Sports yearender 2024: India’s 15 best moments, from T20 WC glory to Gukesh’s win

In 2024, Indian sports had several high points but the biggest moments came in chess with 18-year-old Grandmaster D Gukesh emerging as the brightest star with a historic world title.

Apart from chess, India excelled in cricket, hockey, tennis, shooting, athletics, badminton, billiards, and wrestling. The country’s athletes made their mark at the Paris Olympics (6 medals) and Paralympics (29 medals) with shooter Manu Bhaker being the standout performer with two medals.

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In cricket, the nation’s wait for a world title for more than a decade came to an end. The men’s team lifted the T20 World Cup 2024 in Barbados.

Here are the 15 best moments in Indian sports in 2024.

India win T20 World Cup

Indian cricket team’s 11-year wait for an ICC trophy ended on June 29, 2024, as the Rohit Sharma-led side edged South Africa in a thrilling final to win the T20 World Cup 2024. Rohit became only the second Indian captain after MS Dhoni to win a T20 World Cup. The win came at Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados with the ‘Men in Blue’ taking the trophy with a seven-run win over the Proteas. Following the win, Rohit, Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja retired from T20Is.

Gukesh on top of the world

Grandmaster D Gukesh scripted history in Singapore on December 12 as he became the youngest-ever chess world champion. The 18-year-old Gukesh defeated title holder Ding Liren of China 7.5-6.5 in the World Chess Championship match played over 14 games. Gukesh is only the second Indian to win the world title after Viswanathan Anand, who claimed five titles (2000, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2012).

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Gukesh wins Candidates 2024

In April, at 17 years, Gukesh also became the youngest ever to win the Candidates Chess Tournament in Canada. He defeated Hikaru Nakamura of the US. This win ensured his World Championship match berth. He is the second Indian to win the Candidates after Anand’s triumph in 2014.

Manu Bhaker scripts history at Paris Olympics

In July, at the Paris Olympics 2024, shooter Manu Bhaker became the first Indian since Independence to win multiple medals (2) at a single edition of the Olympics. Manu won bronze medals in women’s 10m air pistol event and the 10m air pistol mixed team (with Sarabjot Singh). In Paris, Manu also became the first Indian woman to win a medal in shooting.

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Pankaj Advani wins record 28th world title

Cueist Pankaj Advani added one more world title. He claimed a historic 28th world trophy, and seventh in a row, after defeating England’s Robert Hall 4-2 at the IBSF World Billiards Championship in Doha, Qatar, in November.

Indian men and women win Asian Champions Trophy hockey

In November, the Indian women’s hockey team won the Women’s Asian Champions Trophy 2024, at the Rajgir Hockey Stadium in Bihar, after a 1-0 victory over China in the final. A goal from Deepika in the 31st minute ensured India defended the title. Indian men also won the Asian Champions Trophy by beating China 1-0 in September.

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Neeraj Chopra wins silver at Paris Olympics

Though javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra could not replicate his gold-medal-winning performance from Tokyo Olympics in Paris, he secured silver, in August. He is the first Indian track and field athlete to win consecutive Olympic medals.

Indian men bag hockey bronze at Paris Olympics

Indian men’s hockey team defeated Spain 2-1 at the Paris Olympics in August to claim the bronze medal. This was second bronze in a row after achieving the same in the previous Olympics in Tokyo. After 52 years, the Indian hockey team won successive Olympic medals. The last time was two bronze medals in a row in 1968 (Mexico City) and 1972 (Munich). After the win in Paris, veteran goalkeeper PR Sreejesh retired.

Aman Sehrawat claims bronze at Paris Olympics

India’s lone wrestling medal at Paris Games came from Aman Sehrawat, who won the bronze medal. He defeated Puerto Rico’s Darian Cruz in the men’s 57kg free-style category. At 21 and 24 days, he is the youngest Indian Olympic medal, beating PV Sindhu’s record (21 years, 1 month and 14 days).

India’s best-ever medal haul at Paris Paralympics

It was a historic Paris Paralympics for India with its largest-ever contingent of 84 athletes. India achieved its best-ever medal haul in Paralympics history with 29 medals, including 7 gold, 9 silver, and 13 bronze. India secured 18th place in the medal tally. Shooter Avani Lekhara won 2 gold medals to create history.

India bags 2 gold medals at Chess Olympiad

In September, Indian men and women’s teams made history by winning maiden gold medals at the 45th FIDE Chess Olympiad in Budapest, Hungary. The men’s team comprised Gukesh, Praggnanandhaa R, Arjun Erigaisi, Pentala Harikrishna and Vidit Gujrathi. Srinath Narayanan was the captain. The team won 10 out of 11 matches and defeated Slovenia in the final round. Gukesh D and Arjun Erigaisi earned individual gold medals. Harika Dronavalli, Vaishali R, Divya Deshmukh, Vantika Agrawal, and Tania Sachdev were part of the women’s team that beat Azerbaijan to clinch the title. Abhijit Kunte was the women’s team captain.

Satwiksairaj-Chirag pair clinches 2 badminton titles

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty won men’s doubles badminton titles at the French Open Super 750 and Thailand Super 500 tournaments. In the French Open final in Paris in March, they beat Chinese Taipei’s Lee Jhe-Huei and Yang Po-Hsuan 21-11, 21-17. In May, they defeated Chen Bo Yang and Liu Yi of China 21-15, 21-15 in the title clash in Bangkok.

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Rohan Bopanna wins Australian Open tennis doubles title

At 43, Rohan Bopanna became the oldest grand slam champion in tennis. Bopanna partnered Matthew Ebden (Australia) to win the Australian Open men’s doubles title. They beat Italian duo of Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori 7-6 (0) 7-5 in the final in Melbourne in January. Bopanna is only the third Indian after Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi to win a men’s doubles Grand Slam title.

Arjun Erigaisi crosses 2800 Elo rating mark

In December, Grandmaster Arjun Erigaisi became the second Indian after Anand to reach the coveted ELO rating of 2800. Overall, he is the 16th in the world. In October too, he had crossed 2800 in live chess ratings.

3-year-old Anish becomes youngest rated chess player in history

Kolkata boy Anish Sarkar, at three years, eight months and 19 days, became the youngest-rated chess player in history. He achieved the feat in November.