There were beautiful moments in the world of sport in the last 12 months. Saina Nehwal and Sania Mirza’s rise to World No 1 certainly takes the cake. Not to be forgotten, Indian women’s hockey team qualified for the Olympics after 36 years. Then there was Australia lifting the World Cup for fifth time. PIONEER SPORT takes a look at the top moments in 2015
Aussies win Fifth World Cup
After losing out to the most coveted trophy in cricket in 2011, ‘Baggy Greens’ were determined to win the 2015 World Cup and had extra motivation of home audience and that is what they did on March 29th at the majestic Melbourne Cricket Ground in front of 93,013 people. To add to the sweetness of the win, they defeated arch-rivals New Zealand by seven wickets after summing up their innings at 183 runs and thus winning their fifth trophy. Incidentally, in the group stages these two teams had a face-off at Eden Park where Kiwis had prevailed having bowled them out for 151 and New Zealand pacer Trent Boult took five wickets for 27 runs. In the same match, Australia gave them a scare towards the end courtesy Mitchell Starc, who took 6 wickets for 28, before Kane Williamson finished it off with a straight drive six to Josh Hazlewood. It was the perfect farewell for Michael Clarke who played his last World Cup and ODI before announcing retirement. New Zealand won admiration because of the spirit with which they had played the World Cup and Australia for their strength and produced magic when needed the most.
Broad unleashed for 8/15
Ashes 2015, turned out to be one of the most fascinating series in recent memory between traditional rivals Australia and England. In the fourth Test of the Ashes series at Trent Bridge, England pacer Stuart Broad who most of the fans remember for getting hit for six sixes in six balls by Yuvraj Singh at ICC WT20 in 2007, produced one of the extraordinary spells in history of cricket — taking eight wickets for just 15 runs! Broad, playing at his home ground became only the fifth Englishman to take 300 Test wickets and also equalled the fastest Test five-wicket haul in 19 deliveries. His wickets included Chris Rogers, Steve Smith, Shaun Marsh, Michael Clarke, Adam Voges, Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Johnson and Nathan lyon. Australia's first innings thus ended at 60 runs from 111 deliveries which was the shortest first innings in Test history. It was an impressive case of fast and furious spell by the Englishmen which took the Australia's batting line-up by surprise.
Nehwal climbs world summit
April 2, 2015 was a huge day for Saina Nehwal and certainly for Indian badminton. For the Hyderabadi, now living and training in Bengaluru, had won the Indian Open BWF Super Series title a few days prior to ensure she would be at the top of the world come that Thursday. In the Final, she beat Ratchanok Intanon of Thailand 21-16, 21-14 in a quick fire match at the Siri Fort Sports Complex in the capital as a capacity crowd roared each time she won a point. Under the tutelage of Vimal Kamar, she rose to heights that she deserved but wasn't able to achieve a year prior when she even considered quitting the sport. With the final point, Saina threw the racket in the air in celebration and was at loss of words after to express herself.
Barcelona win second treble
In football, winning all trophies that you contest is a massive feat. Doing once is comprehensive but doing it twice is exemplary and that is exactly what Barcelona achieved in the year gone by. The Catalans won the league by two points from arch-rivals Real Madrid but had led the table from matchday 26 until the end (matchday 38). 'Blaugranas' as they are called, scored 110 goals and enjoyed an equally admirable defensive record with 21 goals conceded. In the domestic cup, Barca beat Athletic Bilbao 3-1 in the Final in own backyard. To add to this feat, they went about without losing or drawing a single game in the entire competition. In the big one, the Champions league, the Catalans won 3-1 over Juventus in the Final at Olympiastadion in Berlin and on the way lost only two games (PSG and Bayern Munich). To add to their trophy cabinet, Barcelona won the Club World Cup on Sunday beating River Plate 3-0.
Mayweather wins ‘Fight of the Century'
Undefeated five-division world champion Floyd Mayweather, Jr. and eight-division world champion Manny Pacquiao clashed in what was regarded as 'The Fight of the Century' or 'The Battle for Greatness'. The negotiations between the two camps started as early as 2009 but the fight materialised only in May. In the fight at the MGM Grand Arena, las Vegas, Mayweather dictated the pace early, controlling range with the jab. His deft movement and pivoting made Pacquiao consistently miss. Mayweather was able to counter Pacquiao with his right hand constantly throughout the fight and won via unanimous decision with the scorecards reading 118-110, 116-112 and 116-112. Despite the massive hype that surrounded it, critics felt that the bout itself was disappointing, primarily citing Mayweather's defense-oriented strategy in the ring. Besides, it was later reported that Pacquiao fought through a torn rotator cuff in his right shoulder. later in the year, Mayweather announced his retirement in the ring after defeating Andre Berto with an undefeated record of 49-0 to match Rocky Marciano's record.
