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The Best of 2018: Talking points in sports | More sports

HOCKEY HEARTBREAK

It was a year of missed opportunities for Indian hockey and the biggest heartbreak was when India lost to Malaysia in the Asiad semifinals via a shootout under new coach Harendra Singh. They eventually finished with the bronze medal but the failure to defend their Asian title robbed the eight-time Olympic champions a chance of booking a direct berth to the Tokyo Games. The loss also saw the talismanic Sardar Singh quitting the sport. The women's team also slipped as they went down to Japan in the final.

KABADDI TEAMS' DEFEATS TO IRAN

When the Indian men's team suffered a loss to South Korea in the group stages, it was a precursor to the more tragic future. Eventually, they were stunned by Iran in the semifinals, thus bringing an end to their 28-year-long dominant run in the sport in which they won seven successive gold medals. The women's team too had to settle for a silver after winning two consecutive gold medals as they too lost to Iran in the final.

ARCHERY ELECTIONS

In a year where success was few and far between, barring Deepika Kumari 's comeback and women compound archers' rise to the pinnacle of world rankings, there is perhaps a new hope as the de-recognised Archery Association of India finally held its elections. It saw Vijay Kumar Malhotra's over 40-year-long reign coming to an end as BVP Rao was elected president. Subject to the Supreme Court approval, it remains to be seen now whether the new regime can bring about any concrete changes to the sport, which was at the risk of being banned.