Top 10 all-time sportsperson (men) of India

dhyan chand 1

1-Dhyan ''Chand'' Singh (Hockey):

Dhyan Chand was an Indian field hockey player, widely regarded as the greatest player of all time. A legendary center-forward, he is remembered for his goal-scoring feats, first as a player and later as captain. Chand won 3 Olympic gold medals (1928 Amsterdam, 1932 Los Angeles, and 1936 Berlin).

Even today, Dhyan Chand remains a legendary figure in Indian and world hockey. His astounding skills have been glorified in various apocryphal stories and anecdotes. A number such legends revolve around the fact that Singh had a magical control over dribbling the ball. August 29, Chand''s birthday, is celebrated as National Sports Day in India. The President gives away sport-related awards such as the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, Arjuna Award and Dronacharya Award on this day at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.

India''s highest award for lifetime achievement in sports is the Dhyan Chand Award which has been awarded annually from 2002 to sporting figures who not only contribute through their performance but also contribute to the sport after their retirement. Dhyan Chand holds record for the most international goals, i.e. more than 1000. 

tendulkar copy2- Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar(Cricket)

Sachin Tendulkar is an Indian cricketer widely regarded as one of the greatest batsmen in the history of cricket. He is the leading run-scorer and century maker in Test and one-day international cricketHe is the only male player to score a double century in the history of ODI cricket. In 2002, just 12 years into his career, Wisden ranked him the second greatest Test batsman of all time, behind Donald Bradman, and the second greatest one-day-international (ODI) batsman of all time, behind Viv Richards. Tendulkar was an integral part of the 2011 Cricket World Cup winning Indian team his first such win in six World Cup appearances with India.

He now has 99 centuries in international cricket. Tendulkar passed 30,000 runs in international cricket on 20 November 2009. Tendulkar has been honoured with the Padma Vibhushan award, India''s second highest civilian award, and the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award, India''s highest sporting honor. Tendulkar became the first sportsperson and the first personality without an aviation background to be awarded the honorary rank of Group Captain by the Indian Air Force. He has received honorary doctorates from Mysore University and Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences He won the 2010 Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for cricketer of the year at the ICC awards.

13 anand 5003- Viswanathan Anand (Chess)

Anand is an Indian chess Grandmaster, the World Chess Champion, and highest rated player in the world. He held the FIDE World Chess Championship from 2000 to 2002. He became the undisputed World Champion in 2007 and defended his title against Vladimir Kramnik in 2008. He then successfully defended his title in the World Chess Championship 2010 against Veselin Topalov.

Anand is one of six players in history to break the 2800 mark on the FIDE rating list, and in April 2007 at the age of 37, he became the world number-one for the first time. In October 2008, he dropped out of the world top three ranking for the first time since July 1996. Anand officially regained the world number one ranking on November 1, 2010, after having defeated the reigning world #1 Magnus Carlsen .Anand became India''s first grandmaster in 1987. He was also the first recipient of the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award in 1991–92, India''s highest sporting honor. In 2007, he was awarded India''s second highest civilian award, the Padma Vibhushan, making him the first sportsperson to receive the award in Indian history.Anand is the only player to have won the world chess championships in many formats including Knockout, Tournament, Match, Rapid and Blitz.

leander paes isn4- Leander Adrian Peas (Tennis):

Leander is an Indian professional tennis player Won 1990 Wimbledon Junior title and ranked as the No. 1 junior player in the world at one time before finishing No. 2.Father, Vece, was a member of the bronze medal Indian field hockey team in the 1972 Munich Olympics, and mother, Jennifer, was a captain of the basketball team. Won singles bronze in 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games.He Carried Indian flag during opening ceremonies of 2000 Sydney Olympics. He has made the most number of appearances at the Olympics by an Asian athlete.

He is the recipient of India''s highest sporting honour, the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award in 1996–1997, the Arjuna Award in 1990, and the Padma Shri award in 2001 for his outstanding contribution to tennis in India.Apart from his twelve Grand Slam victories at doubles and mixed doubles events, he is famous for his several memorable Davis Cup performances playing for India and also for winning a bronze medal for India in the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games. He also achieved the rare Men''s Doubles/Mixed Doubles double during the 1999 Wimbledon. 

pullela gopichand5- Pullela Gopichand (Badminton):

Gopichand is an Indian Badminton player.He won the All England Open Badminton Championships in 2001 defeating Chen Hong of China in the finals by 15-12,15-6. He became the second Indian to achieve this feat after Prakash Padukone, who won it in 1980. He was awarded the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award for the year 2001. But later on, his game was affected due to injuries and his ranking dropped to 126 in the year 2003. In 2005, he was awarded the Padma Shri. He is now a very renowned coach who received the Dronacharya Award and is the main force behind the emergence of Saina Nehwal. 

