Top 10 Indian players who defy age

Sports, for the most part, is regarded as the domain of the young, but the conventional definition has taken a different course with time. Take the case of Indian sports. It is a time when grit, determination, and fiery intimidation more often than not rules the field. The Bridge retraces a rich and sumptuous history in Indian sporting fraternity clouded by transcendent athletes who have found a way to thrive and get better with every passing year.

#10 Tarundeep Rai

Tarundeep Rai became the first Indian to win an individual men’s silver medal in archery at the Asian Games 2010 in Guangzhou, China. One of the most experienced archers in the Indian archery team, Tarundeep made his international debut at a tender age of 19 when he played at the 2003 Asian Archery Championship. Following a good show in his debut, he became a member of the Indian archery team that went on to claim the bronze medal at the 15th Asian Games in Doha in 2006. He was also a part of the Indian archery team that finished fourth at the 2003 World Championship in New York. His team won the silver medal at the 2005 World Championship in Madrid, Spain. Tarundeep made it to the Indian men's recurve team for the 2012 London Olympics.

#9 Sania Mirza

Six-time Grand Slam winner and former Wimbledon doubles champion Sania Mirza is undoubtedly one of the most respected and admired sportspersons in the country. From 2003 until her retirement from singles in 2013, she was ranked India's No. 1 player in both the categories by the WTA. Throughout her career, Mirza has established herself as by far the most successful Indian tennis player ever and one of the highest-paid and high-profile athletes in the country.

She is the highest-ranked female player ever from India, peaking at world No. 27 in mid-2007. However, a major wrist injury forced her to give up on her singles career and focus on the doubles circuit. Besides, she is the third Indian woman in the Open Era to feature and win a round at a Grand Slam tournament. She has also won a total of 14 medals (including 6 gold) at three major multi-sport events, namely the Asian Games, the Commonwealth Games, and the Afro-Asian Games.

#8 Vishwanathan Anand

Former World Champion Viswanathan Anand became the first grandmaster from India in the year 1988. He held the FIDE World Chess Championship from 2000 to 2002, becoming the first Asian to do so. The undisputed World Champion in 2007, Anand defended his title against Vladimir Kramnik in 2008. He then followed it up by defending his title in the World Chess Championship 2010 and in the World Chess Championship 2012. In April 2006 Anand became the fourth player in history to pass the 2800 Elo mark on the FIDE rating list. He was placed at the top for 21 months, perhaps the sixth-longest on record.

#7 Anitha Pauldurai

The captain of the Indian Women's National basketball team, Anitha Pauldurai has been playing for 18 years in the national team. Anitha is the first Indian woman to have played at nine Asian Basketball Confederation (ABC) championships continuously representing the country. She holds an impressive record of 30 medals in the National Championship.

She is the youngest ever Indian woman to captain the senior national team at the age of 19 and went on to lead the national squad for eight years. Following her superlative performances for the country, she was selected to play for an international women professional league in Thailand in August 2012. Anitha had won a gold medal in the first three on three FIBA Asian Basketball Championship in Doha 2013, another gold medal at the 3rd Asian Beach Games in 2012, a gold medal at the South Asian Beach Games in 2011 and a silver medal at the Asian Indoor Games in 2009.

#6 Manavjit Sandhu

A four-time Olympian, Manavjit Singh Sandhu is a former World No. 1 ranked Trap Shooter. He won the gold medal at the 2006 ISSF World Shooting Championships, becoming the first Indian shotgun shooter to be crowned World Champion. He has won four silver medals at the 1998 Asian Games, 2002 Asian Games, and 2006 Asian Games. He won the gold medal at the 1998 Commonwealth Games and the bronze medal in the trap event at the 2006 Commonwealth Games. He finished 12th at the 2008 Olympics having finished tied 19th at the 2004 Olympics. He won the gold medal at the World Cup 2014 in the USA. Sandhu has also competed at the Rio 2016 Summer Olympics, where he finished at 16th place in the men's trap qualification round.

