OrvilleBurgos99 at 02:30, 5 February 2026

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{{short description|Indian basketball player}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2020}}
{{Infobox basketball biography
| name = Anitha Pauldurai
| image = 2017-03-19-Anitha Pauldurai.jpg
| height = 167 cm
| position = Southern Railways
(Officer On Special Duty)
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=yes|1985|06|22}}
| birth_place = [[Madras]] (now [[Chennai]]),<br/>[[Tamil Nadu]], India
| nationality = [[Indian people|Indian]]
| career_start = International: 2001
| career_end = 2018
| awards = [[Padma Shri]] (2021)
}}

'''Anitha Pauldurai''' (born 22 June 1985) is an Indian basketball player from Tamil Nadu.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Anitha Pauldurai profile, FIBA Asia Championship for Women 2011 {{!}} FIBA.COM |url=http://london2012.fiba.com/pages/eng/fe/12/olym/player/p/pid/61600/sid/5189/tid/301/profile.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160527213018/http://london2012.fiba.com/pages/eng/fe/12/olym/player/p/pid/61600/sid/5189/tid/301/profile.html |archive-date=2016-05-27 |access-date=2025-07-14 |work=FIBA.COM}}</ref> She was the captain of the [[India women's national basketball team]] for eight years after making her senior India debut in 2000.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2021-01-27 |title=Padma award playing a team sport makes it more special: Anitha Pauldurai |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/more-sports/others/padma-award-playing-a-team-sport-makes-it-more-special-anitha-pauldurai/articleshow/80473421.cms |access-date=2025-07-14 |work=The Times of India |issn=0971-8257}}</ref> She has been conferred with National Civilian Award [[Padma Shri]] in 2021.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-04-01 |title=Anitha Pauldurai: Seamless transition from young captain, motherhood, to coach |url=https://www.fiba.basketball/en/news/anitha-paulduria-seamless-transition-from-young-captain-motherhood-to-coach |access-date=2025-07-14 |website=www.fiba.basketball |language=en}}</ref> She has been also conferred with Chief Minister State Award in the field of sports by Government of Tamil Nadu in 2013.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Imtiaz |first=Md |date=2021-01-25 |title=Padma Shri awardee basketball player Anitha Pauldurai finally gets her due |url=https://thebridge.in/basketball/padma-shri-awardee-basketball-player-anitha-pauldurai-gets-due/ |access-date=2025-07-14 |website=thebridge.in |language=en}}</ref>

==Early life and education==

Pauldurai was born in a middle class [[Tamils|Tamil]] family to late police constable G. Pauldurai and housewife Lalitha in [[Chennai|Madras]] (now [[Chennai]]), [[Tamil Nadu]]. She did her schooling at St. Antony’s Higher Secondary School in Santhome and Lady Sivaswamy Ayyar Girls’ Higher Secondary School in Mylapore.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Kanthimathi |first=L. |date=2021-02-08 |title=A champion in their midst |url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/chennai/a-champion-in-their-midst/article33780282.ece |access-date=2025-07-14 |work=The Hindu |language=en-IN |issn=0971-751X}}</ref> She did her B.Com.at [[University of Madras|Madras University]] and later did MBA (HRM) from [[Annamalai University]]. She joined [[Southern Railway (India)|Southern Railway]] 2003, and worked as Officer on Special Duty, Ticket Checking. In 2021, she became a Chief Welfare Inspector (Sports). N Sampath was one of her early coaches at the Rising Star Club.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Chakraborty |first=Samrat |date=31 January 2021 |title=Who is Anitha Pauldurai - The Indian women's basketball legend who was awarded the Padma Shri? |url=https://www.olympics.com/en/news/who-is-anitha-pauldurai-the-indian-women-s-basketball-legend-who-was-awarded-the |access-date=14 July 2025 |website=Olympics}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=migrator |date=2021-01-31 |title=Padma Shri awardee Anitha on cloud nine |url=https://www.dtnext.in/sports/2021/01/30/padma-shri-awardee-anitha-on-cloud-nine |access-date=2025-07-14 |website=www.dtnext.in |language=en}}</ref>

