Sporting Review of the Year 2010

It's somewhat belated I know, but back in December someone asked me to write a sporting review of 2010 for a feature. I don't think it was used, so I thought, waste not want not, I may as well post it here, even if just to bump up my number of posts. Enjoy...

January:
Andy Murray reaches his second grand slam tennis final, but loses out to Roger Federer in straight sets (6-3, 6-4, 7-6), at the Australian Open.

Leeds United pull off an FA Cup shock, as the League 1 side beat old rivals Manchester United, of the Premier League, at Old Trafford in the third round.

Tragedy hits the Africa Cup of Nations before it even gets underway, as the bus of the Togo national team is attacked by gunmen, as it makes its way to the tournament in Angola, leaving three people dead. After much deliberation the team is withdrawn from the tournament by the Togo government, but the competition goes ahead with 15 teams. Egypt eventually lift the trophy, for the third consecutive time, after beating Ghana in the final. It’s their seventh tournament win overall.

February:
Vancouver hosts the Winter Olympics, where Amy Williams brings home Great Britain’s first individual gold medal since Robin Cousins in 1980, by winning the skeleton bob event.

Manchester United defeat Aston Villa at Wembley to win the League Cup.

March:
France win rugby union’s Six Nations, beating all their opponents to take the grand slam.

Rangers beat St Mirren 1-0 to win the Scottish League Cup.

Imperial Commander wins the Cheltenham Gold Cup, ridden by Paddy Brennan and trained by Nigel Twiston-Davies.

April:
A. P. McCoy wins his first ever Grand National, at the 15th attempt, on Don’t Push It, trained by Jonjo O’Neill.

Phil Mickelson wins golf’s US Masters in Augusta, finishing 3 shots clear of Britain’s Lee Westwood.

David Haye successfully defends his WBA world heavyweight title by beating American John Ruiz at Manchester’s MEN Arena.

May:
Chelsea are crowned English Premier League champions. They complete the double a few days later by beating Portsmouth at Wembley to lift the FA Cup.

In Scotland, Rangers take the Premier League title, while Dundee United beat Ross County to win the Scottish Cup.

A month of football finals sees Jose Mourinho’s Inter Milan win the Champions League by beating Bayern Munich and Fulham lose out to Athletico Madrid in the Europa League. Domestically, Blackpool win the Championship playoff final, beating Cardiff City, to join football’s top flight for the first time since 1971.

England win the World Twenty20 cricket championship in the West Indies, by beating old adversaries Australia in the final by a convincing 7 wicket margin.

Neil Robertson becomes the first Australian to win the World Snooker Championship, when he beats Graeme Dott in the final at the Crucible. He is also the first player from outside the UK and Ireland to win the title since Canadian Cliff Thorburn in 1980.

June:
The England football team underperforms spectacularly at the FIFA World Cup in South Africa. Finishing second in their group, with just 5 points, they lose 4-1 to Germany in the second round. Elsewhere in the competition, France fail to make it out of their group, along with the host nation. Also returning home early are the 2006 winners, Italy, who finish below Paraguay and Slovakia in their group.

Wimbledon plays host to the longest tennis match of all time, where John Isner eventually defeats Nicolas Mahut 6-4, 3-6, 6-7, 7-6, 70-68. The match lasts for 11 hours 5 minutes, over 3 days; the fifth set alone is longer than the longest complete match, at 8 hours 11 minutes.

Workforce wins the Epsom Derby, ridden by Ryan Moore. Trainer Sir Michael Stoute was also responsible for Shergar’s victory in the race in 1981.

Northern Ireland’s Graeme McDowell wins the US Open golf championship at Pebble Beach. He is the first European to win the tournament for 40 years.

July:
Both Wimbledon and the World Cup reach their conclusions this month. Firstly, Andy Murray is beaten in the semi-final at the All England Club, by Rafael Nadal, who goes on to beat Tomás Berdych in a straight sets final win. Berdych himself had beaten defending champion Roger Federer and number 3 seed Novak Djokovic on his way to reaching the final.

A week later, Spain beat the Netherlands 1 - 0 after extra time to win the World Cup final. They are world champions in football for the first time ever.

South Africa’s Louis Oosthuizen wins The Open golf Championship at St Andrews.

