MOTOR RACING/F1 : European Grand Pix 2012
: Formula One (F1) racer Sebastian Vettel defeated Lewis Hamilton by 1minute
38.086 seconds and won European Grand Pix 2012, Valencia on 24 June 2012.
Vettel became the first F1 repeat winner of the season. Vettel is from Red
Bull’s team and Hamilton is from McLaren. There were 57 numbers of Laps on the
Valencia Street Circuit in European Grand Pix 2012. The circuit length was
5.419 km had the race distance of 308.883 km. There were 12 teams participated
in European Grand Pix 2012. Sebastian
Vettel is a German Formula One racer. He was born on 3 July 1987. He won the
World Championship in 2012 and 2011. Vettel also won youngest-ever World
Drivers’ championship runner-up. He also secured Red Bull’s first pole position
and race win in the team’s history.
ATHLETICS : Three Russian Female Athletes
were Suspended : Russian Athletics Federation on 3 July 2012 decided to
suspend three Russian female athletes
with the European Marathon Champion, Naiva Tulamanova.The three women are
Svetlana Klyuka, Yevgenia Zinurova, Lithuania’s Zivile Balciunaite. European
Marathon Champion 2010 Naiva Tulamanova was banned for two years. While Second
winner in 800 meters European Champions in 2006 Svetlana Klyukaand 2011
European 800 indoor winner Yevgenia Zinurova, were suspended for anomalous
indexes in their biometric passports and
Lithuania’s Zivile Balciunaite was disqualified and banned for using steroids.
The suspensions of Yulamanova and Klyuka have been backdated to February. The
ban for Zinurova began from September. All the three were suspended to compete
in Russian championships as well as from London Olympics.
GOLF : Scottish Open India’s Jeev
Milkha Singh birdied the first play-off hole to defeat Italy’s Francesco
Molinari and claim the Scottish Open golf title on Sunday. Jeev, who had been
five shots off the lead going into the final round, hit a five-under 67 to
finish on 17 under . Molinari held his nerve to birdie the final hole for a par
72 to send the tournament into the play-off. Back on the 18th, Molinari left his birdie putt well short
while Jeev confidently held his testing attempt to add the Scottish Open to his
wins at the 2006 China Open, Volvo
Masters and 2008 Austria Open.
Below are some
of the major facts related to London Olympics 2012
1. 100 heads
of states were present at the three and a half hour long opening ceremony
2. More than
10000 performers participated in the opening ceremony
3. The opening
ceremony was directed by celebrated Hollywood director Danny Boyle
4. Motto of
the London Olympics is - Inspire a Generation
5. 10500
athletes from 204 National Olympic Committees participating in as many as 26
sports events India at London Olympics 2012 Champion wrestler and the winner of
bronze medal in Beijing Olympics 2008, Sushil Kumar was the official flag
bearer of 83-member Indian contingent at the opening ceremony of Olympics.
India has sent 83-member team in the London Olympics 2012, which is the highest
ever sent by Indian Olympic Association in the Olympics.
SHOOTING/ARCHERY : Vijay Kumar bagged
Silver in Olympics 25 Metre Rapid Fire Pistol Event : In a nerve-wracking
battle for Olympic medal in the individual 25 metre rapid fire pistol event,
Indian shooter Vijay Kumar clinched the
silver on 3 August 2012. Kumar hit the target 30 times out of 40 attempts in theseries comprising
eight rounds of five shots each. Leuris Pupo of Cuba, whi clinced the gold
clinched scored 34 out of 40. Chinese marksman Ding Feng bagged the bronze.
Born on 19 August 1985 in Hamirpur district of Himachal Pradesh is presently a
Subedar in the Indian Army’s 16th Dogra
Regiment. He booked his place at the London Olympics when he won a
silver medal at the shooting World Cup in Fort Benning, US in 2011.
The
persevering shooter has more than 20 international medals and 75 national
medals to his credit. He had won 3 gold
medals and one silver medal in the 2010 Commonwealth Games held in Delhi. 2006
Commonwealth Games held in Melbourne saw him winning two gold medals in two
separate shooting events. In one of the major achievements in 2009 ISSF World
Cup held in Beijing he bagged Silver missing the gold by mere 0.1 point.
Acknowledging his excellent track record and medal winning performances, the
India government awarded him with the Arjuna Award in year 2007.
FOOTBALL : Spain won UEFA Euro Cup Football
Championship 2012 : Spain beat Italy 4-0 in the final to win UEFA (Union of
European Football Associations) Euro Cup Football Championship 2012 at the
Olympic Stadium in Kiev, Ukraine, on 1 July 2012. Spain which had earlier
defeated Germany 1-0 in 2008 Euro Cup not only defended the title but also created
a record by becoming the first team to claim two consecutive titles in
tournament’s 52-year long history. Spain and Italy had defeated Portugal and
Germany respectively in their semi final matches. Iker Casillas was the captain
of Spanish side, while the Italian side was led by Gianluigi Buffon. Spain
midfielder Andrés Iniesta of Spain was declared the man of the match given his
match winning performance, while Fernando Torres was given the Golden Boot as
he scored three goals in the Spain’s title winning campaign. Torres also became
the first ever player in the history of the
tournament to score in two separate European Championship finals.
HOCKEY : Hockey India signed a multiyear
broadcast agreement with ESPN STAR : Hockey India on 30 July 2012 signed a
multi-year broadcast agreement with ESPN STAR Sports to exclusively broadcast
all international hockey test matches under Hockey India to be played in India for the next 5 years. Under the
agreement the ESPN STAR Sports will also exclusively cover Hockey India League
(HIL), which is expected to be launched in January 2013. The Hockey India is
coming up with a professional hockey league that will see the best of Indian
and international hockey players showcase their sporting skill. The first
edition of the league is expected to be
played in the month of January 2013. At least six franchise hockey teams will
participate in the league and will feature 33 hockey matches to be played in
prime time in state-of-theart stadia across the country. All teams will play
each other on a home and away basis (30 league matches) followed by 2
semifinals and the final.
SQUASH : Coca-Cola Squash Open Championship
2012 : Gaurav Nandrajog won Coca-Cola Squash Open Championship 2012 on 29
July 2012. Gaurav defeated Sandeep Jhangra with the score of 3-2. The score of
the five sets were 7-11, 7- 11, 12-10, 11-8, 11-7. The Game was held in
Kendriya Vidyalaya Squash Courts, R.K.Puram, New Delhi. In Semi-finals Gaurav
Nandrajog defeated Laxman Joshi with the score of 3-0. The score of the three
sets were 11-3, 11-4, and 11-4. Sandeep Jhangra had celebrated his victory with
Bronze Medal in Asian Games 2010 for the category of Team Championship. In Semi
Finals, Sandeep had defeated Karm Kumar with the score of 3-0. Third Position
was secured by Karm Kumar. Karm defeated
Laxman Joshi with the score of 3-0. The scores of the three sets were 11-6,
11-6 and 11-4. Karm Kumar became the
first Champion of the 105 Tournament which was organized by Indian Squash
Professionals (ISP). Karm defeated Rishi Jahan with 3-0 in the final Match.
CRICKET : England won Nat West Cricket
Series : England beat Australia in the fifth and final one-day
international cricket played at Old Trafford on 11 July 2012 to complete a 4-0
victory in the NatWest cricket series played in England. The English team was
led by Alistair Cook while the Aussie team was led by Michael Clarke. England
allrounder Ravi Bopara starred in England’s final victory and was given the Man
of the Match award. He claimed two wickets and made 52 not out off 56 balls.
Ian Bells of England was given the Man of the Series Award. The victory marked
the third series white wash for Australia over the last 40 years. The
Australian team is still the world no.1 ODI team. Earlier the team had suffered
clean sweeps against New Zealand (0-3) in 2006-07 and against England (0-3) in
1997.
Former BCCI President Purushottam M Rungta
passed away : Former President of Board of Control for Cricket in India
(BCCI) Purushottam M Rungta died on 12 July 2012 after long sickness. He was 84
years old. He was commonly known as Bhaiji to cricketers and administrations.
He was President of BCCI for three years from 1972 to 1975 and Vice- President
of BCCI from 1963 to 1972. He was also BCCI treasurer for six months in the year 1992 after the
resignation of Madhav Matri from BCCI treasurer when he lost to Manohar Joshi
in Bombay Cricket Association election. After that former BCCI President Madhavrao Scindia named P.M.Rungta as the
treasurer of the BCCI. He also managed the affairs of Rajasthan Cricket
Association for many years.
England beat Australia 4-0 : England
beat Australia in the fifth and final one-day international cricket played at
Old Trafford on 11 July 2012 to complete a 4-0 victory in the NatWest cricket
series played in England. The English team was led by Alistair Cook while the Aussie team was led
by Michael Clarke. England all-rounder Ravi Bopara starred in England’s final
victory and was given the Man of the Match award. He claimed two wickets and
made 52 not out off 56 balls. Ian Bells of England was given the Man of the
Series Award. The victory marked the third series white wash for Australia over the last 40
years. The Australian team is still the world no.1 ODI team. Earlier the team
had suffered clean sweeps against New Zealand (0-3) in 2006-07 and against
England (0- 3) in 1997.
West Indies beat New Zealand 4-1 : West
Indies defeated New Zealand 4-1 in the five match one day series. The fifth
one-dayer between West Indies and New Zealand had plenty of similarities to
Saturday’s fourth ODI at Warner Park: West Indies chose to bat, the top order
stumbled, one of their Twenty20 stars made the slowest ODI half-century of his
career to anchor the innings, and then some pyrotechnics from Andre Russell
took the home side towards 250. New Zealand skipper Ross Taylor smashed a fine
century but it was not enough to prevent the West Indies wrapping up the one-day series with a
24-run win in fourth match. Taylor, playing in his first match of the series
after injuring his shoulder in an earlier Twenty20 international between the
two sides in Florida last month, made 110 off 115 balls. It was an innings
which included six 4s and five 6s for his sixth one-day century.
Sri Lanka Wins Series with Pakistan : Sri
Lanka won its first Test series in three years after the final Test against Pakistan ended in a thrilling
draw in Pallekele on Thursday. The host made a brave bid to chase down a target
of 270, reaching 132 for two by tea on the fifth day, before it was pegged back
by a three-wicket burst from offspinner Saeed Ajmal. Dinesh Chandimal scored 65
and the prolific Kumar Sangakkara returned unbeaten on 74 as Sri Lanka made 195
for four before the game was called off with nine overs remaining at the
Pallekele International Stadium. The rain-hit
second Test in Colombo was drawn, while the entire second day’s play in
Pallekele had been washed out. Earlier, Asad Shafiq remained unbeaten on 100 as
Pakistan declared its second innings at 380 for eight half-anhour before lunch
to attempt a series-levelling win.
Brett Lee calls it a day : Australian
pace bowler Brett Lee on Friday announced his retirement from international
cricket after a 13-year career, saying his body and mind were no longer up to
the stresses of touring. The 35-year-old said a calf muscle strain that forced
him home from Australia’s recent one-day tour to Britain was the final straw
after a string of setbacks caused by
injuries. “I woke up this morning and just felt like I was ready,” Lee
said. His original plan had been to play at September’s World Twenty20
tournament in Sri Lanka as his international swansong, he added. “I think, in a team, you have to have
100 per cent commitment — mentally and physically,” he told a press conference
at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
TENNIS : Wimbledon Open 2012 :
Wimbledon Open
Men’s Singles 2012
Swiss
(Switzerland) Tennis maestro Roger Federer beat British player Andy Murray 4-6,
7-5, 6-3, 6-4 to win the Wimbledon Open Championship Gentlemen’s Singles Final
2012 in London on 8 July 2012. Federer, with this victory also reclaimed the
world No. 1 ranking surpassing Pete Sampras’ record of 286 weeks at the top of
the game. Federer had defeated Djokovic in the semi-finals, while Murray had
beat French Jo-Wilfreid Tsonga to make to the final of the tournament. In
quarter-finals Federer had defeated Mikhail
Youzhny of Russia and Murray overcame David Ferrer of Spain. The
Wimbledon Open marked 17th career Grand Slam for Federer, who had earlier
claimed the Wimbeldon title on 6 different occasions from 2003 to 2007 and
again in 2009. Only William Renshaw’s and Pete Sampras have got the distinction of winning the coveted Wimbledon
singles title on seven occasions. Bunny Austin was the last British man to win
the Wimbledon Open Titles in 1938. No
other British player has been able to win the title since 1938.
Important Information
·
The 14-day sporting event which had commenced on
25 June 2012 concluded with the Gentlemen’s Singles Final on 8 July 2012.
·
Serena Williams of US beat Agnieszka Radwanska
of Poland to claim Ladies’ singles title.
·
The mixed pair of Mike Bryan and Lisa Raymond
defeated Leander Paes and Elena Vesnina to win the mixed doubled final.
·
The men’s doubles final was won by Jonathan
Marray and Frederick Nielson who defeated Robert Lindstedt.
·
In Ladies’ Doubles final the pair of Serena
Williams and Venus Williams emerged victorious as they defeated Andrea
Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka.
