SPORTS SEPTEMBER 2015

SPORTS SEPTEMBER 2015

• Pankaj Advani triumph
  India's most successful cueist Pankaj Advani on 27th September added another feather to his cap by winning the IBSF World Billiards Championship in Adelaide, Australia. He outplayed Singapore's Peter Gilchrist in the final to take his world title count to 14.
  
• Abhinav Bindra wins Gold
  Beijing Olympics champion Abhinav Bindra clinched gold in the men's 10 metre Air Rifle event of the Asian Air Gun Championships in New Delhi on 27th September. Bindra, who won gold in 2008 Olympics in 10 metre Air Rifle event, shot 208.3 points to bag the top prize ahead of Kazakhstan's world number eight Yurkov Yuriy and Korea's Yu Jaechul on the first day of competition at the Dr Karni Singh Shooting Range.
  
  Gagan Narang, who won a bronze in the same event in 2012 London Olympics, finished fourth with a score of 164.5 while another Indian, Chain Singh was two places below at seventh after notching up 122.7.
  
• Indian wushu team wins 12 medals in International tourney
  The Indian wushu team fetched a rich haul of 1 gold, 4 silver and 7 bronze medals at the 5th International Pars Wushu Cup in Tehran. L. Budhachandra Singh won a gold medal in the 56 kg category, beating Masod Ansari of Iran in the final.
  
  Mukesh Choudhry lost his final against Asian Games gold-medallist Mohsen Seifi, while Rajani Deori went down to Sajas Abbasi of Iran in the summit clash. 19 teams from 18 countries took part in this championship.
  
• India to host World Junior Circuit Table Tennis Finals at Indore
  India will be hosting the World Junior Circuit Table Tennis Finals at Indore between January 22 and 25. This was confirmed by the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) in a communication to the Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI) on 24th September.
  
  Incidentally, this will be the fifth international event that India will play hosts this calendar year. The TTFI has already completed hosting Asian Cup at Jaipur (March), SAF Championships in New Delhi (May) and Indian Open at Indore (September). The Commonwealth Championships will be held at Surat in December followed by the World Junior Circuit Finals at Indore.
  
  The Indore World event, which is worth 36,000 US Dollars in prize money, will see top 16 boys and girls competing. The selection of these boys and girls is based on the ranking points they have accumulated throughout the season -January to December - with entry limited to two boys and two girls per country. As hosts, India will get one wild card entry each in the boys and girls sections, if none of the Indians fail to make the grade through rankings.
  
• Sourav Ganguly appointed CAB president, Avishek Dalmiya to be Jt Secy
  Former Indian Cricket captain Sourav Ganguly will be the next President of Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB). West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee made the announcement in Kolkata. The post fallen vacant following recent death of Jagmohan Dalmiya. Ganguly was the Joint-secretary of the CAB at present and the son of former president Avishek Dalmiya will replace him.
  
• Sania-Martina wins Guangzhou Open title
  The world number one team of Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis continued its dominating run by winning their sixth title of the year at the Guangzhou Open in China on 26th September. They defeated Xu Shilin and You Xiaodi in the final to win their second WTA title in a row.
  
  It was Sania's seventh title of the 2015 season and sixth with Hingis. She won one trophy with Bethanie-Mattek Sands in Sydney.
  
• Narsingh Pancham Yadav to play in Olympics
  Narsingh Pancham Yadav on 13th September secured an Olympic quota place for India after bagging a bronze medal in the Men's 74kg Freestyle category at the World Wrestling Championship in Las Vegas. With his third-place finish, Narsingh became the lone Indian to win a medal at the prestigious tournament as well as book a berth for the 2016 Rio Games.
  
  This is the first time that an Indian wrestler has earned an Olympic berth with a medal at the World Championship.
  
