Top 10 Singapore searches of 2016

The year 2016 was packed with high-profile sporting events, including the Summer Olympic Games, and drama-filled moments on the political scene. Yahoo Singapore rounds up the country’s top 10 searches of the year.

10. Singapore Open

Held since 1987, the Singapore Open has been a part of the BWF Super Series tournament for the last decade. In the biggest upset of the 2016 edition that took place in April, Chinese superstar and Olympic gold medallist Lin Dan lost to Indonesia’s Sony Dwi Kuncoro, 31, who defied nagging injuries to emerge triumphant in the men’s singles.

In the women’s singles, Thailand’s Ratchanok Intanon, just 21, managed the incredible feat of a third World Superseries title in three weeks. The end of the tournament also saw Intanon become the first Thai woman to be ranked world number one.

9. Gal Gadot

Once best known for her role in the Fast and Furious movies, Israeli actress Gal Gadot, 31, is on the brink of superstardom. She has the honour of playing Princess Diana of Themyscira in Wonder Woman, the major female superhero movie to be released in 2017.

Fittingly, the DC Comics character was created in 1941 as a role model for young women. But the initial response from fans to Gadot’s casting was less than favourable, with complaints centred on her apparently less-than-stellar physique.

The Israeli took it all in her stride, and impressed audiences with her cameo as Wonder Woman in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. The Wonder Woman movie trailers also suggest that it will blaze a trail for more superheroine movies to come.

8. Europe migrant crisis

Largely fuelled by conflicts in Western Asia, the Europe migrant crisis is the biggest since World War II.

Since 2015, the majority of refugees and migrants arriving in the EU have come from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan. This year, an increasing number of migrants perished at sea or just went missing, as many countries began tightening border controls.

In 2016, Greece saw a reduction in the number of refugees, after Turkey agreed in March to take back the share of migrants fleeing via its borders that didn’t apply for asylum in Greece or were rejected.

7. All England Badminton

The 2016 edition of the world’s oldest badminton tournament saw Lin ‘Super’ Dan triumph in the men’s singles for a sixth time. Meanwhile, Japan’s Nozomi Okuhara came out tops in the women’s singles, while her compatriots Misaki Matsutomo and Ayaka Takahashi won the women’s doubles.

But it was Russia’s Vladimir Ivanov and Ivan Sozonov who were the real surprises of the tournament, when they became the first Russians to win the men’s doubles.

6. Lee Chong Wei

The Rio Olympics were to be badminton star Lee Chong Wei’s triumphant swansong.

The 33-year-old and world number one had battled his way back from an eight-month suspension for a doping violation, and was the favourite to claim the gold medal. Lee has maintained that he ingested the anti-inflammatory dexamethasone, whose use is forbidden during competition, by accident.

But despite finally vanquishing his old rival Lin Dan in the semi-finals, the Malaysian fell at the final hurdle once again. Lee was left with a third successive Olympic silver medal after losing to China’s Chen Long.

We may not have seen the last of Lee yet. The Malaysian has said that a new scoring format at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics may tempt him to extend his career for another four years.

5. UEFA Champions League

The annual showcase of European football’s best teams remains high on Singaporeans’ radar, and the 2015/2016 campaign saw the competition dominated by two teams from the Spanish capital: Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid.

On its march to the final, Atletico sensationally knocked out Barcelona and Bayern Munich, two of the best teams in Europe. Their efforts were spearheaded by Antoine Griezmann, who scored seven goals in the competition. The French striker also went on to play a starring role at Euro 2016.

But ultimately, Real Madrid were not to be denied of a record-breaking 11th Champions League title. Led by Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo, who scored an astonishing 16 goals in the tournament, Real triumphed in a penalty shootout at the San Siro stadium in Italy.

4. Lee Hsien Loong

Singaporeans were unnerved when Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong suffered a fainting spell during the National Day Rally. They feared the worst for the 64-year-old, who’s had his share of health scares, including two brushes with cancer.

This came in the wake of Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat – said to be a potential successor to Lee – having a stroke in May, seemingly throwing the government’s leadership succession plans into disarray. Perhaps Singaporeans were also thinking of the late Lee Kuan Yew, Lee’s father and former PM, who died in 2015.

But authorities were quick to reassure citizens that Lee had merely taken ill. The PM has since resumed his duties without a hitch.

3. Najib Razak

More than a year after the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) corruption scandal first broke, the repercussions are still playing out. And despite being fingered as the ‘Malaysian Official 1’ who received US$681 million, Prime Minister Najib Razak remains improbably in power.

Najib, the founder of state-run fund 1MDB, has denied any wrongdoing. But an ongoing probe of the scandal by the US Department of Justice has already had consequences on the geopolitical scene.

Despite Malaysia being one of several parties to disputed territory in the South China Sea, Najib returned in November from a six-day trip to China with almost US$34 billion in trade deals, including a first significant defence deal: an agreement to buy four Chinese naval vessels.

2. Rio 2016

The Rio Summer Olympics, the biggest sporting tournament of the year, saw over 11,000 athletes from 205 countries competing for 306 sets of medals.

But as far as Singapore was concerned, only one name and one event mattered: swimmer Joseph Schooling and the men’s 100m butterfly. The 21-year-old made history by claiming the Republic’s first-ever Olympic gold medal with a time of 50.39 seconds.

In the process, Schooling beat his idol, swim legend Michael Phelps. Incredibly, Phelps tied with South African Chad Le Clos and Hungarian Laszlo Cseh for the silver medal.

1. Euro 2016

It was a banner year for Cristiano Ronaldo: not only did he win the Champions League again, but his country also emerged from among 32 teams as European champions, despite being branded one of the most negative teams of the tournament.

The tournament, hosted by France, was marked by underdog Wales’ run to the semi-finals, as well as Iceland’s shock 2-1 defeat of England. Germany once again eased their way to the semi-finals, only to lose to a resurgent French team.

The final itself saw high drama, with Ronaldo limping out of the action in tears with a knee injury after just 24 minutes. But his countrymen rallied to win the game 1-0 in extra time, with a goal from the little-known striker Eder to break French hearts.