Top 5 Sports News 2014: India
Similar to 2013, Sachin Tendulkar managed to grab headlines in 2014 as well. However, unlike last year when he was in news because of his retirement, this year he made headlines because he released his autobiography which led to a full-blown controversy due to his remarks regarding the ulterior motives of Greg Chappell, former Indian Cricket Team coach.
Apart from this, the year 2014 saw a lot happening on the Sports front with big headlines being around medals won by India at the Asian games as well as 2014 being the year of comeback for Indian sports such as Kabaddi and Hockey.
So, in continuation of our series on the top events that took place in India and abroad in various beats such as politics, entertainment, business and general news, here we will be listing the top five sports news that made headlines in India in 2014.
Sachin Tendulkar releases Autobiography
The cricket icon’s autobiography – Playing It My Way hit the stands on November 6, 2014. The book is published worldwide by Hodder and Stoughton and in Indian sub-continent by Hachette India.
Boria Majumdar, a renowned cricket historian as well as media personality has co-authored Sachin Tendulkar’s autobiography.
However, the autobiography created a huge controversy because in the book, Tendulkar stated that former Indian coach, Greg Chappell was the “ringmaster” during his reign. After this declaration Indian cricketers such as Sourav Gangully, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan and VVS Laxman supported what Sachin mentioned in his book.
Indian Sportspersons among the Top 10 in different World Rankings
The year 2014 say many Indian Sportspersons marking a spot for themselves in various top international rankings.
Sania Mirza: Currently holds rank 6 in International Tennis Federation (ITF) Doubles ranking. She retired from ‘singles’ in 2013.
In her 11 year career, Mirza has had notable wins over Vera Zvonareva, Svetlana Kuznetsova, and Marion Bartoli. She also defeated former World No 1s – Martina Hingis, Victoria Azarenka and Dinara Safina. She is also the highest ranked female player from India. Her career high rankings are singles rank of 27 and doubles rank of 5.
Pankaj Advani: On his debut tournament in 2014, Pankaj Advani won IBSF World 6-Red Snooker Championship.
He also helped India win the first ever World Team Billiards Championship held in Glasgow on August 14, 2014. Other members in the team were Devendra Joshi, Rupesh Shan and Ashok Shandilya.
He is the only Indian to have won 10 world titles in any sport.
The Government of India awarded Advani, the Arjuna Award in 2004 followed by the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna in 2006 as well as the Padma Shri in 2009.
He has also achieved a “hat-trick of hat-tricks” in English billiards wherein he won the World (2012), Asian (2008), and Indian National Championship (2008) titles simultaneously.
He started playing snooker professionally in 2012.
Saina Nehwal: Currently holds rank 5 in Badminton World Federation (BWF) Women’s Singles Rankings 2014.
She attained rank 2 (her career best ranking) in BWF in December 2010. She is also the first Indian to win an Olympic medal in Badminton.
Nehwal is also the first Indian to have won the World Junior Badminton Championship. Apart from this, she was the first Indian to have won a “Super Series tournament” which she did by winning the Indonesia Open in June 2009.
PV Sindhu: Currently holds rank 10 in Badminton World Federation (BWF) Women’s Singles Rankings 2014.
Sindhu became the first Indian woman to win a medal in World Championship singles. She won a bronze medal in Sub-Junior Asian Badminton Championships in 2009. She also won the silver medal in Iran Fajr International Badminton Challenge in 2010.
Kabaddi, Hockey and Football Leagues make headlines
Sports such as Hockey and Kabaddi made a comeback in India due to the establishment of the Hockey India League and the Pro Kabaddi League.
Hockey India League 2014: This tournament was conducted from January 25, 2014 to February 23, 2014. Delhi Waveriders won the league in 2014.
| Team |
City |
Owner |
| Delhi Wave Riders |
Delhi |
Wave Group |
| Kalinga Lancers |
Bhubaneswar |
Industrial Infrastructure Development Corp of Odisha (IDCO) & Mahanadi Coalfield Ltd.(MCL) |
| Mumbai |
Mumbai |
DoIT Sports Management |
| Punjab Warriors |
Jalandhar |
Jaypee Group |
| Pune |
Pune |
Deccan Water Treatment Pvt Ltd |
| Uttar Pradesh Wizards |
Lucknow |
Sahara India Pariwar |
| Ranchi Rays |
Ranchi |
Mahendra Singh Dhoni & Sahara Adventure Sports Limited |
Pro Kabaddi League: This tournament’s first edition commenced on July 26, 2014. Abhishek Bachchan’s team Jaipur Pink Panthers won the tournament this year.
