As 2019 comes to an end, in this series we take a look at the significant news events in different sporting disciplines in the past 12 months.
Here’s a look at some of the best quotes from the sporting world in 2019:
CRICKET
“Almost superhuman”
– England captain Eoin Morgan paying tribute to Ben Stokes after the all-rounder played a pivotal role in the Super Over World Cup final win over New Zealand
“Laugh or cry, it’s your choice, isn’t it? It’s not anger. There’s a lot of disappointment, I suppose. Yeah, the guys are really feeling it and I think it’s probably more down to some of the uncontrollables”
– NZ skipper Kane Williamson, post the ‘defeat’ in the World Cup final, delivering, arguably, the most stunning press conference ever
“He’s just playing cricket. He was just standing there, and I felt bad because if I was in a position where something had happened with me and I had apologised, I accepted it and I came back and still I would get booed, I wouldn’t like it, either”
– India skipper Virat Kohli on why he asked the crowd to stop booing Steve Smith
“I think we judge talent wrong. What do we see as talent? I think I have made the same mistake myself. We judge talent by people’s ability to strike a cricket ball. The sweetness, the timing. That’s the only thing we see as talent. Things like determination, courage, discipline, temperament, these are also talent”
– Rahul Dravid
“No compromise on credibility, corruption-free and same for all BCCI, just as I led India”
– Ganguly said while addressing the media after formally taking charge as the BCCI President at its General Body meeting in Mumbai
BADMINTON
“This is my answer to the people who have asked me questions over and over. I just wanted to answer with my racquet and with this win — that’s all”
– P V Sindhu after becoming the World Champion
“I feel like I am not yet a legendary player”
– Kento Momota after cleaning up in men’s badminton over the past 12 months, winning a record 11 titles, a haul that includes the World Championships, Asia Championships and All England Open.
“They can get better and if you see the way they have risen to the top, it has actually scared people”
– India head coach P Gopichand on the stunning rise of men’s doubles pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty
RUGBY UNION
“We have so many problems in our country but a team like this, we come from different backgrounds, different races but we came together with one goal and we wanted to achieve it”
– Siya Kolisi, the Springboks’ first black Test captain
“In South Africa pressure is not having a job. Pressure is one of your close relatives being murdered.”
– Rassie Erasmus, South Africa’s World Cup-winning head coach, eloquently explaining the nature of pressure in his homeland.
FOOTBALL
“I think I’m particularly, uniquely and very deeply American”
– Megan Rapinoe, USA’s World Cup-winning superstar, a warrior on the pitch and off it where her unflinching advocacy for social justice brought her into conflict with US President Donald Trump.
Rapinoe “should WIN first before she TALKS! Finish the job!”
– Trump on Twitter
“This is only the start”
– Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp after the Champions League final win over Tottenham.
“Humble”
– After the acrimony that defined his final days at Manchester United Jose Mourinho arrived as Tottenham’s new manager saying he had learnt from his mistakes and wanted to bring happiness to Spurs.
CYCLING
“It’s team, team, team, get up, see the doctor, have breakfast, ride the race, get a massage, physio and sleep. Then repeat”
– Egan Bernal painting a mundane picture of life as Colombia’s first Tour de France champion
ATHLETICS
“The message that no human is limited is now in everybody’s mind”
– Kenya’s Eliud Kipchoge after making history, smashing the mythical two hour barrier for the marathon on a crisp autumnal morning in Vienna
“If Karsten is Gordon Gekko then I am the IRS”
– American Rai Benjamin compares himself to the US Internal Revenue Service after Karsten Warholm expressed admiration for fictional immoral financier Gordon Gekko from the Wall Street films. Warholm beat Benjamin to 400m hurdles gold at the world championships in Doha.
TENNIS
“These kind of matches, you work for, you live for, they give sense and they give value to every minute you spend on the court training and working to get yourself in this position and play the match with one of your greatest rivals of all time”
– Novak Djokovic, after defeating Roger Federer for his fifth Wimbledon title in the longest final in the tournament’s history.
“I’m the loser both times, so that’s the only similarity I see.”
– Federer on what were the similarities between losing to Djokovic and to Rafael Nadal in 2008’s equally classic Wimbledon final.
“Congratulations @Bandreescu_! You’ve made history and made a whole country very proud. #SheTheNorth”
– Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tweets his support for Bianca Andreescu who defeated Serena Williams in the US Open final to become Canada’s first Grand Slam singles champion
“Inexcusable”
– Serena williams berates herself for her performance against Andreescu
“I’m not a big fan of subways. We have also in Czech, but I never really use. There can be strange people.”
– At the US Open, Karolina Pliskova admits the New York City subway is not her preferred mode of transport
GOLF
“It’s just another step. Things at Augusta National don’t happen very rapidly”
– Kay Cockerill, the 1986 and 1987 US Women’s Amateur champion, after history was made at the once all-male enclave with the inaugural Augusta National Women’s Amateur
“It’s overwhelming just because of what has transpired. I could barely walk. Couldn’t sleep. Couldn’t walk. Couldn’t do anything. To have the opportunity to come back, it’s one of the biggest wins I’ve ever had for sure”
– Tiger Woods after completing an epic comeback from career-threatening injury and scandal by winning the 83rd Masters, his 15th major title to end an 11-year major drought
FORMULA ONE
“Not bad for a boy from a Stevenage council house.”
– A proud Anthony Hamilton after son Lewis secured his sixth world championship
RUSSIAN DOPING
Moscow has gone “too far”.
– Former WADA chief Dick Pound after Russia accused of falsifying laboratory doping data
BOXING
“Three months of partying and celebrating affected me, what can I say?”
– A chubby Andy Ruiz rueing his failure to train properly for his failed heavyweight title defence against Anthony Joshua
“No Indian boxer had gone beyond the bronze, so I wanted to do something different, change the colour of the medal”
– India’s Amit Panghal after winning a historic silver at the World Championships.
WRESTLING
“Olympics, medals, Rio, Tokyo. Nothing matters. I have a family which calls me irrespective of the results. That’s what matters”
– Vinesh Phogat after winning a bronze medal at the World Championships
With inputs from AFP
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