Sport on!

This year on the sports front, there's been a lot to cheer about, not just for the country but for our state too.
At the end of an eventful year where the country got its first Olympic gold and achieved other noteworthy feats, here's a look at the people and games that did AP proud.
Shuttle stories
To begin with, ace shuttler Saina Nehwal brought us laurels ��� she became the first Indian to clinch the World Junior Badminton Championship when she defeated her Japanese rival in straight sets in the final.She has been declared the 'most promising player of the year' and has become the first Indian woman to break into the world top 10 rankings. No mean feat this!
Chetan Anand also had three big wins in a row. In April 2008, he reached the finals of the Indian Open Grand Prix and finished second to Boonsak Ponsana of Thailand. After that this lad from Vijayawada won the Spanish Open in Madrid. And then the Nepal Open in June 2008. Anand's wife and a Hyderabadi, Jwala Gutta, clinched the women's doubles and mixed doubles titles at the Bulgarian Grand Prix in Sofia.
Trigger tales
The first international medallist in shooting from Andhra Pradesh, Gagan Narang won the bronze medal in the 10-metre Air Rifle event at the International Sports Shooting Federation (ISSF) World Cup in Beijing.
Check mate
Chess-wonder Dronavalli Harika from the Guntur district holds the titles of Woman Grandmaster and International Master, and has been given the Arjuna Award. Her feats this year include the Girl's title at the World Junior Chess Championship in Turkey.
Racquet challenge
In many ways, it's been one of Sania Mirza's toughest year. But any mention of women's tennis in India is still incomplete without Hyderabad's Sania Mirza. Injuries plagued her though the year and while her ranking plummeted, 2008 also saw her surpass $1 million in career prize money earnings (the first Indian woman ever to achieve the feat). She was awarded a doctorate by the Madras University and she had countless endorsements. Saina, in spite of her bad run, isn't one to count out though, and we believe she will emerge again from these testing times.
Cricketing highs and lows
Rated as one of the best test players in the country, VVS Laxman did not quite live up to the Twenty20 format, when he was made the captain of the Deccan Chargers team in the Indian Premier League. He found himself replaced unceremoniously by Adam Gilchrist for the next year. However, he came into good form towards the end of the year with the test series at home.