IBNS-CMEDIA: At a time when India is basking in the glory of the men’s T20 World Cup triumph, the country’s women athletes are steadily making their mark across multiple sporting disciplines, raising hopes of bringing home more laurels in the years ahead.
While the men recently lifted the T20 World Cup, the women’s cricket team had already given the cricket-crazy nation plenty to cheer about last year with their own World Cup triumph.
Beyond cricket, 2026 has so far been encouraging for Indian women in other sports as well. In hockey, India has booked a semi-final clash against Hyderabad in the FIH Women’s World Cup Qualifiers, keeping alive hopes of clinching the title in the coming days.
On their path to the last four, India defeated Wales convincingly by a 4–1 margin to top Pool B, finishing ahead of Scotland, who earlier beat Uruguay.
In the match against Wales, Navneet Kaur emerged as the star performer, scoring a brilliant hat-trick to guide India to victory.
The nation will now wait a few more days to see whether the team can go all the way to lift the title or at least deliver a strong performance against some of the best teams in world hockey.
Squash prodigy Anahat Singh
Young squash sensation Anahat Singh is rapidly emerging as one of the brightest prospects in Indian squash. She has already claimed an impressive nine PSA Challenger titles out of the 11 tournaments she has participated in.
Currently ranked World No. 20, Singh has now set her sights on the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics and hopes to secure qualification by winning the women’s singles gold medal at the 2026 Asian Games in Japan later this year.
Speaking to Sportstar in a virtual interview on Wednesday, Anahat expressed confidence about her chances.
“I’m really, really looking forward to it. Going into the Asian Games will be very different from any other tournament. If I win this event, I will get automatic selection for the Olympics, which is everyone’s dream. I’m going to push myself as much as I can and train as hard as possible to try to win the gold,” she said.
Young boxer shines
Meanwhile, competing in the World Boxing Futures Cup 2026, young Indian boxer Joyshree Devi Chirom registered a dominant victory after the referee stopped the contest (RSC) against her opponent from Tajikistan.
The bout ended early in the second round of the women’s 54kg category.
Joyshree is part of the Indian youth boxing squad that also includes Ambekar Meetei Lairenlakpam and Sahil Duhan.
The male members of the team also impressed, registering 5–0 unanimous decision victories over their opponents from the Philippines and China, respectively.
