Sporting Moments of 2010
TWELVE months of terrific sporting action will be condemned to the history books in less than two weeks as 2010 comes to an end, making way for 2011.
Globally, sport has succeeded to delight and unite once again throughout 2010 and with the Commonwealth Games, FIFA World Cup and Ryder Cup added to the usual mix of annual sporting events, it has been a busy year for world class sportsmen and women.
In a bid to look at some of the more celebrated moments that took place this year, here’s a review focussing on ten of the most memorable events have happened in the sporting world in 2010.
New Orleans Saints win the Superbowl
Miami’s Sun Life Stadium played host to the Indianapolis Colts and the New Orleans Saints as they battled it out for Super Bowl XLIV in the traditional showpiece game of the NFL season. Despite identical records going into the biggest game of the campaign, the Colts entered as slight favourites due to their experience of having taken part in the 2006 Super Bowl, and also possessing the talents of quarterback Payton Manning.
The underdog Saints soon found themselves facing a deficit, and were forced to throw caution to the wind when 0-10 down after the first quarter. Fighting hard to get themselves level at the break, the Saints, led by a record tying number of completions from Quarterback Drew Brees, held their opponents scoreless in the games deciding moments, becoming only the fourth team in the sport’s history to win the Superbowl in their one and only appearance on the biggest stage.
Brees was named as the MVP and had the pleasure of hoisting aloft the Vince Lombardi trophy in the post-game celebrations. Victory meant much more than just being the best team in the NFL to the Saints, as in the wake of Hurricane Katrina which devastated New Orleans, this was their first truly proud sporting moment for the region to savour.
Europe Reclaim the Ryder Cup
Having been on the receiving end of a beating from the USA for the first time in three meetings when they last faced off against their rivals in 2007, Team Europe felt they had a score to settle back on home ground at the Celtic Manor Course in Wales.
With plenty of difficult decisions to make beforehand, Europe’s captain Colin Montgomerie urged his team to focus and put all the selection controversy to one side. Europe got off to a fine start in the early exchanges, but their momentum was halted within just two hours of the first morning’s play when the course became flooded with water after a torrential downpour.
Play resumed on Saturday morning as Europe once again bolted out to an impressive lead. European heavyweights Westwood, Poulter and Donald gained vitals points for their team as the ‘home’ team led the way with the match still taking shape. Sunday arrived with still more than half the intended schedule to be played, and although Europe had taken a 9 ½ to 6 ½ points lead, all was still to play for as they Ryder Cup committee was forced to announce the first Monday finish in the competition’s history.
Due to darkness preventing the tournament’s full Sunday schedule being completed, organisers made the decision to play all singles matches on the final day, creating a memorable atmosphere for those who were fortunate enough to be able to get tickets.
Team USA knew they needed to get back into the game and pulled closer to their rivals with some good early points on the board.
Despite their best efforts however, the North American’s were running out of opportunities to come close to the ‘magic’ fourteen-point mark. Victories by Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Zach Johnson edged the match level, but the deciding blows came in two of the final games to finish as rookie Edoardo Molinari halved his match with Rickie Fowler and Graeme McDowell beat Hunter Mahan to give Colin Montgomerie’s European team a memorable 14 ½ to 13 1/2 victory.
Inter do the Treble
Jose Mourinho had conquered Italy several times with his Inter Milan side, but there was one prize that he was desperate to regain ever since his introduction into the lives and hearts if football fans all across the world in 2003.
With the Italian Cup and the Italian Serie A Championship already claimed, Mourinho had set his sights on winning the Champions League for the second time as a manager. Having been eliminated on several occasions by Barcelona as the manager of Chelsea, Mourinho’s route to the final was once again blocked by his former employees in Catalonia.
Beating Pep Guardiola’s men 3-1 at the San Siro, Inter faced the tough task of 100,000 strong crowd up against their side. A resilient defensive performance saw the Italian side only concede a solitary goal, and make their way to the final at Real Madrid’s Santiago Bernabeu.