| Team |
City |
Owner |
| Bengal Warriors |
Kolkata |
Kishore Biyani |
| Bengaluru Bulls |
Bengaluru |
Kosmik Global Media |
| Dabang Delhi |
Delhi |
Radha Kapoor |
| Jaipur Pink Panthers |
Jaipur |
Abhishek Bachchan |
| Patna Pirates |
Patna |
Rajesh Shah |
| Puneri Paltan |
Pune |
Sumanlal Shah |
| Telugu Titans |
Vizag |
Veera Sports |
| U Mumba |
Mumbai |
Ronnie Screwvala |
Indian Super League (ISL): This first season of this tournament was conducted in 2013. The current season of this tournament commenced on October 12, 2014 and is expected to conclude on December 20, 2014. ISL made headlines because the league got many international football players to India and also because most of the teams are owned by celebs.
| Team |
City |
Owner |
| Atlético de Kolkata |
Kolkata |
Spanish La Liga side, Atlético Madrid and Sourav Ganguly. |
| Chennaiyin |
Chennai |
Vita Dani, Abhishek Bachchan and Mahendra Singh Dhoni. |
| Delhi Dynamos |
Delhi |
DEN Networks. |
| Goa |
Goa |
Venugopal Dhoot, Virat Kohli, Dattaraj Salgaocar and Shrinivas Dempo. |
| Kerala Blasters |
Kerala |
Sachin Tendulkar and Prasad V Potluri. |
| Mumbai City |
Mumbai |
Ranbir Kapoor and Bimal Parekh. |
| NorthEast United |
Represents eight states – Assam, Nagaland, Manipur, Meghalaya, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Tripura and Mizoram |
John Abraham and I-League club, Shillong Lajong. |
| Pune City |
Pune |
Hrithik Roshan, Wadhawan Group and Italian football club ACF Fiorentina. |
Dhoni among top 100 richest athletes in the world
Captain of the Indian cricket team, Mahendra Singh Dhoni became the only Indian sportsperson to feature on Forbes' list of “world's 100 highest paid athletes”. Last year Dhoni featured at number 16 on this list but this year he has fallen to a spot at number 22.
Dhoni’s total earnings as per Forbes is USD 30 million and endorsements are worth USD 26 million.
Asian Games Medals won by India
India won a total of 57 medals at the Asian Games held in South Korea in 2014. India won 11 gold medals, 10 silver medals and 14 bronze medals across categories.
The Asian games were also in news because Sarita Devi, an Indian boxer refused to accept the bronze medal awarded to her as a mark of protest against a controversial decision made against her by the judges in her semifinal bout.
| Medal |
Name |
Sport |
Event |
| Gold |
Jitu Rai |
Shooting |
Men's 50 metre pistol |
| Gold |
Rajat Chauhan Sandeep Kumar Abhishek Verma |
Archery |
Men's team compound |
| Gold |
Saurav Ghosal Mahesh Mangaonkar Harinder Pal Sandhu Kush Kumar |
Squash |
Men's team |
| Gold |
Yogeshwar Dutt |
Wrestling |
Men's freestyle 65 kg |
| Gold |
Seema Punia |
Athletics |
Women's discus throw |
| Gold |
Sania Mirza Saketh Myneni |
Tennis |
Mixed doubles |
| Gold |
Mary Kom |
Boxing |
Women's 51 kg |
| Gold |
Men's hockey team |
Field hockey |
Men |
| Gold |
Priyanka Pawar Tintu Luka Mandeep Kaur M. R. Poovamma |
Athletics |
Women's 4 x 400 metres relay |
| Gold |
Women's kabaddi team |
Kabaddi |
Women |
| Gold |
Men's kabaddi team |
Kabaddi |
Men |
| Silver |
Saurav Ghosal |
Squash |
Men's singles |
| Silver |
Pemba Tamang |
Shooting |
Men's 25 metre center fire pistol team |
| Silver |