In the year 1996 he grabbed a Gold Medal in the SAARC Badminton Tournament held at Vijayawada, and repeated the victory in the same tournament held at Colombo in 1997. At the Commonwealth Games.In the year 2001, when he recreated the history by winning the prestigious 2001 All England Open Badminton Championships at London. He got Arjuna Award in the year 1999. Further in 2001, he was bestowed upon the highest Indian honour in the field of sports, the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award. In the year 2005, he was conferred the Padma Shri Award. He received the Dronacharya Award on 29 August 2009 for his contribution to Indian badminton as a coach. 

abhinavbindra6- Abhinav Singh Bindra (Shooting):

Abhnav Bindra is an Indian shooter. By winning the gold in the 10 m Air Rifle event at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, he became the first Indian to win an individual gold medal at the Olympic Games and India''s first gold medal since 1980, when the Men''s Field Hockey Team won the gold.Bindra came into limelight by winning a bronze medal in the 2001 Munich World Cup, with a new junior world record score of 597/600 .Bindra won six gold medals at various international meets in the European Circuit in 2001, which proved to be a purple patch for him. He was conferred the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award for the year 2001. In the 2002 Manchester Commonwealth Games, competing in the Air rifle event, Abhinav Bindra bagged Gold medal in the Pairs event and won the Silver medal in the individual event.


However, on 24 July 2006, he became the first Indian shooter to win a World Championship gold in Zagreb, which was second to Dr. Karni Singh''s, who won a silver medal in 1962 in a World Championship meet. At the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games, he bagged the Gold in the Pairs event, while managed to acquire the third position (bronze) in the Singles event.In 2000, he received Arjuna Award, while in 2001 he was entitled to Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, India''s highest sports award. In 2009, he bagged one of the India''s most prestigious civilian award - Padma Bhushan.  

vijender singh7-Vijender Singh Beniwal(Boxing):

Vijender  an Olympic Medalist Indian boxer. At the 2006 Asian Games in Doha, he won the bronze medal after losing the semifinal bout against Kazakhstan''s Bakhtiyar Artayev. At the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics, he defeated Carlos Góngora of Ecuador 9–4 in the quarterfinals which guaranteed him a bronze medal—the first ever Olympic medal for an Indian boxer.

After this historic win, Vijender was given a number of awards, including the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award—India''s highest sporting honour. In 2009, he participated at the World Amateur Boxing Championships where he won the bronze medal. In the same year, the International Boxing Association (AIBA) announced Vijender as the top-ranked boxer in its annual middleweight category list with 2800 points. He is credited for bringing back the sport of boxing into the limelight in India.

kapil dev8- Kapil Dev (Cricket):

Kapil Dev is a former cricketer. He captained the Indian cricket team which won the 1983 Cricket World Cup. He was named as the Indian Cricketer of the Century in 2002 by Wisden. Kapil was a right-arm pace bowler noted for his graceful action and potent out swinger, and was India''s main strike bowler for most of his career. He also developed a fine in swinging Yorker during the 1980s, which he used very effectively against tail-enders.

As a batsman, he was a natural striker of the ball who could hook and drive effectively. A naturally aggressive player, he often helped India in difficult situations by taking the attack to the opposition. Nicknamed The Haryana Hurricane, he represented the Haryana cricket team in domestic cricket. He retired in 1994, holding the world record for the most number of wickets taken in Test cricket, a record subsequently broken by Courtney Walsh in 2000. At the time, he was also India''s highest wicket taker in both major forms of cricket, Tests and ODIs). He is the only player in the history of cricket to have taken more than 400 wickets and scored more than 5,000 runs in test cricket, making him one of the greatest all-rounders to have played the game. He was awarded with Padma Shri in 1982 and Padma Bhushan in 1992.On 8 March 2010, Kapil Dev was inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame.  

Udham Singh9- Udham Singh (Hockey):

Udham Singh was an Indian Hockey player known to be one of the finest Hockey players India has ever produced., Singh had played 1952 Summer Olympics Helsinki, 1956 Summer Olympics Melbourne, 1960 Summer Olympics Rome and 1964 Summer Olympics Tokyo as a member of Indian Hockey team and won three gold and a silver medals (set an Olympic record for a player in the Olympic Field Hockey competition). Udham has been the second Hockey player in the history of the game to have been able to grab 3 Gold Medals and 1 Silver Medal in Olympic events. 

He was an amazing Half Back and had the adaptability to play excellently from Left Inside, Right Inside, Center Forward and Center Half positions as well. To felicitate the legendry services and contribution of Udham Singh towards the game of Hockey, the Government of India honored him with the Arjuna Award in the year 1965. Udham Singh also served as the Coach of the Indian Hockey team and successfully got the team a Silver Medal at London Olympics 1967 and Bangkok Asian Games 1970. 

sushilkumarleads10- Sushil Kumar Solanki (Wrestling):

Sushil Kumar is an Indian World Champion wrestler who won the gold medal in the 66 kg freestyle competition at the FILA 2010 World Wrestling Championships and a bronze medal in the Men''s 66kg Freestyle Wrestling event at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Kumar defeated Leonid Spiridonov of Kazakhstan in the repechage round to win the bronze. This was the third medal for India at the Beijing Olympics.

This was also the second medal for India in wrestling, and the first since K D Jadhav''s bronze medal at the 1952 Helsinki Olympic Games.

Sushil Kumar was awarded the Arjuna Award in 2006. On July 2009, he received the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna - India''s highest honor for sportspersons. On 3 October 2010, Sushil Kumar was the final baton bearer who handed the Queen''s Baton to Prince Charles in the Queen''s Baton Relay for the 2010 Commonwealth Games Opening Ceremony.

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