Maradona fined and banned for foul-mouthed tirade (16th Nov 2009)FIFA's disciplinary body has dished out a two month ban to Argentina's coach Diego Maradona, punishing him for the tirade after this team grabbed a spot in the 2010 finals in South Africa.Apart from the ban effective from Nov 15 to Jan 15, 2010, the body also slapped a fine of 25,000 Swiss francs ($24,600) on the football legend.
Novak Djokovic wins Paris Masters(15th Nov 2009) Third-seeded Novak Djokovic scrambled to a 6-2, 5-7, 7-6 (3) victory over local favorite Gael Monfils to win the Paris Masters for the first time.The victory gave Djokovic back-to-back ATP Tour titles after his win over top-ranked Roger Federer in the Swiss Indoors final .The third-ranked Djokovic also beat World No. 2 Rafael Nadal in the semifinals in Paris and will be a strong favorite when he’ll try to defend his title at the eight-man ATP World Tour Finals from Nov. 22-29 in London.
Bhupati and Paes exit Paris Masters in 2nd round (13th Nov 2009) Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi ended their campaign early in Paris Masters by making an exit in the second round with their partners. Fourth seeded Paes and Lukas Dlouhy of Czech Republic were beaten 7-6(5), 4-6, 5-10 by American Travis Parrott and Australian Jordan Kerr.
Golden whistle for Indian Hockey umpire (10th Nov 2009) Satinder Kumar has become the first Indian umpire to get the golden whistle from the International Hockey Federation (FIH) for officiating in 100 matches. Satinder is the 29th international umpire to get the honor, Hockey India said in a statement. Satinder umpired in his 100th match at the ongoing World Cup Qualifiers in Invercargill, New Zealand yesterday.
American swimmer Peter Marshall beats own 50 backstroke world record at short-course meet (11th Nov 2009)
Peter Marshall of the United States has broken his own world record in the men’s 50-meter backstroke at a short-course World Cup meet. Marshall won the race in 22.73 seconds, beating his previous record of 22.75 set in October in Durban, South Africa. It was the sixth world record set at the meet in Stockholm. Earlier American teammate Jessica Hardy broke her own world record in the women’s 50 breaststroke, finishing in 28.96.
Australia won the One-day International series against India 4-2 after the seventh and inconsequential final match at the DY Patil Stadium in Mumbai was washed out due to cyclonic storm that hit the western coast. The possibility of the match being played was remote due to heavy downpour in the city.
Andy Murray won his sixth title of the season in his first tournament back from a wrist injury, beating Mikhail Youzhny of Russia 6-3, 6-2 in the Valencia Open final. Murray won 26 of 29 first-serve points as he improved his indoor record to 12-0 this season. Having saved two of three break points in the first set, Murray jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the second by dictating play from the baseline. He closed out the victory with an ace.
Pankaj Advani capped his Asian Indoor Games campaign by winning a bronze medal in the English Billiards singles' category. Advani blanked Myanmar's Kyaw 3-0 in the third place play off.
India claimed four medals, including 2 gold, on the final day of the competition to end the third Asian Indoor Games on a high. India ended the continental event on seventh position with 40 medals- six gold, nine silver and 25 bronze. M.C Mary Kom and Kavita Goyat won gold for India in the Asian Indoor Games on Wednesday. The other Indians in the final, Sarita Devi and N. Usha lost their respective bouts and had to contend with silver medals.
Francesca Schiavone trounced Olga Govortsova 6-3, 6-0 Sunday to capture the women's final at the Kremlin Cup tennis tournament in Moscow. The Italian, the event's eighth seed, lost just 11 points the entire match, capping a week of avoiding the losses suffered by higher seeds in her second straight final.
Shanghai Nikolay Davydenko upset top-seeded Rafael Nadal 7-6 (3), 6-3 on Sunday to win the Shanghai Masters for his fourth title of the year. The sixth-seeded Davydenko broke decisively in the sixth game of the second set to collect his 18th career title. His flat ground strokes and angled winners denied the Spaniard a sixth title for this year and his first since the Rome Masters in May.Nadal had reached the semifinals at Beijing last week on his return to the tour. The winner of six Grand Slam tournament titles also was sidelined after the French Open for two months with tendinitis in both knees.
Australia claimed their second successive Champions Trophy title in beating New Zealand by six wickets in the final at Super Sport Park in Centurion, South Africa. Australia had a huge fight on their hands at 2-6 against some inspired bowling, but Shane Watson again kept a cool head with his second successive unbeaten century to steer Australia (4-206) side past New Zealand's 9-200.
India wins the Compaq Cup tri-series after defeating Sri Lanka in a nail biting encounter. Chasing a mammoth total, Sri Lankan showed brave face and reduced the defeat margin. After showing good batting performance, Indian was poor at fielding and bowling. They dropped couple of easy catches and missed run out chances. Finally managed to win by 46 runs.
On match point in the U.S. Open semifinals, defending champion Williams was penalized a point for unsportsmanlike conduct — a bizarre, ugly finish that gave a 6-4, 7-5 upset victory to Kim Clisters. The match featured plenty of powerful ground strokes and lengthy exchanges.
England has regained the Ashes. Australia’s defiance ended with England completing a 197 run victory to spark loud scenes of celebration and jubilation at The Oval. Mike Hussey scored a dogged 121 as Australia lived up to their promise of having a “crack” at their history making target of 546 to win. But in the end they ran out of batsmen and England cut through the tension in south London to regain the urn surrendered in the whirl of an Ashes whitewash two years ago.
