Top Indian sporting moments of 2015

2015 will be marked as one of the breakthrough year of Indian sports. Following are some of the highlights

India's triumph in Sri Lanka in 22 years

India on September 1 clinched their first Test series victory on Sri Lankan soil in 22 years with an emphatic 117-run win over the hosts in the third and final cricket Test despite a valiant century by rival skipper Angelo Mathews.

After setting a daunting victory target of 386, India managed to dismiss the Sri Lankans for 268 on a wicket which slowed down considerably to wrap up the series 2-1, their first overseas series victory since June, 2011 against the West Indies.

It was new captain Virat Kohli's first series win ever since he took over reins of the team from Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

Indian badminton grew in stature – Saina Nehwal, PV Sindhu, K Srikanth to the fore

India's ace shuttler Saina Nehwal on March 29 became the first woman badminton player from the country to be ranked number one in the world.

Nehwal, then join compatriot Kidambi Srikanth in clean sweeping both the singles title of the China Open Super Series Premier in a successful year for India badminton.

In November, two-time defending champion P V Sindhu completed a hat-trick of women's singles title at the Macau Open Grand Prix Gold.

Golden girl of Indian tennis: Sania Mirza wins unprecedented number of titles

The all-conquering Indo-Swiss pair of Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis added another trophy in its collection after winning a hard-fought China Open final match on October 10.

This is the eighth title for the Mirza-Hingis pair of the year, having already won the Indian Wells, Miami, Charleston, Wimbledon, US Open, Guangzhou abd Wuhan titles. Besides, the pair also registered an impressive 46-7 win-loss record for the year till date.

Indian women's hockey team qualified for Olympics after 35 years

Indian women's hockey team on August 29 qualified for the 2016 Rio Olympics after England defeated Spain in the semi-finals of the EuroHockey Championships in London.

This is only the second time the women's team has made it to the Olympic Games and the first time since 1980.

Interestingly, this comes on a day when the country is celebrating hockey wizard Major Dhyan Chand's birthday as National Sports Day.

Vijender Singh - Professional boxing arrives in India

Prodigious Indian boxer Vijender Singh increased his professionals stakes on November 8 with yet another impressive bout.

The 30-year-old knocked out Dean Gillen in Dublin's National Stadium to make two wins out of two.

The Olympic medallist had notched up a Technical Knockout against Sonny Whiting in his debut fight last month.