By Pulo Makaula
The nail-biting penalty shootouts, the flicks, the tricks and of course that signature Tiger Woods fist pump are just a number of reasons why we all love sport.
In the middle of all the excitement there are distinctive moments that stands above the rest. The summer of 2019 has brought us countless moments of brilliance, that left fans at the edge of their seats in sheer amazement at what they’ve just seen.
Not least exciting when the Women’s world cup saw the USA women’s team claim the first ever back to back world cup finals win.
This tournament has broken countless records in the women’s game and showed the world that ladies’ game can put on a show just as good as anyone else. We move on to another major moment this summer – the Cricket World Cup.
The Cricket World Cup win for England was a moment that we will replaying for decades to come. When was the last time you saw a Cricket World Cup Final settled by a super-over playoff, it was nail-biting stuff and huge credit to both teams for putting on a spectacle for the millions of people tuning around the country.
The first free-to-air live England game in 14 years and what a match for it to be – The match had started as all finals do, both teams jousting for control on the game with neither letting their competitor get the edge over them. (Maybe bc of length)
It was with the bat where England were able to claim a place in the history books. The Kiwis made a strong start in their defence by limiting England to 86 for 4 in the 22nd over. At this stage TV remotes were being picked up and Wimbledon looked the more interesting game, but the English boys were not out of this game yet. A stunning batting partnership from Ben Stokes and Jonny Bairstow brought the game back within reach – The crowd at Lords could see their team gaining edge and the belief that had started to wither away was now coming back. (if too long) the Kiwis gave it a great go and came ever so close to coming away with the victory. But great athleticism and sheer will pushed England over the line to win the World Cup. The World Cup has finally come home.
Every year thousands of tennis fans pour into the streets of London and Wimbledon to mark the start of the games longest running tournament, the only major grand slam to be played on a grass surface, Wimbledon is always the place to be. There were exceptional performances from the sports top stars but before we go into that we need to mention Coco Gauff. Even though she lost her fourth-round match against Simona Halep it was a great achievement to have made it that far at the young age of 15. In a week where she had to come back from a set down to win the game she is definitely one to watch out for.
The moment that made this Wimbledon so different to the rest was a result of sheer brilliance, endurance and desire to win. Step forward Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer who managed to produce arguably the best match the Wimbledon grass has seen. Novak Djokovic channelled his inner terminator during the final as he fought back from 2 match points down to win the Wimbledon title against Roger Federer. The match was set as being a ‘Clash of Titans’ and it didn’t disappoint – Djokovic managed to edge the first set from Federer, but it was in the second where Roger started to stamp his authority on the game. The forehand slices and dinks were oh so delicious and Djokovic simply had no answer for Roger as he quickly wrapped up the set. At 1-1 the next set was crucial and neither player wanted to give it up as it went to another tie-break which Djokovic won to lead the game 2-1, again Federer turned up the pressure and managed to equal the game to set up a mouth-watering final set.
At this stage both men had been through the ringer and who wouldn’t be after all of that tennis, the match was going back and forth, and it got to a point where Federer looked as if he could run away with it but like the great terminator Djokovic kept coming back one game after the other.
To the historic fifth set tie-break we go. After 2 tie-breaks already in the game we all expected Federer to finally win one and go on to lift the trophy but it just wasn’t meant to be. After great effort from both men, Novak Djokovic deserved to lift that gold trophy. As he knelt down and took a nibble off the grass, we can say he truly earned that.
Honourable Mention
Formula 1 is a sport only a few of us may watch but this was a different type of race, this was a race where Britain’s own Lewis Hamilton could make history. The race sat on the most unfortunate day, with the tennis and cricket finals it would’ve made one have to flick through their channels every few minutes but I can assure you it was all worth it.
The 5 time world champion won his record 6th Silverstone F1, great driving and a timely safety car was enough for him to comfortably cross the checked flag as number 1. The season has been up and down for Lewis and his Mercedes teammate Valteri Bottas but we can’t see another team string together enough wins to overthrow the current champion – he has been in a league of his own these past years and it seems like his dominance is going nowhere.
What a summer. These are moments that will stay with us for a very long time and now we look forward to what will be a memorable winter filled with drama and suspense with the Premier League and Rugby World Cup dominating our screens.
