2023 was a memorable sporting year and will be remembered by fans and followers for years to come. While some athletes took hard lessons, the year proved to be the most rewarding for a few others. Across different sporting disciplines, the Indian athletes displayed their skills and registered their names among the world’s best.
The world noticed their prowess and potential and couldn’t help but respond with applause as they brought laurels to India.
Indian athletes who had a successful 2023
Indian athletes created a buzz across the entire sporting fraternity and recorded headlines every other day. In this article, we will have a look at the top athletes who had a successful 2023 and surely don’t want the year to end.
Virat Kohli
Indian batting maestro Virat Kohli is another name who has had a successful 2023. Kohli broke several records in the passing year and made it to the list of the top-performing athletes in the world. To start with, Kohli surpassed his cricket idol and former cricketer Sachin Tendulkar as he recorded his 50th ODI ton during the ODI World Cup 2023, the highest number of ODI hundreds.
The former Indian skipper also became the top run-getter in the recently-concluded ICC masterpiece with his 765 runs in 11 innings. Along with this, in this year’s IPL, Kohli became the first Indian batter to register 50+ scores on 50 occasions in the Indian Premier League.
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Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty
The ace badminton duo of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty emerged as the most successful sporting pair in the year bygone. Sat-Chi reached the top of the BWF rankings in October 2023 and became the only Indian doubles pair to do so. The shuttlers won three BWF titles this year and got a new nickname from their fans: ‘Brothers of Destruction’. Apart from their BWF tours, the doubles pair scripted history by winning India’s first badminton gold medal at the Asian Games, along with the Badminton Asia Championships.
By the end of the year, the pair also got nominated for the prestigious Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna for their immense and invaluable contributions to the sport.
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Neeraj Chopra
Tokyo Olympics gold medalist Neeraj Chopra had another feather to his cap as he clinched the World Athletics Championships at Budapest 2023. Having settled for silver in the 2022 edition in Oregon, the victory tasted sweeter than ever for Chopra. With the yellow metal, the ‘Golden Boy’ became the only Indian to win a gold in the last 19 editions of the tournament. Chopra now holds wins in almost all major tournaments in the sport. At the World Championships, Chopra was followed by Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem after he fell short of 35 cm with his 88.17m mark.
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Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa
Indian chess Grandmaster Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa became the youngest player to reach the FIDE World Cup final in August 2023 at 18. Praggnanandhaa clinched triumph over No. 2 Hikaru Nakamura and world No. 3 Fabiano Caruana. With his feat, Praggnanandhaa became only the second Indian chess player to make it to the top two of the prestigious tournament, after Vishwanathan Anand. Although the Indian youngster lost the final round against the four-time world champion and his idol, the Norwegian Grandmaster Magnus Carlsen, playing the final helped him secure a berth in the Candidates tournament 2024.
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Rohan Bopanna
2023 proved to be an eventful year for the Indian tennis icon Rohan Bopanna, who reached his ninth Men’s Doubles semifinal at the ATP Tour this season. The 43-year-old became the oldest male player to reach the Grand Slam final setting a world record as he and his Australian partner Matthew Ebden played the US Open 2023 final.
However, the Indian-Australian duo couldn’t win the title as they were beaten by the defending champions Joe Salisbury and Rajeev Ram. At the start of the year, Bopanna was ranked 19th in the world, but as of November 2023, the Indian veteran managed to secure the third spot in the rankings. Bopanna broke into the top 10 for the first time since 2016.
