Year-Ender 2023: Neeraj Chopra To Satwik-Chirag, Top Five Indian Sportspersons In Other Sports This Year

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Indian sports had its moments of glory aplenty during the year beyond cricket with some breakthrough results coming in Olympic sports, particularly in the Asian Games 2023 in Hangzhou and various World Championships around the globe.

And as we prepare to say goodbye to 2023, Mykhel takes a look at five such athletes, who raised the bar of Indian sports high for the coming generation with their performances that won them many accolades.

Neeraj Chopra

After ending 2022 with a record silver medal at the World Athletics Championships, Neeraj Chopra's first success in 2023 came in May with the Doha Diamond League with a throw of 88.67 meters. He took first place in the World Athletics men's javelin throw rankings that same month, marking his first-ever accomplishment in the sport.

With a throw of 88.17 meters, he captured the gold medal at the 2023 World Athletics Championships in August of 2023. With the effort, he became the first Indian to win a gold medal at the prestigious event and this was his second. Anju Bobby George's bronze medal at Paris 2004 is the only occasion when an Indian won a medal at the stage.

He capped off the season by retaining his Asian Games title as his season-best throw of 88.88 meters helped him beat his compatriot Kishore Kumar Jena to the gold in October 2023.

Satwik-Chirag

India's No. 1 badminton pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty took India to new heights at the international stage as they defeated China's Ren Xiangyu and Tan Qiang in the final of the 2023 Swiss Open badminton tournament to win their first title together.

Soon after the pair was crowned the Asian Champions following their victory in the Dubai-hosted 2023 Badminton Asia Championships. In the 2023 Indonesia Open final, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty defeated Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik to win their first BWF World Super 1000 championship.

They also became the first men's doubles duo from India to win the tournament. The 2023 Korea Open was won by Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty over the Indonesian pair of Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Rian Ardianto.

Nikhat Zareen

Nikhat Zareen reestablished herself as the new queen of Indian boxing as the flyweight boxer (48-50kg category) retained her World Championship crown for the second year running. She won the final bout by defeating Vietnam's Nguyen Thi Tam by 5-0 unanimous decision in front of home fans at the national capital.

It was a successful edition for India as well with three more Indian boxers, Nitu Ghanghas (minimumweight), Lovlina Borgohain (middleweight), Saweety Boora (Light Heavyweight) won gold medals as well.

Jyothi Surekha Vennam

Often in the shadows of her male compound archers, Jyothi Surekha Vennam took charge of the Indian archery squad at the Asian Games 2023 with three gold medals to her name in Women's individual, Mixed team and Women's team.

The performance came after she bagged her first individual gold medal at an Archery World Cup when she won the Antalya stage in May. On her way to the gold, she matched the world record of 713 in the qualifying round as well before beating the record holder Sara Lopez in the final.