(Current Affairs For SSC Exams) Sports | August : 2013

August - 2013

CRICKET

Indian Premier League 2013

In the final match of Indian Premier League 2013, Rohit Sharma led Mumbai Indians defeated Chennai Super Kings by 23 runs to lift the title for the very first time at Eden Gardens on 26 May 2013. Mumbai Indians decided to bat first and scored 148 runs for nine in 20 overs. On the other hand, in a chase of 148 runs, the Chennai Super Kings managed to score just 125 runs for nine in 20 overs. This was the first IPL trophy for Mumbai Indians. Earlier they had lost in the finals to the Chennai Super Kings in 2010.

Chennai Super Kings, now have lost three times in the final, i.e., in the year 2008, 2012 and 2013. In the final match between MI and CSK on 26 May 2013, MS Dhoni was highest individual scorer of the match (63 not out for 45 balls).

Previous IPL Winners

  • IPL Season 1: Rajasthan Royals

  • IPL Season 2: Deccan Chargers

  • IPL Season 3: Chennai Super Kings

  • IPL Season 4: Chennai Super Kings

  • IPL Season 5: Kolkata Knight Riders

  • IPL Season 6: Mumbai Indians

Sreesanth Arrested for Spot-Fixing

Indian fast bowler, S. Sreesanth and his two team mates from Rajasthan Royals namely Ajit Chadila and Ankeet Chavan were arrested by Delhi Police on 16 May 2013 on charges of Spot Fixing in Indian Premier League (IPL). The three cricketers were arrested from Mumbai and will be brought to Delhi for being produced in a Court. Apart from the three cricketers the police also arrested seven bookies. Both the cricketers and the bookies are charged under two sections of Indian Penal Code, Section 420 (cheating) and Section 120B (criminal consp-iracy). The arrests made were a part of the investigations being conducted by the Special Cell of the Delhi Police over months on alleged Spot Fixing in the cash rich – IPL.

Spot Fixing

Spot Fixing is an illegal activity in a sport, in which any part of the game may be an over or a ball is fixed between the player and the bookies. Under this, the player agrees to play in accordance to the agreement made before the game with the bookies, so that they can bet upon the same. Although betting on any sport is illegal in India.

Sachin Tendulkar Announced Retirement

Sachin Tendulkar announced retirement from Twenty20 cricket format on 26 May 2013, immediately after Mumbai Indians beat Chennai Super Kings to lift the title of Pepsi Indian Premier League 2013 at Eden Gardens in Kolkata. This means that IPL Season 6 was the last IPL season played by Sachin Tendulkar.

Some Important Facts

  • Sachin Tendulkar was the captain of Mumbai Indians team in 2010.

  • He has represented this franchise in 86 matches in all and finished with 2529 runs. These runs include one century and 14 half-centuries.

  • Sachin Tendulkar played the last game for Mumbai against Sunrisers Hyderabad at Wankhede Stadium on 13 May 2013. He was injured thereafter.

  • Twenty20 cricket is the second format from which he announced his retirement. Earlier in December 2012, he had announced retirement from the One-Day Internationals.

  • He also has the unbroken record of 15837 test runs as well as 18426 ODI runs.

Chris Gayle Hit Fastest-Ever Century

Chris Gayle, the West Indies opener, hit the fastest ever century in the history of cricket by reaching 100 in merely 30 balls during Royal Challengers Bangalore-Pune Warriors IPL match on 23 April 2013. Gayle scored a total run of 175 runs in merely 66 balls, which included 17 sixes and 13 boundaries.

This was also his fourth century in the IPL career. With Gayle’s performance, the total score Royal Challengers Bangalore was 263 for five, which is one of the highest total in this format of the game. Previously, the highest total in this format was 260 by Sri Lanka. Jamaican Chris Gayle also became the highest-ever individual scorer in a T20 game, beating Kolkata Knight Riders’ Brendon McCullum who had hit 158 off 73 balls against Royal Challengers Bangalore. Pakistan’s Shahid Afridi holds the record of fastest century in ODI (37 balls) and Viv Richards is the record-holders for fastest century (56 balls) in the Test cricket history.