== Career ==
Pauldurai played for 18 years in the Indian women's national team (2000 to 2017). She is the first Indian woman who played nine [[Asian Basketball Confederation]] (ABC) championships continuously representing the national squad. Anitha has a record of 30 medals in national championships.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-07-13 |title=FIBA Women's Asia Cup 2025: Indian women start with a solid win in Division 2 |url=https://thebridge.in/basketball/fiba-womens-asia-cup-india-beat-kazakhstan-division-2-53856 |access-date=2025-07-14 |website=thebridge.in |language=en}}</ref>

She was also the youngest to captain the Senior National Team at the age of 19 at the FIBA Asia Championship in China.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Peter |first=Naveen |date=17 February 2021 |title=Meet the hoopsters who helped Indian basketball rise and shine |url=https://www.olympics.com/en/news/best-indian-basketball-players-national-team-men-women |access-date=14 July 2025 |website=Olympics}}</ref> She went on to captain the national team for eight years. In August 2012, she was selected to play for an international women professional league in [[Thailand]].<ref name=":0" />

She played a number of international tournaments including big-ticket events such as the Asian championship, [[Commonwealth Games|Commonwealth Games 2006]] and [[2010 Asian Games|Asian Games 2010]]. She won the gold medal in 1st 3x3 [[FIBA]] Asian Basketball Championships at Doha 2013.<ref name=":1" /> She was also part of the team that won gold medal in 3rd Asian Beach games at Haiyan, China 2012. She was captain and provided top assists in the tournament where India won gold medal in south Asian Beach games at Sri Lanka in 2011 and silver medal in Asian indoor games at Vietnam 2009.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.sportskeeda.com/basketball/geethu-anna-jose-and-anitha-paul-durai-played-in-thailand-professional-basketball-league|title=Geethu Anna Jose and Anitha Paul Durai played in Thailand professional basketball league|date=2012-08-18|access-date=2018-04-21}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-sports/i-love-playing-for-tamil-nadu-anitha/article4370973.ece|title=I love playing for Tamil Nadu: Anitha|last1=Chidananda|first1=Shreedutta|date=2013-02-02|work=The Hindu|access-date=2018-04-21|last2=Chidananda|first2=Shreedutta|issn=0971-751X}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|author=Staff Reporter|date=2021-01-26|title=Ten from T.N. chosen for Padma Shri|language=en-IN|work=The Hindu|url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/chennai/ten-from-tn-chosen-for-padma-shri/article33663179.ece|access-date=2021-01-26|issn=0971-751X}}</ref>

She was employed with Indian Railways and in domestic events, she played for Southern Railways.<ref>{{Cite web |last=R |first=Gopalakrishnan |date=2013-04-18 |title=28th Ramu Memorial Basketball Tournament: Southern Railway 81, Maharashtra 49 (Women) |url=https://www.sportskeeda.com/basketball/28th-ramu-memorial-basketball-tournament-southern-railway-81-maharashtra-49-women |access-date=2025-07-14 |website=www.sportskeeda.com |language=en-us}}</ref> Even in November 2022, she represented Tamil Nadu that won the Federation Cup at Bengaluru.<ref>{{Cite web |last=R |first=Gopalakrishnan |date=2013-04-18 |title=28th Ramu Memorial Basketball Tournament: Southern Railway 81, Maharashtra 49 (Women) |url=https://www.sportskeeda.com/basketball/28th-ramu-memorial-basketball-tournament-southern-railway-81-maharashtra-49-women |access-date=2025-07-14 |website=www.sportskeeda.com |language=en-us}}</ref>

==Coaching career==

In October 2017, she was named as the assistant coach for the Indian under 16 team, after nearly 18 years of her playing career.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2017-10-15 |title=Anitha Pauldurai named assistant coach of Indian U-16 basketball team |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/more-sports/others/anitha-pauldurai-named-assistant-coach-of-indian-u-16-basketball-team/articleshow/61087406.cms |access-date=2025-07-14 |work=The Times of India |issn=0971-8257}}</ref>