With rumours surrounding the future of the Portuguese coach, and Real Madrid linked with Mourinho this seemed like the perfect opportunity for the ‘Special One’ to virtually write his own contract.
Facing off against Bayern Munich, Inter began well and scored a goal through Argentine Diego Milito after 35 minutes. The German’s started the better side in the second period but missed a great chance through Thomas Muller, and despite a possession advantage of 60% to 40%, Inter scored a second through Milito and gave won the European Cup for the first time since 1965.
Lakers repeat as NBA Champions in Game 7
Securing a third consecutive NBA Finals place, the LA Lakers found themselves facing off against the Boston Celtics in a repeat of the 2008 playoff finals when the ‘Big Three’ inspired the Eastern Coast side to their first Larry O’Brien trophy since the 1980’s.
This time around the purple and gold Western conference champions were looking to retain the trophy they had won against the Orlando Magic twelve months previous. Favourites because of their status as reigning champions and due to the nature of facing off against a veteran Boston Celtic team, the Lakers won Game One of the finals in the Staples Center behind a thirty point effort from Kobe Bryant in an 102 – 89 win.
Things turned against the Lakers in Game Two however as the Celtics earned a surprising 103-94 win before returning to Boston to win Game Three and take a pivotal 2-1 lead in the season.
The Lakers fought back to even the series in Game and tied at 2-2, fans predicted that the 2010 finals would be one of the closest encounters in recent memories. Boston set about making the final one of their home games count with a 92-86 victory at The Garden, before finding themselves well and truly routed during their bid to close out the Championship when returning to LA for Game Six.
Heading to a showdown at Staples Center for Game Seven, Boston were significantly weakened by the loss of centre Kendrick Perkins who went down with ACL and MCL injuries in Game 6. The loss of their big man did not seem to deter Boston however found themselves ahead at half time.
Phil Jackson was forced to rally his troops at the interval and remind them that it was their title to be lost should they not find a way back into the game. The game’s balance tipped the way of LA as the fourth quarter began, the reigning champions out rebounded Boston and put the Eastern Conference side in foul trouble early. When one of Perkins’ replacement, Rasheed Wallace fouled out, leaving only Kevin Garnett and Glen Davis as sizeable match-ups to Gasol and Bynum, the Lakers took full advantage. Outscoring their opponents 30 to 22 in the final quarter, LA won their 17th Championship by a score of 83-79.
Spain lift Africa’s First World Cup
Despite starting as huge favourites for the first World Cup to be played on African soil, Spain didn’t get off to an idea start in the opening group encounter. Losing 1-0 to Switzerland, Spain were instantly forced to maintain their composure and win their next two games to avoid one of the greatest embarrassments in the competition’s history. Victories over Honduras and Chile were secured largely by the goals and match winning performances from David Villa who appeared to give his side renewed confidence that having overcome their ‘big match’ fears at Euro 2008, they could do they same for the first time at the World Cup.
The Spanish faced the challenge of their near neighbours Portugal in an Iberian second round clash. Once again David Villa scored the winning goal to advance his side to the quarterfinal stage, and against Paraguay in the next knockout phase the Barcelona star proved to again be the Spanish hero with a late winner. The Spanish finding themselves in unknown territory met familiar opponents in the shape of Germany at the semi final stage, the side they defeated in their most recent triumph at the Euros.
The young German side, which had already dispatched England and Argentina, were looking strong, but spent most of their time on the back foot as Spain bode their time and looked for a goal with their traditional style of ‘tiki-taka’ passing. Their winner came from a rather unlikely source in the end, when defender Carlos Puyol’s thumping header ended Spain’s long wait for a place in the biggest final on the planet.
There they would meet Holland, a side who were impressing with their open expansive play, and who had beaten Brazil and Uruguay on their way to the final. Despite their approach in previous matches during the tournament, Holland felt that their best opportunity was to use their physicality against Spain’s passing game. This led to a difficult match for English referee Howard Webb who could have dismissed three of the Oranjes players within the first half.
The second half improved marginally as both sides had good chances, but just as four years previous in Germany, the final was to be settled in extra time, and potentially penalties.