The previous record holders of fastest centuries are as follows:

  • 30 balls: Chris Gayle, Royal Challengers Bangalore vs. Pune Warriors, IPL, 23 April 2013

  • 34 balls: Andrew Symonds, Kent vs. Middlesex, Twenty20 Cup, 2 July 2004

  • 35 balls: Louis van der Westhuizen, Namibia v Kenya, unofficial T20 international, 7 November 2011

  • 37 balls: Shahid Afridi, Pakistan vs. Sri Lanka, ODI, 4 October 1996

  • 37 balls: Scott Styris, Sussex vs. Gloucs, Twenty20 Cup, 24 July 2012

  • 37 balls: Yusuf Pathan, Rajasthan Royals vs. Mumbai Indians, IPL, 13 March 2010

TENNIS

CLTA signed a Deal with its Spanish Counterpart MTF

Chandigarh Lawn Tennis Association (CLTA) on 18 May 2013 signed a deal with its Spanish counterpart, Madrid Tennis Foundation (MTF) with the objective of improving the quality of the sport in the region.

The deal was signed for the next three years. Under the protocol, the training and coaching systems of CLTA will improve a lot. Top tennis coaches from Spain will visit CLTA regularly to upgrade the training facilities, help the coaches and teach latest skills to trainees. CLTA also has rural scheme CHART apart from Centre of Excellence.

ITALIAN OPEN Men

Rafael Nadal beat Roger Federar in the final match played on 19 May 2013 to lift his seventh Italian Open title. He defeated Federar in straight sets 6-1, 6-3. The match was played on clay court. This was Nadal’s 20th victory against Federar. He has lost only 10 matches to Federar so far. It was Nadal’s fifth title since returning earlier this year from a seven-month layoff due to a left knee injury. Nadal collected 400 points from this victory which carried him into fourth position on the rankings ladder.

ITALIAN OPEN Women

Serena Williams on 19 May 2013 won her fourth consecutive tennis title after thrashing out the former world number one Victoria Azarenka 6-1 6-3 to take the Italian Open on the Rome Clay.

The world number one Serena Williams has not lost a single match since the Belarusian Azarenka defeated her in the Doha Final in February 2013. Before the Italy Open in 2013, Serena Williams won Miami, Charleston and Madrid Open. To win the 51st Career Title, Serena Williams broke serve of Azarenka three times in a one-sided first set and with this win, she also secured her career-best winning streak of 24 games.

Madrid Open 2013

In the Men’s Singles title clash of the Madrid Open played on 12 May 2013, World Number Five Nadal defeated Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka, in straight sets, 6-2, 6-4. Spain’s Rafael Nadal has clinched his fifth title in seven tournaments since returning from a seven-month knee injury layoff.

In the Women’s Singles, World Number One Serena Williams of the United States bagged her 50th career Singles title. She beat Russian Maria Sharapova, 6-1, 6-4.

Porsche Tennis Grand Prix 2013

German duo Sabine Lisicki and Mona Barthel won the women’s doubles title at the WTA Porsche Grand Prix in Stuttgart on 28 April 2013. The Germans defeated the in-form pair of Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Sania Mirza 6-4, 7-5 in one and a half hours to claim their first title as a team. Mirza and Mattek-Sands have already won 2 titles in 2013 but couldn’t repeat the winning performance against the Germans who were playing in front of the home crowd.

Portugal Open 2013

Switzerland’s Stanislas Wawrinka defeated Spain’s David Ferrer in the final match of ATP World Tour, Portugal Open 2013 title at Oeiras on 5 May 2013 by a 6-1, 6-4 margin. David Ferrer, inspite of the defeat, maintains a record of 7-4 against Stanislas Wawrinka. This is the fourth career title of Stanislas Wawrinka and also first since January 2011.

