SPORTS FEBRUARY 2013

SPORTS FEBRUARY 2013

• Australia won the ICC Women’s World Cup Trophy after defeating West Indies by 114-runs on 17 February 2013 at Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai. Australia clinched the title for the sixth time in the history of women’s cricket World Cup it last won the title in 2005. Australia scored 259 runs (this is the highest score in Women’s World Cup Final) at the loss of 7 wickets in 50 overs and West Indies lost all its wickets at the score of 145. New Zealand’s Suzie Bates elected as player of the tournament for scoring 407 runs with three half-centuries in the series.
  
• Ranchi Rhinos beat Delhi Wave riders 2-1 to win the inaugural Hockey India League (HIL) in the match at Astroturf Hockey Stadium on 10 February 2013. Apart from winning the trophy, Ranchi Rhinos took away 2.5 crore Rupees. Mumbai Magicians player Sandeep Singh hit maximum goals (11) in the tournament.Hockey India League (HIL) was played from 14 January 2013 to 10 February 2013 in which 5 teams Delhi Waveriders, Jaypee Punjab Riders, Sahara India Uttar Pradesh Wizards, Dabur Mumbai Magicians and Patel-Union Ranchi Rhinos participated. The tournament was played at 5 places- Delhi, Jalandhar, Lucknow, Mumbai and Ranchi. Renowned hockey players of the world participated in the Hockey India League (HIL). 34 matches in all were played during the tournament.
  
• South African “Blade Runner" Oscar Pistorius appeared in courton 15 February, charged with the murder of his girlfriend an incident that has stunned the country. Reeva Steenkamp, a model and budding reality TV show participant, was shot and killed at Pistorius' upmarket home in an eastern suburb of the South African capital in the predawn hours of 12 February, sending the country reeling. South African media reported that Paralympic and Olympic track star Pistorius shot his girlfriend four times through a bathroom door at his Pretoria home. Police said the victim was shot four times at Pistorius' villa in a gated community. Officers found a 9 mm pistol inside the home and arrested Pistorius on a murder charge. Pistorius made history at the London Olympics last year when he became the first double-amputee track athlete to compete at any games. He didn't win a medal but did make the semifinals of the 400 meters and the final of the 4X400 relay, propelling the world's best-known Paralympian to the level of an international track star.
  
• Zhuang Zedong(72), the table tennis legend of China, died in Beijing on 10 February 2013 fight with cancer. Zhuang Zedong is a three-time world table tennis champion. He won a range of events in 1960s. Zhuang Zedong remained a crucial figure in ping-pong diplomacy of 1971 and is popularly also called the Architect of Ping-Pong Diplomacy. Ping-pong diplomacy means exchange of the table tennis (ping-pong) players between China and US. This was done to normalise relations between these two countries.
  
• Members of the International Olympic Committee have voted to dropping wrestling from the 2020 Summer Olympics Games. The proposal came as a surprise, as wrestling is one of the oldest Olympic sports. The International Olympic Committee's (IOC) executive board voted on 12 February, to remove wrestling from the 2020 Summer Olympics Games, however the move is not yet final. The board recommended dropping wrestling as it was not a part of the 25 "core sports" list.The IOC is seeking to drop one sport in order to make way for a new event in the hopes of “renewing and renovating the program for the Olympics,” IOC spokesman Mark Adams said. However, the vote came to many as a surprise since wrestling has been an Olympic sport since the inaugural modern Olympics in Athens in 1896. Other sports, including modern pentathlon and taekwondo were saved.
  
• Pankaj Advani made history at the BetVictor Welsh Open on 14 February, as a 4-1 victory over Graeme Dott saw him become the first Indian player to reach the quarter-finals of a world ranking event. Advani, 8-time world billiards champion playing as a newcomer on the main snooker tour this season, went 2-0 up in the second-round match in Newport with breaks of 63 and 73.The 27-year-old from Pune has now defeated two former world champions at this tournament.
  
• Angelo Mathews, the Sri Lankan all-rounder cricketer was appointed the Captain of the test and one-day cricket team of Sri Lanka on 14 February 2013 for a period of one year. Mathews replaced Mahela Jayawardene, who announced to quit captaincy after Sri Lanka’s tour of Australia. Dinesh Chandimal, the wicket-keeper batsman was appointed as the vice-captain in the test and one-day format of the game and will lead the country as a captain in the T20 format of the game. Lasith Malinga was appointed as the vice-captain for the T20 team
  
• Serena Williams became the new World number one women’s tennis player. Serena Williams who is aged 31 years thrashed Petra Kvitova of Czech Republic 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 and reached Semifinals of Qatar Open Tennis Championship in Doha. On entering the semi-finals, she achieved the top position after a period of two and a half years. Serena Williams will compete against Maria Sharapova in the Semifinals on 16 February 2013. Maria Sharapova reached semi-finals after defeating Samantha Stosur 6-2, 6-4.
  
• Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on 8 February 2013 was slapped a penalty of 52.24 crore rupees by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) for being indulged in anti-competitive practices. The CCI ordered BCCI to deposit the penalty within 90 days from the date of issue of orders. The CCI in its verdict claimed that BCCI abused its dominant position and directed it to cease its all practices of denying market access to the potential competitors. The regulator also stated that the stance of BCCI was of serious concern and quantum of penalty which should be levied that is proportional to the seriousness of violation. A complaint was filed by Surinder Singh Barmi in November 2010 against BCCI and his allegations were based on issues related to a Professional League Tournament and Indian Premier League (IPL) conducted by the BCCI. The issues were related to irregularities in granting the rights of franchise of the team ownership and award of sponsorship rights as well as media rights of the league. This complaint against BCCI was sent to the CCI’s Director General in December 2010 for hearing.
  
• The 2013 Pyeongchang Special Olympics World Winter Games finished on 5 February 2013 after a week of competition among differently-abled athletes. The games took place from 29 January 2013 to 5 February 2013. Almost 200000 spectators witnessed the games in venues- Pyeongchang and Gangneung. India returned with 46 medals in 2013 Special Olympics World Winter Games at Pyeong Chang, South Korea. The differently-abled athletes of India won 46 medals in all- 13 gold, 17 silver and 16 bronze from mentally-challenged 2200 athletes participating from more than 120 nations in the games. The medal tally of India doubled from World Winter Games 2009. These games were completed in eight categories of sports- alpine skiing, cross-country skiing, snowboarding, snowshoeing, figure skating, short track speed skating, floor hockey and floor ball.
  
• International Cricket Council, ICC rankings for test cricket was released on 4 February 2013 in Dubai. South Africa emerged as the world number one team in the category and is followed by England, Australia, Pakistan and India. In the latest rankings released by the ICC Hashim Amla, the South African batsman has emerged as the best batsman in the category and with this he became the first batsman to hold the number one dice in both Test and One-day format of the game since 2007, before this Ricky Pointing was the cricketer to hold this position. Michael Clarke, the Australian batsman was racked at second position in the ranking. Dale Steyn, the South African bowler holds the top position in the bowling ranking and is followed by his teammate, Vernan Philander. South African, Jacques Kallis has retained his position as the number one test all-rounder with versatile performance. Pragyan Ojha is the only Indian to feature among the top ten bowlers in the test rankings released.
  
• Britain-based Rebecca Adlington, the Olympic champion announced retirement from all forms of competitive swimming on 4 February 2013. Adlington, 23 is from Mansfield. She won ,2008 - Olympic Games 400m gold,2008 - Olympic Games 800m gold,2009 - World Championship 400m bronze,2011 - World Championship 400m silver,2011 - World Championship 800m gold,2012 - Olympic Games 400m bronze,2012 - Olympic Games 800m bronze.
  
• Sachin Tendulkar on 8 February 2013 equaled the record of Sunil Gavaskar of 81 first class hundreds in first class cricket at Mumbai. He managed to equal Gavaskar’s record after scoring an unbeaten 140 runs in Irani Trophy against Rest of India in the first innings of the tournament of Mumbai team.

SPORTS JANUARY 2013

SPORTS JANUARY 2013

• Indian cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni joined the likes of Roger Federer and David Beckham when he launched his own signature brand of international perfumes at an event held in Dubai on 31 January. Dhoni became the first Indian cricketer to launch his line of fragrances named '7 By MS Dhoni' because the cricketer's lucky number is 7. In an event held at the Al Joharah Ballroom in Madinat Jumeirah, the Indian skipper launched a collection of six body sprays and perfumes. The six fragrances are named Intense, Power, Action, Connect, Cool and Energy. The collection of perfumes is based on his own choice of fragrances. Rhiti Sports Management, the firm that manages Dhoni's business portfolio, has partnered with Dubai-based Beauty Contact to launch the men's fragrances range in the global market. The Indian captain will be personally involved in the creation, formulation and development of the M S Dhoni line of fragrances, which caters exclusively to men.
  
• Mumbai won its 40th Ranji trophy by defeating Saurashtra at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on 28 Jan 2013. Mumbai won the final match against Saurashtra by an inning and 125 runs on the third day of Ranji Trophy final. The Mumbai team so far has played in 44 finals of Ranji Trophy.Wasim Jaffar was declared Man of the Match. Ajit Agarkar was the captain of the winning team.
  
• Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the captain of the Indian cricket team was appointed as the vice-president of India Cements on 1 February 2013. India Cements is headed by BCCI President N Srinivasan. India Cements owns IPL franchise Chennai Super Kings, the captaincy of which lies in the hands of Dhoni since 2008. The Managing Director-cum-vice-chairman of India Cements is Srinivasan. Earlier, Dhoni played in the Corporate Trophy for the team of Air India, but later he resigned.
  
• World No. 2 Tiger Woods captured his 75th career golf title on 28 January, winning the US PGA Farmers Insurance Open by four strokes for his record-setting eighth career triumph at Torrey Pines,U.S.A. Woods won his most recent major crown at the 2008 US Open at Torrey Pines and has also won the PGA event staged at Torrey Pines seven times. No other PGA player has won so many times on a single course. Woods, who also has won PGA events seven times at Bay Hill and Firestone, moved closer to the all-time record of 82 triumphs set by the late Sam Snead.
  
• Novak Djokovic of Serbia defeated Andy Murray of UK in four sets to win Australian Open2013 final held in Melbourne. It was Djokovik’s third consecutive Australian Open title and fourth overall. In 2012, Djokovic had started with an epic 5-hour, 53-minute five-set win over Rafael Nadal at the Australian Open, the longest Grand Slam final. Djokovic won his first major title in 2008 Australian Open. He now has six Grand Slam titles altogether. Victoria Azarenka of Belarus on 26 January 2013 won the Women’s Singles title of the Australian Open Tennis tournament at Melbourne by defeating Li Na of China, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 in the final to win the title for the second successive time. Top seeded American brothers Bob and Mike Bryan won the men's doubles title. Americans Mike and Bob Bryan won their record 13th Grand Slam doubles title, defeating the Dutch team of Robin Haase and Igor Sijsling 6-3, 6-4.
  
• Fauja Singh(101), the oldest marathon runner of the world decided to stop running in the competitions after Hong Kong marathon which will be held in February 2013. However, before the Hong Kong marathon, Singh will be running in the Australia marathon as well. Fauja Singh is also popularly known as the Turbaned Tornado in all the international events. Though Fauja Singh announced his retirement from marathon, but he admitted that he would keep running for inspiring the masses. Fauja Singh was born on 1 April 1911. Fauja was also felicitated at the Buckingham Palace by the queen in London on December 7, 2005.
  
