SPORTS JUNE 2017
- Kidambi Srikanth wins Australia Open Super Series
Kidambi Srikanth clinched his fourth Super Series title with an incredible straight-game triumph over reigning Olympic and world champion Chen Long in the Australian Open final in Sydney on 25th June.
The triumph is his second successive after clinching the Indonesia Open Super Series Premier title last week. Entering the summit showdown, Srikanth was only the fifth player in the world to contest three successive Super Series finals (Singapore and Indonesia prior to this). - Kavita Devi to compete in WWE
Former Indian powerlifter and South Asian Games gold medal winner, Kavita Devi became the first Indian woman to appear in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). The event is set to take place on July 13 and July 14 in Full Sail Live in Orlando, Florida. The May Young Classic (July 13-14) will feature 32 of the top female competitors from around the world participating in a single-elimination tournament. - Srinivas Gokulnath becomes 1st Indian to finish solo race across America
Srinivas Gokulnath from Maharashtra created history by becoming the first Indian to complete the 4,900-km Race Across America (RAAM) in solo category. Considered to be the toughest cycle race in the world, he cycled for eleven days, 18 hours and 45 minutes.
Among the nine men who finished, Gokulnath stood 7th while Samarth was right on his heels at number 8. The race was won by Christoph Strasser.
Unlike a stage race like the famed Tour de France, the clock is constantly ticking at RAAM, and the riders have to pedal over 400 km a day to finish the race in the stipulated 12 days. They can rest for only a couple of hours a day.
In its over three-decade history, only three Indians had attempted RAAM solo, but no one could finish. Gokulnath, a doctor by training, is an aerospace medicine specialist working with the Army in Nashik. - India finish second in Junior Shooting World Championship
The Indian shooting squad has finished a creditable second at the ISSF Junior World Championship with three gold, two silver and three bronze medals in Suhl, Germany.
India picked up a gold and silver in the team and individual sections of the 25m pistol junior men's event. India also won team bronze in the 25m pistol junior women's event to shore up their tally on the fourth and final day of competitions. Anish Bhanwala won three medals, one of each colour. China topped the tally in the rifle/pistol tournament with 19 medals, including eight gold. - BCCI forms Committee to oversee Lodha Panel Reforms
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the formation of a special seven-member committee to identify the ‘few critical points’ for the general body of the cricket board to consider before they are submitted to the Supreme Court. The seven-member committee has Rajeev Shukla, Sourav Ganguly, Naba Bhattacharjee, TC Mathew, Jay Shah, Amitabh Choudhary and Anirudh Chaudhary. - K Srikanth lifts Indonesia Open
- Pakistan won their maiden Champions Trophy in Cricket beating India in final
Pakistan have won their maiden Champions Trophy cricket title by defeating defending champions India by a margin of 180 runs in the final in London on 18th June. - Indian Wushu Team bags six medals in BRICS Games
India won six medals in the Wushu competition of the first ever BRICS Games, which concluded in Guangzhou, China 19th June.
The medals haul comprised two each in gold, silver and bronze. M. Gyandas and Anjul Namdev won one gold each. The two silver medals came through Bidheswari Devi and Toshibala while L. Sanatgombhi Chanu and Sajan Lama settled for bronze in the Wushu competition. The first edition of the BRICS Games opened on 17th June.
It featured some 300 athletes from five countries- Brazil, China, India, Russia and South Africa with 10 events in 3 sports - men's basketball, women's volleyball and Wushu.
The launch of the first BRICS Games marked an important consensus reached at the 8th BRICS summit in Goa, India, last October. China will host the 9th BRICS summit in September this year in the coastal city of Xiamen in Fujian province. - Anil Kumble steps down as team India coach
Anil Kumble has stepped down as the coach of the Indian cricket team. This comes after Board of Control for Cricket in India's (BCCI) decided to not renew his one-year contract and invited fresh applications for the post. Kumble's contract as the head coach of the Indian team ended after the ICC Champions Trophy and it is understood that he was not interested in an extension.
Kumble, who was appointed as the head coach last year, has had a good run. Under his guidance, India won 10 out of the 13 home Tests with two draws and a single defeat. India also won a Test series comprehensively in the West Indies. Under Kumble, India also won the ODI series against New Zealand and the limited-overs series against England. - Rafael Nadal beats Stan Wawrinka to win French title
Rafael Nadal had defeated Stan Wawrinka limb and won French open title. It is his tenth victory of this event.
- Jitu Rai-Heena Sidhu clinch gold medal in ISSF World Cup
India's Jitu Rai and Heena Sidhu combined to clinch the gold medal in mixed team 10m air pistol event of the ISSF World Cup, beating Russia in the final in Gabala, Azerbaijan on 12th June. France beat Iran by an identical score to win the bronze in the event.
430 athletes from 45 countries are competing for medals in the ongoing World Cup, which is the last chance for rifle and pistol shooters to qualify for the ISSF World Cup Finals. - England won the FIFA U - 20 World Cup
England won the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) under-20 World Cup final at Suwon World Cup Stadium.
In final, England defeated Venezuela. The FIFA U- 20 is the world championship of Football for male players under the age of 20. - Virat Kohli reclaims top spot in ICC ODI rankings for batsmen
India captain Virat Kohli has reclaimed the top spot in the latest ICC ODI rankings for batsmen. With brilliant knocks of 81 not out against Pakistan and 76 not out against South Africa in the Champions Trophy, Kohli leapfrogged de Villiers and Warner into the number one spot. Kohli had earlier held the top spot for four days in January 2017.
Opener Shikhar Dhawan has returned in the top 10. The left-hander vaulted five places to 10th following scores of 68 against Pakistan, 125 against Sri Lanka and 78 against South Africa. Rohit Sharma and Mahendra Singh Dhoni have slipped one place each to 13th and 14th, respectively, while Yuvraj Singh has gained six places to be at 88th spot.
