Yearender 2021: Lakshya Sen to Shaili Singh, a look at India's future sport stars

1. Lakshya Sen (Badminton)

India's badminton Sensation (pun intended) Lakshya seemed destined for greatness as the teenager shone in the junior circuit before claiming the silver medal at the 2018 Youth Olympics. However, failure to match the rising expectations at the senior level turned many sceptic as Lakshya struggled to cope with the top shuttlers in the game. All those doubts, however, were put to rest in the last quarter of the year when he found splendid form to clinch the bronze medal at the prestigious BWF World Championships this month. There was more good news in store for Indian badminton fans as former World No. 1 Kidambi Srikanth also settled for silver at the event while defeating Lakshya in the semis.

However, it was the 20-year-old Lakshya's meteoric rise in top-tier competitions that made many take notice as he reached the semi-finals and quarter-finals of BWF World Tour Finals and All England Open respectively as well.

2. Shaili Singh (Long jump)

Rated as the long jump prodigy after being handpicked by famed coach Robert Bobby George and athletics legend Anju Bobby George, Shaili Singh showed the Indian athletics lovers can have high hopes from her as she bagged the World U-20 Championships silver medal at just 17. Her medal-winning jump of 6.59m, which won't be rated as an age group record due to high wind assistance, came after her previous best of 6.40m two years ago while concealing the fact that she leaped at the marquee event with almost no competitive practice due to COVID-19 restrictions.  

3. Anshu Malik (Wrestling)

Playing her first season in the senior category, Anshu Malik has arguably laid claim for the best Indian wrestler of the year when Ravi Dahiya and Bajrang Punia have returned from the 2020 Tokyo Olympics with silver and bronze medals respectively. After all, the 20-year-old grappler from Jind became the first Indian woman to reach the final of the prestigious World Wrestling Championships in Norway before settling for an unprecedented silver medal.

Previously, India's leading wrestler Vinesh Phogat, and her two Dangal-famed cousins Geeta and Babita Phogat, along with Pooja Dhanda, have settled for bronze in the competition while double Olympic medallist Sushil Kumar and Bajrang tasted the silver in men's category.

4. Kamalpreet Kaur (Discus throw)

The oldest entrant in our list, 25-year-old Kamalpreet Kaur deserves a spot in the top 10 as the multiple national champions made herself a force to reckon with when she became the first Indian woman to throw past the 65m-mark leading to the Olympics. Her two national record throws -- 66.59m and 65.06m -- established her as a major medal contender out of the blue. However, with the weather playing a spoilsport in the Olympic final meant, Kaur settled for an unprecedented sixth spot in Tokyo while exciting fans about her prospect next year where she is expected to compete in World Championships, Asian Games and CWG.

5. Namya Kapoor (Shooting)

After the failure of young Indian shooters at the Tokyo Olympics, many feared that the trend of upcoming Indian shooters will die down. However, Namya Kapoor's historic gold medal at the ISSF World Junior Championships at the age of 14 meant the faith in Indian junior shooting talent was restored. What was most impressive about her success was the fact that she defeated star teenager Manu Bhaker to the top in 25m air pistol individual event while becoming the youngest Indian to win the competition.

6. Komalika Bari (Archery)

19-year-old Jharkhand girl Komalika Bari's story is not that different from that of Namya's. Her individual gold medal at the Junior World Archery Championships in Chile came at a time when Indian senior archers fired blank at the Olympics once again; especially when hopes were high from in-form star Deepika Kumari. Bari, in fact, showed she is all set for the big leagues as she also won a team gold with Deepika at a World Cup earlier in March.

 7. Priya HM (400m race)

18-year-old Priya HM is exactly the pace Indian women's quarter-miler team needed after Hima Das switched to sprint events following a mysterious injury while Anjali Devi also struggled to stay fit. Priya's arrival turned crucial as she clocked India's leading fastest time of the season at 52.77 seconds at the World Under-20 Championships in Nairobi. The Karnataka teenager narrowly missed the medal as she finished fourth but didn't return to India empty-handed as she was the key in India's unprecedented mixed-team bronze medal.

8. Anahat Singh (Squash)

After the Indian squash team had to disappointingly settle for silver at the Asian Squash Championships, some good news came India's way as teenager Anahat Singh scripted history by winning the U-15 girls category of the prestigious Junior US Open Squash tournament in Philadelphia late in the year. The 13-year-old girl from Delhi overcame powerhouse Egypt's Jayda Marei in the final match 11-9, 11-5, 8-11, 11-5 to grab the title.

9. Achinta Seuli (Weightlifting)

As Jeremy Lalrinnunga continues to build on his 2018 Youth Olympics gold medal success with a Commonwealth Championships gold medal, India found another youth prospect in Achinta Seuli, who clinched gold as well in the 73 kg category. The 19-year-old lifter from Bengal built on his success from the World Junior Championships earlier in June when he won the silver medal.

10. Harmilan Bains (Mid-distance runner)

A promising gold medal at the Khelo India Games couple of years ago, Mid-distance runner Harmilan Bains finally arrived in the big leagues of Indian athletics when she registered the 1500m national record to her name. The 23-year-old Jalandhar girl broke Sunita Rani's long-standing record of 4:06.03 set at the 2002 Asian Games in Warangal, Harminal is a prime medal contender for the upcoming 2022 Asiad in China. For the record, the former Khelo India Games champion improved on her previous personal best by more than 10 seconds at 4:05:39s in 1500m before bagging the 800m gold as well at the National Open.