Highs
Germany win World Cup
Germany became the first nation after Brazil to win the World Cup outside their own continent when they edged out Argentina 1-0 in an entertaining final. It was their first World Cup triumph after unification and fourth overall.
Badminton glory for india
Indian shuttlers won at the prestigious China Open Superseries event for the first time with Kidambi Srikanth and Saina Nehwal taking the men’s and women's titles, respectively. Srikanth achieved a career high rank of World No.4, while P.V. Sindhu rounded off a fine year by retaining the Macau Open Grand Prix Gold title in November.
Hamilton crowned new F1 champion
Lewis Hamilton won the Formula One title with Mercedes to end the four-year reign of Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel. Hamilton who clinched his second F1 title finished at 384 points this season, 67 clear of teammate Nico Rosberg. On the other hand, Vettel witnessed a horrific season as he finished off at the fifth spot with a mere 167 points.
Hockey team win Asian Games gold
The India men’s hockey team won gold at the Asian Games after a gap of 16 years when they got the better of Pakistan via penalty shoot-out in the final. It heralded a successful year for the Men in Blue, who also clinched a historic away series against world number one Australia.
Rohit Sharma slams 2nd double ton in ODIs
Rohit Sharma created history by becoming the first to smash two double centuries in ODIs. The right-hander scored 264 against Sri Lanka at the Eden Gardens on November 13 to surpass Virender Sehwag’s (219) highest individual score in limited overs cricket. The knock spanned 173 balls and included 33 fours and nine sixes.
Lows
Hughes’ tragedy overshadows eventful year
Australian cricketer Phillip Hughes’ tragic death cast a pall over an eventful year. Hughes died at a Sydney hospital on November 27, two days after being hit on the head by a bouncer during a Sheffield Shield match. The tragedy triggered an avalanche of tributes while questions were raised about the safety standards in the game.
No cheers for Indian cricket
Overall, it was not a great year for Indian cricket with controversies off the field and some poor performances on it. BCCI chief N. Srinivasan is being investigated in several scams, including one involving betting on IPL matches, and was asked to resign by the Supreme Court in March. India’s poor overseas record continued as they were steamrolled 1-5 in the Test series in England, and then in Australia.
Boxer Sarita Devi returns Asiad bronze
Sarita Devi’s illustrious career suffered a blow when she created a controversy by refusing her bronze medal at the podium during the Incheon Asian Games in October. Sarita had lost to South Korea’s Park Ji-Na in the women’s lightweight semifinals, but refused to accept the verdict alleging bias by the judges. She was eventually handed a one-year ban by the world body.
Suarez’s costly bite
The World Cup came to a standstill when Uruguayan forward Luis Suarez bit Italian defender Giorgio Chiellini during their Group ‘D’ match. The two were looking to head the ball which resulted in a collision. After the incident, Chiellini pulled down his shirt and showed the bite marks to the referee. Suarez was suspended from all football-related activity for four months by the Fifa’s disciplinary committee.
Agonising wait for Schumacher, Bianchi
Marussia driver Jules Bianchi suffered life-threatening brain injuries when he crashed into a recovery vehicle during the Japanese GP. The Frenchman suffered a diffuse axonal injury in the October 5 incident and continues to fight for his life. Meanwhile, F1 legend Michael Schumacher entered his second year of battling back from a ski accident that has left him a recluse in his Swiss home, his condition a closely guarded secret.
off-side
Bat’s not cricket
New Zealander cricketer Jimmy Neesham had a shock travelling through America when his bat was drilled full of holes by customs officials. The 23-year-old, who was in transit between matches for his Caribbean Premier League team, the Guyana Amazon Warriors, tweeted a picture of his bat after its going-over.
“Imagine if your cricket gear went through America and they drilled holes in your bat to look for drugs,” he wrote on his Twitter account.
Three all out
Wirral, from north-west England, were dismissed for just three at Haslington in an amateur cricket match — with extras the top-scorer courtesy of two leg-byes. There were 10 ducks in the Wirral innings, with no. 11 Connor Hodson, supposedly their worst batsman, the only member of the visitors’ side to score a run off the bat. Haslington won the match by 105 runs after making only 108 themselves before, as the Stoke Sentinel newspaper reported, “the real drama unfolded after the tea interval”.
India marathon leaders miss turn, take the bus
A marathon ended in farce in India after the pilot car overshot a turn, forcing the top three runners to take a long detour before abandoning the race — and taking a bus to the finish line.
The leaders, who missed the U-turn at the 16 kilometre-mark, ran four extra kilometres before officials finally stopped them and told them they had taken the wrong route.
Realising they had no chance of recovering ground, the three abandoned the 42-kilometre race in Bengaluru and borrowed money from spectators to take a bus to the finishing line.
Sochi’s four ring circus
Russia’s glitzy ceremony to open the Sochi Winter Olympic got off to a rocky start when one of the Olympic rings that was supposed to appear failed to emerge. Just four of the five rings could be seen after one of the five giant snowflakes suspended above the stadium that were supposed to morph into rings failed to do so. As a result, there were four Olympic rings and a snowflake in the top right side where the fifth ring should have been.
