SPORTS APRIL 2015

SPORTS APRIL 2015

• Indian motor sports get govt. recognition
  Government has finally recognized motor sports as a sport by including governing body FMSCI in the list of sports ministry-backed National Sports Federations (NSF)
  
  The development comes at a rather quiet period for Indian motor sports and at a time when efforts are being made to bring Formula 1 back to the country after the Grand Prix was dropped owing to tax and bureaucratic hurdles.
  
  The ministry has included motor sports in its latest revision of sports disciplines, albeit in the 'Others' category, meaning no financial assistance will be provided to the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (FMSCI).
  
  However, the government support to FMSCI does not help the F1 Indian Grand Prix much as getting the race back is primarily down to promoters Jaypee Group and its commercial rights holder Formula One Management (FOM).
  
• Vishwanathan Anand finishes second in Shamkir Chess tourney
  Former world champion Viswanathan Anand played out an effort less draw with Fabiano Caruana of Italy to finish second in Shamkir Chess tournament in Azerbaijan on 26th April. On what turned out to be an easy day as black in the final round, Anand just had to follow his instinct as Caruana decided not to press the Indian in a routine opening theory.
  
  World champion Magnus Carlsen of Norway capitalised on a blunder by Rauf Mamedov of Azerbaijan to seal another super tournament victory. Carlsen took his rating to 2875 points after his remarkable show. Anand not only entered the 2800 club again but will also be seen at number two in world rankings next month after a long time.
  
• President authorized to set up advisory committee
  Apart from seeking a fresh legal opinion on the issue of de-merger and transfer of shares of the IPL franchise Chennai Super Kings, the Working Committee of the Board of Control for Cricket in India authorized the President to constitute a cricket advisory committee comprising prominent cricketers who will propose their recommendations on the overall conduct and development of the game.
  
• India crowned champion
  Rakesh Kumar (69kg) and Harpal Singh (75kg) struck gold as India was crowned champion for the first time in the 22nd President’s Cup boxing tournament in Palembang, Indonesia. The Indian team logged 33 points to finish ahead of second-placed Mongolia after Rakesh and Harpal’s gold medals took the country’s total tally to four gold and a bronze at the end of the event. While Harpal defeated Korea’s Jee Deok-Seong, Rakesh got the better of Japan’s Hiroaki Kinjo in the men’s summit clashes. Manish Kumar (60kg) settled for a bronze medal after losing to Mongolia’s Dorjnyambuu Otgondalai in the semifinals.
  
• Harika wins silver, bronze for Humpy
  At Chengdu, China, on 29th April, India's D Harika and Koneru Humpy won individual medals with fine performances in the women's world chess championships. While Harika bagged silver, Humpy accounted for the bronze. In the team championships, the Indian eves finished fourth. Georgia won the Gold in the team event with an impressive 17 points. While Russia claimed the Silver, China collected the Bronze.
  
• Four-day national athletics meet inaugurated
  Pomp and pageantry marked the gala opening of the 19th Federation Cup national senior athletics championships at the Mangala Stadium in Mangaluru, Karnataka, on 1st May.
  
  As many as 1,040 athletes representing 36 teams are taking part in the four-day meet. The Federation Cup event is dubbed as a selection trial for the Indian aspirants looking to take part in the Asian Athletics Championships at Wuhan (China). The third place performance of the previous Asian championships held at Pune, in 2013, shall be considered for the purpose of selecting the team for Wuhan. The qualification period for Rio Olympics in 2016 will also commence on May 1, the opening day of this year's Federation Cup at Mangaluru
  
• Gold medal for Rafael Nadal
  Tennis player Rafael Nadal on 1 May 2015 received the Golden Medal for Merit in Work. Golden Medal is one of the top civilian honours of Spain which aims to highlight an exemplary performance in any job or profession. Nadal received the honour from the Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy Brey at the PM’s official residence Moncloa Palace in Madrid.
  
  Rafael Nadal is 14-time Grand Slam singles champion out of which he has won the French Open for a record nine times. Besides, he has won the 2008 Olympic gold medal in singles, a record 27 ATP World Tour Masters 1000 and 15 ATP World Tour 500 tournaments.
  
• Three Indian race walkers qualify for Rio Olympics
  Three Indian race walkers, Khushbir Kaur, Manish Rawat and Sandeep Kumar have qualified for 2016 Rio Olympics. In the IAAF Race Walking Challenge at Rio Maiorin Portugal, National women's 20km walk record holder Khushbir Kaur clocked 1 hour 33 minute and 58 seconds to better Rio Oympic qualification time by 1 hour and 35 minutes.
  
