Harpal Singh Bedi / New Delhi
India overpowered Australia by 137 runs to win the third test and take an 2-1 lead to herald the closure of the 2018 which was perhaps the most successful year for the country’s sport in this decade.
Though cricket once again dominated the country’s sporting arena but it was boxer Mary Kom, shuttler PV Sindhu, athletes Neeraj Chopra, Hima Das, Swapana Burman.J.Johnson, Manjit Singh, shooters Manu Bhakar, Saurabh Chowdhery and paddler Manika Batra among others who hogged the limelight with their brilliant individual performance.
Indian athletes gave the fans at home and abroad something to cheer about with scintillating Individual performance at Commonwealth and Asian Games while Virat Kohli and his men thrilled the cricket crazy nation with good showing in Australia as the year came to n end.
However Indian hockey did not live up to the expectations as the men and women teams failed to qualify directly for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and also made early exits in their respective World Cups.
After a long time it was the Individual performances of the sportspersons in the multi story events which took the centre stage, pushing cricket behind for some time.
M C Mary Kom created a history and a record which is unlikely to be beaten in near future.The 35- year old Magnificent Mary won her sixth World championship title with a promise that if 48kg event is included in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, she will try to win a medal there also.
In Badminton, Silver medallist in Commonwealth and Asian Games P V Sindhu finally broke the jinx by winning her maiden Badminton World Tour title . The much needed top podium finish came for Sindhu after she ended runners up in six International tournaments.
In Boxing Bajran Punia emerged as a new star.He was the only Indian boxer to win a gold in the Asian Games.
Taking part for the 18th time in the Commonwealth Games, held in Gold Coast (Australia) Indians gave splendid performance to finish third among 71 nations with a haul of 66 medals, that included 26 gold. .
The 200 plus Indian contingent took part in the 15 disciplines and ended with best results in five – weightlifting, shooting, wrestling, badminton and table tennis and as second-best in boxing.
Shooters won 16 medals which included 7 gold medals but it was the showing in the Table Tennis- eight medals including three gold –with Delhi girl Manika Batra clinching record four medals- that came as a big but pleasant surprise.
Later in the Asian Games at Jakarta, the Indian athletes showed that their performances in the Commonwealth Games were no fluke:
The 570 –strong Indian contingent improved upon their 2010 performance to be placed eighth on the leader board with 69 medals including 15 golds and a total of 69 medals to finish eighth .
Out of 69 medals , 19 (including 7 golds) came in Athletics with historic performance by Arpinder Singh (triple jump), Swapna Barman (Women’s heptathlon) and Neeraj Chopra (javelin throw). The country also bagged medals in Kurash (one silver and one bronze), Wushu (four bronze) and a historic bronze in Sepak Takraw.
However, apart from Hockey India’s reign in Kabbadi, a sport in which they were once the undisputed champion in Asiad- came to an end. Both men and women teams were stunned by Iran. While the men’s team finished third after losing to Iran in the semis, the women’s team settled for a silver
Then came the turn of the young sportspersons and they showcased their prowess in the Youth Olympic Games winning13 medals -three gold, nine silver, and one bronze, It was India’s best-ever showing in this at the multi-sport event held in Buenos Aires.
In shooting16-year old Manu Bhaker and Saurabh Chaudhary, stamped their class,.They continued their medal winning spree which they started at Gold Coast .while weightlifter Jeremy Lalrinnunga smashed the national record to clinch the yellow metal and archer Akash Malik took a silve.
In Asian Para Games India had their best-ever finish event with 72 medals, including 15 gold,
Hockey was a big disappointment .The men’s team,failed to retain the gold and direct Olympic qualification spot and settled for bronze medal at Asian Games.
After scoring a record 76 goals in the five group-stage matches they played, their title hopes went up in smoke as they lost 6-7 in sudden-death toMalaysia in the semi-final.
Earlier in Gold Coast also the Manpreet Singh-led team failed to win a gold and same was the case with women team.
In the world cup India finished top of Pool C but lost to the Netherlsands 1-2 in the quarters..
In the Women’s hockey world cup India finished third in the group stage but ended eighth in the tournament.
In Football India U-20 and U-16 teams shocked six time world champion Argentina and Asian Champion Iraq respectively.,
In Cricket India won Blind Cricket World Cup and the U-19 World Cup – where India finished as champions in both the tournaments. And the senior team despite failing to win the test series in South Africa and England, won the Asia Cup for the record seventh time in UAE. In the process they hammered Pakistan twice in the tournament.
In women’s T-20 Asia Cup cricket the Harmanpreet Kaur-led side finished top in the group stage. But in the final they were shocked by Bangladesh side, who scripted history at Kuala Lumpur by defeating the six-time champions by three wickets to lift their maiden title.
In the Women’s World T20,India , finished atop with eight points after winning over Australia, New Zealand, Pakistan, and Ireland. However, they suffered a humiliating eight-wicket defeat to England in the final.
Off the field Badminton star Saina Nehwal, wrestler Vinesh Phogat got married while Tennis player Sania Mirza became mother. Golfer Jyoti Randhawa was arrested on the charges of illegal hunting,
And on the penultimate day of the Year India ensured that it retains the Gavaskar-Border trophy and does not lose the series by beating Australia in the third test to go 2-1 up in four match series.