·
Wimbledon, which is one of the oldest and most
prestigious sporting events in the world, has been held at the All England Club
in Wimbledon, London since 1877. Played on a grass court, Wimbledon is one of
the four major grand slam tournaments in
the world. Other three grand slams are Australian Open, French Open and US Open.
·
Wimbledon Women’s Women’s Singles 2012
Ace US tennis
player Serena Williams beat Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland 6-1, 5-7, 6-2 in
Wimbledon women’s singles Title at the All England Club in London on 7 July 2012. William, the world
no.6, beat the third seed, Radwanska who was playing her first grand slam final
and striving to become the first Polish to win a Grand Slam. Radwanska made
a history by becoming the first Polish
tennis player to reach a grand slam final. Serena had defeated defending
champion Petra Kvitová in the quarter
finals and secondseeded Victoria Azarenka in semifinals clash, while, Agnieszka
Radwanska had defeated Maria Kirilenko in the quarterfinals and Angelique
Kerber in the semifinals. The Wimbledon victory holds a great importance for
Serena Williams who was out of the game
for nearly 1 year as she suffered a dreadful foot injury and underwent a
surgery for blood clots in her lungs. Serena, had claimed the Wimbledon women’s
singles title on four occasions in the past including 2002, 2003, 2009 and
2010. In a career marked by 18 grand slam finals, Serena has to her credit 14
singles titles, which comprise all grand slams.
Wimbledon Women’s Doubles Title 2012
Serena
Williams along with her elder sister Venus Williams also claimed the Wimbledon
women’s doubles Title on 7 July 2012. The pair beat Czech duo Andrea Hlavackova
and Lucie Hradecka 7-5, 6-4. It was their fifth Wimbledon doubles title
together,while, their first doubles tournament together in past two years.
Sports Round-Up: August 2012
INDIAN HOCKEY GOALKEEPER D’SOUZA SUSPENDED FOR 1 YEAR : Indian Hockey Goalkeeper Adrin D’Souza was suspended on HOCKEY 18 June 2012 for his anti- doping rule violation during World Series Hockey (WSH) tournament 2012.The sample was collected on 21 March 2012 after WSH match in between Mumbai Marines and Sher-E-Punjab at Jalandhar. He was the captain of Mumbai Marines. In the test, D’Souza was tested positive for tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). THC is a metabolite of marijuana. According to the statement of Kaithavalappil, D’Souza had smoked cigarettes which were binded with marijuana and he offered the same cigarettes to the players as well. Adrian Albert D’souza was born 24 March 1984 in Mumbai. He is a field hockey Indian goalkeeper. He made international debut for Men’s National Team in January 2004 during the Sultan Azlam Shah Hockey Tournament in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. He also represented India at the FIH World Cup 2006 in Monchengladbach, Germany and India at the Doha Asian Games 2006 in Doha, Qatar. World Series Hockey (WSH) is an association for hockey competition in India. It is organized by Indian Hockey Federation and Nimbus Sports. There were 8 teams participated in the tournament. WSH is the first hockey tournament to live all the matches online on Google video and You Tube.
WRESTLING : ASIAN JUNIOR WRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIP 2012 : Indu Chaudhary and Sakshi Malik won gold Medals in Asian Junior Wrestling Championship 2012 at Almaty, Kazakhstan on 13 June 2012. Indu Chaudhay and Sakshi Malik are from Uttar Pradesh and Haryana respectively. The former won the gold medal in 44 Kg and latter in 63 kg. In addition, Pooja Danda won the silver by lifting 59kg of weight. In addition, Lalit, Seema, Ruby Chaudhry, Ritu and Kiran won bronze medals by lifting the weight of 51 kg, 67 Kg, 48 Kg, 55 Kg and 72 Kg respectively. In the freestyle section of boys Satender, Bajrang and Somveer won the silver medals by lifting the weights of 120kg, 60kg and 84kg respectively. Whereas, the bronze medal won by Devi Singh, Praveen Rana, Deepak and Yudhvir by 50kg , 66kg, 74kg and 96kg respectively. Asian Junior Wrestling Championship 2012 held at championship held at Kazakhstan
from 30 May 2012 to 3 June 2012.
ATHLETICS : ATHLETICS NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP : Indian Athlete Siddhanth Thingalaya marked an Indian Record on 18 June 2012 at Belgium Athletics National Championship in Brussels. He marked the record in 110 metre hurdles with a timing of 13.65 seconds. At Beligum, when he approached the ninth hurdle on 18 June 2012 he felt pain in the hamstring. The pain placed him behind the Adrien Deghelt of Belgium with a timing of 13.64 seconds. He was disqualified for the Olympic 2012, as the Olympic qualification mark of 13.60 seconds and Siddhanth took 13.65 seconds to finish the championship. He was disqualified for Olympics 2012 qualification by five hundredth second. After 1964, he was the first Indian hurdler to compete in Olympics Games. Siddhanth Thingalaya is 21 years old athlete from Mumbai. He improved his own national record of 13.77 seconds marked at Kolkata meet in September 2011.
NATIONAL INTER-STATE SENIOR ALTHLETIC CHAMPIONSHIP : Athletic Tintu Luka won Greenko 52nd National Inter-State Senior Althletic Championship on 24 June 2012 by defeating her competitor Sinimole Paulose. She won the championship in women’s 800 meters. She is India’s best athletic in the two-lap race. Tintu timing was 2m 01.36s. The timing was near to her National record of 1m 59.17s, which was set in Brussels in 2010.Sinimole won silver with the timing of 2:03.71 where S R Bindu was third in 2:09.53. Athlete Tintu Luka is the National Record Holder in 800 meter race. She is trained by P.T.Usha at Usha School of Athletics which is holded by Olympics Gold Quest.
MOTOR RACING/F1 : EUROPEAN GRAND PIX 2012 : Formula One (F1) racer Sebastian Vettel defeated Lewis Hamilton by 1minute 38.086 seconds and won European Grand Pix 2012, Valencia on 24 June 2012. Vettel became the first F1 repeat winner of the season. Vettel is from Red Bull’s team and Hamilton is from McLaren. There were 57 numbers of Laps on the Valencia Street Circuit in European Grand Pix 2012. The circuit length was 5.419 km had the race distance of 308.883 km. There were 12 teams participated in European Grand Pix 2012. Sebastian Vettel is a German Formula One racer. He was born on 3 July 1987. He won the World Championship in 2012 and 2011. Vettel also won youngest-ever World Drivers’ championship runner-up. He also secured Red Bull’s first pole position and race win in the team’s history.
MONACO GRAND PRIX : Mark Webber of Red Bull raced ahead to emerge victorious in the Monaco Grand Prix on 27 May 2012. He won the Monaco Grand Prix for the second time. He had first won the Monaco race in 2010. His second victory at Monaco helped him to surpass Australian icon Sir Jack Brabham on the streets of Monaco who won the Monaco Grand Prix once. With his second victory Webber thus became the first Australian to win the famous Monaco Grand Prix twice. Webber’s victory at Monaco was the eighth victory of his career. Also with his victory he won Red Bull the team’s third victory in a row. The victory enabled him to join the likes of Niki Lauda, David Coulthard and Juan Manuel Fangio, all of who have two Monaco Grand Prix victory to their credit. Germany’s Nico Rosberg finished second for Mercedes, while Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso was third. Mark Webber made his debut in 2002. He had won the first FI race in 2006. In the British Grand Prix 2011, Webber won the Hawthorn Memorial Trophy for 2010.
TABLE TENNIS : BRAZIL OPEN TABLE TENNIS : Harmeet Desai won Under- 21 Men’s Final Brazil Open Table Tennis on 17 June 2012. He had defeated Belgian Cedric Nuytin by 4-2 and won gold medal. He became first Indian to achieve such an accomplishment. Desai won by 11-3, 6-11, 11-6, 11-9, 5-11, 11-6. Previously, the fourth seed had defeated his compatriot Soumyajit Ghosh by 10-12, 11-8, 6-11, 11-1, 11- 4, 11-4 in the semi - final . After that he was competed with with Nuytin. Desai was up to his rival tricks in the decider and won the title with three straight points.
GOLF : MEMORIAL TOURNAMENT : Former world no. 1 golfer Tiger Woods defeated Spencer Levin and Rory Sabbatini to win his 73rd PGA Tour title by two shots at the Memorial tournament on 4 June 2012. The Memorial tournament victory is Wood’s second PGA Tour victory in the current season. Now the ace golfer will be seen competing in the US Open from 14- 17 June 2012. Born on 30 December 1975, Woods started his professional golf career in 1996. His first major victory came in 1997 when he claimed the 1997 Masters Tournament. He first reached the top of the world rankings in June 1997. Wood’s present world ranking is 4. Considered to be the all time great of golf, he has been awarded PGA Player of the Year a record ten times.
SHOOTING/ARCHERY BADMINTON : won the Swiss Open Title. The World No. 5 Saina Nehwal is India’s one of the biggest hopes for the London Olympics 2012. Saina had reached the women singles quarterfinals round at the Beijing Olympics in 2008, which made her the first Indian woman shuttler to reach the singles quarterfinals at the Olympics. She is also the first Indian to win the World Junior Badminton Championships. Saina Nehwal created a history on 21 June 2009, when she became the first Indian to win a Super Series tournament, by clinching the Indonesia Open Title in Jakarta.
CHESS : FIDE WORLD CHESS TITLE : Ace Indian chess player Vishwanathan Anand claimed the FIDE ( Federation Internationale des Echec) World Chess Title for the record fifth time. The defending champion Anand beat Israeli opponent Boris Gelfand in a rapidchess tie-breaker. Anand received 1.5 million dollar as the winning amount, while rival Gelfand bagged 1 million dollar. The world title is Anand’s fourth in a row as he had also claimed the title in 2007, 2008, and 2010. The 42-yearold had claimed his maiden world title in 2000 after beating Latvian Alexei Shirov in Tehran. He is also the first Asian to win the FIDE world chess championship. Born on 11 December 1969 in Madras, Anand’s breakthrough success in professional chess came in 1983 when he won the Indian Under-16 and Under-19 championships successively and went on to win a place in the country’s adult championships. In 1985, at the age of 16, Anand was crowned as an International Master, the youngest Asian player to hold this title. In 1986 he won the Indian adult championship, and in 1987, at his fourth attempt, he won the Under-20 World Championship. Anand had won his first world title in 2000 and reining over the championship since 2007. FIDE FIDE, the international federation for chess, was founded in Paris on 20 July 1924, and got recognition by the International Olympic Committee as an International Sports Federation in 1999. The federation with a total of 170 members is among the biggest sports organizations in the world. It organizes over forty official championships world over for youngsters, men, women and seniors.
VISWANATHAN ANAND ROPED AS BRAND AMBASSADOR OF TVH : Real estate developer True Value Homes (TVH) on 26 June 2012 signed World Chess Champion Viswanathan Anand as brand ambassador for all its new projects for promoting its project across the World. TVH will be the first South Indian company to be associated with Anand. Previously, Anand was connected with NIIT from last 13 years. TVS has number of projects for Chennai and Coimbatore which was expanding Viswanathan presence in the south. The new project of TVH Quadrant was launched on 25 June 2012 by Ravichandran, chairman of TVH. Quadrant is 600 crore rupees super premium 18- storied project at Advar. It consists of 100 units with 2.2 acres. The project would likely to be completed in 3 years.The project has the separate sports facilities for chess and other games. The company is also planning to take chess to schools and organise annual tournaments. Viswanathan Anand is the current World Chess Champion. He was awarded by Padma Vibhushan in 2007. He also awarded by Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award in 1991-92. He was the first player in chess history who won the World Championship in three different formats: knockout, tournament and match.
HOCKEY : SULTAN AZLAN SHAH CUP HOCKEY TOURNAMENT : New Zealand beat Argentina 1-0 to win Sultan Azlan Shah Cup hockey tournament at Ipoh, Malaysia on 3 June 2012. Andy Hayward scored the only goal for New Zeland in the summit clash, which prevented Argentina, the 2008 winner, to reclaim the trophy. In a clash for the third spot and bronze medal, India defeated Great Britain 3-1. From Indian side Shivendra Singh, Sandeep Singhand Tushar Khandekar scored goals at 42nd minute, 52nd minute and 69th minute respectively. Ashley Jackson struck the only goal for the Great Britain at 35th minute of the game. Earlier the Great Britain had outshined the Indian squad in their round robin league encounter. In another clash for the fifth position the South Korean team defeated hosts Malaysia 3-2 to earn the fifth position. Pakistan for thefirst time in the history of the tournament ended with the 7th position, bottom most the in the table. While the Fairplay Trophy was given to Great Britain, Sardar Singh of India was awarded with the trophy of the Best Player of Tournament. Kyle Pontifex of New Zealand was chosen the Best Goalkeeper for the tournament. Kyle Pontifex of New Zealand was awarded with the Man of the Final trophy. Ashley Jackson of Great Britain emerged the top scorer of the tournament
FINAL TABLE
1. New Zealand
2. Argentina
3. India
4. Great Britain
5. South Korea
6. Malaysia
7. Pakistan
CRICKET : MAHENDRA SINGH DHONI APPOINTED BRAND AMBASSADOR: Indian Criket Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni was appointed as a brand ambassador of Nepal Cricket Association, Nepal on 17 June 2012.The announcement was made by Posta Bahadur Bogati, Minister for Tourism and Civil Aviation of Nepal. Dhoni will promote and develop cricket in Nepal. Dhoni also advised Nepal cricket officials to get permission from International Cricket Council to construct a stadium. The stadium would likely to promote cricket in the country. Mahendra Singh Dhoni was born on 7 July 1981 in Ranchi, Bihar. At present, he is the captain of the Indian ODI, Twenty20 team and Indian Test team. India won the 2011 Cricket World Cup under his captaincy.
