SPORTS MARCH 2017

SPORTS MARCH 2017

• India wins 73 medals in 2017 Special Olympics World Winter Games including 37 golds
  India’s special athletes gave an impressive performance and won 73 medals in the recently concluded 2017 Special Olympics World Winter Games held in Austria. This year’s edition witnessed 2,600 athletes from over 105 countries competing with each other and the Special Olympics Bharat team won 37 golds, 10 silver and 26 bronze medals.
  
  This year’s Olympics included even disciplines including Alpine Skiing, Snow Boarding, Snow Shoeing, Figure Skating, Speed Skating, Floor Hockey, Floor Ball (and Unified floor Ball), at the mega event.
  
  India dominated in three team events - Floor Hockey (male), Unified Floor-ball and Traditional Floor-ball bagging 30 medals in total which was the highest tally in a single day. Along with this, the special women team also won 16 bronze medals.
  
  An important gold medal came in The Unified Floorball (Male) event where India defeated Nigeria while the Floor Hockey team crushed Lithuania 7-2. India took its tally to 73 medals by winning 8-0 against Austria.
  
  India also won 10 medals in Alpine skiing including 3 gold, 3 silver and 4 bronze medals. The snowboarding team also came out all guns blazing bagging 8 medals that included 4 gold, 2 silver and 2 bronze medals.
  
  5 more medals came in Snow Shoeing and 4 medals were won in Speed and figure skating. In the process, Himachal’s Megha became the first Indian to win a gold medal in the games which were held in Graz, Schladming and Ramsau in Austria.
  
• Bhubaneswar to host 2017 Men's Hockey World League final
  Bhubaneswar will host 2017 Men’s Hockey World League final and the 2018 Men’s Hockey World Cup. The International Hockey Federation (FIH) and the government of Odisha confirmed this on 27th March.
  
  According to the FIH's official statement Odisha will be the title sponsor of both events. The Men’s Hockey World League Final, involving eight of World’s best teams including hosts India, will be played between December 1 and December 10, 2017. The World Cup is scheduled between November 28 and December 16, 2018 and will see 15 teams in action.
  
• India beat Australia by 8 wickets to win series 2-1
  India regained the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, beating Australia by eight wickets in the deciding fourth Test. It was India's seventh Test series win in a row continuing the dominance that started in 2015 with Sri Lanka, South Africa, West Indies, New Zealand, England and Bangladesh being annihilated.
  
• Lionel Messi banned from next four competitive internationals
  Argentina forward Lionel Messi has been banned from their next four competitive internationals starting with the World Cup's qualifier in Bolivia for swearing at a match official. FIFA said, the five times world player of the year will play in only one of Argentina's remaining five World Cup qualifiers. FIFA said Messi had directed insulting words at an assistant referee during the 1-0 win over Chile.
  
• Ashwin received Garfield Sobers Trophy
  India's off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin received the Garfield Sobers Trophy for the ICC Cricketer of the Year 2016 as well as the ICC Test Cricketer of the Year 2016 from former India captains and ICC Cricket Hall of Famers Kapil Dev and Sunil Gavaskar. Ashwin is the third Indian, and the 12th player overall to win the award. While Rahul Dravid had won the title in 2004, Sachin Tendulkar was presented with the same in 2010.
  
• Haryana grabs top spot on 2nd day of 17th National Para Athletics Championships
  Haryana won 12 gold medals and grabbed the top spot on the second day of 17th National Para Athletics Championships at the Sawai Man Singh Stadium complex in Jaipur. Haryana have accumulated 12 gold medals, three silver and four bronze so far. Next best team, Delhi has so far won 4 golds, 3 silver and 3 bronze.
  
• Mumbai lose its permanent status in BCCI
   Mumbai lose its permanent status in the Board of Control for Cricket in India, BCCI. The new constitution of the Indian cricket board, finalised by the Committee of Administrators appointed by the Supreme Court of India also granted full membership with voting rights to all the North Eastern states, as recommended in Lodha Panel reforms.
  