Jessica Ennis and Mo Farah shine for Great Britain at the European Athletics Championships in Barcelona. Ennis wins heptathlon gold, while Farah takes first place in both the 10,000 and 5,000 metres. Britain enjoys its best performance at the tournament, bringing home 19 medals, 6 of them gold.

Ferrari cause controversy in Formula 1, when they issue team orders to Felipe Massa to let his team mate Fernando Alonso pass him, to win the German Grand Prix.

Spain’s Alberto Contador wins the Tour De France for the second consecutive year, his third title overall, having also won in 2007. Britain’s Mark Cavendish wins 5 stages, taking his overall total to 15 in the competition.

August:
The IBSA World Blind Football Championships are held on British soil for the first time, when they are hosted by the Royal National College for the Blind in Hereford. The tournament is hailed as a big success, with over 2,000 spectators in total watching the action, including near capacity crowds for all of England’s matches. On the pitch, England have to eventually settle for 4th place, after being well beaten by Brazil in the semi-final and narrowly losing out to China in the 3rd/4th place playoff match. Brazil beat Spain in the final to lift the trophy.

Hampshire win the domestic Twenty20 cricket title on their own ground, The Rose Bowl, by losing fewer wickets than Somerset after their scores are tied in a thrilling final.

The test series between England and Pakistan is overshadowed by allegations of corruption. 3 Pakistan players are alleged to have deliberately bowled no-balls at certain points in the match, in exchange for money. England go on to win the series, but the cricket world is shocked by the revelations.

Germany’s Martin Kaymer wins the final golf major of the year, by beating American Bubba Watson in a 3 hole playoff to take the US PGA title at Whistling Straits.

September:
Nottinghamshire win cricket’s County Championship on the final day of the season. They pick up enough bowling bonus points against Lancashire to steel the title from Somerset.
Warwickshire win the CB40 competition by beating Somerset In the final at Lords.

There are major worries about the Commonwealth Games in Delhi as they draw closer. Firstly with the collapse of a footbridge at the compound, then pictures emerge of the athletes’ accommodation, which looks less than sanitary. Officials assure the watching world that everything will be ready in time.

October:
Europe claim victory in a rain affected Ryder Cup at Celtic Manor. US Open champion Graeme McDowell seals the victory for Colin Montgomerie’s team as the final day’s play has to be rescheduled to Monday for the first time in the competition’s history.

The Commonwealth Games get underway in Delhi, but the criticism continues about standards at the event. Despite all the concerns, the games are eventually haled as a success.
Stand-out performances for the home nations include:
2 gold medals for England’s Tom Daley, as he wins the men’s 10 metre platform diving competition along with the 10 metre synchronised competition with diving partner Max Brick.
Swimming gold for Scotland’s Hannah Miley, as she wins the 400 metres women’s individual medley.
2 gold medals for Wales, Dai Greene winning the 400 metres hurdles and Robert Weale winning the lawn bowls competition.

Wigan beat St Helen’s to win rugby league’s Super League grand final at Old Trafford.

November:
After weeks of build-up, David Haye defeats Audley Harrison in the 3rd round to retain his WBA world heavyweight title in a disappointing fight at Manchester’s MEN Arena

Sebastian Vettel becomes the youngest ever Formula 1 world champion, taking the accolade from Lewis Hamilton, by winning the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. His Red Bull team also win the constructors championship. He is one of 4 drivers still in with a chance of winning the title at the final Grand Prix of an exciting season.

In rugby union’s autumn internationals, England equal their biggest margin of victory over Australia, with an impressive 35 – 18 win at Twickenham. Scotland beat world champions South Africa at Murrayfield, by 21 points to 17.
Meanwhile in the other code, New Zealand complete a shock 16 – 12 victory over Australia to win rugby league’s 4 Nations Tournament in Brisbane.

Great Britain bring home 5 gold medals, across all disciplines, from the World Rowing Championships in New Zealand.

The Ashes get underway down under with the first test match between Australia and England in Brisbane.

December:
The Ashes series continues with the test matches at Adelaide, Perth and Melbourne, before the final match in Sydney at the turn of the year.

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Additional research: Wikipedia.org, BBC Sport, BBC News, guardian.co.uk,