  Double Olympic medallist Sushil Kumar's absence from the mat for over an year now has made Narsingh a regular in the 74kg division. Narsingh came up with some dominating performances, defeating Hanoc Rachamin of Israel 14-2 before getting the better of Soner Demirtas of Turkey and Cuba's Livan Lopez Azcuy to advance to the semifinal But in his semifinal bout, Narsingh went down to Unurbat Purevjav of Mongolia.
  
• Shastri retained as Team Director of Indian cricket team till 2016 T-20 World Cup
  Ravi Shastri was retained as the Team Director of the Indian cricket team till the 2016 T-20 World Cup at home, based on the recommendations of the BCCI advisory committee.
  
  Shastri, who was appointed Team Director in August 2014, has been given another seven-month extension till the completion of the World T20 in April. The sixth edition of the tournament is scheduled to be held in India from March 11 to April 3.
  
  The advisory committee comprising Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman endorsed the extension of their tenure.
  
  Along with Shastri, the Committee also approved the extension of the assistant coaches till the T-20 showpiece event next year. Sanjay Bangar stays on as the assistant coach (batting), Bharat Arun remains as bowling consultant and R Sridhar as the fielding coach.
  
• US Open: Djokovic wins men's singles; Sania-Hingis clinch women's doubles
  World number one Novak Djokovic has lifted the Men's Singles trophy of the US Open, the fourth and final Grand Slam of the season. In the summit clash played, the Serb defeated second seed Roger Federer, to bag his second US Open and 10th Grand Slam title overall.
  
  Djokovic, who will now end the year with three of the four tennis majors, denied Federer from bagging his 18th Grand Slam and becoming the first player in the Open Era to win six US Open titles.
  
  In Women's Doubles, top seeds Sania Mirza and Martina clinched their second straight Grand Slam title when they beat the Aussie-Kazakh team of Casey Dellacqua and Yaroslava Shvedova in straight sets. It was also the Indo-Swiss pair's 5th Doubles title of the year.
  
• India bags bronze in Archery World Cup Stage 4
  In the absence of regulars, India has concluded their Archery World Cup Stage 4 campaign at Medellin in Colombia with a solitary bronze medal in the men's compound team event. The trio of Sarvesh Pareek, Sandeep Kumar and Isaiah Rajender Sanam, who were seeded sixth, beat a higher ranked Venezuela 231-222 in a one-sided bronze playoff on 13th September.
  
• Hangzhou of China chosen to host 2022 Asian Games
  Hangzhou, capital city of Zhejiang Province in East China, has been chosen by the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) to host the 2022 Asian Games. The OCA made the decision today at its 34th Congress in Ashkhabad, Turkmenistan.
  
  Hangzhou was the only candidate city for the 2022 Asian Games. Its successful bid means the regional games will be staged in China for the third time following Beijing in 1990 and southern Guangzhou in 2010.
  
• 5 cities officially named as candidates to host 2024 Summer Olympics
  Five cities were officially named as candidates to host the 2024 Summer Olympics with Los Angeles aiming to land their third Games and Hamburg, Paris, Rome and Budapest battling to bring the multi-sport extravaganza back to Europe.
  
  The International Olympic Committee (IOC), which will elect the winning bid at its session in Peru in 2017, announced the final list of bidders after the deadline for submissions ended on 15th September.
  
• National Open Athletics Championship kicks off in Kolkata
  The 55th edition of the National Open Athletics Championship commenced at the Sports Authority of India (SAI) complex in Kolkata on 16th September. India’s top athletes are vying for honours at the event.
  
• Shot putter Manpreet Kaur shatters national record, books Rio berth: Railways shot putter Manpreet Kaur on 16th September became the latest Indian athlete to qualify for next year's Olympics when she shattered an 18-year-old national record en route to a sixth title at the 55th National Open Athletics Championship at Kolkata. She threw 17.96 metres in her second attempt to claim the gold medal, a hat-trick of titles at the National Open. She broke Harbans Kaur's earlier record of 17.43 that came in 1997.
  
