SPORTS JULY 2015

SPORTS JULY 2015

• Indian women wrestling team bags silver in the Kazakhstan Presidential Cup
  The Indian women's wrestling team finished second in the fifth Senior International Wrestling Tournament -- Cup of the President of Republic of Kazakhstan in Astana. Vinesh (48kg), Lalita Sehrawat (55kg) and Anita (63kg) put up impressive shows as they won all their bouts in their respective weight categories, while Sakshi Malik lost just one fight in 58kg division to help the eight-member team bag a silver medal at the July 23-26 event.
  
  The other members of the side -- Nirmala Devi (53kg), Sarita (60kg), Navjot Kaur (69kg) and Nikki (75kg) -- also came up with spirited performances against wrestlers of some of the top nations of the world. Host country Kazakhstan bagged the top spot, while Mongolia settled for the third position.
  
  The Kazakhstan tour is expected to help the Indian eves put up a good show at the World Championship, to be held in Las Vegas, USA from September 7-12, which will also be the first qualification event for Rio Olympics 2016.
  
• BCCI decides to stick to its ban on 3 cricketers
  BCCI has decided to stick to its ban, for the time being, on the three cricketers - S Sreesanth, Ankeet Chavan and Ajit Chandila despite a Delhi court dropping charges against them in the 2013 spot-fixing scandal.
  
  All the 36 accused persons including Sreesanth, Ankeet Chavan and Ajit Chandila were discharged in the IPL-6 spot fixing case by the Patiala House Court on 25th July.
  
  Of the three, Sreesanth and Chavan are currently serving life bans imposed by the BCCI after the scandal shook the high-profile league, while Chandila’s hearing is still on.
  
• India open medal tally at Special Olympics World Games
  Delhi's Yash Singh has won the first medal for India in the special olympic World Games at Los Angeles, United States. The 13 year old Yash won a bronze clocking 19. 23 second in the 25 meter backstroke.
  
• Indian women archery team earns Olympic berths
  Indian women's recurve team earned Olympic quota for 2016 Rio Games while the men's trio failed to advance after squandering a handsome lead at the archery World Championships, in Copenhagen, Denmark on 28th July.
  
  Pitted against seventh seed Germany, Indian trio of Deepika Kumari, Laxmi Rani Majhi and Rimil Buriuly won and make the last eight, the yardstick for making the Olympics cut.
  
• Working Group Constituted for Re-drafting of the Sports Code
  The Sports Ministry on 28th July constituted a nine-member Working Group which will prepare a revised draft of the National Sports Development Code, NSDC and submit its recommendations within three months.
  
  The Working Group will be headed by Retd Delhi High Court Judge CK Mahajan and has former hockey skipper Ajitpal Singh and former national Table Tennis champion Indu Puri as its prominent members.
  
  The Working Group shall examine the existing NSDC from both sports governance and legal angles and fine-tune the same with the purpose of making it more precise and succinct.
  
• Mexico wins record 7th CONCACAF Gold Cup
  Mexico spoiled Jamaica's first trip to the CONCACAF Gold Cup final with a dominant 3-1 triumph on 26th July that gave them a record seventh Cup title
  
  Jamaica had become the first Caribbean team to reach the final, but Mexico stole the storyline at Philadelphia's Lincoln Financial Field by winning their third Cup championship from the last four played. Despite a fast and inspired start by the Jamaicans, Mexico quickly turned the tide.
  
  Mexico weathered an early attack and took control in the 31st minute where Guardado took a cross and finished with a beautiful left-footed volley into the upper right corner.
  
• Beijing to host 2022 Winter Olympics
  Beijing won its bid to host the 2022 Winter Olympics on Friday, making it the first city to be awarded both a Summer and Winter Games. Beijing narrowly beat out Almaty, earning 44 votes compared to the city in Kazakhstan's 40.
  
  Oslo was initially named a finalist, but its Olympic bid was withdrawn after the Norwegian government voted against financially supporting it.
  
  Beijing hosted the 2008 Summer Games and China plans to reuse several venues from it for the 2022 event. In winning its bid to host the winter games, Beijing managed to overcome questions over a potential lack of natural snow and concerns over the distance between proposed venues. The 2022 competitions will be spread across three clusters over 100 miles.
  
• World Archery Championships: Rajat Chauhan bags silver
   Rajat Chauhan earned first-ever individual medal for India in the World Archery Championships at Copenhagen in Denmark. The compound marksman bagged a silver after going down to home favourite Stephan Hansen in the final on 31st July.
  