DANISH KANERIA WAS BANNED BY ECB : Pakistani Cricket player Danish Kaneria was banned by England and Wales Cricket Board on 21 June 2012. He was given a lifetime ban because he was found guilty for corruption. He is the third Pakistani player who is banned because of match fixing. In addition, in the year 2000 Salim Malik and Ata-ur-rehman were banned for lifetime from Cricket because of match-fixing. Moreover, Salman Butt, Mohammad Aamer and Mohammad Asif were banned by the International Cricket Council and jailed by the court of United Kingdom in the year 2010 for fixing specific parts of a Test match. Danish Kaneria is 31 years old. He took 261 wickets in 61 Tests
for Pakistan. He had taken 15 wickets in 18 one-day internationals.
KEVIN PIETERSEN ANNOUNCED RETIREMENT : Ace England Batsman Kevin Pietersen announced to retire from limited-overs edition of International cricket. He, however, will continue to play test cricket for the country. Pietersen who had made his international debut in 2004 has played a total of 127 one day internationals and 36 Twenty20 internationals. South Africa-born Pietersen has scored 4184 one-day international runs at an average of 48.14. He is the sixth highest run getter from England. With 176 runs at 37 he is also the only England player to cross four-digit mark in the T20 format of the game. Pietersen decided to retire as the England Cricket Board had put forth a selection policy under which any player deciding to retire from either of the one-day formats, will be considered retire from both formats.
TENNIS : FRENCH OPEN : Rafael Nadal won French Open Men’s Singles Title Spaniard Rafael Nadal on 11 June 2012 defeated Serbian Novak Djokovic to clinch French Open Singles Title 2012. Second seeded Nadal beat top seed Djokovic in a final clash which lasted four sets. With this victory the Spaniard also surpassed the Legend Bjorn Borg’s 6 French Open title feat. Earlier Nadal had defeated David Ferrer in the Semi Finals to make to the finals of the tournament; While TENNIS Djokovic had overwhelmed Swiss Roger Federer. The French Open title marked his 11th Gand Slam in a career marked by 16 Grand Slam finals. Currently he is one short off Roy Emerson, three off Pete Sampras and five title away from the arch rival Roger Federer ’s record 16 grand slam titles.
MARIA YURYEVNA SHARAPOVA WON FRENCH OPEN WOMEN’S SINGLES TITLE : Maria Yuryevna Sharapova won French Open 2012 on 9 June 2012. She defeated Saria Erani from Italy by 6-3 and 6-2. Sharapova is a Russian Lawn Tennis Player. She won French open for the first time in her career. French open was held at Rolland Garros in Paris. The tournament was run by the International Tennis Federation (ITF). French Open 2012 was a sixteen-day long tournament. Thetournament consists of both men’s and women’s singles and doubles and as well as a mixed doubles events. Moreover Sharapova was the winner of Wimbledon in 2004, the US Open in 2006 and theAustralian Open in 2008.
SANIA MIRZA AND MAHESH BHUPATHI WON MIXED DOUBLES TITLE : Sania Mirza and Mahesh Bhupathi on 7 June 2012 won their second Grand Slam title together and first French Open trophy after beating Santiago Gonzalez of Mexico and Klaudia Jans Ignacik of Poland in the mixed doubles final, in Paris. Playing their third Grand Slam final together, the seventh seeded Indian pair scored a 7-6, 6-1 win over the Polish- Mexican pair in one hour and 13 minutes at the Court Philippe Chatrier. It is the second career Grand Slam title for Sania, while the 12th Major trophy for Bhupathi, who now has won eight mixed doubles trophies. Sania and Bhupathi had won the 2009 Australia Open and it is their first Grand Slam title since then. Sania had become the first woman tennis player from India to win a Grand Slam with that Australian Open trophy.
DRESS CODE INTRODUCED IN WIMBLEDON FIRST TIME : Dress Code was introduced for the first time in Wimbledon by the organiser All England Club on 24 June 2012. All England Club has been hosting tennis championships from last 150 years. The guidelines for the dress code were escorted by the picture of a male and female model. The pictures would likely to differentiate in between acceptable dress and unacceptable dress. The Acceptable dresses were lounge suit or tailored jacket, shirt, tie, trousers and dress shoes. Boys under 11were not required to wear a jacket or a tie. Ladies would wear the similar standard dress. The Unacceptable dresses were Tshirts, jeans and trainers, bare midriffs, jeans and flip flops. For Women, Strapless tops and shorts, zipper jackets, casual or scuffed shoes, hoodies, pumps and short skirts.
AITA ANNOUNCED TWO TEAMS FOR MEN’S DOUBLES FOR LONDON OLYMPICS 2012 : The All Indian Tennis Association (AITA) on 21 June 2012 announced to send two men’s doubles team for London Olympics 2012. The team involves top player Leander Paes with low-ranked Vishnu Vardhan and second ranked Mahesh Bhupathi with third ranked Rohan Bopanna. The hassle started when AITA decided to send two teams in London Olympics 2012 which were not acceptable by Paes. Earlier, AITA announced Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi as a team for India’s doubles entry for the London Olympics 2012. But Bhupathi refused to play with Paes because of differences of their opinions. He appealed to be paired with Rohan Bopanna. Bhupathi and Bopanna showed their strong hope to play together. Moreover, AITA announced Paes to play with Tennis player Sania Mirza in the mixed doubles tournament at the Olympics. Sania Mirza will get the wildcard entry on 28 June 2012.
SHOOTING/ARCHERY : INTERNATIONAL JUNIOR SHOOTING CHAMPIONSHIP : Tejaswini Mule won Silver medal at International Junior Shooting Championship in Suhl, Germany on 17 June 2012. She won the silver medal in the 50 metre rifle prone women’s event. She shot around 592 and was occupied in a three-way tie with Jaqueline Orth of Germany and Jennifer Messaggiero of Italy. Tejaswini was closer to 10 shots and won silver medal. The gold medal was won by Jolyn Beer of Germany and Orth won bronze medal.
BADMINTON : INDONESIA OPEN : Ace Indian badminton player Saina Nehwal clinched her third Indonesia Open Super Series title after beating China’s Xuerui Li in title clash in Jakarta on 17 June 2012. With this victory, the fifth seed, Saina took the total number of her title in the calendar year 2012 to 3. The Olympic-bound shuttler had won the Thailand Open on 9 June 2012. 22-year-old Saina had earlier claimed the Indonesia Open title in 2009 and 2010. Prior to the final clash of Indonesia Open Saina had suffered defeat at the hands of Xuerui Li on four occassions and had registered victory on just one occassion in year 2010.
THAILAND OPEN : Ace Indian Badminton player Saina Nehwal clinched her 16th career title as she defeated Thailand’s Ratchanok Inathon in the Thailand Open Grand Prix Gold title in Bangkok on 10 June 2012. The Thailand Open Grand Prix is Saina’s second title in the year 2012. Earlier, in April 2012 she had
Sports Round-Up:July 2012
BADMINTON : India Open Badminton : Shon Wan Ho of Korea defeated Chinese defending champion Lee Chong Wei in the final clash and clinch his maiden Super Series title, at the India Open badminton on 28 April 2012. The world number 17, Sho, who had already made it to London Olympics 2012 after beating former All England champion Peter Gade in the quarterfinals, overpowered Lee in almost all the departments of the game. In the women’s singles final at India Open badminton Championship, Li Xuerui of China beaten Juliane Schenk of Germany to lift the winner’s trophy. In the men‘s doubles, the Thai pair of Bodin Issara and Maneepong Jongjit beaten second seeds Sung Hyun Ko and Yeon Seong Yoo of to emerge victories. Second seeded Indonesian pair of Tontowi Ahmad and Liliyana Natsir defeated fifth seeded Sudket Prapakamol and Saralee Thoungthongkam of Thailand to lift the mixed doubles title.
Asian Badminton Championship: The third seeded China’s Chen Jin defeated fellow countryman and fifth seeded Du Pengyu in the men’s finals of Asian Badminton Championship in China’s eastern city of Qingdao. Chen, 24, needs to stay ahead of rival Peter Gade of Denmark in order to assure his desirable spot at the Olympics 2012. Chen had a walkover in the semi-finals on 21 April after fellow Chinese badminton superstar and four-time world champion Lin Dan withdrew due to injury.
HOCKEY : Junior Hockey World Cup 2012 : Malaysia defeated Pakistan to win the Junior Hockey World Cup 2012. The Malaysian team had earlier defeted Iran, Japan, South Korea and India to make to the final. The Junior Hockey world cup was started in 1987. Prior to Malaysia only three countries have claimed the title. Pakistan has won the title for the maximum number of three times, India for two times and South Korea for 1.
BOXING : Junior National Boxing Title: Manjeet Singh Panghal defeated Gurleen Singh to clinch the 69kg title in the 45th National junior boxing championship at Patiala on 16 April 2012. Defending champion P.L. Prasad recorded a convincing 14-5 win over K. Sagar to retain his 49kg crown. Services Sports Control Board (SSCB) won the team championship with 44 points, whilePunjab’s Amritpreet Singh (91kg) was adjudged the best boxer of the championship.
WRESTLING: Indian Grand Prix Wrestling Championship: Praveen Rana, the young Indian wrestler, clinched the 66kg freestyle title on the final day of the first Hari Ram Indian Grand Prix wrestling championship at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium on 27 April 2012. The grappler overpowered Georgian Lobjanidze in the tough final battle and won his maiden international gold medal at the senior level. He beat Iran’s Nasiri and Mongolia’s Khultee on his way to the finals. Delhi - based Rana is also a 2011 World junior medalist. India also managed to win three bronze medals on the concluding day of the event. Manoj in 66kg category, Pawan Kumar in 84 kg category, and Gursharan Kaur in women 72 kg category got India bronze. Overall India came third in men’s category followed by Georgia and Mongolia. In women’s category, Mangolia finished at the top followed by US and Japan. India was spotted at fourth position.
World Wrestling Qualifying Tournament
Ace Indian wrestler Sushil Kumar won the 66kg freestyle title at the World Qualifying Tournament in Taiyuan, China on 27 April 2012. The wrestler with this victory g ot his berth secured for the London Olympics 2012. Sushil overpowered Georgia’s Otar Tushishvilli 3-0 in the final showdown. Former world champion and Beijing Olympics bronze medalist Sushil Kumar had qualified for the London Olympics following his failure in first two attempts. It was his third attempt. Sushil had suffered a crushing defeat in the first two attempts. First he failed to defend his world championship title and then lost in the second round of the Asian Olympic Qualifiers held in Astana, Kazakhstan on 30 March to 1 April 2012.
ATHLETICS : Asian Grand Prix : Indian athletes bagged four gold, one silver and four bronze medals, in the first leg of the Asian Grand Prix in Bangkok on 8 May 2012. Sajeesh Joseph bagged gold in the men’s 800m in 1:47.78 while, MR Poovama clinched the women’s 400m in 52.94. The men’s 4X400m relay team of Joseph Abraham, Jitin Paul, Shake Mortaza and MP Kunhu pocketed gold in 3:08.00 while the women team of Saraswati Chand, Debashree Majumdar, Ratandeep Kaur and Poovama also did the same. Sahana Kumari got India a silver in women’s high jump. Renjith Maheshwary got bronze in men’s 4X100m relay, Sinimol Pualose pocketed bronze in triple jump women’s 800m. Ghamanada Ram won bronze in men’s 800m.
Altius Track Crew Throwdown Meet : India’s leading discus thrower Krishna Poonia on 7 May 2012 created a new national record by winning the silver medal at the Altius Track Crew Throwdown meet in Maui Island, Hawaii. Krishna hurled the discuss to 64.76 meters and broke the existing national record of Seema Antil who had hurled 64.64 meters. Present Olympic champion Stephanie Brown Trafton of USA clinched the gold with a throw of 66.86 meters, while Gia Lewis-Smallwood bagged the bronze with throwing 63.97 meter. Krishna had made it to London Olympics after winning a gold in the women’s discus throw event of the Fling Throw Meet in Portland, USA earlier this summer.
SNOOKER : 28th Asian snooker title : India’s top-seeded snooker play er Aditya Mehta defeated compatriot and seven-time world champion Pankaj Advani to win 28th Asian snooker title concluded in Doha, on 29 April 2012. Mehta is only the third Indian to clinch the Asian Snooker Championship. With the victory of Mehta, the Asian trophy is set to return to India after a gap of eight years. In the semi finals Aditya Mehta had triumphed over the reigning world champion Hossain Vafaei of Iran, while, Pankaj Advani, had defeated Thailand‘s Noppon Saengkham to set up the final clash. Pankaj Advani won the silver followed by Hossein Vafaei who managed to win bronze. Over 40 players from 15 Asian countries had participated in the event.
