The year that is about to end brought mixed results for Indian sportspersons. Some soared to glory, while there were also times when expectations fell face-first. Was 2025 then a successful year in Indian sports? It’s debatable.
What’s not debatable is the fact that this year, Indian women have achieved some glorious results in sports. They have scaled newer peaks, making quite a statement about their skills and dedication to win laurels for the country.
Here’s a flashback of some of those success stories:
Maiden glory
The one that tops the list is India Women making the nation proud with their first-ever world title in cricket, when they lifted their maiden ODI World Cup crown at home in November.
This was Harmanpreet Kaur and her teammates’ best chance to break the Cup jinx, but their tendency to falter in the semi-final and final of World Cups haunted them going into the competition. Then, losses to South Africa, Australia and England in the league phase threatened their early exit from the Cup.
However, with a bit of help from inclement weather, India Women managed to beat the New Zealanders and then brushed Bangladesh aside to confirm their place in the semi-finals. In the semis, few felt the Harmanpreet-led side had any chance of winning as they were up against the mighty Australians. And to make matters doubly difficult in the semis clash, India had to chase down a huge 339-run target.
If that wasn’t all, they had to do without in-form opener Pratika Rawal, who sustained an ankle injury during the Bangladesh game and was ruled out of the rest of the tournament. It seemed as if an all too familiar script was about to unfold as India had lost two early wickets in their run chase. But, Jemimah Rodrigues and skipper Harmanpreet hadn’t given up hope.
Yes, Jemimah enjoyed her slice of luck in the form of the dropped catches, but she kept slugging it out.
Even when their game-turning third-wicket partnership (of 167) was broken with the dismissal of Harmanpeet, who scored 89, Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh and Amanjot Kaur chipped in to assist the determined Jemimah, who braved anxiety and eventually took India to the final with her dream innings of 127 not out.
For India, beating the Australians for a berth in the final was a massive momentum gain. And they ensured never to lose it in the final against South Africa on November 2, winning the decider by 52 runs despite Laura Wolvaardt’s valiant 101.
Harmanpreet and Co.’s success not just ushered in a new era for women’s cricket in India, but also gave a fitting riposte to the years of neglect and taunts it had to endure from its own countrymen.
Queen’s move
Divya Deshmukh was a rank outsider when she went to the star-studded Fide Women’s World Cup in Batumi, Georgia. All she hoped for was to win at least one Grandmaster norm. But surprising one and all, the 20-year-old from Nagpur, on July 28, became the youngest to win the Women’s World Cup, outwitting compatriot Koneru Humpy in the tie-breaker.
In a span of around three weeks, Divya beat some of the best and biggest names in chess to achieve three major milestones — secure a spot in the Candidates tournament next year, win the prestigious title and in the process, automatically become a Grandmaster.
Target reset
Indian para archer Sheetal Devi achieved a historic milestone after being selected for the country’s able-bodied compound team to compete at the Archery Asia Cup Stage III in Jeddah, which was supposed to take place this month. Sheetal, though, had to wait for her international debut as the tournament was called off due to lack of entries and other reasons.
Her breakthrough followed selection trials held from November 3-6 at the Sports Authority of India’s National Centre of Excellence in Sonipat, where Sheetal finished third among more than 60 compound archers with a qualification score of 703. Born without arms, the 18-year-old from Jammu and Kashmir uses her legs and shoulders to draw and release the bow, which is her distinctive feature, bringing her both medals and admiration across the sport.
Earlier this year, she became the first woman without arms to win a para-world title, securing gold in the compound women’s event at the Gwangju World Archery Para Championships. She was also a bronze-medal winner in the mixed team compound event at the 2024 Paris Paralympics.
Golden punches
Nikhat Zareen and Jaismine Lamboria led India’s gold rush as the country’s pugilists finished with nine gold medals at the World Boxing Cup Finals in Greater Noida, which
concluded on November 20. India’s women pugilists won as many as seven of the nine gold medals.
On the final day of the competition, reigning women’s 48kg world champion Minakshi Hooda registered the first gold for India, beating Uzbek Fozilova Farzona. Preeti Pawar followed up with a unanimous decision win over Italy’s Sirine Charaabi in the women’s 54kg category.
Arundhati Choudhary and Nupur Sheoran also secured gold in the women’s 70kg and 80-plus-kg, beating Uzbek boxers Aziza Zokirova and Sotimboeva Oltinoy, respectively. Nikhat, thereafter, dominated Taiwan’s Yi-Xuan Guo 5-0 by a unanimous decision in the 51kg women’s final before Jaismine defeated Wu Shih-yi 4-1 in the 57kg decider.
Parveen Hooda edged out Japan’s Ayaka Taguchi by a 3-2 split decision to top the 60kg category.
Achieving goals
Amid all the turmoil and uncertainty in men’s football over whether the national league will take place or not, India’s women footballers brought some relief for the sport in the country.
The women’s team registered four wins, scored 27 goals and conceded just one to top group B and booked a berth in the 2026 AFC Women’s Asian Cup to be held in Australia.
On July 5, India beat a higher-ranked Thailand 2-1 in Chiang Mai to top the group and confirm their place in the battle for Asian supremacy. It will be India’s first appearance at the Asian Cup since 2022, when they participated as hosts but were forced to withdraw due to a Covid-19 outbreak in the squad.
The last time India qualified outright in the competition was in 2003, when the Qualifiers did not exist in the present format.
The junior women’s football team also made the country proud by qualifying for the U-20 and U-17 Asian Cups. The U-20 women secured qualification for next year’s Asian
Cup in Thailand for the first time in 20 years, defeating hosts Myanmar 1-0 in their final group D tie in Yangon on August 10.
The U-17 side qualified for the U-17 Asian Cup to be held in China next year with a 2-1 win over Uzbekistan in Bishkek on July 17, featuring in the tournament for the first time since 2005.