The year 2022 will be remembered by Indian sports fans. It was a year of many firsts and historic achievements by Indian athletes on the world stage—a good follow-up to an almost equally impressive 2021, which saw the country’s stars shine bright at the Tokyo Olympics. Here’s a look back at the peaks Indian athletes touched in 2022.
NEERAJ CHOPRA
Maintaining that ideal run in 2022 after winning the gold medal at the Olympics in Tokyo the previous year would have been a difficult task for Neeraj Chopra. But the Indian men’s javelin throw champion rose to the occasion, and what a rise! The Olympic champion won yet another silver at the 2022 World Athletics Championships in Oregon.
COMMONWEALTH GAMES
While the expected performers—the weightlifters, wrestlers, boxers, badminton, and table tennis players—impressed, there were also some surprise triumphs. With the women’s team earning a gold medal and the men’s team taking home a silver, lawn bowls, a sport that had previously received little attention from Indian sports fans, came to light.
MAIDEN THOMAS CUP
At the Thomas Cup 2022 held in Bangkok, Thailand, the Indian men’s badminton team, captained by Lakshya Sen, HS Prannoy, Kidambi Srikanth, and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, helped write yet another chapter in Indian sports history. Indian shuttlers put up a professional performance to defeat Indonesia in the decisive match 3-0 and won their first Thomas Cup championship.
NIKHAT ZAREEN
The Indian boxer Nikhat Zareen would have considered the year 2022 to be successful if she had won the gold medal at the Commonwealth Games. The Indian fighter, however, went one better by also winning the title of world champion. Nikhat Zareen, the fifth Indian woman to win the title after the legendary Mary Kom, Laishram Sarita Devi, Jenny RL, and Lekha K. C., defeated Thailand’s Jutamas Jitpong, a Tokyo Olympian, 5-0 in the Women’s World Boxing Championships 2022 final.
INDIAN WOMEN’S HOCKEY TEAM
After New Zealand and Australia withdrew owing to COVID-19, the Indian women’s team was given the unexpected chance to compete in the FIH Pro League 2021-22 season, and they embraced the chance to compete against the best in the world. The Indians defeated Spain in a high stakes game that finished with a 1-0 victory for them.