Top 10 Sporting Moments of 2008

2008...What a great year it was, with a calendar full of entertaining sporting events! Besides the usual UEFA Champions' League, Formula One, tennis, and golf Majors, we were also treated to the Summer Olympics and Euro 2008. Here's a look back at 10 (ok, maybe 11) moments that will live long in the memory.

10. British Open

Irishman Padraig Harrington successfully defended his title to become only the fifth person to win back-to-back Open Championships in the last 50 years. The absence of an injured Tiger Woods was completely overshadowed by another not-completely-fit golfer in Harrington, who had injured his wrist the weekend before and nearly withdrew from the Open.

9. [Joint] Rugby League World Cup Final; Floorball World Championships Final

These two choices were too close to call, so I had to select them both, since they have a common theme: perennial bridesmaids ending the long reign of the defending champions!

The former counts as the biggest upset in the history of international rugby league, especially since Australia had thrashed NZ 30-6 earlier in the tournament. The Kiwis however tore up the script and defeated the Kangaroos 34-20 in the final in their own backyard in Brisbane.

For the latter, I had the fortune to witness it live for myself at the O2 Arena in Prague. For the less knowledgeable, Sweden had won all six editions of the Floorball World Championships since its inception in 1996 up 'til 2006, while managing to stay undefeated! Finland had been beaten by Sweden 6-7 in extra-time in the 2006 final, but they reversed it this time.

Finland raced to a 4-0 lead in the first period but Sweden fought back afterwards and unbelievably scored six times unanswered. Finland drew level with two goals late on to force extra-time. The drama then took on a box office twist.

Just as Sweden nearly forced the ball in, Finland broke forward into a quick 2v1 situation, and the final pass fell to Tero Tiitu (who believe-it-or-not had hit the post in extra-time in the 2006 final) to drive the ball into the unguarded net for the win and a memorable personal comeback.

8. Robinho's £32.5m transfer to Manchester...City

Not a sporting contest per se, but an event which shocked the world and broke the British transfer record. This space could well have been filled by the (highly likely) world-record transfer of Cristiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid.

Instead the biggest football transfer that DID take place this year involved the blue half of Manchester, on the backdrop of their stunning takeover by the Abu Dhabi United Group which has turned the club into Manchester and the world's richest football club.

Everyone, well almost everyone, had expected Robinho to be in Chelsea colours come deadline day. Chelsea even had replica jerseys with his name selling in their megastore even before the transfer was completed, but this apparently angered Real Madrid, who probably agreed terms with City to spite Chelsea and as a precaution against facing them in the Champions' League.

Probably no one could believe what they were reading when they saw the headlines that morning. Fate had it as well that Robinho played and scored his first goal for City against Chelsea.

7. NBA Finals

A return back to the golden age in the 1980s of the Celtic vs Lakers rivalry, 21 years after their last Finals meeting in 1987. Both were top seeds in their respective Conferences, which was the first occurrence since 2000. The result was 4-2 just as in 1987, but with the Celtics gaining revenge this time.

Larry Bird, Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar were replaced this time by the modern-day superstars of Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, Paul Pierce, and Kevin Garnett. Celtics' win gave them a record 17th NBA championship and for their fans, a first title since 1986.

6. Euro 2008 Final

Spain finally ended years of hurt, disappointment and unfulfilled expectations. Fernando Torres completed a fitting end to his phenomenal debut season with Liverpool by scoring the winning goal against Germany in the final.

The tournament itself provided other great moments, such as the Guus Hiddink-inspired rise of Russian football, the Dutch playing Total Football once again in destroying Italy and France, Turkey's great escapes against Czech Rep. and Croatia...but the Spaniards outshone all of them by playing attractive, attacking football from their first game all the way to the final.

They won and won convincingly. Much will be expected from their young team for the next World Cup.

5. F1 Brazilian Grand Prix

The crowning of F1's youngest ever champion and the first of black heritage followed the most exciting end to a championship in recent memory, as Lewis Hamilton battled Felipe Massa right 'til the very last lap, beating him 98 points to 97.

Their points tally was relatively low compared to recent years, partly due to numerous incidents and accidents throughout the season, which only served to heighten the drama.

Needing to finish only fifth in the Brazilian GP to clinch the championship, everything was going according to plan for Hamilton. Massa on the other hand, did all that was asked of him by driving faultlessly to win the race.

In the penultimate lap, Sebastien Vettel of Toro Rosso (ironically powered by a Ferrari engine) overtook Hamilton for fifth place and the Massa and Hamilton camps both watched in disbelief as the race edged towards its conclusion. Then the most amazing miracle happened in the last lap as Hamilton overtook a slowing Timo Glock in the Toyota, who had gambled and failed with dry-weather tyres on the rain-soaked tracks.

Television footage showed both camps celebrating as viewers around the world were thrown into confusion. Eventually, the results came in with Hamilton in fifth, as the Massa camp sunk to their knees whilst Nicole Scherzinger and the rest of the Hamilton camp erupted in ecstasy. And who said that post-Schumacher Formula One was boring?

