1. Pusarla Venkata Sindhu
Twelve players who can be the face of Indian sports at the world stage…
Indian badminton’s newest star broke into the Badminton World Federation top 20 ranking in September 2012. In the 2012 China Masters Super Series, she stunned London Olympics gold medallist Li Xuerui of China and entered the semi-finals, where she lost to 4th seeded Jiang Yanjiao of China.
__PAGEBREAK__
2. Dipika Pallikal
The 21-year-old squash player is the first Indian woman to break into the top 10 in the WSA rankings. She was runner up in the Tournament of Champions 2012 and reached the semi-finals of Australian Open 2012.
__PAGEBREAK__
3. Narsingh Pancham Yadav
The 23-year-old wrestler is already a Commonwealth games gold medallist and is considered a big hope for the Rio Olympics.
__PAGEBREAK__
4. Yuki Bhambri
The 20-year-old tennis player is the highest ranked Indian in the ATP circuit. He is already a regular in the Indian team at the Davis Cup and other multi-discipline games.
__PAGEBREAK__
5. Soumyajit Ghosh
The 19-year-old table tennis player from Siliguri is already the national champion and an Olympian.
__PAGEBREAK__
6. Sawarn Singh
The Punjab rower has already announced his arrival at the world stage by finishing a creditable 16th at the London Olympics. He is just 22 and can win much more at the world stage.
__PAGEBREAK__
7. Shiva Thapa
The Assam boxer may have lost in the first round at the London Olympics, but Thapa has it in him to be an Olympic medallist.
__PAGEBREAK__
8. Devendro Singh
The Manipuri boxer narrowly missed an Olympic medal after losing the quarterfinal at the London Olympics. He is just 20 and has the potentiality to play and win medal at Olympics.
__PAGEBREAK__
9. Mayookha Johny
Long jump and triple jump specialist is a bright hope for India in track and field at the 2016 Olympics.
__PAGEBREAK__
10. Tintu Luka
The Kerala-born athlete is trained by legendary PT Usha, who believes that Luka can bring home an Olympic medal.
__PAGEBREAK__
11. Deepika Kumari
India’s brightest archer had a poor outing at the London Olympics, but Kumari is just 18 and the best bet at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
__PAGEBREAK__
12. Bhuvneshwar Kumar
This Muzaffarnagar lad has taken the cricket world by storm. At a time when the Indian pace bowling was looking depleted, Kumar emerged as a saviour for beleaguered Men in Blue. In his first T20 against Pakistan in Bengaluru, Kumar took 3 wickets conceding 9 runs in 4 overs. In his ODI debut, he dismissed Mohammad Hafeez of Pakistan in the very first ball.