Like every public and private sphere, sports is dominated by gendered misconceptions. For example, when the Indian Cricket Team won the International Cricket Council (ICC) World Cup 2025, many hailed it as ‘a 1983 moment‘. Do note that the deliberate omission of the word ‘Women’, in the previous sentence, might have irked some readers and it shows the continued presumption of sports being a ‘males-only’ domain with women as the, ‘until mentioned otherwise’ clause.
The victory instantly became an example of “because we walked-you could run”, prompting veteran cricket player Sunil Gavaskar to promptly deny the claims and highlight the better record and performance of the women’s team. There is no denying of the impact of the ICC Men’s World Cup 1983’s on Indian sports, global stature, societal perception and access to athletics to millions in the country but in the context of history, each person scripts their own present and charts the future.
On this thought, we look back at 15 Indian sportswomen who captured the headlines and the nation’s heart in 2025:
1. Jaismine Lamboria
India placed first in the medal tally at the 2025 World Boxing Championship in Liverpool this October with Jaismine Lamboria becoming the World Champion. But this was not a solo feat as she was joined by the gold medalist Minakshi Hooda, silver medalist Nupur Sheoran and bronze medalist Pooja Rani.
The first woman boxer from the Indian Army and gold medalist at both the World Cup and World Championship, this under-25 Naib Subedar represented India in the women’s 57 kg category at the 2024 Paris Olympics. She represents India and the Indian Army and has claimed this title in the 57 kg (featherweight) category after winning the Boxing Cup Finals in Astana, earlier this year. Previously she secured the bronze medal in the 60 kg (lightweight) category at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
2. Jyothi Surekha Vennam
Securing India’s maiden medal at the World Cup Final, Jyothi Surekha Vennam became the first Indian woman compound archer to win a bronze in the competition at Nanjing after defeating world number 2. Having previously exited at the opening round itself, Jyothi’s resolve this time made her the first Indian woman to medal at the season ending finale.
A 2017 Arjuna awardee, she is one of the most decorated athletes of India with nine World Archery Championship medals including India’s first ever title in a team event in 2023, multiple golds in the 2022 Asian Games and two world records under her name. At the World Cup in Madrid she and Rishabh Yadav set a new mixed team world record and in 2023 she equalled the individual compound women’s qualification world record of 713.
3. Pooja (also known as Pooja Olla)
Clinching double-gold medals in both the 1500 m and 800 m running events at the Taiwan Athletics Open 2025, Pooja has had a breakthrough year. After having won silver and bronze in the same categories in the 26th Asian Athletics Championship in Gumi, South Korea earlier this year, she outdid herself. This is her second double-gold win after the National Inter-State Championships.
She is a Ticket Collector-cum-Commercial Clerk in the Bilaspur division of the South East Central Railway (SECR) and was initially inducted as a hockey player before making a switch to middle-distance running.
4. Jyothi Yarraji
India’s first-ever gold medal in the women’s 100m hurdles at the Asian Athletics Championships was secured by Jyothi Yarraji and she defended the same at Gumi, South Korea in May this year where she set a new championship record of 12.96 seconds. Nationally, she won her third consecutive gold medal in the 100m hurdles held in Uttarakhand and was also formally conferred with the Arjuna Award for her achievements in 2024.
Though her knee injury resulted in a premature end to her 2025 season in July, she aims to return stronger than ever next year.
5. Nikhat Zareen
Marking a strong comeback from an injury layoff, Nikhat Zareen defeated Guo Yi Xuan (Chinese Taipei) in the 51 kgs category at the World Boxing Cup Finals held in November.
After a challenging season at the 2024 Paris Olympics she dominated 2025 by securing unanimous decisions in both the semi-final and final. She is looking forward to the Asian Games and Commonwealth Games.
6. Annu Rani
Entering the top-15 by delivering her season best throw of 62.59 meters Annu Rani won the International Wiesław Maniak Memorial held in Szczecin, Poland in August 2025. Following this she won another gold medal at the Indian Open World Athletics Continental Tour Bronze meet in Bhubaneswar, Odisha. Her winning throw of 62.01 meters was a consecutive second above 60 meters throw.
Not stopping at this, she claimed the gold medal at the National Inter-State Senior Athletics Championships in Chennai and qualified for the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo but was eliminated in the qualifying round. She continues to hold the national record for the women’s javelin throw with a 2022 personal best of 63.82 meters.
7. Aishwarya Pissay
The first-ever motorsport athlete to win a world title, Aishwarya Pissay claimed the silver medal in the Rally2 Women’s Category at the FIM World Rally Raid Championship in September 2025, completing the challenging Rallye du Maroc.