Stephen Hendry Announced his Retirement : Seven-time World snooker champion Stephen Hendry announced his retirement 1 May 2012 after losing in the quarterfinals at the World Championships. The 43-year-old legend called it a day after a 13-2 defeat to fellow Scot Stephen Maguire. A Scottish, Hendry is considered to be the game’s greatest-ever player by many of his followers. He will be remembered as a supreme competitor and superb break builder whose style revolutionised the game. Hendry made his debut at the world championships in 1986, where he was defeated by Willie Thorne. It was his 27th successive appearance at the World championships. Hendry was the youngest-ever snooker World Champion, a t the age of 21. He was snooker’s world number one for eight straight years between 1990 and 1998, and again in 2006-2007.
CRICKET : KKR Won IPL – 5 : Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) defeated the defending champion Chennai Super Kings (CSK) to win their maiden Indian Premier League (IPL) title at the MA Chidambaram stadium in Chennai on 27 April 2012.Gautam Gambhir led Knight Riders successfully chased down the target of 192 in 19.4 overs in the summit clash of IPL-5. In a sensational pursuit, Kolkata Knight Riders chased down an imposing 191 to win its first Indian Premier League title at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium, here, on Sunday. Requiring nine off the final over, two Manoj Tiwary boundaries off paceman Dwayne Bravo enabled the spirited Kolkata side register a triumph with two balls remaining. The dependable Jacques Kallis (69 of f 49) and an inspired Manvinder Singh Bisla (89 off 48) set up the win. Chennai Super Kings’ dream of an IPL hat-trick remained unfulfilled. The side’s bowling was ordinary and fielding lacklustre. Despite a mountain of runs, the host was unable to build pressure. As the chase neared conclusion, there were two championship-defining moments. Michael Hussey, on his 37th birthday, leapt and seemed to have pulled off a spectacular catch at the mid-wicket fence to dismiss Jacques Kallis. The Aussie, however, stepped over the line taking the sphere with him. The resultant six took Kallis from 56 to 62. Then, Ben Hilfenhaus, soon after prising out Kallis with a full toss, sent down a no-ball for height in the final ball of the 19th over.In the extra delivery that followed, Shakib-Al-Hasan directed one over short-fine leg to the fence. Knight Riders now required only nine from the final over. The visitors had the final say. During the chase, the solid Kallis’ refined technique and clean strokes off either feet lifted the levels of batsmanship. He played an exquisite straight-drive off R. Ashwin and a flowing cover-drive off left-arm spinner Shadab Jakati. Bisla slashed and flashed boundaries square off the wicket, cover-drove with panache and pulled with daring. The manner in which Bisla converted the length pegged back the CSK bowlers. Ashwin and Bravo suffered. The right-hander, however, was fortunate when a leaping Hilfenhaus could not cling on to a Bisla offering off Ashwin. Bisla, e ventually, succumbed to a slower delivery from Albie Morkel. The unheralded Bisla had been a controversial inclusion in the side as the KKR think-tank – to maintain the balance of its attack – dropped the gamechanging Brendon McCullum to include paceman Brett Lee in one of the four overseas slots. And Bisla came in as a wicket-keeper batsman for injured paceman L. Balaji. The Knight Riders’ start was disastrous. Its skipper Gautam Gambhir heaved against a slower delivery from Ben Hilfenhaus to be castled. Sunil Naraine, of the Kolkata Knight Riders, won the Man of the Tournament award for his impressive bowling show through out the event. He picked up 24 wickets at an average of 13.50 and an economy rate of 5.47, which was the best in the league. Chris Gayle of Royal Challengers Banglore and Morne Morkel of Chennai Super Kings emerged as the highest run getter and leading wicket taker of the tournament respectively. Gayle scored 733 runs while Morkel topped the list of highest wicket taker with 25 wickets. Chris Gayle also hit the maximum number of sixes (59) in the IPL season 2012. A total of 9 teams had participated in the fifth season of IPL which had commenced on 4 April 2012. Kolkata Knight Riders, Chennai Super Kings, Delhi Daredevils and Mumbai Indians were the four teams which had made to the final four following a marathon league round. A total of 76 matches were played in the entire tournament.
FOOTBALL : UEFA Champions League: Chelsea, the English football club defeated German football club FOOTBALL Bayern Munich to win its first Union of European Football Association (UEFA) Champions League Title on 19 May 2012. Didier Drogba hit the crucial penalty in the penalty shootout to win it 4-3 for the English club. Before the penalty shootout, both the teams were level at 1-1. Didier Drogba scored the maximum number of goals for Chelsea this season. He hit a total of 34 goals and was instrumental in getting the team its first ever Champions League Title. He was also declared the UEFA Man of the Match for the match-winning performance in the final clash.
Spanish League: Spanish Football club Real Madrid clinched its 32nd Spanish league title and first in four years on 2 May 2012, overshadowing Lionel Messi breaking a 39-year European club scoring record with a hat trick to take his season total to 68 goals. It was Madrid’s first Spanish league title after 2008. The Spanish club with the help of the three goals of Gonzalo Higuain, Mesut Oezil, Cristiano Ronaldo re gistered a 3-0 win over the Barcelona. Barcelona had won all three previous seasons of Spanish league championship. Real Madrid and Barcelona bothy are the Spanish professional football clubs. Their rivalry at the football ground is famous among the football fans. The two clubs have won a large number of titles in their long illustrative history. British football club Manchester United and Italian football club AC Milan are two other major football clubs.
TENNIS : Italian Open : Spaniard Rafael Nadal defeated world no. 1 Novak Djokovic to claim his sixth Italian Open Title on 21 May 2012. It was Nadal’s second straight f inal victory against the Serbian tennis maestro. Earlier Nadal had defeated Djokovic in the Monte Carlo Finals on 22 April 2012. Before Monte Carlo, Djokovic had defeated Nadal in seven straight finals including Italian Open Title in 2011. Nadal with this victory also got back the second spot in the world tennis ranking which was earlier occupied by Roger Federer following his victory at the Madrid Open Title on 13 May 2012. Russian tennis star Maria Sharapova defeated Li Na of China to retain the Italian Open title on 20 May 2012. The match was twice interrupted by rain but Sharapova eventually emerged as the winner beating world no. 9 Li Na. The Second- seeded Sharapova has to her credit a total of 26 WTA singles titles , including three Grand Slam singles titles at the 2004 Wimbledon, 2006 US Open and 2008 Australian Open. She was also the winner of the year-end WTA Tour Championships in 2004.
Madrid Open : Swiss tennis star Roger Federer defeated Czech Tomas Berdych to win Madrid Open title on 13 May 2012. The Madrid Open title is set to reinstate Federer as the no. 2 spot in the world tennis ranking, the position he had earlier lost to his rival Rafael Nadal. The third seeded Federer also leveled the record of Spaniard Rafael Nadal to win 20 Masters titles. Federer held the no.1 position for record 285 weeks, just one week short of the record 286 weeks occupied by American tennis legend Pete Sampras. Federer has to his credit a record 16 Grand Slam singles titles. He was named the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year for a record four consecutive years from 2005 to 2008. He also topped the list of the “100 greatest tennis players of all time” (male or female) by Tennis Channel in 2012.
Barcelona Open : World’s second ranked tennis player Rafael Nadal defeated sixth seeded David Fer rer to clinch the Barcelona Open Title on 29 April 2012. Nadal, following his Barcelona Open Title, became the first player in the Open Era to win two tournaments seven times. Before the Barcelona Open Title he had won the Monte Carlo Title for the eighth consecutive time. The Bracelona Open victory was Nadal’s 21st straight victory on clay court. A king of clay court, only Roger Federar and Novak Djokovic have been able to defeat Nadal on the clay court.
Monte Carlo Masters : Ace tennis player Rafael Nadal on 22 April 2012 clinched his eighth consecutive Monte Carlo Masters. The second seeded Nadal defeated Serbian Novak Djokovic in the final. The Monte Carlo Title is Nadal’s first since French Open title in 2011and the 47th of his ATP career. Prior to this the top seeded Djokovic had defeated Nadal in seven title face-offs. Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic had defeated Gilles Simon and Tomas Berdych respectively in the semi finals of the tournament.
ITF Futures Men’s Tennis: Fifth ranked Sriram Balaji defeated Swiss Joss Espasandin in the summit clash of the MCC-SR Subramaniam Memorial ITF Futures men’s tennis tournament in Chennai on 5 May 2012. While Balaji received the reward of 65000 rupees the Swiss player got 45000 r upees as the reward. Sanmar Group’s Chair man N Sankar, presented the prizes and Mrs Subramaniam, gave away the S R Subramaniam Rolling Trophy to winner Sriram Balaji.
SQUASH : Asian Squash Championship : Indian women squash team won its maiden gold at the 16th Asian Squash Championship in Kuwait on 5 May 2012. The women team created a history by defeating the top seeded Hongkong team in the title clash. Indian women 71st seeded ed Joshna Chinnappa and 14th seeded Dipika Pallikkal defeated world number sixteen Joey Chan and world number seven Annie Au respectively. Prior to this, the best performance of Indian women squash team had come in 2010 at the last championship held in 2010 in Chennai, when the team had managed to clinch the silver. The Indian men’s team, however, suffered a 0-2 defeat against Pakistan in the conclusive contest. India’s national champion Saurav Ghosal and Siddharth Suchde lost to Pakistan’s first ranked Farhan Mehboob and Farhan Zaman respectively. Asian Squash Championship had started off in 1981. The inaugural edition of the championship was held in Karachi in Pakistan.
Sports Round-Up: June 2012
CRICKET : STAR TV WON THE BROADCASTING RIGHTS OF INDIAN CRICKET TEAM IN A 3851 CRORE RUPEES BID : Star TV on 2 April 2012 won the rights to broadcast Indian cricket for next six years in a bid to the tune of 3851 crore rupees. Rupert Murdoch owned Star TV won the bid defeating Sony which had offered 150 crore rupees less than the winning bid. The rights include TV, Internet and Mobile broadcasting. The agreement will remain effective for a period of six years starting from from July 2012 to March 2018. The agreement gives Star TV rights to cover all home international matches and domestic tournaments involving Indian Cricket team. The right will not be applicable for the Indian Premier League (IPL). Star TV will pay around 40 crore rupees for each international match, which is 8 crore more than what was being paid by previous broadcaster Nimbus. The bid for the broadcasting rights was necessitated as the BCCI had abruptly terminated its broadcasting agreement with Nimbus in December 2011, three years before it was due to expires, over the issues related to payment.
TENNIS
RAFAEL NADAL DEFEATED NOVAK DJOKOVIC TO CLINCH HIS EIGHTH CONSECUTIVE MONTE CARLO MASTERS : Ace tennis player Rafael Nadal on 22 April 2012 clinched his eighth consecutive Monte Carlo Masters. The second seeded Nadal defeated Serbian Novak Djokovic in the final. The Monte Carlo Title is Nadal’s first since French Open title in 2011and the 47th of his ATP career. Prior to this the top seeded Djokovic had defeated Nadal in seven title face-offs. Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic had defeated Gilles Simon and Tomas Berdych respectively in the semi finals of the tournament.
TOP SEEDED NOVAK DJOKOVIC DEFEATED ANDY MURRAY TO LIFT MIAMI MASTERS TROPHY: World number one Novak Djokovic won the Miami Masters title on 1 April 2012. Djokovic defeated fourth seeded Andy Murray in the final. It was the third Miami Open Title win for Djokovic who also won it in 2007 and 2011. Only six-time champion Andre Agassi won more men’s titles. Serbian Tennis star had defeated 21st seeded Juan Monaco of Argentina in the semi-finals. Andy Murray made it to the finals after Rafael Nadal pulled out of the tournament given his knee injury right before his scheduled semi-final match against Murray.
AGNIESZKA RADWANSKA DEFEATED MARIA SHARAPOVA TO CLINCH MIAMI MASTERS TITLE : Fourth seeded Agnieszka Radwanska, on 31 March 2012, defeated Russian Tennis star Maria Sharapova to clinch Miami Masters women singles Title. Sharapova, a three-time Grand Slam champion, had been deprived of victory in four Miami Opens finals. She was also the runner-up in 2005, 2006 and 2011. While, Poland’s Radwanska had defeated seventh seeded Marion Bartoli in the semi-finals, Sharapova had beaten Caroline Wozniacki in the semi-finals.
LEANDER PAES AND RADEK STEPANEK CLAIMED THE DOUBLES TITLE OF MIAMI MASTERS : Seventh seeded, Indo-Czeck pair of Leander Paes and Radek Stepanek claimed the doubles title of Miami Masters on 31 March 2012. Paes by winning the Miami Titles took the total number of his career titles to 50. The pair had defeated the world No.1 pairing of Americans Bob and Mike Bryan in the semifinals on 29 March 2012. Paes, who became the 24th player in ATP Tour history to complete 50 doubles titles, claimed 24270 dollars in prize money and 250 points.