• Indian Grandmaster MR Lalith Babu emerged the winner of the CSK 5th Chennai Open International Grandmasters Chess Tournament when he scored a crucial win over Swapnil Dhopade in the final round on 23 January. Grandmaster Lu Shanglei of China became the runner-up of the event as he outwitted Russian Grandmaster Anderi Deviatkin.Though both Lalith Babu and Lu Shanglei were tied with nine points each, Lalith Babu emerged champion because of superior tie-break.Indian Grandmaster B Adhiban annexed the third place with 8.5 points. The prizes totalling Rs 10 lakh were distributed in a grand function. K Shankar, President, Shipping Division, India Cements Ltd., representing the sponsors -- Chennai Super Kings -- distributed the prizes to the winners.
  
• Kohli became the Quickest Indian and Second at World Level to complete 4000 ODI Runs
  The Indian Cricketer and the right handed batsman Virat Kohli on 19 January 2013 completed his 4000 runs in One day International cricket tournament. He is the 12th Indian batsman and 84th at world level to reach this milestone. By scoring these runs in just 93 innings, he became the first quickest from India and second at world level to accomplish this milestone. Viv Richards, the West Indies player reached this milestone in 88 innings in the year 1985 and is placed at the 1st position in the list of crickets to touch the mark of 4000 runs in less number of innings. Both Richards and Kohli played in 96 matches to reach the score. Before Kohli, the former Indian Captain Sourav Ganguly had this record of scoring the fastest 4000 runs in ODI in 110 matches and 105 innings.
  
• Defending champion Kerala defeated Tamil Nadu 25-22, 25-23, 25-23 to retain the men’s title in the 61st National volleyball championship in Jaipur on 15 January. In the women’s final, Kerala tried its best, but could not make much of an impression on Railways, which clinched its 28th title in the championship.
  
• Saina Nehwal, the Olympics bronze medalist on 17 January 2013 clinched her career best second rank in the latest rankingsreleased by the Badminton World Federation (BWF). To clinch the second position in the latest rankings released, Saina scored 80091.7444 points and is leaded by the Chinese Li Xuerui, who has 94626.7153 points by her name. Parupalli Kashyap the quarterfinalist in London Olympics was also successful in clinching his career best tenth position in men’s list and he has 51986.6900 points by her name. Kashyap is the only Indian player to be within the list of top-25 players in the BWF list. Saina Nehwal regained her world number two position after an interval of two years. For the first time, she achieved this position in December 2010.
  
• The International Olympics Committee (IOC) on 17 January 2013 asked the popular Cyclist Lance Armstrong facing the charges of doping to return the Olympic Bronze Medal and Certificate of 2000 Sydney Games. The IOC wrote a letter to the defamed Cyclist and the winner of seven times Tour de France and asked him to return back the bronze medal and the certificate that accompanied it for the men’s time trial event. Lance Armstrong is a cyclist, who used performance enhancing drugs and banned substances
  
• IOC asked Armstrong to return the Sydney Olympic Bronze Medal
  The International Olympics Committee (IOC) on 17 January 2013 asked the all time popular Cyclist Lance Armstrong facing the charges of doping to return the Olympic Bronze Medal and Certificate of 2000 Sydney Games. The IOC wrote a letter to the defamed Cyclist and the winner of seven times Tour de France and asked him to return back the bronze medal and the certificate that accompanied it for the men’s time trial event. The dominoes continue to fall for Lance Armstrong, with the International Olympic Committee formally requesting that the disgraced cyclist return his Olympic bauble from the 2000 Sydney Games.
  
• Lionel Messi added yet another record to his stellar list of achievements over the past 12 months on 8 January, when hewon an unprecedented fourth, consecutive, Ballon d'Or at a FIFA gala in Zurich. Messi received a vote share of 41.60 percent to 23.68 for Ronaldo and 10.91 for Iniesta. Messi and former French star, UEFA president Michel Platini, had been the only players to win three straight Ballon d'Or awards while Dutch greats Johan Cruyff and Marco Van Basten both won the accolade on three occasions. Spain's Vicente del Bosque was named coach of the year for 2012.Messi finished 2012 with an astonishing 91 goals in all competitions.
  
• Andy Murray, the third seeded Scottish tennis player retained his Brisbane International Tennis Title after defeating the Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov on 6 January 2013. Murray defeated Dimitrov by 7-6 and 6-4 in straight sets.
  
• Australian pace legend Glenn McGrath was on 4 January, inducted into the International Cricket Council’s Hall of Fame, making him its 68th male member. McGrath was formally inducted during the lunch interval of the ongoing third Test between Australia and Sri Lanka in Sydney. McGrath joins fellow 2012-13 inductees West Indian Brian Lara and England’s Enid Bakewell in being recognised by the ICC and the living members of the Hall of Fame. While Lara and Bakewell were inducted in September at the ICC Awards, McGrath was inducted at his home ground of the SCG by ICC President Alan Isaac, along with Cricket Australia chairman Wally Edwards in front of a large and appreciative crowd. McGrath represented Australia in 124 Test matches between 1993 and 2007 claiming 563 Test wickets at an average of 21.64. He has taken more Test wickets than any other seam bowler currently in the game or retired. When McGrath retired from the game in 2007 he had represented Australia in 250 ODIs, claiming 381 wickets at an average of 22.02 while he took over 800 first-class wickets in his career.
  
• Serena Williams won the WTA Brisbane International on 5 January with a straight sets demolition of Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. Serena defeated the world no. 36 6-2, 6-1 in just over an hour to win her 16th consecutive match - her 52nd win in her last 54 matches and her 47th career title. Serena now heads into the Australian Open as the odds on favourite. She already has 5 singles titles in Melbourne and will be aiming for her 16th grand slam title. Andy Murray defended Brisbane International title by defeating Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov 7—6, 6—4 on 6 january,2013. Murray began his breakthrough season in 2012 by winning in Brisbane and followed that up later with titles at the London Olympics and U.S. Open. Sania Mirza and her partner Bethanie Mattek-Sands won the WTA Brisbane International trophy by winning against Kveta Peschke and Anna-Lena Groenefeld on 6 January. The second seeded Indo-American pair crashed the fourth seeded rivals by 4-6 6-4 10-7. It was Sania's first doubles title of the season while 15th of her career.
  
• Young India batsman Virat Kohli on 4 January bagged the International Cricketer of the Year award while Pakistan was named as the Best International Cricket Team in the 2011-2012 season at the CEAT cricket awards. Another former Pakistan batting great Zaheer Abbas received the Lifetime Achievement Award. In the special India-Pakistan award category, legendary Indian batsman Sunil Gavaskar lifted the Best Test Batsman trophy while former Pakistan skipper Inzamam-ul-Haq was honoured with the Best ODI Batsman award.The 1983India's World Cup winning captain Kapil dev was adjudged the Best Test bowler, Akram received the award Best ODI bowler award. EAT Audience Choice Awards 2011-2012 went jointly to former Pakistan opener Saeed Anwar and Indian opener Virender Sehwag.
  
• Serbian world number nine Janko Tipsarevic by defeating the Spaniard Roberto Bautista-Agut clinched the Chennai Open on 6 January. Tipsarevic beat the unseeded 24-year old Spaniard by 3-6 6-1 6-3.

SPORTS DECEMBER 2012

SPORTS DECEMBER 2012

• Sachin Tendulkar announced Retirement from One Day Cricket.
  Sachin Tendulkar on 23 December 2012 announced retirement form one day cricket which put an end to his 23- year old glorious career. Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar is an Indian Batsman who is considered one of the greatest batsman of the world after Don Bradman in Test Cricket and the second most successful one day batsman after Viv Richards as per the ranking done by Wisden-the Bible of Cricket. Tendulkar who belongs to Mumbai Maharashtra made his appearance in six world cups for India and was the member of the 2011 World Cup winning squad of the nation.
  
• Some Milestones in Schin’s cricket career:
  • Sachin scored 18426 runs in 463 one-day matches at an average of 44.83
  • Tendulkar made his ODI debut on his international tour against Pakistan in 1989 in Gujranwala, where he scored zero runs
  • He scored his first half century in the 9th ODI
  • He made 49 hundreds in the one-day format, including a double hundred which is the first in this form of cricket and 96 half centuries
  • He scored his first century in the 79th ODI against Australia in 1994 at R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo in a day-night match-this was the third match of singer world series
  • In the 2003 World Cup in South Africa he finished as the highest run-getter
  • He became the first cricketer to score a double century in the history of One Day international Cricket against South Africa in February 2010
  • He played his last One Day International Match against Pakistan in Asia Cup Dhaka played at Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur and scored a half century to help India win the match
  • Tendulkar scored his 100th international century on 16 March 2012 against Bangladesh, where he scored 114 runs
  
  
• Pakistan beat India in a closely fought final to win the Asian Champions Trophy hockey tournament in Doha 5-4 on 25 december. The match, in which India led at half time 2-1 were pegged back by a resurgent Pakistan who raced to a 3-2 lead after the break. India managed to equalise twice as Pakistan extended their lead to 5-4.The match though had a controversial moment when in the dying minutes, the Indian team while contesting a long corner walked off. The Indians while attacking the Pakistani goal missed a chance, but contended that there was enough contact for a penalty corner. The Korean referee though ruled otherwise. After a heated argument, the entire Indian team walked off the turf. However, the drama soon ended as the Indians returned on to the field shortly afterwards. But Pakistan held on for the remaining couple of moments to clinch the cup. India had defeated Pakistan earlier in the tournament 2-1 on December 24, 2012.
  
• Former England captain and renowned commentator Tony Graig died from lung cancer on 29 December. He was 66. He was a renowned channel 9 commentator.Tony had led England to number of remarkable victories against different test playing nations. As commentator, he added a refreshing and gripping to cricket’s live broadcast, covering some memorable matches.
  
• Australian veteran Mike Hussey announced on 29 december,that he will retire from Test cricketafter third and final match against Sri Lanka in Sydney.Hussey's retirement will leave a huge hole in Australia's lower batting order ahead of next year's back-to-back Ashes away and home series against England preceded by a tour to India in February-March.Hussey has scored 19 hundreds in 78 Tests and averages 51.52.Hussey's recent form has been outstanding and he has been averaging 180.00 after two Tests in the current series against Sri Lanka. He said any Test match is a stressful experience, but next week's third Sydney Test could be different.Australia have already clinched the three-match series against Sri Lanka with huge wins in Hobart and Melbourne.Hussey, who made his Test debut at the late age of 30 in 2005, has become Australia's 12th-leading runscorer with 6183 runs at 51.52.
  
• Novak Djokovic on 29 December 2012 won World Tennis Championship final against Spanish tennis player Nicolas Almagro. Novak Djokovic beat Nicolas Almagro to clinch the Mubadala World Tennis Championship exhibition tournament held in Dubai.Novak Djokovic, the world number one from Serbia beat Nicolas Almagro the Spaniard by 6-7 (4-7) 6-3 6-4 to get his season off to the perfect start.
  
