SPORTS JANUARY 2015
- Saina Nehwal, Kashyap claim titles
Ace Indian shutter Saina Nehwal has retained her title by winning the final of Women's Singles tournament in 1,20,000 US dollars' Syed Modi International Grand Prix Gold Badminton Championship in Lucknow on 25th January. Saina defeated world number one, Spanish Carolina Marin by 19-21, 25-23 and 21-16 in a tough match lasted for one hour twenty minutes.In Mens' Singles final, India's P Kashyap defeated his compatriot K Srikanth - Ayub is Team India manager for World Cup
Former India off-spinner and now HCA president Arshad Ayub, was named as the manager of the Indian team for the 2015 World Cup. - India to host next edition of ICC Twenty20 WC
India has been confirmed as host for the 2016 Twenty20 World Cup, scheduled to be held from March 11 to April 3, the ICC announced after ratifying its decision in the Board meeting in Dubai on 29th January. This will be the first time that India will be hosting a World T20 tournament.
So far there have been five editions of the event with India winning the inaugural one in 2007 in South Africa. Hosted in every two years, no team has won the tournament twice. After India's triumph in 2007, Pakistan (2009), England (2010), West Indies (2012) and Sri Lanka (2014) took the trophy. Bangladesh had hosted the last edition of the tournament in 2014. - Kerala hosting 35th National Games
The 35th National Games got underway in Kerala on 31st January. The event is going to be held at 30 venues in seven districts of the state and up for grabs are a record 1,369 medals. The sporting events are from 1st February and the closing ceremony would be held on Feb 14. This is the second time that Kerala is playing host, with 1987 being the first time.
- Former cricket player Sachin Tendulkar is the goodwill ambassador for the games
- The mascot of the 35th National Games is'''Ammu''', The Great Hornbill, or the Great Indian Hornbill, the State bird of Kerala.
- There are 33 sports disciplines in games. Yatching is newly included item. Aquatics (50 disciplines ) and Athletics (44 disciplines) are the biggest and most popular events.
- Serena wins her sixth Australian Open
Serena Williams beat Maria Sharapova to win her sixth Australian Open and 19th Grand Slam title.The American world number one served superbly to win a pulsating final after Sharapova fought back in the second set.Williams, 33, moves past Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert with a 19th major singles title.She has now beaten Russia's Sharapova, the world number two, 16 times in a row dating back to 2004. - De Villiers created record
South Africa batsman AB de Villiers hit a century off 31 balls to record the fastest ever one-day international ton.De Villiersset the new landmark during an innings of 149 against the West Indies in Johannesburg on 18th January. He smashed eight fours and 10 sixes in beating the previous ODI record of 36 balls by New Zealand all-rounder Corey Anderson against West Indies last year
Chris Gayle's 100 from 30 balls in the Indian Premier League in April 2013 is the fastest century in cricket history.South Africa scored 439-2 as they registered their highest ever ODI score, beating the 438-9 in a win against Australia in March 2006.
The total was just four short of the all-time ODI record score of 443-9 set by Sri Lanka against Netherlands in July 2006
Fastest centuries so far- AB de Villiers (South Africa) - 31 balls against West Indies in Johannesburg on 18 January, 2015.
- Corey Anderson (New Zealand) - 36 balls against West Indies in Queenstown on 1 January, 2014.
- Shahid Afridi (Pakistan) - 37 balls against Sri Lanka in Nairobi on 4 October, 1996.
- Mark Boucher (South Africa) - 44 balls against Zimbabwe in Potchefstroom on 20 September, 2006.
- Brian Lara (West Indies) - 45 balls against Bangladesh in Dhaka on 9 October, 1999.
- Brett Lee announced retirement
Australian fast bowler Brett Lee has decided to quit from all formats of cricket. In his career he played 76 tests and 221 One day Internationals. In tests he took 310 wickets, where as in One day’s he took 380 wickets. - Paes and Bopanna clinch titles in Auckland and Sydney
India's doubles star Leander Paes and RohanBopannawon ATP titles with their partners in Auckland and Sydney respectively.Paes captured 55th title of his career as he triumphed at the Heineken Open with new partner Raven Klaasen while Bopanna clinched the Apia International with Canada's Daniel Nestor. Paes and South Africa's Klaasen, seeded fourth, overcame a fighting combo of Dominic Inglot and Florin Mergia in the final of the USD 519,395 in the Auckland ATP event.
