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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.