Sachin Tendulkar, Viswanathan Anand or Leander Paes - Who is India's biggest sports ambassador?
3rd August 1996. Ranked 126th in the singles circuit, a 23-year-old Leander Paes was one of the 49 athletes representing India in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. Without a single win in any round in the main draw of a Grand Slam to his name, a medal from Paes seemed like a far-fetched dream.
But competing as he was without the burden of expectations, the muscular Kolkatan knocked off higher ranked players almost at will to reach the semifinals.
Playing like a “bundle of hyperkinetic energy”, Paes stretched world number 3 Andre Agassi to a first set tie-break before losing steam in the second set to go down 6-7,3-6 in the semis.
Up next was world number 93 Fernando Meligeni in the crucial bronze medal match. Unable to shake off the nerves that the match elicited, Paes succumbed in the first set as the Argentine won 6-3. But with the hopes of a medal fast vanishing, Paes managed to ward off the pain incurred by a wrist injury that he incurred in the duel with Agassi and played like a man on a mission, eventually taking the match 3-6,6-2,6-4.
A tearful Paes, wrapped in the tricolour, the bronze medal hanging proudly on his neck, had managed to clinch an individual Olympic medal for India for the first time since KD Jadhav’s bronze in 1952.
22nd April 1998. The sandstorm which had threatened to interrupt the crucial India-Australia game in the Coca-Cola Cup in 1998 was just a mere glimpse of the actual desert storm that was to burst forth from the magical willow of the Master Blaster. Chasing a steep target of 276 runs in 46 overs and needing 237 to qualify for the finals, Sachin Tendulkar produced what can possibly be described as his best ever innings, scoring 143 runs in 131 balls. He made a mockery of Australian stalwarts Shane Warne, Damien Fleming and Michael Kasprowicz and sent the crowds in Sharjah ‘dancing in the aisles’.
Despite losing the match, Tendulkar had ensured India’s smooth passage into the finals of the tournament, where he produced another monumental knock to help his team clinch the title.
The world couldn’t help but express awe at the little genius who had sent the Aussies into a state of trauma and acute helplessness with two ruthless destructions in as many days. India adored the player who would go on to become a demigod in the years to come.
24th December 2000.Starting off at the young age of 6, Viswanathan Anand achieved the title of World Champion for the first time in 2000. Playing sizzling chess in a series of knockout games, the “Lightning Kid from Madras” lived up to his billing as the first seed should – knocking off his opponents in the first four rounds without any tie breaks.
By defeating Michael Adams 1.5-0.5 in the semi-finals, Anand inched closer to clinching the coveted title, which he achieved in what was a one-sided final. Programmed as a 6-game encounter, the Indian needed only 4 to achieve the required score of 3.5 and defeat Alexei Shirov.
Anand became the first Asian to be crowned world champion in chess, as India celebrated the birth of a new hero and a new era.
The trio’s immense contribution to Indian sport and India as a whole
For a country plagued by a stagnating economy and rampant corruption in the latter half of the 20th century, these three inspired performances by three maestros appeared like a breath of fresh air, providing relief from the drudgery that modern India had become so accustomed to.
After the Cricket World Cup triumph in 1983, where Kapil Dev’s India beat the favoured West Indies, sporting glories seemed to have dried up, with the odd success being relegated to the back pages of the newspapers. The world welcomed globalisation with open arms, but India remained cast in its ancient world, taking just baby steps into modernisation.
The youth of the country, for whom the eight hockey gold medals and Milkha Singh’s exploits were only tales that were told by ancestors, were desperate for heroes and trend-setters. There was a crying need for gallant individuals to be the torch bearers for the country in the years to come, motivating the youngsters with their consistent display of hard work and passion.
Enter Tendulkar, Anand and Paes who ensured that India’s sporting achievements weren’t just a flash in the pan. By churning out jaw-dropping performances well into the first decade of the new millennium as well, the trio ensured that the blaze of fire which had been lit in the Indian sporting circuit almost 20 years ago still continued to burn bright.
With their undiminished brilliance, the trio made a huge name for themselves in their respective fields, and were respected by both their countrymen and opponents alike. Conquering the world and stamping their authority on whichever pitch, court or chess board they came across, they ensured that the tiranga perennially fluttered on all shores.
Viswanathan Anand: The Chennai Chess Wizard
“Having met all the great chess players and many World Champions, this Indian boy from a country that didn’t have much of a chess culture, intrigued me.”
Mauricio Perea, before taking up the job of mentoring Anand, recounts how a 21-year-old attracted his attention by playing chess at a “pace that was till then not imaginable.” Having already defeated Anatoly Karpov and Gary Kasparov, considered the toughest players back then, Anand seemed destined for greater achievements in the sport in the years to come.
But before meeting Perea, Anand had already carved an identity of his own, becoming the first Indian to win the World Junior Chess Championship in 1987 and then becoming India’s first Grandmaster, a year later. The recipient of the first Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award in 1991, Anand also became the first Asian to enter the quarterfinals of the FIDE World Championships in 1996.
Till his first FIDE title in 2000, Anand made rapid strides in his profession, winning titles, tackling the pace of Karpov and announcing India’s dominance in the world of chess.
2000 was a watershed year for Anand, as he not only won the 15th FIDE World Championship but also finished as the number 2, behind Kasparov.
From 2007 to 2012, Anand had possibly his best moments in the arena, winning four more world titles as well as occupying the number one spot for a period of 21 months. He achieved a FIDE rating of 2817, becoming only one of nine players ever to have reached that high a level.
Although the title slipped out of his hands in 2013, when he lost to Magnus Carlsen (also the winner in 2014), Anand can take pride in the fact that he is the only player to have won the world championship in tournament, knockout and rapid time controls, making him one of the most versatile players on the circuit.
With over 48 titles, Anand is a genius who has managed to bring chess into the limelight in a country that is obsessed with cricket.
Leander Paes: The Kolkatan who refuses to stop
“Leander plays like a man soaked in kerosene, who fires himself up by lighting matchsticks with his teeth.”
No other words can better express Paes’ contribution to Indian tennis in the last 25 years. Wearing his heart on his sleeve everytime he appears on court in a bid to outwit the opposition, the Indian has year after year inspired a nation of a billion with his exemplary displays of determination and fortitude.
With 15 Grand Slams already in his pocket (eight doubles, including a Career Grand Slam, and seven mixed), besides achieving the feat of being the oldest man to hold aloft a Slam trophy, Paes shows no signs of stopping. He is currently preparing to become the first tennis player to compete in seven Olympics, at the Games to be held in Rio next year.
On 27th May 2015, Paes, partnering Daniel Nestor, became only the seventh man in the Open Era to complete 700 wins in doubles – a remarkable feat considering the competition in current times.
The hero of innumerable and memorable Davis Cup victories, the 41-year-old was also honoured with the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award in 1996 for his historic bronze medal win at the Atlanta Olympics.
Starting off as a junior Wimbledon champion in 1990, the tennis player became only the second man after Rod Laver to clinch Wimbledon titles in three different decades.
Be it partnering over 100 ATP partners or refusing to be bogged down after being struck by a parasitic infection in the brain in 2003, Paes is a sportsperson who continues to fight on even in his 40s, bringing more laurels to the country and adding more titles to his already glittering cabinet.