Who are the nominees for BBC Indian Sportswoman of the Year?
2025-01-16
Category: news

The nominees for the fifth edition of BBC Indian Sportswoman of the Year have been announced.The five contenders are golfer Aditi Ashok, shooters Manu Bhaker and Avani Lekhara, cricketer Smriti Mandhana and wrestler Vinesh Phogat.The award honours the contributions of Indian sportswomen in 2024 and celebrates the achievements of all women involved in sport in the country.You can vote for your Indian Sportswoman of the Year on any of the BBC's Indian Language websites, or on the BBC Sport website.Head here to vote for your BBC Indian Sportswoman of the YearA panel selected by the BBC compiled the shortlist of the five Indian sportswomen. The jury includes some of the most authoritative sports journalists, experts and writers across India.The sportswoman with the most public votes will be the BBC Indian Sportswoman of the Year, with results broadcast on the BBC Indian Language sites and the BBC Sport website.Voting will remain open to the public until Friday, 31 January 2025 at 18:00 GMT (23:30 IST) and the winner will be announced on Monday, 17 February 2025 at a ceremony in Delhi. All of the terms and conditions and privacy notice are on the BBC News website.At the ceremony, the BBC will also honour three other sportswomen nominated by the jury in the categories: BBC Emerging Player of the Year award, to recognise the achievements of a young athlete; BBC Lifetime Achievement award, to celebrate a sports veteran for their unparalleled contribution to sports; and BBC Para Sportswoman of the Year award, to highlight excellence in para-sports.
Meet the nominees
Aditi Ashok (Golf)
Ashok, 26, is the first Indian female golfer to qualify for three consecutive Olympic Games.At the age of 18, she finished 41st at Rio 2016, and then five years later in Tokyo, she finished just one shot shy of claiming a bronze medal. This was India's best performance in Olympic golf to date.At the 2024 Games in Paris, she finished in 29th place.Ashok is the first Indian player to win a title on the Ladies European Tour (LET) and has accumulated five victories so far. She has played for eight consecutive seasons on the LPGA Tour in the United States, registering 11 top ten finishes.She is also the recipient of one of India's highest sports honours, the Arjuna Award.
Manu Bhaker (Shooting)
Manu Bhaker, 22, is the first Indian woman to win two medals at one Olympic Games. She won two bronze medals in Air Pistol shooting at Paris 2024.At Tokyo 2020 luck eluded her as her pistol malfunctioned and she missed out on the finals. A reunion with longtime coach Jaspal Rana paid off, enabling her to claim those two medals in the French capital.In 2018, at the age of 16, Manu became the youngest Indian to win a gold medal at the Shooting World Cup.She has also been awarded the Khel Ratna, India's highest sports honour.
Avani Lekhara (Para Shooting)
Avani Lekhara, 23, is the first Indian woman to win three Paralympic medals. At Paris 2024, she won gold in the 10m Air Rifle event, following up a gold and a bronze medal from the Tokyo Games.Lekhara was introduced to shooting during a summer vacation from school in 2015.In her 12 years of competition, she has won gold, silver and bronze medals at World Cups, and brought home a further gold at the Asian Para Games in 2023.For her remarkable achievements, Lekhara has been recognized with the civilian honour, Padma Shri, and the highest sports honour, Khel Ratna.
Smriti Mandhana (Cricket)
Smriti Mandhana, 28, is rightly considered one of the best batters in women's cricket.In 2024, she scored a record 1659 runs, the highest ever total in women's international cricket in a calendar year. This included four ODI centuries - again a record for a female cricketer.She was the captain of the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) team that won the 2024 Women's Premier League.Mandhana was the winner of ICC Women's cricketer award in 2022 and 2018 and has received the Arjuna Award - one of India's highest sports honours.
Vinesh Phogat (Wrestling)
Wrestler Vinesh Phogat is a three-time Olympian and a multiple medal winner for India across World Championships, Asian Games, and Commonwealth Games.She became the first Indian woman wrestler to reach an Olympic final at Paris 2024, but soon after her semi-final win, she was disqualified after failing a weigh-in ahead of the gold medal showdown.The 30-year old was a prominent face of protests against the former Chief of Wrestling Federation of India, Brij Bhushan Singh. He has been accused of sexually harassing female wrestlers. Singh denies all charges.In 2024, Phogat became a legislator from the Haryana state representing Congress party.
The BBC Indian Sportswoman Of The Year award was established in 2019 to honour and celebrate the achievements of female athletes in India. The inaugural edition featured then Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju as chief guest and badminton player PV Sindhu was adjudged the winner.The winner of the 2020 edition was world chess champion Koneru Humpy, while weightlifter Mirabai Chanu won the 2021 and 2022 awards.Athletes PT Usha and Anju Bobby George, weightlifter Karnam Malleswari and hockey player Pritam Siwach have been the previous winners of the Lifetime Achievement award.The BBC Indian Para-Sportswoman of the year award was introduced in the last edition as part of our commitment to diversity and inclusion. The first winner of that award was table tennis player Bhavina Patel.The jury has nominated five Indian sportswomen who had an outstanding calendar year, from 1 October 2023 to 30 September 2024.