Indian sports in 2024: A year of monumental victories, breakthroughs, and near misses

Tales that bear repeating were many but the year going by will primarily be remembered for four dates -- June 29, July 30, December 12 and December 28.

A big step towards the future was the formal expression of intent to host the 2036 Olympics, a move that has the potential to change the sporting landscape of the country.

When sport shone through in its purest form ============================= On a humid and nervy June evening in Barbados, the Rohit Sharma-led Indian cricket team won a long-awaited World Cup title after more than a decade of heartbreaks in knockout matches of ICC tournaments, the feat matching the country's undisputed status as the game's most influential voice.

A month later, effervescent pistol shooter Manu Bhaker became India's first athlete post independence to win two Olympic medals in a single edition, showing incredible mental fortitude to exorcise her Tokyo demons and write one of the best redemption stories at the Games.

Also in Paris, one of India's greatest ever, unassuming javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra embodied excellence like few others and climbed into a galaxy of his own by winning a silver medal, three years after his historic gold at Tokyo Games.

India had hoped for a gold from the reigning world champion, but it was ultimately not to be as he lost to Pakistan's Arshad Nadeem who bettered a Games record that had stood for 16 years, not once but twice.

In the last four months, the chess board became India's happy hunting ground with both the men's and women's teams knocking off Olympiad gold medals for the very first time in September. Individually, D Gukesh and Koneru Humpy then scaled new heights with world titles in December.

While Gukesh dethroned China's Ding Liren to become the youngest ever world champion at 18 on December 12, the 37-year-old Humpy won the women's rapid world title for a second time in her career, continuing to be an inspirational tale of perfect balance between motherhood and professional success.

Things like this do not happen often.

Speaking of that, another major highlight of India's Paris campaign was the hockey team's second successive medal (bronze), proving that lightening can in fact strike twice.

But then six near-misses in the French capital were also a reminder that plenty more needs to be done before being duly recognised a sporting powerhouse.

Also leaving a lasting impression were the para athletes with their record-breaking feats at the Paris Paralympics, and veteran tennis star Rohan Bopanna's Australian Open men's doubles title victory at 44.

Also scripting history was the women's table tennis team of Manika Batra, Sreeja Akula, Ayhika Mukherjee, Suthirtha Mukherjee, and Diya Chitale. They secured India's first-ever medal (bronze) at the Asian Table Tennis Championships in Astana, Kazakhstan.

But before the success in the Olympics, the Paralympics, Chess Olympiad and the FIDE World Championship, the Indians were rejoicing in a magnificent title triumph in cricket, which came about after years of disappointments in global tournaments.

Indian cricket reigns supreme on and off field

=============================

Displaying absolute dominance, India imposed their collective will upon the world to win a trophy that they so desired, much to the delight of the team's millions of fans across the globe.

However, while they ended their winless run in global events, India's 12-year streak of not losing a Test series on home soil snapped in the most embarrassing manner -- a 0-3 whitewash to a New Zealand side missing its talisman Kane Williamson.

Amid the euphoria over a massive World Cup triumph, cricket's financial superpower also tightened its vice-like grip on the game's governance with Jay Shah's ascent to the ICC chairmanship after the BCCI reported an overall revenue of Rs 20,686 crore for the 2024 financial year, which is almost Rs 4200 crore more than their revenue in 2023.

Gukesh defies description in memorable year for chess ================================== In winning the FIDE world championship as a teenager, Gukesh shattered the record held by Garry Kasparov, who was 22 when he got the better of Anatoly Karpov in 1985.

Gukesh's triumph in Singapore, as also the country's double gold medal-winning effort at the Chess Olympiad in Budapest, demonstrated India's growing stature in the game of 64 squares.

And if anymore validation was needed, Humpy provided that in her second world rapid title in New York. She first won it back in 2019, which was followed by a maternity break. The 38-year-old's inspiring comeback could not have gone better as she While Gukesh almost defied description by achieving a feat as big as this at such a young age, the likes of Arjun Erigaisi