  In the men's 20km race walk, Manish Rawat and Sandeep Kumar qualified for Rio Games. Manish logged his personal best performance with a timing of 1 hour 22 minutes and 50 seconds and Sandeep clocked 1 hour 23 minute and 32 seconds, both of them well above qualification time of 1 hour and 24 minutes.
  
• Lewis Hamilton won Grand Prix
   Defending world champion Lewis Hamilton won Bahrain Grand Prix on 19th April. Hamilton came home 3.3 seconds clear of Finn Kimi Raikkonen of Ferrari who stole second ahead of Nico Rosberg when the second Mercedes driver suffered a braking problem on the penultimate lap.
  
• Djokovic wins Monte Carlo Masters; set ATP record
  Novak Djokovic has set another career record with his second Monte Carlo title, as the Serb became the first man to win the opening three Masters 1000 events in a season defeating Tomas Berdych. Djokovic's victory was his 17th straight win of the season and also marked a fourth straight Masters 1000 title after also winning at Paris Bercy last November.
  
• Govt suspends recognition of PCI for Ghaziabad fiasco
  The Sports Ministry has suspended the recognition of Paralympic Committee of India (PCI) for poor management and conduct of National Para-Athletics Championships in Ghaziabad in March. The government's action came a week after International Paralympic Committee suspended PCI indefinitely for infighting and poor treatment of the para-athletes during the event.
  
  The Ministry said, an inquiry conducted by Sports Authority of India has found that the PCI has failed miserably in providing adequate facilities to the para-athletes. In a communication sent to PCI yesterday, the Ministry said, there has been large scale dis-satisfaction among players and other stake holders against PCI.
  
• Sania became World no 1 in doubles
  Sania Mirza has created history by becoming the first female tennis player from India to achieve the world number one rank in doubles, following her stupendous title win at the WTA Family Circle Cup with partner Martina Hingis, at Charleston in the United States.
  
  Sania took 470 points from the win to take her tally to 7965 as she jumped past Italy's Sara Errani 7640 and Roberta Vinci 7640 to sit atop the ranking table.
  
• India beat Korea
  India defeated Korea in the penalty shoot-out after both the teams were locked at 2-2 at regulation time, to finish a creditable third in the 24th Sultan Azlan Shah Cup hockey tournament on 12th April.
  
• ISSF Shooting: Indian shooter Jitu Rai wins bronze medal
  Indian shooter Jitu Rai shot his way to a bronze medal in the men's 10-metre air pistol event at the ongoing ISSF Shooting World Cup on 12th April. In the event being held at Changwon, Korea, Jitu aggregated a total of 181.1 points to finish third on the podium.
  
  The Asian and Commonwealth Games gold-medallist missed out on the gold medal shoot-out by 0.4 points. This is Jitu's seventh medal in international events, following a run that started last June.
  
• Tendulkar inducted into Laureus Sports Academ
  Batting legend Sachin Tendulkar was inducted into the prestigious Laureus Academy in a ceremony at Shanghai. The award ceremony saw Tendulkar and five other new members inducted in the Laureus Academy. Kapil Dev and Rahul Dravid are the other Indian cricketers to have received this recognition.
  
  In the ceremony, Serbian tennis star Novak Djokovic was named the Laureus Sportsman of the Year in a glittering ceremony at Shanghai. The Laureus Sportswoman of the Year honour has gone to Ethiopian sprinter Genzebe Dibaba.
  
  Retired Chinese professional basketball player Yao Ming, Kenyan long-distance runner Tegla Loroupe, Chinese gymnast LiXiaopeng and former Chinese short track speed skater Yang Yang were the other athletes inducted into the Academy.
  
  Among other awards, the football World Cup winning Germany side were voted the Team of the Year. Schalk Burger of South Africa, who fought through life-threatening meningitis to win back his place in the Springboks rugby team, was chosen for Comeback of the Year. Two-time Grand Slam winner Li Na of China, who won the Australian Open last year, before retiring from the sport due to chronic and worsening left knee injury, was awarded the Laureus Exceptional Achievement Award.
  
  Outstanding wheelchair racer Tatyana McFadden collected the award for Laureus World Sports person of the Year with a Disability. The Laureus World Action Sportsperson of the Year was presented to America's Alan Eustace, who holds the world record for the highest-altitude free fall jump. Australian Oliver Percovich, who changed the lives of young girls in war-ravaged Afghanistan with his skateboarding project, won the Laureus Sport for World title.
  