The European Champions once again had to deal with a serious of abrasive challenges from the Dutch as Extra Time began. Still playing their patient football, Spain finally made the breakthrough with just four minutes to go in the second period. Substitute Fabregas played a fantastic pass into the area which midfielder Iniesta controlled before volleying past Stekelenberg sparking wild celebrations and securing Spain’s place as World Champions.
Rafa’s Perfect Clay Court Season
With only a few defeats on clay court throughout the duration of his career, Rafael Nadal is always at his strongest when playing on his most favoured surface in the lead up to the French Open.
Having endured something of an on-off injury hit year in 2009, and struggling for momentum at the beginning of the tennis season, many felt that the Spaniards opponents may be able to gain the upper hand on Nadal while he was in a fragile position.
The lead up to Roland Garros started with the Monte-Carlo Masters which Nadal won losing only fourteen games in the process, setting a record for the fewest dropped en-route to a championship and earning a victory for in the provincial event six times in a row. His next tournament was in Italy where he defeated his first three opponents all in straight sets, an achievement that meant Nadal had won his 57th straight match in the month of April. He was able to claim yet another tournament with victory over David Ferrer in the final and in doing so equalled Andre Agassi’s record of winning 17 ATP Masters titles.
As a warm up to the French Open, Nadal entered the Madrid Open where he had finished up as the runner up to Roger Federer in 2009. There was to be a repeat final as the World Number One and Two met, this time the Spaniard won out 6-4, 7-6 to avenge his previous loss, winning a record 18th Masters title and becoming the first player to win three consecutive Masters titles.
Anticipation was heating up as many hoped for a Federer-Nadal showdown in the Paris tournament, but this became impossible when Robin Soderling beat the Swiss star in the quarter finals. The Swede made it through to the final but was beaten 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 on the final Sunday, allowing Nadal to claim the “Clay Slam”. He won the French Open without dropping a set and put himself seventh on the all time list for majors claiming a fifth title in six years at Roland Garros.
Manny’s Great Eight
Boxing may not have been able to give the world the fight they wanted this year after Manny Pacquiao’s camp failed to agree terms with Floyd Mayweather, but there were two opportunities from the Filipino boxer in 2010 that will have only wet the fans appetite further about a potential ‘superfight’ being arranged in 2011. Pacquiao’s first fight of the year came in March at Cowboy’s Stadium in Arlington against Ghanian fighter Joshua Clottey. Many had hoped that the date would be reserved for the fight between Pacquiao and Mayweather but instead they were treated to a devastating performance and a unanimous decision in favour of the future Filipino congressman.
Pacquiao won every round and dominated the punch count throughout the fight with the scorecard showing a 120-108, 119-109, 119-109 victory in front of a crowd of 36,371.
After the right it was rumoured that unless a fight between himself and Mayweather could be arranged then Pacquiao would choose to retire.
Despite the threats from the best pound-for-pound boxer in history, there was very little surprise when he returned to the ring in November for a second fight of the year. This time ‘Pacman’ was faced off against American Antonio Margarito. Despite a disadvantage in size and a lower weight Pacquiao hammered Margarito with his superior speed and technique. The fight went the distance, but in the penultimate round Margarito had sustained three cuts, promoting his Pacquiao to ask the referee to stop the fight.
A unanimous decision was given in the direction of the Filipino boxer giving him a record 8th world title in as many divisions.
English Cricket Celebrates Short Form Win
Following on from their successful Ashes performances towards the end of 2009, England faced a very different challenge as they headed to Barbados in April for the T20 World Cup.
England’s campaign started off in poor fashion however as, they were on the wrong end of an eight wicket Duckworth Lewis method defeat to hosts West Indies. The following day, England secured their path to the Super 8’s stage with a no result against Ireland, whose innings was reduced to just 3.3 overs, but having lost by 70 runs to the West Indies the Irish were eliminated due to an inferior net run rate.
Far from convincing in either of their batting displays it appeared that their brush with the exit inspired England. In their first game of the Super Eights stage with Pakistan, England managed to restrict their opponents to 147 inside their twenty overs before Kevin Pietersen’s 73 secured a six wicket victory.
