Sports

A small-town teen with no access to proper courts or coaching has battled odds to join India’s junior squash team, showing how grit, family support, and hunger can create champions.

From a rented auto to the boxing ring, Minakshi Hooda’s rise to world champion shows the power of grit, family support, and unshakable belief.

Sharun Arora leads Chennai Super Klean, a team that started with local clean-ups and now represents India at the Spogomi World Cup. Through strategy, teamwork, and purpose, they show how environmental action can become a powerful and competitive movement on the global stage.

Ashok Rathod founded the Oscar Foundation in Mumbai to keep children away from addiction, dropouts, and child marriage. With its ‘No School, No Football’ rule, the foundation blends education and sport, empowering thousands of children to dream, learn, and lead.

Diagnosed with Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) at the age of 15, Varun Anand found his calling in sports. This is a case in point for the power of transplants and how they can transform a life.

At 39, Ashwini Ganapathi from Bengaluru ran 173 km in 45 hours through Japan’s wildest trails — no sleep, 6 kg on her back, and a dream she trained for years.

In a cricket-obsessed nation, Mahaveer Raghunathan chose an unlikely path: motorsport. Thirteen years later, he’s racing for Ferrari in the Italian GT Championship, proving that dreams fueled by talent can break every barrier.

After 13 years of training without sponsors or support, 20-year-old Praveen Gupta broke a Guinness World Record. Now, just one jump away from breaking the world’s fastest record, he aims to spotlight India on the global stage.

Gukesh’s father left behind his career as an ENT surgeon, and his mother was the sole breadwinner — how Rajinikanth and Padma Kumari supported Gukesh’s journey to global chess glory.

After losing his vision in infancy, Vishnu Vaghela grew up in a small village in Gujarat and found purpose through sport. Today, at 27, he captains both India and Gujarat’s blind football teams, mentors young players at the Blind People’s Association (BPA) in Ahmedabad, and continues to break barriers in the world of disability sport — on and off the field.