Since it marked the first time since the Commonwealth Games in Victoria, in 1994 that Kenya failed to sweep the steeplechase medals. In Birmingham, the women's cricket and hockey teams from India both won medals.
Thomas Cup victory
At the Thomas Cup 2022 held in Bangkok, Thailand, the Indian men's badminton team, captained by Akshay Sen, HS Pr annoy, Kidambi Srikanth, and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, helped write yet another chapter in Indian sports history. India entered the competition as the fifth seeds, despite never having won the men's badminton team world championships in the previous 31 editions. However, India played flawless badminton the whole tournament.
To advance to the knockout rounds, the Indian team came second to Chinese Taipei in their group. As he pulled off back-to-back clutch victories under duress to help India defeat Malaysia and Denmark, respectively, by identical 3_2 scores, HS Pr annoy emerged as the hero in the quarterfinals and semifinals. Indian shutters put up a professional performance to defeat Indonesia, the competition's reigning champions and most successful team with 14 championships, in the decisive match 3-0 to win their first Thomas Cup championship.
Boxing world champion Nikita Caren
The Indian boxer Nikita Caren would have considered the year 2022 to be successful if she had won the gold medal at the Commonwealth Games. The Indian fighter, however, went one further by also winning the title of global champion. Nikita Caren, the sixth Indian woman to win the title after the famous MC Mary Com, Laishram Marita Devi, Jenny RL, and Letha K. C., defeated Thailand's Jutamas Jinping, a Tokyo Olympian, 5-0 in the Women's World Boxing Championships 2022 final. In addition, she is the first person outside of Mary Com to win a world championship abroad.
Women's hockey team impresses
The first Women's FAH Nations Cup was won by the Indian women's hockey team. After New Zealand and Australia withdrew owing to COVID-19, the Indian women's team was given the unexpected chance to compete in the FAH Pro League 2021–22 season, and they embraced the chance to compete against the best in the world.
India put in a great performance in their first campaign, challenging powerhouses like Argentina and finishing a creditable third. However, with Australia and New Zealand coming back, India withdrew from the FAH Pro League's 2022–23 season. The FAH announced the men's and women's Nations Cup tournaments, providing a chance for Indian players who had repeatedly expressed a desire to rejoin the FAH Pro League. Each of the champions would get a promotion to the FAH Pro League for the 2023–2024 season.
With a goal in mind, Kavita Punic and company joined the eight-team event in December. They won all three of their group matches to advance to the semifinals, where they defeated a determined challenge from Ireland in a shootout. The Indians defeated Spain in a high-stakes game that finished with a 1-0 victory for them.
Other notable mentions
Some of the other notable Indian sports moments of 2022 include outranks Patel winning a world championship in rifle shooting, Antic Manful becoming India's first-ever Under-20 women's wrestling champion, Nita Bhangras breaking through at the Commonwealth Games in boxing, the Indian men's football team qualifying for the 2023 AFC Asian Cup, and the Indian mixed 4x400 relay team setting a junior Asian record en route to a silver medal at the Under-20 world championships. Not to forget, an alpine skier from Kashmir, Arif Khan made his Winter Olympics debut and finished 45th overall, in a field of 89 competitors.
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