RPT: YEAR IN REVIEW - 'Best World Cup' In History, PyeongChang Games Mark Year In Sports 2018

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 28th December, 2018) This year featured a wide array of sporting events across the globe, including the "best World Cup in history" that Russia hosted this summer, Winter Olympic Games in South Korea, long-awaited Khabib-McGregor showdown and inaugural tournament of the UEFA Nations League, as well as notable accomplishments by both breakout stars and seasoned athletes, making 2018 one of the most exciting years for sports in recent memory.

RUSSIA'S FIRST QUARTER-FINALS SINCE 1986 AT HOME FIFA WORLD CUP

The 2018 FIFA World Cup, which was held in 11 cities across Russia from June 14 to July 15, was the main sporting event of the year. Over 3 million fans, including 25 foreign presidents and 11 heads of governments, attended World Cup matches and over 7.7 million people visited Fan Fests organized in all the host cities.

FIFA President Gianni Infantino qualified the event as "the best World Cup in history," also praising Russia as a "truly football country." Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) President Aleksander Ceferin said that Russia had met the challenge of hosting the tournament with "great aplomb," while FIFA Secretary General Fatma Samoura said she felt the World Cup in Russia had set very high expectations for the next edition of the tournament.

This appreciation was well deserved since Russia had been preparing for this tournament for eight years, according to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"The World Cup has become Russia's biggest international sporting event. We had been preparing for it for eight years � it called for big investments and the effort of hundreds of thousands people. As we promised, we organized it at the highest level. The tournament's success is now an acknowledged fact," Putin said.

Putin also qualified the event as a "breakthrough of people's diplomacy," praising the World Cup for dismantling many stereotypes about Russia and for increasing general interest in the country. Speaker of the upper house of Russian parliament Valentina Matviyenko added that the guests of the tournament had a chance to learn that Russian people were open, hospitable and ready to help at any time.

FAN IDs were an interesting feature of this year's tournament. These plastic cards that were issued for all match ticket holders granted football fans visa-free entry to Russia, enabling them to enter the country 10 days ahead of the first match and stay up to 10 days after the final. FAN ID holders were also later granted the right to visit Russia without a visa until the end of 2018.

Foreign fans spent around $1.5 billion in Russia during the World Cup, a huge bump for the county's economy.

For Russia, its home tournament was marked with the stunning success of its national team, led by head coach Stanislav Cherchesov, which reached the quarter-finals for the first time in post-Soviet history.

Matches were played in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Samara, Saransk, Rostov-on-Don, Sochi, Kazan, Kaliningrad, Volgograd, Nizhny Novgorod and Yekaterinburg.

Before the start of the World Cup, the Russian team's ability to perform well was in doubt, but it managed to pull itself together and delivery a landslide 5-0 victory against Saudi Arabia in the opening match.

In its second match against Egypt, Russia secured its way out of the group stage. The star striker of the Egyptian national team, Mohamed Salah, came to the tournament with an injury but was able to recover in time for the game in St. Petersburg, even scoring a penalty goal. However, Russia had already scored three goals and set up a 3-1 win. After this victory, fans in Moscow and St. Petersburg took to the streets and organized large-scale celebrations.

Despite losing 3-1 to the Uruguayan team in the final game of the group stage, Russia made it to the round of 16 to face off with Spain. Russia defender Sergei Ignashevich scored a goal for his own team in the 12th minute, but striker Artem Dzyuba leveled the scoreboard with a penalty before half-time. As a result, the game was decided on penalties, and Russia beat Spain 4-3, reaching the quarter-finals of the World Cup for the first time since 1986.

The Russian team faced Croatia in the quarter-finals. While the hosts opened the score, they could not keep the advantage and had to play catch-up in over time. Despite their best efforts, the Russian team failed to win their second penalty shootout of the tournament.

Cherchesov said that although his squad had not succeeded in winning their home tournament, they were still victorious in a "moral and emotional" sense. He also called on the team to leave this result as a part of history and accomplish even bigger goals.

France won the World Cup, beating Croatia 4-2 in the final showdown at Moscow's Luzhniki Stadium on July 15. This became the second World Cup title for Les Bleus.