  The 2014 Asian Games team gold medalist Rajat Chauhan was going neck and neck till the third set when he shot a poor 8 and 9 as Hansen gained a three-point lead before wrapping up the game 147-143 in a fiercely contested individual men's compound final.
  
• Committee on IPL scandal
  BCCI decided to constitute a working group under IPL Chairman to study Justice Lodha Committee report on IPL betting scandal. Under pressure to resolve the crisis triggered by Justice R M Lodha committee's verdict on the IPL betting scandal, an embattled BCCI today decided to constitute a working group to study the order and give recommendations within six weeks.
  
  The decision to form the group was taken at the crucial IPL Governing Council meeting in Mumbai where members discussed the implications of the verdict, suspending Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals from the IPL for two years. This was informed by the Governing Council Chairman Rajeev Shukla after the meeting.
  
• IPL: Four member panel named
  BCCI working group chaired by IPL Chairman Rajeev Shukla to have Sourav Ganguly, Anurag Thakur, Aniruddh Chaudhary and BCCI's legal adviser U N Banerjee as its four members; panel to give its recommendations within six weeks
  
  Former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly was named in the BCCI's four-member working group formed to study the Justice R M Lodha committee's order and give recommendations within six weeks.
  
  The committee will be chaired by IPL Chairman Rajeev Shukla and will have BCCI Secretary Anurag Thakur and Treasurer Aniruddh Chaudhary as the other members. BCCI's legal adviser U N Banerjee will assist the panel.
  
  Announcing the names of the panel members, Shukla said the panel will study the implications of the Justice Lodha Committee report and draw up a roadmap for IPL 9, which will have a minimum of eight teams.
  
• ICC's Anti-Corruption unit to probe World T20 qualifying match
  The ICC's Anti-Corruption and Security Unit (ACSU) will investigate the World T20 qualifying game between Afghanistan and Hong Kong. The match was played in Dublin on 21st July.
  
• Zimbabwe beat India in the second T20 match by 10 runs at Harare
  Zimbabwe beat India by 10 runs in their second and final Twenty20 international to draw the series 1-1. Already India had won One day International series against Zimbabwe with 3-0.
  
• Shubham Jaglan wins World Junior Golf Championship
   Shubham Jaglan beat Australia’s Jeffrey Yu Guan by one stroke to win the World Junior Golf Championship in San Diego, California. He carded a final round of 60 to edge 114 other young golfers competing in the tournament. The 10-year-old scored a total of 7-under 179 in three days of play at the Fountain course in Welk resort. Shubham, who hails from Israna village in Panipat moved to Delhi to improve his game. He had finished second last year and was visibly excited with this victory.
  
• Kolkata's Eden Gardens to host World T20 final
  The iconic Eden Gardens ground in Kolkata will be host to the final of the 2016 World Twenty20 cricket tournament that will be held in India from March 11 to April 3 next year. Bengaluru, Chennai, Dharamsala, Mohali, Mumbai, Nagpur and New Delhi will be the other venues along with Kolkata, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced on 21st July. The venues will host both the men's and women's tournaments which will be held simultaneously.
  
• All Women Trans Continental road expedition inaugurated
  Sports Minister Sarbananda Sonowal on 23rd July flagged off first All Women Trans Continental Road Expedition from Delhi to London. The three women participating in the expedition will reach United Kingdom in 55 days via Myanmar, China, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Czech Republic, Germany, Belgium and France.
  
  The all women team will be travelling in one vehicle without any backup vehicle. Speaking on the occasion, Mr Sonowal said that his Ministry has always supported new exploration and initiatives by the youth of this country. He said, the expedition demonstrates grit and courage of Indian women.
  
• Shubham Jaglan lifts 2nd Junior World Golf title
  10 year old Indian Golfer Shubham Jaglan scripted history as he lifted his second Junior Golf Title in a span of 2 weeks. In the World Stars Junior Golf Tournament played at Las Vegas, Nevada this morning, Shubham finished top in his category age 9 to 10.
  
  After three rounds of the 9 hole course, he finished at 106 strokes, two under par to be declared as the winner.
  
  Meanwhile last week, he scripted a scintillating one-stroke win at the Junior World Golf Championships played at Welk Resort Fountain in San Diego. His three-day total of seven-under par 179 was better than rest of the field to become the Junior World Champion in his age category.
  