CROATIA’S IVAN LJUBICIC ANNOUNCED RETIREMENT FROM TENNIS : Croatia’s Ivan Ljubicic announced retirement from tennis on 15 April 2012 after he suffered a 6-0,6-3 defeat to Ivan Dodig at the Monte Carlo Masters. Ivan’s career high ATP ranking was number 3. He won his first ATP singles title at Lyon in 2001. He entered professional tennis in 1998. He won two ATP titles and was the runner-up at 6 ATP events.
ARCHERY/SHOOTING : KOREAN CITY OF CHANGWON SLATED AS THE VENUE FOR SHOOTING WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP 2018 : The shooting World Championship of 2018 was awarded to Korean city of Changwon on 17 April 2012. The decision regarding the venue of the championship was made at the General Assembly meeting of International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) in London. The Korean government, as per the reports, has earmarked 30 million dollar to enhance the amenities in the shooting complex and organize the world championship with six shotgun ranges, 100 targets each in 10 metres and 50 metres apart from 14 lay-outs in the 25-metre range. The last World Championship was held in Munich, Germany, in 2010 and the next championship will be held in Granada, Spain, in 2014.
MOTOR SPORTS : AUDI SIGNS UP INDIAN MOTORSPORT DRIVER ADITYA PATEL FOR THREE YEARS : German luxury car manufacturer Audi on 13 April 2012 signed a 3 year contract with promising young motorsport driver Aditya Patel. Aditya was signed up by Audi for a team called Pro- Handicap e.V., in the challenging VLN endurance series in Germany. The series will provide Aditya with a much needed i n t e r n a t i o n a l exposure. Aditya Patel began his motorsports career at 14 with the JK Tyre National Racing Championship in 2001. Consistent performance and dedicated support from long term sponsors like JK Tyre, MAS Holdings and Petra Energy saw him rise through the ranks and later into more advanced formats such as the VW Polo R Cup and the VW Scirocco R Cup in Germany, where he finished 5th overall, in 2011. The latest contract with Audi will provide Aditya access to various international racing platforms.
FERRARI DRIVER FERNANDO ALONSO WON THE FORMULA ONE MALAYSIAN GRAND PRIX : Ferrari driver Fernando Alonso on 25 March 2012, won the Formula One Malaysian Grand Prix. The Spaniard defeated Mexican Sergio Perez and British national Lewis Hamilton who came second and third respectively. Alonso, a two-time World Champion had won his first Formula One World Driver’s Championship title at the age of 24 years and 58 days, in year 2005. Alonso was the thirdyoungest driver ever to start a Formula One race when he made his debut in year 2001 with Minardi at the Australian Grand Prix.
BADMINTON: CHINA’S XIAO JIA CHEN DEFEATED SAINA NEHWAL IN THE ASIAN BADMINTON CHAMPIONSHIP : China’s Xiao Jia Chen defetaed ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal, in the second round of the Asian Badminton Championship on 20 April 2012. The 40th ranked Chen outplayed the Fifth seeded Nehwal in a closely contested match. Saina in the first round of the championship had defetaed Kaori Imabeppu of Japan. With regard to Olympic qualification, the significant loss was that of the mixed doubles pair of Jwala Gutta and V Diju. They lost to Korea’s Sa Rang Kim and Hye In Choi. Jwala and Diju are currently ranked No.16 in the world and will have to maintain or improve their ranking in order to make the cut for the London Games.
INDIAN ACE BADMINTON PLAYER SAINA NEHWAL WON THE SWISS OPEN GRAND PRIX GOLD TROPHY:
Indian ace badminton player and World no five Saina Nehwal retained the Swiss Open Grand Prix Gold trophy by securing a victory over China’s Shixian Wang in a 48-minute summit clash at Basel, Switzerland on 18 March 2012. With the victory at the Swiss Open GP she won her first title of 2012. The world number five Indian defeated third ranking Shixian 21-19 21-16 and thus defended her title. Saina began with a healthy 11-3 lead in the first game. Saina had an early 3-0 lead in the second game forcing Shixian to claw her way back to 11-8 at the break. Saina caught up with Shixian at 13-13 after the breather and then registered four straight points from 15-all to eventually win the game comfortably. Saina had earlier defeated Japan’s Minatsu Mitani in the semifinals. She had defeated Mitani 21-16 21-18 in 35 minutes to set up a summit clash with Shixian. Saina had reached the quarterfinal of the All England Championship in early March 2012. She has also managed to reach the semifinals at the Malaysia Open and the quarterfinal in the Korea Open in January 2012.
SAINA NEHWAL SUFFERED A CRUSHING DEFEAT AT ALL ENGLAND CHAMPIONSHIP: India’s ace Badminton player Saina Nehwal suffered a straight-game defeat in the women’s singles quarterfinals of the All England Championship at Birmingham on 9 March 2012. The Fourth seeded Nehwal lost to seventh seeded Li Xuerui of China in a forty-minute match at the National Indoor Arena. Saina on 8 March 2012had defeated French shuttler Hongyan Pi to make it to the quarter finals of the championship. Saina in 2010 had reached the semi finals of All England Championship. In 2010 she had won three Super Series titles -Singapore, Indonesia and Hong Kong beside the Commonwealth Games gold medal.
BOXING : INDIAN BOXER VIJENDER SINGH QUALIFIED FOR THE LONDON OLYMPICS : In Boxing, India’s Vijender Singh on 8 April 2012 qualified for the London Olympics in the 75- kilogram category. He is the first Indian boxer to qualify for the Olympics for the third time in succession. In the Asian Olympic qualifier at Astana in Kazakhstan, Vijender reached the semifinals after defeating Chuluntumur Tumurkhuyag of Mongolia in the quarterfinals. Vijender Singh is also the first Indian to win an Olympic and World Championships medal(bronze in both events).
M.C. MARY KOM AND SARITA WON GOLD MEDALS IN THE ASIAN WOMEN’S BOXING CHAMPIONSHIP :
Indian women boxers M.C. Mary Kom and Sarita on 25 March 2012, clinched two gold medals in the Asian women’s boxing championship at Mongolian capital Ulaanbator. Mary Kom, the five-time world champion, routed the twotime world title winner and 2010 Asian Games gold medalist Ren Cancan of China 14-8. Sarita, the 2006 world title winner, smashed defending champion Chorieva Mavzu of Tajikistan 26-15. Success of Indian female boxers at Asian women’s boxing championship in the Olympic weight categories has boosted the prospects of the Indian women boxers’ qualification to the London Olympics 2012. Makingits presence felt substantially, the Indian team claimed two gold, four silver and two bronze medals at the championship.
SHIVA THAPA BECAME THE YOUNGEST INDIAN BOXER TO QUALIFY FOR OLYMPICS : The 18-year-old Shiva Thapa (56kg category) on 11 April 2012 became the youngest Indian boxer to qualify for the Olympics by beating Japan’s Satoshi Shimizu 31-17 to enter the final of the Asian
INDIAN SQUASH PLAYER SAURAV GHOSAL WON THE $120000 EL GOUNA INTERNATIONAL OPEN : Top Indian squash player Saurav Ghosal won a 3-2 victory over Robbie Temple of England at the $120,000 El Gouna International Open in El Gouna, Egypt on 9 April 2012. Ghoshal defeated Robbie8-11, 9-11, 11-9, 11- 7, 11-4 in a match that lasted 85 minutes. Ghosal had earlier lost to Willstrop at the Canary Wharf Classic tournament in March 2012. The left-handed qualifier Englishman, Robbie had made headway in the opening games and sailed through the first two games easily. Ghosal however lifted his game and made a strong comeback in the third and the fourth game. He made an aggressive start to the fifth game and eventually took the final set with great ease. qualifiers in Astana, Kazakhstan. India will have an unprecedented seven boxers in the Olympic Games after teen sensations Shiva Thapa (56kg) and Sumit Sangwan (81kg) booked their London Olympic births by advancing to the finals in the Asian Olympic Qualifiers in Astana, Kazakhstan.
WRESTLING : GEETA KUMARI MADE A HISTORY, BECAME THE FIRST INDIAN WOMAN WRESTLER TO QUALIFY FOR OLYMPICS : Geeta Kumari, the woman wrestler, won a gold in 55kg category at the ongoing Asian qualifying tournament in Astana, Kazakhastan. Geeta with this victory also made a history, as she became the first Indian woman wrestler to have ever qualified for the Olympics. Women’s wrestling was first introduced at the Olympics during the 2004 Athens Olympics. The wrestler from Bhiwani in Haryana, overpowered Kyrgyzstan’s Gulina in the first round. Then she went on to defeat Aiym Abdildina of Kazakhstan in the semifinal. In the final, the grappler thrashed her Korean challenger Ji-Eun Um to clinch the gold medal.
SQUASH : INDIAN SQUASH PLAYER SAURAV GHOSAL WON THE $120000 EL GOUNA INTERNATIONAL OPEN : Top Indian squash player Saurav Ghosal won a 3-2 victory over Robbie Temple of England at the $120,000 El Gouna International Open in El Gouna, Egypt on 9 April 2012. Ghoshal defeated Robbie8-11, 9-11, 11-9, 11- 7, 11-4 in a match that lasted 85 minutes. Ghosal had earlier lost to Willstrop at the Canary Wharf Classic tournament in March 2012. The left-handed qualifier Englishman, Robbie had made headway in the opening games and sailed through the first two games easily. Ghosal however lifted his game and made a strong comeback in the third and the fourth game. He made an aggressive start to the fifth game and eventually took the final set with great ease.
Sports Round-Up: May 2012
Cricket: SOUTH AFRICA RECORDED 3-0 VICTORY AGAINST NEW ZEALAND: South Africa made a 3-0 clean sweep against NewZealand with a five wicket victory in the third and final oneday international in Auckland on 3 march 2012. The South African squad led by AB Devilliers had recorded six wicket victories in first two matches of the series. Debutant South African pacer Marchant de Lange claimed four wickets in the match.
NEW ZEALAND CRUSHES ZIMBABWETO COMPLETE 3-0 WIN: New Zealand crushed Zimbabwe by 202 runs in the final One-Day International to complete a 3-0 series whitewash over the outclassed tourists. Zimbabwe again failed to fire as New Zealand, inspired by a man-of-thematch century from skipper Brendon McCullum, plundered 373 for eight in 50 overs and then routed the Africans for 171 with six overs to spare. Captain Brendan Taylor, whose brisk 65 off 62 balls was the high point of the Zimbabwe innings, was left looking for positives froma series in which the gulf between the teams progressively widened. Returning to the ground where it suffered a humiliating defeat by an innings and 301 runs in a one-off Test last month, Zimbabwe let itself down with loose bowling and shoddy fielding on a flat wicket. Zimbabwe’s Brian Vitori suffered the indignity of becoming only the fifth player to concede more than 100 runs inan ODI.
SAHARA AGREED TO SPONSOR INDIAN CRICKET TEAM: Sahara Group on 17 February 2012, agreed to reverse its decision of quashing all the commercial ties with Board for Cricket Control in India. The decision was taken after series of meetings held between The BCCI and the Sahara Group to resolve the contentious issues, Sahara had cited as reasons behind voiding the deal. As per the agreement the BCCI extended the date for buying the players, from 17 February to 29 February. The deal is to provide the Pune Warriors with an opportunity to buy players from other franchises and have also re-activated their auction purse. The board also agreed to address Sahara Group’s demand for reduction in franchise fee. It also gave its consent to the company to seek a strategic partner to run the IPL franchise. Existing sponsorship agreement between BCCI and Sahara Group involves` 3.34 cr. per Test,Oneday and T 20 international. The deal is to end on 31December 2013. Sahara in 2010 had bagged the IPL Pune Franchise in a bid worth ` 1700 cr. Sahara Group has been sponsoring the Indian Cricket Team since 2001. On 4 February 2012 the company had decided to withdraw its sponsorship to all the form of cricket under BCCI, giving the raging disputes between the two parties on variety of issues.
CSK NETS RAVINDRA JADEJA : In the days leading to the auction at the ITC Royal Gardenia Hotel, the IPL committee had turned down the Warriors’ request to increase its auction purse beyond the stipulated $2 million. A miffed Sahara Group and its subsidiary Pune Warriors pulled out of the auction and that remained the subtext through the day. Even when a triumphant Chennai Super Kings owner Gurunath Meiyappan walked in for a brief press conference after snapping up Jadeja for $2 million, questions on Sahara’s exit were volleyed towards the IPL chairman Rajeev Shukla and CEO Sundar Raman. The Sahara-effect faded slowly and for Jadeja, who made a comeback to the Indian squad during the One-Day Internationals in England, the wheel has come a full circle. Banned from the IPL during its third edition due to a contractual dispute, Jadeja is now the lodestone for franchises. The former Rajasthan Royals player, who was picked up by Kochi Tuskers Kerala last year for $950,000, lived up to his bluechip buzz with Super Kings and the Chargers getting in to a bidding stalemate after exhausting their purse of $2 million each. In the tie-breaker, the Chennai teampipped the Chargers by an undisclosed sum. Sri Lankan skipper Mahela Jayawardene proved to be the next biggie and at $1.4 million, he is a valued buy for the Delhi Daredevils. Former Pakistan player and current British citizen Azhar Mahmood found an eager buyer in King’s XI Punjab ($200,000) and the West Indies all-rounder Andre Russell added zest to the post-lunch proceedings. Russell was selected by Delhi Daredevils for $450,000.
