BYE BYE 16, WELCOME 17

Vijay Anand

2016 was the year of Olympic, Jisse bada kuch nahin. No surprise, USA topped the medal tally. United Kingdom surpassed mighty China to clinch second spot. Indian tally dropped to a third despite of credible performance by record number of athletes. Brazil beat Germany to take revenge of the Semi final loss of World cup at same Maracana stadium. Argentina won their first men’s Hockey gold. In archery, South Korea won all 4 Golds. Usain Bolt and Mohd Farah set the stadium on fire. Wayde van Niekerk in 400 meters men crushed old world record.  Almaz Ayana (Ethiopia) shattered old World record by massive margin in 10000 meters. Michael Phelps closed all the debate that who is the best Olympian ever. USA delved out 16 Golds out of 36 from pool. Katinka Hosszu was in unstoppable form.  Uzbekistan matched 3 Golds of Cuba in Men’s boxing. Italy surprised pundits by reaching at summit in shooting tally. France lost both the finals of Handball. Italy lost both the men’s volleyball final to Brazil. China surpassed everyone in Weightlifting. Japan continued to rule the scenes of Judo. Gold’s in Taekwando were equally distributed. Ahmad Abughaush of Jorden won first ever Gold for the country in it.

If we manage to forget Olympic debacle then it was a good year for Indian Hockey. India won first silver in Men’s Champions trophy Hockey at London. They were denied by Australia in controversial shootout. Icing on the cake came when Junior World Cup for Hockey was lifted by colts in Lucknow after 15 long years. Both men and women won Asian Champions trophy for the nation. Narendra Batra became president of FIH. He made India proud by becoming first Indian to head any Olympic sport’s body. PV Sindhu continued her glory run and won Chinese Super Series.  

Almaz Ayana

Egyptian civilisation continued their rule the Squash. Andy Murray won only one Grand Slam but finished the year as new world no. 1. He is also the first British to set his feet on the summit of ATP. Magnus Carlson won third straight world cup on his birthday in New York.

In football, world saw fairy tale end of most popular league in the world when Leicester City won EPL title. Old lady of Italy continued their grip on Scudetto, PSG remained fixed at top in Ligue 1, Bayern were defiant in Bundesliga, Real Madrid increased their record by 11th UEFA champions League title. Portugal upset host France in the final to lift most important Cup in the history of their soccer, Euro 16. Chile again denied Argentina the title of Copa America, played in USA. In knee jerk reaction, Messi announced his retirement. He ate humble pie later on. It was the best year for Indian club soccer when Bengaluru FC became first Indian club to reach the final of AFC cup. Blue brigade won the I League 2016.

2016 saw end of a lot of legends. Fans witnessed death of ‘Sportsman of the previous century’ Mohammad Ali. Arnold Palmer (Golf), Carlos Alberto (Football), Johan Cryuff, Joao Havelango (Football), Hanif Mohammad, Martin Crowe (Cricket) took their last breathe.

All in all, it was a year full of surprises, drama, action, thrills and above all Olympic. So, Bye bye 16, welcome 17.