SPORTS OCTOBER 2016

SPORTS OCTOBER 2016

• Virat Kohli drives India to 2-1 series lead
  Backed by Virat Kohli's century India registered 7 wicket victory over New Zealand in the third One Day International played at Mohali on 23rd October. With India hunting down the target clinically it took 2-1 lead in the 5 match series. This is Virat’s 26th century.
  
  Records
  26 ODI hundreds for Virat Kohli; only three batsmen have scored more: Sachin Tendulkar (49), Ricky Ponting (30) and Sanath Jayasuriya (28).
  
  In chases, Kohli has 16 hundreds, only one short of Tendulkar's record of 17. In successful chases, Kohli has equalled Tendulkar's record of 14.
  
  166 Innings in which Kohli has made 26 ODI hundreds, easily the fastest among the batsmen who have scored 26 or more tons. Tendulkar made his 26th ODI century in his 247th innings, Ponting in his 286th, and Jayasuriya in his 402nd ODI innings.
  
  90.10 Kohli's average in successful run-chases - he has scored 3514 runs in 58 innings, with 14 hundreds and 15 fifties. Among the 22 batsmen who have scored at least 2500 runs in successful chases, his average is the highest; the next best is Brian Lara's 68.58.
  
  Dhoni has reached 9000 ODI runs; only five batsmen have reached that mark in fewer innings.
  
  196 Sixes for Dhoni in ODIs, going past the Indian record of 195 by Tendulkar. He is fifth in the all-time list of batsmen with most sixes in ODIs, after Shahid Afridi (351), Jayasuriya (270), Chris Gayle (238) and Brendon McCullum (200).
  
• Guwahati gets FIFA nod for hosting Under-17 World Cup games
   Guwahati became the fifth Indian city to be ratified as a venue for next year's Under-17 football World Cup after a FIFA inspection team gave its thumbs up to the venue's preparedness and facilities.
  
  Tournament Director of the Local Organising Committee, Mr. Javier Ceppi said that this event will be critical in the Chief Minister’s vision of making Assam the sports hub of India.
  
  Earlier, Kochi, Navi Mumbai, Goa and New Delhi had got the FIFA's nod. The 23-member strong delegation will travel to Kolkata tomorrow to visit the last venue of its inspection trip.
  
• Karate is now an Olympic sport
  Karate has been included for the first time in Olympics and promises to throw light on the rich history of the discipline. At the 2020 Tokyo Games, 80 competitors will take part in the karate event. It joins surfing, skateboarding, climbing and baseball-softball as new sports included for the 2020 edition.
  
  A blend of indigenous fighting styles, karate was born in Okinawa in the 15th century when the area was ruled by the independent Ryukyu Kingdom. Strong trading links meant that the sport was also influenced by Chinese martial arts.
  
  It has at least 10 million registered practitioners worldwide, and yet it has struggled to make the case for inclusion in the Games.
  
  Judo and Taekwondo are already permanent fixtures. While judo made its Olympic debut when Tokyo hosted the 1964 Games, taekwondo made its first appearance at the event in 1988.
  
• India clinch five-match ODI Cricket series 3-2 against New Zealand
  India clinched the five-match ODI Cricket series 3-2 against New Zealand with a thumping 190-run victory in the final game in Visakhapatnam. Chasing a victory target of 270 runs set by India, New Zealand were all out for only 79 runs in 23.1 overs. Amit Mishra who produced a magical spell to claim 5 for 18, was declared man of the match and player of the series. He has claimed 15 wickets in the series.
  
• Chinese Taipei Open: Sourabh Verma wins men's singles title
   Indian shuttler Sourabh Verma on 16th October clinched the men's singles title at the Chinese Taipei Open badminton, defeating Malaysia's Daren Liew in the summit clash of the Grand Prix tournament in Taipei City. Sourbah, aged 23, who hails from Madhya Pradesh, was on a comeback trail after spending almost a year on the sidelines due to elbow and knee injuries in 2015.
  
• India bag four medals at Tifsa World Games
  Indian grapplers clinched four medals, including a gold, at the just-concluded sixth edition of the Tifsa World Games in Jakarta, Indonesia. Dalmiya bagged the yellow metal in 60kg category after outplaying Muhammad Sahan of Azerbaijan 4-1 in the summit clash. Among other Indian wrestlers, experienced Luv Singh claimed a silver, while Naveen Kumar and Josil settled for a bronze medal each.
  
• India lifts Kabaddi world cup 2016
  India won World Kabaddi championship. In the final India beat Iran, the world cup kabaddi in India, the final was played in Ahmedabad on 22nd October.
  
  In a match contested between two titans of the sport, India beat a resolute Iran side to become the world champions.
  
  India became champion for the third time. Kenya were named the emerging team of the tournament as they won a lot of hearts and almost made it to the semi finals. Jang Kun Lee who had a superb tournament was named the Most Valuable Player of the World Cup. The best referee of the tournament award was given to SMA Mannan from Bangladesh.
  
• Goa given green light to host FIFA U-17 World Cup
  Goa on 22nd October joined Kochi and Navi Mumbai as one of the venues to host 2017 FIFA Under-17 World Cup after it received the green signal from a high-level delegation of football's world body.
  
  A 13-member FIFA delegation alongwith the Local Organising Committee on 22nd October made an inspection to ascertain the readiness of Goa to host matches and training sessions at the FIFA Under-17 World Cup in 2017.
  
  Following the visit, experts expressed satisfaction with the work put in at the venue and ratified Goa as the third venue to host the event after Kochi and Navi Mumbai.
  
• Kohli became first Indian test captain to score double century outside India
   In the test match against New Zealand, Indian Test Captain Virat Kohli made double ton, with this he became first Indian test captain to score two double centuries. He made his first double century, against West Indies, in West Indies. Then he became first Indian test captain to score double century outside India.
  
