New Delhi, December 18: Olympic bronze medallist Vijender Singh, old guard of Indian tennis Leander Paes, new star Somdev Devvarman and golf’s new poster boy Chinnaswamy Muniyappa were among the top Indian sportpersons who brought laurels for the country this year.
Following is a list of top 10 sportspersons of the year:
1. Somdev Devvarman (Tennis): The 24-year-old, who was talked of as the next big thing ever since his debut in the Davis Cup match against Japan last year, created history in January by becoming the first Indian to reach the final of the ATP Chennai Open.
The University of Virginia graduate beat the likes of former World No.1 Carlos Moya and Croat Ivo Karlovic en route to the final. Somdev spearheaded the Indian challenge in their Davis Cup second round win against Chinese Taipei and later along with Rohan Bopanna took India into the World Group finals after 11 years, beating South Africa at Johannsesburg in the play-off. Somdev also became the first Indian men’s player to qualify for the singles main draw of a Grand Slam event in seven years in the US Open.
2. Chinnaswamy Muniyappa (Golf): For a man who caddied for one rupee during his childhood, winning the Indian Open in October was a life-transforming moment. The win fetched Muniyappa the Rookie of the Year title after the 32-year-old finished his season in 10th place on the Order of Merit with $223,269 through one win and three other top-25 finishes. The caddie-turned-pro was the lone Indian in Asian Tour’s annual roll of honour.
3. Gautam Gambhir (Cricket): The year has been outstanding for Indian opener Gautam Gambhir. He won the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) Test Player of the Year award in October. In July, he held the number one Test ranking, though for only 10 days. He scored two centuries in New Zealand that included a match saving 137 at Napier where he batted close to 11 hours. Gambhir carried his form in the home Test series against Sri Lanka, hitting back-to-back tons at Ahmedabad and Kanpur. Four centuries in successive Tests gave him a place in the elite circle as the third Indian batsmen after Sunil Gavaskar and Rahul Dravid to achieve the feat.
4. Leander Paes (Tennis): Age only seems to bring the best out of Leander Paes. The 35-year-old Indian with Czech partner Lukas Dlouhy won the French Open title, beating Wesley Moodie of South Africa and Belgium’s Dick Norman.After a first round exit from the Wimbledon, Paes and Dlouhy joined forces to claim theUS Open against Mahesh Bhupathi and Mark Knowles. It was Paes’ 10th Grand Slam title. He also finished runners-up in mixed doubles with partner Cara Black in the Wimbledon and theUS Open.
5. Subrata Paul (Football): The Indian team goal keeper rose from his turbulent past to take the country to a sensational 6-5 victory in a shootout over Syria for the Nehru Cup title. With the win, India not only retained the ONGC Nehru Cup but the sport in the country also found a new hero.In an amazing display of reflexes and anticipation Paul saved three spot kicks in the tie-breaker to take India home. For someone who was involved in an unfortunate collision with Dempo striker Cristiano Junior which led to the Brazilian collapsing on the field and dying, his performance made him turn a new leaf. Paul was also adjudged the Footballer of the Year by the All India Football Federation (AIFF), the first goalkeeper to win the award.
6. Vijender Singh (Boxing): After last year’s Olympic bronze, boxer Vijender Singh proved he was not a flash in the pan. Vijender silenced his critics when he won a bronze medal in the World Championships in September, the first-ever medal for India in the Championships.Later in the month, the Bhiwani boxer added yet another feat becoming the world’s number one boxer in the middle weight (75kg) category, the first Indian ever to do so. He was awarded the Khel Ratna along with Olympic bronze medallist wrestler Sushil Kumar and women’s four-time world champion boxer Mary Kom.
7. Suranjoy Singh (Boxing): The gritty boxer from Manipur gave India its first Asian Championship gold in 15 years. A Mike Tyson fan, the 22-year-old flyweight pugilist, however, could not repeat his success in the World Championships at Milan, where he made a first round exit.Suranjoy worked on his game and returned to win gold at the prestigious AIBA President’s Cup in December. The win has only added to his hunger to win medals for India.
8. Saina Nehwal (Badminton): After a stupendous 2008, wherein she reached the quarterfinals of the Olympics and also won the most ‘Promising Player of the Year’ award, Saina carried on from where she left last year.The 19-year-old Indian created history in June when she became the first Indian to win a Super Series title with the Indonesian Open in Djakrata. She touched her career-high ranking of six in July. Saina was also awarded the Arjuna Awardthis year for her achievements.
9. Valiyaveetil Diju and Jwala Gutta (Badminton): India’s top mixed doubles pair has been making waves on the international scene since renewing their partnership in early 2008, after a year’s break.Riding on their performance, they entered the top-10 in world rankings and made the cut for the World Championships in Hyderabad where they became the first Indian pair to reach the quarterfinals. They won the Chinese Taipei Open in August and finished the year on a high, reaching the final of the World Super Series Masters Finals in Malaysia earlierthis year.
10. Pankaj Advani (Snooker): It is hard to neglect Pankaj Advani when one talks of distinct achievements in Indian sports. The 24-year-old, who is the only player to have achieved the ‘grand double’ of winning both the points and time formats at the IBSF World Billiards Championships, winning it in 2005 and the 2008 Championships held in Bangalore, carried his formthis year .Advani won the 2009 World Professional Billiards Championship in Leeds, his first World Professional Billiards Championship title, beating defending champion Mike Russell in the final. The World Championships last month however turned out to be a dampener for him.
–Agencies