Badminton
Though badminton had always been a sport of great interest amongst the overall public, success on the international stage had been less forthcoming.
This trend has changed as a crop of Indian players have made a reputation for themselves and India on the international stage. After establishing herself across various tournaments, Saina Nehwal etched her name in history books at the London Olympics in 2012 by learning a trophy.
Badminton in India
India has become a powerhouse in badminton, taking home medals in each of the past two Olympic Games
Nehwal’s achievement was surpassed by her younger counterpart, PV Sindhu. The latter won a silver within the Rio Games in 2016. Besides learning medals at the Olympics, there are other shutters who have brought him top honors like K Srikant, Jwala Gutta, Ashwini Ponnappa, and yesteryear legends in Prakash Padukone and Pulella Gopichand.
Seeing the increase of Indian talents on the international stage, the Badminton Association of India (BAI) oversaw the institution of the Premier Badminton League in 2013. The league generated a good amount of viewership right down to its fast-paced format and presence of top-rated Indian players.
With subsequent Olympics in two years’ time, expect Indian badminton players to form a serious bid for the highest prize.
Hockey
The national sport of India, hockey remains trying to seek out how back to the time of life when it brought back gold medals from every passing Olympic Games. Led by Dhyan Chand, India dominated the hockey world with over eight Olympic gold medals.
The change of rules including the introduction of a man-made playing turf became a bane for Indian players won’t play on regular grass tops. To compound the present problem, incessant infighting within the hockey federation led to the gradual decline of Indian hockey as other nations like Australia, Netherlands, and Germany trapped in Indian dominance.
The decline of hockey has since been apparent. While there are certain blips when the hockey scene does show signs of revival, the overwhelming systemic problems tend to bog the game down whenever.
Like many other sports in India, hockey too has its own league supported the IPL model. The Hockey India League (HIL) began in 2013 to make a ground-based following amongst the overall public for hockey.
Hockey in India
Indian Hockey still searches for the proper ingredients to kick relive the golden period it enjoyed within the previous century
The tournament was recognized by the Federation of International Hockey (FIH) and granted a 30-day window to permit top players from all nations to participate.
Tennis
One of the foremost popular sports within the world, tennis features a keen following in India. Though we haven’t seen an outsized amount of success on the singles circuit, India has been traditionally known for creating high-quality doubles players. Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi together have a variety of slam doubles titles to their name.
Tennis in India
Indian tennis will face a litmus test within the coming years with the approaching as well as the retirement of Paes. With Bhupathi having retired a couple of years back and Paes aging as well as with every passing season. The Indian tennis scene faces a shortage of experienced talents. Rohan Bopanna and Sania Mirza remain. The sole two experienced professionals on the ATP circuit representing India with Somdev Devvarman having retired a couple of months back.
To increase the viewership of tennis in India. Mahesh Bhupathi launched the International Premier Tennis League in 2014. Comprising of 4 teams from four countries in Asia. Namely the Indian Aces, Japan Warriors. Singapore Slammers, and UAE Royals, the IPTL was inspired. By the success of the IPL in India and therefore the World Team Tennis from the 1970s.
The league was a moderate success. Because it trusted the looks of tennis stars like Roger Federer and Pete Sampras for viewership. The Singapore Slammers are the foremost successful team within the league having won the title twice.
Wrestling
Like kabaddi, wrestling features a striking undercurrent of rural India thereto. Wrestling has brought India a variety of medals from many major tournaments.
Wrestling with Indians is synonymous with the cash adda-style sport. Though wrestling differs greatly from the normal Indian sort of wrestling, the basics of the game remain equivalent.
Indian grapplers have recently made a robust impression. On the international stage with a minimum of a medal at every Olympics since the 2008 Beijing Games. Sushil Kumar as well as one of India’s most successful Olympians may be a two-time Olympic medalist. Sushil isn’t the sole one, with a large number of grapplers having won medals at international tournaments.
