2013 was a roller coaster ride for Indian sports. The year going by saw batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar’s Retirement.
It was also marked by triumphs in the ICC Champions Trophy in England, a bronze medal by shuttler PV Sindhu in the World Cup and 40-year-old Leander Paes in the US Open men’s doubles. Sachin’s retirement: Billions of cricket buffs across the country and worldwide were left in tears after master blaster Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar announced his retirement from the 22-yard track ending a 24-year long international career.
Sachin also earned the distinction of being the first sportsperson to be conferred India’s highest honour, the Bharat Ratna.
The award for Sachin was made moments after the master blaster announced his retirement. ICC Champions Trophy Win: In less than a year, the world champions have pocketed six ODI trophies – back to back. And the feat was achieved not as ‘Lions at Home’ but across four continents.
Women Junior Hockey Team’s Bronze medal win: 2013 was an eventful roller-coaster ride for Indian hockey.
The eves stole the limelight with the junior team bagging a historic Bronze medal in the World Cup held at Monchengladbach, Germany. Led by Sushila Chanu, the girls won their first-ever World Cup medal by beating England in the third-place playoff via penalty shoot-out.
Just like their female counterparts, the junior boys started the year on a promising note by clinching the Sultan of Johor Cup title in Malaysia, which gave India the self-belief that they can win the Junior World Cup at home.
But Manpreet Singh and his men crashed out in the pool stages, eventually finishing a disappointing 10th in the 16-team event.
PV Sindhu World Cup Bronze: While Indian badminton had a mixed year with London Olympics Bronze medalist Saina Nehwal in poor form, Pusarla Venkata Sindhu, also from Andhra, hit the headlines by becoming the country’s first woman to win a singles medal – a Bronze – at the World Championships in August. Sindhu has won two Grand Prix Gold titles – Malaysia Open (May) and the Macau Open (December) – and was also conferred the Arjuna Award. In contrast, Saina could not replicate her fantastic 2012 performance when she also won an Olympic medal. This year though the Hyderabadi has failed to win even a single title.
Amit Kumar’s Silver in World Wrestling Championships: Asian Champion Amit Kumar clinched the silver in the final of 55kg category at the World Wrestling Championships. Amit lost to Hassan Farman Rahimi of Iran 1-2 to win finish with a silver medal at the Papp Laszlo Sports Arena. After London Olympics silver medallist Sushil Kumar failed to take the mat due to fitness issues, Amit brought cheers to the Indian camp when he got the better of Sezar Akgul of Turkey in the semifinals of the marquee event.
Amit’s heroics was followed by Sandeep Tulsi Yadav, who capped a fine performance at the Worlds in Budapest by claiming India’s maiden bronze in Greco-Roman 66kg category. Narsingh Yadav also claimed the bronze in 74kg in the repechage.
Leander Paes doubles title at US Open: At 40, doubles tennis legend Leander Paes, became the oldest man to win a Grand Slam title when he and his Czech partner Radek Stepanek took the US Open title.
Shiv Kapur at British Open: Golfer Shiv Kapur became the first Indian ever to lead in a Major albeit briefly when he captured the fancy of golf aficionados with his incredible first round display, which got him perched atop the leaderboard for the first nine holes at the British Open.
Deepika Kumari’s Silver in Archery World Cup: India’s golden girl Deepika Kumari led the women contingent to a new height stunning world champions Korea in the World Cup, while the relatively new compound archers too emulated their recurve teammates in what turned out to be a good year for Indian archery.
Rahi Sarnobat’s World Cup Gold in Pistol Shooting: Rahi Sarnobat scripted history by becoming the first Indian pistol shooter to clinch a gold medal in the ISSF World Cup. Rahi joined the elite club of rifle shooters – Anjali Bhagwat, Gagan Narang, Sanjeev Rajput, Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, Ronjan Sodhi and Manavjit Singh Sandhu – who have won gold medals in the ISSF World Cups for India.
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