  Uttarakhand, Telangana are also full members, while Bihar gets back its voting right. The new rules clearly states, there could be only one full member from a state. Ranji champions’ along with Baroda and Saurastra are associate members and will take turns to rotate annually to vote. The new Memorandum of Association has also taken away the proxy system.
  
• K T Irfan wins bronze in Asian 20KM Race Walk Championships
  National record holder K T Irfan clocked an impressive timing to win a bronze in the 20 kilometre men's event in the Asian Race Walk Championships in Japan on 20th March. In the event held at Nomi, Irfan finished the race in 1 hour 20 minutes and 59 seconds, a tad slower than his national record timing of 1 hour, 20 minutes, 21 seconds. He had set the national record while finishing 10th in the 2012 London Olympics.
  
• Jadeja toped ICC Test bowlers' rankings
  India’s Ravindra Jadeja toppled Ravichandran Ashwin to top spot in the latest ranking for ICC Test bowlers while Cheteshwar Pujara reached a career-high second rank among batsmen.
  
• Centre designates 12 Olympians as National Observers to assist govt, SAI, NSFs
  The Centre has designated 12 Olympians as National Observers in their respective disciplines to assist the Government, Sports Authority of India, and National Sports Federations (NSFs) concerned in the preparation and implementation of the long term development plan with respect to high priority and priority sports.
  
  These National Observers will be playing a key role in the implementation of action plans for Mission Olympics 2020, 2024 and 2028.
  
  Besides shooter Abhinav Bindra, other named as National Observers are P T Usha and Anju Bobby George (athletics), Sanjeev Kumar Singh (archery), Aparna Popat (badminton), MC Mary Kom and Akhil Kumar (boxing), Jagbir Singh (hockey), Somdev Devvarman (tennis), Karnam Malleshwari (weightlifting), Sushil Kumar (wrestling), I M Vijayan (football), Khajan Singh (swimming) and Kamlesh Mehta (table tennis).
  
• Vani Kapoor wins Hero Women's Professional Golf Tour title in Pune
  New Delhi's Vani Kapoor won the Hero Women's Professional Golf Tour title in Pune on 25th March. She carded three-over 74 on the final day to claim the title which was her second crown. Gaurika Bishnoi and Amandeep Drall were tied second with identical scores of 225 after 54 holes.
  
• Kohli drops to 4th in ICC Test batsmen rankings, Ashwin top all-rounder
  Indian captain Virat Kohli slipped one place to 4th while R Ashwin was back as top all-rounder in the ICC Test rankings released in Dubai on 13th March. Ashwin has also maintained his number one place among bowlers.
  
  New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson gained two places to reach second spot in the ICC Player Rankings for Test Batsmen. Another Indian Cheteshwar Pujara is unchanged on sixth. Meanwhile, Ashwin also dethroned Bangladesh's Shakib Al Hasan from the top spot for all-rounders.
  
• Chawrasia clinches second successive Indian Open title
  SSP Chawrasia has become only the second Indian golfer to successfully defend the Hero Indian Open title. He clinched a seven-stroke win at the redesigned DLF golf and country club in Gurgaon on 12th March. This was his sixth win on the Asian Tour and overall sixth international victory.
  
  Chawrasia is the third player to win back-to-back Indian Open. The other two golfers who did so earlier are Jyoti Randhawa who won in 2006 and 2007 and Japan's Kenji Hosoishi who won in 1967 and 1968.
  
• Spot-fixing case: PCB suspends Mohammad Irfan
  Mohammad Irfan, the giant Pakistani fast bowler, suspended by the Pakistan Cricket Board for violating anti-corruption code during the Pakistan Super League twenty20 championship. Mohammad Irfan has been suspended for his connection with bookies and has to reply to a charge sheet in the next two weeks.
  
• CAS upholds lifetime ban on Sergei Portugalov
  The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on 14th March upheld a lifetime ban levied against Sergei Portugalov, former chief of the Russian Athletics Federation's Medical Commission for his role in providing illicit substances to Russian athletes. The life time period of ineligibility began on March 10, 2017, for having supplied athletes with banned substances.
  