TENNIS : DUBAI DOUBLES TITLE : Indian Tennis pair of Mahesh Bhupati and Rohan Bopanna won the doubles title of Dubai Open. The Fourth-seeded duo defeated Polish pair of Poles Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski. It was the maiden title for the Indian tennis duo, who reigned in almost all the department of game and secured a 6-4, 3-6, 10-5 win over the Polish tennis duo to lift the winner’s trophy. The Dubai Open doubles title is Bhupati’s 50th career title while first with Bopanna. The title also marked the fourth Dubai title for Bhupathi, as he had claimed the title earlier in 1998 with Leander Paes, in 2004 with Fabrice Santoro and in 2008 with Mark Knowles.The title marked sixth ATP title of Bopanna’s career.
DUBAI OPEN SINGLES TITLE
World no. 2 Roger Federar defeated third seeded Andy Murray in the singles final of Dubai Open on 4 March 2012. The 30-year-old Federer who lost his number 1 seed to Serbian Tennis star Novak Djokovic , recorded an easy 7-5, 6-4 win over Briton Andy Murray. It is fifthDubai Title of Federar, who has so farwon 72 tour titles. Roger Federar has record 16 grand slam title to his credit. Federer has been the part of a record 23 career Grand Slam tournament finals, including a men’s record ten in a row.
MARSEILLE OPEN TITLE: Juan Martin Del Potro of Argentina clinched Marseille Open final by beating Michael Llodra on 26 February 2012.Del Potro who turned a professional tennis player in 2005 has won total ten ATP titles in his career. Del Potro claimed his first Grand Slam title at the 2009 US Open, defeating Nadal in the semifinal, and Roger Federer in the final. Potro’shighest ATP ranking was four.
MANISH MALHOTRA PRESENTED WITH TOP IOC AWARD
Former Indian tennis player Manisha Malhotra conferred upon a top International Olympic Committee Award for her contribution in promoting sport among women. The award was presented by IOC President Jacques Rogge at the fifth World Conference on Women and Sport. Malhotra received the World Trophy for helping disadvantaged girls. She has travelled length and breadth of India to encourage women to participate in different sports. Manisha Malhotra had competed for India in Tennis doubles at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. She was one of six winners at the Women and Sports Awards ceremony held in Los Angeles on 16 February 2012.
ARCHERY/SHOOTING : 55TH NATIONAL SHOOTING CHAMPIONSHIPS FOR SHOTGUN : Haryana’s Ajay Mittal won the gold medal at the 55th National Shooting Championships for shot gun by defeating stalwarts like Sodhiand Athens Olympics silver medallist Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore in the final. Delhi’s Sangram Dahiya finished second, followed by Rathore and Sodhi. Ajay Mittal’s younger brother, Ankur Mittal finished fifth and another Delhilad, Shayan Masood, sixth. Ankur Mittal also won the juniors’ competition, with Masood second and Andhra Pradesh’s Asher Noria third. Ajay Mittals’ father, Ashok, who combined with his sons to win the bronze medal in the teamcompetition for Haryana too, behind winners Delhi and runners- up Punjab. In the non- Olympic women’s double trap competition, Bihar’s Shreyasi Singhwon the gold with a score of 92 out of 120, breaking her own national record of 90. Army shooters Seema and Varsha Tomar won the silver and bronze medals respectively. Shreyasi also pocketed the juniors’ gold ahead of Madhya Pradesh’s Varsha Varman andUttar Pradesh’s MalikaWig.
KABADDI : FIRST WORLD CUP KABADDI TITLE : Indian national women Kabaddi team clinched maiden Women World Cup Kabaddi championship title on 4 March 2012. In a thrilling match held in Patna, capital of Bihar, Indian women team defeated Iran 25-19. Japansecured third rank while Thiland came fourth in the championship. Earlier in the day, India deferated Japan 60-21 to enter the final while Iran beaten Thailand 46-26tomake it to the final. The global sports event witnessed the participation of 16 countries. The fourday event received a great following in India.
SQUASH: SDAT-WSF UNDER-21 SQUASH WORLD CUP : Egypt defeated India2-1 inthe final of the SDAT-WSF Under-21 Squash World Cup. Marwan El Shorbagy defeated RaviDixit 11-4, 11-7, 7-11, 11- 7 while Karim Abdel Gawad bt Ramit Tandon 12-10, 11-4, 6-11, 11-8. However Dipika Pallikal manged to score a point by defeating Nour El Sherbini 11- 7, 4-11, 8-11, 14-12, 11-5. England defeated France 2-0 (Charles Sharpes bt Lucas Serme 14-12, 7-11, 5-11, 11-6, 11-6; EmilyWhitlock btCyrielle Peltier 11-5, 11-7, 11-7) to finish third. After Ravi Dixit’sdefeat, Dipika Pallikal fought hard to bring India back into contention bywinning a five-gamemarathon against Nour el Sherbini. However, Ramit Tandon’s defeat dealt a blow to India. Tandon,who beat a much higher ranked opponent in the sefifinal on4 January had todo it all over again at the Express Avenue Mall against Gawad,whoisplacedclose to300 places above him in the world rankings.Gawad finally managed to close the game 11-8 to win the matchand the inauguralU-21 World Cup for Egypt.
BADMINTON : ALL ENGLAND CHAMPIONSHIP : India’s ace Badmintonplayer Saina Nehwal suffered a straight-game defeat in the women’s singles quarterfinals of the All England Championship at Birmingham on 9 March 2012. The Fourth seeded Nehwal lost to seventh seeded Li Xuerui of China in a forty minute match at the National Indoor Arena. Saina on 8 March 2012had defeated French shuttler HongyanPi to make it to the quarter finals of the championship. Saina in 2010 had reached the semi finals of All England Championship. In 2010 she had won three Super Series titles -Singapore, Indonesia and Hong Kong beside the Commonwealth Games gold medal.
GOLF : EUROPEAN TOUR TITLE : South African Golfer James Barry Kruger won Avantha Masters Golf tournament in New Delhi. Popularly called Jbe Cruger, it was his maiden European Tour title. The 25-year-old Krugermade four birdies and overcame a bogey on the 17th to finish with a 14- under total of 274 in New Delhi. Jorge Campillo of Spain and Marcel Siem of Germany jointly secured the second position. Campillo and Siem were two shotsbackinthematch. Jose Manuel Lara of Spain and Australian Marcus Fraser finished joint fourth at 11 under. James Barry “Jbe” Kruger is a South African Golfer, who in year 2007 turned to be professional Golfer. He has won twice on the Sunshine Tour Kruger finished second on the Asian Tour three times in 2010, while his best previous result on the European Tour was third at the Africa Open the same year. Kruger’s topmost position in this year’s European Tour has been ninth which he had secured at the Joburg Open in South Africa.
HOCKEY : INDIAN WOMEN HOCKEY TEAM LOST THE FINAL OF OLYMPICS QUALIFIER : South African Women Hockey team on 25 February 2012, defeated Indian Women Hockey Team to qualify for the London Olympics 2012. South African squad scored 3 goals while the Indian squad could manage to hit only one goal. Holland, Argentina, Australia, China, Germany, Britain, South Korea, New Zealand and the United States have already made it to the Olympics. Indian Women Hockey Team had go tits maiden and sole Olympic sentry in1980Moscow Olympics. Since then it has not been able to break the qualifiers round, a gateway to the Olympics.
SAHARA AWARD FOR HOCKEY TEAM : Sahara India on Tuesday announced a cash incentive of Rs,1.16 crore to be distributed amongst the players and support staff of the Indian hockey team for qualifying for the 2012 London Olympics. For their exceptional performance, Sardar Singh and Sandeep Singh have been awarded Rs.11 lakh each, while the rest of the players will get Rs. five lakh each. The support staff will also get anincentive of`Rs.1 lakh each. Inaddition, Sahara will also bear the taxes on the cash awards, taking the total expenditure incurred by the company to around Rs. 1.29 crore.
CRICKET : AUSTRALIA WON CB TRIANGULAR SERIES: When it mattered most, the Australians held their nerve in the cauldron. They also played the key moments of the decider better. Defending a modest target of 231, the host finished at the right end of a tense game to triumph 2-1 in the Commonwealth Bank ODI triangular series finals at the Adelaide Oval on Thursday. In the end, only 16 runs separated Sri Lanka from Australia. Prior to this Australia won the 1st final, while Sri Lanka came triumphant in the 2nd.The 3rd teamof this tournament was India.
INDIA DROPS TO THIRD : World champion India dropped a place to third in the Reliance ICC ODI Championship cricket table after its dismal performance in the tri-series in Australia. Australia, however, stayed on course to retain the ICC ODI Championship shield after defeating Sri Lanka by 16 runs in the third and last match of the best-of-three finals in Adelaide on Thursday, while South Africa is second.
PAKISTAN WON ASIA CUP : Pakistan defeated host Bangladesh to lift Asia Cup Cricket Trophy on 22 March 2012. In a closely contested match at Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium Bangladesh fell short by 3 runs while chasing the target of 237. Mushfiqur Rehman led Bangladesh team was for the first time in its cricketing history reached to final of a big tournament. Pakistan squad was led by Mishbah Ul Haq. The two teams defeated India and Sri Lanka to make it to the final. Asia Cup tournament which started in 1984,is held on every two year. The tournament sees participation of all four test playing nation in the continent. India who was the winner of maiden Asia Cup Trophy in 1984 has claimed the trophy for five times. Sri Lanka and Pakistan have lifted the trophy for 4 and 2 times respectively.
INDIA GONE PAST 320 IN LESS THAN 40 OVERS: Sent into bat, Sri Lanka scored a huge 320 for the loss of four wickets against India in the penultimate one dayer of the cricket tri-series in Hobart on Tuesday. Tillakaratne Dishan scored an unbeaten 160, while Kumar Sangakkar made 105. Nobody at the Bellerive Oval gave them a chance of chasing down Sri Lanka’s gargantuan 320 for four, let alone doing it in less than 40 overs to earn the bonus point and keep alive their hopes of making it to the finals. However, the Men in Blue did it in style thanks to Virat Kohli, who blasted an unbeaten 133 off 86 balls. With cameos from the other four specialist batsmen, India did the unthinkable by achieving the target off just 36.4 overs.
PAKISTAN COMPLETES A CLEAN SWEEP : Pakistan’s bowlers sealed an emphatic 71-run win in the third and final Test against England, inflicting a 3-0 humiliation on the Englishmen. Pakistan won the first Test here by 10 wickets and the second at Abu Dhabi by 72 runs. Set a daunting 324-run target, England was bowled out for 252 with paceman Umar Gul taking four for 61 and off-spinner Saeed Ajmal (four for 67) to help Pakistan achieve a firstever Test clean sweep against its opponent. Pakistanhas become the first team to win a Test after being bowled out for under 100, since 1907, when England, shot out for 76, beat South Africa at Leeds. It was England’s seventh series whitewash and its first at the hands of Pakistan. Pakistan has now recorded five series whitewashes, its last coming against Bangladesh in 2003. England’s last series whitewash came in 2007 when it was routed by Australia 5-0.
RAHUL DRAVID ANNOUNCED RETIREMENT : Indian batting maestro and former captain Rahul Dravid, on 9March 2012, announced his retirement from international cricket. The 39-year-old has to his credit the second highest aggregate of runs in the test history only after Sachin Tendulkar. Dravid which scored 13,288 runs in 164 Tests, including 36 hundreds has been one of the most successful batsmen India has ever produced. Dravid made his international debut on 20 June 1996 while playing at the Lord’s against England. He had announced his retirement from the ODIs in England in 2011.
RICKY PONTING ANNOUNCED RETIREMENT : Former Australian Cricket Captain Ricky Ponting on 21 February 2012 announced his retirement from the One day cricket. Ricky Ponting, who led the Australian squad twice to world cup victory in 2003 and 2007, announced his retirement after he was dropped from the one day squad. Ponting’s record in the one day cricket has been quite impressive as in 275 ODIs he has accumulated 13,704 runs at an average of 42.03. Next only to Sachin Tendulkar, Ponting has 30 centuries and 82 fifties in ODI in her name. Ponting had made his one day debut against South Africa on 15 February 1995. He was made the captain of Australian one day squad in 2002 during the series against South Africa.
LORDWOOLF RECOMMENDED THE RESTRUCTURING OF ICC’S EXECUTIVE BOARD : The International Cricket Council’s independent review, conducted by Lord Woolf in its report called for sweeping changes in the administration of cricket. The review recommended the restructuring of the ICC’s executive board in order tomake it more independent. It also stated that influence of the bigger countriesand the full-members must be reduced. The review mentioned that the bigger nations in the ICC look after their own interest rather than that of the game. Lord Woolf ’s report highlighted the need to reduce the strength of Full Members and the appointment of independent directors. ICC’s board currently comprises the heads of all Full Member nations, three representatives from the Associates and Affiliates and the ICC’s president, vice-president and chief executive. Woolf recommended five independent directors, of which three are to be from within the game and two from out side with voting rights. The review also recommended that an ICC director should not concurrently hold any leadership or executive post with their home boards. Woolf Report Recommendations • A culture should be established where all potential conflicts of interest are declared, assessed and addressed.
