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Indian sports had some outstanding performances in different disciplines this year. Though the country is still far from becoming a sporting superpower, 2003 could potentially be seen as the year that India finally turned the corner.
The top five sports achievers this year are listed below.
Who do you think is/are the best?
Vote in the poll below and pick your Achiever of the Year:
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Vishwanathan Anand is a beacon for chess in India. The most engaging quality about Anand is his spirit; he never gives up. The year 2003 saw him return to top form after a lacklustre showing in 2002.
Anand lived up to his reputation of being the best rapid chess player in the world by claiming the World Rapid Chess Championship, defeating Vladimir Kramnik in the final. The Corsica Masters (he won it for the fourth time in seven years), the Mainz Rapid Chess Classic (he defended his title against Judith Polgar), the 12th Amber (the first player ever to win three unshared titles, beating Kramnik's record of two unshared and two shared titles) and the 2003 Corus crowns were all added to his showcase during the year.
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Arjun Atwal became the first player in Asian PGA Tour history to move past $1 million in career earnings. The 31 year-old is on track for the 2003 Asian Order of Merit with just two events to go. His season's earnings amount to $282,194.58.
The Kolkata-based pro also became the first Indian to qualify for the US PGA Tour. The Indian got his playing card for the 2004 season of the PGA Tour after a fine showing in the Qualifying School tournament in which he finished tied-seventh.
In February, Atwal claimed a commanding four-shot victory at the Carlsberg Malaysian Open for his second triumph on the European Tour. He held off world number 5 Retief Goosen to win at 24 under.
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Anju Bobby George (left) created history in Paris in August when she became the first Indian athlete ever to win a medal, a bronze, at the World Athletics Championships.
George clinched third place in the women's long jump on her fifth attempt with a leap of 6.70 metres, just 4cm under her personal best. No Indian athlete -- not P T Usha, not Milkha Singh -- had won a medal at a comparable world athletics event before Anju.
She is currently ranked sixth in the IAAF world standings. The Chennai-based Kerala athlete went on to add the Afro-Asian Games gold to her list of achievements this year.
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Pankaj Advani beat second seed Saleh Mohammad of Pakistan to win the World Snooker Championship in Jiangmen, China. The 19 year-old cueist from Bangalore turned in a sterling display after an erratic start to beat the experienced 30 year-old Pakistani in the best-of-21 frames final. The players were level 5-5 at the end of the first session, but Advani displayed precision-potting in the second period to run away with the match.
Advani, who is India's youngest-ever national champion, is only the second Indian to win the prestigious crown after the late Om Agarwal, back in 1984.
Advani also reached the quarter-finals of the World Junior Snooker Championships and the pre-quarter-finals of the World Billiards Championships last month in Hyderabad.
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The Indian hockey team has been a source of pride this year. It won the Asia Cup for the first time, beating Pakistan 4-2 in the final in Kuala Lumpur. The youngsters in the team -- Gagan Ajit Singh, Viren Rasquinha and Deepak Thakur, to mention a few -- were the driving force behind the triumph.
Later the team went on to win the Afro-Asian Games in Hyderabad.
The team, coached by Rajinder Singh, had an impressive start to the season, winning four-nation tournaments in Sydney and Hamburg in May-June. A fourth place in the Champions Trophy also ensured a berth in the next edition of the tournament.
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