As the curtains come down on an eventful 2011, it is time to press the rewind button and reflect on the various events the world of sport had to offer to us this year. iSporter Aswath B talks about the good memories, bad ones, a few sad ones and some controversial ones as well. Don't miss this year end piece!
This article focuses mainly on three sports: Cricket, Formula 1 and Tennis; and also highlights key events from a few other sports. Let's take a look at each:
Cricket
2011 was a big year for Cricket. This sport's greatest prize was on offer - the World Cup. It was eagerly anticipated for various reasons, and India emerged Champions making 1.2 billion people proud and happy. They had a great side and were expected to do well. India defeated three top sides in their last three games (Australia, Pakistan and Sri Lanka in that order) and won the tournament with panache. Saturday, April 2nd 2011 will always be remembered by the Indian Cricket lover.
This was also a year when the English Cricket team grew by leaps and bounds and stamped their authority as the top Test side in the world. Australia and West Indies began rebuilding and Pakistan cricket got into yet another controversy - this time Spot fixing. Three of their Cricketers Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Asif and Salman Butt were found guilty (the first two for bowling intentional no-balls and the third for planning the incidents). This was a big scar for the entire cricketing fraternity and finally a just verdict was delivered by the court. In November 2011, Butt was sentenced to thirty months imprisonment, Asif for twelve months and Amir for six months.
Formula 1
For the Formula 1 fan, this was a year that belonged to Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull Racing. Both the driver and the team dominated the entire season and won so comfortably that the season became predictable very early. The 24 year-old German driver, became the youngest ever double world champion. He finished the 2011 season with a massive 392 points that included 11 race wins, a total of 17 podiums and 15 pole positions. Jenson Button, the McLaren driver who finished second was a distant 122 points behind!
This year also saw the Inaugural Indian Grand Prix being hosted at the Buddh International circuit in Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh. It turned out to be a huge success! India had finally got a spot on the F1 calendar and the entire nation felt proud. There were some ugly incidents on the race track as well involving Lewis Hamilton and Felipe Massa. The two drivers kept banging into each other at many races. Unfortunately a series of these incidents eventually led to a rift between them.
Tennis
This sport saw something refreshing this year. A person other than Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, kept winning. None other than Novak Djokovic, the tennis equivalent of Sebastian Vettel in Formula 1! This year has undoubtedly been his best ever year. He enjoyed a 5 month winning streak from the start of the year, that lasted 41 matches (43 overall, two wins were in 2010). He won three Grand Slam singles titles (The Australian Open, the Wimbledon and the US Open) in 2011, five masters 1000 titles and also ended the year as Numero Uno. His game reached a new high and his duels with Rafael Nadal were especially noteworthy. Djokovic emerged victorious in each of their 6 meetings this year. Djokovic also played two other great matches, which probably would go down in every tennis fan's diary among the top five matches of 2011 - The French Open Semi finals that he lost to Federer and the US Open Semi finals when he beat him. The first one was significant because it ended Novak's unbeaten run in 2011 and the second one was special because of a stunning shot he produced in a pressure cooker situation . He hit an unbelievable forehand winner when Federer was serving at 5-3; 40-15 in the final set. He would eventually go on to win the game, and the tournament. The finals of the tournament saw him beat Nadal in an epic 250 minute thriller.
Then, the game finally took its toll on Novak Djokovic. He became physically fatigued and was not at his dominating best towards the end of the year. Roger Federer seized this opportunity and produced some amazing tennis that we are all used to seeing from him. He won the year end Masters at London and finished 2011 on a high.
In other Sports, Manchester United won their 19th English League title this year. Barcelona FC dominated Club football overall and won the UEFA Champions league and the club World cup. This year also saw the emergence of another club from Manchester, Manchester City who are currently sitting pretty on top of the English Premier League table. Will it be a change of guard or will it be the same old story? 2012 will have the answer.
New Zealand beat France in the Rugby World Cup final in October. In Golf, Tiger Woods finally won a title after a 749 day drought when he won the Chevron World Challenge title in December.
This year will also be remembered for the passing away of Sporting giants like Tiger Pataudi, Joe Frazier and the renowned columnist - Peter Roebuck.
It's now time to say Adios to 2011 and Hello to 2012.
Wish you a very Happy New Year !
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