National Sports Day: Three players made Sports Day special; The country got gold, silver, and bronze medals in a week

The last week of August has been memorable in sports for India. The country got three different medals in major tournaments of three different sports. This made the sports day special. Sports Day is celebrated every year on August 29 in the country on the birth anniversary of hockey wizard Major Dhyanchand. Ahead of Dhyan Chand's 118th birth anniversary, javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra, young chess star Pragnanananda and badminton veteran HS Prannoy did wonders. All three gave the country opportunities to celebrate in a week.

Let us take a look at the achievements of all the three players:

Neeraj Chopra

Neeraj created history

Neeraj Chopra, who is called the Golden Boy of India, did wonders in the World Athletics Championships. He created history on 27 August in Budapest, the capital of Hungary. Neeraj won the gold medal in the javelin throw event. He became the first athlete from the country to win gold at the World Athletics Championships. Neeraj shot for gold in the javelin throw event with a throw of 88.17m at the Budapest National Athletics Centre.

A champion in the Olympics, Asian Games, Commonwealth Games, and Diamond League, this player had not only won gold in the World Athletics Championships before this tournament, but now he has a gold medal in his bag. Last time Neeraj had won a silver medal in the World Championship. He changed the color of the medal this time.

Rameshbabu Pragnanananda

Pragnanananda won silver at the age of 18

On August 24, 18-year-old chess player Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa won everyone's hearts. He won the silver medal in the Chess World Cup. He may have lost against world No. 1 Magnus Carlsen of Norway in the final, but he has given hope that he can win this tournament many times in the future. After playing in the final of the Chess World Cup, Praggnanandhaa became the third youngest player after veterans Bobby Fischer and Carlsen to qualify for the Candidates tournament.

Pragnanananda became a Grandmaster at the age of 12. He was born on 10 August 2005 in Chennai. He got involved in chess at the age of three. Pragnanananda's father Rameshbabu works in a bank. Despite suffering from polio, he did not lose courage and nurtured the children well. Pragnanananda's elder sister Vaishali also liked this game and it was only after seeing her that Pragnanananda started playing chess. His mother accompanies him on every tour. Family and love have made him famous all over the world today.

HS Pranay

HS Prannoy's first medal in World Badminton Championship

India's veteran badminton player HS Prannoy won the bronze medal in the singles event at the World Badminton Championships 2023. He could not reach the finals. In the semi-finals played on Saturday (August 26), he lost in a tough fight against Thailand's Kunlawat Witidsarn. Even after this defeat, Pranay won bronze. Prannoy has managed to win a medal in the World Badminton Championships for the first time.

Prannoy has become the fifth Indian men's singles player to win a medal at the World Championships. Earlier, Kidambi Srikanth (silver), Lakshya Sen (bronze), B Sai Praneeth (bronze), and Prakash Padukone (bronze) won medals in men's singles. Two-time Olympic medalist PV Sindhu won five medals in singles at the World Championships, including a gold in 2019. Apart from them, Saina Nehwal (silver and bronze) had won two medals. Women's doubles pair of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa won bronze in 2011 and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty won bronze last year.

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