• Apurvi Chandela won Women’s Air Rifle Gold in the Sahara National Shooting Championship
  Apurvi Chandela of Rajasthan on 24 December 2012 won Women’s Air Rifle Gold in the Sahara 56th National Shooting Championship. The 19 year old managed to take a lead with 0.2 points from Pooja Ghatkar with a 10.7 last shot, till the ninth shot the game between two was tied. Pournima Zanane, the former champion and National record holder was successful in winning the Bronze and was 0.2 points ahead of the Avneet Sidhu the World Championship finalist. Pournima clinched the bronze 0.2 point ahead of the World championship finalist Avneet Sidhu. Nikita Salunke lost her race in the final but was successful in winning a junior gold. 
• Historic T20 win for Pak
  Pakistan’s five year wait for a cricket match against India climaxed on a scintillating high when they posted their first ever T20 win over the arch-rival before a packed M Chinnaswamy Stadium (Bangalore) on 25 December. The cracker of a win was made possible by man of the match Mohammad Hafeez, who led from the front with a swashbuckling 61, and Shoaib Malik, who remained unbeaten on 57. With a brilliant106-run stand, they helped Pakistan beat India by 5 wickets after earlier restricting Indian 133 for the loss of nine wickets. 
• Third India-Australia Test shifted to Hyderabad
  The BCCI on 28 December shifted the third match of the upcoming India-Australia Test series from Kanpur to Hyderabad, citing construction work at the original venue, which was criticised for being under-prepared by a Cricket Australia inspection team. “The Tour, Programme and Fixtures Committee of the BCCI has decided to shift the third Test of the forthcoming Airtel Test series between India and Australia from the Green Park, Kanpur to the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Uppal, Hyderabad. This change is as per the rotation policy of the Board,” BCCI secretary Sanjay Jagdale said in a statement. 
• Mahaveer Singh and Tejaswini Sawant Bagged Gold in National Shooting Championship
  Mahaveer Singh of Rajasthan and Tejaswini Sawant of Maharashtra won gold medals on 28 December 2012 in National Shooting Championship. In the category called standard-pistol, Mahaveer Singh shot 569 to get hold of the prestigious prize ahead of Pemba Tamang (567) who belongs to Army as well as Samaresh Jung (563) belonging to CISF at Karni Singh Shooting Ranges. ONGC’s Amanpreet Singh shot 580 + 99.5 to secure gold in the men’s air pistol. The silver was grabbed by Army’s Jitu Rai scoring 579 + 100. Karnataka’s P N Prakash was the one to win bronze with 580 + 98.4 score. In 3-position women’s event, Tejaswini Sawant shot 581 + 98.2 for the gold. Army’s Raj Chaudhary grabbed silver with 579 + 98.5 score while the bronze was grabbed by Lajja Gujarat's Gauswami who scored 578 + 96.6. In the category of air pistol junior, Army’s Sarjeet Singh claimed gold medal by scoring 573. 
• Sachin Tendulkar on 23 December 2012 announced his retirement form one day cricketwhich put an end to his 23- year old glorious career.Tendulkar who belongs to Mumbai Maharashtra made his appearance in six world cups for India and was the member of the 2011 World Cup winning squad of the nation. Sachin scored total 18426 runs in 463 one-day matches at an average of 44.83. Tendulkar made his ODI debut on his international tour against Pakistan in 1989 in Gujranwala.He made 49 hundreds in the one-day format, including a double hundred which is the first in this form of cricket and 96 half centuries. In the 2003 World Cup in South Africa he finished as the highest run-getter. He became the first cricketer to score a double century in the history of One Day international Cricket against South Africa in February 2010. He played his last One Day International Match against Pakistan in Asia Cup Dhaka played at Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur and scored a half century to help India win the match. Tendulkar scored his 100th international century on 16 March 2012 against Bangladesh, where he scored 114 runs.
  
• Praful Patel on 20 December 2012 was re-elected as the President of All India Football Federation (AIFF) during the annual general body meet that was held at Football House at New Delhi. This would be the second term for him as the President of All India Football Federation.
  
• Triple Olympic hockey gold winner Leslie Claudius (85) died at a private hospital 20 december, after a prolonged battle with cirrhosis of liver. Claudius was member of three Olympic gold medal-winning Indian teams - London 1948, Helsinki 1952 and Melbourne 1956. At Rome (1960), he led India to a silver medal finish.
  
• India Lost the Test Series by 1-2 after Nagpur Test ended as a Draw
  The last test match between India and England of the Tournament England Tour to Indianded up as a draw and with this India lost the four-test match cricket series against England by 1-2 on 17 December 2012. With this win England succeeded in ending a 28 year long wait of winning a test series on Indian Soil. Before this the English side under the captaincy of David Gower won the test series in India 1984-85.
  
• The Series
  • The first Test was played at Ahmedabad from 15 November to 19 November 2012 in which India won the match by 9 wickets.
  • The second was played at Mumbai from 23 November to 26 November 2012 in which England won the match by 10 wickets
  • In the third test match played at Kolkata from 5 December to 9 December 2012 England won the match by 7 wickets
  • The last test resulted in a draw and was played at Nagpur from 13 December to 17 December 2012
  
  
• Junior World TT Championship: China Claimed All Titles
  China got the clean sweep of titles at Volkswagen 2012 World Junior Table Tennis Championship after it won girls as well as boys trophies on 16 December 2012. In the second week of December 2012, China had won girls’ and boys’ team titles. Petrissa Solja of Germany who was the only non-Chinese, lost in the semifinal to Chinese top seed Zhu Yuling who finished by turning over Gu Yuting 4-0 for the title of girls. Her top speed, superior technique as well as great attitude helped her win the title. Thereafter, Fan Zhendong also overcame to beat Lin Gaoyuan 4-2 and thus claimed boys singles title. Initially, he was also the winner of mixed doubles title.Second-seeded team of Liu Gaoyang and Fan Zhendong recovered fast to beat top-seeded competitors Gu Ruochen and Lin Gaoyuan 4-3 to claim their gold in boys doubles. Gu Yuting and Zhu Yuling defeated Gu Ruochen and Liu Gaoyang with a score of 4-3 to claim girls double gold. The mixed doubles gold was claimed by Fan Zhendong and Liu Gaoyang who defeated Lin Gaoyuan and Gu Ruochen combine 4-3.
  
• India retained their Number Five Position as per the Latest ICC Test Ranking
  India retained their number five position as per the latest ICC Test Championship rankings issued in Dubai on 17 December 2012 despite losing to England 1-2 in the home Test series. South Africa topped the ranking at 123 points. India, however, dropped a ratings point to 105, and is now four-points behind arch-rival Pakistan who are placed at the fourth position. England, on the other hand, consolidated their number two slot by adding a point after drawing the final Test at Nagpur, thereby winning a Test series in India after a long gap of 28 years. England now stands just five points behind South Africa. Australia is positioned at number three in the rankings.
  
• India to host Commonwealth TT Championships
  India will host the Commonwealth Table Tennis Championships in the national capital in May 2013. It will be the fifth time that India will host the tournament. Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI) treasurer V.K. Bawa told that the championships will take place at the Thyagaraja Stadium (New Delhi) May 5-10. The decision to award the Championship to India was taken during the World Junior Championships that ended in Hyderabad last week.
  
• Roger Federer Named Swiss Male Athlete of the Year
  Roger Federer, 31, the No. 2 of the world and 17 times Grand Slam champion, was named Swiss Male Athlete of the Year on 16 December 2012. Federer received the honour for the fifth time. Earlier in 2012, Federer had grabbed the 17th Grand Slam title at Wimbledon Championships, London, while also reclaiming his No. 1 ranking in the month of July 2012. He also acquired top most position by the end of the season. Roger Federer, the Swiss player acquired the same title in 2003, 2004, 2006 and 2007. The female Athlete of the year was Nicola Spirig, the Olympic triathlon champion of Switzerland.
  
• For the third consecutive time, India won the men’s final of the World Kabaddi Cup held in Ludhiana on 15 december, by crushing arch-rivals Pakistan 59-22.India clinched the Kabaddi World Cup title, in both men’s and women’s category on 15 december.With the title of World Cup Kabaddi, India got a prize money of Rs2 crore and Pakistan took home Rs1 crore while Canada clinched the third prize of Rs51 Lakh.Indian women Kabaddi team defeated Malaysia by a huge margin of 72-12 to win the one-sided final of the world cup kabaddi played at Guru Nanak Stadium at Ludhiyana.
  
• Australia clinched a record fifth straight Champions Trophy (2012)field hockey title with a 2-1 extra-time win over the Netherlands in the final in Melbourne on 9 December.The bronze was claimed by Pakistan after they beat India 3-2 on a match on 9 December 2012. India missed the chance to win bronze, which would have been its second Champions trophy medal as well as the first since 1982. In the champions trophy,Top Scorer is Nicholas Wilson (NZL), while Best Player award goes to Shakeel Abassi (PAK).
  
• Famous soccer player,Lionel Messi, on 9 December 2012 set the record for most goals in a calendar year by scoring his 86th goal of 2012. He set the record while scoring the winning goal against Real Betis. Messi's record included 12 for Argentina and 74 goals for Barcelona in 66 games. The earlier record was made by Gerd Mueller who had scored 85 goals in 1972 which included 72 goals for his club Bayern Munich and 13 for his country West Germany.Lionel Messi is a footballer who plays for La Liga club FC Barcelona and as the captain of the Argentina national team.
  
• Former Ranji cricketer B B Nimbalkar passed away in Kolhapur on 11 December due to age-related ailments.Nimbalkar was 93. He holds the record of scoring unbeaten 443 runs for Maharashtra against Kathiawar in a Ranji Trophy match at Pune in 1948-49.He was often described as "a man who nearly beat Bradman" for his innings, as at that time his knock was second only to the Australian's 452 not out as the record first-class innings.That particular innings still remains the fourth-highest individual score in first class cricket.Born on December 12, 1919, Nibalkar played cricket for various teams like Baroda, Holkar, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Railways.An aggregate of 3,687 runs at a healthy average of 56.72 with 11 centuries marked him out as one of the outstanding batsmen in the Ranji Trophy.A prolific run getter, Nimbalkar, in his 80-match long first-class career, scored 4,577 runs at an average of 52.01 with 12 centuries.
  
• China swept the titles at Volkswagen 2012 World Junior Table Tennis Championship after it won boys as well as girls trophies on 16 December 2012,held in Hyderabad. Chinese top seed Zhu Yuling won the girls singles title. While,Fan Zhendong beat Lin Gaoyuan 4-2 and thus claimed boys singles title. Initially, he was also the winner of mixed doubles title.Second-seeded team of Liu Gaoyang and Fan Zhendong claimed their gold in boys doubles. Gu Yuting and Zhu Yuling defeated Gu Ruochen and Liu Gaoyang with a score of 4-3 to claim girls double gold. The mixed doubles gold was claimed by Fan Zhendong and Liu Gaoyang who defeated Lin Gaoyuan and Gu Ruochen combine 4-3.
  
• India won the inaugural T20 World Cup for the Blind by beating Pakistan by 29 runs in the Final held in New Delhi on 14 december. Pakistan won the toss and invited India to bat first after which Indian players posted a mammoth total of 258 runs. Keetan Patel scored aggressive 98 runs as India managed 258-8 in 20 overs. The last five overs yielded 81 runs.Pakistan who were the only undefeated side of the tournament couldn’t cope up with the required run rate, right from the start and managed to score 229 runs.
  