• India clean-sweep three match test series against New Zealand
  India on 11th October won the Indore Cricket Test against New Zealand and clean swept the three-match series 3-0. In the third and final test, India wrapped up the New Zealand innings at 153 in 44.5 overs claiming a huge victory by 321 runs. Ashwin took his series tally to 27 wickets and was chosen as the man of the match and man of the series.
  
• Virat Kohli presented ICC Test Championship mace:
  Indian captain Virat Kohli was on 11th October presented with the ICC Test Championship mace for leading his team to the top of the Test Team Rankings.
  
  The mace was presented by former India captain and ICC Cricket Hall of Famer Sunil Gavaskar in Indore after the home team completed a 3-0 whitewash.
  
  India were guaranteed number-one spot on the ICC Test Team Rankings after it took a 2-0 lead in Kolkata. Since the Test team rankings are only updated at the end of the series, India formally replaced Pakistan at the top of the table at the end of the Indore Test, which they won by 321 runs.
  
  Kohli became only the second India captain after Mahendra Singh Dhoni and 10th overall to receive the mace, even though it is for the third time since Kohli took over as captain that India have led the rankings table.
  
• Ashwin regains number one spot in ICC Test rankings
  Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin on 12th October reclaimed the number one spot in Test rankings for bowlers following a career-best match haul of 13 for 140 in the third Test against New Zealand in Indore. Ashwin, who was named man of the series after he finished with 27 wickets in a 3-0 sweep by India, now has 220 wickets, the most by any bowler after 39 Tests.
  
  Ranked third before the final Test in Indore, Ashwin, who also holds the top position in rankings for all-rounders, has leapfrogged pace bowlers James Anderson and Dale Steyn to attain a career-best rating of 900 points.
  
  In the rankings for Test batsmen, India's middle-order batsman Ajinkya Rahane has attained a career-best sixth rank with scores of 188 and 23 not out. Prolific scorer in the New Zealand series, Cheteshwar Pujara and captain Virat Kohli also moved up the rankings.
  
  For New Zealand, opener Martin Guptill has moved up 10 places to 58th with knocks of 72 and 29 while Jimmy Neesham has moved up 12 slots to 70th position. In the all-rounders' list, India's Ravindra Jadeja has reached a career-best joint-third rank.
  
  Meanwhile, Pakistan team does not have a chance to reclaim the number-one ranking from India even with a 3-0 win against the West Indies.
  
• 
  BCCI rejects key recommendations of Lodha Committee
  The Board of Control for Cricket in India, BCCI’s Special General Meeting, held in Mumbai on 1st October partially adopted Lodha Committee’s recommendations on reforms.
  
  According to the BCCI it has always been in favour of reforms and the last 18 months are evident of the fact that the board has undertaken many reforms and significant important recommendations were adopted unanimously.
  
  These included induction of the representative of Comptroller and Auditor General as the member of the Apex Council as well as the IPL Governing Council, the formation of the Apex Council with certain modifications, the various committees as recommended by the Justice Lodha Committee including the special committee for the differently abled and the Women’s Committee, Formation of the Players Association and their representation on the Committee.
  
  The SGM authorized the CEO to contact the steering committee as proposed by the Justice Lodha Committee and commence the formation of the cricket players’ association.
  
  Earlier, the Supreme Court appointed Lodha committee to improve the functioning of the BCCI. The Committee presented its recommendation to the apex court in January this year, which were accepted by the Court on July 18. BCCI was given 6-8 months to implement these recommendations.
  
• India becomes number one test team
  Indian test cricket team toppled Pakistan from the top test match ranking as they defeated visitors New Zealand in the second test match at Eden Gardens kolkata on 3rd October. Hosts pulled off a brilliant all-round performance to beat New Zealand by 178 runs and also clinching the three match series 2-0.
  
• 
  Deepa Gawale bags silver at Asian Beach Games
  India's Deepa Gawale won a silver medal in the women's single, Long Ho Quyen, Vovinam event in the fifth Asian Beach Games at Danang in Vietnam. Deepa lost to Manik Trisna of Indonesia to settle for silver. Host Vietnam and Japan secured the third place with 261 points.
  
  Vovinam, a Vietnamese art, is a combination of events with and without weapons. Both attack and defense techniques are trained as well as forms, combat and traditional Vietnamese wrestling. The Indian delegation has so far bagged 21 medals including one gold, four silver and 16 bronze.
  
• Maria Sharapova drugs ban reduced from two years to 15 months
  Russian Tennis star Maria Sharapova's doping ban has been reduced from two years to 15 months. The Court of Arbitration for Sport cut nine months off the suspension imposed on Sharapova, who was tested positive for a banned substance - Meldonium - at the Australian Open in January.
  
  The latest ruling means that Sharapova can come back in April and return to Grand Slam play at the French Open. The CAS panel found that Sharapova bore some degree of fault for the positive test, saying a 15-month sanction was appropriate.
  
  Sharapova, a five-time Grand Slam champion, had appealed to CAS in June seeking to overturn or reduce the suspension imposed by the International Tennis Federation.
  
• Pakistan debarred from kabaddi world cup 2016
  Pakistan has been debarred from the kabaddi world cup 2016, which starts in second week of October, 2016 in India. Pakistan has been denied entry because of a spike in tensions between the two nations after the Uri attack.
  
• Shooter Jitu Rai bags silver at World Cup in Italy
  Indian shooter Jitu Rai clinched a silver medal in the 50 metre pistol event of the ISSF World Cup Final at Bologna, Italy on 6th October. Italy's Giuseppe Giordano settled for the bronze. In the process Jitu Rai also equalled the national record score in the event.