Sporting glory

Deccan Chargers take home the honours in the IPL 2009 Twenty20 championship

Winning Team of the Year

The Deccan Charges carry off the 2009 DLF IPL Twenty20 trophy, beating the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the finals. You’ll never find a bunch of people who got rich quicker!

Shuttling Sensations

Ranked seventh in the world, V Diju and Jwala Gutta won the Grand Prix Gold title in the Chinese Taipei badminton, and are the first Indian mixed doubles pair to bring home a winner. And hard-headed Hyderabadi player, Saina Nehwal became the first Indian to win the Women Singles Super Series in the Indonesian Open finals. She is currently ranked eighth in the world.

depleted of players, pulled off a win in India in the Border Gavasker one day series. India missed out on the opportunity to be the best team in the world when they lost this one.

Team India also defeated Sri Lanka by 46 runs in the finals to win the Campaq Cup this year.

Sri Lanka was comprehensively beaten in the longer form of the game by India and for the first time India was positioned at the top of the table where test cricket is concerned. Well done Team India, on reaching this milestone!

Promising Performer 2009

Behind the tender expression constantly held on his face, the 17-year-old, Yuki Bhambri is a boulder of force when it comes to tennis. He was the first Indian to win the Junior Australian Open title and proved himself again, winning the Davis Cup. Watch him grow!

Indian team to a Series victory in NZ by winning the first Test at Hamilton and drawing the remaining two Tests. After a 41-year wait, the Indian team finally pulled off its weight in New Zealand. Australia, inspite of being severely

Fascinating Football

The ‘Player of the Tournament’ Baichung Bhutia showed raw energy on the football pitch in New Delhi, when the Indian team won the Nehru Cup football for the second time in a row, beating Syria 5-4 in the penalty shootout. Welldone, boys!

Terrific Tennis

The gleaming persona of Sania Mirza and Mahesh Bhupathi doubled when they became the first Indian pair to win a Mixed Doubles Grand Slam at the Australian Open early this year. Exemplary team work by the Indian pair!

Tennis star Somdev Devvarman qualified for his first Grand Slam singles main draw. After Prakash Amritraj in 2002, Devvarman became the first Indian to be in the main draw of a Grand Slam singles tournament in the US Open 2009. And after a gap of 11 years, Somdev beat South Africa’s Rik De Voest in the first of the reverse singles and declared India as a winner in the world Group.

It was an interesting mix and match, when Lukas Dlouhy and Leander Paes proudly carried the winner’s title for the US Open doubles. With this achievement, Leander won his fifth doubles Grand Slam title and 10th overall. They beat the formidable team of Mahesh Bhupati and Mark Knowles.

Glowing Gloves

Vijender Singh fought hard in the boxing ring to win a Bronze medal in Milan. This was India’s first ever medal at the World Boxing Championships. He also won the bronze medal for India at the Beijing Olympics in 2008. Of course, he’ll keep fighting for Gold!

Brilliance in Billiards

24-year-old Bangalorean Pankaj Advani defeated nine-times world champion Mike Russell of Qatar in the World Professional Billiards championship title. Pankaj is only the second Indian to do so.