With the year 2008 coming to an end, this is the time to look back and re-live some of those memories. Though, 2008 would be always known as year when R-word finally became a reality, this post is not about that, its a brief roundup of Indian sportmen who did exceedingly well in 2008 and bought a smile to our faces in this rather dark and gloomy year.  Note that list is in Alphabetical order.

Abhinav Bindra
Abhinva Bindra became the first Indian in Olympics history to claim a individual gold medal. It was also the first gold for India after 1980. Abhinav arrived on national scene in 2000 and has been ooked upon as a medal hope, since. However, this time he stuck to his form and did entire India's proud. Abbhinav is from a rich family and has an indoor shooting range and that helped him despite a below par shooting infrastructure in India.

Dhoni
Lucky mascot of Indian Cricket, man with the midas touch, what would you call him. It seems that he can do nothing wrong and 2008 will be year when baton has been pass to this man. He is yet to lose a Test match that he has captained and having faced teams like SA, Aus and England, that is no mean achievement. He is also good with his words, and his ability to take both seniors and juniors along with him, might just make next year, a remarkable one for India.

Gautam Gambhir
While wall might have some of his paint peeling off, Gambhir has become the new Mr. Consistent for Indian cricket team. What more, his game is suitable for all forms of games. With his Delhi captain, Virender Sehwag, he forms an explosive opening pair and have consistently given the kind of starts that have played a big part in many Indian wins this year. He is one to watch out for next year.

Jeev Milkha Singh
Son of famous Milkha Singh, Jeev has been in limelight before as well. However, this year saw him turning over a new leaf. He won four tournaments and also reached a personal high ranking of 36 in year. He also became the first player on Asian tour to have over $1 million in earnings in a single season. With confidence of this year, Jeev has set himself a target of reaching top 20 next year and with current form, looks like he would make it.

Sachin Tendulkar
No year can end without the mention of 'Little Master' and this year is no exception. 2008 will be the year, when Tendulkar not only crossed the final frontier, breaking Lara's record, but also the year, when he redefined himself in a young team. With the swords hanging on heads of famous five of Indian cricket, Sachin was the only one who came out with his reputation intact or even enhanced as some would say. This man has now almost all the batting records under his belt and I dont know, what the next year would have in store for him.

Saina Nahiwal
Saina Nahiwal is most promising star of Indian sports. Her rise in 2008 has been phenomenal, even beating the targets, she had set for herself. She did not started the year in a rocking fashion, but came back strongly after a brief two-months break in may-april. But as year ended, she not only became first indian woman badminton player to get a place in Top 10, but also qualified for semi-finals of super series Masters tournament in Kaula Lumpur. She is the one, who I bet will make it to my next year list as well.

Sushil Kumar
Won the second medal for India in wrestling in Olympics, and the first since 1953. Having being defeated in the first round itself, Sushil made a strong comeback through repechage and went on to earn the bronze for India. It was second medal for India after Abhinav shooted a gold in shooting events. What make his achivement even more remarkable for this boy, hailing from Najafgarh, is his family background. His father is a MTNL driver and his family had to make several sacrifices to get Sushil through his training programs.

Vijender Kumar
Hailing from Bhiwani district in Haryana, this young man had all of India praying for his semi-final booth match. Though he lost, but he had done enough to get himself a bronze and also, a place in Indian olympics history. A policeman by profession, Vijender is also into part time modelling, after his new acquired fame. I hope he keeps it part time only and uses his 'other' talent to get some more medals for India.

Vishwanathan Anand
When Vishy defeated Vladmir Kramnik in 2008, he became the first player in history of chess to hold championships in all the three formats: Knockout, Tournament and Match. Though, winning titles has been nothing new for this grandmaster, however, this is the year, when he is being acknowleged as the undipusted champion. Anand currently lives in Spain, but that hasnt dampened his love for India and for his several fans in India.

So thats it. If I had missed out on anyone, please let me know  in the comments section and I would include it in my list.

Added later:-

MC Mary Kom
The name might not ring a bell for most of us. It didnt for me, I would confess. But, thanks to Angelzfear, for letting us know about this Manipuri "queen of boxing". She recently won her fourth consecutive gold in World Boxing championships. The last gold coming on her comeback to the boxing ring, after she was away from sports for two years to take care of her twins, makes it all the more sweeter and is testimony to her die-hard spirit.