The year gone by was one that sported headlines galore and was host to a number of highlights on both sides of the line. It boasted of as many superlative performances as it did underwhelming and on the barometer of excitement, it stood out as the one that pressed all the right pressure points. We had four different grand slam winners on the ATP tour and the coming of age of a few new names provided relief that the game stands in good hands with the top four slowly entering the dusk of their hegemony. Germany showed Brazil a trick or seven in the world cup semi final and then followed it up with their fourth title against the fancied Argentinians. Christiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi continued to dazzle for their mighty clubs but fell aside when leading the charge for their countries. New Zealand transformed itself into a redoubtable force on the cricket field with Mcculum's exploits helping the black caps surge. Let's have a look at the way this year unfolded and what the new one has in store for us. A word for Kidambi Srikanth who shot to world number 4 after suffering debilitating illness in the year. To beat Lin Dan in China was undoubtedly the highlight for the indomitable Indian and with age on this side, expect to see him scorching the badminton charts in the coming year. Saina and Sindhu maintained their competitiveness with another World Championships bronze for the latter. With a sparkling year for the Indian shuttlers, Rio prospects look brighter than ever.
Stan Wawrinka and Maran Cilic broke through the firm of Novak, Roger, Rafa and Andy to land the first and last grand slam titles of the year. While these epoch making titles were sandwiched Nadal's historic ninth title at the Roland Garros and Djokovic's second at the greens of Wimbledon, the arrival of a new brigade was certainly announced. Grigor Dimitrov dazzled as much on the field as off it ( Sharapova is no mean hand candy) and the Japanese Kei made sure that tennis lovers could look forward to an appetizing new year. Novak finished the year at the top of the heap by some margin and with the other members of the elite club struggling with either age or injury, he remains the flag bearer for the old guard. On the WTA tour, Serena continued to dominate but had only the US Open to to show for her efforts. Li Na scored in Australia but retired later and the Europeans in Maria and Petra lifted the French Open and Wimbledon respectively. It was again an up and down year for women's tennis that we have got used to seeing. Not much seems to be changing in the near future with trophies changing hands regularly being the norm. New names seem difficult to come by and the younger Williams will remain the woman to beat on the tennis courts.
The FIFA world cup in Brazil was supposed to be the celebration of the beautiful game in its spiritual home. The Samba thrilled everyone till the brutal shock of the semi final. The reigning champions were subjected to a Spanish inquisition and were abject in their defense of the title they won so convincingly in Germany. Joachim Leow led his boys to a fantastic title with a blend of attacking and holding football. While the major football leagues in the world don't muster the Bundesliga amongst them, the German structure shone through at the highest stage. Neuer was the architect of the great win with some saves that would go down in history. Thomas Muller scored a hat trick against the Portuguese and with their talisman in Miroslav Klose in fine fettle, there was no stopping the Mannschaft. It was an efficient yet memorable performance that paves the way for a young team to go ahead and emulate the Spanish on both the world and European stages.
Lewis Hamilton ran away with the championship with an incredible 11 wins out of the 19 grand prix. Mercedes were a class apart in bringing to an end the superiority of the Red Bulls. Sebastian Vettel moved to the Scuderia and a few teams like Caterham and Marussia needed to wind up mid season. Nico Rosberg played catch up whole season but still went into the Abu Dhabi race with a chance to upset the marauding Hami. There were a few incidents on the track with the top two confronting each other regularly and Jules Bianchi suffering severe head injuries at the Japanese grand prix. Honda return to the fold for 2015 and with some new pairings being formed, the new season should hopefully provide a more competitive racing scenario for the aficionados. The year also saw the shocking accident that befell its most visible figure in Michael Schumacher. Having suffered head injuries while skiing, he remains in a convalescent state with the world praying for a hero's recovery.
Rory McIlroy emerged as the top player of the year on the golfing greens bagging the Open and the PGA Championships. Bubba Watson and Martin Kaymer triumphed at the Masters and the US Open respectively. Tiger continued to struggle for the next major title which remained elusive this year as well. With younger men upping the ante, it looks like the erstwhile champion may well have seen the last of his chances to add to his tally pass by. Europe extended its dominance over the USA in the Ryder cup with a third consecutive title. Rory would gun to add a few more titles in the coming year to make sure he earns his stripes to be counted amongst the greatest to have played the game.
2015 would host the cricket world cup with the defending champions looking good in the shorter format of the game while appearing jaded at the test level. It should be an enchanting tourney down under with a few challengers and dark horses in the midst. The Proteas would look to break their duck while the Aussies would be confident of starting another string of successes at home. The jokers in the pack should be the black caps who are enjoying a good patch of form and will also like the home conditions. For a game being dogged by a slew of negative occurrences not limited to the match fixing clouds and the financial conditions of a few boards, the competition should come as manna from heaven. Here's wishing all the sports connoisseurs a very sporting new year 2015.
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