7 Spectacular Women from the ASIAD Games

When you say ‘cricket’ in India, it hardly takes a second to conjure up the image of Sachin Tendulkar or the entire men’s team. If asked about the women’s team, it is only a handful of people across the country, who even know the names.

Thus, in a country where men have outshone women in the field of sports for hundreds of years, Indian women have finally been able to prove their brilliance at the 2014 ASIAD games. Bagging the gold, silver and bronze medals for different categories, the Indian women returned home, triumphant in their efforts and successes.

Among them, Mary Kom is one name that every Indian household currently recognizes. Having a biopic made on her, she has quickly risen to one of the top sportswomen in the country. At the 2014 ASIAD games, she boxed her way to gold.

Mary Kom, although voted the MVP of the ASIAD games 2014, isn’t the only Indian woman to shine at ASIAD. Here are 7 other women and teams who made India proud.

TEJASWINI BAI, KABADDI TEAM (GOLD MEDAL)

The women’s Kabaddi team left their competitors in tears after they strategized their way around the aggression they faced. Lead by Captain Tejaswini Bai, the team has proved that the bar set by the team has risen.

Captain Tejaswini states that the team has a mix of seniors and juniors, both training hard to maintain their rising standard.

Tejaswini Bai

Image Credit: The Hindustan Times

TINTU LUKA, 4X400M RELAY (GOLD MEDAL)

Sprinting their way through the relay, the Indian team bagged the gold medal. The team, consisting of Priyanka Panwar, Tintu Luka, Mandeep Kaur and M R Poovamma, beat India’s old record relay time.

25 year old Tintu Luka, trained at the PT Usha school by Usha herself, is a legend in the making as well. In 2010, she broke a 15 year old national record for the 800M event.

Tintu Luka

Image Credit: In Today

DEEPIKA PALLIKAL AND ANAKA ALANKAMONY, WOMEN’S SQUASH TEAM(SILVER MEDAL)

Both Deepika Pallikal and Anaka Alankamony got a historic silver medal for the country with their efforts. Although they didn’t make it to gold, their efforts brought us the next best.

At 23, Pallikal has already won 7 titles to her credit. At the 2012 Tournament of Champions held in New York, she come to be the first Indian to reach the summit clash of a Silver event. She also became the first Indian to reach the semi-finals of the gold event at the 2012 Australian Open.

Anaka Alankamony, 20, set the record of being the youngest person in the world to receive a Women’s International Squash Player’ Association (WISPA) title 5 years ago at the age of 15.

Deepika Pallikal

Anaka Alankamony

Image Credit: Sports Guerrila and News Report Leads

JASPREET KAUR AND VANDANA KATARIA, HOCKEY (BRONZE MEDAL)

Shooting the two winning goals, Jaspreet Kaur and Vandana Kataria got India the third bronze medal in hockey at ASIAD 2014.

19 year old Jaspreet Kaur was named the best defender and best player of the tournament in the 2013 Hockey World League Round 2 tournament at New Delhi.

Vandana Kataria, 22, was India’s top scorer at the 2013 Junior World Cup in Mönchengladbach, Germany.

Jaspreet Kaur

Vandana Kataria

Image Credit: Sports Guerrila and News Report Leads

LAISHRAM SARITA DEVI, BOXING BRONZE MEDAL)

Sarita Devi, 29, is a national champion and former world champion in the lightweight class. Her stint in the ASIAD games brought her a bronze medal. Throwing blow after blow at her opponent, she managed to keep her opponent down for most of the 4 rounds.

The decision of the judges came across as biased. However, it was controversial when she handed over the bronze medal to the silver medal winner (Korean) Park Ji-na. She did subsequently accept the medal, acknowledging her third place in the boxing tournament at the ASIAD games.

Sarita Devi

Image Credit: Zee News India

Have you followed these women’s progress during and after the ASIAD games?

Data Source: Times of India