August - 2013

HOCKEY

Third Hockey India Senior Women National Championship

Haryana on 30 April 2013 defeated Railways 4-1 to win the third Hockey India Senior Women National Championship at the Major Dhyan Chand Stadium in the Guru Gobind Singh Sports College, Lucknow. Railways scored their opening goal through Amandeep Kaur in the 15th minute. Haryana scored through Udita (34th, 65th min) and Narinder (47th, 49th min) to win the match. Jharkhand defeated Punjab 2-1 to finish third in the championship. Jharkhand scored through Ebha Kerketta and Basanti Kachhap.

3rd Hockey India Junior Women National Championship

Haryana clinched the 3rd Hockey India Junior Women National Championship title in the final match on 1 May 2013 in Astroturf Hockey Stadium in Ranchi. Haryana registered a 2-1 victory over Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy. Jharkhand defeated Punjab 6-0 to claim the bronze medal. Madhya Pradesh opened their account with penalty corner in fourth minute by Shyama Tickadam. Haryana leveled this in 35th minute through penalty corner which was converted by Navneet Kaur. Jyoti Gupta’s scored the final goal in fifth minute of extra time which helped Haryana win the championship.

Two semi-final matches were played between Haryana and Jharkhand as well as Punjab and Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy on 30 April 2013. In the final, Haryana took over Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy.

BADMINTON

Thomas Cup and Uber Cup Finals to be Hosted in Delhi

The Finals of the Uber Cup 2014 and Thomas Cup 2014 is to be held at New Delhi from 18 May 2014 to 25 May 2014. The announcement of the dates and venue of the finals of the two major badminton tournaments was done by the President of Badminton Association of India Akhilesh Das Gupta after an official signing ceremony between Badminton World Federation’s (BWF)and Badminton Association of India at present is hosting the India Open Super Series.

About Thomas Cup

Thomas Cup is the Badminton World Federation’s first international tournament and was first staged in 1948-49. It is also known as the Men’s World Team Championships. It is organised at an interval of three years. First President of the World body, Sir George Thomas and legendary player with 21 All England titles and administrator of the Sport came up with the idea of the competition and donation of the trophy.

About Uber Cup

Uber Cup is also known was the Women’s World Team Championships and was organised for the first time in 1956-57. Since 1984, the Final of the Uber Cup is held alongside the Men’s Competition i.e. the Thomas Cup. The Uber Cup, or the idea of organizing Women Championship was a brainchild of Betty Uber. Betty Uber in 1956-57 made a draw in the inaugural tournament of the Cup that took place at Lytham St Annes in Lancashire, England. Both Thomas and Uber Cup’s are held biennially now.

Malaysia Badminton Grand Prix Title

India’s rising shuttler PV Sindhu on 4 May 2013 won her maiden Grand Prix Gold title winning Malaysia Open women’s final. In a thrilling clash in Kuala Lumpur this afternoon, top seed Sindhu got her act together in time and defeated lower seed, Gu Juan of Singapore, 21-17, 17-21, 21-19, with an exceptional racket display. She hit as many as 17 smash winners compared to just nine by the Singaporean girl.

With this, the World Number 13 Sindhu has become the second Indian girl to have won the Grand Prix Gold competition, after India’s shuttle queen and London Olympics bronze medalist, Saina Nehwal achieved the feat in 2006. PV Sindhu was the only Indian who had made it to the final stage of this tournament. Saina Nehwal did not take part in the tournament.

FOOTBALL

New President of Asian Football Confederation

Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim al-Khalifa was elected as the new president of Asian Football Confederation on 2 May 2013. He replaced Mohamed Bin Hammam. Bahraini Sheikh Salman won 33 votes out of 46 in Malaysia to beat his rival Yousuf Al Serkal of the United Arab Emirates as well as Worawi Makudi of Thailand. Sheikh Salman claimed the vacant seat on executive committee of FIFA as well, which was held by Bin Hammam. On this seat, Sheikh Salman defeated Qatar World Cup organising chief Hassan Al Thawadi. It is important to note that Bin Hammam was given a lifetime ban in 2011 by FIFA on the basis of allegations that he tried to buy the votes. He eventually retired from football in July 2012 after his suspension was annulled. Sheikh Salman took over last 20 months of term of Bin Hammam as the AFC president. Next elections will be held in January 2015. The position of AFC president gives a person the control of all major football events in Asia.