Dipika Pallikal Joshna Chinappa Anaka Alankamony |
Squash |
Women's team |
| Silver |
Abhishek Verma |
Archery |
Men's individual compound |
| Silver |
Khushbir Kaur |
Athletics |
Women's 20 kilometres walk |
| Silver |
Manju Bala |
Athletics |
Women's hammer throw |
| Silver |
Sanam Singh Saketh Myneni |
Tennis |
Men's doubles |
| Silver |
Bajrang Kumar |
Wrestling |
Men's freestyle 61 kg |
| Silver |
Vikas Gowda |
Athletics |
Men's discus throw |
| Silver |
Tintu Luka |
Athletics |
Women's 800 metres |
| Bronze |
Shweta Chaudhary |
Shooting |
Women's 10 metre air pistol |
| Bronze |
Jitu Rai Samaresh Jung Prakash Nanjappa |
Shooting |
Men's 10 metre air pistol team |
| Bronze |
Saina Nehwal P. V. Sindhu P. C. Thulasi Pradnya Gadre N. Siki Reddy Ashwini Ponnappa |
Badminton |
Women's team |
| Bronze |
Rahi Sarnobat Anisa Sayyed Heena Sidhu |
Shooting |
Women's 25 metre pistol team |
| Bronze |
Dipika Pallikal |
Squash |
Women's singles |
| Bronze |
Abhinav Bindra Ravi Kumar Sanjeev Rajput |
Shooting |
Men's 10 metre air rifle team |
| Bronze |
Abhinav Bindra |
Shooting |
Men's 10 metre air rifle |
| Bronze |
Sanathoi Devi Yumnam |
Wushu |
Women's sanda 52 kg |
| Bronze |
Narender Grewal |
Wushu |
Men's sanda 60 kg |
| Bronze |
Dushyant Chauhan |
Rowing |
Men's lightweight single sculls |
| Bronze |
Sawarn Singh |
Rowing |
Men's single sculls |
| Bronze |
Kapil Sharma Ranjit Singh Bajrang Lal Takhar Robin Panachithanathu Ulahannan Sawan Kumar Kalkal Mohammad Azad Maninder Singh Davinder Singh Mohammed Ahmed |
Rowing |
Men's coxed eight |
| Bronze |
Shagun Chowdhary Shreyasi Singh Varsha Varman |
Shooting |
Women's double trap team |
| Bronze |
Sandeep Sejwal |
Swimming |
Men's 50 metre breaststroke |
| Bronze |
Trisha Deb Purvasha Shende Jyothi Surekha Vennam |
Archery |
Women's team compound |
| Bronze |
Chain Singh |
Shooting |
Men's 50 metre rifle three positions |
| Bronze |
Trisha Deb |
Archery |
Women's individual compound |
| Bronze |
Vinesh Phogat |
Wrestling |
Women's freestyle 48 kg |
| Bronze |
Geetika Jakhar |
Wrestling |
Women's freestyle 63 kg |
| Bronze |
Lalita Babar |
Athletics |
Women's 3000 metres steeplechase |
| Bronze |
Yuki Bhambri |
Tennis |
Men's singles |
| Bronze |
Yuki Bhambri Divij Sharan |
Tennis |
Men's doubles |
| Bronze |
Sania Mirza Prarthana Thombare |
Tennis |
Women's doubles |
| Bronze |
M. R. Poovamma |
Athletics |
Women's 400 metres |
| Bronze |
Rajiv Arokia |
Athletics |
Men's 400 metres |
| Bronze |
O. P. Jaisha |
Athletics |
Women's 1500 metres |
| Bronze |
Narsingh Pancham Yadav |
Wrestling |
Men's freestyle 74 kg |
| Bronze |
Naveen Kumar |
Athletics |
Men's 3000 metres steeplechase |
| Bronze |
Laishram Sarita Devi |
Boxing |
Women's 60 kg |
| Bronze |
Pooja Rani |
Boxing |
Women's 75 kg |
| Bronze |
Varsha Gautham Aishwarya Nedunchezhiyan |
Sailing |
Women's two person dinghy |
| Bronze |
Women's hockey team |
Field hockey |
Women |
| Bronze |
Annu Rani |
Athletics |
Women's javelin throw |
| Bronze |
Satish Kumar |
Boxing |
Men's +91 kg |
| Bronze |
Vikas Krishan Yadav |
Boxing |
Men's 75 kg |
| Bronze |
Inderjeet Singh |
Athletics |
Men's shot put |
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