Greatest Indian Women Athlete

[rajitghosh]

Just travel through China. Look at the number of public badminton courts and the number of people playing. You'll be amazed. Even I have played at 1 such sports centre. Tennis courts are not that easy to find though not totally absent. Actually, the same applies for table tennis in China.
For the Chinese, badminton and table tennis are their main exercise.
I have travelled extensively in Indonesia also. There also badminton is extremely popular and Prakash Padukone is a household name. Maybe Saina is not that well known because the Indonesian women are not so strong in badminton.
I doubt how many Indian sportspeople outside of cricketers in cricket playing countries would have that kind of recognition. Maybe Anand to some extent and Vijay Amritraj partly for tennis, partly for movies.

[Atithee]

A somewhat unscientific study on how many people play different sports.

http://www.topendsports.com/world/lists ... /final.htm

Here is one that takes many factors into account but I find it wonky:

https://www.google.com/amp/sporteology. ... world/amp/

[jaydeep]

Done. Have to check how to create a poll.

I have created the poll ... Tell me, if you want any change in it or add/ remove any names.

[suresh]

I have created the poll ... Tell me, if you want any change in it or add/ remove any names.

Include an option for other -- that should do. People can mention who the other might be in a post below.

[sameerph]

Thanks, Jaydeep. Saina, Sindhu and Sania are top 3 for me. On consistency of her achievements, I have cast my vote for Saina. Sindhu should overtake her though by the time she finishes her career. Sania is close third for me.

[jaydeep]

Include an option for other -- that should do. People can mention who the other might be in a post below.

Done. Member needs to mentioned athlete name in his post if he selects 'Other' in the poll.

Also, sorry as I have added new option 'Other' in the poll. Our poll counter is reset so friends you need to re-vote.

[PKBasu]

I voted for Sania, although Pusarla V Sindhu is a very close second for me (with her Olympic silver). I picked Sania simply because women's tennis is the biggest women's sport in the world (just ahead of the new competitor, women's golf). And Saina would be third in my book.
In terms of pure athleticism, Deepa Karmakar has to be considered, but gymnastics has so many sub-disciplines -- and she would surely have figured in the top-3 for me if she had actually won a medal. In terms of achievement relative to what the rest of the nation has done in that sport, Deepa and Sania are almost on par.

[Prashant]

FOUR votes for Dipa Karmakar? Who are these guys, can one or more of you please explain your rationale?

[Prashant]

This is only very tangentially related, but after using the word "guys" in my last post, I came to wonder, if there are any female members on here? Or is sportsindia an exclusively male space?

[prasen9]

Sin Hombre is not a man --- literally Dipa Karmakar is a worthy candidate. Do you know how hard it is to do a Produnova? She is one of the very few candidates who can do it. Also, she is coached by some guy called Bishwanath Guha in Tripura! And, from there they are competing with the American gymnastics machinery, which not only has fantastic facilities, health and mental coaches, but, also systematically takes advantage of loopholes such as medical exemptions for their top gymnasts (similar to the case when 97% of all top cyclists used to have asthma; Biles takes these meds under prescription). Given all these obstacles, that Dipa is that good is anything but a miracle. Our gymnastics coaching and support community is way less world-class than our tennis community. Dipa is just a freak of nature. Olympic #4 is more of a miracle than Sania missing a bronze.

And, I did not vote for Dipa. I voted for Sindhu. But, I fully see why someone would think Dipa is the best we have ever produced.

[Atithee]

Allow me to ask a question here. If we were listing, say the same number of men for a similar post, would Leander, Mahesh, Rohan even make it to the list?

Also, didn't PKB post about a lady who actually won some titles or did much better at slams in the 50s? We suffer from the contemporary syndrome like all generations do. Perhaps there are other older sports-women? I would include Shanta Rangaswamy in this list but wouldn't vote for her. I'm still questioning what greatness we are voting for? Athletic prowess, results, or other considerations that have not much to do with athletic ability?

[arjun2761]

Leander most likely! Besides being a borderline HOFer for his doubles exploits, he is one of very few Indian individual medalists at the Olympics! Rohan -- absolutely not as he hasn't won a GS yet IIRC. Mahesh should enter the discussion although his inclusion would depend on the size of the list (there should several ahead of him). I would put Vijay Amritraj, Ramesh Krishnan, and Ramanathan Krishnan ahead of Mahesh among tennis players.

BTW, on Dipa, I do think she should be consideration list but has not been elite long enough to get my vote. If she can add to her 4th place Olympics finish with another Olympics or WC medal, then I could switch my vote to her.

Also, didn't PKB post about a lady who actually won some titles or did much better at slams in the 50s?

I think you are referring to someone who made or won a JUNIOR GS final. I doubt if anyone in their right mind would equate a junior slam to a mens or womens slam. No one would suggest that Yuki's 2 junior GS slams puts him in the same league as Andy Murray or Stan Wawrinka.

[prashanthm]

No one would suggest that Yuki's 2 junior GS slams puts him in the same league as Andy Murray or Stan Wawrinka.

Yuki did not win two Jr. Slam titles, only one - 2009 AO Jr.

[Atithee]

their right mind would equate a junior slam to a mens or womens slam. No one would suggest that Yuki's 2 junior GS slams puts him in the same league as Andy Murray or Stan Wawrinka.

I meant we can't forget Reita Faria when all we know about is Sushmita Sen or Priyanka Chopra.

[Varma]

I meant we can't forget Reita Faria when all we know about is Sushmita Sen or Priyanka Chopra.

Spot on!

- Varma