David Beckham announced his Retirement

Legendary Footballer and Former England captain David Beckham on 16 May 2013 announced his retirement from professional football and gave an end to his illustrious career of more than two decades. He will retire from the professional football after the end of this season. The 38 year old footballer recently helped his team to win a league title in the fourth country with Paris Saint Germain.

About David Beckham

  • Beckham earned 115 caps for England, a record for an outfield player, and won the Champions League, six Premier League titles and two FA Cups with Manchester United.

  • David Beckham joined Manchester United as a 14-year-old in 1992 and made 398 appearances, winning six Premier League titles and the Champions League.

  • He made his debut for England in 1996 and made 115 appearances for the country

  • He is the most capped outfield player of in the history of England

  • By securing the Paris Saint-Germain’s Ligue 1 wins, he has won 19 trophies of which 10 are League titles

  • He is the only English player to win Championship titles in 4 different countries

  • Beckham was a key member of the Treble Team and he helped it in addition of Champions League, 2 FA Cups, 1 Intercontinental Cup and 4 Community Shields to a long list of its honours. (Treble Team is a term that is used in football association to refer a team that wins three trophies in a single season).

  • He is the first English player who scored in 3 consecutive World Cup Finals

  • Beckham has the record of joint-second most goal assists in European Championship Finals history

  • He is among few of the British players who played for Real Madrid, AC Milan, LA Galaxy and Paris Saint-Germain

  • He is the first British player to reach 100 champions league appearances

  • He was successful in winning La Liga Title in the final season of Spain as well as has been the winner of US MLS Championship twice

  • He helped the team to win French Ligue 1 Championship in 19 years

Stiliyan Petrov Retired from Football

Stiliyan Petrov, the captain of Aston Villa retired from football in May 2013 at the age of 33 years. Stiliyan Petrov retired because of his fight with leukaemia. He was diagnosed with the disease in March 2012. Aston Villa Football Club is the English professional association football club that is based in Birmingham. Stiliyan Petrov became a part of Aston Villa in 2006 from Celtic for 6.5 million Pound.

He played for Aston Villa in the Premier League and the Bulgaria national team. He also won Bulgarian Footballer of the Year award in 2003 while playing for Celtic. In 2005, Stiliyan Petrov also wrote the autobiography titled You Can Call Me Stan. The book was a description of the correct spelling of his name.

Honours and Awards won by Stiliyan Petrov

  • Bulgarian Championship: 1997

  • Bulgarian Cup: 1997, 1999

  • Scottish Premier League: 2001, 2002, 2004, 2006

  • Scottish Cup: 2004, 2005

  • Scottish League Cup: 2000, 2006

  • UEFA Cup: Runner-up 2003

  • Football League Cup: Runner-up 2010

  • SPFA Young Player of the Year: 2001

  • Celtic Player of The Year: 2005

  • Aston Villa Players’ Player of the Year: 2009, 2012

  • Aston Villa Supporters’ Player of the Year: 2009

  • SPL Player of the Month: 3 times

  • Bulgaria’s Player of the year: 2003

August - 2013

ARCHERY/SHOOTING

Indian Women’s Compound Team won Bronze in Archery

Indian women’s compound team which comprised Gagandeep Kaur, Trisha Deb, and P Lily Chanu, won Bronze medal on 18 May 2013 at Shanghai. This is India’s first ever world medal in archery. The Indian trio, defeated Italy which included Katia D’Agostino, Laura Longo and Marcella Tonioli in the bronze medal play-off in the World Cup archery Stage I by 228-223. India was ahead by two points after the first end, four at the halfway mark and three points after the third end. Shooting first in the last end, Italy landed two 8s, whereas India finished the match with 8-9-10-10-10-10 for a well-deserved victory.