• Five wrestlers suspended for testing positive during Senior National Wrestling Championship
  Five wrestlers which also include four medalists were tested positive on banned substances during Senior National Wrestling Championship at Gonda, Uttar Pradesh which was held from 8 November 2012 to 11 November 2012. All five wrestlers were provisionally suspended while they have pending hearing against them. All these wrestlers agreed to B Sample testing which would be conducted soon. Four out of these five wrestlers were till now attending national camp at Sonepat, Haryana. After the information, they were asked to leave the camp till this issue was sorted finally. sThe wrestlers who failed the test include Manoj and Balraj, winners of bronze in 55kg freestyle; Sukhwinder, finishing at the fifth position in same category of the weight; Jitender, silver medalist in 74kg and Manish (60kg), winner of bronze in Graeco-Roman
• The Australian Cricketer Ricky Ponting announced his retirement on 3 December, from International Test Cricket. The decision of retirement came after Australia lost the third test match against South Africa by 309 runs on 3 December 2012 at Perth. While , Ponting will continue playing for Tasmania and in the Australian Domestic T20 Tournament the Big Bash League, where he would represent the Hobart Hurricanes this season. Ricky Ponting was the Captain for the national team of Australia in both test and one day segment of Cricket from 2004 to 2011 and 2002 to 2011 respectively. He made his international debut in one day cricket on 15 February 1995 against South Africa and in Test on 3 December 1995 against Sri Lanka. He played his last one day match against India on 19 February 2012 and test match on 3 December 2012 against South Africa before giving an end to his international career in Cricket.
  
• The IOC suspended India's national Olympic committee on 4 December, because of government interference in its election process. The officials says,after months of warnings, the IOC executive board imposed the sanction when the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) failed to comply with the world body's demands for holding independent elections.Suspension means the Indian body will stop receiving IOC funding and its officials will be banned from attending Olympic meetings and events. India's athletes will be barred from competing in Olympic events under their national flag, although the IOC could allow them to do so under the Olympics. Indian Sports Minister Jitendra Singh called the IOC decision "very unfortunate, more so for sports persons."The IOC had repeatedly told the Indian body to adhere to its own constitution and the Olympic Charter and not follow the government's sports code for this week's elections. The IOC will not recognize the results if the elections are held under government rules.
  
• The International Boxing Association on 7 December, has provisionally suspended the Indian Boxing Federation alleging “possible manipulation” in its recent elections, prompting the Indian government to suspend recognition to the body.Barely a few days after the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) was suspended by the IOC, the sudden development has again brought to fore the “faulty and flawed” electoral practises followed by the federations and has added to the chaos currently engulfing Indian sports. The sports ministry, meanwhile, de-recognised the Archery Association of India (AAI) with immediate effect for “violating the age and tenure guidelines” of the government's Sports Code during its elections last month.
  
• Kobe Bryant Became Youngest Player in the History of NBA to Reach 30000 Career Points
  Kobe Bryant, 34, achieved the title of youngest ever player to reach the milestone of 30000 career points in NBA (basketball) on 5 December 2012. He achieved the milestone when he took Los Angeles Lakers towards the 103-87 victory over New Orleans Homets. In the second quarter, only 1:16 time was left and within that time period, Bryant took his jump shot, taking his career points to 30001. With that accomplishment, Kobe Bryant joined the elite list of just 5 more players to reach that milestone in the history of NBA. Other four of this elite segment are Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (38387 points), Karl Malone (36928 points), Michael Jordan (32292) and Wilt Chamberlain (31419). He is the youngest player in NBA history to reach this landmark at the age of 34 years. Chamberlain was aged 35 when he achieved this milestone; Malone and Abdul-Jabbar were 36 years of age while Jordan on the other hand was 38 years old to achieve this landmark. Bryant however was the fifth-fastest NBA player in context to the games played for reaching this milestone. He achieved this milestone in 1179th match. Chamberlain on the other hand achieved it in 941 games only.
  
• Ravindra Jadeja became the first Indian to score three triple-centuries in the unbeaten 320 runs against Railways in the Ranji Trophy Group A match on 2 December 2012 in Rajkot. With the help of Jadeja’s innings, Saurashtra reached the giant score of 534 for six in their first innings on second day of 4-day combat.
  
• Anna Ushenina of Ukraine won the Women’s World Championship Crown of Chess
  Anna Ushenina of Ukraine on 1 December 2012 won the Women’s World Championship Crown of Chess at Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia after defeating Antoaneta Stefanova of Bulgaria in first set of tie-break game. Anna won the title along with 60000 US dollar for the efforts made by her to win the Chess championship. In 2013 Anna would be playing the next world championship against Chinese Yifan Hou, which is a part of new cycle in Women’s World Championship.
  
• Viswanathan Anand Drew the Match Against Luke McShane in London Chess Classic
  Viswanathan Anand, the World Chess Champion in a match against Luke McShane of England finished with a draw in second round of the London Chess Classic on 3 December 2012. In the game which was finely crafted, the number one of the world Norwegian Magnus Carlsen achieved himself the position of highest-rated player in the history by defeating second seed Levon Aronian of Armenia. The former World Champion Russian Vladimir Kramnik ensured in the meanwhile that victory wouldn’t come easy to Carlsen in merely two rounds. He also grinded US-based Hikaru Nakamura in the endgame that had queen and the pawns.
  
• Anna Ushenina of Ukraine on 1 December 2012 won the Women’s World Championship Crown of Chess held at Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia after defeating Antoaneta Stefanova of Bulgaria. Anna won the title along with 60000 US dollar prize money.

SPORTS NOVEMBER 2012

SPORTS NOVEMBER 2012

• Olympic Medalists Saina Nehwal and M C Mary Kom are the new National Icons of Election Commission of India to enhance voters’ participation in elections.They are the first female national icons to support ECI. They join the galaxy of existing national icons namely former president Dr A P J Abdul Kalam and Indian cricket captain M S Dhoni. Messages of Nehwal and Mary Kom will be used in Gujarat and all subsequent elections for enhancing voter turnout. There are separate messages from them for promoting enrollment of voters in various states and union territories, particularly among youth and women. The two leading sportswomen have been roped in as part of ECI’s strategy to bridge the noticeable gap in youth participation and also the gender gap in electoral participation in several areas. Commission has availed the services of a large number of celebrities from various walks of life in the last 12 general elections to the states as part of its Systematic Voters’ Education and Electoral Participation programme (SVEEP).
  
• Anna Ushenina of Ukraine on 1 December 2012 won the Women’s World Championship Crown of Chess held at Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia after defeating Antoaneta Stefanova of Bulgaria. Anna won the title along with 60000 US dollar prize money.
  
• Usain Bolt of Jamaika won the IAAF World Athlete of the Year Award 2012 for the fourth time and United States sprinter Allyson Felix won women's World Athlete of the Year Award 2012 on 24 November 2012 during the IAAF's 100th Anniversary Celebration. Bolt had won this award for defending his gold medals in the 100 and 200 meter races of the summers’ Olympic Games, he also won the same award previously in 2008, 2009 and 2011. Allyson Felix managed to secure her Gold medal in the London Olympics in the 200 meter race. United States hurdler Aries Merritt was successful in winning the Inspiration Award for his season and the award included a gold medal and a world record in the 110-meter hurdles. David Rudisha won the Performance of the Year award for his record-setting gold medal run in the 800 meters; he was the winner of the Athlete of the Year in 2010. Keshorn Walcott, Javelin thrower of Trinidad and Anthonique Strachan sprinter of Bahamas won the Rising Star awards.
  
• Sebastian Vettel of Germany(25), the Red Bull driver became youngest triple champion in the history of Formula One on 25 November 2012 by finishing 6th behind Jenson Button in the Brazilian Grand Prix. Vettel was the third driver in the history of Formula One to win three consecutive titles. Others who have done this before are Michael Schumacher and Argentine Juan Manuel Fangio.
  
• West Indies won the Bangladesh Test Series by 2-0
  West Indies on 25 November 2012 won the second match of the test series against Bangladesh at Sheikh Abu Naser Stadium and sealed the series with 2-0. Tino Best the West Indies paceman claimed his career best sex-wicket haul to help the team win the match against the competitors, which was followed by the five wicket haul in the first test against Dhaka. With this defeat Bangladesh faced its 65th defeat in the 75 tests played till date, since the time it got recognition as aq test playing nations 12 years back. The list of defeat also includes 34 defeats by an innings. After marking this major win in the test series, West Indies would be playing five one-day internationals followed by a twenty20 international match.
  
• Anand Pawar Won Scottish International Challenge Tournament in Badminton
  Anand Pawar, Mumbai shuttler won Scottish International Challenge tournament at the Emirates Arena in Scotland on 25 November 2012. In the men’s singles final, Pawar performed brilliantly against the challenge from Kazumasa Sakai of Japan. Pawar started off with a disaster but soon recovered to overcome No. 10 seed Japanese 10-21, 21-11, 21-17 in the 56-minutes match. This was the close victory in which the 26-year old Pawar grabbed his 2nd Scottish title after he first won in 2010. This was the seventh international title of Pawar and also 2nd in 2012. In April 2012, Paward had grabbed French International tournament. He finished runner-up in Dutch Open after a week.
  
• Ricky Ponting announces retirement from Test cricket
  PERTH: Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting on 29 November called time on his 17-year Test career, announcing this week's clash against South Africa in Perth will be his last. "This Test will be my last," he said at a hastily-called press conference, adding that he will continue to play for Tasmania in the domestic competition this summer. Ponting, who turns 38 next month, has failed in three innings against the Proteas during draws in Brisbane and Adelaide and pressure has been building on the veteran ahead of Friday's series decider in Perth. Perth will be a fitting conclusion to a remarkable career. After being made Australian captain in 2004, the right-hander went onto become one of the country's greatest cricketers.
  
• Preeti wins gold in National Women Boxing
  Preeti Beniwal bagged gold medal in the Senior National Women Boxing Championship here in Guwahati. She out-punched Uttrakhand's Monika 18-15 in the tough final battle of the 60kg weight category last evening. Earlier, Pratima won the semifinal bout by 18-11 against Priyanka of Punjab. The Haryana Police sub-inspector in the quarterfinal defeated Mizoram's Boethsai 19-13. Preeti recently won the yellow metal in All India Police Games 2012 in New Delhi. "I won in Delhi and now here in Guwahati. It feels realy great. "It was a tough bout. Monika was good but the tips which I got from my father and Indian boxer Akhil ji helped me," Preeti told after the match.
  
• Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar will receive Indian cricket board's Col. C.K. Nayudu Lifetime Achievement award, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced this on 20 November. Gavaskar, who is now a respected TV commentator, played in 125 Tests from 1970-71 to 1986-87. He was the first batsman to score 10,000 runs in Tests, and the first to play 100 consecutive Tests. He led India in 47 Tests.
  
• M. Mahalakshmi and R. Vaishali from Chennai on 19 November 2012 won Gold at the World Youth Chess Championship in Slovenia. Arvindh Chithambaram (Under-14 Open) from Madurai and Girish A. Koushik (Under-16 Open) from Mysore won Silver Medals in the championship. G.K. Monnisha (under-14) and Savant Riya (Under-12) secured Bronze at the Championship for India.R. Vaishali was successful in securing her position in under-12 girls honours. Arvindh Chithambaram lost gold after losing the tie-up with the American Troff Kayden by a tie-break score at the end of the 11-round event.
  
• The Czech Republic on 18 November 2012 won the 100th Davis Cup 2012 finals, after defeating Spain by 3-2 in the finals. Radek Stepanek of Czech Republic outclassed Nicolas Almagro of Spain with 6-4, 7-6 (0), 3-6, 6-3 in the 3 hours and 52 minutes game, on the hard court of Prague’s O2 Arena, during the final fifth rubber of the Davis Cup. Radek Stepanek has created a history by his name after winning the Davis Cup final as he became the first man ever aged 30 or above to win the decisive rubber in 100 years. With this win, the Czech Republic lifted the Davis Cup for the first time after winning independence in 1993. Before this in the year 1980 it lifted the trophy under Czechoslovakia flag by the team led by Ivan Lendl. With this win the Czech Republic turned-up to be the first nation that won the Hopman Cup, Fed Cup and Davis Cup in one year.
  