Fast bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar has led the charge of India's bowlers by vaulting 13 places to share 23rd spot with Afghanistan's Hamza Hotak. Umesh Yadav has gained two places to be at 41st position, while Jasprit Bumrah is at 43rd after climbing up three spots. However, Indian spinners have slipped in the latest rankings with Ravichandran Ashwin dropping two places to 20th and Ravindra Jadeja falling three places to 29th. - Thailand Grand Prix Gold: Praneeth lifts Men's Singles Crown
India's B Sai Praneeth has lifted the Men's Singles Crown in the Thailand Grand Prix Gold badminton tournament. In the final in Bangkok on 4th June, third seeded Praneeth defeated Indonesia's Jonatan Christie in three games. This is the first Grand Prix Gold title for Sai Praneeth.
- Sasikiran wins Capablanca memorial chess
Indian Grandmaster Krishnan Sasikiran earned 6.5 points from 10 rounds to become the first Indian to win the 52nd Capablanca Memorial Chess tournament at Varadero, Cuba.
Sasikiran played out a quick draw against Isan Reynaldo Ortiz Suarez of Cuba in the 10th and final round to win the title with 6.5 points ahead of top seed Vasily Ivanchuk of Ukraine, who secured 5.5 points. - 2017 Forbes list of 'The World's highest paid athletes'
Indian cricket captain Virat Kohli is the sole sportsperson from the country to feature among the world's 100 highest paid athletes in the latest Forbes list topped by soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo.
Kohli, has been ranked 89th on the 2017 Forbes list of 'The World's highest paid athletes' with a total pay of USD 22 million that includes USD three million from salary and winnings and another 19 million from endorsements.
The list has been topped by Ronaldo with a total pay of 93 million dollars. American basketball star LeBron James comes in at the second spot with USD 86.2 million, followed by Argentine footballer Lionel Messi with 80 million, tennis star Roger Federer (4) with 64 million and American basketball player Kevin Durant.
However, in a troubling indication of gender inequality, the list of 100 has only one woman sports star. Forbes noted that the top 100 athletes are a boys' club more than ever, with tennis star Serena Williams, who comes in at the 51 spot with USD 27 million, the lone female athlete to make the cut this year. - Bopanna wins maiden Grand Slam title at French Open
Rohan Bopanna lifted his maiden Grand Slam title by winning the French Open mixed doubles trophy with Canadian partner Gabriela Dabrowski, becoming only the fourth Indian ever to clinch a major. Bopanna and Dabrowski, seeded seventh, won the title following a stunning turnaround in the final. - C A Bhavani wins gold in Turnoi satellite fencing championship
India's C A Bhavani Devi has won the gold medal in the sabre event of the Turnoi Satellite Fencing Championship held at Reykjavik in Iceland. In the final, she beat Sarah Jane Hampson of Great Britain. She had beaten her British opponent Jessica Corby 15-11 in the semifinal. The release said Bhavani Devi became the first Indian to win a gold medal in an international fencing event. - South Korea wins Badminton's Sudirman Cup
South Korea on 28th May won badminton's Sudirman Cup for the first time in 14 years with an emotional 3-2 victory over 10-time champions China at Australia's Gold Coast.
The South Koreans Choi Sol-Gyu and Chae Yoo-Jung beat Lu Kai and Huang Yaqiong of China in the mixed doubles match. The victory, their first in the biennial tournament since Eindhoven in 2003, ended China's 14-year grip on the Sudirman Cup.
In other events, however, China maintained its lead.Rio Olympic champions Fu Haifeng and Zhang Nan won the men's doubles match. The pair of Chang Ye-Na and Lee So-Hee also won the women's doubles rubber. - ICC Rankings: Kohli only Indian in top 10 of ICC ODI rankings
India captain Virat Kohli is the lone cricketer from the country to feature in the top 10 of the ICC Players Rankings for ODIs as he managed to hold on to his third spot in the batsman's chart. The intense competition in the individual rankings justifies the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy's significance as players from the eight participating teams feature prominently in it and not much separates the top players in the fray.
The top three batsmen - South Africa's AB de Villiers (874 rating points), Australian David Warner (871) and Kohli (852) are separated by just 22 points. Among other Indians to feature in the top 20 of the ICC Players Ranking for ODI batsmen are Rohit Sharma (12th), Mahendra Singh Dhoni (13th) and Shikhar Dhawan, who dropped a place to 15th.
However, there was disappointment for India in the bowlers chart as not a single cricketer from the country features in the top 10 list which is being headed by Kagiso Rabada of South Africa. Left-arm spinner Akshar Patel finds himself at joint 11th spot along with New Zealand's Matt Henry while Amit Mishra (13th) and off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin (joint 18th) are the other two Indian bowlers to feature in the top 20 list.
The top five ODI teams are close to each other with South Africa (122), Australia (118), India (117), New Zealand (114) and England (112) all having a lot to play for in the eight- team tournament. - Kohli, Dhoni and Yuvraj in ESPN World Fame 100 List
India cricket captain Virat Kohli, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina have found places in 2017 ESPN World Fame 100 list that made its debut in 2016.
While Kohli is placed in the 13th spot and Dhoni in the 15th, Yuvraj and Raina have been ranked 90th and 95th, respectively.
The top ranking sport personality is footballer Cristiano Ronaldo followed by NBA star Lebron James. Footballer Lionel Messi is followed by tennis ace Roger Federer.
The ranking is based on a formula devised by ESPN director of sports analytics Ben Alamar, which combines endorsements, social media reach and other data to create a comparative ranking system.
The ESPN World Fame 100 has been released on 31st May on ESPN digital editions.
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