Croatia and Real Madrid midfielder Luca Modric was named as the top player of the tournament. Modric also won the FIFA World Cup Golden Ball, which is presented to the best player of final, while the Golden Boot award for the top scorer was presented to England forward Harry Kane.

But anyone who was able to connect with this spectacular celebration of football was the lucky one. Infantino said that he had fallen in love with Russia, a sentiment shared by football players and thousands of foreign fans alike.

The tournament was also marked with the first-ever usage of the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) system, which shows video footage to help referees make tough decisions during matches, in World Cup history.

As its usage proved to be a success, VAR will be used in the Russian Cup semi-finals and final, and also in Russian Premier League play-offs in 2019.

RUSSIAN HOCKEY SECURES OLYMPIC GOLD DESPITE ALL ODDS

The 2018 Winter Olympic Games took place in the South Korean county of Pyeongchang from February 9 to February 25.

The Games featured 102 events in 15 disciplines, with the overwhelming majority of them held at Pyeongchang's Alpensia Resort, and others at Pyeongchang's Phoenix Snow Park, and in the neighboring county of Jeongseon and city of Gangneung. The 2018 Olympics thus became the first to host more than 100 medal events, including six new ones introduced just this year: men's and ladies' big air snowboarding, mixed doubles curling, men's and ladies' mass start speed skating, and mixed team alpine skiing.

With 39 medals, Norway came out on top of the competition, breaking the United States' 2010 record of 37 medals won at a single Winter Olympics. They were followed by Germany and Canada. The host nation won 17 medals, including five gold, which is South Korea's best result at a Winter Olympics.

The Games were also marked with the participation of a unified Seoul-Pyongyang women's ice hockey team, and athletes from the two Koreas marching together under a Korean Unification Flag during the opening ceremony.

The Russian athletes performed as a team of Olympic Athletes from Russia under a neutral Olympic flag, in line with a decision made by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on January 5 over alleged systematic doping by Russian athletes, a scandal which has its roots in 2015.

While Russian Deputy Prime Minister Valery Mutko said that performing under the neutral flag was "unacceptable," Russian Olympic Committee President Alexander Zhukov, who called the decision "unfair," also said he believed that the athletes should take part in the Olympics anyway and "achieve victories for the sake of Russia."

Russian athletes won two gold medals, six silver and nine bronze, ranking 13th in the overall medal count. Norway finished at the top with 14 gold, 14 silver and 11 bronze. The German team finished second with 31 medals (including 14 gold), trailed by the Canadians with 29 medals (including 11 gold).

The Russian team claimed its first Olympic hockey gold medal since 1992, defeating Germany 4-3 in overtime.

"We have won with God's help ... I had a dream, I had something to aspire to, and now I don't have any, and I'll have to think of a new one," Pavel Datsyuk, the captain of the team, told reporters after the game.

Oleg Znarok, the head coach, praised the athletes for their victory, reminding everyone that they were not the favorites to win at the Olympics.

"I believe I've answered all questions with this Olympic gold. This match was the most important one in my life. Have the players said I was calm? That was a mask. I was nervous but I tried not to make them notice that," Znarok said at a press conference.

The IOC restored Russia's Olympic membership three days after the 2018 Winter Games closing ceremony.

GOLOVIN MOVES FROM CSKA TO MONACO WITH RECORD TRANSFER FEE

On July 27, Russia midfielder Alexander Golovin was transferred from CSKA Moscow to French club Monaco. The footballer had attracted interest from leading foreign clubs throughout 2018, and his performance at the World Cup only strengthened the argument that he should be transferred a European club. Even before the end of the tournament, various media reported that several leading European clubs were negotiating Golovin's transfer with CSKA.

Before the start of the World Cup, foreign media claimed that Italy's Juventus had reached an agreement with CSKA to sign Golovin. However, the day after the championship final, CSKA received an official transfer offer from Monaco. The 22-year-old signed a five-year deal with the club for a record transfer fee of about 30 million Euros ($34 million). Golovin missed the start of the new Ligue 1 season due to an injury but resumed playing in the general group on September 13.

GOOD YEAR FOR YOUNG FIGURE SKATER ALINA ZAGITOVA

The 2018 Olympic season was a success for figure skater Alina Zagitova, who was then just 15 years old.

