The Year That Was 2008
“Sports Do not Build Character, THEY REVEAL IT.”
Saina, the reigning Under-19 national champion, in September 2008 won the Yonex Chinese Taipei Open 2008 beating Li Ya Lydia
Cheah of Malaysia 21-8 21-19. Saina is all set to take on the world
Top ten, having been named The Most Promising Player in 2008. She reached the world super series semifinals in the month of
december 2008 & was crowned as the world junior Badminton
Champion in 2008.
Saurav Ganguly,India's most successful Test Captain ever,fondlycalled Dada, finally retired later this year. This decision left his ans baffled. He was astounded by his inclusion in the Test series against Australia. After facing so much mortification he left people bedazzled by his decision. Ganguly had a wondrous & sumptuous career spanning over 12 years and 109 Tests and scoring 6888 runs at an average of 41.74 which also included 15 centuries after a stunning debut in Lord's way back in 1996.
Sushil Kumar & Vijender Both brought India glory by winning bronze each in wrestling & boxing at the Beijing Olympics 2008 respectively.
Abhinav bindra booked his place in the 2008 Olympics by winning gold at the 2006 ISSF World Shooting Championships At Beijing Olympics 2008, he brought inida’s first individual gold medal and the first gold in 28 years, since the Men's Field Hockey team won the gold at the 1980 Moscow Olympics.
Bindra was rewarded by various Indian state governments and private organizations for his achievement.
Time for the spin king to call it quits. Anil Kumble announced retirement after the 2nd test match bw india and england.The spin bowler said that he would like to be remembered for giving his 100 per cent every time he went to the field. “I want to be remembered as someone who raised the bar for the team,” he said.The 38-year-old leg spinner,who has captured 619 scalps in 132 Tests to be third in the list of highest wicket-takers after Shane Warne and Muttiah Muralitharan.
Australia, the uncrowned kings of the cricketing world are steadily loosing their pre-eminence and are getting aside from the top position in the world rankings. Pioneered by India, who pounded the Kangaroos earlier in 2008 at their home ground, Perth. Since 2005 Ashes, the Aussies had neither lost nor drawn a test match and were running high on spirits. They were expecting garlands of praise to be headed by making a record of 17th consecutive test match victory. But the Indian team proved the critics wrong and ended Australia’s 16 match wining streak by convincingly defeating by 72 runs. And then there was a series defeat in India as well.
Jan 19: India beat Australia in the Perth Test by 72 runs to stop the World Champions from bettering their record of 16 consecutive Test wins.
Feb 10: Indian golfer Shiv Shankar Prasad Chowrasia wins the $2.5 million EMAAR-MGF Indian Masters. Chowrasia won $416,660, the biggest pay cheque received by any player on Indian soil.
Feb 23: Dempo win the inaugural I-League football tournament.
March 9: Eight time gold medal winner India failed to qualify for men's hockey at the Olympics for the first time in 80 years. They lost 0-2 to Great Britain in the final of a qualifying tournament in Santiago, Chile.
April 18: Inaugural Indian Premier League(IPL) starts with eight teams.
May 27: Legendary German goalkeeper Oliver Kahn gets a grand farewell at apacked Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata.
June 1: Shane Warne leads Rajasthan Royal to the inaugural IPL title.
July 18: India staged a dramatic fight-back to beat South Korea 3-2 and retain the Junior Asia Cup hockey crown in Hyderabad.
Aug 10: Jeev creates history by finishing tied 9th at the US PGA Championships at the Oakland Hills Country Club in Michigan
Sep 6: India's Pankaj Advani beats mentor Geet Sethi to win the 42nd IBF World Billiard Championship title in Bangalore.
Oct 29: India's Viswanathan Anand draws the 11th game of the 12-game World Chess Championship final in Bonn against Vladimir Kramnik to take an unbeatable 6.5-4.5 lead and retain his world title.
Nov 10: India defeat Australia by 172 runs in the Nagpur cricket Test to seal a 2-0 series victory and win back the much coveted Border-Gavaskar Trophy. It was the first time Australia had lost a Test series by more than one match since they were trounced by the West Indies in 1988-89.
Dec 4: Saina breaks into top-10 of world badminton at No.10.
Dec 6: Argentine soccer legend Diego Maradona arrives in Kolkata amidst huge fanfare to inaugurate a football academy