==Awards and achievements==
* '''Padma Shri Award''' for Sports in 2021 - Fourth Highest Civilian Award in India.
* '''Lifetime Achievement Award''' from the '''Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu''' in senior National Basketball Championship at Chennai 2018.
* '''Chief Minister State Sports''' Award 2013.
Apart from these top awards, she received many other honours including FEMINA Super Daughter Award 2021, Tamil Nadu Women achiever Award from the Brand Republic 2021, Life Time Achievement Award from Rotary Club Chennai Velachery 2021, Sports Women of the Year Award from Jeppiaar Institute of Technology 2021, Raindrops Women Achiever Award 2021, Best Sports Women Award from TN World Women Wing 2021, Wonder Women Award from Virisha Book of World Record 2021, Women Achiever Award from State Bank Of India 2019, Villayatu Ratna Award from News7 channel Tamil Ratna Awards 2018, Received Doctor of Letters (D.LITT) from DK International Research Foundation 2018, Women Achiever Award from Rajalakshmi Engineering College 2018, Young Achiever Award from International Youth Fest 2018, Women Achiever Award from Vels University 2017, Vikadan award for Golden Captain 2016, Top Plays of the Tournament 2013 FIBA Asian Women, Southern Railway General Manager's Railway Week Award for sports 2008, Best Player Award in 17th Youth Nationals at Vashi 2001 and she also received Book of World Records certificate for contribution towards the basketball sport in India.{{Citation needed|date=July 2025}}

==International sporting achievements==

{| class="wikitable"
! Year
! Competition
! Venue & dates
! Position
! Notes
|-
| ||||
|-
| Representing India||||||||
|-
| 2017||FIBA U-16 Women's Asia Championship ||Bengaluru 22 to 28 October||Winner||Asst coach
|-
| ||||||Level II||
|-
| 2017||FIBA Women's Asia Cup Division B<ref>{{Cite web |title=FIBA Women's Asia Cup Division B {{!}} FIBA Basketball Events |url=https://www.fiba.basketball/en/history/304-fiba-womens-asia-cup-division-b/10778 |access-date=2025-07-14 |website=www.fiba.basketball |language=en}}</ref>||Bengaluru 23 to 29 July||Winner||Captain
|-
| ||||||Level II||
|-
| ||39th William Jones Cup||Chinese Taipei 5 to 9 July||Top 4||Captain
|-
| 2015||26th FIBA Asia Championship for Senior Women<ref>{{Cite news |title=India beats Kazakhstan in a thriller |url=http://www.deccanchronicle.com/131031/sports-other-sports/article/india-beats-kazakhstan-thriller |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402103654/http://www.deccanchronicle.com/131031/sports-other-sports/article/india-beats-kazakhstan-thriller |archive-date=2015-04-02 |access-date=2025-07-14 |work=Deccan Chronicle |language=en}}</ref>||Wuhanchina 29 Aug to 5 Sep||Top 6||Captain
|-
| ||1st FIBA Asia 3 On 3 Championship||Dhoha, Qatar 15 to 16 May||Gold medal||
|-
| 2013||25th FIBA Asia Championship for Senior Women||Bangkok, Thailand 27 Oct to 3 Nov||Top 5||
|-
| ||3rd Asian Beach Games||Haiyang, China 16 to 22 June||Gold medal||Captain Top Assist
|-
| ||Women's Professional Basketball League||Thailand July||||Sripatum
|-
| 2012||||||||University
|-
| ||34th William Jones Cup Tournament||Taiwan 7 to 11 June||Top 4||
|-
| ||1st South Asian Beach Games||Hambantota||Gold medal||
|-
| ||||Sri Lanka 8 to 14 Aug||||
|-
| 2011||24th FIBA Asia Championship for Senior Women||Nagasaki||Top 5||Top Steal
|-
| ||||Japan 21 to 28 Aug||||
|-
| ||33rd William Jones Cup for Women ||Chinese Taipai 31 July to 4 Aug||Top 4||
|-
| 2010||16th Asian Games||China||||
|-
| ||||Guangzhou 12 to 27 Nov||||
|-
| ||3rd Asian Indoor Games||Vietnam 30 Oct to 8 Nov||Silver medal||
|-
| 2009||24th FIBA Asia Championship for Senior Women<ref>{{Cite web |date=2009-09-25 |title=Basketball player, Anitha Pauldurai of Team India in action during... |url=https://www.gettyimages.in/detail/news-photo/basketball-player-anitha-pauldurai-of-team-india-in-action-news-photo/91155018 |access-date=2025-07-14 |website=Getty Images |language=en-gb}}</ref>||Chennai ||||Captain
|-
| ||||17 to 24 Sep||||
|-
| 2007||22nd FIBA Asia Championship for Senior Women||Incheon, Korea 3 to 10 June||Winner||
|-
| ||||||Levelii||
|-
| ||Common Wealth Games||Melbourne, Australia 15 to 26 Mar||||Top Assist of Tournament
|-
| ||||||||
|-
| 2006||Four Nations International Basketball Tournament||Auckland, New Zealand 8 to 12 Mar||||
|-
| ||1st Phuket International Invitational Tournament||Thailand 22 to 25 Sep||Gold medal||
|-
| 2005||21st FIBA Asia championship for Senior Women||Ginhuangdao, China 19 to 26 June||||Captain
|-
| ||||||||(Youngest ever captain)
|-
| ||International Invitational Basketball Tournament||Malaysia||Silver medal||
|-
| 2004||||20 to 30 June||||
|-
| ||20th FIBA Asia Championship for Senior Women||Japan||||
|-
| ||||13 to 19 Jan||||
|-
| 2001||19th FIBA Asia Championship for Senior Women||Bangkok||||
|-
| |||| Thailand 4 to 11 Oct||||
|-
| 2000||Junior FIBA Asia Basketball Championship for Women||Delhi||||
|-
| ||||16 to 22 Dec||||
|}

