Vili, Drysdale excel in shadow of All Whites

There were a handful of worthy sporting performances by New Zealanders in 2009, but one event stood above the others for the nationwide interest it created.

A cool November evening in Wellington evening will be recalled for decades as the night the All Whites qualified for the biggest show on the planet – the football World Cup in 2010.

It had been 27 years since the All Whites first qualified for the World Cup on a steamy night in Singapore.

To fill a stadium with 35,194 people and to have half the population following the game on television was an unusual situation for football.

But the real test for the All Whites will be in June and their three pool matches at the World Cup.

As more All Whites have gained a foothold in leagues around the world so have the team's performances improved, and the encouraging results of junior men's and women's teams this year suggests the national teams can look forward to more fruitful years.

Rory Fallon's goal in Wellington made him an instant hero but it was Mark Paston's penalty save that will be implanted on people's minds for years. From the moment Paston parried the ball the Bahrain players were on the plane home.

Was the game the outstanding sporting "performance" of the year?

Not if you are playing the 60th ranked team in the world.

But it was unchallenged as the sporting event of the year in New Zealand

What were the best performances of the year by a New Zealander?

Not the All Blacks in spite of losing four of their 14 internationals. We demand high standards of them and this year they failed the major examination – three tests against South Africa.

They struggled to find form in the first-half of the season, but finished well in Tokyo and Europe.

It was another mediocre year for the Black Caps, the team of two halves – the bottom half who can bat, and the top half who can't. Losing Shane Bond and Iain O'Brien from their test strikeforce is a blow.

Easily the team's most watchable batsman, Jesse Ryder, continues to tread a fine line and there is the constant concern that when he is finally fit, he will implode and be lost to the game.

The New Zealand sporting performances of the year internationally were provided by two people who dominate their events – Mahe Drysdale and Valerie Vili.

Vili intimidated and then swatted aside her opponents in the shot put at the athletics world championships in Berlin as she did a year earlier at the Beijing Olympics. For the first time in her career she will devote herself entirely to the sport in 2010.

Seemingly robbed of a gold medal at Beijing in 2008 the indomitable Drysdale rebounded at this year's world championships in Poznan, Poland to dominate the gold and silver medallists from Beijing to win his third single sculls world title.

Cyclists produced another handful of top results.

Alison Shanks has quickly established herself as New Zealand's top woman track rider but will have to shift her focus this year now the individual pursuit has been dumped from the Olympics.

That was an unfathomable decision by the International Olympic Committee and International Cycling Union. It was the most exciting television event on the programme and simple for viewers to understand – you beat the other guy on the track.

Sarah Walker realised her potential at the BMX world championships in Adelaide winning the Olympic class gold medal, and Hayden Roulston became the first New Zealander to take a top three placing a Tour de France stage.

The Tall Blacks are headed for the world championships in Turkey in 2010 slipping past Australia. The Kiwis grabbed a draw with Australia but missed a spot in the four nations final, a tournament in which they promised more.

- © Fairfax NZ News