Advertisement

Top ten sports stories that grabbed headlines in 2011

10. Rory McIlroy - a golfing sensation at only 22

In June, Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy became the youngest winner of the US Open golf tournament since 1923. The young professional golfer broke a host of scoring records, marking his journey to seal the first Major victory of his career. McIlroy's win at 22, marks a first for such a young winner since the late Bobby Jones' achievements in 1923.

9. India wins Cricket World Cup after 28 years

India became the first team to win the Cricket World Cup on home soil after beating Sri Lanka by six wickets in the final in Mumbai. Yuvraj Singh gives India more to celebrate when he is named Man of the Tournament. The team is given extra incentive to perform by model Poonam Pandey, who promises to strip naked if the team is victorious.

The tournament, jointly hosted by India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, was initially supposed to be held in Pakistan and Bangladesh. However, the Pakistanis were not allowed to host the event due to a 2009 attack on the Sri Lankan team in Lahore.

8. All Blacks win it at home at the Rugby Union World Cup

The New Zealand All Blacks won the Rugby Union World Cup for the first time since 1987, beating France in the final 8-7.

The victory, on home soil, put an end to decades of underachievement by the perennial pre-tournament favourites.

The 7th edition of the World Cup was the largest sporting event to ever be held in New Zealand, which had won hosting rights over Japan and South Africa.

All Blacks fly-half Israel Dagg and flanker Jerome Kaino were chosen among the 5 best players of the tournament.

7. Penn State sex abuse scandal

The United States was rocked when news reports emerged that Pennsylvania State University football assistant coach Jerry Sandusky had sexually assaulted at least eight underaged boys on or near the university. Sandusky was indicted on 42 counts of of child molest, dating back to 1994.

Further investigations revealed that several high-ranking university officials had covered up Sandusky's misdeeds. Head coach Joe Paterno and university president Graham Spanier both lost their jobs over this fiasco.

5. Manchester United wins historic 19th title

Manchester United surpassed Liverpool as England's most successful team, by sealing their 19th league championship. The win is Man U's 12th Premiership title, all of them achieved under the 25-year stewardship of Sir Alex Ferguson. An elated coach shared his excitement, "It's not so much passing Liverpool. It's more important that United are the best team in the country in terms of winning titles." The 69-year-old Ferguson took over the Old Trafford club in 1986 when Liverpool was the dominant force in the English game, promising at that time to 'knock Liverpool off their f***ing perch'.

5. Young football manager Gary Speed commits suicide

One of the most respected young football managers in the UK killed himself at his home in North Wales in November. Gary Speed's death came as a shock to fans and colleagues, who knew him as one of Britain's best loved football players. Forty-two-year-old Speed had been coaching his national team in Wales before his untimely death. Police say Speed had hung himself. Speed played for Leeds, Everton, Newcastle and Bolton before moving on to coach the Welsh national side.

4. The Ryan Giggs sex scandal

Court issued gag orders backfired for Manchester United player Ryan Giggs when mass voices from Twitterspace named him as the player involved in an affair with Big Brother star Imogen Thomas. Thirty-eight-year-old Giggs had earlier taken a succession of court injunctions to try to keep the affair out of public eye. But British MP John Hemmings used a parliamentary privilege to name Giggs, saying that 75,000 people had already outed Giggs on micro-blogging site Twitter. Giggs, who would have gone down in history as one of the most respected and loved figures in the English game, lost a lot of admiration and goodwill as a result of the scandal.

3. Marco Simoncelli dies at Sepang

Tragedy struck at the Malaysian MotoGP in October when Italian motorcyclist Marco Simoncelli died in a horrific crash in full view of his devastated family and girlfriend. The 24-year-old lost control of his motorcycle in the second lap and was flung from his bike. He skidded across the track, before competitors Colin Edwards and Valentino Rossi collided into him. Simoncelli died from injuries to the chest, head and neck. Simoncelli's fellow Honda rider Dani Pedrosa, who had fallen out with him earlier in the season, said: 'I've been with his father and all we could do was to hug, nothing else matters."

2. Nicol David - the greatest of all time?

Squash Queen Datuk Nicol Ann David became world's first professional player to win the women's world squash title for the sixth year in a row in November - just one day after becoming the first active player to be inducted into the World Squash Federation's Hall of Fame. The 28-year-old Penangite has held on to the world's no. 1 ranking since 2006. Nicol has been setting world records ever since she made an appearance on the squash scene. She has clocked the longest unbeaten Women's International Squash Players Association (WISPA) run at 56 matches and becoming the second longest-reigning world no. 1 champion, beating a record held by squash legend Michelle Martin.

1. Harimau Muda, the pride of a nation

Malaysia's much loved football heroes, the Harimau Muda, won the gold medal at the 26th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Indonesia in November. The Under-23 team beat the host country in a 4-3 penalty shootout, after a tense match where both teams drew 1-1. The Malaysian team fought tooth and nail to defend the title it won in the 2009 edition of the SEA Games in Laos. However, the match was marred by the deaths of Indonesian supporters after a stampede at the Gelora Bung Karno stadium.

-------------------------------------------------------

Do you agree with our list? Are there any more deserving stories that you think didn't make it to the top 10? Share your thoughts with us and each other. Oh, and Happy New Year 2012. :)