  In its 2015 report, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) wrote that Portugalov supplied performance enhancing drugs to athletes and coaches, administered doping programmes and "even injected athletes himself".
  
• Durban stripped of 2022 Commonwealth games
  South African city Durban stripped of the right to host 2022 Commonwealth Games over its government's inability to provide financial guarantees. Last month, the South African sports minister Fikile Mbalula had indicated the city may not be able to host the event because of financial constraints.
  
  Durban was awarded the right to host the Games in 2015 as the only city to make a confirmed bid. It would have been the first African host of the event. The 2018 Commonwealth Games will be held on the Gold Coast in Australia. A search to find a new city to host the 2022 Commonwealth Games is set to be launched soon.
  
• Hero Moto Corp signs up as 'national supporter' of FIFA U-17 World Cup
  Two-wheeler maker Hero Moto Corp has signed up as a national supporter for the FIFA under-17 World Cup India to be held across six cities from October 6 to 28.
  
  The company has a long-standing association with various disciplines of sports through sponsorships across cricket, hockey, and football. With the signing of the agreement, the company has filled the second of six national supporter slots for the FIFA under-17 World Cup India, the first being Bank of Baroda.
  
• Asia Men's Rugby Sevens Trophy: Ind defeat Pak to secure 7th rank
  The Indian men's Rugby team defeated Pakistan 14-12 to secure the 7th rank at the Asia Men's Rugby Sevens Trophy. The two-day championship was held on 3rd and 4th March, at Aspire Rugby Field in Doha, Qatar.
  
  Philippines won the Asia Men's Rugby Sevens Trophy and secured a place in the Asia Rugby Sevens Series. It will feature three legs and will be played between 1st September and 14th October 2017. A total of 11 countries from across Asia vied for top honours in the championship.
  
• US doctor Thomas Starzl passed away
  US doctor Thomas Starzl, the man who performed the world's first liver transplant died on 4th March. The American surgeon pioneered the procedure in 1963. After creating a new blend of anti-rejection drugs, he carried out the first successful transplant in 1967. Since then, thousands of lives have been saved by the procedure
  
• India wins second test against Australia
  India has won second test against Australia on 7th march. In the match Ravichandran Ashwin became the fourth Indian bowler to complete 200 wickets in Tests at home. KL Rahul awarded as Man of the match. Pujara and Rahane were involved in a stand of 118 -India's highest fifth-wicket partnership vs Australia at Bangalore, obliterating the 93 between Gundappa Viswanath and Yashpal Sharma in September 1979.
  
• Ashwin, Jadeja jointly ranked number one in ICC Test rankings
  The Indian duo of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja on 8th March became the first set of spinners to be jointly ranked number one in the ICC Test rankings for bowlers. The last time two bowlers shared the top spot was in April 2008, when Dale Steyn and Muttiah Muralidaran were at the top.
  
  Among batsmen, India captain Virat Kohli conceded the second rank to England's Joe Root after managing only 27 runs in the match and 40 in the series so far. Root is now one point ahead of Kohli at 848 points.
  
  Cheteshwar Pujara's innings of 17 and 92 lifted him up five places to sixth rank, while Ajinkya Rahane has moved up two places to 15th rank. Player of the match Lokesh Rahul has gained 23 places to reach 23rd spot.
  
• Vijay Goel constitutes committee to look in to women players' grievance
  Sports Minister Vijay Goel has constituted a high level committee to look in to the grievances of women players. According to Goel the five member committee will be headed by Joint Secretary of Sports Ministry. The panel will included two women player and one sports journalist.
  
  He also announced that government will soon start a diploma course for women coaches. The Minister said it will help those women players who want to become coach.
  
  He said 1st Gramin Khel Mahotsav will be held from 25th to 31st of this month in New Delhi. Mr Goel said this festival will help participation of rural youth in large numbers in popular sports and encourage them to achieve excellence and adopt healthy life style.
  
• Kohli remains 3rd in ICC ODI rankings
  Indian captain Virat Kohli remained unchanged at third to be the best-placed Indian batsman in the latest ICC ODI rankings issued in Dubai on 10th March. Rohit Sharma (12th) and Mahendra Singh Dhoni (13th) follow Kohli. Both of them also remained static on their previous positions.
  