In 2012 at Shanghai, Italy had triumphed over an inexperienced Indian trio of Parveena, Gagandeep Kaur, and V. Jyothi Surekha, by 230-217.

BOXING

Mary Kom Regional Boxing Foundation

The Union Sports Ministry on 24 May 2013 gave its approval for a grant of 309.56 Lakhs rupees to Mary Kom Regional Boxing Foundation, Imphal for construction of gymnasium hall and procurement of gym equipments for the foundation. The grant will be disbursed from the National Sports Development Fund (NSDF). The grant will be released in installments on fulfillment of certain conditions that is required by NSDF Scheme. Mary Kom Regional Boxing Foundation is looking forward to create facilities at the new site allotted to it by the State Government of Manipur. Before this National Sports Development Fund released funds of 492 lakh rupees for Usha School of Athletics, Kozhikode, Kerala, for laying an 8 Lane Synthetic Track of international standard with supporting facilities.

Limassol Cup held in Cyprus

Indian boxers won the 2013 Invitational FXTM International Limassol Boxing Cup held in Limassol, Cyprus on 19 May 2013. They won 10 medals which included four gold medals, three silver medals and three bronze medals which ensured them the first rank. Indian boxers won the tournament on the European circuit for the first time.

Indian boxers performed in the following way:

  • Reigning national champion Madan Lal (52kg) beat Ayigah Dodsi from Belgium to bag the flyweight title.

  • Gold medallist at the 2009 Youth Olympic Games V Durga Rao (56kg) beat German Dieter Dier to bag his very first international medal on the senior tour.

  • Mandeep Jangra (69kg) beat Victor Vega Blanco of Spain in a completely one sided affair to bag the welterweight title.

  • Super heavyweight boxer Praveen Kumar (+91kg) won the fourth gold for Indiabeating Beguerni Hamza from Algeria.

  • Manoj Kumar (64kg), Olympian Dinesh Kumar (91kg) and Sukhdeep Singh (75kg) won a silver medeal each.

  • Earlier in the tournament, Anil Kumar (60kg), Jagroop Singh (81kg) and L Devendro Singh (49kg) reached the semi-finals and claimed a bronze medal each.

Senior National Women’s Boxing Championship 2013

Pugilist Preeti Beniwal on 22 May 2013 bagged the gold medal in Senior National Women’s Boxing Championship.

In the event held at Khatima, uttarakhand, Preeti out-punched Manipur’s Y Sandhya 22-9 in the final of the 60kg category.

Preeti Beniwal was born on 25 December 1987. She hails from Hisar. Her father Subey Singh is a boxing coach. Her elder sister is married to famous Indian Boxer Akhil Kumar. Preeti is employed with Haryana Police as sub inspector.

Preeti Beniwal’s Boxing Career

  • Gold in 58th All India Police Women Boxing Championship, Pune, Maharashtra from 2010-04-06 to 2010-04-10.

  • Gold in 4 N.C. Sharma Memorial Federation Cup Women Boxing Champioships 2008-09 at Nainital, Uttarakhand.

  • Gold in 9th Senior Women National Boxing Championships at St. John’s College,, Agra from 2008-11-02 to 2008-11-07

  • Gold in Trg.-cum-compet Canada, 2008

  • Gold in Women Open Boxing Tournament Hanoi, 2006

VARIOUS

Thanthi TV-Asia Pacific Championship

The men’s and women’s finals of the Thanthi TV-Asia Pacific under-21 beach volleyball championship were won by Indonesia and Australia respectively. The final matches were played on 19 May 2013 at Marina beach in Chennai. In women category, The Australian pair of Mariafe Artacho and Jessyka Ngauamo defeated Japan’s Chiyo Suzuki and Satono Ishitsubo 21-11, 21-12. Mariafe and Jessyka’s all-round performance enabled an easy victory for Australia. The pair was exceptional and brilliant with smashes and blocks. The Australian pair didn’t have any trouble in both sets. Japanese women were not upto the mark. They made far too many errors at the net. They seemed unable to give their best.