  Retired Chinese basketball player Ming, who had a stunning career with Houston Rockets until he retired in 2011, was presented with the Laureus Spirit of Sports Award. The winners were chosen by the Laureus Sports Academy.
  
• B'luru cricket stadium becomes 1st to have rooftop solar plant
  The Chinnaswamy cricket stadium in Bengaluru has become the first cricket venue in the country to have a roof top solar power plant. The roof top installation by Karnataka State Cricket Association is a novel initiative executed for the first time at any stadium in the country and probably also the first cricket stadium in the world to have such facility.
  
• Para Games postponed
  With just a fortnight left, India's first Open Para Games proposed next month in Delhi, has been postponed in the wake of the infighting between Executive Committee members of the suspended Paralympics Committee of India (PCI). The international event was scheduled between May 2 and 9 in the national capital
  
  Meanwhile, the International Paralympic Committee has suspended the PCI for indefinite period for infighting within the national body and shoddy treatment meted out to athletes during the National Para-Athletics Championships at Ghaziabad last month. In a letter dated April 15 and sent by email to PCI, the IPC said the suspension would be for an indefinite period.
  
• Sim Bhullar, first Indian origin player on top US basketball team
   Canada born Sim Bhullar has become the first player of Indian descent on a US National Basketball Association (NBA) team's regular season roster with the Sacramento Kings signing him to a 10-day contract.
  
  Born in Toronto, Ontario, Bhullar became the first player of Indian descent to sign with a team from the top US men's professional basketball league when he inked a contract with the Kings on Aug 15, 2014.
  
• Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis win Miami open
  Sania Mirza's dream start with doubles partner, Martina Hingis continued as the Indo-Swiss pair strolled through the Miami Open draw to capture their second title together.
  
  The top seeds overcame a rocky start to beat the second-seeded Russian duo of Elena Vesnina and Ekaterina Makarova in the Miami final.
  
• Harika won
  Indian Grandmaster Dronavalli Harika has won the bronze medal along with Swedish Grandmaster Pia Cramling in the World Women's chess championships. In the event held at Sochi, Russia, both the players won the medal by virtue of making it to the semifinals. Harika had lost to the eventual winner Mariya Muzychuk of Ukraine in the semifinals. Harika got 20,000 US Dollars for the Bronze medal finish.
  
• Shukla: Rajeev Shukla was on 6th April re-appointed chairman of the Indian Premier League Governing Council, a post he held in 2013 before quitting following the spot fixing scandal.
  
  The Board president, Jagmohan Dalmiya, and Mr. Thakur had been given the responsibility of picking the GC members. In the recent Board elections, Mr. Shukla unsuccessfully contested for treasurer.
  
  Notable inclusions in the GC are former Test captains Sourav Ganguly and Ravi Shastri, apart from Maharashtra Cricket Association president Ajay Shirke, who resigned as the Board’s treasurer in protest against former president N. Srinivasan. The Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association president, Jyotiraditya Scindia, has been included as a special invitee.
  
• IPL 8 kicked off
  Indian Premier League (IPL), kicked off on April 7. The annual twenty-20 extravaganza will go on for one-and-a-half months with matches taking place in 11 cities across the country. A total of 60 T20 matches will be held in the entire tournament.
  
• India jumps to 147th spot in FIFA football rankings
  India have made a leap of 26 places to move to the 147th spot in the latest FIFA football rankings released on 10th April. The surge in rankings is a result of the first-round win over Nepal in the joint qualifiers for the 2018 World Cup and 2019 Asian Football Confederation Asian Cup. India move up 12 spots to 24th among 46 nations in the rankings among the Asian countries. World Cup winners Germany remained on pole position in the standings followed by runners-up Argentina. Belgium moved above Colombia into third after their Euro 2016 qualifying wins over Cyprus and Israel in March.
  
• Australia wins Cricket World Cup for 5th time
  Australia on 29th March lifted the Cricket World Cup for the fifth time. In the final played at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground, retiring captain Michael Clarke and his Men defeated neighbors and co-hosts of the tournament, New Zealand by 7 wickets
  
  James Faulkner was adjudged man of the match. Indian batting legend Sachin Tendulkar presented the Player of the Match and Player of the Series awards at the closing ceremony of the 2015 World Cup at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) Fast bowler Mitchell Starc etched his name in the record books as he was named Player of the Tournament for taking the most wickets, 22.
  