==National sporting achievements==

{| class="wikitable"
! Year
! Competition
! Venue & dates
! Position
! Notes
|-
| ||||
|-
| ||||||||Life Time Achievement Award received from Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu
|-
| 2018||68th Senior National Basketball Championship||Chennai||Gold medal||
|-
| ||||17 to 24 Jan||||
|-
| ||67th Senior National Basketball Championship||Pondicherry||Bronze||
|-
| ||||7 to 14 Jan||||
|-
| 2017||Federation Cup||Coimbatore||Silver||
|-
| ||41st All India Railway Championship||Kolkata 10 to 15 Nov||Gold||
|-
| ||66th Senior National Basketball Championship||Mysore 9 to 16 Jan||Gold||
|-
| 2016||40th All India Railway Championship||Secundrabad 25 to 30 Nov||Silver||
|-
| ||35th National Games||Kerala 1 to 14 Feb||Silver||
|-
| 2015||29th Federation Cup||Pune 29 Mar to 2 Apr||Gold||
|-
| ||39th All India Railway Championship||Mumbai 20 to 26 Nov||Gold||
|-
| ||1st 3 On 3 Senior National Basketball Championship||New Delhi 10 & 11 April||Gold||
|-
| ||||||||
|-
| || ||Bengaluru 30 Jan to 3 Feb||||Captain Most Valuable Player
|-
| 2013||27th Federation Cup||||Gold||
|-
| ||37th All India Railway Championship||Kapurthala 6 to 10 Nov||Gold||
|-
| ||67th Senior National Basketball Championship||Ludhiana 20 Dec to 4 Jan||Gold||
|-
| ||26th Federation Cup||Cochin 14 to 18 Mar||Gold||
|-
| 2012||36th All India Railway Championship||Guwahati 1 to 8 Nov||Gold||
|-
| ||62nd Senior National Basketball Championship||Chennai 16 to 24 Dec||Gold||
|-
| ||34th National Games||Jharkhand 12 to 26 Feb||Gold||Captain
|-
| ||25th Federation Cup||Raipur 10 To 15 Feb||Silver||
|-
| 2011||35th All India Railway Championship||Kapurthala 4 to 11 Nov||Silver||
|-
| ||61st Senior National Basketball Championship||New Delhi 20 Dec to 4 Jan||Gold||
|-
| ||34th All India Railway Championship||Secundrabad 26 Nov to 3 Dec||Gold||
|-
| 2010||51st South Zone Basketball Championship||Visakhapatnam 23 to 27 June||Gold||Captain
|-
| ||60th Senior National Basketball Championship||Ludhiana 27 Dec to 3 Jan||Gold||Captain Top Scorer Award
|-
| 2009||33rd All India Railway Championship||Jabalpur 6 to 12 Oct||Gold||
|-
| ||59th Senior National Basketball Championship||Surat 31 Dec to 7 Jan||Gold||
|-
| ||32nd All India Railway Championship||Guwahati 3 to 9 Sep||Bronze||
|-
| 2008||50th South Zone Basketball Championship||Hospet 18 to 22 Oct||Gold||Captain
|-
| ||58th Senior National Basketball Championship||Pondicherry 21 to 28 Dec||Gold||
|-
| ||23rd Federation Cup||Rourekela 31 Oct to 4 Nov||Silver||Captain
|-
| 2007||||||||
|-
| ||31st All India Railway Championship||Chennai 20 to 26 Nov||Gold||Captain
|-
| ||56thsenior National Basketball Championship||Pune 20 Dec to 4 Jan 2006||Gold||
|-
