Hyderabad: Sports is now among the most respected professions in the country. It helps athletes gain both recognition and money. Sports is everything for sportspersons. It was in sports where many of them found their life partners. There have been many high profile Indian sportspersons who have tied the knot within the spectrum of sports.
So, in this article, we are going to discuss five sports couples who excelled for India in various sports.
Saina Nehwal and Parupalli Kashyap
In Indian badminton, they are a star couple. While Saina Nehwal is a 2012 London Olympics bronze medallist his husband Parupalli Kashyap is a 2014 Commonwealth Games gold medallist. Apart from winning Olympics bronze, the former World No. 1, Saina has also won 11 Superseries titles and 24 other international titles.
At the same time, Kashyap is the first Indian male player to reach the men's singles quarter-finals in 2012 London Olympics.
Both Kashyap and Saina are childhood friends. They met each other at the Pullela Gopichand Badminton Academy as teenagers in 2005. They tied the knot on 14 December 2018.
Dipika Pallikal and Dinesh Karthik
Team India wicket-keeper Dinesh Karthik and squash star Dipika Pallikal got married in a Christian ceremony on 18 August 2015. It is not known when the couple first met even though some reports claimed that they had first met in 2013.
Dipika and Karthik once attended fitness sessions under Shankar Basu, and they quickly became friends. But their friendship took time to grow into a love affair. In February 2013, Dipika was in Leeds for training before winning Meadowood Pharmacy Open. At that time she had an unexpected visitor. Karthik, who was yet to recover from the bitter divorce with his first wife Nikita, decided to focus on cricket.
“I went to Leeds to train for a week and I found him there, coming all the way to see me. That was when I fell for him, realising not many would do something like that," Dipika recollected.
Karthik too impressed Dipika by trying his hand in squash.
Despite her dislike for cricket, she fell for Karthik. She started attending IPL matches and was spotted during 2013 Champions Trophy matches where Karthik was part of the victorious Indian team. After winning Champions Trophy, Karthik proposed Pallikal in June 2013 and the couple got engaged five months later. But due to sporting commitments, the duo had to wait for two more years to get married. Finally, in August 2015 they tied the knot.
Anju Bobby George and Robert Bobby George
Anju Bobby George is a legend of Indian athletics. In athletics, only a few Indians have noteworthy success. The athlete was known for her success in the long jump. She was in the limelight for all good reasons. In 2003, Anju won a bronze medal at World Athletics Championships. This made her the first Indian to win a medal at the World Championships in Athletics. She then won gold at World Athletics final in 2005.
She also won a gold medal at 2002 Asian Games and silver at Doha four years later. Anju also won gold medals at the Asian Championships and South Asian Games respectively.
She was aptly honoured for winning multiple medals for the country. In 2003, the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award was conferred on her.
Anju tied the knot with Robert Bobby George. Robert is a former national champion in triple jump and coached Anju in the sport.
The couple currently runs the Anju Bobby George Athletics Academy in Bengaluru. They have a son Aaron and a daughter Andrea.
Pullela Gopichand and PVV Lakshmi
Saina Nehwal and Parupalli Kashyap are the power couple of badminton. But before them, Indian badminton got its first renowned couple in Pullela Gopichand and PVV Lakshmi. While Gopichand was a 2001 All England Open Badminton Champion, his wife PVV Lakshmi was a former national champion. She is also the first Indian woman shuttler to participate in the Olympics. Lakshmi represented India in the 1992 and 1996 Olympics. The couple tied the knot on June 5 2002.
Gopichand, an Arjuna and Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna awardee, has become a successful coach following his retirement. Recognising his work as a coach Sports Ministry of India conferred the Dronacharya Award on him in 2009. He has also been awarded the Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan.
Pullela Gopichand and PVV Lakshmi have two children daughter Gayatri Gopichand, a rising shuttler, and son Sai Vishnu Gopichand.
Milkha Singh and Nirmal Kaur
Milkha Singh (90) was a decorated Indian athlete while his wife Nirmal Kaur (81) was the captain of Indian women's volleyball team. They are arguably the first couple in Indian sports.
Milkha Singh was known as Flying Sikh, a nickname given by former President of Pakistan General Ayub Khan. He was India's first real sports icon. Though Milkha missed the 1960 Olympics medal in 400m finals by few seconds, he was arguably the best sprinter in Asia during that time. With four Asian Games gold, he is still India's best athlete. Milkha was awarded Padma Shri in recognition of his sporting achievements.
Nirmal Kaur was a former volleyball captain of India women's team. Milkha and Nirmal met for the first time in Sri Lanka in 1957 during a tournament. Talking about the event that led to their marriage, Mailkha once said, "it was in 1957 during Indo-Ceylon sports meet that I met Nirmal for the first time." "It was in 1961 that Nirmal joined the Punjab Sports Department as Assistant Director. That is when I got interested in her again. And in 1962, we got married," Milkha added.
The proud couple has a son Jeev Milkha, a professional golfer, a daughter Sonia Sanwalka.