• Shot putter Manpreet Kaur shatters national record, books Rio berth
  Railways shot putter Manpreet Kaur became the latest Indian athlete to qualify for next year's Olympics when she shattered an 18-year-old national record en route to a sixth title at the 55th National Open Athletics Championship at Kolkata on 17th September.
  
  She threw 17.96 metres in her second attempt to claim the gold medal, a hat-trick of titles at the National Open. She broke Harbans Kaur's earlier record of 17.43 that came in 1997.
  
• Ajinkya Rahane honoured with life membership by CCI
  Ajinkya Rahane, India's most consistent batsman in the last couple of years has been conferred with the honorary life membership by the Club of India (CCI).
  
• India bags two bronze medals in Commonwealth Youth Games
   Indians collected two bronze medals from track and field events on a relatively quiet day for them on the third day of competitions in the 5th Commonwealth Youth Games in Apia in Samoa, on 9th September. Abitha Mary Manuel and Anamika Das bagged a bronze each in girls 800m race and shot put event respectively on the third and final day of athletics competitions.
  
  With the two bronze, India's medal count swelled to 10 -- 4 gold, 2 silver, 4 bronze -- from 3 days. India now slipped to 7th spot in the medal tally at the Games held at this Pacific island nation. Track and field athletes contributed 2 gold, 1 silver and 3 bronze in India's total medal count.
  
  In boxing, Gaurav Solanki, 52kg, was the lone Indian to enter the final even as two others were assured of a bronze medal each after losing in the semifinals. Solanki defeated England's Brandon Daord 3-0 to make the final.
  
• 12th South Asian Games in Guwahati & Shillong from Jan 10-22
  The 12th South Asian Games will be held in Guwahati and Shillong from January 10 to 22 next year. Meghalaya sports secretary F R Kharkongor said, the state will host seven disciplines, including archery, boxing, wushu, taekwondo, table tennis and badminton while Assam would host 13 other disciplines.
  
  The SAG would see participation of around 2,500 athletes from the eight member-countries -- Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, the Maldives, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The last edition of the SAG was held in Dhaka, Bangladesh in 2010.
  
• US Open: Leander Paes, Martina Hingis lift mixed doubles title
  Fourth seeded pair of Leander Paes of India and Martina Hingis of Switzerland won the mixed doubles title after beating American pair of Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Sam Querrey in the final at the Louis Armstrong Stadium in New York.
  
  With this win, Paes and Hingis became the first team since 1969 to win three Grand Slam mixed doubles titles in the same season. The only other team to win three majors in the same year were Marty Riessen and Margaret Court 46 years ago.
  
  Paes, has also passed his former doubles partner, Mahesh Bhupathi, as the most successful mixed doubles champion in the Open Era with nine Grand Slam titles. It was his 17th title in total at the majors while Hingis, 34, now has 19 from five singles, 10 women's doubles and four mixed.
  
• World Athletes championship ended
  The 15th World Championships in Athletics were held 22–30 August 2015 in Beijing, China. 43 nations won medals, 144 of which were awarded. Kenya topped the medal table for the first time. The host, China, finished in 11th on the medals table, while Russia, the overall winner of 2013, ended as no. 9 in the medal count. USA ended third with the biggest total of medals: 18. 206 IAAF member countries and territories participated, the same number as in 2013, with the new IAAF member, Kosovo, making their debut. South Sudan was also set to participate for the first time, but its sole athlete did not show up in Beijing.
  
  The event was the largest sporting event to take place at the Beijing National Stadium ("Bird's Nest") since the 2008 Summer Olympics.
  
• India win test series, end 22-year drought in Sri Lanka
  India on 21st September ended a 22 year long drought of a win over Sri Lanka on Sri Lankan soil, when they clinched their first Test series with the Island ,with an emphatic 117-run victory over the hosts in the third and final cricket Test.
  