  According to ICC South Africa's AB de Villiers has regained the top spot in the rankings for ODI batsmen after leading the list of run-scorers in the recent series against New Zealand which his side won 3-2. It is for the 10th time that de Villiers is at the top of the rankings since first taking the spot in May 2010. He has never been ranked outside the top five since September 2009.
  
• Kohli, Ashwin received BCCI awards
  Indian captain Virat Kohli and spin ace Ravichandran Ashwin were honoured for their phenomenal run of form through the season in the BCCI Awards 2017 in Bengaluru on 8th March. Kohli won the Polly Umrigar award for best international player of 2015/16, becoming the first player to get the award three times.
  
  Ashwin too has been on a record-breaking spree in the ongoing season, winning the CK Nayudu award for his performance in the West Indies in 2016. He picked up 17 wickets in four Tests, including a haul of 7/83 in North Sound.
  
• Mohan Bhagawat conferred honorary doctorate
  RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat was on 9th March conferred honorary degree of Doctor of Science (DSc) by the Nagpur city-based Maharashtra Animal and Fishery Sciences University.
  
  Maharashtra Governor Vidyasagar Rao awarded the degree to Bhagwat, a veterinary doctor by training, at the convocation of the varsity. He was conferred the degree for his contribution in the field of veterinary sciences and social work.
  
• Gopi, Athare win men's and women's races in Delhi Marathon
  Rio Olympian Thanackal Gopi won the men's title in the second edition of the IDBI Federal Life Insurance New Delhi Marathon on 26th February. Monika Athare claimed the honours in the women's section.
  
  In Men's full marathon New Delhi, Gopi clocked 2 hours, 15 minutes and 37 seconds to win the race in his first appearance in the event. Gopi, who is from Army Sports Institute in Pune, has already qualified for the World Athletics Championships to be held in London in August.
  
  In women's full marathon, Monika Athare from Nashik completed the race in 2 hours, 39 minutes and 08 seconds, to bag her maiden title at this distance. She also qualified for the World Championships breaching the entry standard.
  
• Saina Nehwal to represent Olympic Committee in BWF
   Adding another feather in her cap, star shuttler Saina Nehwal, who was appointed a member of the International Olympic Committee's Athletes' Commission (AC) last year, would be representing the panel in the Badminton World Federation (BWF).
  
  IOC said in a communication to Nehwal that she would join the BWF Athletes' Commission as a representative of the IOC AC. The Chair of BWF AC has informed others on the panel about Saina's joining the BWF AC as a representative of the IOC AC.
  
• Shooting World Cup: India bag 1 gold, 1 silver medals
  India on 27th February bagged two medals, a gold and silver, at the shooting World Cup in New Delhi. In the 10m mixed team air pistol event, duo of Jitu Rai and Heena Sidhu clinched the Gold for India, making it the first Gold for the country in this event.
  
  Jitu teamed up with Heena to finish ahead of Japan's Yukari Konishi and Tomoyuki Matsuda 5-3. Slovenia's Naphaswan Yangpaiboon and Kevin Venta were placed third.
  
  In men's double trap event, Ankur Mittal brought the second medal of the day winning the Silver medal. Mittal finished second on the podium after he tallied 74, one behind gold medal winner James Willett of Australia. Great Britain's Steven Scott was third on the standings with 56.
  
• ISSF World Cup: India's Jitu Rai wins gold in 50m free pistol
  Indian shooter Jitu Rai clinched a gold medal in 50 metre air pistol event. Jitu created a new world record with 230.1 points in final. Another shooter of Indian team Amanpreet Singh won a silver medal in the same event. India has now three medals in the tournament.
  
  Jitu Rai had on 28th February won a Bronze medal in 10m air pistol event of ISSF World Cup. Earlier, Heena Sidhu and Jitu Rai clinched the gold medal in the 10m Air Pistol mixed team event at the event. The Indian duo won the first-ever medal in the discipline by beating Japan in the finals at the Karni Singh Shooting Range.