Who are the five nominees for BBC Indian Sportswoman of the Year?

The nominees for the sixth edition of BBC Indian Sportswoman of the Year have been announced.

The five contenders are cricketers Harmanpreet Kaur and Smriti Mandhana, chess player Divya Deshmukh, shooter Suruchi Singh and athlete Jyothi Yarraji.

The award honours the contributions of Indian sportswomen in 2025 and celebrates the achievements of all women involved in sport in the country.

A panel selected by the BBC - including some of the most authoritative sports journalists, experts and writers across India - compiled the shortlist of five.

For the first time, the winner will be decided by a 'Grand Jury' put together by the BBC and featuring former tennis player Leander Paes, ex-long jumper Anju Bobby George and Para-athlete Deepa Malik.

The BBC will also honour three other Indian sportswomen nominated by the jury:

BBC Para Sportswoman of the Year award - to highlight excellence in para-sports

BBC Emerging Player of the Year - to recognise the achievements of a young athlete

BBC Lifetime Achievement award - to celebrate a sports veteran for their unparalleled contribution to sports.

The winners will be announced at a ceremony on February 16.

Divya Deshmukh (chess)

A 20-year-old chess prodigy, Divya Deshmukh made history last July by becoming the first Indian - and youngest ever - champion of the Women's World Cup. The feat earned her Grandmaster status. In the final, it was a 'passing of the baton' moment as Deshmukh defeated Koneru Humpy - the first Indian woman to become a Grandmaster.

Born in Nagpur in 2005, Deshmukh started playing chess at the age of five. Two years, she was the national champion in the under-seven age group and in 2017 she took the World Youth Chess Championship title in the girls' under-12 category.

In 2022, she played a key role in India's bronze-winning team at the Chess Olympiad in Chennai. Two years later, she granbbed individual gold and was also part of the team that finished top of the podium.

Harmanpreet Kaur (cricket)

The captain of the Indian women's cricket team, Kaur led them to their first Women's World Cup title in November. Playing on home soil, she led from the front with an 88-ball 89 as they chased down a tall target of 339 in the semi-final against Australia.

Her innings in another World Cup semi-final - 171 not out against the same opponents in 2017 - is widely regarded as one of the greatest innings in women's cricket.

In 1989, on the day she was born to sports-loving parents in Punjab, her father bought her a T-shirt that read 'Good Batting'. She lived up to the prophecy, becoming a batting mainstay of the India team since making her debut in 2009.

She featured in Time magazine's 2023 list of Top 100 Emerging Leaders and BBC's 100 Most Inspiring Women. In 2017, she was also presented with the Arjuna Award - India's second highest sports recognition.

Smriti Mandhana (cricket)

The vice-captain of India's women's cricket team, Mandhana is already making a claim for a place among the all-time greats of the sport. The 29-year-old left-handed batter has the second-highest number of centuries in one-day internationals and the third-highest runs among current players.

Born in Sangli, Mandhana was inspired by her father and brother - both of whom who played cricket at district level.

In 2013, while playing in a zonal under-19 tournament, she became the first Indian woman to score a double century in a domestic one-day match. In September last year, she made a 50-ball hundred against Australia - the fastest ton by an Indian in the format, breaking Virat Kohli's record.

She has been named the ICC Women's Cricketer of the Year twice - in 2018 and 2021 - and received the prestigious Arjuna Award from the Indian government in 2019.

Suruchi Singh (shooter)

Hailing from Haryana, which has a rich history of producing shooters, Singh came to prominence in 2024, winning seven gold medals at the National Shooting Championship.

Less than a year later, the 19-year-old made her senior international debut - quickly establishing herself on the global stage. In 2025, she won individual gold medals in the World Cup series held in Buenos Aires, Lima, and Munich - completing a rare treble. In Lima, she secured gold in the mixed team event.

At the 2025 Asian Shooting Championship in Kazakhstan, she won a bronze medal in the women's team event alongside Manu Bhaker and Palak Gulia.

In September, she became the top-ranked female shooter in the 10m air pistol category.

Jyothi Yarraji (athletics)

In a country where achievements in track and field at the elite level are few and far between, Yarraji became the first Indian woman to qualify for the 100m hurdles at an Olympics in Paris.

Overcoming hurdles has never been a problem for Yarraji, as the 26-year-old was in a family with limited means. Her father worked as a security guard and mother as a domestic worker.

In 2022, she broke the national record for the 100m hurdles - clocking 13.23 seconds - and has since surpassed that multiple times. She also excelled at the 2022 National Games - claiming multiple gold medals across sprint and hurdle events, and earned bronze at the World University Games and silver at the 2022 Asian Games.

In 2023, Jyothi won gold at the Asian Indoor Athletics Championships in the 60m hurdles, and silver at the Asian Athletics Championships - cementing her reputation as Asia's top hurdler. She also won the 100m hurdles gold medal at the 2025 Asian Athletics Championships in Gumi.

In 2024, she became a recipient of the prestigious Arjuna Award.

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