SOME OF THE MOST CLOSELY CONTESTED INTERNATIONAL MATCHES AT THE MAJORS OF 2018–19.
Just like that , the year 2019 has almost come to an end! Most of the major tournaments such as the NBA Championships , Wimbledon , the UEFA Champions League , the ICC Cricket World Cup and the Tour de France are done and dusted for the year. While there are still three more months of blockbuster sporting action to look forward to , the sporting year of 2019 has been a quick , yet memorable one! It was filled with joy , ecstasy , action , pain , despair and agony , that treated us fervent fans to some absolute nail-biters for the ages:-
5. P.V SINDHU vs TAI TZU YING- BWF WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS QUARTERFINAL
This was a real clash of the titans as both these women were in exceptional form coming into this match , and were both searching for their maiden World Championship gold! While Tai was still hunting for her first major triumph in her career , Sindhu was battling her opponents and her own self in a bid to convert her pairs of bronze and silver medals at this tournament into the coveted gold. As the match began , Tai dominated a rather out-of-sorts Sindhu in the first set , as the Indian poster-girl of badminton had no answer to the deception of the Taiwanese star , thus granting her the first set by a comfortable margin. In the second set , Sindhu began finding her ground-strokes and she countered Tai’s strokes wonderfully to come from behind and snatch the set. The third set was also very closely contested as both women fought for each point , but Sindhu ultimately out-dueled a totally exhausted Tai Tzu in this brilliant battle! (FINAL SCORE: Sindhu beat Tai Tzu Ying 12–21 23–21 21–19)
4. FC BARCELONA vs LIVERPOOL- UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE SEMI-FINAL
An absolutely even match as both teams fought till the end and played some truly magical football. In the first leg , both sides took shot after shot , but it was the accuracy of Suarez and the brilliant brace of the great Lionel Messi that gave Valverde and his Catalans a fairly large 3–0 advantage heading into Anfield. But boy did Liverpool manage to turn the tables and beat Barcelona! Scoring in the 7th , 54th and 56th minutes , they evened the aggregate score. It may have been a case of over-confidence and negligence from Barcelona , or just some inspired football from Liverpool , but it didn’t matter. The sensational comeback was completed courtesy of a clever corner from Alexander Arnold that made the full-house crowd at Anfied go wild , and took the English giants to the final , where they eventually claimed the title! (FINAL SCORE: Liverpool FC beat FC Barcelona 4–3)
3. TORONTO RAPTORS vs PHILADELPHIA 76ERS- NBA EASTERN CONFERENCE SEMI-FINAL
This match was special for so many different reasons. It had huge potential , the stars to live up to the expectations , and the immaculate passion of the fans who were eager to see who would go on to face Giannis and his Milwaukee Bucks in the Conference Finals. The series began with the Raptors edging out the 76ers in a thriller to grab an early lead. However , the boys from Philadelphia were not ready to go down without a fight , taking the next game. As this see-saw battle progressed , the teams split the next four games to set it up for an anticipated Game-7 , where the teams fought to have the last laugh , but there was just about nothing to separate them. It was Kawhi Leonard who proved to be the game-changer , as he sunk one of the greatest buzzer-beaters in play-off history , to tilt the match of the year in favour of the Toronto based side! (FINAL SCORE: Toronto Raptors beat Philadelphia 76ers 4–3)
2. NOVAK DJOKOVIC vs ROGER FEDERER- WIMBLEDON FINAL
By far the most entertaining tennis match of the year! Going into Wimbledon , Roger and Novak were seeded 2 and 1 respectively , as they were miles ahead of everyone else on grass. As the two gentlemen walked out onto the iconic Centre Court , nobody believed that this match would soar to the actual heights it did. Right from the very first point of the match , the two men were hitting the ball beautifully and found their rhythm , where Djokovic ultimately scraped through in the tie-break. In the second set , Federer came out all guns blazing with a renewed confidence , dominating Djokovic and claiming the set 6–1. In the next two sets , both players were at their vintage best , displaying some of their enchanting strokes that left the fans wanting more. They did get what they wanted , as the match went into the fifth set to determine the champion. In the decider , neither man was ready to give in , as both of them were holding every service game of theirs to stay afloat. It was only at 7–7 when Federer broke the resilient Djokovic and served at 40–15 , just one winner away from the trophy. However , it was not to be , as he squandered both the match points to hand Novak the break back. This resulted in the match heading into a fifth set tie-break , where the Serbian did what he does best , serving and returning brilliantly to be crowned the king of grass! The most interesting fact about this 4hr 57m marathon was that the losing player was the one with more aces , better first serve percentage , more games and more points! (FINAL SCORE: Djokovic beat Federer 7–6[5] 1–6 7–6[4] 4–6 13–12[3])
- ENGLAND vs NEW ZEALAND- ICC CRICKET WORLD CUP FINAL
Who would’ve thought that after a month and a half of sublime cricketing action , we would get to witness such a final and such a result! New Zealand opted to bat on a cloudy day , hoping to make use of the conditions and then restrict the Englishmen. While there was no real spark in their innings , the contributions of Henry Nicholls (55) and Tom Latham (47) were essential as the Black Caps managed a par score of 241–8 in 50 overs. Chasing 242 , England made a cautious start , but once the first wicket fell , wickets kept tumbling as they failed to get a partnership going early on. It was their key all-rounder , Ben Stokes , that revived the innings with a stunning knock of 84* and was helped by a rather unfortunate overthrow in the last over that took England to 241 , the exact same score that Kane’s men had managed. The match would now be decided by a Super Over , which was a real fan-favourite and a true edge-of-the-seat thriller! Put in to bat , Morgan’s men put up 15 runs on the board , thanks to some brave hitting from Stokes and Buttler. The Kiwis were practically down and out , until Jimmy Neesham began bludgeoning the ball to all parts. The equation was now 2 runs required off 1 delivery , with Martin Guptill on strike. He smashed the final ball from Archer to square leg , and they tried scampering back for a second run , only to fall short and tie the Super Over as well , thus handing the World Cup to England due to superior boundary count! Devastating , yet reality , it can be said that though England were the winners that day , New Zealand were never really the losers! (FINAL SCORE: England 241{15 in Super Over} beat New Zealand 241–8{15 in Super Over} by boundary count)
