SPORTS APRIL 2014

SPORTS APRIL 2014

• The United Nations (U.N.) and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on 28th April signed a historic agreement to use the power of sports to promote peace and economic development. The agreement calls for joint sporting initiatives between the IOC, national Olympic committees, international sports federations, organizing committees and international athletes and the 193 U.N. member states, U.N. agencies, envoys and goodwill ambassadors. The two organizations will be promoting education for youth through sport without discrimination of any kind, access to sport for all communities especially the most disadvantaged and marginalized, healthy lifestyles and peace-building and community dialogue. IOC President is Thomas Bach whereas U.N. Secretary-General is Ban Ki-moon.
  
• Grand Master Adhiban won silver medal at the Asian Continental Chess Championship held in Sharjah on 26th April 2014. With this silver he got an entry in the World Chess Cup 2015 that will be held at Baku, Azerbaijan. Adhiban was defeated by Yu Yangyi of China. Ni Hua of China won bronze medal whereas Rustam Kasimdzhanov stood at the fourth place. In the women's championship, Irene Kharisma Sukandar of Indonesia won the gold medal. Atousa Pourkashiyan of Iran won the silver and Tan Zhongyi of China got bronze. The 13th Asian Continental Chess Championship and Women’s Chess Championships 2014 was held from 16th April to 26th April 2014 in Sharjah, UAE.
  
• Sania Mirza and Cara Black won the WTA Portugal Open which was held in Oeiras, Portugal. They defeated Eva Hrdinova and Valeria Solovyeva by 6-4, 6-3 in the final of the WTA Portugal Open. Before this, Sania and Cara had won the runners trophy at Indian Wells in March and at Stuttgart event, last week. With this win, Sania and Cara shared euro 9,919 as prize money and earned 280 ranking points each for the win.
  
• Manavjit Singh Sandhu, the Indian trap shooter on 2nd May 2014 took the third position in the world rankings. He achieved this rank after winning gold at the ISSF World Cup in Tucson, USA, in March 2014. Before that he had the 16th rank in men’s trap category.
  
• Paralympic swimmer Sharath Gayakwad won two Bronze and one Silver at the IDM Berlin 2014. He won Bronze Medals in the 200m Individual Medley and the 100m Butterfly and won the Silver Medal in the 100m Breaststroke. GayaKwad is the first Indian swimmer to qualify for the Paralympics and competed in the Summer Paralympics 2012 held in London. Gayakwad is India’s sole representative at the International German Championships. Gayakwad was also India’s sole representative at the International German Championships.
  
• The Asian Squash Federation on 24th April, named India’s champion squash player Saurav Ghosal as the winner of the Dato Alex Lee Award for being the ‘Outstanding Asian Men’s Player of the Year 2013'. Ghosal was no.1 rank in the Indian men’s team at the World championships in 2013. He was a quarterfinalist at the World Open, and highest ranked Asian male which is No. 15.The Indian men’s team comprising Ghosal, Harinderpal Sandhu, Ramit Tandon, Mahesh Mangaonkar along with coaches Cyrus Poncha and Gautam Das, were also chosen for the ‘Outstanding Men’s Team of the Year 2013' award. The Indian team attained its best ever position of seventh (the best by an Asian country) at the World Championships held in France.
  
• Indian golfer Anirban Lahiri won the Indonesian Masters title in Jakartha on 27th April. This is his fourth Asian Tour title. The prize money is $750,000.He defeated Baek Seuk-hyun of Korea.
  
• Chitra Magimairaj of India won the world’s senior snooker championship on 22nd April 2014 at Leeds, Britain. She defeated Alena Asmolava of Belarus. Chitra is the former World Billiards champion. Till now she has bagged three gold, three silver and three bronze medals in World Ladies Billiards and Snooker Association (WLBSA) events. Earlier, she lost in the Snooker Championships in the WLBSA event.
  
• All India Football Federation (AIFF) on 23rd April launched the 'AIFF Academy Certification' which aims to set a standard of youth development in the country through a certification model. AIFF has developed a set of criteria on which the academies will be assessed and certified and they will be given a rating as per the points gained on the criteria. The certification criteria will primarily be based on coaching staff and qualifications, facilities, youth development and teams supported, training schedule and training sessions, curriculum etc., Based on the number of points the academy earns on the criteria, they will be rated between one-star (lowest) to five-star (highest). This certification will be applicable for a year after which it will have to be renewed.
  
• Indian Grandmaster B Adhiban has won the silver medal in the Asian Continental Chess Championships held in Sharjah on 27th April. With this he can enter into the 2015 World Chess Cup to be held at Baku, Azerbaijan. World junior champion Yu Yangyi of China won the gold medal.
  
• Indian woman squash player Joshna Chinappa of India beat Australia's former world champion Rachael Grinham to win the inaugural $10,000 Richmond Open held at Verginia on 19th April. World No.21 Chinappa beat 16th-ranked opponent Rachael 11-9, 11-5, 11-8.
  
• Stanislas Wawrinka defeated Swiss compatriot Roger Federer 4-6, 7-6, 6-2 on 20th April to win the Monte Carlo Masters title, which was held in Monaco. With this success, Wawrinka also held on to his world number three ranking. The title was Wawrinka's third of the year after trophies at Chennai and Melbourne in January.
  