The Kiwi batsman was at it again in England’s second game of the as he smashed 53 off just 33 balls to help England to a score of 168/7. Some superb bowling brought England home and restricted South Africa to 129 all-out in their innings.
Despite already securing qualification to the semi-finals, England wanted to finish off the second stage properly and continue to gain some momentum. They did just that with a three-wicket victory over New Zealand. Fielding first the Kiwi’s made 149/6 in their twenty overs before England secured victory with five bowls to spare thanks, in part, to a 40 from Eoin Morgan.
England faced Sri Lanka in the first semi final to be played and had Stuart Broad to thank for a batting score of only 128 runs to beat in order to progress. Pieterson once again proved the match winner with 42-not out off just 26 deliveries.
The final proved to be a momentous occasion as Australia came through the second semi-final against 2008 champions Pakistan to set up a clash with their biggest rivals at the Kensington Oval in Barbados. England won the toss and selected to field, hoping to successfully chase down their opponents as they had done in successful performances in the latter stages. The Aussies posted a total of 147 in their allocated overs, giving England the confidence to feel they could be victorious. Some early wickets cost the batting side momentum but Craig Kieswetter, who shone with a score of 63 steadied them. The England innings was also boosted by another star performance from Kevin Pietersen who scored 47 and led England to a seven-wicket victory over Australia to make them champions for the first time in the shortest form of the game.
Canada Vs USA Highlights Olympic Hockey Tournament
Vancouver was the setting for 2010’s Winter Olympics as many of the world’s frozen sports specialists took to the ice and the snow to compete for the ultimate prize. Due to the Olympics’ setting, one of the sports paid a huge amount of interest was the Ice Hockey tournament, an area which rather surprisingly the hosts had missed out on a medal in altogether in 2006.
Canada were expected to be among the favourites but found themselves in a difficult position in the early stages of the competition when they were beaten by Switzerland and then old rivals the USA to leave them relying on other results to give them a good position in the qualification playoffs.
Finishing first overall, the USA were given a bye to the next round whilst Canada had to dispatch Germany to make the quarterfinals. They did so rather easily as it turned out with eight goals from seven different sources in an 8-1 victory.
Canada’s rather sticky progress continued in the next stage when they faced off against Russia. An impressive first period gave them a 4-1 lead that they extended to 7-3 throughout the second twenty minutes of play. The USA saw off Switzerland 2-0 in their match to continue fans hopes of the North American sides renewing their rivalry in the later stages of the tournament.
The USA were up first in the semi finals against Finland who had beaten the Czech’s to reach this stage. The Americans dominated the game with a 6-0 first period and eventually went on to win 6-1 whilst Canada faced off against the Slovakians who had beaten 2006 champions Sweden in their quarterfinal. With the home crowd behind them a single goal victory was enough to push Canada on to the final as they led all the way through in a 3-2 game.
Whilst Finland claimed the bronze, all attention was focused on the North American showdown in the final that has been expected at the start. In a rematch of the 2002 Salt Lake City match-up the game was tied at 2-2 and headed into overtime thanks to a late goal from Zach Parise.
Canada battled on and managed to earn victory in front of the home crowd thanks to a sudden death goal from NHL star Sydney Crosby. The gold medal made Eric Staal the 23rd player to have won the Stanley Cup, World Championships and an Olympic gold, whilst his coach Mike Babcock became the first ever coach to achieve the same feat.
Vettel Becomes Youngest F1 Champ
When the Formula One season began in March, many doubted whether the drama of previous seasons would be recaptured with several new rule changes made, and a field of drivers with plenty to prove in the sport.
How wrong the doubters proved to be after a terrific battle for the Championship which was led by five different men and won by Sebastian Vettel, who became the youngest champion in the sport’s history. The German driver beat off competition from team mate Mark Webber, Maclaren drivers Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button as well as Ferrari’s title favourite Fernando Alonso.
The drama of the season was captured in the final race where twenty different permutations were possible and any one of four drivers could have won the championship. Once again Formula One proved to be the jewel in the crown of world motorsport and its return is eagerly expected in early 2011.