| ||21st Federation Cup||Bhavnagar 15 to 19 Feb||Silver||
|-
| ||29th All India Railway Championship||Gorakpur 19 to 22 Oct||Silver||
|-
| 2005||R. Vaikuntam Cup||New Delhi 12 to 14 July||Bronze||
|-
| ||55th Senior National Basketball Championship||Ludhiana 26 Dec to 2 Jan||Gold||
|-
| 2004||||||||
|-
| ||28th All India Railway Championship||Lucknow 1 to 8 Nov||Gold||
|-
| ||54th Senior National Basketball Championship||Cuttack 26 Dec 2003 to 2 Jan 2004||Gold||
|-
| ||45th South Zone Basketball Championship||Yanam 18 to 22 July||Gold||
|-
| ||27th All India Railway Championship||Varanasi 5 to 12 Nov||Bronze||
|-
| 2003||54th Junior Nationals||Ludhiyana 7 to 14 June||-||
|-
| ||53rd Senior National Basketball Championship||Hyderabad 25 Jan to 1 Feb||||
|-
| 2002||53rd Junior Nationals||Goa 10 to 17 May||||
|-
| ||51st Senior National Basketball Championship||Bengaluru 5 to 12 Jan||Bronze||
|-
| ||31st National Games||Punjab 19 Nov to 1 Dec||Silver||
|-
| ||52nd Junior Nationals||Bhilai 17 to 24 June||-||
|-
| 2001||18th Youth Nationals||Madhya Pradhesh 14 to 20 Oct||Gold||Captain
|-
| ||50th Senior National Basketball Championship||Delhi 25 Dec to 1 Jan 2000||Bronze||
|-
| 2000||17th Federation Cup||Vishakapatnam 25 to 30 July||Forth||
|-
| ||51st Junior Nationals||Himachal Pradesh 9 to 15 Sep||Bronze||
|-
| ||17th Youth Nationals||Vashi 25 Dec to 1 Jan 2001||Gold||Captain Most Valuable Player
|-
| ||50th Junior Nationals||Pondicherry 21 to 27 May||Gold||
|-
| ||16th Youth Nationals||Chittoragarh 8 to 13 Dec||Silver||
|-
| 1999||15th Youth Nationals||Surat 23 to 29 Jan||||
|-
| ||25th Sub-Junior National||Pondicherry 14 to 18 May||-||
|-
| 1998||XLIV National School Games||Chandigarh 14 to 19 Nov||||
|-
|
|}

== See also ==

* [[India women's national basketball team]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==

* https://www.anithapauldurai.com/
{{authority control}}{{Padma Shri Award Recipients in Sports}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pauldurai, Anitha}}
[[Category:1985 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Padma Shri in sports]]
[[Category:Indian women's basketball players]]
[[Category:Basketball players from Tamil Nadu]]
[[Category:Sportspeople from Chennai]]
[[Category:Commonwealth Games competitors for India]]
[[Category:Basketball players at the 2010 Asian Games]]
[[Category:Sportswomen from Tamil Nadu]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian women]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian people]]
[[Category:Asian Games basketball players for India]]
[[Category:Shooting guards]]
[[Category:Basketball players at the 2006 Commonwealth Games]]
[[Category:21st-century Indian sportswomen]]

Anitha Pauldurai - Revision history

OrvilleBurgos99 at 02:30, 5 February 2026