For lovers of sports, year 2013 was nothing short of an emotional roller-coaster with a liberal dose of frustration thrown in courtesy India’s continued suspension from the Olympic fold. Adding to the embarrassment was the IPL spot-fixing scandal which led to the arrest of cricketers, including former Test pacer S Sreesanth.
In fact, Indian sports had very few success stories to talk of this year. One among them was rising shuttler P V Sindhu. The 18-year-old from Hyderabad took the spotlight off Saina Nehwal by becoming the first woman shuttler to clinch a medal at the World Championships, a bronze. In contrast, Saina battled poor form and injury issues through the year to end up without a title. In wrestling, youngsters Amit Kumar, Bajrang and Sandeep Yadav scripted India’s best ever show in the World Championship in the absence of Olympic stars in a year, during which the ancient sport successfully fought off its Olympic exclusion.
Off the field, one of the biggest achievements for Indian sports was bagging the hosting rights of the 2017 U-17 football World Cup after months of speculation and one rejection by the world governing body FIFA. It was a rare instance of administrators getting it right given the mess that they mostly found themselves in through the year.
It indeed was a ‘Farewell to Remember’ when Tendulkar played his 200th and final Test match at his homeground Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. His last innings in Test cricket bore testimony to legendary status, an innings that was high on quality and aesthetic value for those who had loved the game.
Another bad news in Indian sports was the scrapping of the Indian Grand Prix from next year’s Formula One calendar. The race has been pulled off the F1 roster for scheduling and ‘logistics’ problems but the organisers are bullish about its return in 2015. F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone cited ‘political’ problems in conducting the race in the country but the Jaypee Group is hopeful that they will bring the race back to India in 2015.
Having blatantly violated IOC’s diktats on more than one occasion throughout the year, Indian Olympic Association was finally left with no option but to amend its constitution as per the world body’s directives following an ultimatum by it. The decision to amend IOA constitution in line with Olympic Charter was taken at its special GB meeting on 8 December after IOC served an ultimatum stating that it would de-recognise India if ‘charge-framed’ persons are not barred from contesting polls, among other directives. Their defiance for most of the year made a mockery of the attempts by the sports ministry to resolve the situation with IOC.
But with IOA finally bowing to pressure, things promised to brighten up for India next year when the country’s athletes are expected to get their right to compete under the national flag back.In fact, with Asian and Commonwealth Games lined up, 2014 promises to be a blockbuster one for Indian sports if the administrators manage to sort out the current mess.
In fact, Indian sports had very few success stories to talk of this year. One among them was rising shuttler P V Sindhu. The 18-year-old from Hyderabad took the spotlight off Saina Nehwal by becoming the first woman shuttler to clinch a medal at the World Championships, a bronze. In contrast, Saina battled poor form and injury issues through the year to end up without a title. In wrestling, youngsters Amit Kumar, Bajrang and Sandeep Yadav scripted India’s best ever show in the World Championship in the absence of Olympic stars in a year, during which the ancient sport successfully fought off its Olympic exclusion.
Off the field, one of the biggest achievements for Indian sports was bagging the hosting rights of the 2017 U-17 football World Cup after months of speculation and one rejection by the world governing body FIFA. It was a rare instance of administrators getting it right given the mess that they mostly found themselves in through the year.
It indeed was a ‘Farewell to Remember’ when Tendulkar played his 200th and final Test match at his homeground Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. His last innings in Test cricket bore testimony to legendary status, an innings that was high on quality and aesthetic value for those who had loved the game.
Another bad news in Indian sports was the scrapping of the Indian Grand Prix from next year’s Formula One calendar. The race has been pulled off the F1 roster for scheduling and ‘logistics’ problems but the organisers are bullish about its return in 2015. F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone cited ‘political’ problems in conducting the race in the country but the Jaypee Group is hopeful that they will bring the race back to India in 2015.
Having blatantly violated IOC’s diktats on more than one occasion throughout the year, Indian Olympic Association was finally left with no option but to amend its constitution as per the world body’s directives following an ultimatum by it. The decision to amend IOA constitution in line with Olympic Charter was taken at its special GB meeting on 8 December after IOC served an ultimatum stating that it would de-recognise India if ‘charge-framed’ persons are not barred from contesting polls, among other directives. Their defiance for most of the year made a mockery of the attempts by the sports ministry to resolve the situation with IOC.
But with IOA finally bowing to pressure, things promised to brighten up for India next year when the country’s athletes are expected to get their right to compete under the national flag back.In fact, with Asian and Commonwealth Games lined up, 2014 promises to be a blockbuster one for Indian sports if the administrators manage to sort out the current mess.