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Who are India's first world Championship winners in each sport?
The sportspersons who are world champions from India are amazing athletes. That is particularly true of the trailblazers, the first Indians to win at the global level.
Sushil Kumar and PV Sindhu
Many Indians have been world champions in recent years. However, India have not always had great sportspersons who were champions at the world level. Given that India did not have great sporting facilities, the sportspersons who are world champions from India are amazing athletes. That is particularly true of the trailblazers, the first Indians to win at the global level. Here are all the trailblazers:
Billiards 1958: Wilson Jones
The first Indian to become world champion in any sport was Wilson Jones in the 1958 World amateur billiards championships. The tournament was held at the Great eastern hotel in Calcutta. He also won a second world championships in 1964 in New Zealand
Weightlifting 1994: Karnam Malleshwaria
Karnam Malleshwari won the world championships in weightlifting 54kg category in 1994 and again in 1995. She also went on to become the first Indian woman to win an Olympic medal.
Chess 2000: Viswanathan Anand
Viswanathan Anand is an absolute legend in Indian sport. He won his first world championships in 2000. He kept hold of the world championship title till 2002 and then went on to win many more world championships.
Boxing 2002: Mary Kom
Mary Kom is one of the greatest sportspersons India has ever produced. She won her first world championships in 2002 in Antalya. She then went on to become world champion 5 more times.
Shooting 2006: Abhinav Bindra
Abhinav Bindra is a legend because he was the first Indian to win an individual Olympic gold medal. He is also the first Indian to win a world championship in shooting. He won the 2006 ISSF World shooting championships in the 10m air rifle event.
Wrestling 2010: Sushil Kumar
Sushil Kumar is a household name for his two Olympic medals in London 2012 and Rio 2016. Before that he was a world champion in 2010 at Moscow in the 66kg category.
Wushu 2017: Pooja Kadian
Pooja Kadian won the 2017 Wushu world Championships in Kazan in the 75kg category.
Badminton 2019: PV Sindhu
PV Sindhu was the first Indian to win gold in the women's singles at the 2019 world badminton championships in Basel. It was an incredible achievement that many previous great Indian badminton players hadn't managed.
