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The year 2014 was an eventful one for Indian sports. Number of players brought laurels to the country by winning medals in multi-sporting events like Commonwealth and Asian Games. Professional leagues like Hockey India League, Pro-Kabaddi League and Indian Super League created a new benchmark for sports in the nation.New year will set new challenges for Indian players. Olympic quota places will be up for grabs in number of tournaments. Indian cricket team will look to defend their title at the ICC Cricket World Cup. On the other hand, players like P.V Sindhu, Sanam Singh, Ayonika Paul would be fighting hard to improve on their rankings at the hightest level. So let us take a look at 10 things that fans want from Indian sports in 2015:
#1 Srikanth to become World No. 1
The Year 2014 was a dream year for India’s no. 1 and world No. 4 Kidambi Srikanth. Srikanth started the year with a world ranking of 47, but ended up 43 places higher.
Srikanth’s best performance came in November when he stunned former World No. 1 Chinese star Lin Dan in the finals of Thaihot China Open Superseries Premier thus becoming the first Indian ever to win a Super Series Premier Men's title.
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Expectations will be lot higher in 2015 as he will no longer start the tournament with the underdog tag. He is currently 8300 points behind the 3rd ranked Jan O Jorgensen and 27000 points behind the reigning World Champion and World No. 1 Chen Long. So if he wants to become the best in the world, then he needs to beat the best in the world.
#2 To win the Cricket World Cup
The ICC Cricket World Cup is just over a month away. While the team is gearing up against the Aussies in their homeland, it’s the fans who are praying for the Men in Blue to repeat the historic feat they achieved in 2011.
Defending Champions India, who are currently on the second spot in the ICC World rankings will surely be the favourites to grab the trophy along with Australia and South Africa. Indian team will start their campaign against arch rivals Pakistan at Adeilade on February 15th.
#3 Indian hockey team to improve its performance under a new coach
It was an eventful 2014 for the Indian Hockey team as they qualified for the 2016 Rio Olympics after defeating Pakistan in the final of Incheon Asian Games. However,there was also a bit of disappointement asIndia's chief hockey coach Terry Walsh stepped down from his position after his contractual talks with Hockey India and the Sports Authority of India (SAI) broke down in November.
New year will mark new proceedings for the Indian team with the new coach.Hockey India's High Performance Director Roelant Oltmans, who coached the Indian team at Champions Trophy will lead the charge for the men in blue in 2015.
#4 Indian shooters to do well in World Championships
For most of the Indian shooters, the year2015 will be a big year asOlympic quota places will be at stake. Only Jitu Rai has qualified for the Rio Olympics, so it will be interesting to see how many shooters make the cut to the biggest multisporting event scheduled for next year.
A number of Indian shooters including Gagan Narang, Abhinav Bindra, Manavjeet Singh Sandhu, Ayonika Paul, Heena Sidhu and others will be battling it out in a number of World Cups and World Championships to qualify for the 2016 Olympics.
#5 Indian wrestlers to qualify for Rio Olympics
The year 2015 will see some of the top Indian wrestlers including two time Olympic medalist Sushil Kumar, Asian Games gold medalist Yogeshwar Dutt and Commonwealth Games gold medalist Amit Kumar battling it out to make it to the quadrennial events.
Wrestlers will have the opportunity to qualify for the Rio Games by virtue of World Wrestling Championships in U.S.A in September.
This is a tremendously important event in international wrestling, as it serves as the first qualifying event for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, as well as the event in which the largest number of athletes earn a spot at the Olympics.
#6 Indian Football team to string together good results
Indian team, who were ranked 156thIn January 2014 are now ranked 171 in the world, theirworst-ever rankings in the sport.Among 46 Asian countries, India areranked 35th but with the successful completion of ISL,Indian football can surely improve in 2015.
Number of world class players participated in the league, giving India a global recognition for football. With Indian players also involved in the mix, the ISL has been a promising sign of better things in store for future.
#7 Dipa Karmakar to win medals in World Artistic Championships
All eyes will be on starIndian gymnast Dipa Karmakarwho created a buzz by winning the bronze medal at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games last year.Dipas primary aim this year would be to participate in the World Artistic Championships in Scotland andqualify for the Rio Olympics in 2016.
Dipa came into limelight when she successfully executed the most difficult vault in the game; the Prodionova vault at the Commonwealth Games making her a much talked about personality in the field.
#8 Indian tennis stars to win Grand Slams
The year 2014 was the year of Indian tennis star Sania Mirza. She emerged as one of the best doubles players on the international circuit as shewon the historic season finale - the WTA Finals in Singapore along with her partner Cara Black. Apart from this, she also theU.S Open mixed doubles title with Bruno Soares.
Apart from Mirza, no other Indian player fared well at the highest level but equations can change in 2015. Young guns like Sanam Singh, Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan, Vijay Sundar Prashanth, Sasi Kumar Mukund, Saketh Myneniare performing well in the challenger tournaments.
Apart from these youngsters, experienced players like Leander Paes, Rohan Bopanna, Mahesh Bhupathican get their form back by winning some tournaments on the ATP circuit.
#9 Indian athletes to finish on the podium at World Athletics Championships
Indian athletes have shown a lot of promise with their performances in the last year. They fared decently at the Asian and Commonwealth Games, but they need to improve a lot at World Championships and Olympics.
The15th World Athletics Championshipswill be held at Beijing, China from 22nd August to 30thAugust. Its a dream of every Indian fan to see their players winning medals at such events. Hopes will be high from field events where star Indian players like Vikas Gowda, Seema Punia, Arpinder Singh and otherswill be in action.
#10 Indian Basketball to reach new heights
It was a pretty decent 2014 for the Indian men’s basketball team. In July 2014, World ranked 61 Indian team created history by defeating Asia’s No.1 and World No. 14 China 65-58 in the Group A game of the 5th FIBA Asia Cup. This was India’s first ever win over the mighty and more fancied rivals.
New year will see new challenges for the Indian team. Asian Championships will be held in Hunan, China from September 23 to October 3. For women, the Championships will take place in Wuhan from August 29 to September 5.
Indian team will also give their best to qualify for the 2016 Rio Olympics.