• Roelant Oltmans appointed as coach of Hockey India
  Hockey India on 25th July officially named High Performance coach Roelant Oltmans as the coach of men's national team after Paul van Ass' six-month tenure ended under unceremonious circumstances.
  
• Usain Bolt won 100-metres race at London
  Olympic champion and world record holder Usain Bolt has blasted out a World Championship warning with a victory in the 100-metres race at the London Diamond League meeting. The Jamaican sprinter won in 9.87 seconds, the same time he had set in winning his heat earlier at the London Olympic Stadium.
  
  This was Bolt's first appearance in six weeks with his only previous 100 metres race this year seeing him struggle at 10.12 seconds in Brazil.
  
  American Justin Gatlin still leads the way with 9.74 seconds in the 100 metres this season, setting up an intriguing World Championship showdown with Bolt in Beijing next month.
  
• All India sports council constituted
  The Union Government constituted All India Council of Sports as an advisory body for the Union Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports. The advice rendered by the council will be duly considered by the government, but it will not be binding and obligatory on the government
  
  The Council will be headed by a President in the rank of Minister of State and will include four Members of Parliament, Sports personalities, coaches, sports experts, sports administrators, D-G of Sports Authority of India, D-G of National Anti Doping Agency, Vice Chancellor of LNIPE, officials from Sports Ministry, representatives from National Sports Federations, Indian Olympic Association and NGOs.
  
• 2017 Under-17 FIFA World Cup gets $12M budget
   The budget for the 2017 Under-17 football World Cup in India will be around Rs 76.2 crores. The three-week tournament scheduled in September-October will cost the equivalent of six editions of the I-League, making it the most expensive football event ever hosted by India.
  
  Of this Fifa, football's apex body is likely to provide for around 5 to -6 million dollars The AIFF will have to raise the rest. That means the national federation will have to generate roughly Rs 36cr, which is nearly 80% of its annual budget now.
  
• Wimbledon: Djokovic beats Federer for 3rd title; Paes-Hingis win mixed doubles final
  Defending champion Novak Djokovic has won a third Wimbledon title and a ninth Grand Slam crown, shattering Roger Federer's bid for a record eighth All England Club triumph. World number one Serbian Djokovic won to add the Wimbledon title to the Australian Open he captured in January.
  
  Leander Paes clinched his 16th Grand Slam trophy, winning the mixed doubles event of the Championship with Martina Hingis after a dominating win over Alexander Peya and Timea Babos, last night. Seventh seed Indo-Swiss pair drubbed the fifth seed Austrian-Hungarian team
  
  It was Paes' eighth mixed doubles title and second with Hingis. They had won the Australian Open early this year. 42-year-old Paes has eight men's doubles crowns in his Grand Slam collection. Paes' win capped an incredibly successful Wimbledon for India as the country took three titles this year.
  
• IPL fixing: CSK, RR suspended for 2 years
  In IPL spot fixing case, The Supreme court panel headed by retired Justice Lodha on 14th July banned both the franchisee stake holder Gurunath Meiyappan and Raj Kundra for life from all cricket related activities
  
  Chennai Super Kings, and Rajasthan Royals were suspended from the cash-rich cricket league for two years for betting activities of their key officials Gurunath Meiyappan and Raj Kundra during the 2013 season.
  
  The punishment was handed down by a Supreme Court- appointed three-member committee headed by former CJI R M Lodha which held that the betting activities of the two officials, Meiyappan, considered the face of CSK owners, and Kundra, co-owner of Rajasthan Royals, have brought the game of cricket, BCCI and IPL into disrepute.
  
  The Committee also imposed sanctions including life suspensions for Meiyappan and Kundra from being involved in any cricket matches conducted by BCCI.
  
  The Committee was constituted by the Supreme Court in January this year with terms of reference being to announce the quantum of punishment against Meiyappan, Kundra and the two franchisees.
  
• Champions League T20 axed due to poor fan following
  The Governing Council of Champions League T20 decided to scrap CL-T20 albeit for other reasons. The Governing Council of Champions League T20 consists of representatives of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, Cricket South Africa and Cricket Australia.
  
  The decision to discontinue the tournament was due to the limited fan following and traction that the tournament got since it was started in 2009.
  
  Touted as the richest club cricket tournament, with a total prize pool of $6 million with the winner’s earning pegged at about $2.5 million and the runner-up’s at $1.3 million, it did not attract the desired viewership. The BCCI has been planning to discontinue the tournament and look for alternatives.
  