Sania Mirza defeated top-seed Frenchwoman Julie Coin 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 to lift the International Tennis Federation (ITF) Lexington Challenger title. With this win, she climbed up three places in the latest WTA singles rankings. She stands in the 80th place now. After the 2003 tournament, this was only the second Challenger title for her.
Federer's wife, Mirka gave birth to twin girls Myla Rose and Charlene Riva. The children are healthy along with their mother.
The Tennis star Sania Mirza exchanged rings with her childhood friend, Sohrab Mirza. The 22-year-old Hyderabad girl wore the ring that signified her engagement with 23 year old MBA Student Sohrab Mirza. The ceremony was graced by biggies like badminton player P Gopichand, Union Minister of State for Human Resource D Purandareswari, her husband and legislator D Venkateshawara Rao, Telugu film actor Vishnu and industrialist G V K Reddy. There was a tight security provided for the event nearly 50 policemen surrounded the Taj hotel.
Roger Federer, the world no 1, has won the Wimbledon title in the men’s single event for the sixth time and crossed the record of 14 Grand Slam titles set by Pete Sampras. Federer defeated Andy Roddick in one of the most interesting finals in the Wimbledon in London. The five setter final was won by Federer 5-7, 7-6(6), 7-6(5), 3-6 and 16-14.
Sushil Kumar won the gold medal in style, after emerging the champion in the 66 kg freestyle category. India won two gold, one silver and two bronze medals, accounting for a total of five medals. Rahul Balasaheb secured the gold medal in the 55 kg freestyle category. In 120 Kg freestyle category, Rajiv Tomar secured the silver medal, Ravinder Singh and Ramesh Kumar won the bronze in the 60 kg Greco Roman in 74 kg freestyle categories respectively.
The Pakistan Team had scored a sensational victory against Sri Lanka and won the T20 World cup. Pakistan achieved a139-run target for the loss of two wickets with eight balls to spare. This win is the first major trophy since 1992, when Imran Khan led them to victory in the 50-over World Cup in Australia. As Pakistan scored the winning run with Shahid Afridi, people danced with joy, fired up crackers and celebrated by distributing sweets at Lahore.
Defending champion India was knocked out of the World Twenty20 title race after a three-run defeat at the hands of an inspired England in the Super Eight match. Chasing a modest victory target of 154, India's batting order crumbled when it mattered most and the defending champions could manage only 150 for five.
Roger Federer has won the French Open title by defeating Robin Soderling. The scores were 6-1, 7-6 (1), 6-4. The 14th major title won by Federer breaks the Pete Sampras record. He has now become the sixth man to win all four Grand Slam championships. Federer won his 14th Grand Slam championship at the age of 27. He will now try for the 15th Grand Slam title beginning in two weeks at Wimbledon, which he has won five times already. He has also won the US Open for the past five years, and he has three Australian Open titles with him.
The World Champion Viswanathan Anand continued to dominate supreme bagging the Chess Oscar for the sixth time and becoming the first non-Russian to do so. He received the award from International Chess Federation (FIDE) President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov being contested between teams of Azerbaijan and FIDE World, in Baku. The Indian ace has earlier won the honour in 1997, 1998, 2003, 2004 and 2007 while Russia's Garry Kasparov has claimed it 11 times and Bobby Fischer of America has taken it home thrice. The Chess Oscar is awarded by Russian chess magazine '64 - Chess Review' on the basis of a poll carried out among chess journalists and experts. The Oscar comes in the form of a statuette also called the "Fascinated Wanderer".
Spain's master coach Jose Brasa has been appointed as the new chief coach of the Indian men's hockey team. Pravir Krishna, the Joint Secretary of Union Ministry of Sports said “Brasa will soon join the Indian men's hockey team as the chief coach". He also informed that Brasa was handed a two-year contract, but didn't rule out the chances of his agreement being extended till the 2012 London Olympics. The Spaniard put forth a list of demands, including a free hand in running the team, the need for technology and a good physiotherapist, and a support staff of 14 people, including two from Spain. The Sports Ministry accepted his demands. The official also informed that Brasa would be coming to India early next week to formally take charge of his duties.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India has recommended batman Gautam Gambhir and women's team captain Jhulan Gosawmi for the esteemed sports award, the Arjuna Award.Gambhir, opener has scored 1,579 test runs at an average of 75.19, and 1,494 runs at 46.38 in ODIs. Jhulan won the ICC Women Cricketer of the Year Award in 2007.
A book, titled 'If Cricket Is a Religion, Sachin is God' was released on Sachin’s 36th birthday. The authors of the book are Vijay Santhanam and Shyam Balasubramaniam who are graduates of IIM (Ahmedabad). They believe that Tendulkar is one of the greatest sportspersons of our times and surely the finest cricketer of our times. The most remarkable thing about Tendulkar is the way he has handled himself and his fame right from his early teens, they feel.
Though rain stopped India from winning the third and final test against New Zealand at Basin Reserve in Wellington, it sealed the historic 1-0 series victory on Apr 7 after 41 years. The last time India won a series in New Zealand was under the captaincy of Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi in 1967-68. India had won the first Test in Hamilton by 10 wickets and drew the second Test in Napier.
Dominant India defeated New Zealand by 10 wickets in the 1st Test to take 1-0 lead. This is India's first Test win in New Zealand since 1976.
India wrapped up New Zealand's second innings on 279 with the hosts giving a 38-run lead in the 1st Test. Harbhajan Singh took six wickets for his side.
India won the One day series against new zeland soil at first time.
