Year-ender 2025: From Harmanpreet Kaur & Co to Divya Deshmukh - Indian women usher a new golden era in sports

2025 has been a spectacular year for Indian women in sports. Not only the athletes compete, but made their presence felt at the global arena, across disciplines. From the historic November 2 night in Navi Mumbai to ice rinks in UAE to boxing rings in Liverpool, Indian women dominated and reshaped the sporting identity of the country.

The triumphs highlighted India's depth of emerging talent and establish names who the future generations can call inspirations. As the year comes to an end, let's take a look at some of the memorable moments from 2025.

India's first-ever ICC Women World Cup triumph

In a watershed moment for Indian cricket, Harmanpreet Kaur became the first captain from the country to lift the ODI Women's World Cup, when they defeated South Africa in the final at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai. After posting 298/7, the Indian bowlers, led by Deepti Sharma's 5/39, dismantled the Proteas women, securing a 52-run win.

India lift maiden Blind Women’s T20 World Cup

Just like the senior abled women, the Indian Blind cricket team clinched the inaugural Women's T20 World Cup, beating Nepal by seven wickets in the final in Colombo.

India qualify for AFC Women’s Asian Cup 2026

In a historic first, the Indian football team qualified for the AFC Women’s Asian Cup 2026 on merit. The Blue Tigresses defeated the likes of Thailand, Iraq, Timor-Leste and Mongolia to top Group B in the qualifiers to cement their spot in the continental showpiece for the first time since 2003. India's best result at the AFC Women's Asia Cup came in in 1980 and 1983 when they finished second-best.

Indian women win back-to-back Kabaddi World Cup

Indian women asserted their dominance once again at the Kabaddi World Cup as they defended their title by defeating Chinese Taipei 35–28 in the final in Dhaka. Throughout the tournament, India remained undefeated, winning against the likes of Thailand, Iran, and Bangladesh to further cement their supremacy in the sport. India's previous women's Kabaddi World Cup win came in 2012.

Divya Deshmukh wins FIDE Women's World Cup

After D Gukesh's 2024 Chess World Championship glory, the country once again made headlines in the sport when Divya Deshmukh became the first Indian to lift the FIDE Women’s World Cup, defeating fellow Koneru Humpy in the final. With this win, Deshmukh became the youngest champion at 19 and also earned a title of a Grandmaster.

Historic Ice Hockey bronze for Indian women

One of the highlighting moments in Indian sports this year, came from United Arab Emirates (UAE) when the Indian women's ice hockey team grabbed bronze at the IIHF Women’s Asia Cup. In the final, India, primarily made of athletes from Ladakh, defeated Kyrgyzstan 3–2 to walk away with the third price.

Indian boxers reign supreme in Liverpool

Indian boxers reigned supreme in Liverpool when Jaismine Lamboria and Minakshi Hooda punched gold medals at the World Championships. Lamboria defeated Paris Olympics silver medallist Julia Szeremeta in the final of the women's 57kg category while Hooda outpunched Kazakhstan’s Nazym Kyzaibay to wal away with the women's 48kg gold.