Remember the names

Published on:

22 Dec 2015, 12:00 am

2015 saw Saina climb to the top of the world, but not for long as Marin returned to end the year on a high. Messi and Ronaldo yet again dominated football but the sport also welcomed new competitor Neymar. Hamilton’s tirumph, Mayweather’s fairytale retirement and Vijender turning pro created all the headlines. PIONEER SPORT takes a look at the second part of top achievers in this calendar year

Badminton

Indian

Saina Nehwal

Saina Nehwal won the India Open Grand Prix Gold and became the first Indian woman to reach the finals of All England Open Badminton Championships, but lost to Carolina Marin in final. However, she got her revenge by beating Marin in Syed Modi International tournament final. Then, she won her maiden women's singles title at India Open BWF Super Series beating Ratchanok Intanon of Thailand. This assured of the number one position and she became the first Indian woman to be World No.1 in badminton. Then she claimed silver in the World Badminton Championships, Jakarta, once again losing to Carolina Marin in the final and also ended up as a runner-up in the China Open by losing to li Xuerui. In the end Saina finished the year on a promising note by being the World No.2. The Haryana shuttler will look to continue on this form in 2016 Rio Olympics by bettering the bronze medal she won in london 2012.

PV Sindhu

The Hyderabadi shuttler overcome an injury-hit campaign to show her prominence in the Denmark Open. After a promising run in the tournament, Sindhu shocked the world by stunning All England champion Carolina Marin in semifinals. But, she lost to li Xuerui in the final and had to settle for the runnuers-up spot. Then, she went on to win Macau Open for a third consecutive time by defeating Japan's Minatsu Mitani to round off the year in good note. As a reward for her emphatic victory, Badminton Association of India announced Rs.10 lakh to her.

Kidambi Srikanth

The highest ranked Indian male shuttler — World No.9 — had a great start to the year by becaming the first Indian male to win gold at Swiss Open Grand Prix. Srikanth defeated Viktor Axelsen in a tense final 21-15, 12-21, 21-14. Then, he went on to win the Indian Open as well by beating the same opponent again in the final. He then had to settle for a runner-up spot in Syed Modi International Championships by losing to fellow country mate Parupalli Kashyap and finished second in the Indonesia Masters by going down to Tommy Sugiarto to finish the year on a high.

International

Carolina Marin

If 2015 season belonged to anyone in badminton, then it definitely has to be for the Spanish World No.1. In March, she won the All England, her first Superseries Premier title in her first Superseries Premier final. The title propelled her to World No. 4 and for the first time, no. 1 in the Superseries standing. She did not stop there as she went on to win her second straight Super Series Premier title at the 2015 Malaysia Open in April by beating li Xuerui. Then she won her successive BWF World Championships title by beating India's Saina Nehwal on her way to top the World rankings. The 22-year-old then ended her blistering year by winning the French Open and Hong Kong Open title.

lee Chong Wei

After returning from an eight-month suspension for a doping violation, lee Chong Wei started with a bang by bagging the US Open and Canada Open titles respectively. He however had to settle for the second place at the World Championships as he lost to Chen long in the final. His form slightly dipped after it with three early round exits. He bounced back from the setback by winning the French Open, his first ever China Open title, thus also became the first man to win all of the Super Series titles. Then he also won the Hong Kong Open.

Chen long

Starting the year as World No.1, the Chinese shuttler defended his All England Super Series Premier by beating compatriot lin Dan in the final. He then went on to win Malaysia Super Series against the same opponent and won the Australian Super Series against Viktor Axelsen. Then he bagged the big one by defeating lee Chong Wei to win his second World Championship. later, he claimed another Super Series victory at the 2015 Korea Open Super Series, during which he defeated unseeded Indian Ajay Jayaram in the final. This was Chen's 8th Super Series title, bringing his total SS (including Premier) tally to 16 and year-to-date titles to 7, the most he's achieved in one season. He ended the year by reaching the semifinals of the Super Series in Dubai.