www.sundayterritorian.com.au Sunday, December 29, 2013. Sunday Territorian. 59

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sundayterritorian.com.au SPORT

Events not easily forgottenIT’S the end of yet another sporting year and as usual we reflect on the big moments that left us gob-smacked.DAVIDWHITElooks back at the events that either sent a tingle down the spine or left you in total disbelief. The purpose of the exercise is tohighlight those occasions that easily come tomind. Youwill either agree or disagree, but in the end it’s just amatter of opinion

SADDEST STORY

THE passing of SimoneMontgomerie was not onlythe biggest story in Darwinsport this year, but it was thesaddest. Having become thefirst female ever towin theDarwin jockey’s premiershipafter booting 27winnershome during the 2012-13season, the 26-year-old’scareer was clearly on anupward spiral. Havinginterviewed Simone onDarwin radio station TerritoryFM, her passing on DarwinCup Day just two days latercame as a shock andhopefully it won’t be longbefore the Darwin Turf Clubnames the jockey rooms atFannie Bay in her honour.

ADAMSCOTT

AFTER his shocking collapseat the British Open last year,you got the feeling that AdamScott was never going towinamajor. Suddenly he is in themix at the USMasters atAugusta National and afterholing awonderful putt on the72nd hole he is the clubhouseleader until Angel Cabreraproduces an amazingapproach shot to the 18thgreen and a playoff is requiredto determine awinner. After abooming tee shot and findingthe greenwith his secondshot on the first playoff hole —the brutal par four 10th hole —Scott goes on to drop anothersuperb putt to finally claimAustralia’s first green jacket.

SACHIN TENDULKAR

AFTER 24 years playing atinternational level, SachinTendulkar finally called it quitsat 40 years of age. Hemade74 in his final Test innings asIndia defeated theWest Indiesby an innings in Mumbai lastmonth. Hemade his Testdebut in 1989 at 16 years ofage and batted at six facingthe pace of Akram and Younisas India managed to escapewith a draw against Pakistanin Karachi. Not toomanyplayers in the futurewill play200 Tests and score 15,921runs at an average of 53.78 or463 ODIs and score 18,426runs at an average of 44.83.His highest scores were248no (Test) and 200no (ODI).

SERENAWILLIAMS

NOT everyone’s cup of tea,but the American tennis starhad a sensational year. The32-year-old has now secured17 grand slam titles afterrolling Maria Sharapova in theFrench Open final andVictoria Azarenka in the USOpen final. Theworld No. 1lost to Sloane Stephens inthe quarter finals atMelbourne Park and SabineLisicki in the third round atWimbledon. How?Williamsdefeated Li Na in theWTATour Championship final toend the year with a record of78-4. She also pocketed arecord $12.3million inprizemoney. Loveswinning,but still remains a bad loser.

SEBASTIANVETTEL

HEMAY not have been onMarkWebber’s Christmas cardlist, but it’s hard to fault theachievements of SebastianVettel. Driving around in hisRed Bull car, the 26-year-oldGerman is provingunstoppable and in 2013 hewon 13 of the 19 races on theFormula 1 calendar —including the last nine events.In 2010, he became theyoungest driver to win the F1championship and becamethe youngest doublewinnerthe following year. Afterwinning the title again in2012 and 2013, he alsobecame the sport’s youngesttriple and quadruplechampion, respectively.

AMERICA’S CUP

SORRY, New Zealand, butyour boys choked somethinghorrid in San Francisco inSeptember. Leading 8-1 inthe 34th edition of theAmerica’s Cup, Emirates TeamNewZealand had towin onlyonemore race to claim theregatta. In the end, OracleTeamUSA finally clicked intogear andwon the next eightraces to triumph 9-8. You justcould not believewhatwasunfolding before your eyes. Ithad been 30 years sinceAustralia II rolled Liberty towin the America’s Cup, so itwas only appropriate thatAussie skipper James Spithill(pictured) guided the Yanksto amemorable victory.

