Sports in 2018: From CSK's comeback to PV Sindhu's win- 18 biggest moments in Indian sport this year

2018 was an eventful year for India in sports- and Indian women were at the centre of it. There were many top sportswomen who made the country proud on the international stage this year. 

While Hima Das created history with her historic gold medal at the  IAAF World Under-20 Athletics Championships, PV Sindhu became the first Indian ever to win the BWF World Tour Finals. Swapna Barman defied all odds to clinch a historic gold medal at the Asian Games 2018 and Manika Batra became Table Tennis' biggest star. MC Mary Kom hit gold no.6 at World Championship while Vinesh Phogat made history at Asian Games. Stars like Saina Nehwal, Manu Bhaker, Hina Sidhu kept the Indian flag flying high. Indian women's cricket team also made it to semifinals of the ICC World T20. 2018 was truly an 'Year of the Women' in Indian sports. 

The 2018 Under-19 Cricket World Cup was held in New Zealand. India and Australia played in the finals at Mount Maunganui on Feb 3 2018. It was the 12th Edition of the Under-19 World Cup. India defeated Australia by 8 wickets, with Manjot Kalra scoring a match-winning 101*.[6] The Man of the match was awarded to Manjot Kalra, while player of the tournament was awarded to Shubman Gill. India now holds the most wins record in Under-19 World Cup.

India finished with 66 medals of which 26 were gold. In terms of the number of gold medals, this was India’s third highest tally. Manika Batra alone won four medals while Neeraj Chopra and Bajrang Punia also struck gold at Gold Coast.

India's Hima Das sprinted to a historic gold at the IAAF World U20 Championship. The 18-year-old runner became the first-ever Indian woman to win an athletics gold on the international stage. 

Hima Das continued her stellar show at the Asian Games picking up three medals at the Games. She opened her account with a second-place finish in the women's 400m event, clinching the silver medal before bagging another silver in the mixed 4x400m relay. She finished her campaign on a high with a Gold in women's 4x400m event. 

IPL 2018 saw Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals return to the competition after serving their two-year ban. MS Dhoni was back at helm in the team that was dubbed 'dad's army'. However, they finished second in the table and then beat SRH by eight wickets in the final to lift their 3rd IPL trophy. 

Captain Sunil Chhetri made an impassioned appeal to fans to come out and support the Indian football team ahead of their Intercontinental match against Kenya - his 100th international game. The video went viral- and got support from all over. The match was eventually sold out as India went on to lift the Intercontinental Cup. Chhetri meanwhile became the joint second highest international goalscorer among active players along with Messi and only behind Ronaldo.

Manika Batra announced her arrival in style at the Commonwealth Games 2018 taking the competition by a storm. She bagged medals in all four table tennis events in the competition and finished with a total of four medals - 2 gold, 1 silver and 1 bronze. Manika Batra became the first Indian the 'Breakthrough Table Tennis Star' award at the prestigious International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) Star Awards also. 

India recorded its best-ever haul with 69 medals at Asian Games 2018. There were many firsts for India, but Chopra's throw of 88.06m to win gold was the high point. Manjit Singh and Jinson Johnson finished achieved the rare feat of finishing 1-2 in men's 800m. Tajinderpal Singh Toor created a new Games record in men's shot put. And young shooters hit the bullseyes. 

India finished with a record 19 medals in athletics this year. This marked our best show at the event since 1951. India won twin medals in the men and women’s 4X400 relays. The haul included seven golds, 10 silvers and two bronze medals.

Wrestler Vinesh Phogat made India proud at the Asian Games 2018 by winning a gold medal in women's 50kg freestyle wrestling. It was her second medal at Asiad having won a bronze medal at the 2014 Games in Incheon. With her gold, Vinesh became India's first female wrestler to strike gold in Asiad history. 

India's Swapna Barman defied all odds to clinch a historic gold medal at the Asian Games 2018. She became the first-ever Indian to win a gold medal in women's heptathlon event. She completed seven events with a personal best points tally of 6026 points. With her right hamstring not in the best condition and a tape around her left chin due to a toothache, Swapna defied all odds to finish on top of the podium.

Indian boxing legend MC Mary Kom another feat to list of illustrious achievements by becoming the World Champion for a record sixth time. She defeated Hanna Okhota of Ukraine to win record-equalling sixth gold at World Boxing Championship. She also bagged a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games 2018.

The year may end with debates about Virat Kohli's attitude but there was no problem with his run-scoring this year. The Indian captain plundered runs in all forms of cricket. He became the fastest batsman to score 10000 ODI runs overtaking Sachin Tendulkar. He also became the quickest to reach 60 International centuries. With India's win in Adelaide, Kohli also became the first Asian captain to win Tests in South Africa, England and Australia.

2018 also saw the rise of Prithvi Shaw. After leading Indian team to U-19 World Cup victory, he found himself in the senior team soon. Shaw rose to the ocassion and became the youngest Indian score a century on Test debut during the first match against the Windies. 

India won the Asia Cup 2018. In Kohli's absence, India found a capable leader in Rohit Sharma, who led the Men in Blue to Asia Cup triumph. MS Dhoni too returned to captain the team in a match.

One of India's best openers Gautam Gambhir announced his retirement from all forms of cricket this year. Gambhir will be remembered for his role in India winning the 2007 World T20 and 2011 World Cup trophies. He was also a crucial part of the team that reached the No. 1 rank in Test cricket. 

While Indian women's team had some high moments this year like winning their first T20I series, the year was overshadowed by the controversy related to Mithali Raj. After the semi-final defeat at the World T20 in the West Indies, Raj blamed the team management for benching her due to ego problems. This led to a war of words invloving Raj, coach Ramesh Powar, CoA member Diana Edulji and others. Powar's tenure was not renewed as BCCI handed the reins to WV Raman.

India hosted a very succesful Hockey World Cup. While the teams couldn't advance past the last-8 stage, the tournament reached a high with many calling it the best Hockey World Cup ever. Well done, Bhubneshwar!

After 7 finals and 7 silvers, PV Sindhu made history by becoming the first Indian to win the season-ending BWF World Tour Finals tournament. The year also saw, Sindhu became the 7th highest paid female athlete in the world in 2018, according to Forbes.