Meanwhile in Sydney, The third-seed team of Bopanna and Nestor defeated second seeds Jean-JulienRojer and HoriaTecau. - Amla record
Hashim Amla became the fastest player to notch up 5000 one-day international runs as South Africa handed West Indies a 61-run defeat in a rain-affected clash at Kingsmead on 16th January. Amla scored 66 in South Africa’s total of 279 for eight in 48.2 overs to reach 5000 runs in 101 innings, well ahead of the previous record of 114 jointly held by West Indies great Viv Richards and Indian batsman Virat Kohli. - Supreme Court bars Srinivasan from contesting BCCI elections
After almost 18 months of deliberations on the 2013 Indian Premier League betting and match-fixing scandal, the Supreme Court has barred N. Srinivasan from contesting Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) elections till such time he had "commercial interest in cricket.
The court earlier said Srinivasan's son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan and Raj Kundra of Rajasthan Royals were involved in betting.
A three-member panel headed by former Chief Justice of India RM Lodha and other former judges of the top court - Ashok Bhan and RV Ravindran, was also formed to decide the fate of Chennai Super Kings, Rajasthan Royals and recommend changes in the BCCI constitution. The panel will give its report in six months.
Srinivasan is seeking a re-election as BCCI president. The elections have to be held within six weeks of latest order.
The Supreme Court-appointed probe committee, led by Justice Mukul Mudgal, had in its first report indicted Meiyappan of betting and sharing team information. Srinivasan had mentioned that Gurunath was a mere 'cricket enthusiast.' Srinivasan was earlier charged for not taking adequate action against those involved in 'misdemeanours.'
The case dates back to June 2013 when Aditya Verma, secretary of the Cricket Association of Bihar (CAB), raised charges of a conflict of interest in the BCCI's original two-member inquiry panel for the IPL corruption issue. - 5th ODI: Ronchi-Elliott’s record stand powers NZ to win over Sri Lanka
Luke Ronchi and Grant Elliott put on a world record 267-run partnership for the 6th wicket as New Zealand recovered from 93-5 to thump Sri Lanka by 108 runs in the fifth one-day international in Dunedin on 23rd January. - Ronaldo retains the Ballon d’Or
Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo won the FIFA Ballon d’Or for the second year in a row and the third time in his career, ahead of Argentinean Lionel Messi and Manuel Neuer of Germany, at an impressive ceremony on 12th January. Joachim Low’s feat in guiding Germany to the 2014 FIFA World Cup earned him the Coach-of-the-Year award. Colombian James Rodriguez won the Puskas Award for the goal of the year. Earlier, the FIF pro team of the year was announced with all the three Ballon d’Or nominees finding a place in the chosen XI. - Bhakti Sharma sets world record
India's open water swimmer Bhakti Sharma has set a world record by swimming 1.4 miles in 52 minutes in one degree temperature at Antarctic Ocean. She has bettered the earlier record of British open water swimmer Lewis Pugh and American swimmer Lynne Cox, a release said. Bhakti is now the youngest in the world and the first Asian girl to have achieved this feat.
Bhakti,a recipient of Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award in 2010. She has been pursuing open water swimming for the last 10 years. She has now conquered all the five oceans of the world. - West Indies record highest run chase against South Africa in T-20 history
In Cricket, the Wanderers stadium home to the greatest ODI of all time - the 438 game - and now it is also home to the most thrilling T20- the 236 game. West Indies on 11th January pulled off the highest successful run chase in the shortest format. It was propelled by Chris Gayle's 90 off 41 balls, held together by Marlon Samuels. The Proteas had earlier posted 231 powered by their skipper's Faf Du Plessis' century. The Caribbean side overhauled the total with four balls to spare. In the latest, Test Rankings India has slipped down to 7th position, due to recent loss to Australia 2-Nil. - Roger Federer records 1000th win after lifting Brisbane title
In Tennis arena, Roger Federer added recorded another 1000th win in the men's professional circuit. A feat only achieved by Jimmy Connors and Ivan Lendl in the game. Swiss giant won the Brisbane International Finals by defeating Milos Raonic in three see-sawing sets register his 1,000th career match win. - Sports facilities in rural areas
The Union Sports Ministry is implementing a number of important schemes for promotion of sports in the country by developing rural and urban sports infrastructure, competition events and financial assistance for youth development activities. Sports Minister Sarbananda Sonowal told that the main intention was to make the sports facilities available, particularly in the rural areas to encourage sports talent there.
The aim was to also make sports a way of life, help the youth in nation and character building process, improve physical and mental health and inculcate the good values of human life, Sonowal said.