QUEENSLAND

WHEN it comes to State ofOrigin, there is concern eitherside of the border when theopposition strings threeseries wins together. So howdo you think those in NSWare feeling now thatQueensland havewon theseries for the eighth year in arow? The bottom line is thattheMaroons have anunbelievable squad ofplayers at their disposal andthey also boast outstandingdepth. The fact is that NSWare gradually bridging thegap but they continue toselect ordinary players. Restassured, Queensland aregood enough towin theseries for 10 years straight.

USAIN BOLT

TO BE aworld champion inany sport would beawesome, but imagine beingthe fastest man on earth.Usain Bolt is that person andhis period of dominance isunlikely to end anytime soon— although Justin Gatlin isgetting close. Bolt, 27,starred at theworldchampionships in Moscowwhen he claimed the 100mand 200m titles beforehelping Jamaica towin the4x100m relay to become themost successful athlete inthe 30 years of theworldchampionships. It hasn’t beena good year for Jamaicanathletics, but Bolt continuesto be a breath of fresh air.

LANCE ARMSTRONG

HOWwe all admired theAmericanwhen he recoveredfrom cancer towin the famedTour de France from1999-2005 — a phenomenalachievement. How guttedwefelt when he admitted todoping during an interviewwith OprahWinfrey back inJanuary. It was devastating —bit like Ben Johnson at the1988 Olympic Games inSeoul. Armstrong, 42, was ahero and even Sheryl Crowthought hewas a good blokebecause they once dated.Armstrong’s demise has beennothing short of catastrophicand after what happened toMarion Jones it’s amazing hehasn’t ended up in the clink.

ALL BLACKS

THEY are theworldchampionswhen it comes torugby union andwhencomparedwith other sports,they’re probably the bestteam inworld sport. BayernMunich is probably second.Yep, it can only be the AllBlacks, the team fromNewZealandwho boast a proudhistory andwho rarelystruggle on the big stage. Inrecent times they have hadthe occasional hiccup comeWorld Cup time, but ingeneral they are ajuggernaut. In 2013, the Kiwioutfit won 14matches fromasmany games and KieranRead (pictured) was namedIRB player of the year.

BLACK CAVIAR

TRAINER Peter Moody(pictured) and jockey LukeNolen had every reason toshed a tear in April when thegreat Black Caviar was retiredafter winning the TJ SmithStakes (1200m) at Randwick —her 25thwin from asmanystarts in a glorious career.That winwas her 15th atGroup 1 level and there’s nodoubt she is the best sprinterAustralian racing has everseen. The Australian racinglandscape has been spoilt inrecent years when youconsider the success ofMakybe Diva. Black Caviar, aseven-year-old these days, isnow in foal to championAussie sire Exceed And Excel.

BESTOF THE REST

l After 27 years at the helm,the retirement of Sir AlexFerguson asmanager ofManchester Unitedwassignificant — and to claim theEPL title for a 13th timewas agrandway tomake an exit.l He copped plenty of stickfollowing his disastrousperformances at the 2012London Olympic Games, soAussie star JamesMagnussendeserves awrap afterdefending his 100m freestyletitle at theworld swimmingchampionships in Barcelona.l The fact that AndyMurraybecame the first tennisplayer from Great Britain towin themen’s singles title atWimbledonwaswidelycelebrated — and hewon instyle, blowing Novak Djokovicoff the court in three sets.l It leaves a bitter taste inthemouthwhen you considerthe 12months that they hadendured, but Gai Waterhouseand Damien Oliver deservecredit for getting Fiorenteover the line in first place intheMelbourne Cup.l The Essendon supplementsaga bordered on disbeliefand unfortunately for JamesHird his reputation has beentarnished forever.l Former national coachesMickey Arthur (cricket),Robbie Deans (rugby union)and Holger Osieck (soccer)getting the flick in favour ofAustralian trio DarrenLehmann, EwenMcKenzieand Ange Postecogolou.