#5 Mithali Raj

Having made her debut back in 1999 against Ireland at Milton Keynes, Indian women’s cricket ODI team skipper Mithali Raj’s consistency has played a huge hand in the growth of cricket in the country. Amassing a total of 6720 runs in 183 innings thus far to be the leading run-getter in the format, she became the first woman cricketer to turn out in 200 ODI games. She had played a total of 89 T20Is before announcing her retirement this year. With 2364 T20I runs, she is the leading run-scorer for India in the format with Harmanpreet behind her with 2004 runs. Mithali also had the highest score for the country in T20Is, an unbeaten 97, till Harman broke the record and got India’s maiden ton in the shortest format.

Mithali shares the feat of playing for 20 years with other stalwarts of the game like Sachin Tendulkar, Javed Miandad, and Sanath Jayasuriya. She played as many as 109 consecutive games between 2004 and 2013 for her country – the longest streak for any player in the format. With an unmatched combination of skill and accuracy, Mithali has scripted and rewritten various records over her international career thus far.

#4 Leander Paes

In the twilight of his career, however, when most boxers are long retired, Hopkins is experiencing an awakening of sorts. He has won eight doubles and ten mixed doubles Grand Slam titles. He holds a career Grand Slam in men's doubles and mixed doubles and has achieved the rare men's doubles/mixed doubles double at the 1999 Wimbledon tournament. His mixed doubles Wimbledon title in 2010 made him the second man to win Wimbledon titles in three decades. He has competed in consecutive Olympics from 1992 to 2016, making him the first Indian and only tennis player to compete at seven Olympic Games.

He is a former Davis Cup team captain and holds the record for the most Davis Cup doubles wins with 43 victories. Recently, India’s veteran tennis star Leander Paes bettered his own record by winning his 44th doubles match in Davis Cup along with debutant Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan as India took an unassailable 3-0 lead against Pakistan with victory in the third rubber in Nur Sultan, Kazakhstan. Paes’ record of 44 wins is unlikely to be broken anytime soon as except him, none of the active doubles player feature in the top-10 list.

#3 Mary Kom

When it comes to women’s boxing, there is perhaps no name bigger than that of Mary Kom. At the World Championships on October 12, Mary settled for a bronze medal after losing to Turkey’s Busenaz Cakiroglu in an intense semifinal bout. Despite the defeat, it was a stupendous campaign for the 36-year-old that added to her long list of accomplishments. In doing so, she secured an unprecedented eighth world medal, thus improving her own record as the most successful boxer in the history of the tournament. Besides an impressive haul of six world titles, her career is also studded with an Olympic bronze medal (2012), five Asian titles, gold medals at the Asian Games and the Commonwealth Games, besides numerous other international top finishes.

She is the only Indian female boxer to win an Olympic medal. She clinched a bronze medal in 51 kg category in 2012, defeating Britain’s Nicola Adams. Her first World Championship medal was a sliver in the 48kg category. She followed it up with a gold medal in 2002. She won gold in both 2005 and 2006 after which she went on to add to her tally in 2008, 2010 and 2018.

#2 Sharath Kamal

The 37-year-old Sharath Kamal is one of the best table tennis players that India has ever produced. He came into limelight when he qualified for the 2004 Athens Olympics. He was the first Indian to win the Pyongyong Invitational Tournament in North Korea in 2007. Only three years later, he clinched the US Open Table Tennis Men's Championships. He has been playing in the European League for the last five years. Presently ranked 41st in the world, he was honoured with Arjuna Award in 2004 for his brilliant performance in the Commonwealth Championships in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

#1 Sunil Chhetri

The magical winger of the Indian football team has scored the second-highest number of goals in international matches among the most active players after Cristiano Ronaldo. Chhetri is the most-capped player and all-time top goalscorer for the national team with a total of 72 goals in his 115 appearances. He guided India to clinch the 2007 Nehru Cup, 2009 Nehru Cup, 2012 Nehru Cup, and the 2011 SAFF Championship. He proved his mettle during the 2008 AFC Challenge Cup which further helped India qualify for their first AFC Asian Cup in 27 years. He has also been named AIFF Player of the Year a record six times in 2007, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2017 and 2018–19.