  The following is the list of the cricket World Cup winners since the quadrennial tournament's inception in 1975:
  1975: West Indies beat Australia by 17 runs in final
  1979: West Indies beat England by 92 runs in final
  1983: India beat West Indies by 43 runs in final
  1987: Australia beat England by 7 runs in final
  1992: Pakistan beat England by 22 runs in final
  1996: Sri Lanka beat Australia by 7 wickets in final
  1999: Australia beat Pakistan by 8 wickets in final
  2003: Australia beat India by 125 runs in final
  2007: Australia beat Sri Lanka by 52 runs in final
  2011: India beat Sri Lanka by 6 wickets in final
  2015: Australia beat New Zealand by 7 wickets in final
  
  Top performers of the TournamentTop 5 runs-scorers
  Martin Guptill: 547
  Kumar Sangakkara: 541
  Brendan Taylor: 433
  AB de Villiers: 482
  Shikhar Dhawan: 412
  
  Top 5 wicket-takers
  Mitchell Starc: 22
  Trent Boult: 22
  Umesh Yadav: 18
  Morne Morkel: 17
  Mohammad Shami: 17
  
  Top 5 individual scores
  Martin Guptill: 237 not out
  Chris Gayle: 215
  David Warner: 178
  AB de Villiers: 162 not out
  Tilakaratne Dilshan: 161 not out
  
  Top 5 bowling figures
  Tim Southee: 7/33
  Mitchell Starc: 6/28
  Trent Boult: 5/27
  Mitchell Marsh: 5/33
  Imran Tahir: 5/45
  
• Saina, Srikant lift India Open Super Series Badminton Women's & Men's Singles titles
  Indian shuttlers on 29th March made their first ever title-sweep in the India Open Super Series Badminton tournament by lifting both the women's and men's singles crowns. At the Siri Fort Indoor Complex in New Delhi, first Indian woman shuttler to achieve world number one ranking, Saina Nehwal, clinched her maiden India Open Super Series title after notching up a dominating straight game victory against former world champion Ratchanok Intanon of Thailand.
  
  Later in the summit clash in the men's section, World Number Four and second seed Kidambi Srikanth overpowered Viktor Axelsen of Denmark in three games. It is second Super Series title of his career.
  
• ICC World Cup XI, led by Mc Cullum
  Not a single Indian cricketer found a place in the ICC's World Cup XI which was dominated by runners-up New Zealand rather than champions Australia with Kiwi skipper Brendon McCullum as its captain.
  
  The team was chosen by a select group of experts who were given the task of picking a balanced side on the basis of performances in the tournament. In addition to McCullum, the side includes four others from New Zealand -- Corey Anderson, Trent Boult, Martin Guptill, Daniel Vettori; three Australians -- Glenn Maxwell, Steven Smith and Mitchell Starc; two South Africans -- AB de Villiers and Morne Morkel, with Sri Lanka's Kumar Sangakkara as wicketkeeper-batsman. Zimbabwe's Brendan Taylor who finished with 433 runs in six matches, was named as the 12th man. ICC General Manager, Geoff Allardice who chaired the panel, said Indian pacers Umesh Yadav and Mohammad Shami along with off-spinner R Ashwin were in the running.
  
• Mustafa Kamal resignation accepted
  The International Cricket Council (ICC) has accepted the resignation of its President Mustafa Kamal, who quit the position after being denied the honor of presenting the World Cup winners' trophy. The ICC confirmed that Mr Mustafa Kamal has tendered his resignation as the ICC President with immediate effect.
  
• Saina Nehwal ranked World no.1
  Saina Nehwal has been officially declared the World No. 1 player in women's singles on the Badminton World Federation website
  
  Saina is the best badminton player in the world at the moment, followed by Carolina Marin of Spain at No.2. Saina is accompanied by teammate P V Sindhu at the ninth spot in the top 10 list. Saina is currently competing in the Malaysia Open Super Series Premier in Kuala Lumpur.
  
  Saina continued her dominating run with a dominating straight-game win over Chinese qualifier Xue Yao to reach the quarterfinals. Saina defeated Yao in women's singles to set up a clash with another Chinese shuttler, Sun Yu, ranked 15th in the world..
  
• Weight lifters suspended
  Indian Weightlifting Federation (IWF) on 4 April 2015 provisionally suspended 21 weightlifters after they were tested positive for banned substances. This could be termed as one of the biggest doping scandals in recent years.
  
  The lifters tested positive across different championships, both out-of-competition and in-competition. Maximum of these offenders were caught at the National Youth and Junior Weightlifting Championships, which was held in Yamunangar in January 2015.