In the men’s final, Indonesia’s Mohammad Ashfiya and Rendy Verdan beat Vladislav Pustynnikov and Sergey Bogatu of Kazakhstan 21-16, 19-21, 15-10. Although Kazakhstan players were playing together for the last five years at the International level, Indonesians played very aggressively against them. India lost in the quarterfinals but three teams managed a berth for the World u-21 championship to be held in Umag, Croatia from June 20 to 23. India-1 (Rajkumar & Yogaraj) & India-2 (Shankar & Mahesh Kumar) in men, and the women’s India-1 (R. Deepika & S. Eshwari) team made the grade. The top six teams in men and women will go to Croatia.

FIBA Asia 3×3 Basketball Tournament 2013

Indian women basketball team won gold in inaugural FIBA Asia 3×3 basketball tournament 2013 in Doha on 17 May 2013. India defeated Mongolia 21-14 in the final play-off. Mongolia had defeated Turkmenistan in the semi-finals. In the 3×3 format, this is the third consecutive gold medal of India. It won gold at South Asian Beach Games in Sri Lanka as well as Asian Beach Games in China in 2012 in the same format. In the Indian team, Geethu Anna Jose, Anita Pal Durrai, Manisha Dange and Pratima Singh were the key players. Indian team won all six games in the tournament. India was placed in the Group B. Geethu Anna Jose won the title of Best Player of the Tournament. India defeated Qatar 21-5 in the quarterfinals and Hong Kong 21-8 in the Semi-finals.

Commonwealth Championship

India on 10 May 2013 finished their candidature in the tournament with a record haul of 2 Silver and 7 Bronze in the 19th Commonwealth Table Tennis Championships that concluded in New Delhi. One silver medal on behalf of India was won by Soumyajit Ghosh and Mouma Das in the mixed doubles event, and the other one was won by the men’s team earlier in the tournament. Indians represented the country in atleast six of the eight tournaments that included doubles too, but didn’t turned up to be successful in securing a gold medal for the country. At the same time, Singapore delivered the best and claimed gold in every category except the women’s individual competition. Mo Zhang from Canada pulled off the gold from Singapore’s world no 27 Mengyu Mu by securing a 4-3 win in the finals.

Volleyball Champions

Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka emerged volleyball champions at the 18th National Games for the Deaf at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium, Bangalore on 28 April 2013. Andhra Pradesh defeated Tamil Nadu 25-22, 25-19, 25-19 in the men’s final while in women’s category Karnataka defeated Andhra Pradesh 25-10, 19-25, 15-7 to win the title.

The 18th National Games for the deaf took place after a 17-year gap. It was participated by 21 Indian states.

IAAF World Challenge Meeting 2013

At the IAAF World Challenge meeting in Jamaica, Kingston, US-based discus thrower, Vikas Gowda clinched Gold on 5 May 2013 with the throw of 61.38 metres. He defeated Jamaicans Jason Morgan and Fedrick Dacres with throws of 60.96 and 59.30 metres respectively. Both these Jamaicans finished at the second and the third positions. In the 100 metres sprint, US’s Tyson Gay recorded 9.86 and secured the top most position. In women category, the best performance was that of US Gia Lewis-Smallwood with 62.41 metres. The IAAF World Challenge meeting in Jamaica was organised at the Kingston’s National Stadium.

Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award 2013

Somdev Devvarman, the winner of two gold medals at Asian Games in Guangzhou as well as singles gold medal in Commonwealth Games in India was recommended for Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award 2013 by All India Tennis Association (AITA). Somdev Devvarman had formed Indian Tennis Players Association (ITPA) along with Mahesh Bhupati and Leander Peas.

Somdev Devvarman played a very important role in placing India at the World Group in Davis Cup. The Davis Cup coach Zeeshan Ali, on the other hand was recommended for Arjuna award, apart from Rushmi Chakravarthi, a women’s tennis player of India. Nandan Bal’s name was recommended for Dronacharya award. For the award of Dhyan Chand life time achievement, Vijay Amritraj was recommended.