On account of National Sports Day, let us thank all the sports persons who made our Telugu land proud. Here's the list of all our Telugu players from various fields.
FOOTBALL: Sunil Chhetri He is both the most-capped player, and all-time top goalscorer for the India national team, with 54 goals in 94 appearances. He is also the current captain of the national team.
Peter Thangaraj Played two Olympics for India - 1956, 1960. Was also voted as Asia’s best goalkeeper in 1958
Tulasidas Balaram
He is widely regarded as one of the greatest football strikers India has ever produced. He was one of the best players of the golden age of Indian football during 1950 - 1960.
VOLLEYBALL: Y Subba Rao He was the first Indian volleyball coach to qualify as FIVB Instructor in the German Democratic Republic in 1986 and went on to conduct the International Coaches Courses in India and abroad.
HOCKEY: Mukesh kumar He represented India in three Olympics - 1992,1996,2000
CRICKET: Mohammad Azharuddin He is the only cricketer with the distinction of scoring a century in his first three tests.
V V S Laxman One of the finest and classic batsman, best known for defence during crucial situations. He is noted most for his batting against Australia, in both Tests and One Day Internationals.
Mithali Raj Though she was born at Jodhpur and Tamilan by birth, she lives in Hyderabad. She is the highest run-scorer in women's international cricket and the only female cricketer to surpass the 6,000 run mark in ODIs.She is the first player to score 7 consecutive 50s in ODIs.Raj is the first captain (men or women) to lead India to an ICC ODI World Cup final twice -2005 and 2017.
BADMINTON: Pullela Gopi Chand He is the Chief National Coach for the Indian Badminton team. He won the All England Open Badminton Championships in 2001 becoming the second Indian to achieve this feat. He is also known for training Indian Olympian PV Sindhu, Saina Nehwal and many others.
Saina Nehwal Though she is Haryanvi, she settled in Hyderabad. She's the first and only Indian women player to achieve first rank in BWF rankings. She is the only Indian to have won at least a medal in every BWF major individual event, namely the Olympics, the BWF World Championships, and the BWF World Junior Championships.
P V Sindhu: She is the first and only Indian woman to win an Olympic Silver medal and World Championship Silver Medal
TENNIS: Sania Mirza She is the most successful female Indian tennis player ever and one of the highest-paid and high-profile female athletes in the country.
CHESS: Koneru Humpy: She is India's one of the most successful chess player (WGM).
WEIGHT LIFTING: Karnam Malleshwari She is the first woman in the history of Indian Olympics to win a medal. She won bronze medal for India in 2000 Olympics – Women's 69 kg category.
SWIMMING: Shamsher Khan: Shamsher Khan is the first Indian swimmer who represented India in 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne. Khan made a national record in 200-meter butterfly in 1954 and broke all records at the national meet in Bangalore in 1955.
MOUNTAINEERING: Malli Mastan Babu He is the first Indian and South Asian to climb all seven summits, the first Indian to climb Vinson Massif and the first Indian to climb Carstensz Pyramid.
WRESTLING: Kodi Rammurthy Naidu He earned enormous respect for India in the field of wrestling. He was awarded with the title of 'Kaliyuga Bhima' by the King George V of the United Kingdom.
