Indian women create history in Rio

PV Sindhu is the youngest Indian to win an Olympic medal

On Friday evening, a 21-year-old became the first Indian woman to win a silver medal at the Olympic Games.

Ninth seeded shuttler PV Sindhu, lithe and lethal on court, also became the youngest Indian ever to win an Olympic medal. In a riveting 84-minute game, she fought like a tigress before going down to the world champion Spaniard Carolina Marin in the women's badminton final.

Dipa Karmakar, India's first female gymnast at the Olympics, barely lost out on a medal

On Wednesday, female wrestler Sakshi Malik had ended India's medal drought at Rio: she picked up the bronze in the 58kg women's wrestling category, becoming the first Indian female wrestler and the fourth Indian woman to win an Olympic medal.

Parents of Dipa Karmakar watch the vault finals on TV

Last Sunday, Dipa Karmakar, India's first female gymnast at the Olympics, barely lost out a medal, finishing fourth in the women's vault gymnastics, and winning the hearts of a nation.

"After a miserable first week full of teary near-misses and a few underwhelming sub-scripts, a gymnast, a wrestler and a badminton player were to spark the 2016 Olympics to life for Indians," says sports writer Sharda Ugra.

Creating history

In other, more modest achievements, long-distance runner Lalita Babar became the second Indian woman to qualify for the final of track and field event at Olympics, finishing 10th in the 3000m steeplechase final on Monday; and teenage golfer Aditi Ashok qualified for the final.

Clearly, women athletes are creating history - and saving India's face at Rio. It is difficult to think of another instance where women saved the country's reputation at an international sporting event since India's best track-and-field athlete PT Usha won four of five gold medals in the 1987 Asian Games.

Women won two of the six medals India picked up in London 2012. "There has definitely been a resurgence in women's sport if you see the break up of Olympic medals," says Ronojoy Sen, author of a definitive history of sport in India.

Indian women have indeed come a long way in sports since Nilima Ghose and Mary D'Souza, two athletes, joined the contingent in the 1952 Helsinki Olympics. Much before, Jenny Sandison, an Anglo-Indian from Bengal, played at Wimbledon in 1918, and lost in the first round.

In 1934, Leela Row, another Anglo-Indian, became the first Indian woman to win a match in Wimbledon. Much later, in 1952, Rita Davar, became the runner up in the junior's women's event in Wimbledon.

In track and field, the women made slower strides. In 1954 Asian Games in Manila, the Indian women's relay team picked up a gold; and in the next games in Tokyo in 1958, Stephie D'Souza won a silver medal.

A hockey tournament for women began in 1947, and a women's team participated for the first time in an international hockey tournament in 1953 in England.