Since the 2019 Bajas World Cup win, she has continued to script history by becoming the first Asian woman to win the BP Ultimate Rally-Raid Portugal. With her eyes now set on the Dakar Rally 2027, she is slated to become the first Indian woman to compete and finish the event on two-wheels.
8. Divya Deshmukh
The third edition of the Women’s Chess World Cup in Batumi, Georgia saw two Indian women competing for the world title. Koneru Humpy and Divya Deshmukh played for three days and finally multiple tiebreakers resulted in the final score of 2.5-1.5 with Divya emerging victorious. This single-elimination tournament saw 107 players from around the world and the young chess player became the first Indian woman to win FIDE World Chess Champion title and became only the fourth female chess grandmaster of the nation.
Previously, she has won three gold medals across two Chess Olympiads and her titles include the 2024 World U20 Chess Champion, 2023 Asian Women’s Champion and 2022 National Women’s Chess Champion.
9. R. Vaishali
The women’s chess streak remained unbroken with R. Vaishali winning the FIDE Women’s Grand Swiss tournament in September for the second time after her win in 2023. She is the elder sister of fellow grandmaster R. Praggnanandhaa and together they have become the first sibling-duo to share the Grandmaster title.
Even as a junior player she was undefeated at the Girls’ Under-12 World Youth Chess Championship in 2012 and the Girls’ Under-14 title in 2015.
10. Diana Pundole
To associate better memories with the most known personality and cars, here rises Diana Pundole as the to-be first Indian woman to compete in Ferrariat, an international racing championship after winning the National Car Racing Championship in the MRF Saloons Category in 2024. As it is a gender-neutral tournament, she will now represent India at the Ferrari Club Challenge driving a Ferrari 296 Challenge car across F1 tracks across the Middle East.
Formerly a school teacher with an MA in English and a mother of two, Diana has single-handedly broken several stereotypes related to women, workspace and sports.
11. Dimple Rawat
India’s fire and emergency services lit up when Uttarakhand-based fire fighter, Dimple Rawat secured a bronze medal in the World Police and Fire Games held in Birmingham, USA. She won silver and bronze medals in several other team events and nationally, she stood first in a 5000-metre race at the 3rd All India Fire Service Games 2025 held in New Delhi.
She was joined by Madhuri Bhandari and Pinky Rawat in team events. With these wins, she makes it possible for women across the country to challenge professions that are disallowed or deemed inappropriate for women.
12. Anupama Ramachandran
The prestigious 15-red format title at the IBSF World Snooker Championship 2025 was won by Anupama Ramachandran against three-time world champion Ng On Yee of Hong Kong at Doha in November 2025. The thrilling 3-2 victory made her the first Indian woman to win this title but her resume goes long back.
She is the first cueist to win all six titles in a Tamil Nadu State-ranking championship and has won eight National junior titles. At the age of 15 she secured her first international gold at the IBSF Under-16 World Championship (2017). In 2021, she won the World Women’s Under-21 title, clinched the World Women’s Snooker World Cup in 2023 and the continental title, at the Asian Snooker Championship, in 2024. Currently pursuing a post-graduate degree in public policy, she certainly earned it all.
13. Sanju Devi
Scoring a game-high of 16 raid points in the final match against Chinese Taipei, Sanju Devi was named the Most Valuable Player of the 2025 Women’s Kabaddi World Cup that was held in Dhaka, Bangladesh in November. A crucial four-point Super Raid was what the team required to shift the momentum of the match and claim its second consecutive world title.
Sanju is the first female Kabaddi player from Chhattisgarh to represent India at an international level. Not only a symbol of perseverance, she is also an advocate for greater government and corporate support for talented but underprivileged athletes in India. She herself suffered great hardships as the daughter of a daily wage worker and farmer who received government assisted training, food and accommodation at the state-run Girls’ Residential Kabaddi Academy in Bilaspur.
14. Deepti Sharma
A gripping two-month long ordeal never felt more rewarding than when the ICC Women’s World Cup 2025 resulted in India securing its maiden world-title by defeating South Africa.
Indian all-rounder Deepti Sharma was named the Player of the Tournament and she is now the only Indian player, male or female, to have scored over 200 runs and taken over 20 wickets in a single World Cup edition. Additionally, she scored three half centuries and took the highest wickets in the tournament. She made another record in the finals by becoming the first Indian woman to take a five-wicket haul.