• ICC Directors should neither seek to place undue influence on other Members, nor allow themselves to be influenced inappropriately by other Members to support the interests of individual Members.
• Any side agreements between Members that may affect the interests of the ICC and global cricket should be disclosed so that there is due transparency and their effects are understood.
• Government interference is inappropriate and is not acceptable. A level of government patronage and support of cricket is permissible.
• There should be clear and enforced limits on the value of Gifts and Hospitality (individually and aggregate) that ICC Directors and staff can give or receive.
It should be mandatory to log all gifts and hospitality that are given or received.
INDIA REPLACED BOWLING COACH ERIC SIMONS: BCCI decided to sack Indian Team’s bowling coach Eric Simons. The ongoing One day tri-series in Australia will be his last assignment as the bowling coach of Indian Cricket Team. Joe Daves of Queensland will take the charge of new bowling coach. Eric Simons had joined the Indian team in January 2010. He was included in the squad as the support staff to the coach Garry Kirsten. Decision about the removal of Simons came after BCCI’s Working Committee Meeting in Chennai on 13 February. Sword was dangling over Simon’s head after consistent poor performance of Indian bowlers in England and Australia.
PAKISTAN APPOINTED DAV WHATMORE AS COACH : Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) appointed Dav Whatmore as its national team coach on 4 March 2012. Whatmore would remain on the position for next two years. Englishman Julian Fountain was slated as the fielding coach of the team. Asia Cup tournament, to be held in the later part of March 2012, would be the first assignment of both the new coaches. Whatmore, played seven tests for Australia, has an impressive record as a coach of different teams. While he led Sri Lanka to world cup victory in 1996, he also led Bangladeshi team to their first test match and subsequent series win in 2005. Prior toWhatmore, three foreigners including Englishmen Richard Pybus and Bob Woolmer and Australian Geoff Lawson have been assigned with the task to coach Pakistani team in the past.
Sports Round-Up-February 2012
Football: World's Outstanding Footballer :Argentina’s Lionel Messi was awarded the 2011 FIFA Ballon d'Or on 9 january 2012 in Zurich. He won the award for the third consecutive year for the world's outstanding footballer. Messi who plays for club Barcelona won 47.88 per cent votes and finished ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo (21.6)%) and Xavi (9.23%). Messi becomes only the second player, after current UEFA president Michel Platini, to win the award for three consecutive years. He joined Platini, Johan Cruyff and Marco van Basten as the only men to have won the prize thrice. Japanese midfielder Homare Sawa claimed the 2011 FIFA Ballon d'Or in the women’s category. Japan’s women’s team, known as the Nadeshiko had memorably claimed their maiden FIFA Women’s World Cup with a thrilling performance by defeating the USA on penalties after extra time. Barcelona’s coach Pep Guardiola was named FIFA Coach of the Year. Pep Guardiola was former midfielder of SpainThe winners in other categories are as follows:
Coach of the Year (women): Norio Sasaki (Jpn);
FIFA Puskas Award: Neymar (Bra);
FIFA Presidential Award: Sir Alex Ferguson (Sco);
FIFPro XI: Iker Casillas; Daniel Alves, Gerard Pique, Sergio Ramos, Nemanja Vidic; Andres Iniesta, Xabi Alonso, Xavi; Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney.
FIFA Award: The FIFA Ballon d’Or was awarded for the second time in January 2012. The award was formed when the Ballon d'Or merged with the FIFA World Player-of-the-Year award in 2010 and is voted for by national team coaches and captains, as well as a panel of football journalists selected by France Football magazine. These awards were decided after a poll in which the captains and head coaches of the men’s (for the two men’s football awards) and women’s (for the two women’s football awards) national teams, as well as international media represent atives selected by French football magazine France Football, voted for candidates in each of the four categories. Each group’s votes represented one third of the final result.
Archery/Shooting
55th National Shooting Championships: Haryana’s Ajay Mittal won the gold medal at the 55th National Shooting Championships for shotgun on 1 February 2012 by defeating stalwarts like Sodhi and Athens Olympics silver medallist Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore in the final. Delhi’s Sangram Dahiya finished second, followed by Rathore and Sodhi. Ajay Mittal’s younger brother, Ankur Mittal finished fifth and another Delhi lad, Shayan Masood, sixth. Ankur Mittal also won the juniors’ competition, with Masood second and Andhra Pradesh’s Asher Noria third. Ajay Mittals’ father, Ashok, who combined with his sons to win the bronze medal in the team competition for Haryana too, behind winners Delhi and runners- up Punjab.In the non- Olympic women’s double trap competition, Bihar’s Shreyasi Singh won the gold with a score of 92 out of 120, breaking her own national record of 90. Army shooters Seema and Varsha Tomar won the silver and bronze medals respectively.Shreyasi also pocketed the juniors’ gold ahead of Madhya Pradesh’s Varsha Varman and Uttar Pradesh’s Malika Wig.
Squash: SDAT-WSF Under-21 Squash World Cup: Egypt defeated India 2-1 in the final of the SDAT-WSF Under-21 Squash World Cup on 5 February 2012. Marwan El Shorbagy defeated Ravi Dixit 11-4, 1 1 - 7 , 7-11, 11-7 w h i l e Ka r i m A b d e l Gawad bt Ramit Tandon 12-10, 11-4, 6-11, 11-8. However Dipika Pallikal manged to score a point by defeating Nour El Sherbini 11-7, 4-11, 8-11, 14-12, 11-5. England defeated France 2-0 (Charles Sharpes bt Lucas Serme 14-12, 7-11, 5-11, 11-6, 11-6; Emily Whitlock bt Cyrielle Peltier 11-5, 11-7, 11-7) to finish third. After Ravi Dixit’s defeat, Dipika Pallikal fought hard to bring India back into contention by winning a five-game marathon against Nour el Sherbini. However, Ramit Tandon’s defeat dealt a blow to India. Tandon, who beat a much higher ranked opponent in the sefi final on 4 January had to do it all over again at the Express Avenue Mall against Gawad, who is placed close to 300 places above him in the world rankings. Gawad finally managed to close the game 11-8 to win the match and the inaugural U-21 World Cup for Egypt.
Volleyball: 60th Senior National Volleyball Championship: Kerala men defeated Uttarakhand 25-22, 25-22, 25-13 to win the National title for the fourth time, in the 60th senior National volleyball championship, at the Balbir Juneja Indoor Stadium, Raipur on 11 January 2012. Kerala had last won its men's title by beating Tamil Nadu in 2001 in Raipur. It repeated the feat a decade later after 72-minute final. Uttarakhand had first won the title in 2002. In 2012, lack of bench strength and ageing players led to Uttarakhand's defeat. Serices ranked third ahter defeating Tamil Nadu. Tom Joseph was judged the Man of the Tournament while Terin Antony emerged Woman of the tournament. The Railway women extended their hegemony by winning the 27th title by defeating Kerala 25-12, 25-14, 25-16in a one-sided final in the women’s category. West Bengal defeated Andhra Pradesh 25-23, 25-13, 25-18 to finish third in the women’s category.
Various: McDonald's extended Sponsorship Agreement: US fast food chain McDonald's in January 2012 extended its global sponsorship agreement with the International Olympic Committee until 2020. McDonald's signed up to sponsor the Olympics for a further eight years till 2020. It essentially means athletes and fans will be offered its burgers and fries in the official restaurants at Games venues until 2020. The value of the new deal is likely to be about $200 million based on what sponsors have paid in the past. McDonald's is the seventh major company to agree to support the Games until 2020. McDonald's has been the long-time and valued Olympic Partner for more than 35 years. McDonald's, an Olympic sponsor since 1976, began its involvement at the 1968 Winter Games when it flew hamburgers to U.S. athletes in the French Alpine resort of Grenoble after they reported being homesick for American food. It plans to continue its ongoing commitment not only to help fund the Olympic Games but also to support the Olympic Movement around the world and ultimately the athletes themselves. The agreement was signed at the world youth Olympic Games in the Austrian city of Innsbruck. The move will help boost McDonald's brand in fast-growing economies, with the 2014 Winter Games to be held in the Russian city of Sochi and the 2016 summer Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The 2018 Winter Games will be held in Pyeongchang, South Korea. The deal is set to expire in 2020 because IOC plans to review its sponsorship programme beyond that date to take account of developments in technology. The IOC received revenues of $957 million from its 11 leading sponsors for the Winter Games in 2010 in Vancouver and the Olympics in London in 2011. Atos Origin, Panasonic and Samsung extended their partnerships until Rio while Coca-Cola, Visa, Omega, Dow, GE and Procter & Gamble signed deals until the 2020 Games. However Taiwanbased computer company Acer, the only leading sponsor that has not so far renewed its sponsorship. Under a longstanding contract, the USOC receives a 20 percent share of global sponsorship revenue and a 12.75 percent share of U.S. broadcast rights deals. Any new formula would go into effect after 2020.
Cricket: Ranji Trophy
Rajasthan coached by R R Jadeja won its second consecutive Ranji Trophy title by defeating Tamil Nadu at the MA Chidambaram stadium, Tamil Nadu on 23 January 2012. Rajasthan won the 78th Ranji Trophy on the basis of its mammoth 326-run lead in the first innings. Rajasthan declared its second innings at 204 for five at tea on the fifth day. Robin Bist of Rajasthan notched up 92 (185b, 13x4) becoming the only batsman in the Ranji season to cross 1000 runs. The short righthander became the first man in three seasons to breach the 1000-run barrier in a Ranji season, joining an elite club that now has 12 members. Bist became the first Rajasthan batsman to aggregate 1,000 runs in a Ranji season. The previous was Hanumant Singh's 869 runs in 1966-67. V A Saxena of Rajasthan was judged Man of the Match in the 78th Ranji Trophy final. The Rajasthan Cricket Association announced a cash award of Rs 1.31 crore for its triumphant State team. The BCCI also announced a cash prize of Rs 2 crore for the team.
Cricketers who scored 1000- plus runs in a Ranji season:
1415 – VVS Laxman (Hyderabad), 1999-2000
1280 - Vijay Bharadwaj (Karnataka), 1998-99
1260 - Wasim Jaffer (Mumbai), 2008-09
1089 – Ajinkya Rahane (Mumbai), 2008-09
1075 - Sridharan Sriram (Tamil Nadu), 1999-00
1066 – Dheeraj Jadhav (Maharashtra), 2003-04
1037 – Jacob Martin (Baroda), 1998-99
1034 - Raman Lamba (Delhi), 1996-97
1034 – Robin Bist (Rajasthan), 2011-12
1033 – Ajay Sharma (Delhi), 1996- 97
1018 - WV Raman (Tamil Nadu), 1988-89
1008 - Rusi Modi (Bombay), 1944-45
Tennis : Australian Open:
The 2012 Australian Open tennis tournament was played in Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia from 16 January to 29 January 2012. 2012 marked the 100th edition of The Australian Open which is the first Grand Slam event of the year. The tournament consisted of events for professional players in singles, doubles and mixed doubles play. The host broadcaster of the event was the Seven Network.
Australian Open Men’s Final Winner: Novak Djokovic
The 2012 men’s final went past the 2008 Wimbledon final time record, finishing after 5 hours and 53 minutes of play. It was the longest match in the history of the Australian Open, and in fact, the longest ever singles final in the Open Era in Grand Slam history. Serbia’s Novak Djokovic was the defending champion in the Auatralian Open and won in the final 5–7, 6–4, 6–2, 6–7(5–7), 7–5 against Rafael Nadal of Spani. He thus started the 2012 season as reigning World No. 1 for the first time of his career. It marked the 5th grand slam of his career and his 3rd Australian Open. It also marked the first time that he had defended a grand slam title.
Australian Open Women’s Final Winner: Victoria Azarenka
Belarusian Victoria Azarenka defeated Maria Sharapova of Russia to win first Grand Slam title. She over took Caroline Wozniacki as the number one ranked player on the WTA Tour. She became the latest World No. 1 by the Women's Tennis Association from 30 January 2012. It was Azarenka's 2nd title of the year and 10th of her career.
Australian Open Men’s Doubles Winners: Leander Paes (India) and Radek Stepanek (Czech Republic) Paes won his first mens doubles title at the Australian Open and in the process completed a long-awaited career Grand Slam in the doubles.
