Five most inspiring moments of Indian Sports in 2015

ByAmlan Majumdar, SportsCafe Editor

12/19/2015

Sports has a way of inspiring us like few others can. As the saying goes, “Success breeds success”. But in a nation which has more followers than leaders, we often need someone to lead the way. Here are some of the most inspiring sporting stories that have been unraveled in the last one year, and we hope they inspire you to achieve greater things in life.

1. Deborah Herold - tsunami survivor to World No.4 in cycling

Deborah Herold was on Car Nicobar island on that fateful day, as Tsunami waves, as high as 30ft tall, swept across the place. The 9-year-old survived by clinging on to a tree for a whole day.

Last week, she became the highest ranked Indian woman cyclist in history. In October, the 20-year-old became the first ever Indian cyclist to win the women's elite section at the Taiwan Cup and ended with one gold, three silver and one bronze medal.

In the Track Asia Cup last month, Deborah won gold in the women's elite sprint event on the final day, her third in the event, helping India to a third place finish.

2. Indian women's hockey team qualifies for the Olympics after 35 years

India won the cricket World Cup for the first time and a gold medal at the Olympics in hockey for the last time in 1980s.

That 1980 Olympics in Moscow was also the last time the Indian women's hockey team participated in an Olympics, and now they will do so again in Rio next year after 36 years.

While they needed a bit of luck on the way, they fact that this will only be the women's team second ever appearance in the Olympics makes it such a monumental achievement.

3. Devendra Jhajharia and Amit Kumar Saroha clinching two silver medals in the 2015 Paralympic World Championship

An eight-year old kid whose hand was amputated after touching a live electric cable, a 25-year old man sentenced to a wheel chair after being hit by a speeding truck - the stories of Devendra Jhajharia and Amit Kumar Saroha.

Jhajharia, ridiculed by his village kids for being weak, set a new world record in Javelin throw at the 2004 Paralymics. The 35-year-old booked a place in the 2016 Paralymic Games with a silver at the World Championships in October.

Saroha's father passed away after he lost his leg and his brother gave up his job to look after him. He blamed himself for his family's misfortunes. “I did not feel grateful at having survived. I did not feel lucky,” he told Tehelka in 2012. But, he rose like a phoenix from the ashes of depression with a silver in club throw at the World Championship in October to qualify for Rio next year.

4. Shiva Thapa wins bronze at the World Championship

“While I was walking towards the ring for my bout, he (Manny Pacquiao) was going towards the stands to meet the Filipino team.

“… (they) said that my winning left hook was the shot of the day and it caught the eye of Manny Pacquiao,” Thapa said after kayoing Moroccan Hamout Mohamed in the pre-quarters of the World Championship.

Punch of the day...World Boxing Championships 2015
— Shiva Thapa (@shivathapa)

The 22-year-old has been India's most promising young boxing talent for a while. In 2010, he won silver at the Youth Olympics. In 2012, he became the youngest Indian boxer to qualify for the Olympics. He also won India's solitary gold at the Asian Championships.

Despite financial obstacles and bureaucratic ones that plague Indian sports - de-recognition of the Indian boxing federation – and drastic transformations to his technique, this talented Guwahati boy is on his way to becoming Indian next boxing poster-boy, after Vijender.

5. West block blues' banner in India's World cup qualifier match

While sportsmen like Deborah Herold and Amit Kumar Saroha inspire us on the field, at times fans do the same off it.

On November 12, India were set to host Guam in the sixth match of their FIFA World Cup Qualifying campaign, at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bangalore. The men in blue were on the back of five consecutive defeats and in desperate need of a win. Amid such despair, the fans at the Bangalore stadium pulled off something inspiring.

The West Block Blues, the core fan group of I-League club Bengaluru FC, unveiled one of the biggest ever banner in Asia (5200 square foot sized), and the biggest ever to be unfurled in a stadium in Indian sports history captioning, “The road is long, but belief is everything. Stand up for Indian football”. In a display of fervor and passion, they also used gulaal to create an Indian flag to brighten up the stadium.

Clearly the fans inspired the players, as they went on to defeat their higher ranked opponent 1-0, and grabbed their first points of the qualifiers.