Globally, sport has succeeded to delight and unite once again throughout 2010 and with the Commonwealth Games, FIFA World Cup and Ryder Cup added to the usual mix of annual sporting events, it has been a busy year for world class sportsmen and women.
In a bid to look at some of the more celebrated moments that took place this year, here’s a review focussing on ten of the most memorable events have happened in the sporting world in 2010.
New Orleans Saints win the Superbowl
Miami’s Sun Life Stadium played host to the Indianapolis Colts and the New Orleans Saints as they battled it out for Super Bowl XLIV in the traditional showpiece game of the NFL season. Despite identical records going into the biggest game of the campaign, the Colts entered as slight favourites due to their experience of having taken part in the 2006 Super Bowl, and also possessing the talents of quarterback Payton Manning.
The underdog Saints soon found themselves facing a deficit, and were forced to throw caution to the wind when 0-10 down after the first quarter. Fighting hard to get themselves level at the break, the Saints, led by a record tying number of completions from Quarterback Drew Brees, held their opponents scoreless in the games deciding moments, becoming only the fourth team in the sport’s history to win the Superbowl in their one and only appearance on the biggest stage.
Brees was named as the MVP and had the pleasure of hoisting aloft the Vince Lombardi trophy in the post-game celebrations. Victory meant much more than just being the best team in the NFL to the Saints, as in the wake of Hurricane Katrina which devastated New Orleans, this was their first truly proud sporting moment for the region to savour.
Europe Reclaim the Ryder Cup
Having been on the receiving end of a beating from the USA for the first time in three meetings when they last faced off against their rivals in 2007, Team Europe felt they had a score to settle back on home ground at the Celtic Manor Course in Wales.
With plenty of difficult decisions to make beforehand, Europe’s captain Colin Montgomerie urged his team to focus and put all the selection controversy to one side. Europe got off to a fine start in the early exchanges, but their momentum was halted within just two hours of the first morning’s play when the course became flooded with water after a torrential downpour.
Play resumed on Saturday morning as Europe once again bolted out to an impressive lead. European heavyweights Westwood, Poulter and Donald gained vitals points for their team as the ‘home’ team led the way with the match still taking shape. Sunday arrived with still more than half the intended schedule to be played, and although Europe had taken a 9 ½ to 6 ½ points lead, all was still to play for as they Ryder Cup committee was forced to announce the first Monday finish in the competition’s history.
Due to darkness preventing the tournament’s full Sunday schedule being completed, organisers made the decision to play all singles matches on the final day, creating a memorable atmosphere for those who were fortunate enough to be able to get tickets.
Team USA knew they needed to get back into the game and pulled closer to their rivals with some good early points on the board.
Despite their best efforts however, the North American’s were running out of opportunities to come close to the ‘magic’ fourteen-point mark. Victories by Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Zach Johnson edged the match level, but the deciding blows came in two of the final games to finish as rookie Edoardo Molinari halved his match with Rickie Fowler and Graeme McDowell beat Hunter Mahan to give Colin Montgomerie’s European team a memorable 14 ½ to 13 1/2 victory.
Inter do the Treble
Jose Mourinho had conquered Italy several times with his Inter Milan side, but there was one prize that he was desperate to regain ever since his introduction into the lives and hearts if football fans all across the world in 2003.
With the Italian Cup and the Italian Serie A Championship already claimed, Mourinho had set his sights on winning the Champions League for the second time as a manager. Having been eliminated on several occasions by Barcelona as the manager of Chelsea, Mourinho’s route to the final was once again blocked by his former employees in Catalonia.
Beating Pep Guardiola’s men 3-1 at the San Siro, Inter faced the tough task of 100,000 strong crowd up against their side. A resilient defensive performance saw the Italian side only concede a solitary goal, and make their way to the final at Real Madrid’s Santiago Bernabeu.
With rumours surrounding the future of the Portuguese coach, and Real Madrid linked with Mourinho this seemed like the perfect opportunity for the ‘Special One’ to virtually write his own contract.
