Year in Review 2021: How Well Do You Remember The Best Sports Moments Of 2021?

Guwahati: After a few hours the entire world will Bid adieu to 2021 and will welcome 2022 after a few hours one should not forget that the year 2021 witnessed many ups and downs in each and every field -- be it a business, economy, personal life or sports.

As we say goodbye to this 2021, let us go back and take a look at some of the moments in sports which made India fans emotional as tears were there in their eyes, when they witnessed such a splendid performance from the players of their country.

The year 2021 was excellent for India in terms of sports as Indian athletes performed brilliantly in the Olympics. When it comes to athletes, one can't forget, Javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra, who made the entire country proud by grabbing the first gold medal in the javelin in India's 121-year Olympic history. Apart from this, the hockey teams, including men and women, too marched towards victory as the duo created history.

The year 2021 too went well for the cricket fans as they witnessed some class cricket by the 'Men In Blue' if we forget the loss that we witnessed in T20 World Cup.

These successes not only gave happiness to the Indian fans but also made them cry on many occasions. When the Indian flag was hoisted on the podium after Neeraj won the gold and the national anthem was played, every Indian's head was held high with pride.

As the year started on a grand note for Indian fans, let us take look into the events one by one and feel the same thrill that one would have felt while watching the events.  

In January, the Indian team was on an Australia tour and it lost the first Test badly. But soon the team bounced back and levelled the series one-on-one after beating Australia in the Melbourne Test. After this, the team was to play in Sydney, where the situation wasn't really in favour of the men in blue but Cheteshwar Pujara stood like a wall in front of Australia and led the team towards victory.

After this, Rishabh Pant's aggressive batting and the splendid performance by other players in the team took Australia away from victory and India managed to draw this game. After that, the team went to Brisbane's Gabba, where the Australian team had not lost for 36 years. The Indian team broke the record as they defeated Australia by 3 wickets and won the four-match Test series 2-1. After this win, the men in blue waved the tricolour which was worth watching as fans got emotional.

Mirabai Chanu in Olympics

The Indian contingent had not been able to do much in the last two Olympics. India won a total of three medals in the 2012 Olympics and only two medals in 2016. Following this sequence, the Indian fans were not hopeful, but soon they got a reason to smile as the weightlifter Mirabai Chanu gave India a silver medal and this scintillating win gave some hope to the Indian fans.

After winning silver, Mirabai became the second Indian woman weightlifter to win a medal at the Olympics.

Earlier in the year 2000, Karnam Malleswari had won the bronze medal for India in the Sydney Olympics. At the time when Mirabai won the silver, the eyes of millions of fans were filled with tears and undoubtedly it was the tears of joy and victory.

Women's hockey team in Olympics

When the team went to the Olympics, no one expected that they would create history. The Indian women's team was placed in Pool A along with Netherlands, Germany, Britain, Ireland and South Africa. India finished fourth in their group with two wins and three losses.

The Indian women's team's campaign in Tokyo began with three consecutive defeats to the Netherlands, Germany and defending champions Britain. However, the team made a spectacular comeback, beating their above-ranked Ireland team 1-0. After this, they defeated South Africa 4-3. The Indian team's place in the quarter-finals was decided after beating Ireland 2-0 in the last match of Pool A.

They then defeated three-time Olympic champions Australia 1–0 in the quarter-finals. With this win, the Indian women's team was able to make it to the semi-finals of the Olympics for the first time. This victory changed India's attitude towards hockey.

Team India's victory filled the heart of every fan with joy. In the semi-finals, however, the team suffered a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Argentina. Even then the team was still waiting for a bronze medal.

However, team India also had to face defeat at the hands of Great Britain in the bronze medal match. After missing the Olympic medal, the players of Team India started crying bitterly on the field itself. All the players including Savita Poonia, Vandana Kataria, Captain Rani Rampal and Neha Goyal became emotional. All these players performed wonderfully throughout the tournament.

Despite playing so well in the important match, the fans were also heartbroken by the loss and there were tears in their eyes too. The dominance of the Indian women's hockey team can be gauged from the fact that the British players stood and applauded in the honor of the Indian players.

Men's Hockey team in Olympics

The men's hockey team ended a four-decade drought of medals by winning a historic bronze medal.

Recalling India's journey in the Olympics, they won their first match against New Zealand 3-2. However, after this, in the second match, they had to face an embarrassing 1-7 defeat at the hands of Australia. But after that, the Indian team made a strong comeback and then defeated Spain 3-0, Argentina 3-1 and Japan 5-3. With this, the Indian team finished second in Group A by winning four out of five matches.

The team ended a drought of 41 years and won the bronze medal. The last medal India's hockey team got at the Olympics was in Moscow in 1980, when the team won gold under the captaincy of Vasudevan Bhaskaran. India has won the most medals in the Olympics in men's hockey. The team won gold medals at 1928, 1932, 1936, 1948, 1952, 1956, 1964 and 1980 Olympics. Apart from this, the team has also won silver in 1960 and bronze medals in 1968, 1972 and Tokyo Olympics.

Niraj Chopra in Olympics

Apart from these, Neeraj Chopra won a gold medal in Tokyo Olympics. Indian fans had high hopes for him and Neeraj did not disappoint anyone. He gave India a gold medal by throwing javelin up to 87.58 meters in the final. With this victory, India wrote a new history in the sports world.

This was India's first Olympic gold medal after the 2008 Beijing Olympics. In 2008, India won gold with the help of Abhinav Bindra in the shooting.

PV Sindhu in Olympics

On the other hand, PV Sindhu won silver in the 2016 Rio Olympics. At the same time, this year she was able to win the bronze and like any other victory, this victory made Indians emotional.

Lovlina Borgohain in Olympics

Even as the 23-year-old from Golaghat district of Assam lost her 64/69kg category last-four bout to Turkey's Busenaz Surmeneli at the Ryogoku Kokugikan Arena, people across Assam said that Lovlina had won the hearts of millions of people from the northeastern states and the country.

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