NEW DELHI , DEC 30,
Virat Kohli continued to dominate the cricket chatter with his batting and brashness, the indomitable M C Mary Kom rolled back the years like very few can and, month after month, Indian sports also found new and younger heroes to raise a toast to. P V Sindhu’s perseverance on the badminton court, Neeraj Chopra’s obsessive pursuit of perfection every time he hurled the javelin, and the teenage shooting stars who refused to take their eyes off the target, made 2018 a year in which highs easily outnumbered the lows for Indian sports.
There was a plethora of big-ticket sporting events this year and the country had lots to celebrate throughout. Whether it was the Commonwealth and the Asian Games or Youth Olympics, athletes pushed the boundaries and produced path-breaking performances.
There were the usual administrative mess-ups occasionally and odd cases of dope shame as well, but they couldn’t make a dent to the overall sense of accomplishment.
Khel Ratna to Kohli
On the cricket field, the results weren’t encouraging in South Africa and England but Kohli the batsman again ruled the roost, making his craft look ridiculously easy even on the most challenging tracks. It was only fitting that he was bestowed the nation’s highest sporting honour — the Khel Ratna. For ‘Captain Kohli’, however, it was far more challenging as he grappled to get the combinations right. But the team did find a degree of redemption against Australia by retaining the Border-Gavaskar Trophy to close the year on a high.
Of course, it came against an Australian team weakened by the absence of banned batting mainstays Steve Smith and David Warner.
The duo, along with Cameron Bancroft, combined for this year’s biggest cricket scandal — the ball-tampering saga that forced a review of Australia’s “win at all cost” culture.
Commonwealth Games
The same Australia which had the world mesmerised by its near-perfect hosting of the Commonwealth Games within weeks of the drama.
The Games were memorable for India too as the country logged its third-best ever medal haul, highlighted by a record-shattering weightlifting show. Spearheading it was the diminutive world champion Mirabai Chanu, who later shared the Khel Ratna with Kohli.
Weightlifting also found another prospective star in Jeremy Lalrinnunga after the 16-year-old claimed an unprecedented gold at Youth Olympics.
It was a comeback of sorts for shooting, after their flop-show at the 2016 Olympics.
India’s gold medal-winners at the CWG shooting range included a 16-year-old Manu Bhaker and a 15-year-old Anish Bhanwala. The shooters hit the bull’s eye in the Asiad too and though Bhaker felt the pain of failure for the first time, new gold-winning stars emerged in 16-year-old Saurabh Choudhary and a 15-something Shardul Vihan.
Bhaker and Chaudhary also won gold medals at Youth Olympics.
If shooting was about youngsters, boxing became all about an ageing but incomparable superstar in Mary Kom. The 36-year-old mother-of-three, who is also a Parliamentarian, picked up four gold medals — including a record sixth world title and the CWG top honours.
“There won’t be another Mary Kom,” she declared and one look at her predominantly golden cabinet of medals would be enough to silence anyone who thinks otherwise.