• India retains South Asian Basketball Championship
  Defending champions India have retained the South Asian Basketball Championship, SABA title. In Bengaluru on 5th July, they notched up an emphatic win over Sri Lanka in the finals of 4th edition of the Championships at the Kanteerava Stadium.
  
• India clinched series against New Zealand
  The Indian women cricket team won the fifth and deciding One-Day International by nine wickets and thereby clinched the series 3-2 against New Zealand on 8th July.
  
• Serena Williams lifts her sixth Wimbledon Women's Single title
  World Number One Serena Williams has annexed her Sixth Women's Singles title at Wimbledon. In the final in London on Saturday, the American overcame 21-year old Garbine Muguruza of Spain in straight sets. With 21 Grand Slam titles, Serena has also moved closer to a Calendar Grand Slam, last achieved by German Steffi Graf in 1988. Muguruza was making her maiden appearance in a Grand Slam Final.
  
• Sania Mirza-Martina Hingis win women's doubles title
  Sania Mirza and her partner Martina Hingis produced a stirring fight back to claim the Wimbledon women's doubles title under the Centre Court roof lights on 11th July. This is Sania Mirza's first-ever women's doubles Grand Slam title.
  
• Vaishali emerges champion
  Tamil Nadu's R Vaishali has emerged champion in the 42nd National Women's Challenger Chess Championship. In Mumbai on 11th July, she was declared winner by the Buchholz tie-break system after tying on points with two others - Soumya Swaminathan and top seed Tania Sachdev. Soumya won the second spot, while Tania got the third place.
  
  All the three players had finished with 9 points apiece at the conclusion of the eleventh and final round of matches. The top eight finishers in the championship qualified for National A Chess Championship to be held in October. 
• South African cricketer record
  South Africa debutant Kagiso Rabada on 10th July 2015 became only the second cricketer in the history of One Day International (ODI) cricket to claim a hat-trick on ODI debut. Bangladesh spinner Taijul Islam was the first debutant to take an ODI hat-trick. He achieved the fete in 2014 at Mirpur.
  
• ICC notifies new laws for ODIs
  International Cricket Council, ICC, Chief Executive Dave Richardson on 27th June, announced significant changes to the One-Day International playing conditions after discussing the ICC Cricket Committee's recommendations at the ICC Annual Conference 2015 in Barbados. These notable changes will take place from 5th of next month.
  
  The changes instituted by ICC were –
  • Scrapping of the batting powerplay from the 50-over format.
  • In a move to give bowlers a bit of breathing room in 50-overs cricket, the ICC board also decided to do away with catching fielders in the first ten overs, allow five fielders outside the 30-yard circle in the last ten overs of an ODI innings.
  • Free hits will be awarded for all no balls in ODI and T20 internationals, not just when bowlers overstep.
  
  
• Jwala Gutta-Ashwini Ponappa win Canada Open doubles title
  Indian shuttlers Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa won the Canada Open women's doubles title after upstaging the top-seeded Dutch pair of Eefje Muskens and Selena Piek in the summit clash in Calgary, Canada.
  
• Goa provisionally selected as venue for FIFA U-17 World Cup 2017
  Goa has been provisionally selected as a venue for the FIFA under 17 World Cup 2017. Tournament Director of FIFA U17 World Cup Javier Ceppi on 29th June announced Goa as the sixth venue and handed over a provisional selection contract to the Sports Minister of Goa Ramesh Tawadkar.
  
  Delhi, Kokata, Navi Mumbai, Guwahati, and Kochi have already been provisionally selected for the tournament. FIFA is to ratify the venues after inspecting the selected grounds and stadia in September 2016. The tournament itself will be the biggest event in the history of Indian football, attracting attention of 209 countries world over.
  
  Four training venues spread all over Goa and Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru stadium will have to be refurbished to make them FIFA compliant with a total expenditure of around Rs 30 crores. In all 52 matches will be played in venues in India during 2017 Under 17 FIFA World Cup and India with a direct entry will be participating first time in a FIFA World Cup.
  
• First ever Day-Night Test match to be played at Adelaide on Nov 27
  First ever Day-Night Test match will be played at Adelaide on 27th of November this year. Cricket Australia and New Zealand Cricket have agreed for the experimental day-night Test. The test match which will be played with a pink Kookaburra ball and it will be the third and final match of the series between Australia and New Zealand.