Australian Open Women’s Doubles Winners: Svetlana Kuznetsova and Vera Zvonareva (both from Russia)
Australian Open Mixed Doubles Winners: Bethanie Mattek-Sands (USA) and Horia Tecau (Romania)
Chennai Open : Canadian Milos Raonic won the ATP Chennai Open by defeating world number nine Janko Tipsarevic 6-7 7-6 7-6 in the final on 8 January 2012. Milos Raonic was named the best newcomer in 2011 after he rose from 156 to 31 in the rankings. Raonic slammed 35 aces on the way to his second career title in a rousing clash that lasted three hours and 13 minutes. Tipsarevic had won the opening set it was the first time in the tournament Raonic. Neither player was however able to gain a service break in the entire match, with all three tiebreaks ending 7-4. Raonic wasted two of the four match points he earned in
the tie-breaker of the final set before converting the third when Tipsarevic netted a forehand return. Raonic`s biggest weapon was his booming serve.The victory fetched Raonic his second tour title on three final appearances after the triumph in San Jose. The singles final match also turned out to be the longest final in the history of the Chennai Open. Leander Paes lifted the Chennai Open doubles title on 8
January 2012. Paes partnered with Janko Tipsarevic to defeat Israeli pair of Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram 6-4, 6-4 to claim his sixth trophy in the Nungabakkkam Stadium. Paes had won the Chennai Open doubles title in 2011 with his now-estranged partner Mahesh Bhupathi. Paes-Tipsarevic split the winners’ prize-money of $21800 besides earning 125 ATP points while Erlich-Ram took home $11480 and 75 points.
Sports News:January 2012
Archery/Shooting : 32nd Sahara Senior National Archery Championship :The Archery Association of India (AAI) announced in late December 2011 that the 32nd Sahara senior National archery championship (recurve and compound) will be held at the JRD Tata Sports Complex, Jamshedpur from 24 to 29 January 2012. The meet is to serve as the selection trials for aspirants of a place in the Indian archery team for the first Asian Grand Prix at Bangkok scheduled to be held 14 to 20 February 2012. The best five finishers in the men's recurve section will vie for three places in the Indian team, and the best five women will vie for one spot in the women's recurve team at a selection trials to be held at SAI, Eastern Centre, from 3 to 6 February 2012. The AAI retained Jayanta Talukdar and the three women archers, Chekrovolu Swuro, Deepika Kumari and L. Bombayla Devi, in the Indian team for all international competition till the London Olympics since they earned the country four Olympic quota places.
Athletics : Fukuoka Men's Marathon : Josphat Ndambiri of Kenya won the Fukuoka men's marathon in Japan winning the 42.195km race in 2hrs 7mins and 36secs on 4 December 2011. Mwangi stood second. Both Ndambiri and Mwangi currently reside in Japan. Mwangi crossed the line one minute and two seconds after Ndambiri who had opened up a sizeable lead following the 35km mark. Yuki Kawauchi of Japan finished in third place with a time of two hours, nine minutes and 57 seconds. The Fukuoka marathon, now in its 64th year, is widely regarded as a prestigious title. In 2011 the ocassion was treated as valuable preparation for next year's Olympics in London.
Chess: World Women's Team Chess Championship :The Indian team finished at the fourth position in the World Women's Team Chess Championship at Mardin,Turkey on 27 December 2011. India's chances of winning a medal was blown away following a loss to Georgia and then China. The losses by Tania Sachdev and Soumya Swaminathan of India paved the way for an easy Georgian victory in the end. China won the gold medal with 16 points while the silver was claimed by the Russians who finished with 13 points in all. Georgia ended with the bronze while India and Ukraine were tied for the fourth spot. Ukraine caused the biggest surprise of the championship with a sensational 2.5-1.5 victory over leaders China. Though China was not much affected, the helped the Ukrainian eves come into reckoning after a rather subdued performance in the first half. London Chess Classic’s Open Indian Grandmaster Abhijeet Gupta won the London Chess Classic's open section, with a hard-earnedvictory over Grandmaster Keith Arkell of England. Abhijeet, a former world junior champion and reigning national champion, scored eight points in all. The chess tournament as held from 3 December 2011 to 12 December 2011. Another Indian, International Master Sahaj Grover pulled himself to the second spot after defeating English Grandmaster Peter Wells in the final round of the event. Sahaj, who scored 7.5 points in all.
Volleyball: Vajpayee Cup: Kerala defeated Andhra Pradesh in straight sets to lift the men's title in the 10th All-India Invitational volleyball tournament for the Vajpayee Cup on 25 December 2011. Kerala won the game 25-20, 25-18, 25-18. Karnataka outdid Tamil Nadu to occupy the third position in the men’s category. The Kerala on the other hand defeated Central Railway (Mumbai) and to claim the titlee. Tiji Raju and N. Bijina led the turnaround as it won 20-25, 18-25, 25-23, 26-24, 15-13. The women had to come back from two sets down to take the title. The Kerala women lost the first set 20-25 before finding themselves in deep trouble after losing the second set 18-25. In the deciding set Kerala outdid Central Railway 15-13 to clinch the title. Southern Railway (Chennai) finished third in the women's sections.
Motor Racing/F1 : JK Tyre-FMSCI National Racing Championship: Ameya Walavalkar of Mars Racing registered his sixth win of 2011 in the Formula LGB Swift class, thereby clinching his maiden drivers' championship title in the JK Tyre-FMSCI National Racing Championship at the MMRT in Irungattukottai on 27 November 2011. Walavalkar finished 22 points ahead of teammate R. Deepak, who came fifth in the race. Sarosh Hataria of Meco Motorsports stood second. Karthik Krishna finished third but was penalised for overtaking when the yellow flag was being waved and thus conceded his podium place to Chitesh Mandody. Rahil Noorani, a championship contender in the Polo R Cup series was excluded from the competition after a post-race incident in the pits after he vent his frustration at Ajay Kini.
Golf :Goodricke East India Amateur Golf Championship : Delhi's Honey Baisoya became the youngest winner of the 22nd Goodricke East India amateur golf championship at RCGC on 25 December 2011. The 15-year-old defeated the country's No.1 amateur, S. Chikkarangappa to win 3 and 2. Both had to play two rounds of 36 holes on the final day. Baisoya secured a winning start after making birdies on first, fourth, fifth, ninth,12th and 15th in the first round of 18 holes where both Baisoya and Chikka halved 11 holes. Though, Chikka won on seventh, 11th and 14th, Baisoya was 2-up after the first round. In the second round, Baisoya again took an early lead after making a birdie on the first to go 3-up though Chikka kept giving a tough competition. Baisoya in total had six birdies in the first round of 18 and three more in 16 holes in the second round while Chikka had three birdies in both rounds. Baisoya also dropped fewer bogeys.
Football :Indian Player of the Year: India striker Sunil Chhetri was on 20 December 2011 voted Player of the Year by the All India Football Federation. He was chosen by I-League coaches from a five-player shortlist. He will receive a cash award of Rs 2 lakh and a silver plaque. The criteria of selection were Performance for India and general conduct on and off the field. Chhetri scored 13 goals in 17 internationals in 2011, which was the highest the by an Indian. Chettri has also scored 11 goals in 20 appearances for I-League club Mohun Bagan. He won the man of the championship in the SAFF Championship in New Delhi in 2011. He has also been awarded the prestigious Arjuna Award in the past. I.M.Vijayan was the first recipient of the award in 1992. In 2010 the award was bestowed on Gouramangi Singh
6th SAFF Championship: India won its 6th SAFF Championship title against the newcomer, Afghanistan on 11 December 2011. India's star striker Sunil Chhetri won all the individual awards in the tournament. India was a five time SAFF champion before it won the 2011 SAFF. The other participating nations in the 2011 South Asian Football Federation Championship (SAFF) were Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Maldives, Nepal and Pakistan. Winner India received a prize purse of USD 50,000 while Afghanistan took home USD 25,000. In addition, All India Football Federation announced a cash award of Rs.1 lakh for each player for winning the tournament.
Hockey : Champions Challenge Hockey Tournament :Belgium defeated India 4-3 in the final of the Champions Challenge hockey tournament in Johannesburg, South Africa on 4 December 2011. The victory enabled Belgium, who are already through to the 2012 London Games, to qualify for the next Champions Trophy in Australia. The Belgium sise was coached by Colin Batch. Tom Boon scored the winning goal for Belgium and in the process became the joint top scorer of the tournament along with Justin Reid Ross of South Africa with eight goals. VR Raghunath, Sandeep Singh and Shivender Singh scored for India. Sandeep Singh finished the tournament with seven goals, all through penalty corners, and won the Player of the Tournament award.
Four-Nation Tournament: The Indian women's hockey team defeated Ireland 4-1 win to clinch the bronze medal in the four-nation tournament held in Parana, Argentina in December 2011. Both the teams were locked 1-1 at half-time but India came back strongly in the second session to score three goals. Jaspreet Kaur, Anuradha Thokchom, Vandana Katariya and Preety Sunila Kiro 69thscored for India India thus won bronze medals at both the fournation tournaments held at Buenos Aires and Parana on the current tour. In the final World champion Argentina defeted South Africa 2-0 to win the tournament.
Cricket :India - West Indies One Day Series :India beat West Indies by 34 runs to win the fifth and final cricket oneday match and recorded an emphatic 4-1 series triumph in Chennai on 11 December 2011. Electing to bat, India scored 267 runs with the loss of six wickets in the stipulated overs. Manoj Tiwary 104 and Virat Kohli 80 were the top scorers for India. In reply, West Indies reached as close as 233 in 44.1 overs. K. Pollard 119 and A Russel 53 were top scorers for West Indies. Darren Sammy was the captain of West Indies while Virender Sehwag was the captain of Indian side for this series. Gautam Gambhir was the stand–in captain for the last one–dayer. India’s Manoj Tiwary was declared Man of The Match and Indian batsman Rohit Sharma got Man of the Series Award. Manoj Tiwary and K. Pollard scored their international one day career’s first centuries in this match. India and West Indies played this fiveoneday match series from 29 November 2011 to 11 December 2011.
Pakistan - Bangladesh Test Series : Pakistan defeated Bangladesh by seven wickets in the second and final cricket Test in Dhaka on 21 December 2011. Pakistan by defeating Bangladesh in the second test was able to to sweep the series 2-0. Pakistan was set 103 to win after bowling Bangladesh out for 234 in its second innings and achieved the target in the final session. Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq secured the victory by hitting a six after Mohammad Hafeez made 47 and Azhar Ali chipped in with 34. Earlier, left-arm spinner Abdur Rehman took 4-51 to restrict Bangladesh.
Tennis: Davis Cup :Spain won its fifth Davis Cup title after Rafael Nadal defeated Argentina’s Juan Martin del Potro 1- 6 6-4 6-1 7-6 (0) on 4 December 2011. The victory earned Nadal his first title since winning his sixth French Open in June 2011. Nadal with the victory stretched his record on clay to 16-0. Nadal earned his 20th straight victory since debuting in the competition in 2004. Nadal caught Del Potro out with one of 35 winners to take the second set and cruise through the third set. However Potro’s late fightback broke Nadal four times in the fourth set to send it to a tiebreaker, where Nadal raced ahead without losing a point before securing victory with a forehand winner. Argentina remained the only nation to play in four Davis Cup finals and never win one.
Tennis: Barclay’s ATP World Tour Finals: Swiss tennis star Roger Federer defeated Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France in their singles final tennis match at the Barclay’s ATP World Tour Finals, in the O2 arena in London on 27 November 2011. The victory earned him a record sixth ATP World Tour Finals title. The victory also helped him move ahead of Pete Sampras and Ivan Lendl on the list of Tour Finals champions in the 100th final of his career. Federer has won 70 trophies in his career and has also equalled Lendl's record of 39 match wins in the endof- season event. Federer received the winners' cheque worth $770,000. For the first time since 2002 he ended the season without a Grand Slam title.
Badminton: BWF World Super Series Badminton Championship: Indian ace badminton player and World No. 4 Saina Nehwal of India was defeated by World No. 1 Wang Yihan 18-21, 21-13, 21-13 in the women’s singles final of the $500000 BWF World Super Series badminton championship in China on 18 December 2011. In 2011 Saina won only the Swiss Open Super Series title. Wang proved to be too good for the Indian shuttler in the crucial phases of the 72-minute final. The scores were levelled twice, four-all and 11-all, before the Chinese picked seven points in a row to take a huge 18-11 lead. With this win, Yihan kept her 100 per cent record against Saina intact, having now beaten her in all their four faceoffs so far. Saina Nehwal had created history by becoming the first ever Indian to enter the singles final of the World Super Series. Gutta Jwala and V. Diju were the only other Indians who made it to the final in mixed doubles in the 2009 edition.
India Open Grand Prix: Indonesia’s experienced shuttler, Taufik Hidayat, won his first Men’s Singles title of 2011 at the 2011 $120,000 Syed Modi India Open Grand Prix Gold badminton championship when he defeated Sourabh Verma of India. Taufik is currently World Number 12 in Men’s Singles world rankings. Hidayat who ended his title drought of 2011 with a 21- 15, 21-18 triumph over Saurabh received $9,000 as the prize money. In the first set of this final battle, Taufik played with precision and won it with a comfortable score. in the second game, Sourabh elevated his level of play and matched the speed of Taufik but lost the set with a decent margin. Ranked 72 in the world and on his debut season on the senior international circuit, Sourabh had won the Bahrain International Challenge in 2011 and had also reached the quarterfinals of TATA Open India International Challenge, Thailand Grand Prix Gold and Indian Super series. The women's singles final was won by third seed Inthanon Ratchanok of Thailand. Naoki Kawamae & Shoji Sato (Jpn) emerged winners in Men's doubles while in women's doubles, Shinta Mulia Sari & Lei Yao of Singapore defeated Miyuki Maeda & Satako Suetsuna of Japan to emerge champions.