4. UEFA Champions' League Final

The final provided many talking points—the final in Moscow, home of Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich; Chelsea standing in the way of United doing a domestic and European double; the 50th anniversary of the Munich air crash; Cristiano Ronaldo answering criticism that he doesn't perform in big games by scoring the opening goal and terrorising Michael Essien throughout the entire game (and then missing his spot-kick); Petr Cech's amazing double save to prevent an early end to the contest; Frank Lampard dedicating his equaliser to his recently-departed mum; Chelsea hitting the post twice through Didier Drogba and Lampard; Ryan Giggs coming on for fellow oldie Paul Scholes to break sir Bobby Charlton's appearance record; John Terry's forehead stopping Ryan Giggs scoring the winner; a close version of Zidane vs Materazzi as Drogba gives in to a frustrating evening and slaps Nemanja Vidic.....

BUT two images will forever remain in the minds of fans - i) John Terry slipping and hitting the post, before crying inconsolably; ii) Edwin van der Sar holding his arms proudly aloft after palming away Nicolas Anelka's spotkick.

The contest itself was but a chapter in a remarkable 2008 for Manchester United as they won their third European Cup, 50 years after the first Busby Babes perished in Munich and 40 years after the Law, Best, and Charlton inspired the Babes to their first European Cup triumph.

A fantastic year for the club saw them being crowned champions of England, Europe and the world, while managing to retain the year's best player in Ronaldo.

3. Olympics - Swimming Men's 200m Butterfly Final

The most amazing photo-finish of the year, but just one-eighth of the remarkable story that is Michael Phelps, who eclipsed the seven golds won by fellow American swimmer Mark Spitz in the 1972 Munich Olympics. His 14 gold medals from both Athens and Beijing makes him arguably the greatest Olympian ever.

This final was the hardest part of Phelp's quest to win eight gold medals, personally at least (taking into account team-mates Jason Lezak's phenomenal swim in the last leg of the 4 x 100m freestyle relay to salvage Phelp's dream). His time of 1:52.03 was a new world record and just 0.07 seconds ahead of runner-up László Cseh of Hungary.

Phelps had been trailing Cseh for most of the race and his goggles had filled up with water, which made him "unable to see anything for the last 100 metres" (which makes him even more of a Superman!). Replays of the finish show Cseh doing his final stroke before Phelps, but Phelps powered towards the wall as Cseh glided towards it, and that ultimately proved to be the tiniest of differences between victory and defeat, as Phelps fulfilled his dream and created Olympic history.

2. Olympics - Athletics Men's 100m Final

Definitely the most jaw-dropping performance of the year, by anyone in any sport, by a mile. Usain Bolt was the existing holder of the world record at 9.72 seconds, which he had stolen from his compatriot Asafa Powell (9.74 secs). Bolt was the favourite and much of the pre-race hype was on the battle between him and Powell.

The final itself saw Bolt trail at the start, before his long legs overpowered his rivals and pushed him way beyond everyone else. Once he saw clear ground between him and the nearest rival, he slowed and slapped his chest in celebration, before crossing the finish line and still setting a new world record of 9.69 seconds!!

Runner-up Richard Thompson was way behind at 9.89 seconds, and Bolt achieved this without any help from the wind, which was measured at +0.0m/s. Analysis done by a group of scientists at the University of Oslo estimated that Bolt could have finished in a time of 9.55 seconds if he did not slow down towards the end!

There was criticism of his celebration as being disrespectful, notably by IOC President Jacques Rogge. Bolt denied this and claimed that he was just happy to see that he could not be caught. At the end of the day, Bolt provided a breath of fresh air to the world of athletics, which had been stained by drug scandals in recent years.

His tall, un-sprinter like build, cheerful and fun-loving personality simply added gloss to his achievement as he won the hearts of the watching world. Two more gold medals and world records in the 200m and the 4 x 100m relay capped a memorable first Olympics for the young Jamaican.

1. Wimbledon Men's Singles Final

John McEnroe called it 'the greatest match I have ever seen' and it was the most thrilling episode of Federer vs Nadal yet, as Nadal ended Federer's run of five consecutive Wimbledon crowns and 65-match winning streak on grass to win his very own first Wimbledon and fifth Grand Slam.

The rain-delayed five setter lasted a marathon four hour 48 minutes, as the summer sky had darkened considerably by the time the last ball had been hit.

Nadal started well to take the first two sets 6-4, despite being 1-4 down in the second set. Rain interrupted the third, which Federer edged 7-5 in a tie-break. Federer completed his gallant fightback in the fourth as he won another tie-break 10-8, despite Nadal twice holding championship point during the tie-break.

The last set was interrupted by another rain delay but Nadal eventually gained a 8-7 lead. He held championship point for the third time but Federer defied him again. At deuce, Nadal delivered an ace for his fourth championship point before delivering the final blow.

"It's impossible to explain what I felt in that moment. I'm very, very happy. It is a dream to play on this court, my favourite tournament, but I never imagined this. I must congratulate Roger, he's still the No. 1, he's still the best, and he's won five times here. But now I have one, and that's very important to me." - Nadal

"I tried everything, but Rafa's a deserving champion, he's the worst opponent on the best court. It's a pity I couldn't win it, but I'll be back next year." - Federer