Facing off against Bayern Munich, Inter began well and scored a goal through Argentine Diego Milito after 35 minutes. The German’s started the better side in the second period but missed a great chance through Thomas Muller, and despite a possession advantage of 60% to 40%, Inter scored a second through Milito and gave won the European Cup for the first time since 1965.
Lakers repeat as NBA Champions in Game 7
Securing a third consecutive NBA Finals place, the LA Lakers found themselves facing off against the Boston Celtics in a repeat of the 2008 playoff finals when the ‘Big Three’ inspired the Eastern Coast side to their first Larry O’Brien trophy since the 1980’s.
This time around the purple and gold Western conference champions were looking to retain the trophy they had won against the Orlando Magic twelve months previous. Favourites because of their status as reigning champions and due to the nature of facing off against a veteran Boston Celtic team, the Lakers won Game One of the finals in the Staples Center behind a thirty point effort from Kobe Bryant in an 102 – 89 win.
Things turned against the Lakers in Game Two however as the Celtics earned a surprising 103-94 win before returning to Boston to win Game Three and take a pivotal 2-1 lead in the season.
The Lakers fought back to even the series in Game and tied at 2-2, fans predicted that the 2010 finals would be one of the closest encounters in recent memories. Boston set about making the final one of their home games count with a 92-86 victory at The Garden, before finding themselves well and truly routed during their bid to close out the Championship when returning to LA for Game Six.
Heading to a showdown at Staples Center for Game Seven, Boston were significantly weakened by the loss of centre Kendrick Perkins who went down with ACL and MCL injuries in Game 6. The loss of their big man did not seem to deter Boston however found themselves ahead at half time.
Phil Jackson was forced to rally his troops at the interval and remind them that it was their title to be lost should they not find a way back into the game. The game’s balance tipped the way of LA as the fourth quarter began, the reigning champions out rebounded Boston and put the Eastern Conference side in foul trouble early. When one of Perkins’ replacement, Rasheed Wallace fouled out, leaving only Kevin Garnett and Glen Davis as sizeable match-ups to Gasol and Bynum, the Lakers took full advantage. Outscoring their opponents 30 to 22 in the final quarter, LA won their 17th Championship by a score of 83-79.
Spain lift Africa’s First World Cup
Despite starting as huge favourites for the first World Cup to be played on African soil, Spain didn’t get off to an idea start in the opening group encounter. Losing 1-0 to Switzerland, Spain were instantly forced to maintain their composure and win their next two games to avoid one of the greatest embarrassments in the competition’s history. Victories over Honduras and Chile were secured largely by the goals and match winning performances from David Villa who appeared to give his side renewed confidence that having overcome their ‘big match’ fears at Euro 2008, they could do they same for the first time at the World Cup.
The Spanish faced the challenge of their near neighbours Portugal in an Iberian second round clash. Once again David Villa scored the winning goal to advance his side to the quarterfinal stage, and against Paraguay in the next knockout phase the Barcelona star proved to again be the Spanish hero with a late winner. The Spanish finding themselves in unknown territory met familiar opponents in the shape of Germany at the semi final stage, the side they defeated in their most recent triumph at the Euros.
The young German side, which had already dispatched England and Argentina, were looking strong, but spent most of their time on the back foot as Spain bode their time and looked for a goal with their traditional style of ‘tiki-taka’ passing. Their winner came from a rather unlikely source in the end, when defender Carlos Puyol’s thumping header ended Spain’s long wait for a place in the biggest final on the planet.
There they would meet Holland, a side who were impressing with their open expansive play, and who had beaten Brazil and Uruguay on their way to the final. Despite their approach in previous matches during the tournament, Holland felt that their best opportunity was to use their physicality against Spain’s passing game. This led to a difficult match for English referee Howard Webb who could have dismissed three of the Oranjes players within the first half.
The second half improved marginally as both sides had good chances, but just as four years previous in Germany, the final was to be settled in extra time, and potentially penalties.