She prepared for it on the same rink as the early favorite of the Games, Evgenia Medvedeva.

Before the 2018 games, Zagitova won all six tournaments in which she participated. The first time Zagitova and Medvedeva competed against one another was at the European Championships in Moscow in late January, which ended in Zagitova's victory over two-time world champion Medvedeva. Then both skaters went to Pyeongchang, where they won gold and the silver medals, respectively, in women's single skating events.

In her short program to Clint Mansell's "Black Swan," Zagitova performed three triple jumps, including a triple Lutz and a triple loop combination. She received 82.92 points for her routine, breaking the 81.61-point record that Medvedeva had set just 15 minutes before.

Zagitova's free program to Ludwig Minkus' "Don Quixote" was the most technically difficult routine in the history of female Olympic gold medalists, with two triple Lutzs, a triple flip into a double toe, and a triple flip into a double loop. The young skater glided flawlessly to her gold medal, the first for her country in the 2018 Games.

After the Olympics, Zagitova decided not to take a break in her career and went to the World Figure Skating Championships in Milan, where she came in fifth after falling three times while performing the free program.

It was Kaetlyn Osmond of Canada who won the championship, adding her first world title to the Olympic bronze she had previously received.

Most recently, Zagitova took part in Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final in the Canadian city of Vancouver, where she came in second after fallen Japan's Rika Kihira.

NURMAGOMEDOV DEFEATS MCGREGOR IN SCANDAL-PLAGUED MATCH

Russian professional mixed martial artist Khabib Nurmagomedov defeated US mixed martial artist Al Iaquinta in April 2018 to become the first Russian to win the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) lightweight title. But, it was the long-awaited and highly publicized showdown between Nurmagomedov and notorious Irish professional mixed martial artist Conor McGregor in Las Vegas on October 6 that was the highlight of the year.

It was clear from the start of the fight that McGregor had no chance of winning, since Nurmagomedov took the fight to the ground almost immediately, methodically depriving his rival of movement. Throughout the battle, Nurmagomedov was insulted by someone from McGregor's team, and once the fight was over, Nurmagomedov jumped the cage and started a fight. After the scuffle, both fighters were escorted from the arena by police officers.

After reviewing the incident, the Nevada State Athletic Commission froze the winner's $2 million prize and temporarily suspended both athletes from the UFC competition. On October 24, the temporary suspension was extended until December 10, but Nurmagomedov was paid $1 million.

Nurmagomedov and McGregor could meet in 2019 for a rematch. According to media reports, the fight could take place with a much bigger cash prize.

LONG-AWAITED RUSADA REINSTATEMENT

On September 20, the great majority of the World Anti-Doping Agency's (WADA) Executive Committee voted to reinstate the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) as an organization that complies with the World Anti-Doping Code.

RUSADA was suspended in 2015 over claims that it had violated international anti-doping rules, following the publication of the results of an investigation by an independent commission led by WADA then-President Richard Pound. The commission reported on systematic doping in Russian sport.

Since then, RUSADA had fought hard for its reinstatement.

WADA introduced the Roadmap to Code Compliance, which outlined the reinstatement criteria that RUSADA had to fulfill, including, among other things, recognizing the findings of Canadian professor Richard McLaren's high-profile report on doping in Russian sports.

WADA also wanted access to Moscow's anti-doping laboratory, which had been sealed by the Russian Investigation Committee due to an investigation. In May, WADA refused to reinstate RUSADA precisely because these two criteria had not been met.

Nine out of 12 members of WADA's executive committee eventually supported RUSADA's reinstatement in September, with the head of WADA specifying that the country had met 29 out of 31 criteria The deadline for the two remaining criteria was therefore rescheduled for December 31. The international organization said, however, that it might reinstate RUSADA's non-compliance if the Russian agency failed to give WADA access to the data and samples of Moscow anti-doping laboratory and recognize McLaren's findings by the new deadline.

From November 9 to November 28, London hosted the 2018 Men's World Chess Championship between Magnus Carlsen of Norway, who has been defending his title of world champion every year since 2013, and the winner of the 2018 Candidates Tournament, Fabiano Caruana of the United States.

