Indian Women in Sports: Firsts, Champions and Facts

The correct answer is B, Karnam Malleswari. She won the bronze medal in the sixty-nine kilogram class in weightlifting at the Sydney Olympics in 2000, the first Olympic medal by an Indian woman in any sport. Option A is wrong, although P. T. Usha came closest before her: at Los Angeles in 1984 she finished fourth in the four hundred metres hurdles, losing the bronze by one hundredth of a second. Option C is wrong because Mary Kom's Olympic bronze in boxing came at London in 2012, twelve years after Malleswari. Option D is wrong because Mirabai Chanu won her weightlifting silver at Tokyo in 2020; she is India's second woman weightlifting medallist, not the first. The pairing to remember is weightlifting with Sydney 2000 for the first, and weightlifting with Tokyo 2020 for the next.

The correct answer is B, Bachendri Pal, who reached the summit on 23 May 1984 with an Indian expedition and was honoured with the Padma Shri and later the Padma Bhushan. Option A is wrong because Santosh Yadav came later and is remembered for climbing Everest twice, in 1992 and 1993, the first woman in the world to do so. Option C is wrong because Premlata Agarwal, who climbed in 2011, is known as the oldest Indian woman to summit Everest at the time of her climb. Option D is wrong because Arunima Sinha, who climbed in 2013, is celebrated as the first woman amputee to summit Everest. All four names belong to the same story, so attach each to its own first: Pal the first Indian woman, Yadav the first twice, Agarwal the oldest and Sinha the first amputee.

The correct answer is C, 400 metres hurdles. P. T. Usha finished fourth in that final at Los Angeles in 1984, behind the bronze medallist by one hundredth of a second, the narrowest miss by any Indian athlete at the Olympic Games. Option A is wrong because she was a sprinter over two hundred metres early in her career but her Olympic near miss was not in that event. Option B is wrong because the flat four hundred metres is the event in which Kamaljit Sandhu had won the Asian Games gold in 1970, and it is a common swap in question papers. Option D is wrong because the long jump belongs to Anju Bobby George, who won India's first world championship medal in athletics in 2003. Keep the detail that makes the question: hurdles, 1984, fourth place by a hundredth of a second.

The correct answer is A, long jump in 2003. Anju Bobby George won the bronze in the long jump at the World Athletics Championships in Paris in 2003, the first medal won by any Indian, man or woman, at those championships. Option B is wrong because she competed in the long jump, not the triple jump, although she began in the triple jump early in her career. Option C is wrong because the year is 2003; in 2005 she won the World Athletics Final, which is a different competition and often used as a distractor. Option D is wrong on both counts, since the event was the long jump and no Indian won a medal at the 2001 championships. Pair this with the Asian Games and Commonwealth Games medals she also won, and remember that her husband Robert Bobby George was her coach.

The correct answer is C, Sakshi Malik, who won the bronze in the fifty-eight kilogram freestyle category at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in 2016, coming back from behind in the last seconds of her bout. Option A is wrong, although Geeta Phogat holds two other firsts: she was the first Indian woman wrestler to win a Commonwealth Games gold, at Delhi in 2010, and the first to qualify for the Olympic Games, in 2012. Option B is wrong because Vinesh Phogat is a Commonwealth and Asian Games gold medallist and a world championship medallist, but the Olympic first belongs to Sakshi Malik. Option D is wrong because Babita Kumari is a Commonwealth Games gold medallist without an Olympic medal. The safe rule is that for wrestling the Olympic first is Malik and the Commonwealth first is Geeta Phogat.

The correct answer is B, Mary Kom. She won the world amateur championship in 2002, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2010 and 2018, six titles in all, which earned her the name Magnificent Mary, and she added an Olympic bronze in the fifty-one kilogram class at London in 2012. Option A is wrong because Lovlina Borgohain is a world championship bronze medallist and the winner of an Olympic bronze at Tokyo in 2020, not a six-time world champion. Option C is wrong because Nikhat Zareen is a world champion but with a smaller number of titles. Option D is wrong because L. Sarita Devi won the world title in 2006 and several Asian titles, but one world championship, not six. The number six with the name Mary Kom is the fact the paper wants.

The correct answer is B, Saina Nehwal, who won the bronze in the women's singles at the London Olympics in 2012, the first Olympic medal in badminton for India; in 2015 she also became the first Indian woman to reach the world number one ranking in the sport. Option A is wrong because P. V. Sindhu came next, with a silver at Rio de Janeiro in 2016 and a bronze at Tokyo in 2020, which makes her the first Indian woman with two Olympic medals, a different record. Option C is wrong because Jwala Gutta is a doubles specialist with Commonwealth Games gold and a world championship bronze, but no Olympic medal. Option D is wrong for the same reason in the case of Ashwini Ponnappa. Keep the two badminton firsts apart: Nehwal the first medal, Sindhu the first two medals and the 2019 world title.

The correct answer is B, Arati Saha, who crossed the English Channel in 1959 and became the first Asian woman to do so; in 1960 she also became the first Indian sportswoman to be awarded the Padma Shri. Option A is wrong because Bula Choudhury, also a swimmer from Bengal, swam the Channel later and is known for crossing the seven seas, a separate achievement. Option C is wrong because Mihir Sen was a man, the first Indian to swim the English Channel, in 1958, and the distractor works only if the question is read carelessly. Option D is wrong because Nilima Ghose was an athlete, one of the first two Indian women to compete at the Olympic Games, at Helsinki in 1952, and not a swimmer. Remember the pair of years: Mihir Sen in 1958 and Arati Saha in 1959.

The correct answer is A, Koneru Humpy, who earned the Grandmaster title in 2002 as a teenager and went on to win the world women's rapid chess championship in 2019. Option B is wrong because S. Vijayalakshmi was a pioneer of Indian women's chess and the first Indian woman to become an International Master, a title one step below Grandmaster. Option C is wrong because Tania Sachdev holds the International Master and Woman Grandmaster titles and is well known as a player and commentator, but she is not the first Grandmaster. Option D is wrong because Harika Dronavalli, a multiple world championship bronze medallist, took the Grandmaster title after Humpy. Note the trap in this chapter: the Woman Grandmaster title is different from the open Grandmaster title, and questions turn on that difference.

The correct answer is B, Kamaljit Sandhu, who won the four hundred metres at the Asian Games in Bangkok in 1970 and became the first Indian woman to win an individual gold at those Games. Option A is wrong because P. T. Usha's Asian Games haul came later, including four golds at Seoul in 1986, by which time the first had already been achieved. Option C is wrong because Shiny Wilson, a fine middle distance runner and relay runner of the same era as Usha, is remembered for Asian championship titles and for carrying the Indian flag at the Olympics. Option D is wrong because Kamalpreet Kaur is a discus thrower of a much later generation. The fact worth storing is the triple of name, event and year: Kamaljit Sandhu, four hundred metres, 1970.