Bethanie Mattek-Sands who was playing in Wimbledon 2017 got her right leg grievously injured during her match. It took nearly 15 minutes for the stretcher to arrive which has made sports enthusiasts to criticise the prestigious tennis event. Let’s have a look at few infamous incidents in the history of sports.
Bethanie Mattek-Sands was playing against Sorana Cirstea in the third set of her second round on Thursday in Wimbledon 2017. Approaching closer to the nets, she got her right knee injured severely.
After her fall, it took nearly 15 minutes for the stretcher to arrive which has made sports enthusiasts to express anger regarding the emergency measures taken at the prestigious event.
This is not the first time such incident has happened in sporting history. There are many players who went through severe injury during the play out of which a few players had stood like warriors to continue play. A few players even died on the field.
Anil Kumble: During the Indian batting session against West Indies in 2002, Anil Kumble broke his jaw. Not resting at this, he came out to bowl in the bowling session. He bowled 14 continous overs and even grabbed the wicket of batting giant Brian Lara.
Cristiano Junior: In the final of the 26th Federation Cup football Championship that was held in Bengaluru’s Kanteerava stadium, Cristiano Junior, a Brazilian player who played for Dempo, collided with Mohun Bagan goal –keeper Subrata Paul.
He was immediately rushed to a hospital only to find that he was dead. Dempo won the match against Mohun Bagan with a score of 2-0. It also included goal scored by Cristiano.
Seles: Having won her three consecutive French open, Seles was playing against Magdalena Maleeva in Hamburg in 1993. Seles was stabbed by a man who ran from the crowd during a break. She took a few weeks to heal but never managed to get back to her previous form.
There were speculations that the attack might have been politically motivated because Seles was from Yugoslavia.
Phil Hughes: The man who will be remembered in cricket history, Phil Hughes a player of South Australia was hit by a bouncer in 2014 who was reported to be dead. Hughes was batting at 63 against New South Wales at the Sydney Cricket Ground who attempted a hook shot when the ball struck an area where he was unprotected below his left ear.
Petr Cech: Surviving the injury is always a challenge. This challenge had to be faced by Cech who was playing for Chelsea in the year 2006. He was unintentionally kicked by Reading’s Stephen Hunt which led to severe skull injury. However he made his return in January 2007 and became a leading goalkeeper.
