Sports

Sports 2014: That Was the Year That Was

by Trans World Features 31 Dec 2014, 04:03 pm

The year perhaps preserved its biggest surprise for the last two days as cricket watchers were taken unawares by Indian skipper MS Dhonis decision to quit Test. 2014 also witnessed cricket tragedy in the death of Phil Huges. The major sporting events included the Commonwealth Games and the football World Cup. TWF correspondent Supriyo Hazra gives a lowdown

Mega Events which ruled the calendar:

1)    Commonwealth Games: Athletes from the Commonwealth nations assembled in Glasgow to display their skills in capturing medals for their nations. England topped the medals chart with a total of 174 honours.  Australia (137) and Canada (82) hold the second and third positions in medal winner’s list. India finished fifth on the list with 64 medals in total.

2)    Asian Games: Perhaps one of the biggest sporting events of the world after Olympics, the Asian Games once again witnessed a Chinese domination as the nation bagged 342 medals.  China was followed by South Korea (234) and Japan (200) while India ended at the eighth position with 57 medals.

3)    Football World Cup: Germany defeated Argentina to win World Cup as the mega football event was held in the world’s soccer hub, Brazil. Ending Germany’s long wait for the trophy, Mario Goetze scored the significant winning goal in the extra time which helped the European side beat Argentina 1-0 in the final. Germany had thrashed Brazil 7-1 to cruise to the final.

Cricket:

 1) World T20: Sri Lanka defeated India in the final of the World T20 to lift the trophy for the first time since its start in 2007. India had won the inaugural edition under captain MS Dhoni’s leadership. 

2)  Phil Hughes: The world of cricket was shattered after the  demise of Australian batsman Phillip Hughes on November 27. He was in coma for two days following a head injury sustained while playing in a Sheffield Shield game in Sydney against New South Wales. He was 25. Hughes was batting on 63 when he was struck in the head by a bouncer from Sean Abbott. Hughes tried to regain his composure but fell face first to the ground and was taken to the hospital. Hughes made his Test debut against South Africa in Johannesburg in February-March 2009 at the age of 20. The southpaw played 26 Tests, scoring 1535 runs, studded with three centuries and seven fifties. With a top score of 160 versus South Africa at Durban, Hughes has a modest Test average of 32.65. Hughes made it to history books when became the youngest cricketer ever to score back-to-back centuries in a Test match at Kingsmead against South Africa. He is the only Australian to score a century on ODI debut. The world paid tribute to the talented batsman and even a memorial is being planned on top of Mount Everest in 2015, remembering the cricketer who could have contributed more to the cricket world with his willow.

3) MS Dhoni quits Test: Surprising  his fans and the cricketing world, India’s celebrated skipper MS Dhoni quit Test cricket on December 30, after his team  lost the series against Australia. In his career, Dhoni has played 90 Tests, 60 as the skipper, to score 4876 runs since making his debut against Sri Lanka in Chennai. Virat Kohli replaced him as the new skipper of the Indian Test side.

4) WI returns home: The world of cricket were shocked by a rare event when the West Indies players ended their tour to India abruptly and returned home due to an acrimonious pay dispute with the West Indies Cricket Board. The BCCI were fast in bringing Sri Lanka for a five-match ODI series in India afterwards. India defeated the tourists 5-0 in the series.

5) Asia Cup: Under the leadership of future skipper Virat Kohli, India went to Bangladesh to play the Asia Cup this year. However, India returned home empty handed as they failed to qualify for the finals where Sri Lanka beat Pakistan to lift the trophy.

Nightmarish foreign outings continue:

6) The Indian team during their tour to New Zealand where the visitors were first defeated 4-0 in the ODI series and then a 1-0 drubbing in the Test match.

7) Summer in England: MS Dhoni’s men put up another poor show during their tour to England as India lost the Test series 3-1. Despite drawing the first Test and winning the next, India team lost momentum in the next three and suffered another major defeat in the series. India, however, bounced back and won the ODI series 3-1. The T20 match however went to England’s favour as the hosts beat the visitors by three runs in the shortest format.

8) Australian winter: The Indian team will spend the New Year in Australia where they are currently playing a Test series against the former world champions. Australia clinched the series 2-0 following a drawn third Test in Melbourne. Under new skipper Virat Kohli, India will try to settle foe a consolation victory in the last match of the series in January next year.

9) KKR does it again: Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan had reasons to smile this year as his Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) lifted the cash-rich Indian Premier League for the second time. KKR beat Kings XI Punjab in the final to clinch the trophy to become the second team to win it for the two times.

10) N Srinivasan: Hit by the IPL spot-fixing scandal, the Supreme Court removed N Srinivasan and appointed India’s batting legend  Sunil Gavaskar as the BCCI’s interim working president in March this year. Gavaskar was in charge only during the duration of the IPL.