The European Champions once again had to deal with a serious of abrasive challenges from the Dutch as Extra Time began. Still playing their patient football, Spain finally made the breakthrough with just four minutes to go in the second period. Substitute Fabregas played a fantastic pass into the area which midfielder Iniesta controlled before volleying past Stekelenberg sparking wild celebrations and securing Spain’s place as World Champions.
Rafa’s Perfect Clay Court Season
With only a few defeats on clay court throughout the duration of his career, Rafael Nadal is always at his strongest when playing on his most favoured surface in the lead up to the French Open.
Having endured something of an on-off injury hit year in 2009, and struggling for momentum at the beginning of the tennis season, many felt that the Spaniards opponents may be able to gain the upper hand on Nadal while he was in a fragile position.
The lead up to Roland Garros started with the Monte-Carlo Masters which Nadal won losing only fourteen games in the process, setting a record for the fewest dropped en-route to a championship and earning a victory for in the provincial event six times in a row. His next tournament was in Italy where he defeated his first three opponents all in straight sets, an achievement that meant Nadal had won his 57th straight match in the month of April. He was able to claim yet another tournament with victory over David Ferrer in the final and in doing so equalled Andre Agassi’s record of winning 17 ATP Masters titles.
As a warm up to the French Open, Nadal entered the Madrid Open where he had finished up as the runner up to Roger Federer in 2009. There was to be a repeat final as the World Number One and Two met, this time the Spaniard won out 6-4, 7-6 to avenge his previous loss, winning a record 18th Masters title and becoming the first player to win three consecutive Masters titles.
Anticipation was heating up as many hoped for a Federer-Nadal showdown in the Paris tournament, but this became impossible when Robin Soderling beat the Swiss star in the quarter finals. The Swede made it through to the final but was beaten 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 on the final Sunday, allowing Nadal to claim the “Clay Slam”. He won the French Open without dropping a set and put himself seventh on the all time list for majors claiming a fifth title in six years at Roland Garros.
Manny’s Great Eight
Boxing may not have been able to give the world the fight they wanted this year after Manny Pacquiao’s camp failed to agree terms with Floyd Mayweather, but there were two opportunities from the Filipino boxer in 2010 that will have only wet the fans appetite further about a potential ‘superfight’ being arranged in 2011. Pacquiao’s first fight of the year came in March at Cowboy’s Stadium in Arlington against Ghanian fighter Joshua Clottey. Many had hoped that the date would be reserved for the fight between Pacquiao and Mayweather but instead they were treated to a devastating performance and a unanimous decision in favour of the future Filipino congressman.
Pacquiao won every round and dominated the punch count throughout the fight with the scorecard showing a 120-108, 119-109, 119-109 victory in front of a crowd of 36,371.
After the right it was rumoured that unless a fight between himself and Mayweather could be arranged then Pacquiao would choose to retire.
Despite the threats from the best pound-for-pound boxer in history, there was very little surprise when he returned to the ring in November for a second fight of the year. This time ‘Pacman’ was faced off against American Antonio Margarito. Despite a disadvantage in size and a lower weight Pacquiao hammered Margarito with his superior speed and technique. The fight went the distance, but in the penultimate round Margarito had sustained three cuts, promoting his Pacquiao to ask the referee to stop the fight.
A unanimous decision was given in the direction of the Filipino boxer giving him a record 8th world title in as many divisions.
English Cricket Celebrates Short Form Win
Following on from their successful Ashes performances towards the end of 2009, England faced a very different challenge as they headed to Barbados in April for the T20 World Cup.
England’s campaign started off in poor fashion however as, they were on the wrong end of an eight wicket Duckworth Lewis method defeat to hosts West Indies. The following day, England secured their path to the Super 8’s stage with a no result against Ireland, whose innings was reduced to just 3.3 overs, but having lost by 70 runs to the West Indies the Irish were eliminated due to an inferior net run rate.
Far from convincing in either of their batting displays it appeared that their brush with the exit inspired England. In their first game of the Super Eights stage with Pakistan, England managed to restrict their opponents to 147 inside their twenty overs before Kevin Pietersen’s 73 secured a six wicket victory.