Under the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Abhiyan (RGKA), his ministry proposed to construct a Sports Complex in each block of the country at a cost of Rs 1.60 crore.
The funds for the RGKA will be arranged in convergence with the MGNREGA and the ministries of Rural Development, Panchayat, DONER and Planning Commission to build indoor and outdoor sports infrastructure in the 7000 plus blocks across the country, Sonowal said.
In addition, the Department of Sports will provide Rs 15 lakh for sports equipment for each block complex, Sonowal said, adding, in the case of the North East states the funds will be arranged in convergence with DONER ministry. The Minister also said Physical Education teachers would be appointed and he would take up the matter with the Union Human Resource Development Ministry for giving marks for sports. - Smith equals Bradman, Kallis record
Australia captain Steven Smith scored his fourth century on 7th January in the ongoing Test series against India to match compatriot Donald Bradman and South African stalwart Jacques Kallis's record of four hundreds in a series.
Smith smashed 117 runs in the first innings of this match.
In this series he scored unbeaten knocks of 162 and 52 in the first Test at Adelaide, followed by 133 and 28 in Brisbane. In the third Test at Melbourne, he hit 192 in the first innings to record his highest Test score. - Australia won Gavaskar-Border Trophy
Australia has won 2014-15 Gavaskar-Border trophy with 2-0. The total number of tests were 4, Australia has won 2 where as other two were drawn. Steve Smith (Australia) is the Man of the match for last match and also Man of the series. - Boxing recognised as national federation sport
Union Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports recognised Boxing India (BI) as the governing body for representing boxing in India. In this regard, the Ministry allowed Boxing India to use the name under the Emblems & Names (Prevention of Improper use) Act, 1950 for all its future correspondence.
BI already has been recognised as national federation by International Boxing Association (AIBA) to represent boxing in India and registered it as permanent member.
The registration is a stepping stone in expediting the administrative formalities and streamlining the overall functioning and activities of Boxing India. - Kumar Sangakkara becomes quickest batsman to score 12000 Test runs
Sri Lanka veteran Kumar Sangakkara became the fifth cricketer to surpass 12,000 runs and fast bowler Nuwan Pradeep took 4-63 to help the visitors dismiss New Zealand for 221 on the opening day of the second test
Sangakkara, who was 33 not out at stumps, started the first test in Christchurch needing 12 runs to reach the 12,000-run milestone but was out for 6 and 1, delaying his admission to an elite group whose members include Sachin Tendulkar, Ricky Ponting, Jacques Kallis and Rahul Dravid. - Pragyan Ojha suspended
Indian left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha has been barred from bowling in competitive cricket after his action was found to be illegal. Ojha's action was tested at the ICC-recognised centre in Chennai. The tests apparently concluded that Ojha's elbow flexed more than the permissible limit of 15 degrees. - Dhoni retired from tests
Indian cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni on 30th December retired from Test cricket with immediate effect, citing strain of playing all formats, after his team lost the Border-Gavaskar Trophy to Australia in Melbourne.
Virat Kohli will be the captain of the Indian Team for the Fourth and Final Test against Australia to be played in Sydney from the 6th of January 2015
Dhoni, wicketkeeper-batsman remains one of the most successful captains ever for India, having led the side to the top of ICC rankings in Tests and ODIs.- Debut- On December 2nd, against Srilanka in Chennai
- December 12th, 2005: Scored first half century
- April 11th, 2008: First match as Captain, India won against South Africa in Kanpur (due to absence of the then captain Anil Kumble, he became captain)
- March 5th, 2013: Dhone became India’s most successful captain with 22 wins
- July 21st, 2014: India’s historic win at Lords, England
Number of tests played: 90
Runs scored: 4876
Centuries: 6
Half centuries: 33
Top score: 224 - WADA raises minimum ban for doping
Athletes convicted of doping will face a minimum four-year ban under new rules which came into effect from January 1. Changes to the World Anti-Doping Code increased the suspension for doping from two years. Other changes include less leniency given for missed tests but possible reduced bans for helping investigators. The revised code was agreed to by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) in November 2014. - 60th National School Games begin
The 60th National School Games kick-started in New Delhi on 2nd January and was declared open by Delhi's Brand Ambassador and two-time Olympic Games medallist Sushil Kumar. The games will continue till January 8. Kumar appealed to the players that these games should be competed in true sportsman spirit.
The Sports Branch, Directorate of Education, Delhi government has organised the National School Games at Chhatrasal Stadium. Around 9,600 players and official from 34 states and union territories and affiliated units of SGFI are participating in 17 sporting events.
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