• Asian under 10 girls chess champion Nuthaki Priyanka bagged the world youth chess championship at Maribor, Slovenia on 18 November 2012. She completed with 9.5 points of 11 rounds. Priyanka completed her game against US-based Wang Annie in 38 moves. She is the 5th standard student of Mustabada Sports and Educational Academy. She became the second girl to win the title from Hyderabad after Koneru Humpy who bagged her title in 1997. V.R. Bobba, the noted coach provided training to Priyanka. She has become the fifth one to bag the title from Andhra Pradesh in the under-10 category after P. Hari Krishna, K. Humpy, Ch. Moineesh and Sahajasree. On her victory, Global Chess Academy director, District Sports Development Officer as well as Krishna District Chess Association secretary congratulated her.
  
• India won the first test match against England by nine wicketson 19 November. India which needed 77 runs to win the match, reached the target by losing the wicket of Sehwag. Earlier, England began the fifth day play with an overnight score of 340 runs for 5 wickets. The team lost all wickets for 406 runs. Pujara who scored a double century in the first innings scored 41 runs and was unbeaten at the end of the match. Sehwag made 25 runs. Pujara was sent to open the innings for India as Gautam Gambhir returned home as his grandmother passed away.
  
• Marcel Granollers and Marc Lopez became the first Spanish pair to win the doubles title at the ATP Tour Finals for 37 years on 12 November, which was held in London, with a narrow victory over Indian duo Mahesh Bhupati and Rohan Bopanna. They won in straight sets by 7-5 3-6.The only other Spanish duo to win the title were Juan Gisbert and Manuel Orantes in 1975 in Stockholm when the title was decided by a round-robin group.
  
• Saikhom Mirabai Chanu won three bronze medals for India on the first day of the 19th Junior Women Asian Weightlifting Championshipsip held in Yangoon in Myanmar. She lifted 168kg to secure medals in 48kg weight category -- one each in snatch (74kg), clean and jerk (94kg) and total (168kg). Mirabai was fifth in 48kg weight category in the last edition of the tournament in Pattaya (Thailand). She clinched gold in the dame category during the seventh National Youth (Girls) Weightlifting Championships held at Itanagar, Arunachal Pradesh last year.
  
• Medical reports have confirmed that athlete Pinki Pramanik, who won several important medals for India in women's events, is male.Pramanik had been accused by her girlfriend, Anamika, of being a man and of raping her. After a series of tests, doctors say that Pramanik is male and capable of intercourse. Pramanik won gold in the 4x400 metres relay at the 2006 Asian Games in Qatar, and was a silver medallist at the Melbourne Commonwealth Games the same year. The athlete was arrested in June in West Bengal where she lives after being accused by her partner of rape. Pramanik spent nearly 20 days in jail before being granted bail. Her treatment by the police raised protests by women's rights group. Cameras recording her arrival at a courtroom showed a cop groping her. Later, a cellphone video of her undergoing gender determination tests was leaked and circulated as a mobile phone video or MMS.
  
• Saikhom Mirabai Chanu, the female Weightlifter from India won three bronze medals for Indian Team on the opening day of the 19th Junior Women Asian Weightlifting Championships in Yangon in Mynamar. To win and secure medals she lifted 168kg in the 48kg weight category -- one each in snatch (74kg), clean and jerk (94kg) and total (168kg). Mirabai, got selected for the event after lifting 163kg in the trials and had managed an additional five kg more during the main event. Mirabai was fifth in 48kg weight category in the last edition of the tournament in Pattaya (Thailand). She had earlier clinched gold in the dame category during the seventh National Youth (Girls) Weightlifting Championships held at Itanagar, Arunachal Pradesh in year 2011
• Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna won the Paris Master,their second title of the year, after scoring a hard-fought win over Aisam-ul-haq Qureshi and Jean-Julien Rojer on 4 november.The fifth seed Indian pair struggled past the Pakistan-Dutch combination 7-6 (6) 6-3 in the summit clash.Earlier,Bhupathi and Bopanna had won the Dubai ATP event and ended runners-up at Cincinnati and Shanghai.
  
• Indian Golf Player Gaganjeet Bhullar became the First Indian who made it to the elite group of the world’s top-100 players in the latest ranking.The title was previously held by Jeev Milkha Singh, who broke the record in 2006 at the age of 34 with Jyoti Randhawa following him in the same year when he was also aged 34.As per the latest Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR), Bhullar had jumped 10 ranks on the back of a tied-18 finish in the $7 million WGC-HSBC Champions in China to take the 98th position in the world. Only Jeev Milkha Singh is ahead of Bhullar currently, and is placed at 95 in the OWGR. The next best placed Indian is Anirban Lahiri ranking 234 on the list. In Year 2012, Gaganjeet Bhullar had won the Yeangder Tournament Players Championship on 17 September 2012 which was followed by his win over the Venetian Macau Open in the month of October.
  
• Kimi Raikkonen won the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on 4 november for his first victory since returning to Formula One this year.Raikkonen, the 2007 champion who drives for Lotus, overtook Red Bull's Mark Webber at the start to move into second. He took the lead on the 20th lap when McLaren's Lewis Hamilton retired because of an electrical problem.Raikkonen held off Ferrari's Fernando Alonso, who finished second. Two-time defending F1 champion Sebastian Vettel finished third.
  
• The Czech Republic retained their Fed Cup title on 4 november, when Lucie Safarova routed Jelena Jankovic of Serbia 6-1, 6-1 for an unassailable 3-1 lead in the final.The Czechs are the third country in a row to defend the Fed Cup title. Russia won in 2007-08 and Italy 2009-10.
  
• Andhra Pradesh D.G.P- Dinesh Reddy was elected president of the Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) at its special general meeting in New Delhi on 6 November.Reddy takes over the reins of the national federation just a few weeks after the International Hockey Federation (FIH) announced that it recognised IHF as its representative in India.This announcement came after the Delhi High Court reinstated it as the national sports federation in place of Hockey India.Dinesh Reddy replaces RK Shetty who resigned a couple of weeks ago. Reddy, a senior vice-president till his elevation, is the head of the AP Hockey Association.Incidentally, Dinesh Reddy, the director general of police, is the first person from Andhra Pradesh to head the top hockey body in the country.
  
• Pakistan on 6 November 2012 was declared champion of the Asian Kabaddi Championship after Indian team walked out from the field in a protest against the referee’s decision of penalizing the Indian Coach. The Pakistani team was leading the game by 40 points against 31 points scored by the Indian side. The protest by the Indian players came after the Coach of Indian side, Goormel Singh was shown a green card after continuously disturbing the finals in protest of decision of the referee.
  
• Female weight lifter Saikhom Mirabai Chanu, of India won three bronze medals for Indian Team on the opening day of the 19th Junior Women Asian Weightlifting Championships in Yangon in Mynamar.
  she lifted 168kg in the 48kg weight category. Mirabai was fifth in 48kg weight category in the last edition of the tournament in Pattaya (Thailand). She had earlier clinched gold in the dame category during the seventh National Youth (Girls) Weightlifting Championships held at Itanagar, Arunachal Pradesh in year 2011.
  
• The Andhra Pradesh High Court on 8 November 2012 lifted the life ban from playing Cricket on Md. Azharuddin which was imposed by BCCI in Year 2000.The life ban on Mohammad Azharuddin came after he was found involved in the betting scandal and the match-fixing episode as per the BCCI three-member committee, comprising its erstwhile president A C Muthaiah and two vice-presidents Kamal Morarka and K M Ram Prasad.Overturning the BCCI decision, the bench of Justice which was comprised of justices Ashutosh Mohanta and Krishna Mohan Reddy gave relief to Azharuddin allowing his appeal challenging the order of a local court.The bench of Justice agreed with the argument of Azharuddin’s counsel K Ramakant Reddy that there is no evidence against him.Mohammad Azharuddin in his 49 years of age is currently a member of parliament from Moradabad constituency in Uttar Pradesh.
  
• Ace badminton player and current World No. 3 Saina Nehwal on 8 November, released her autobiography in Hyderabad titled, 'Playing to win, my life on and off court'. The world's third ranked player has written her autobiography in which she has revealed many of her secrets. The book has many incidents about Saina which are not in public domain. As most of the time Saina is busy playing in different tournaments across the world, so several aspects of her life are not yet known. The book tells a lot about Saina’s personal life, her joys and sorrows. London Olympics bronze medallist Gagan Narang was the special invitee for the book release published by Penguin Books India.
• Hironmoy Chatterjee, Secretary of the Bengal Tennis Association on 1 November 2012 was appointed as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of The All India Tennis Association (AITA). The decision of Chatterjee’s selection was made by the Executive Board of AITA that is headed by President Anil Khanna with consultation to the honourable Life President, Yashwant Sinha. Chatterjee in his 36 years experience as a tennis administrator has been a beneficiary of conducting different types of tournaments that includes the local tournaments to the Davis Cup, a tournament of world level.
  
• India’s London Olympics medalists were conferred Honorary Doctorate Degree by a Indian university at its annual convocation ceremony. Badminton ace Saina Nahwal, boxer Mary Kom, shooters Gagan Narang and Vijay Kumar, wrestlers Sushil Kumar and Yogeswar Dutt were honoured with Honoris Causa degrees by Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh Yadav at the Mangalayatan university's fourth Annual Convocations. Among those who were also awarded Honoris Causa degrees were Dr Rajendra Pachori, Director General, Energy and Resources' Institute and V K Saraswat, Scientific Advisor in the Ministry of Defence, Salma Ansari, Chairperson, Al-Noor Social and Charitable Society in the field of social work and Dr (Mrs) Tessy Thomas, Senior Defence Scientist.
  
• Indian Cricketer Virat Kohli was chosen for the BCCI’s Polly Umrigar award for being India's top international cricketer in 2011-12.With this Virat Kohli is going to be honoured with a trophy and cheque of 5 lakh Rupees at the Annual BCCI Awards Ceremony in Mumbai on 21 November 2012.The award Polly Umrigar is under the name of late Indian cricketer Polly Umrigar (28 March 1926 – 7 November 2006) who had played first-class cricket for Bombay, and Test cricket in the Indian cricket team, as a middle-order batsman and had captained the Indian team in eight Test matches from 1955 to 1958.

SPORTS OCTOBER 2012

SPORTS OCTOBER 2012

• India beat Pakistan by 18 runs in the final of women Twenty20 Asia Cup final on 31 October. In the final contest of Women’s Twenty-20 Asia Cup played at Guanggong International Cricket Stadium, China Pakistan failed to chase the 82-run target in allotted 20-over game and were all out at 63 runs in 19.1 overs. From victorious India, Archana Das and Nagarajan Niarnjana shared two wickets apiece while Shubhlakshmi Sharma, Ekta Bisht, Anuja Patil and Reema Malhotra got one wicket each.Earlier, India won the toss and elected to bat first in the big match against Pakistan.India made 81 runs all out in the allotted 20-over game.Poonam Raut and Harmanpreet Kaur individually added 25 and 20 runs. Poonam Raut was declared woman of the match, while Pakistan's Bismah Maroof was declared player of the series.
  
