Wrestling
Sakshi Malik
A bitter court battle, followed by an embarrassing dope scandal, before some redemption through an Olympic medal -- Indian wrestling in 2016 mirrored the script of a Bollywood potboiler in which Sakshi Malik emerged as the new star on the horizon.
For most part of the year, wrestling hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons, making it a tumultuous Olympic build-up after two-time medallist Sushil Kumar found himself ousted from contention just a couple of months before the Games in Rio.
The chain of events that set in ended up disgracing the sport before Sakshi Malik emerged an unlikely saviour in the Brazillian city.
Sakshi not only scripted history by becoming the first woman wrestler from India to bag an Olympic medal, she also became the first to win a medal for the country at the Rio Games.
Fighting back from 0-5 down to beat Aisuluu Tynybekova of Kyrgyzstan 8-5 in the dying minutes of the bronze medal play-off match in women's 58kg freestyle, Sakshi ended India's painful wait at the 2016 Rio Olympics for a medal and immediately sent the nation of 1.2 billion into euphoria.
In fact, the 24-year-old's feat also covered up for the under-achievement of Indian wrestlers at the mega-event with just one medal coming from a strong eight-member team that boasted of three women for the first time.
Though Sakshi's heroics provided solace, it was not enough to eclipse the shock and embarrassment that India had to endure with Narsingh's ouster from the Olympics.
Narsingh was eventually handed a four-year ban for flunking a dope test after the ad-hoc division of the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) overturned the clean chit given to him by the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA).
Badminton
PV Sindhu
P V Sindhu cemented her position as a dominant force on the world stage with an Olympic silver medal while Saina Nehwal continued to battle with injuries in a year, which saw Indian badminton take giant strides at the global platform.
It turned out to be a watershed year for Sindhu, who reached the upper echelons of world badminton with a silver medal at Rio Games — an achievement also for her mentor and chief coach Pullela Gopichand, who became the only Indian coach to produce two Olympic medallists.
Despite her two bronze medals at the World Championship, Sindhu, meanwhile, was still considered one of the hopefuls but not a serious contender for the gold medal, partly because of her early exits from tournaments in the run-up to the Games. While Saina exited in the second round and later it came to light that she had a bone chip floating inside her knee area, Sindhu went on to become the first Indian shuttler to win a silver at Games and with the feat she finally stepped out of Saina's shadow.
In the months after that, Saina underwent a surgery in Mumbai and spent a long time in rehab, while Sindhu basked in her Olympic glory.
Besides the Olympic feat, Sindhu also etched her name in history books, becoming only the third Indian to win the China Open, her maiden Super Series Premier title and then reached the finals at Hong Kong Open and finished as semifinalist in her debut World Super Series Finals at Dubai.
"It has been a fantastic year for me, because winning a medal at the Olympics is a big achievement. It's a dream come true. Also, I always had in mind that I wanted to win a Super Series title and that also was fulfilled (at the China Open)," Sindhu said. "Definitely, the aim is to become No.1. I have achieved my career-best six, so I am really very happy. I wish this can continue and I can continue improving further."
Gymnastics
Dipa Karmakar
She embodied the Olympic spirit despite missing out on a coveted podium finish and while she was at it, Dipa Karmakar gave Indian gymnastics some unprecedented moments of glory in what can be called a watershed year for the sport.
The 23-year-old from the small north-eastern state of Tripura became the toast of a cricket-mad nation even though she managed just a fourth-place finish at the biggest show on earth in Rio.
It wouldn't be wrong to say that Dipa simply vaulted into a billion hearts with her now famous and death-defying Produnova, a routine so risky that even powerhouses from Russia and USA would not attempt it. Fourth place finishes usually cause heartbreaks in a medal-starved nation like India, but such was the effect of Dipa's Produnova vault that it made the country wake up to the sport like never before.
People from all walks of life couldn't help talking about her jaw-dropping jump ever since she became the first Indian gymnast to reach an Olympic final before missing out on the podium by a whisker.
In fact, the adulation she received for finishing fourth was no less than what Rio medallists P V Sindhu (silver) and Sakshi Malik (bronze) attracted. The 23-year-old from Tripura was literally on a felicitation spree with the highlight being the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, the country's highest sporting honour. It was rare for an Indian athlete who finished fourth.
Now with the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in sight, the weight of expectations is surely on Dipa's shoulder and with that comes responsibility, says her coach Bisweshwar Nandi.