11)  End of roads for famous five: They had brought smiles to millions of their fans by their match –winning performances over the years. But this time, things are looking darker for the fantastic five-Yuvraj Singh Zaheer Khan, Virendra Sehwag, Harbhajan Singh and Gautam Gambhir- as they failed to find a place even in the list of 30-probable players for the World Cup next year. In the current scenario, all these stars might not be seen playing for the country again .

12) Rohit’s double blast: Rohit Sharma wrote his name in the history book by becoming the first cricketer to smash two doubles centuries in ODIs. If it was a blistering 209 against Australia last year which earned him a name in the 200-run mark then this year he surpassed it and even broke Sehwag’s 219 ro score a mammoth 264 against Sri Lanka at the Eden Gardens, becoming the highest scorer in the 50-over format.

Football:

13) ISL magic: If the grand arrival of Indian Premier League (IPL) in 2008 marked a significant milestone in the history of Indian cricket then this year witnessed another such revolution in the paradigm of football with the launch of the cash-rich Indian Super League. With celebrities like Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and John Abraham buying teams, the league had all the ingredients to make it a blockbuster. The tournament heralded a new chapter in the forum of Indian Football as it saw top international stars like  Alessandro Del Piero playing on Indian soil.  Ganguly’s Atletico de Kolkata lifted the inaugural trophy by beating Kerala Blasters in the final.

14) Sunil voted AIFF Player of the Year: Indian National Team captain Sunil Chhetri has been declared the 'AIFF 2014 Player of the Year.' Chhetri was chosen the winner on basis of votes from Coaches from I-League Clubs.

15) Baichung adds another feather to his crown: Former Indian National Team captain Bhaichung Bhutia has been inducted to the AFC's Hall of Fame.

Tennis:

16) IPTL: It was perhaps a dream of every Tennis lover to see Roger Federer display his smashes on the Indian soil. The dreams were turned to reality this year when the Swiss icon, along with hosts of other stars, including Novak Djokovic , came to India to play the International Premier Tennis League (IPTL) in New Delhi. A packed house and some memorable performance on the court made Roger, Novak’s tour to India a grand affair.  His Indian fans will only wish him play again next year.

17) Sensational Sania: Tennis star Sania Mirza was seen at her best this year as she was seen adding many titles to her belt including the US Open. She started the year with a bang when she ended as the runners up in the Australian Open alongside her Romanian partner Horia Tecau after losing the mixed doubles final. Along with her Brazilian partner Bruno Soares, she clinched the US Open mixed doubles title besides winning the gold (mixed doubles ) and bronze (women’s doubles) event of the Asian Games. Sania touched another high point in her career as she partnered with partnered Zimbabwe's Cara Black to clinch the historic WTA Finals title in October. Away from the actions on the court, she also touched her career-best ranking of sixth in the doubles category.
 

Badminton:

18) PV shines in Macau: India’s badminton icon PV Sindhu ended the year on a triumphant note as she defeated her South Korean challenger Kim Hyo Min 21-12, 21-17 to retain the Macau Open Grand Prix Gold title in December.
 
19) Saina, K Srikanth clinch China Open: It was double delight for India as badminton star Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth won their respective men's and women's final match of the China Open Super Series tournament  in November. Srikanth  defeated two-time Olympic champion Lin Dan 21-19, 21-17. In the women's singles event, Nehwal defeated  Japan's Akane Yamaguchi 21-12, 22-20 in the final of the tournament.
 

Boxing:

20) Courageous Sarita: Indian boxer Sarita Devi triggered a controversy by not accepting her Asian Games bronze medal at the podium during the sporting event this year during October.  Devi, who accepted her Asian Games bronze medal only recently, was handed over a one year ban by the International Boxing Association (AIBA) for her behaviour and action at the Incheon Asian Games. She was also fined 1000 CHF (Swiss Frank) for refusing to accept her medal earlier at the Incheon Asian Games after she challenged the verdict of the judges in a game.  Devi, who was denied an opportunity to vie for a Gold since all judges had ruled in favour of the local boxer in South Korea in her semi-final in the last Asian Games, was in tears in the podium when she was asked to accept the bronze, as she refused to wear the medal in protest. Instead of wearing the bronze medal after taking it in her hand, she handed it over to South Korean silver medalist Jina Park who had defeated Sarita in the bout of controversy. L Sarita Devi (60kg) was defeated in a controversial match against local boxer Jina Park as she had to settle for the bronze. Controversy clouded the match where Devi lost to Park 3-0 despite  clearly being the better boxer.  Despite hit by Sarita's punches on her chins, the referee Algerian referee Hammadi Yakoub Kheira did not give a single standing count. All three ringside judges ruled in favour of the local boxer. Despite being banned, the Indian boxer   got the support of people like cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar who had said the entire nation is with Sarita Devi.

 

Hockey:

21) India win Asian Games: Indian Hockey team gave the country moments to smile and rejoice old glory as they won the Asian Games hockey gold by beating Pakistan 4-2 in a nerve-wracking shootout. The win also made India qualify for 2016 Olympics.