• The Barcelonean forward footballer Lionel Messi, on 29 October 2012 won Golden Boot Award. Messi won the award in recognition to his record 50 goals scored in the Europe’s domestic football league in the last session. This is the second Golden Boot award for Messi, as he won his first Golden Boot Award in the year 2010 after scoring 34 goals during Argentina International to help Barcelona win the league title. The 25 year old is an Argentine Footballer and a captain to the national team of Argentina.
  
• Sydney Sixers won the Champions League Twenty20 titlewith a thumping 10-wicket victory over Highveld Lions in a final summit held in Johennasburg on 28 October. Sixers first rode on a brilliant bowling display by spinner Nathan McCullum (three for 24) and pacer Josh Hazlewood (three for 22) to dismiss Lions for a modest 121 after electing to field.The Australian side overhauled the target with 7.3 overs to spare, thanks to some powerful hitting by openers Michael Lumb and Brad Haddin who added 124 runs. Lumb (226 runs) received the Golden Bat for being the highest scorer in the competition while teammate Mitchell Starc (14 wickets) took home the Golden Wicket.The latter was named ‘man of the tournament.’
  
• The Union Home Ministry on 30 October 2012 mentioned that it had cleared the Pakistan cricket team’s India visit later this year after detailed discussions with the BCCI officials on issues related to security and visas for fans who will be visiting for the limited-overs series.The coming series is going to be of limited-overs and is likely to begin on December 2012 and continue till January 2013.
  
• Both the teams are going to play three one-day internationals and two Twenty-20 international matches. The liberal visa regime was already signed by both the countries and is supposed to be on operational mode before beginning of cricket series on 25 December 2012.
  
• Sahara India Pariwar on 31 October 2012 at the Sahara Shaher in Lucknow felicitated six Indian athletes who won medals at the London Olympics in July-August 2012. The function was attended by Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav. The silver medalist Sushil Kumar and Vijay Kumar were presented with gold weighing three kg while bronze medalist Gagang Narang, Saina Nehwal, Mary Kom and Yogeshwar Dutt were presented with 2 kg of gold by Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav.Sahara India Pariwar is a major business conglomerate and the prime promoter& patron of sports in India.It had been already declared by Sahara India Pariwar prior to the commencement of the London Olympics that it is going to award medals of pure gold of 5 Kg, 3 Kg and 2 Kg to every Indian winning gold, silver and bronze medal respectively in the London Olympics 2012.
  
• Great Baminton Player, Peter Gade of Denmark on 30 October 2012 announced his retirement. Peter Grade is five-time European Champion in Year (1998, 2000, 2004, 2006 and 2010).Peter Gade had 22 Super series and Grand Prix titles under his name and took 5 medals at World Championships: Silver in 2001, Bronze in 1999, 2005, 2010 and 2011. He had also won the 1999 All-England Championships.Peter Gade remained professional ambassador for European badminton, through major part of his career.
  
• Jeevan Nedun-chezhiyan and Prerna Bhambri won the men’s and women’s singles title of the Fenesta National tennis championship at the Delhi Lawn Tennis Association (DLTA) complex. Prerna, seeded second, had defeated her opponent, top-seeded Rishika Sunkara while Jeevan won over Arjun Kadhe. The organisers also decided to bring the prize money of women’s singles finalists on par with men from this year. The announcement came during the prize distribution ceremony following a suggestion from Sania Mirza, who was the chief guest.
  
• Olympic bronze-medallist shuttler Saina Nehwal won her fourth title of the year by lifting the Denmark Open Super Series Premier trophyby defeating Juliane Schenk of Germany. On the other hand for Saina, this was her sixth Super Series title overall and second this year after the Indonesian Open win.
  
• LP Prasad (49kg) continued his winning spree as he went on to claim the light flyweight title at the 33rd International Tammer Tournament, Finland on. The 17 year old put up a sterling performance against the solid attack of Jack Bateson from England to emerge victorious in the Championship round and bag his first International medal.But the other Indian in the fray in the finals, Dheeraj Singh (52kg) had to make do with a silver medal after losing out to Elie Konki of France.
  
• India’s Anaka Ala¬n¬kamonyclaimed her second tit¬le on the women’s professi¬o¬nal squash tour and her first o¬ne abroadwhen she defeated t¬op seed Kylie Lindsay of New Ze¬aland to win the Ipswich Op¬en in Queensland on 22 october.Alankamony, ranked 93, in the world had earlier beaten si¬xth seeded South African C¬h¬eyna Tucker in the semi-fi¬n¬als.
  
• The International Cycling Union, cycling’s governing body, on 22 October, has ratified the findings of the US Anti-doping Agency and confirmed that Lance Armstrong has been banned for life and have stripped him of his seven Tour de France titles. UCI president Pat McQuaid said, “Lance Armstrong has no place in cycling.”
  
• Bengal's left-arm spinner Iresh Saxena and part-time leg-break bowler Anustup Majumdar shared nine wickets amongst themselves as East Zone won their second successive Duleep Trophy title beating Central Zone by virtue of 43-run first innings lead on 26 october in Chennai.
  
• Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar will be conferred the Col CK Nayudu Lifetime Achievement award at the annual BCCI awards function.The BCCI's Col CK Nayudu Award Committee met on 25 october, in Mumbai and decided to confer the honour on the legendary opener,
  
• Indian cueists proved they were among the best in the business all over again with Pankaj Advani winning the World Billiards Championship title in the timed format. Where as, Rupesh Shah won the points format title.Advani proved his class once again, notching up his eighth world title overall and seventh in billiards, with a comprehensive 1895-1216 win against defending champion and local favourite Mike Russell in the final held in Leeds, U.K. Interestingly, Advani had defeated Russell at the same venue for the 2009 World Professional Billiards Championship. He also won the World Billiards Championship (Timed Format) in 2007 and the World Professional Billiards title 2009.Rupesh Shah became only the fifth Indian cueist to lift the world title twice after he beat Australia's Matthew Bolton 6-2 in the final of the World Billiards (point frame) in Leeds.
  
• Sebastian Vettel won the Indian Grand Prix on 28 October held in Greater Noida. The Red Bull ace has now won the last FOUR races and looks nailed onto win the title for a third successive year. Vettel was 9.4 seconds ahead of second-placed Alonso around the Buddh International Circuit, as the two slugged it out like two heavyweights. The German’s team-mate Mark Webber was in third while Lewis Hamilton, who started in third place, had to settle for fourth spot, one ahead of Jenson Button.
  
• India's top squash player Joshna Chinappa claimed the IJM Land Penang Open (Malaysia), after defeating top seed and local favourite Siti Munirah Jusoh in straight games on 28 October. Chinappa defeated her Malaysian opponent 11-9 11-7 11-1 in a 34-minute battle between the two top seeds at the Nicol David International Squash Centre. This was Chinappa's seventh WSA World Tour title.
  
• Serena Williams beat Maria Sharapova 6-4, 6-3 on 29 October to win the WTA Championships for the third time. Serena will finish the year ranked No. 3, behind Sharapova. Victoria Azarenka, beaten by Sharapova in the semifinals, finished the year as the top-ranked player in the world.
  
• Olympics Bronze medallist shuttler Saina Nehwal failed to win back-to-back title as she suffered a straight-game defeat to Japanese Minatsu Mitani in the summit clash of the French Open Super Series in paris on 29 october. Playing her second final in two weeks, world number three Saina could not live upto expectations against 21-year-old Minatsu and lost 19-21 11-21 in the 39-minute women's singles final. Saina, who won the Denmark Super Series Premier title last week, was tested only for the second time in the tournament by world number 26 Minatsu, who rode on her superior court coverage and accurate strokes to clinch her first Super Series title.
  
• Sun TV Network on 25 October won the Hyderabad franchise of the Indian Premier League for Rs. 85.05 crore per year, putting an end to the process of finding a new team in the wake of the controversial termination of cash-strapped Deccan Chargers. This franchise fee represents a premium of over a 100% above the amount paid by DCHL for the Hyderabad Franchise in 2008,” BCCI secretary Sanjay Jagdale said in a release.
  
• Opening batsman of New Zealand Cricket team Martin Guptill on 18 October 2012 claimed the top honour at the New Zealand Cricket Awards in Auckland, winning the Sir Richard Hadlee Medal for 2011-12. Martin Guptill was also named ODI and Twenty20 player of the year, based on performances between 1 September 2011 and 31 August 2012. Also, Young fast bowler of New Zealand cricket team Doug Bracewell picked up the other big award of Test Player of the Year. Bracewell finished the 2011-12 season with taking up of 37 wickets at an average of 24.05
  Martin Guptill played terrifically in all forms of the game during the 2011-12 season. With 490 Test runs he is only second behind skipper Ross Taylor, while he top-scored for the New Zealand team in one-day with 579 and in T20 with 378.
  
• The Supreme Court of India on 19 October 2012 rejected the plea of Deccan Chargers to put a stay order on the decision of Mumbai High Court that supported the decision of BCCI to terminate the franchise from being in Indian Premier League (IPL). The Bench of Supreme Court after dismissal of the plea made by the Deccan Chronicle Holding Ltd. cleared that the arbitrator can’t overrule an order passed by the Court. With this development by the side of Supreme Court it is clear that the Deccan Chargers are completely out of the League.
  
• Novak Djokovic defeated British Tennis Player Andy Murray, on 14 October 2012 at 5- 7, 7- 6, 6- 3 to win the Shanghai Rolex Masters final. With the winning of match Novak Djokovic became the first player to win seven of the nine ATP World Tour 1000 Masters events. In the Double’s Category, Leander Paes and Radek Stepanek won the Shanghai Rolex Double title by defeating Mahesh Bhupati and Rohan Bopanna.
  
• Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard on her visit to India on 16 October 2012 announced that Sachin Tendulkar would be conferred with the membership of the Order of Australia. This is the honor that is rarely bestowed on any non-Australian.. Sachin will be conferred with this award during the visit of Australian Minister Simon Crean to India. Tendulkar will be honoured with AM award, one of the six different grades of the Order of Australia honour. Sachin is the Second Indian after Soli Sorabjee, the former Attorney General of India to be conferred with this award. Before Sachin Tendulkar, Brain Lara the cricketer from West Indies was conferred with this honour in the year 2009.
  
• Indian Golfer Gaganjeet Bhullar on 14 October 2012 , won the Venetian Macau Open Golf tournament. Gaganjeet Bhullar finished with 16-under 268 for a two-shot win and bagged his second title on Asian Tour within a month. American Jonathan Moore got the second position. The Macau Open is a men's professional golf tournament on the Asian Tour that take place in Macau ever year. The venue is the Macau Golf & Country Club at Coloane.
  
• London Olympic Shooter and silver medalist Vijay Kumar on 19 October 2012 was honoured with the “Services Best Sportsman” award for 2012 at the Army Headquarters in New Delhi. The award which include trophy and cash award of one lakh rupees is generally given to the best sportsman from the three defence forces of Army, Air Force and Navy.Vijay Kumar won a silver medal at the July-August 2012 London Games in the individual 25 metre rapid fire pistol. He was also awarded with Arjuna Award in 2007 and Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award in 2011-12 by the Government of India.
  
