This year is going to be one of the most exciting years in sports, as fans and athletes alike eager to get back into competition. The majority of sporting events were cancelled or rescheduled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but just about everything is back in 2021. As sports from American football and tennis to cricket and darts, we’ve already seen some exciting competitions and great moments in the first part of 2021.
In this article, we will take a look at the best sports moments of 2021 so far – let's dive in!
The PDC World Darts Championship 2021 kicked off in mid December last year, concluding in the first few days of 2021. This was the 28th World Championship, organised by the Professional Darts Corporation and was held at Alexandra Palace in London.
Gerwyn Price won the trophy of World Darts Championship and became the new world no. 1 after defeating Gary Anderson with an electrifying display in the finale on January 3 in London.
Super Bowl is the championship game of the US’ National Football League (NFL). This year’s superbowl was held on February 7 at the Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida. The home crowd was delighted to see their team, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, take the title at the 55th Super Bowl.
The NFC champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers defeated AFC champion Kansas City Chiefs 31-9 on February 7. Tom Brady won the seventh Super Bowl ring in his first year as a Buccaneer.
This year's Australian Open Tennis was the first Grand Slam Tennis tournament of the circuit. It is also the 109th edition of the Australian Open Tennisas well as the 53rd in the Open Era. It was originally scheduled for January 2021 but was postponed to February because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The tournament features men's and women's singles, men's and women's doubles, mixed doubles, junior championships, as well as wheelchair, exhibition, and legend events. Held at Melbourne Park, in Melbourne, Australia, this year the Australian Open ran from February 8, 2021, to February 21, 2021. The crowds were enthralled to see Novak Djokovic from Serbia take the men’s singles title and Naomi Osaka from Japan take the title for women’s singles.
Other winners were:
Men's Doubles Winner – Ivan Dodig from Croatia and Filip Polášek from Slovakia
Women's Doubles Winner– Elise Mertens from Belgium and Aryna Sabalenka from Belarus
Mixed Doubles Winner– Barbora Krejčíková from the Czech Republic and Rajeev Ram from the USA
The English cricket team came to India to play four Test matches, five International T20s and three ODIs for the India vs England Test series, part of the ICC World Test Championship. The events were held at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai and the Sardar Patel Stadium in Ahmedabad, with the first Test Match from February 5 to February 9 and finish with the fourth and final Test match running from March 4 to March 8.
The home crowd was delighted to see India win the test matches by defeating England three to one. The home team had further success, triumphing over the visitors in Twenty20 I 3-2 and also defeating England in the One Day Internationals 2-1.
The 2021 Six Nations Rugby Championship was the 22ndof this world-renowned event. Unfortunately, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the rugby tournament started three months after the previous tournament, and all the matches took place without any audience.
Venues were the Stadio Olimpico, Twickenham Stadium, Principality Stadium, BT Murrayfield Stadium, Aviva Stadium, and Stade de France, with games running from February 6 to March 20, 2021. Wales won the 2021 Six Nations Championship and Triple Crown. However, Wales was denied a Grand Slam after dramatically losing to France in their final match for a nail-biting finish!
The 2021 Grand National was the 173rd annual running of the Grand National horse race, sponsored by Randox Health. The event, held on April 10 at Aintree, was won by the horse Minella Times, trained by Irish horse trainer Henry de Bromhead and ridden by Irish Jockey Rachael Blackmore.
The 2021 Master Tournament was the first of the men's four major golf championships held in 2021 and the 85th edition of the Master's Tournament. Golf fans tuned in from April 8 to 11, at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia, to see Hideki Matsuyama take the title.
The 2021 World Snooker Championship was sponsored by sports betting company Betfred, making it the Betfred World Snooker Championship. Mark Selby won the championship, which ran from April 17 to May 3 this year at the Crucible Theatres in Sheffield, England.
The Copa America 2021, Lions Rugby tour of South Africa, Tokyo Olympics, Rugby World Cup, and Ashes Cricket: Australia vs England are other major sports events to look forward to later this year. Though the COVID pandemic kept most sports lovers away from the stadium even in 2021, the year has and will deliver a solid dose of extraordinary sporting moments.