The Kiwi batsman was at it again in England’s second game of the as he smashed 53 off just 33 balls to help England to a score of 168/7. Some superb bowling brought England home and restricted South Africa to 129 all-out in their innings.
Despite already securing qualification to the semi-finals, England wanted to finish off the second stage properly and continue to gain some momentum. They did just that with a three-wicket victory over New Zealand. Fielding first the Kiwi’s made 149/6 in their twenty overs before England secured victory with five bowls to spare thanks, in part, to a 40 from Eoin Morgan.
England faced Sri Lanka in the first semi final to be played and had Stuart Broad to thank for a batting score of only 128 runs to beat in order to progress. Pieterson once again proved the match winner with 42-not out off just 26 deliveries.
The final proved to be a momentous occasion as Australia came through the second semi-final against 2008 champions Pakistan to set up a clash with their biggest rivals at the Kensington Oval in Barbados. England won the toss and selected to field, hoping to successfully chase down their opponents as they had done in successful performances in the latter stages. The Aussies posted a total of 147 in their allocated overs, giving England the confidence to feel they could be victorious. Some early wickets cost the batting side momentum but Craig Kieswetter, who shone with a score of 63 steadied them. The England innings was also boosted by another star performance from Kevin Pietersen who scored 47 and led England to a seven-wicket victory over Australia to make them champions for the first time in the shortest form of the game.
Canada Vs USA Highlights Olympic Hockey Tournament
Vancouver was the setting for 2010’s Winter Olympics as many of the world’s frozen sports specialists took to the ice and the snow to compete for the ultimate prize. Due to the Olympics’ setting, one of the sports paid a huge amount of interest was the Ice Hockey tournament, an area which rather surprisingly the hosts had missed out on a medal in altogether in 2006.
Canada were expected to be among the favourites but found themselves in a difficult position in the early stages of the competition when they were beaten by Switzerland and then old rivals the USA to leave them relying on other results to give them a good position in the qualification playoffs.
Finishing first overall, the USA were given a bye to the next round whilst Canada had to dispatch Germany to make the quarterfinals. They did so rather easily as it turned out with eight goals from seven different sources in an 8-1 victory.
Canada’s rather sticky progress continued in the next stage when they faced off against Russia. An impressive first period gave them a 4-1 lead that they extended to 7-3 throughout the second twenty minutes of play. The USA saw off Switzerland 2-0 in their match to continue fans hopes of the North American sides renewing their rivalry in the later stages of the tournament.
The USA were up first in the semi finals against Finland who had beaten the Czech’s to reach this stage. The Americans dominated the game with a 6-0 first period and eventually went on to win 6-1 whilst Canada faced off against the Slovakians who had beaten 2006 champions Sweden in their quarterfinal. With the home crowd behind them a single goal victory was enough to push Canada on to the final as they led all the way through in a 3-2 game.
Whilst Finland claimed the bronze, all attention was focused on the North American showdown in the final that has been expected at the start. In a rematch of the 2002 Salt Lake City match-up the game was tied at 2-2 and headed into overtime thanks to a late goal from Zach Parise.
Canada battled on and managed to earn victory in front of the home crowd thanks to a sudden death goal from NHL star Sydney Crosby. The gold medal made Eric Staal the 23rd player to have won the Stanley Cup, World Championships and an Olympic gold, whilst his coach Mike Babcock became the first ever coach to achieve the same feat.
Vettel Becomes Youngest F1 Champ
When the Formula One season began in March, many doubted whether the drama of previous seasons would be recaptured with several new rule changes made, and a field of drivers with plenty to prove in the sport.
How wrong the doubters proved to be after a terrific battle for the Championship which was led by five different men and won by Sebastian Vettel, who became the youngest champion in the sport’s history. The German driver beat off competition from team mate Mark Webber, Maclaren drivers Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button as well as Ferrari’s title favourite Fernando Alonso.
The drama of the season was captured in the final race where twenty different permutations were possible and any one of four drivers could have won the championship. Once again Formula One proved to be the jewel in the crown of world motorsport and its return is eagerly expected in early 2011.