• Austrian Felix Baumgartner has broken the record for the highest ever skydive by jumping out of a balloon 128,000 feet (39 km) above New Mexico, the BBC reported 15 October. The 43-year-old was hoping also to break the sound barrier during his descent - although that mark awaits confirmation. Video cameras relayed the moment Baumgartner stepped from his balloon capsule to begin his fall to Earth. It took just under 10 minutes for him to reach the desert surface below. Only the last few thousand feet were negotiated by parachute. Once down, he fell to his knees and raised his fists in triumph. Helicopter recovery teams were on hand moments later, according to the BBC. None of the new marks set by Baumgartner can be classed as "official" until endorsed by the Federation Aeronautique Internationale (FAI). Its representative was the first to greet the skydiver on the ground. GPS data recorded on to a microcard in the Austrian's chest pack will form the basis for any height and speed claims that are made.
  
• West Indies on 7 October 2012 won the finals of ICC World Twenty20 Championship after defeating the Sri Lankan team by 36 runs at R. Premadasa Stadium. West Indies batting first in the match scored 137 runs for six wickets down. In response to the target, the Lankan team finished off at a score of 101 runs allowing West Indies to win the tournament. The West Indies team won a world cup title after 33 years. Before this the team won the 1979 ODI World Cup after defeating the English team in the final. In fact, West Indies also won the 1st edition of World Cup in 1975 after defeating Australia in the final match. Australian all-Rounder Shane Watson on 7 October 2012 at the conclusion of T-20 World Cup in Premadasa Stadium named player of the tournament. It was his outstanding form in T-20 World cup that helped Australian Team getting into semi-final before they were knocked out by West Indies. Shane Watson is also the only Player in the tournament who got four consecutive man-of-the-match awards.
  
• The Australian Women Cricket team on 7 October 2012 defeated England by four runs to retain the Women T-20 world cup title. It is Australia’s second win in women T-20 World cup. Before this Australia had won T-20 World Cup in 2010.Australia Batted first and made 142 runs in 20 overs with 6 wickets in hand, In response to that England women cricket team managed to make only 138 runs in 20 overs losing the tournament to Australia. England captain and opening batswoman Charlotte Edwards was on 7 October, named the player of the ICC women’s World twenty20 after leading her side to the final.
  
• The International Cricket Council (ICC) on 10 October 2012 suspended all the six umpires for their alleged involvement in their willingness to fix the T20 matches by the TV Sting Operation. The statement released by the governing body of ICC after the meet of its full member board cleared that the umpires named in the sting would not be appointed in any format of international or domestic cricket matches, until the ongoing investigations doesn’t reach to a conclusion. Due to the matters of urgency, the board that recruits and nominates the umpires would directly look into the matter. Umpires alleged for their willingness to fix the match in the TV sting were Nadir Shah from Bangladesh, Nadeem Ghauri and Anees Siddiqui from Pakistan and Maurice Winston, Gamini Dissanayake and Sagara Gallage from Sri Lanka.
  
• Former India cricketer and captain Anil Kumble on 11 October 2012 was named the new head of the International Cricket Council's (ICC) cricket committee, replacing former West Indies skipper Clive Lloyd. The International Cricket Council's (ICC) cricket committee is a 16-member committee, which meets twice a year to consult on playing matters and offer recommendations to the ICC on technical aspects and rules of the sport. Anil Kumble also heads the Board of Control for Cricket in India's board's technical Committee. Anil Kumble, is 41 years old and has 619 Test and 337 One-Day International wickets to his name.
  
• Leander Paes and his Czech partner Radek Stepanek faltered at the final hurdle as they suffered an upset straight-set defeat at the hands of Alexander Peya of Austria and Brazil’s Bruno Soares to finish runners-up at the ATP Japan Open held in Tokyo. The fourth-seeded Austrian-Brazilian pair defeated top seeds Paes and Stepanek 6-3, 7-6(5) in an hour and 46 minutes in the $1,280,565 hard court event to win their second ATP World Tour doubles titles in as many weeks. Kei Nishikori made history by becoming the first Japanese player to win the ATP Japan open tournament since 1972 when he defeated young Canadian star Milos Raonic in the men’s singles final.
  
• World No. 2 Novak Djokovicdefeated Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France 7-6(4), 6-2 to win the China Open for a third time. The 25-year-old Serb defeated the world No.7 to maintain his unbeaten record at the ATP 500 tournament in Beijing and take the winner’s prize of $530,570.While, Women’s singles title was won by Victoria Azarenka by beating Maria Sharapova 6-3, 6-1. The mens doubles was won by Mike Bryan and Bob Bryan duo. Mike Bryan has become the most decorated tennis player in doubles history after he joined forces with his brother Bob to win the China Open. It is the 84th ATP-level title of his career, edging him ahead of Australian Todd Woodbridge who retired with 83 titles. Bob Bryan has 82 titles to his name.
  
• India’s top male shuttler Parupalli Kashyap won his maiden national title, while 2008 winner Sayali Gokhale cracked the defending champion PV Sindhu to clinch the crown for the second time in the women’s singles at the 77th Senior National Badminton Championship on 4 October in Srinagar. London Olympics quarterfinalist Kashyap, won over Ajay Jayaram 21-18, 21-17 in a 45-minute battle.
  
• The World No. 5 ranked Justin Rose captured the inaugural World Golf Final in Turkey with a one-stroke victory over Lee Westwood. Rose, who beat Tiger Woods in the semi-final, led from the first hole against estwood after a 25-foot birdie.
  
• The termination of Deccan Chargers franchise from the Indian Premier League was officially confirmed by the BCCIon 13 October, after its appeal was upheld by the Bombay High Court. The Chargers were suspended by the BCCI on 12 October. after owners, Deccan Chronicle Holding failed to come up with the bank guarantee of Rs 100 crore by the deadline time of 5PM.Justice CK Thakkar, the arbitrator appointed by the HC to work out a mutual agreement between the two parties, ordered a status-quo on Friday, meaning BCCI's decision to terminate the franchise was not formally completed.
  
• Michael Schumacher on 3 October has announced that he will retire from Formula 1 at the end of the season. Seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher has confirmed he will retire for good at the end of current Formula 1 season. Schumacher holds the record for number of championships and for grand prix wins, with 91. He began his career in 1991 and won two titles with Benetton then five for Ferrari. He initially retired in 2006 but made a comeback with Mercedes in 2010. That comeback had not lived up to expectations, with just one podium finish.
  
• World champion Sebastian Vettel won at the Formula One Japanese Grand Prix for the fourth year in succession on 6 october.This is the Vettel’s 34th career pole.
  
• The government said on 4 October that University and college sports persons who bring laurels to the country in national and international events will be provided free education till the highest level. HRD Minister Kapil Sibal told in this regard, "Any sports person, who brings laurels to the country, will be given free education up to the highest level".
  
• Punjab registered a 2-1 victory over Air India and claim the second Hockey India Senior Men's National championship title on 1 october held in Bangaluru.
  
• Europe retained Ryder Cup after beating the U.S. 14.5-13.5 in front of vociferous support for the home team in the biennial golf event. Martin Kaymer made a clutch par putt on 18 at the Medinah Country Club to secure the return of the trophy, and Tiger Woods conceded the final hole to Francesco Molinari to give the Europeans an outright win. Europe were buoyed by both a good start to the round and some late-hole struggles by the Americans, and they have now won five of the last six Ryder Cups.
  
• East Bengal regains Federation Cup:
  East Bengal regained the Federation Cup after a season, outclassing Dempo SC 3-2 in the final here at the Kanchanjungha Stadium. East Bengal lifted the title for the eighth time in 16 final appearances.
  World Squash Federation President (WSF) N Ramachandran of India was re-elected to the post for a further four-year term. Mr Ramachandran, who has been striving to ensure that Squash was included as a medal sport in Olympics, was unanimously re-elected President the at the 42nd WSF AGM held in Stockholm, Sweden.

SPORTS SEPTEMBER 2012

SPORTS SEPTEMBER 2012

• Ace shuttler Saina Nehwal signed the Rs 40-crore deal with Rhiti Sports, a management company which also manages India's cricket captain MS Dhoni.Saina, who was contracted with Deccan Chronicle till July 31, signed the three-year deal with Rhiti a few days back. While she used to get Rs 1.5 crore base money per year from DC, she will now get close to Rs 14 crore from her new management company.
  
• Indian golfer Gaganjeet Bhullar won Golf Asian Tour title held in Chinese Taipei on 17 september.Jason Kutzon of U.S.stood at second position.
  
• Defending champions India by defeating Nepal 3-1, retained the Women's SAFF Football Championship on 16 september held in Colombo.
  
• Matthew Hayden, the Australian Cricketer on 20 September 2012 announced his retirement from all formats of Cricket. Matthew Hayden retired from test cricket in the year 1999 and was a part of Chennai Super Kings squad in the Indian Premier League.Mathew Hayden scored 8,625 runs in 103 Tests for his country with 30 centuries, at an average of more than 50. He also played 161 one-day internationals.Highest score of 380 runs made by an Australian batsman in the test match is recorded by his name.
  
• Chandrika Tarafdar on 19 september, became the first Indian to win a medal in the youth World weightlifting championships after she bagged two bronze medals in the girls’ 44kg category on the opening day at Kosice, Slovakia.Chandrika won a bronze each in clean and jerk and total lift. She lifted 55kg in snatch and 74kg in clean and jerk for a total effort of 129kg.This is the first time that an Indian has taken home a medal in the history of the Youth Worlds.India is being represented by eight lifters in the championships , two boys and six girls.
  
• Kumar Sangakkara (Sri Lanka) won the ICC Cricketer of the year, ICC Test Cricketer of the Year and the People`s Choice Award. The Vice-Captain of Indian Cricket team, Virat Kohli was named as the ODI Cricketer of the year.These awards were give away at ICC Awards Function held at Colombo, Sri Lanka on 15 September 2012. The other players awarded at the award function were-Richard Levi (South Africa) - The ICC Twenty20 International Performance of the Year,Daniel Vettori (New Zealand) - The Spirit of Cricket Award,
  Sunil Narine (West Indies) - The Emerging Cricketer of the Year,
  Stafanie Taylor (West Indies) - The Women`s ODI Cricketer of the Year,
  Sarah Taylor (England) - Women`s T20 Cricketer of the Year,
  George Dockrell (Ireland)- Associate and Affiliate Cricketer of the Year.
  
• Retired boxing great Muhammad Ali has been awarded the Liberty Medal on 13 september,in Philadelphia, US.The award was presented in a ceremony at the National Constitution Center. It recognizes his longtime role as a fighter outside the ring for humanitarian causes, civil rights and religious freedom.Since hanging up his gloves in 1981, Ali has traveled extensively on international charitable missions and devoted his time to social causes.Previous medal recipients include rock singer Bono, former South African President Nelson Mandela and former President Jimmy Carter.
  
• The Karnataka high court on 21 september, stayed the two-year AITA ban on tennis players Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna from representing the country till June 30, 2014 on disciplinary grounds.Hearing a writ petition filed by the duo challenging the two-year ban imposed by All India Tennis Association, justice Mohan Shantanagoudar ordered issue of emergent notice to AITA and the sports ministry.
  
• The nation of China lead the medal list in the 2012 Paralympics held in London, after a strong showing at this year's Summer Olympics. Russia came in second in gold medals with 36, while the host Great Britain obtained the second most medals overall with 120. Here is the medal table of the top five countries.
  1. China -- 231 medals (95 G, 71 S, 65 B)
  2. Great Britain -- 120 medals (34 G, 43 S, 43 B)
  3. Russia -- 102 medals (32 G, 38 S, 28 B)
  4. USA -- 98 medals (31 G, 29 S, 38 B)
  5. Australia -- 85 medals (32 G, 23 S, 30 B)
  
• Mariamma Koshy appointed as the full-time President of Hockey India:
  Hockey India on 17 September 2012 appointed Mariamma Koshy of Hockey Kerala as its new full-time President. The decision was made during the 15th meet of Board Executives and was taken following the guidelines prescribed under rule 4(f) of Hockey India Rules and Regulations. Koshy (63 years in age) has been a vice-president of Hockey India as well as an Interim-President of the National Body. Gayatri Shetty, the treasurer of Hockey Karnataka was named as the new Vice-President of Hockey India after the post was vacated, due to Koshy’s elevation. Appointment of Gayatri also was done following the guidelines and regulations under rule 4 (f).
  
