Best sporting moments for India in 2018
2018 was a breakthrough year for Indian sports. While the country scaled heights in its premier game, Cricket, thanks to the Indian cricket team, numerous milestones were achieved in other disciplines like Shooting, Weightlifting, Boxing, Table Tennis, Badminton, and Football.
The Indian contingent recorded its best finish at the quadrennial Asian Games, and also enjoyed a great run in the Commonwealth Games. While Hockey and Kabaddi, the traditional powerhouses of Indian sport left fans wanting, the success in other sports eclipsed the below-par performance in these disciplines.
Let's have a look at the best sporting moments for India in 2018:
#20 Ullas Narayan's run to glory
Ullas Narayan became the first Indian individual to win a medal in an international ultra running event, earlier this month. Narayan bagged the bronze medal, running 250km at the 2018 International Association of Ultra Running (IAU) 24 Hour Asia & Oceania Championships at Taipei. He also contributed to the team event and helped India win another bronze.
#19 PV Sindhu ends the gold drought in style
PV Sindhu finally went past the final barrier, as she overcame Nozomi Okuhara in straight sets 21-17, 21-19 to win the 2018 BWF World Tour Finals. This was the first victory for an Indian at the World Tour. Before this, Sindhu bagged silver medals at the Commonwealth Games, Asian Games and the World Championships.
#18 Dipa Karmakar lands on landmarks
Premier Indian gymnast Dipa Karmakar made a swashbuckling return to the international scene after two years, clinching gold in the Gymnastics World Challenge Cup in Turkey, in the vault event. This championship is considered to be one of the biggest events in world gymnastics.
Dipa became the first Indian to win a gold in an international gymnastics event After having an injury-marred Asian Games, she returned to win a bronze in the Artistic Gymnastics World Cup in Germany in the month of November.
#17 Sun shines in the Rainbow Nation
Team India created history in February, as they won the first ODI series against Proteas on their soil, defeating the home side by a convincing 5-1 margin. Virat Kohli (558 runs with three hundreds) and Kuldeep Yadav (17 wickets) were the leading performers for India.
#16 Sunil Chhetri kicks off the past
Indian captain Sunil Chhetri became the second-highest international scorer amongst active footballers as he scored a brace in the final of the 2018 Hero Intercontinental Cup against Kenya in the final.
Chhetri now stands equal with Lionel Messi, with both having 65 goals each. He is only behind Cristiano Ronaldo, who has 85 goals to his name