From the wonderful highs to the bottom lows, Indian sport has seen its share of drama this 12 months. The jewels within the 2022 crown have been a historic Thomas Cup and one in every of India’s finest ever Commonwealth Games outings however there was a lot extra. We try to seize, and herald, the most effective of the 12 months.

Here are ESPN India’s Awards (and Moments), 2022:

Team of the Year

Anas, Amoj, Ajmal, Rajesh – Unlikely Indian relay stars shine on the big stage

India have been gold medallists on the Asian Games within the males’s relay 4×400 as soon as once more, though this got here after 61 years. A quartet of disparate people who got here collectively in 2023 and thru teamwork and belief, their complete grew to become better than the sum of its components – Sunaadh Sagar

Coach of the Year

Sergio Pagni sculpts golden 2023 for Indian compound archery

Five out of 5 golds on the Asian Games (and a silver and a bronze). Three golds and a bronze on the World Championships (the place India had by no means received gold earlier than in its 92-year historical past). Sergio Pagni has presided over the only most efficient 12 months Indian archery has ever seen – Anirudh Menon

Para-athlete of the Year

Sumit Antil breaks barriers to go where no one has gone before

Breaking world information and smashing the competitors has now turn out to be a norm for Sumit Antil: who did not go into the Asian Para Games focusing on simply gold, however breaking his personal world report. Which he did – Anish Anand

Match of the Year

Mukherjee and Mukherjee live the impossible dream

The phrase miracle is usually overused in sporting contexts. However, on this context, Sutirtha Mukherjee and Ayhika Mukherjee wanted one thing greater than only a mere miracle: and so they dug it out – Aaditya Narayan

Emerging Athletes of the Year

Sheetal Devi, Aditi Swami and Kishore Jena emerge into Indian sports’ spotlight in 2023

It’s maybe the most effective a part of sport – an unheralded title making a breakthrough and being catapulted into the highlight – Anish Anand, Zenia D’Cunha, Shyam Vasudevan

MOMENTS OF THE YEAR

As a exceptional 2023 attracts to finish, ESPN India picks ten photographs that inform the story of essentially the most extraordinary Indian sports activities moments witnessed over the 12 months.

India’s wrestlers, beaten by police, carried the flag and their fight against the system

Vinesh Phogat and Sangeeta Phogat on the highway, arms clasped round one another. Sangeeta on her again, Vinesh on prime of her, shielding her from the police personnel in flak jackets and boots. The flag of the Republic of India on a stick, of their arms, on the highway. – Anirudh Menon

Kanteerava singing ‘Vande Mataram’ permeates into Indian football history

That single body of the group singing the trendy model of the nationwide tune encapsulated the positivity across the group (on the time), and the game’s ever-increasing recognition because the summer season of success fed each the loyalist and the newly transformed with the form of adrenaline rush that everybody craves. – Anirudh Menon

Praggnanandhaa, Nagalakshmi and the mother’s smile that resonated across India

This one picture had crystallised the hopes of many Indians and given voice to their needs. To make true that outdated Tamil proverb: “The mother who hears her son called ‘a wise man’ will rejoice more than she did at his birth.” – Sunaadh Sagar

India vs Iran went from Kabaddi epic to embarrassment

This was speculated to be a spectacle. The two finest Kabaddi groups on the planet. Two groups who know one another so properly. At the best stage, this was speculated to be the most effective commercial for it. Instead, it descended right into a farce. – Aaditya Narayan

Sheetal Devi finds perfection, despite all the odds

It should not be counted solely as one in every of this 12 months’s finest sporting moments, this deserves a spot in India’s sporting historical past. – Anish Anand

Vukomanovic’s unprecedented walkout followed by (even more) unprecedented support

Everything concerning the walkout was unprecedented, however maybe essentially the most shocking final result from it has been how the Blasters devoted have rallied behind their ‘Aashaan‘ – Aaditya Narayan

Parul Chaudhary surges past stereotypes and competition to win big

The body on the end line encapsulated the temper: Parul, arms lofted and outstretched palms, nearly saying “Hey, I got this.” If there was a body to say, “Make way, the champion is here” this could be it. – Shyam Vasudevan

One small jump for Neeraj, a giant leap for Indian javelin

In the tip that leap onto the rostrum was one thing Indian sports activities followers have gotten used to, nevertheless it was all that went into making that leap that made it oh, so particular – Anish Anand

Jyothi Yarraji stands her ground to win sensational silver

There she stood, with arms on her hips and a razor-sharp gaze boring into the official. Jyothi Yarraji had simply been disqualified from the ladies’s 100m hurdles remaining on the Asian Games. The greatest race of her profession – Shyam Vasudevan

Golden Sat-Chi bow down to their gurus

But there was one thing distinctive about how Sat-Chi celebrated once they did one thing no Indian ever had at an Asian Games: win a badminton gold medal – Zenia D’Cunha