• Dhoni named as the captain for IIC ODI team of the year:
  Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the captain of Indian Cricket team has been named as the Captain of ICC’s ODI team of the year. Virat Kohli and Gautam Gambhir are two more players from Indian squad to be selected in the ICC’s ODI team for the year. Dhoni has been nominated to be a member of the team for fifth consecutive year in a row.The complete team of twelve members selected for the ICC’s One Day International team of the year includes three Indians and two members from each of the team Australia, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and England along with one nominated South African player as a whole. The team was selected by the a panel headed by the former West Indian Captain Clive Lloyd that included other members like Carl Hooper (Former Skipper-West Indies), Marvan Atapattu (Former Captain Sri Lanka), Tom Moody (former Australian all-rounder) and Clare O’Connor (Former Captain of England’s women team). Name of the squad for the ICC ODI team was announced by David Richardson, the ICC Chief Executive at an event organized before LG ICC Awards ceremony. Name of the players for the team are MS Dhoni (Ind, wicketkeeper/Captain), Shahid Afridi (Pak), Gautam Gambhir (Ind), Kumar Sangakkara (SL), Alastair Cook (Eng), Virat Kohli (Ind), Morne Morkel (SA), Michael Clarke (Aus), Lasith Malinga (SL), Saeed Ajmal (Pak), Steven Finn (Eng). The twelfth man of the team will be Shane Watson (Aus).
  
• Olympic silver medallist Vijay Kumar is world No. 2 :
  London Olympics silver medallist Vijay Kumar has added another feather to his cap as he achieved the world number 2 ranking in the latest list issued by the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF). Vijay has 2871 points compared to top-ranked Pupo Leuris' 3690 -- he won the gold medal at the Games. Bronze winner Ding Feng of China was fourth with 2699 points, a place behind Russia's Alexei Klimov who has 2856 to his name. Reitz Christian of Germany completed the top-5 with 2475 points. Two other Indians -- Pemba Tamang (159 points) and Gurpreet Singh (76) -- were ranked 23rd and 34th respectively in the list.
  
• Rest of India, lifted the Irani trophy for the second year in a row, by defeating the Rajasthan. At the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Chennai on 24 September, Rajasthan lost by an innings and 79 runs in the last session of the fourth day. M. Vijay, for his fine knock of 266, was adjudged the ‘Man-of-the-match’.
  
• India's top archer Deepika Kumari won the silver medal, in the recurve women's individual event in world cup held at Hibiya Park in Tokyo on 22 September. Deepika, in her first appearance after the London Olympics debacle, was in splendid form as she won the quarterfinals and semifinals to lead 4-0 in the final before she lost 4-6 ((26-23, 27-25, 24-28, 23-26, 25-26).
  
• Olympic bronze medallist shuttler Saina Nehwal on 28 September, experienced the thrill of flying in an Indian Air Force aircraft. She flew in 'Kiran Jet Trainer' for about 20 minutes, after taking off from the training academy in Dindigul on the outskirts of Hyderabad.
  
• Babita Kumari (51kg) became only the second Indian woman wrestler to win a medal at the World championships when she clinched a bronze at the event in Edmonton, Canada. Babita’s medal is the second won by any Indian female wrestler in the senior World championship. The first medal, a bronze, was won by Alka Tomar in 2006, China. After her sister Babita Kumari’s bronze medal winning feat in 51kg, Geeta Phogat claimed the 55kg bronze in the women’s World wrestling championship in Edmonton, Canada, on 29 September. Commonwealth Games champion Geeta became the third Indian woman to bag a World championship medal after Alka Tomar (2006) and Babita.
  
• Grand Master Koneru Humpy won the final leg of the FIDE Grand Prix which concluded at Ankaraon 28 september. She defeated Monika Socko of Poland. Humpy tallied 8.5 points from her 11 games to top the 12-player, all-play-all which followed the Chess Olympiad held in Istanbul. Humpy started well while most of her rivals came tired directly from the Chess Olympiad. However, a ninth round defeat after reaching a clearly better rook ending against top seed and World Women’s No. 2 Anna Muzychuk of Slovenia nearly spoilt her event. The title race opened up with Muzychuk half a point ahead with two rounds to go.In the overall, six Grand Prix events held at Rostov, Shenzhen, Nalchik, Kazan, Jermuk and Ankara, world women’s champion Hou Yifan of China had won three already with a maximum 480 points. Each player took part in four of the six events with the best three counting for Grand Prix points. Humpy’s victory in Ankara helped her overtake Muzychuk and win the second place with 415 points. Muzychuk was third with 405 points. Humpy won in Ankara, tied for first in Kazan with Muzychuk and finished third in Jermuk.Grand Prix final placings: 1. Hou Yifan (Chn) 480; 2. Humpy 415; 3. Muzychuk 405.
  
• Former Indian cricketer Sandeep Patil was 27 September, appointed the chairman of the national selection committee. Roger Binny (South), Vikram Rathore (North), Saba Karim (East) and Rajinder Singh Hans (Central) comprise the rest of the new panel which had no place for former cricketer Mohinder Amarnath who was dropped after just one year's term. Chnadrakant Pandit, a wicketkeeper-batsman who played for India between 1986 and 1992, was named chairman of the junior selection committee. BCCI's previous selection panel comprised of Srikkanth, Amarnath, Narendra Hirwani (Central Zone), Surendra Bhave (West Zone) and Raja Venkat (East Zone). Amarnath had replaced Yashpal Sharma last year..
  
• Serena Williams won Women's Singles US Open 2012:
  Serena Williams of USA won her fourth Women's Singles US Open title in New York on 9 September 2012. In the final match played a short while ago, fourth seeded Serena showed incredible resolve as she beat the top seeded Victoria Azarenka of Belarus, 2-6, 6-2, 7-5 in two hours and 18 minutes. Besides the fourth US Open title, this was Serena's 15th Grand Slam singles crown. Meanwhile, the Italian duo of Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci won the Women's Doubles trophy. In the title clash, the second seeded Italian duo defeated the Czech pair of Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka, 6-4, 6-2 to win the title.
  
• Murray wins US Open, ends 76-yr British agony :
  History-making Andy Murray ended Britain's 76-year wait for a men's Grand Slam champion when he beat 2011 winner Novak Djokovic 7-6 (12/10) 7-5 2-6 3-6 6-2 in an epic US Open final on 11 September in New York. Murray became Britain's first major champion since Fred Perry claimed his third American title in 1936, the year the Spanish Civil War started and Franklin D. Roosevelt was re-elected US president.
  
• Klitschko retains his heavy weight title :
  Ukrainian, Vitali Klitschko managed to defend his WBC heavyweight title on 8 September 2012 at 30,000 seater Olimpiyski indoor sports arena. The medical team and the referee stopped the bout 56 seconds before the end of the fourth round after witnessing a cut mark on the opponent’s eye, the German Manuel Charr, 27. Vitali Klitschko is a leader of UDAR of Vitaliy Klychko, a political party and a member of the delegation to from Ukrain for Congress of the Council of Europe. He is the first boxing champion of the world to hold Ph. D. degree. For his accomplishments he won Germany’s highest civilian award Federal Cross of Merit. Manuel Charr is a professional boxer from Germany. At the age of 17.2 years, he became the youngest German to be a Champion in Muay Thai. Later at the age of 19, he became German Champion and the European Champion in Thai-Boxing. As per his track record, out of the 22 fights of his career as a boxer he won 21 matches and the only one he faced defeat id the one played against Klitschko.
  
• Lewis Hamilton became the winner of Italian Grand Prix 2012:
  Lewis Hamilton, the driver of McLaren's became the winner of the Italian Grand Prix 2012 on 9 September 2012. Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso extended his overall lead after finishing at third position in the event. With this win, Hamilton managed to wash away the rumors of his future and possible switch to Mercedes after winning the grand prix and the twentieth victory of his career. Hamilton, who is 27 years old Formulae one driver from England, has been a 2008 Formulae one World Champion. He is the world’s youngest driver to secure a contract for McLaren driver development program, which paved his way to the F1 drive. Lewis Hamilton is also known as the first black driver in formulae one.
  
• India won Nehru Cup football tournament by beating Cameroon5-4 in penalty shoot out, on 2 September 2012 held at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi.
  
• Karnataka clinched Buchi Babu all-India cricket tournament by defeating kerala, by three wickets in the final held in Chennai on 3 September. Karnataka received, besides the winner’s trophy, prize money of Rs. 100,000, while Kerala was richer by Rs. 50,000.
  
• India won the second cricket test against New Zealand by 5 wickets on 3 September 2012. Chasing a target of 261 set by New Zealand on the fourth day of the second and final Test in Bangalore, India chased the target with one full day remaining. Virat Kohli, who had made 103 in the first innings, was adjudged man of the match, while Spinner Ravichandran Ashwin was named man of the series.With this, India won the 2 match series 2-0. India had won the first test at Hyderabad by an innings and 115 runs.
  
• Andy Murray won the US Open Grand Slam Singles Championship by defeating Novak Djokovic 7-6 , 7-5, 2-6, 3-6, 6-2 on 11 September 2012. By this, Murray has re written the history of Britain tennis. Before this, Fred Perry was the British player to win a grand slam in US Championship in the year 1936. The 25 year old Murray, recently won Olympic Gold medal in Men’s singles category and a silver medal in mixed doubles category in the 2012 London Olympics. He is the first British player, who won an Olympic Gold medal in hundred years and also the first British to reach in the men’s singles final of Wimbledon in an open era. In the women category,Serena Williams of USA won her fourth Women's Singles US Open title by defeating Victoria Azarenka of Belarus, 2-6, 6-2, 7-5 , in New York on 9 September 2012. Besides the fourth US Open title, this was Serena's 15th Grand Slam singles crown. Meanwhile, the Italian pair Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci won the Women's Doubles trophy by defeating the Czech pair of Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka, 6-4, 6-2 to win the title.
  
• Indian High jumper Girisha Nagarajegowda, won a silver medal (F42 single leg, amputations minimal disability category) at London Paralympic Games. To make this happen, he cleared his career best 1.74 m high jump. He managed to secure the first medal for the country in this category of game. Girisha won eighth Paralympic medal for India and is the first to do so in the high jump category and third Indian to claim silver in the event. He is a man with polio impaired left leg. Sports minister, Ajay Maken declared that the medal winners in the Paralymipic will be awarded with the same cash reward as that of the Olympians i.e. 50 lakhs for gold, 30 lakhs for silver and 20 lakhs for Bronze.
  
• Tennis player Andy Roddick of US announced his retirement during the US open on 6 September 2012 after facing a defeat from John Martin del Potro. The 30 year old is a former number one ranked player who won 2003 US Open to be a Grand Slam singles champion. Till date Roddick was successful in reaching the finals of Wimbledon in the year 2004, 2005 and 2009 as well as US Open 2006 and faced a defeat from Roger Federer.