All 12 classical games ended in draws, which was unprecedented for world chess championships.

On November 28, three tie-break games with a time limit of 25 minutes plus 10-second increments per move ended with Carlsen's 3-0 victory, making the fourth game stipulated by the rules unnecessary. Carlsen beat Caruana with a final score of 9-6.

Unlike Carlsen, China's Tan Zhongyi failed to defend her title of women's world chess champion, ceding to her compatriot Ju Wenjun. The match was held on May 2-20 in the Chinese cities of Shanghai and Chongqing and ended with the score 5.5-4.5. Ju won the second, third and fifth games, while Tan won the fourth and the sixth.

Ju managed to defend her new title during the 2018 Women's World Chess Championship, a knock-out tournament that took place in the Russian city of Khanty-Mansiysk from November 2 to November 23.

Ju beat Australia's Kathryn Hardegen 2-0 in the round of 64, the United States' Irina Krush 1.5-0.5 in the round of 32, and China's Zhai Mo 1.5-0.5 in the round of 16 before beating Uzbekistan's Gulrukhbegim Tokhirjonova 1.5-0.5 in the quarter-finals and Russia's Alexandra Kosteniuk with the same score in the semi-finals.

In the final match, Ju faced Russia's Kateryna Lagno. The four classical games between them ended in a 2-2 draw. Lagno won the second game with white pieces and Ju won the fourth one with black pieces.

On November 23, two tie-break games at a time limit of 25 minutes plus 10-second increments per move also ended in a 1-1 draw. The two other tie-break games with a time limit of 10 minutes plus 10-second increments per move were won by Ju, who brought the final score to 5-3 and won the championship.

FIRST-EVER EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS: RUSSIAN SWIMMERS TRIUMPH

The first edition of multi-sport European Championships was held in Germany and the United Kingdom from August 2 to August 12. Over 4,500 athletes competed in Berlin and Glasgow, with most of the events being held in the latter city and its surroundings. Two championship events were hosted in other cities: divers competed in Edinburgh, while golf players went to Gleneagles.

The European Championships was comprised of seven separate championships: Athletics, Aquatics, Cycling, Golf, Artistic Gymnastics, Rowing and Triathlon.

Russia scooped up the most medals of any country � 66 total, including 31 gold � and received the European Championships Trophy.

Russia was trailed by the United Kingdom and Italy.

Notably, the event became the most successful tournament for Russian swimmers ever. They won 26 medals, including 10 gold, which is the Russian national team's best overall performance in terms of medals won. Moreover, Russian swimmers had never won so many gold medals at a European competition in the post-Soviet history of the country.

From September 6 to November 20, the UEFA Nations League had its inaugural tournament of the 2018-2019 season. The final is scheduled for June 2019.

UEFA's decision to launch this new tournament was motivated by its desire to make friendly matches more interesting, and their results less predictable, with national teams facing their equals. Thanks to the new League, most friendly matches have been replaced by elimination tournaments.

Moreover, the new tournament made qualifying for UEFA Euro easier, which, in turn, increased teams' motivation levels.

"Football fans feel that friendly matches lack competition and substantial football. It is necessary to recover the balance between club-level football and national teams' football," Ceferin said.

A total of 55 teams took part in the tournament. They were divided into four divisions according to their UEFA national team coefficients, with the highest-ranking teams playing in League A, and the lowest-ranking in League D.

The four winners of the top division League A matches � Portugal, Switzerland, England and the Netherlands � qualified for the finals.

The league is also linked to the UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying process, which will begin in March 2019 and end in November 2019. A total of 20 places for the 24-team final tournament will be competed for in the qualifiers.

As for the remaining four places, four teams of each UEFA Nations League division that have not yet qualified will compete in play-offs in March 2020.

Top teams of each group of each league were promoted to a higher league. Ukraine, Sweden, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Denmark were promoted to League A; Scotland, Finland and Serbia to League B; and Georgia, Belarus, Kosovo and Macedonia to League C.

Russia played in League B's Group 2. Its match against Sweden ended in a goalless draw, but Russia did manage to beat Turkey 2-1, with Cheryshev opening the score and Dzyuba netting the winning goal.

Russia secured the second place in is group, while Sweden was ranked first.