India's greatest sporting achievements since independence

India has made long strides in sports since achieving freedom at the stroke of midnight on August 15, 1947. As India celebrates its 74th independence day, here's a look at the moments in sports post-independence that have made the country proud.

1948 – India’s first post-independence Olympic hockey gold. (The Hindu Photo Archives)

1950 – Abdul Bari reaches the British Open squash final, where he lost to Egyptian Mahmoud Karim. (The Hindu Photo Archives)

1951 – India hosts the Asian Games, its first major sporting event after independence. (The Hindu Photo Archives)

1951 – India wins the Asian Games football gold medal, repeating this achievement in 1962. (The Hindu Photo Archives)

1952 – Wrestler Kashaba Jadhav claims bronze at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics, India’s first individual Olympic medal.

1958 – Lila Ram becomes the first Indian wrestler to bag a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games. (The Hindu Photo Archives)

1960 – Track and field athlete Milkha Singh broke the 400m Olympic record but eventually lost the bronze by 0.1 second. The Flying Sikh won gold at the Asian Games in 1958 and 1962. (The Hindu Photo Archives)

1960 – Tennis player Ramanathan Krishnan reaches the semifinals in the men’s singles category at Wimbledon in 1960. The effort was replicated in 1961. (The Hindu Photo Archives)

1962 – Padam Bahadur Mall wins boxing gold at the Asian Games in Jakarta, becoming the first Indian boxer to do so. (The Hindu Photo Archives)

1975 – India wins its first Hockey World Cup with a 2-1 victory over Pakistan in Malaysia. (The Hindu Photo Archives)

1980 – Shuttler Prakash Padukone becomes the first Indian to win the All England Badminton Title. (The Hindu Photo Archives)

1983 - In 1983, Kapil Dev's Team India beat the mighty West Indies to clinch the cricket World Cup for the first time. Twenty eight years later, in 2011, M.S. Dhoni led India to its second World Cup victory with a win against Sri Lanka in the final. (The Hindu Photo Archives/ K.R.Deepak)

1986 – Track and field athlete P.T. Usha wins one silver and four gold medals at the Seoul Asian Games. (The Hindu Photo Archives)

1996 – Leander Paes wins the bronze medal at the Atlanta Olympics, after losing to Andre Agassi in the semifinals. (The Hindu Photo Archives)

1997 – Mahesh Bhupathi, Paes' contemporary, wins the French Open mixed doubles, partnering Japan’s Rika Hiraki, to become the first Indian to win a Grand Slam title. (The Hindu Photo Archives)

1999 – Paes and Bhupathi reach the finals of the men’s doubles in all four Grand Slams and the ATP Masters, winning the French Open and Wimbledon. (The Hindu Photo Archives)

Photo: S.Subramanium

1999 – Leg-spinner Anil Kumble takes all 10 wickets in an innings against Pakistan in Delhi, conceding just 74 runs. (S.Subramanium)

2000 – Weightlifter Karnam Malleswari bags a bronze at the Olympics, becoming the first Indian woman to win an Olympic medal. (The Hindu Photo Archives)

2000 – Viswanathan Anand wins the FIDE World Chess Championship, becoming the first Indian to do so. He held on to the title till 2013, defending it three times in that period. (The Hindu Photo Archives)

2003 – Anju Bobby George creates history by becoming the first Indian medallist at the World Athletics Championship. She claimed a long jump bronze in Paris. (AP)

Photo: Vino John

2004 – Shooter Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore wins the silver medal at the Athens Olympic Games, India’s first silver in an individual event at the Olympics. (Vino John)

Photo: G.P. Sampath Kumar

2005 – Cueist Pankaj Advani wins the IBSF World Billiards Championships in Malta. (G.P. Sampath Kumar)

2005 – Narain Karthikeyan becomes the first Formula One driver from India. (AFP)

Photo: REUTERS

2007 – Yuvraj Singh smashes six sixes in an over in a T20 World Cup match against England. (Reuters)

2007 – India wins the inaugural T20 World Cup, defeating Pakistan in the final. (Getty Images)

2008 – Abhinav Bindra wins gold in the men’s 10m air rifle shooting competition at the Beijing Olympics, making him the first Indian to win an individual gold medal at the Olympics. (Getty Images)

2008 – Wrestler Sushil Kumar wins the bronze medal at the Beijing Olympics. He bettered this achievement four years later, when he clinched silver. (AP)

2009 – Saina Nehwal becomes the first Indian woman to win a Super Series Tournament, defeating China’s Lin Wan in Jakarta. (AP)

2012 – Sachin Tendulkar becomes the first batsman to score 100 international centuries. (AP)

2014 – Mary Kom, five time world champion and Olympic bronze medallist, returns to boxing after a two-year break, and wins her first Asian Games gold medal. (AP)

2015 - Sania Mirza became the first Indian woman to rank world no.1 in doubles, after her doubles victory with Martina Hingis at the Family Circle Cup. They went on to win the Wimbledon, US Open and Australian Open(2016). (Getty Images)

2018 - Manika Batra wins four medals in table tennis at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, winning gold in both the women's singles and doubles. (Getty Images)

2018 - Hima Das wins gold at the IAAF World Under-20 Athletics Championships. (Getty Images)

2019 - P.V. Sindhu beats Japan’s Nozomi Okuhara to become the first Indian to win the BWF World Championships. (Reuters)

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1948 – India’s first post-independence Olympic hockey gold. (The Hindu Photo Archives)