Tissot Annual Sports Review 2018: Looking back at the best sporting action of the year

Timekeeping has indeed been an integral part of professional sports ever since the inception of the activity itself. Nail-biting excitement grips with the unpredictability of the results that only “time tells”.

The accuracy of the stopwatch determines the fate of the athlete and sometimes even defies the most anticipated results.

Each sport has a unique set of rules and principles governing them. Whether it be a basket made as the shot clock winds down in the NBA or a late sprint that helps a cyclist inch ahead and beat out his competitors by something as little as a second or milliseconds, sport and time are neatly intertwined together.

2018 has been a wonderful year for sports with a lot of great moments to look back at and rejoice as athletes across the world showed they had the strength to come out on top in a battle of attrition. There were multiple major sporting events across the world this year where a lot of athletes broke records, pushed themselves to the limit and exulted in the joy of their victory, either personal or for their country.

Here's a look back at five of the most unique sporting achievements in the year 2018 through the eyes of Tissot and their elegant timekeeping machines:

#1 MotoGP - Marc Marquez

The official timekeeper for MotoGP since 2001, Tissot captures the dynamism and unpredictability of the sport beautifully, with their precise timekeeping; a key reason why MotoGP is as exhilarating and engaging. They understand the importance of one thousandth of a second and know how that could impact the lap time.

Represented by two of the greatest riders of all-time in Marc Marquez and Jorge Lorenzo, the T-Race MotoGPTM Limited Edition epitomises elegance and the constant movement of MotoGP and is designed to look like the wheel of a motorcycle with the bezel an interesting feature.

The Thailand GP was recently voted the best race of the season and rightly so as six-time MotoGP champion Marquez was a blur of movement as he timed his pass to perfection and secured the win on the last lap of the race. His ability to shave some seconds off the leader going into the critical part of the Grand Prix stood him in great stead and indicated his mastery of time in the race.

With Lorenzo and Marquez becoming teammates at Repsol Honda from the next season onward, two of the greatest will go head to head as they both try and show their dominance and mastery of time.

#2 Athletics - Hima Das

The official timekeeper of the 2018 Asian Games, Tissot launched their Chrono XL Classic with a special Asian Games connection to commemorate the excellence of the athletes involved at the Games in Jakarta. The watch signifies elegance and is definitely one that emphasises the need to sport something stylish.

The logo of the Asian Games on the back of the watch describes the second biggest sporting event of 2018 and made sure the timekeeping was in pristine condition during the 2018 Games. A key moment during the 2018 Asian Games was the emergence of Hima Das as a medal threat for India. It was her decision to go first in the 4*100 metres relay that India won as her scintillating opening leg helped the team save a lot of seconds, eventually resulting in them winning the race.

The Chrono XL Classic is perfect for spotting minute differences in time in important games, enabling precision and execution. With a lot of functions available for the owner to use, this is a watch that symbolises people embracing versatility.

#3 Table Tennis - The Indian Table Tennis Team

The Powermatic feature of the Tissot PR 100 Automatic makes this watch very unique in terms of its design. With 80 hours of power reserve, the Powermatic is designed for athletes that look to respond immediately. Associated with the 2018 Asian Games again, this series of watches epitomises hard work and versatility as it depicts the second biggest sporting event in the world.

The Indian men's Table Tennis team impressed everyone with their results, eventually finishing third and winning the Bronze medal in an alien environment - a historic achievement, indeed. They scrapped and fought in their encounters, eventually relying on their powers of reserve to clinch the verdict. Despite playing matches that were very closely fought, the team showed that they would not accept defeat and would continue looking to re-sign, just like the PR 100 Automatic. Quite inspiring!

#4 Cycling - Geraint Thomas

Associated with the Tour de France for a long time now, Tissot's special watch to commemorate the occasion reflects the values and systems in place for the Tour de France to carry on smoothly.

The T-Race Cycling is a watch that has been designed based on the Tour and so has a black and yellow colour scheme, with the yellow indicating the best finishing cyclist of each leg, as the yellow jersey at the end of each leg is the leader and sets the pace for the rest of the race. The watch also resembles a wheel in terms of its shape and the addition of the Tour de France logo makes the Tissot T-Race Cycling watch very unique.

Geraint Thomas is the new Tour de France champion and his rise to the top has been meteoric. Thomas won the Tour based on his talent and perseverance and the watch signifies the same - continue working and grinding away without worrying about the future, just like Geraint Thomas. He made his Tour de France debut in 2007 but continued to fight and claw his way to become the best he can, eventually winning the Tour this year. He took the lead in stage 11 and maintained his position and hold on the yellow jersey till the end, becoming the first ever Welshman to win the Tour de France.

#5 Javelin - Neeraj Chopra

Thought of as Tissot's most complete sports watch ever, the connection to the Asian Games through their logo is a great gesture. However, the real strength of this watch is the fact that it runs on solar power, making it a watch of the future.

Neeraj Chopra's performance in Javelin throw impressed one and all and was probably India's most complete performance at the 2018 Asian Games as he outdid his personal best. He benchmarked a new national record by throwing 88.06 metres to win the Gold medal comfortably. The 20-year-old became the first Indian to win a gold in Javelin at the Asian Games and has now paved the way to become a star in the sporting arena.

The Tissot T-Touch Expert Solar is a state of the art watch due to its modern features and its bold and futuristic approach ensures that it will be very popular for many years to come. Likewise, Neeraj Chopra is already a big name in the business and is an athlete to be reckoned with on the world stage. If he continues developing in the right manner, he will become the best in the world one day.