Now called the architect of India’s World-Cup win, she is also the youngest Indian, male or female, to take an ODI five-wicket haul. She holds the world record for a 320-run opening stand in Women’s ODIs in 2017 with Punam Raut and was the most expensive athlete at the Women Premier League auction for 2026 at ₹3.2 crore.
15. Phula Saren
Vice Captain of the Indian Women’s Blind Cricket Team, Phula Saren was named the Player of the Final Match for scoring 44 runs in the final match. An all rounder (B3 category) player guided India to a seven-wicket victory with captain Deepika TC. Having suffered critical financial hardships and the loss of her mother at a young age, this player from Odisha is a symbol of resilience and hope.
Phula has used her platform to demand better support and facilities for para-atheletes and has submitted a plea for a permanent home for her family after her World Cup win.
Honourable Mentions
The year ended on a high when the Indian Cricket Team won the ICC Women’s World Cup (WCC) Final on the 2nd of November, 2025 at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai.
The fifteen member Indian squad included: Harmanpreet Kaur (Captain), Smriti Mandhana (Vice-captain), Pratika Rawal, Harleen Deol, Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh (Wicketkeeper), Yastika Bhatia (Wicketkeeper), Renuka Singh Thakur, Deepti Sharma, Sneh Rana, Sree Charani, Radha Yadav, Amanjot Kaur, Arundhati Reddy, and Kranti Gaud.
Standing strong against the mighty Australian team, they qualified to the finals and won the match with a 52 run margin against South Africa. Indian women charted top on several occasions, beginning with Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma opening with the highest stand at 104 runs in the finals. Smriti scored 434 runs in this World Cup, surpassing Mithali Raj’s score of 409 and becoming the highest for India. First time a 300+ target was chased in a World Cup knockout, be it men or women, and this was powered in the semi-final by Jemimah Rodrigues. She scored 127 runs and pushed India to a chase of 339 runs. Harmanpreet Kaur made the most runs in knockout stages of WCC ever with 331 runs.
India’s 298 runs is the second highest score in any WCC final. The player of the match was awarded to Shafali and Player of the Tournament to Deepti Sharma.
And yet, Indian women had more to deliver.
Under the Cricket Association for the Blind in India (CABI), the first Women’s T20 World Cup for Blind Cricketers was organised. The P Sara Oval in Colombo hosted the finale on 23rd of November and the Indian team emerged victorious. Co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka , teams from India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Australia and the USA participated with India maintaining its unbeaten record.
AFP via Getty Images
The squad comprised of: Deepika T C (Captain), Ganga S Kadam (Vice‑Captain), Simu Das, P. Karuna Kumari, Anu Kumari, Jamuna Rani Tudu, Kavya V, Kavya N R, Anekha Devi, Basanti Hansdah, Simranjeet Kour, Sunita Sarathe, Parbati Marndi, Phula Saren, Sushma Patel and Durga Yevle
In the finals, India chased Nepal down in just 12 overs and finished with 117 runs at 3 wickets. The match‑winning performance was delivered by Phula Saren.
Conclusion
These are fifteen out of hundreds of Indian sportswomen who continue to challenge and battle the odds of a male-centric domain so that others can dream about a career in sports. But reality is harsher than cinematic romanticisation of hardship.
Speaking at the ‘PlayCom 2025: Business of Sports Summit‘, weightlifter Mirabai Chanu talked about the difficulties of managing menstrual discomfort during the Paris Olympics and called for sports medicine to cater better to the female physiology. Former Indian Hockey Captain, Rani Rampal highlighted the inter-sport wage disparity by questioning the stark difference in sponsorship and financial stability between cricketers and other athletes. Another year brings a chance to honour their contributions by not just sharing wins on social media but supporting them in their demands for just and dignified working conditions.
The year, 2023 saw the worst of Indian sports culture when protests alleging sexual harassment by Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief, Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh and mental harassment of para-athletes by the Paralympic Committee of India (PCI) shook the country out of a patriotic utopia.
The past year cannot be lost in the annals of sporting history as wins or losses aside, it serves as an example of unwavering commitment to dismantling stereotypical barriers and valuing form over face. Athletes played for a purpose beyond the prize. They prepared for the future. By voicing their concerns through their reach and resources they challenged the administration itself, demanding inclusive and safe work environments.
Indian sportswomen are not demanding mere recognition, they are globally renowned. What they do expect is equitable consideration, remuneration and affirmative action that is due to their extraordinary efforts for the nation.
This is by no means an exhaustive or representative list. Suggestions to add to this listicle are welcome in the comments section.
Second year student of Media Studies at CHRIST (Deemed to be University), BRC, Bangalore. A trained Kathak dancer, theatre artist and political nerd.