Child prodigies who can make it big in Indian sports

On one side there are people like shooter Abhishek Verma, who come to the limelight a lot later in life, while on the other hand there are people like Nihal Sarin who, due to their extraordinary talent, almost always remain in the eyes of the media and fans since their childhood. Here, we look at some such extraordinary talents who have achieved unimaginable things at a very young age and look set to take the world of sports by a storm.

Hansini Rajan

Hailing from the city of Chennai, Hansini is just 10 years old. The paddler has been winning the hearts of fans and star players of the country since quite some time. But her moment under the sun came when she clinched a bronze medal in the Mini-Cadet Girls’ Singles category at the Swedish Junior and Cadet Open in Orebro, in February earlier this year. She had also won a bronze medal in cadet girls’ singles at the 2019 UTT National Table Tennis Championship in 2019. Hansini trains under the watchful eyes of Muralidhara Rao, who is also the coach to top Indian paddlers like Sharath Kamal. Morever, she is already seen as a medal prospect for India in the 2028 Olympics by the experts.

Jai Jaswanth

Another 10 year old from Tamil Nadu, Jai is a champion swimmer. Jai learnt to win only in 2016 and is already some big waves. He came to the public eye after he became the youngest person ever to swim across the Palk Strait in 10 hours and 30 minutes in March 2019. He started his swim from Oormalai point in Talaimanar and ended it at Arichal Munai in Danushkodi, covering a distance of 30 km and now holds the world record in the under-11 category. Prior to this, Jai was the national champion in open water swimming.

Pearl Colvalcar

A 13-year-old from the state of Goa, Pearl is a sailer. She is the current national champion ahead of her competitors who are six to seven years older than her. In January this year, Pearl won the Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar for her achievements in Skiff Sailing and Windsurfing from the President of India. Such is her talent, that she is already a part of the Indian national team. Besides sailing, Pearl also excels in academics and also holds distinction certificate from Trinity College of Music.

Abhinav Shaw

Abhinav is a 12 year old from Asansol, West Bengal. His father was a shooter himself and had represented the East Zone. Abhinav shot to fame during the Khelo India Youth Games 2019, when he teamed up with the talented Mehuli Ghosh to become the youngest gold medalist in Khelo India. He trains under Joydeep Karmakar and is seen as one of the brightest prospect in the ever growing Indian shooting pool. He was in fact born to be a shooter, as his father reveals, and is also named after the shooting legend Abhinav Bindra, the first to win an individual Olympic gold for India.

Raghav Chug

Raghav Chug (Source: Third from left) Raghav Chug (Third from left)

At 17 years of age, Raghav is well into his teens and remains the brightest talent in Golf for India. Raghav is so good at sports that when in class 5^th, he was the captain of his school cricket, football and basketball teams. He took up golf only to spend some quality time with his maternal grandfather who is a member of Delhi Golf Club. The decision to take up golf proved to be highly fruitful as he was crowned World Teen Champion in August 2019. If not a professional golfer, Raghav wishes to be a businessman or investment banker.

Sohini Mohanty

Sohini Samanta

Sohini Mohanty is a 12 year old tennis sensation from the state of Odisha. She won the under-12 girls’ singles title in the AITA Super Series Tournament in 2019. Sohini has over 40 AITA titles and frequently plays in the under-14 category as well, where she often easily beats opponents older and stronger than her. Such is her stature that just at the age of she was appointed as the brand ambassador of a NGO named, Aahawahan Foundation.

Anahat Singh

At just 11 years of age, Anahat Singh is the number one ranked squash player across Europe, Asia and India in the girls’ under-13 category. She is the first Indian squash player to hold the number one position in three different regions at a same time. Anahat trains alongside her sister Amira Singh who is an under-17 national level squash player and is mentored by former national level players Amjad Khan and Ashraf Hussein. Anahat has a total of 40 national medals including being a two time champion. She also has an Asian Junior silver and a silver at the Malaysian Junior Open and British Junior Open. To add to that, she also has two European Superseries gold medals in her kitty.

Lakshay Sharma

At just 15 years of age, Lakshay Sharma is tipped for great things in the badminton court in years to come. Lakshay has already represented India in under-15 and under-17 categories. He won the Glasgow Youth International in 2019 and also has the Swiss Youth Open Tournament against his name. Besides this, Lakshay also has a number of national medals in junior and sub junior categories to back up his obvious talent.

Divyansha Mirchandani

Anahat Singh Divyansha Mirchandani

Hailing from the city of Jaipur, Divyansha became the youngest black belt awardee in Taekwondo, at the age of just five in the year 2015. She started her journey with Taekwondo when she was just three years old and currently has many state, national and international medals in her bag. She is no pushover in academics either, as proved by her gold medal in English Olympiad held by British Council. At the age of just 10, Divyansha remains India’s brightest star in Taekwondo.

Pritam Bramha

At the age of 9 years, Pritam is a football prodigy from Guwahati. Playing for the Guwahati City FC (GCFC), he was awarded the Most Valuable Player (MVP) in the Baby League held by All India Football Federation (AIFF) for scoring 18 and assisting 16 goals. Primarily a left winger, Pritam recently received a signed jersey from German maestro Mesut Ozil for his outstanding performances in the field.

Sports

States