  Indian bowlers could wind up the gritty Sri Lankan side with the second new ball after tea on the last day of the Test. After setting a big target of 386 , the visitors wrapped up the Sri Lankan innings at 268, but not before captain Angelo Mathews ,110 ,and debutant Kushal Perera, 70 ,gave the Indians a scare with a 135-run partnership,the second-highest stand in the fourth innings in Sri Lanka's Test history. But it failed to change the writing on the wall. It was new captain Virat Kohli's first test series win.
  
• Government to recognize Yoga as sports discipline
  The Sports Ministry has decided to recognize Yoga as a sports discipline and place it in the Priority category. The Ministry also decided to upgrade Fencing from Others to General category, based on the past performance in major international events. It has also been decided to place University Sports in the Priority category.
  
  The Ministry also reviewed the categorization of various Sports disciplines and the revised categories of sports disciplines and the scale of financial assistance admissible to each category was conveyed to IOC and all recognized National Sports Federations on 23rd March, 2015.
  
• Mumbai clinch Buchi Babu Memorial Trophy
  Mumbai beat Tamil Nadu Cricket Association Districts,TNCA , XI by six wickets and clinched the Buchi Babu Memorial Trophy in the All India invitation cricket tournament in Chennai on 1st September.
  
• Logo for 2020 Tokyo Olympics Games scrapped
  The logo for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics Games has been scrapped after allegations that it was plagiarised. The Games Organising Committee said there were too many doubts over the emblem for it to be used. A Belgian artist had complained that his design was stolen.
  
  Logo designer Kenjiro Sano had admitted copying online material for a previous project, Japanese media reported. The logo was unveiled only last month, based around the letter T and a red circle representing a beating heart - which critics said resembled the Japanese flag. In July, a new Olympic Stadium design was scrapped amid a row over its cost.
  
• First ever International Cricket Tournament for People with Physical Disabilities in Dhaka
  The first ever International Cricket Tournament for People with Physical Disabilities begins in Dhaka on 2nd September. Organised by the International Committee of the Red Cross, the T-20 event has five nations including India, England, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh participating.
  
• Durban to host 2022 Commonwealth Games
  Durban in South Africa will host the 2022 Commonwealth Games, becoming the first African city to be awarded the four-yearly multi-sports event.
  
  The 71 nations and territories of the Commonwealth Games Federation made the decision unanimously on 2nd September after receiving Durban's final candidate city briefing at the general assembly in Auckland. Durban was the only candidate left when Edmonton, Canada withdrew its bid in February, citing costs. The general assembly also voted to increase the number of compulsory sports at the games from 10 to 16.
  
  Scotland's Louise Martin was elected the first female president of the federation, deposing incumbent Prince Tunku Imran of Malaysia who held the role for four years.
  
• Asia Championships: Indian boxer Vikas wins silver medal in 75 kg category
  Indian boxer Vikas Krishan (75kg) has won the the silver medal in the Asian Championships. In the summit clash in Bangkok on 5th September, Vikas fought his heart out but still went down to Uzbekistan's Bektemir Melikuziev. The 23-year-old Indian lost 0-2 to the reigning Youth
  
  With Vikas' silver, India finished their campaign with one silver and three bronze medals. L Devendro Singh (49kg), Shiva Thapa (56kg) and Satish Kumar (+91kg) were the third-place finishers.
  
  Besides, six Indians also made the cut for next month's World Championships -- the first qualifying event for the Olympics next year.
  
• Narang becomes Asia no. 1 in men's 50m rifle prone shooting
  Olympic medallist Gagan Narang of India has achieved the number one spot in men's 50m rifle prone shooting category in Asia. Narang has 971 points to his credit while China's Shengbo Zhao is placed second with 896 points. The Indian shooting ace has already booked a quota for next year's Rio Olympic Games by bagging the bronze medal in the 50m rifle prone event of the ISSF World Cup at Fort Benning, USA, in May.