on November 22 at Optus Stadium in Perth.

“The most important thing will be to ensure that they start off well; they keep the players in a good state of mind. That will be the most important thing for the coach,” he said.

Shastri, who was India’s head coach during their series wins Down Under in 2018-19 and 2020-21, urged India to draw confidence from those feats.

“It’s playing on their mind, confidence-wise. You can’t go to the negatives. Think about the positives,” he said.

“Think about what you did in Australia last time around and take it ahead from there. Put what (has) happened behind you. These are different conditions and some of the tracks in Australia when you get in are probably the best to bat,” Shastri said.

“I think it will be totally different, the conditions when they get out there,” he added.

File image of Indian cricket team.© AFP

Caught in a downward spiral of reverses since the historic fourth-place finish in the Tokyo Olympics, Indian women’s hockey team captain Salima Tete on Wednesday attributed it to the lack of fitness and mental toughness. After creating history in Tokyo in 2021, the team failed to qualify for the Paris Olympics this year and also performed poorly in the last FIH Pro League. “Yes, of course we were disappointed but we can’t think about the past and need to move forward. We should move on because if we don’t move on, we can never win a match,” Salima told PTI in an interview ahead of the women’s Asian Champions Trophy in Rajgir, Bihar from November 11 to 20.

“It was very difficult for everyone, not just for me but for everyone in the team. But we have worked on it.” The journey, since the failure to qualify for the Paris Games, wasn’t easy under new chief coach Harendra Singh. But Salima said those setbacks have taught them a big lesson.

“We had to start from the beginning. We had to start from the scratch. And fitness was an area that Harendra sir had pointed out and which needs a lot of work,” she said.

“It was our mistake that we didn’t work on fitness. But since sir came, we have worked a lot on our fitness. In today’s level, if you don’t have fitness, you can’t play hockey because it is a fast sport and you need fitness.” Salima said the entire squad now realises the importance of fitness.

“We do work on our strength. I also noticed that we were not able to lift so much weight. The girls are now squatting more than 100kgs. This shows that we are working on our fitness. This shows that we are getting better.” Harendra understands the significance of mental aspect of the game and that was precisely the reason the Indian women’s hockey team underwent an intensive mental strengthening and team building camp at the prestigious Indian Naval Academy in Kerala from July 14 to 21 this year.

“We didn’t have mental experience. So, it (the camp) was very good. We didn’t know how it was going to be. It was very hard but we handled it. We were not able to sit and relax, we were very busy,” Salima said.

“We have learned that we won’t get anything if we don’t work hard. We won’t be able to keep up.” Asked about the other areas that need work, Salima pointed out: “Our focus is on scoring from inside the circle and also from penalty corners. We have worked on this. We have worked on small, small things.” Salima said it is a new beginning for the Indian women’s team and its sole focus now is on finishing on the podium in 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

“A new season has started for Indian women’s hockey. The aim is to qualify for the Los Angeles Olympics and finish on the podium there. That’s the view.

“It is a very big thing for us and we are working for it from now. We are starting from zero. Sir tells us that we have to go to the Asian Games, World Cup and the 2028 Olympics,” she said.

India will enter the upcoming Asian Champions Trophy as the defending champions and the skipper said they will settle for nothing less than gold.

“We want to win this championship (ACT). We don’t think about results, we just want to play our game.

“To win this tournament we need team effort. Every player has to show her skill, like my strength is speed, so I have to use my speed to help the team,” she said.

“Everyone has different strengths and we will play to our strengths.” Besides India, Paris Olympics silver medallist China, 2018 Asian Games champion Japan, Malaysia, two-time Olympic silver winner Korea and Thailand are the other participating teams in the tournament. 

Yogesh Kathuniya gave Prime Minister Narendra Modi a new title© IANS

Navdeep Singh’s technique compared to Neeraj Chopra’s© X (Twitter)

Star Indian javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra on Monday congratulated the Indian contingent for their performance at the Paris Paralympics. The Indian contingent concluded its historic Paris Paralympics campaign with a total of 29 medals, including seven gold, nine silver, and 13 bronze medals, the most by the country in the history of the competition. With this landmark campaign, India has surpassed their previously most-successful campaign at Tokyo 2020 Paralympics, which gave them 19 medals, including five golds, eight silvers, and six bronze medals.

Taking to his official X handle, Neeraj said that the whole nation is proud of the Indian contingent that participated at the Paris Paralympics.

“What a performance by #TeamIndia at the 2024 Paralympics. Congratulations to every participant and the entire support staff for giving their best and returning home with 29 medals! India is proud of you,” Neeraj wrote on X.

This record-haul also helped India cross the 50-medal mark in the history of the competition. A record of 84 para-athletes represented the tricolour from August 28 to Sunday in 12 disciplines, as compared to nine back in Tokyo 2020. India also participated in new sports at Paris: paracycling, para rowing, and blind judo.

India established several records and unlocked some new “firsts” at the Paralympic Games. Para-shooter Avani Lekhara became the first ever Indian woman to secure two Paralympic gold medals as she managed to defend her women’s 10m air rifle standing SH1 shooting title with a world record score of 249.7 points.

India recorded a one-two finish at a para-athletics competition for the first time, with Dharambir and Parnav Soorma clinching gold and silver, respectively, in the men’s club throw F51 event. This was among India’s first-ever medals in this sport. Dharambir also set an Asian record of 34.92 m.

India also found its first-ever archery champion across both the Olympics and Paralympics, with Harvinder Singh getting the gold in the gold medal clash of the individual recurve para-archery against Poland’s Lukasz Ciszek.