• India’s squash player Dipika Pallikal on 14 April 2014 got the runner-up title at the Women’s Champion Fiberlass Texas Open squash tournament held at Houston, United States. Dipika Pallikal was defeated by Nour El Sherbini od Egypt. Dipika is the world 12th rank Squash player.
  
• The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) established a Sport Integrity Unit on 15 April 2014 to investigate the cases related to fraud in sports. Betting and Match fixing are the most common cases of sports fraud. With this CBI can combat malpractices in the sports. It can coordinate with sports federations and law enforcement agencies It can also investigate into matters related to sports fraud.
  
• The 151st edition of the Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack published on 9th April 2014 carries a picture of Sachin Tendulkar on its cover page. With this Sachin Tendulkar, the Indian cricketer, who retired from International cricket in November 2013, became the 1st Indian cricketer to be featured on the cover page of the Almanack. The 2014 edition of Wisden Cricketers was published in London. Lawrence Booth is the editor of the edition that carried Sachin on the cover page. Earlier, Sachin was chosen to feature on the cover page of the second edition of the Wisden India Almanack. The Indian edition was edited by Suresh Menon. The British-based Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack for the first time was published in 1864 and since then it is being published annually. It is termed as the Bible of Cricket.
  
• The Interim President of BCCI-IPL Sunil Gavaskar has been appointed Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC) chairman Deepak Parekh as his special advisor for the seventh edition of the Indian Premier League. Parekh will be a special invitee during the IPL governing council meeting as his vast expertise in financial affairs will enable Gavaskar to ensure smooth functioning of IPL affairs for the next two months. Former Indian opener Gavaskar was appointed the interim president of the BCCI-IPL following a direction from Supreme Court as N. Srinivasan was asked to step aside from his post pending the completion of the IPL spot-fixing enquiry.
  
• Heena Sindhu, the Indian shooter on 7th April 2014 got the World’s Number One position in 10 meters air pistol event. By achieving this fete, she became the first Indian pistol shooter to be ranked at the top position in the list. Sindhu got the first spot by replacing the world champion Zorana Arunovic of Serbia with total of 1699 rating points. China’s Wenjun Guo placed at the third position. The rankings were released by International Shooting Sport Federation. Earlier, Sindhu won a gold medal in the Asian Air Gun Championship in March 2014 and she also won a silver medal at the ISSF rifle or pistol World Cup held in United States. In the world Cup 2013 in Munich she shot a world record score to win a gold medal.
  
• The Sports Ministry of India on 1st April derecognised the Indian Amateur Boxing Federation with immediate effect, because of the boxing body's refusal to comply with its directives on holding a re-election. This is a second setback for the IABF, which was earlier terminated by the sport's global parent body, the International Boxing Association (AIBA), after allegations of rigged elections and corruption. The Sports Ministry had earlier suspended the IABF 'provisionally' in December 2012. The ministry had asked the boxing federation to organise fresh elections and make its constitution compliant with the National Sports Code.
  
• Sports apparel company Adidas on 1st April, signed up India's top ranked female squash player Dipika Pallikal, the World No.11, for its latest women's campaign "all in for my girls". Dipika pallikal joins tennis star Sania Mirza and cricketer Mithali Raj for adidas and will inspire young female athletes to follow their passion. Dipika will sport the iconic street-wear label - adidas 'Originals'. 
  • Dipika Pallikal was born on 21st September 1991 in Kerala and she had won the German Open, Dutch Open, French Open, Australian Open, and Scottish Open on the European Junior Squash Circuit.
    
• Lewis Hamilton has won Formula One’s Malaysian Grand Prix on 31st March. Second and third positions were placed by Nico Rosberg and Sebastian Vettel. Fernando Alonso finished fourth.
  
• Serena Williams defeated Li Na of China in straight sets to win the Sony Open and secure a seventh Miami title. Serena won this title last year also. This is the second title of the season to her.
  
• Sri Lanka on 6th April 2014 won the ICC Twenty20 World Cup 2014 title after defeating India by six wickets in the final match held in Mirpur, Dhaka. This is the maiden trophy of Sri Lanka of T20 tournament. In 2009 and 2012 it remained the runners-up in World Twenty20 events. 
  • Man of the match – Kumar Sangakkara of Sri Lanka
  • Player of the Tournament – Virat Kohli for hitting 319 runs in the tournament.
    
• Two-time defending champions Australia won the women’s World Twenty20 championship by defeating England in Dhaka on 6th April.The Australian women's team is led by Meg Lanning. Medium-pacer Sarah Coyte was awarded the player of the match for her spell of 3-16.Scores are Australia 106/4 and England 105/8.
  • England had won the inaugural women’s World T20 competition at London in 2009.
  • Australia won the next two Championships in 2010 and 2012.
    
• Defending champion Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia won the finals of the $250,000 Yonex Sunrise Metlife India Super Series on 6th April by defeating Chen Long of China in New Delhi. In the women's category All England champion Shixian Wang of China won the title by defeating the Olympic champion and top seed Li Xuerui of China. Denmark’s Mathias Boe and Castern Mogensen won the Mens doubles title by defeating the Chinese pair. China also clinched the women's doubles title with Yuanting Tang and Yang (F) Yu, defeating Korean pair of Kyung Eun Jung and Ha Na Kim.