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New Delhi: Indian
sports had some adrenaline-rush moments in 2011. The second
cricket World Cup crown, Formula One coming to New Delhi and Virender Sehwag's record double ton in ODIs are some of the main
sporting highlights of the year.
The following are some of the highs in Indian sports:
* Led-by Mahendra Singh Dhoni, India lifted the World Cup at home
after a gap of 28 years at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, April
2. For batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar it was a dream come true
as he realised his childhood dream of laying his hand on the most
coveted trophy in international cricket.
* Formula One, rated as the pinnacle of motorsports, zoomed into
India at the Buddh International Circuit in Greater Noida. Some
95,000 crowd turned up at the spectacular circuit on a bright
Sunday, October 30, to cheer for home team Force India and India's
first Formula One driver Narain Karthikeyan, who was racing for
Hispania Racing Team.
* Virender Shewag proved again his menacing power in cricket and
smashed a breathtaking record 219 off 149 balls while leading the
side against the West Indies at the Holkar Stadium in Indore,
December 8, for the highest individual score in ODIs. Sehwag also
broke his mentor Sachin Tendulkar's 200 record that was set in
Gwalior, some 500 kms from Indore, in 2010.
* India's badminton star Saina Nehwal had a mixed year but she
ended it on a high by becoming the first Indian player to reach
the singles final of the BWF World Superseries Finals. The
Hyderabadi shuttler finished runners-up to World Champion Wang
Yihan at the tournament in Liuzhou, China after beating the likes
of Denmark's Tine Baun and and former World No.1 One Wang Xin in
earlier rounds.
* Indian tennis player Rohana Bopanna might have made his mind to
team up with veteran Mahesh Bhupathi for 2012 but he alongwith
with long time Pakistani doubles partner Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi did
enough to add another feather in their caps. The erstwhile
Indo-Pak Express won their maiden ATP Masters by winning the Paris
event in November. They split soon after after winning three
titles in the year.
* Shiva Keshavan brought a little known sport into limelight by
winning the gold at the Asia Cup luge event in Nagano, Japan last
week. The 30-year-old from Manali clocked 134.3 kmph at the Japan
meet to set an Asian record and get India its first gold in an
international winter
sports event.
* India entered the big league of boxing with Transtadia taking up
a franchise in World Series of Boxing. Thirteen Indians including
Akhil Kumar are part of Mumbai outfit, that is named Mumbai
Fighters. The team also has four overseas recruit in Patrick
Gallagher, Marko Calic, Paul Gene Koon and Trent Rawlings.
* Haryana boxer Vikas Krishan secured India's second medal in the
World Championships when he won a bronze in the 69 kg category at
the 2011 edition in Baku, Azerbaijan. Vijender Singh is the first
Indian to win a medal at the world meet. He won a bronze in 2009.
* The continuous rise in the performance of archers have given
Indians hope of an Olympic medal in London. One of the biggest
achievement for Indian archery came came this year when the
recurve trio of Deepika Kumari, Chekrovolu Swuro and Laishram
Bombayala Devi finished runners-up in the World Championships in
Turin, Italy. Kumari went on to win her second individual gold in
World Youth Archery.
(Bharat Sharma can be contacted at bharat.s@ians.in)
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