Indian javelin throw ace Sumit Antil became the first Indian male to defend their Paralympics title, making it back-to-back gold in F64 event with a stunning Paralympic record-breaking throw of 70.59 m. He broke his own previous record set during the Tokyo 2020 not once, but thrice.

The men’s javelin F41 final in the Paris Paralympics concluded on a controversial note after initial gold medal winner Sadegh Beit Sayah was disqualified over the display of a controversial flag. The ‘improper conduct’ from the Iranian athlete saw India’s Navdeep Singh’s silver medal being upgraded to gold, giving the country its 7th yellow metal at the Paris Para Games. While Navdeep was ecstatic to take the top podium spot in the event, he got emotional seeing his opponent Sayah break down upon knowing that his effort was disqualified due to the flag gesture.

Navdeep, who didn’t know exactly what happened when the disqualification decision was conveyed, also became emotional seeing the Iranian crying. The Indian athlete decided to hug his opponent in an attempt to console him.

“I was so surprised when the red card was shown to the Iranian javelin thrower. He started crying. He was in tears and weeping. I also became so emotional that I went to him and hugged him. I consoled him. Until then, I didn’t know what exactly had happened and the reason behind this big decision,” Navdeep told Times of India.

Iranian athlete Beit Sayah Sadegh has been disqualified for displaying the Hamas flag , It’s a belt treatment for terrorist sympathizer. As a result, Navdeep Singh’s silver medal has been upgraded to gold! India has secured its seventh gold medal in Paris! #navdeepsingh… https://t.co/cSl3klLHtP pic.twitter.com/ChSKub3CmI

— Kritika (@itsSSR0786) September 7, 2024

When Navdeep understood that he would be winning the gold medal because of Sayah’s disqualification, his happiness knew no bounds.

“When I was given the gold medal, I was so happy. Tokyo is in the past now, Paris is the present. I am really delighted that I could make my country proud. I’m really happy I could add one more gold medal to India’s tally. People always remember gold,” Navdeep revealed.

“My first throw was a foul. I looked at my coach, and he asked me to remain calm. In my second attempt, I threw 46-plus. I turned toward my coach and asked him how much I threw in my second attempt. He said 46-plus. I was amazed because I didn’t put much effort into it. It gave me so much spark and motivation to do even better. And then, the rest is history,” he further added.

Navdeep registered a distance of 47.32 in the final, which was a surprise for him too as he, by his own admission, had gone beyond the 42-meter mark in training.

“I never imagined I would throw 47-plus, honestly. I don’t have any idea how I did this. Because during my training just before departing for Paris, I was throwing 41 or 42. But I don’t know how I managed to throw 47-plus,” Navdeep asserted.

The Paris Paralympic Games 2024 concluded for India on Sunday, with Pooja Ojha the final athlete in action. Ojha failed to qualify for the women’s kayak 200m final and bowed out of the competition. As a result, India’s medals tally at the Paris Paralympics ended at 29 — seven golds, nine silvers and 13 bronze, making it the most rewarded campaign for the country. Courtesy of the 29 medals, India stood at the 18th position in the points table. Pakistan, who were also competing win the event, ended the campaign joint-bottom at the 79th position, with just a solitary bronze to its name.

India did very well in the 2024 campaign, beating top nations like Switzerland, Belgium, South Korea, Turkey, Argentina, etc. to finish the Paris Para Games among the top 20 countries in the world.

In comparison to India, the traditional heavyweights at the Paralympic Games — China, Great Britain, USA, Italy, etc. did very well gain, finishing among the top 10 nations. India, having shown significant progression in Paris, would be keen to produce an even better show in the 2028 LA Para Games. 

On Saturday, India earned its 29th and final medal of the Paris Paralympic Games through Navdeep Singh who clinched gold medal in men’s javelin throw F41 classification.

Navdeep, who competes in the classification meant for athletes of short stature, originally ended with a silver after he upstaged world record holder Sun Pengxiang of China with a 47.32m throw.

However, that was upgraded to an unprecedented gold after Iran’s Sadegh Beit Sayah was disqualified for repeatedly displaying an objectionable flag. Pengxiang (44.72m) finished with a silver.

Sayah had managed to nose ahead of the field with a new Paralympic record of 47.64m in his penultimate throw but lost the medal owing to his antics.

The International Paralympic Committee rules bar athletes from making any political gestures at the event and Sayah was thrown out of the final results for unsporting/improper conduct.

At the same venue, Simran, accompanied by her guide Abhay Singh, clocked an impressive personal best of 24.75sec to finish with a bronze in the women’s 200m (T12) event.

The 24-year-old from Delhi, who was found to be visually impaired at the time of her premature birth, is the reigning world champion in this event. She had finished fourth in the 100m competition of the ongoing Games and Saturday’s medal helped her redeem her campaign.

Track-and-field has contributed 17 medals to this tally, four of them gold. The country is placed 15th in the overall standings, led by China with a whopping 208 medals, including 90 gold.

For Navdeep, the gold makes up for the fourth-place heartbreak he endured in the Tokyo Games.

An inspector in the Income Tax Department, Navdeep has medalled five times at the national level since taking to the sport in 2017. He won a bronze in the para-world championships earlier this year.

Simran, on the other hand, won two silver medals at the Asian Para Games in Hangzhou last year and secured three gold medals in the 100m, 200m, and long jump at the inaugural Khelo India Para Games last December.

She is coached by her husband Naik Gajendra Singh.

With PTI Inputs