Murray's heroics end Britain's 79-year wait
Andy Murray ended Great Britain's 79-year wait for a Davis Cup title in sensational fashion by defeating Belgium's David Goffin 6-3, 7-5, 6-3 in Ghent on clay. With Murray’s deftly hit backhand lob over Goffin, Britain won the Davis Cup for the tenth time and their first since 1936. The two-time Grand Slam champion claimed a regulation straight-set win over Goffin to build an unassailable 3-1 lead for Britain. Dunblane-born Murray had already restored British tennis pride with his US Open triumph in 2012 — the first Grand Slam title for a British player since Fred Perry in 1936 and the Wimbledon later — again a first for a Briton since Perry in the same year. Add the Davis Cup triumph to it and Britain will always be remembered as a national hero.
Bolt Blitz in Beijing
Just when Usain Bolt's time was thought to be over, the ‘lightning Bolt’ produced a sensational performance in the World Championships in Beijing, to remind everyone of his prowess. Justin Gatlin was dominating proceedings leading up to the event. Bolt and Gatlin had not faced each other in two years, during which Gatlin had accumulated a winning streak in 100 metres and 200m of 29. But when everyone wrote off Bolt, the Jamaican showed his full ability in the final 20 meters to clock a time of 9.79 seconds to Gatlin's 9.80 to claim gold. This was the 29-year-old's ninth world championship title — more than any athlete in history. Bolt, however, did not stop there as he went on to win the 200m and 4 x 100m relay in the Championships as well. Notably, the 19.55 seconds he clocked in 200m was the 10th-fastest time ever.
dawn of the ‘Kohli Era'
It was all horribly wrong for the Indian Test team but the visit to neighbouring islanders changed all that. India won a Test series on the Sri lankan soil for the first time since 1993. The Virat Kohli-led side came back from first Test deficit to win the series 2-1 against. But a few critics labelled it an easy win as the lankan team was going through a transformation phase and challenged the Indian team to replicate its performance against the mighty South Africans. Undefeated on away Test tours since 2006, the South African team defeated MS Dhoni's unit in both the limited over formats and was expected to repeated the same in the longer version of the game. But Kohli's men had other ideas and they executed them perfectly. It was a clean sweep for India as they defeated Africans 4-0 in the five match series; three out of them were completed in under three days time.
Eves capture the dream
It was Chak de India recreated, but this time in reality and not reels. Indian women's hockey team created history by qualifying for the 2016 Olympics which is scheduled for August in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. This will only be the second time in the history of Indian women's hockey when they will be participating in an Olympics and this has been possible with the combination of good performances and some luck. England and Netherland's victory in their respective semifinals of the Hockey World league in Antwerp meant that the two teams already qualified for the Olympics were in contention for the European Continental title. That freed up a quota place and the India women team finished fifth at the Hockey World league semifinal in Antwerp, hence successfully booking its Olympic ticket after a long wait of 36 years. The men's team will also be travelling to Rio to aim for Olympic glory.
Sania rises to no 1
Sania Mirza becoming the first Indian woman to top the world rankings in doubles was one of the highlights of Indian sport this year. The Hyderabadi player started the year in sixth and would be finishing at the top. In the middle of the year, she formed alliance with ‘Swiss Miss’ and former singles World No 1 Martina Hingis. Thus began the Indo-Swiss revolution. The duo won their first three tournaments — Indian Wells, Miami Open and Family Circle Cup on the trot. Thus Sania became the first Indian woman to top the rankings. The pair entered the French Open as top seeds but failed to live up to the level and crashed out in quarterfinals. But, they went on to win the next two Slams — Wimbledon and US Open — to become the invincible doubles pair on the WTA Tour. The Indo-Swiss pair also stormed through the year ending WTA Finals by securing the title without losing a single set in the entire tournament. Sania ended 2015 with ten titles.