February 2013

Sachin Tendulkar announced Retirement

Sachin Tendulkar on 23 December 2012 announced retirement form one day cricket which put an end to his 23- year old glorious career. Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar is an Indian Batsman who is considered one of the greatest batsman of the world after Don Bradman in Test Cricket and the second most successful one day batsman after Viv Richards as per the ranking done by Wisden-the Bible of Cricket. Tendulkar who belongs to Mumbai Maharashtra made his appearance in six world cups for India and was the member of the 2011 World Cup winning squad of the nation.

The major facts related to his one day international career are as follows:

•  Sachin scored 18426 runs in 463 one-day matches at an average of 44.83

•  Tendulkar made his ODI debut on his international tour against Pakistan in 1989 in Gujranwala, where he scored zero runs

•  He scored his first half century in the 9th ODI

•  He made 49 hundreds in the one-day format, including a double hundred which is the first in this form of cricket and 96 half centuries

•  He scored his first century in the 79th ODI against Australia in 1994 at R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo in a day-night match-this was the third match of singer world series

•  In the 2003 World Cup in South Africa he finished as the highest run-getter

•  He became the first cricketer to score a double century in the history of One Day international Cricket against South Africa in February 2010

•  He played his last One Day International Match against Pakistan in Asia Cup Dhaka played at Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur and scored a half century to help India win the match

•  Tendulkar scored his 100th international century on 16 March 2012 against Bangladesh, where he scored 114 runs

India retained their Number Five Position

India retained their number five position as per the latest ICC Test Championship rankings issued in Dubai on 17 December 2012 despite losing to England 1-2 in the home Test series. South Africa topped the ranking at 123 points. India, however, dropped a ratings point to 105, and is now four-points behind arch-rival Pakistan who are placed at the fourth position. England, on the other hand, consolidated their number two slot by adding a point after drawing the final Test at Nagpur, thereby winning a Test series in India after a long gap of 28 years. England now stands just five points behind South Africa. Australia is positioned at number three in the rankings.

India Lost the Test Series to England

The last test match between India and England of the Tournament England Tour to India ended up as a draw and with this India lost the four-test match cricket series against England by 1-2 on 17 December 2012. With this win England succeeded in ending a 28 year long wait of winning a test series on Indian Soil. Before this the English side under the captaincy of David Gower won the test series in India 1984-85.

•  The first Test was played at Ahmedabad from 15 November to 19 November 2012 in which India won the match by 9 wickets.

•  The second was played at Mumbai from 23 November to 26 November 2012 in which England won the match by 10 wickets

•  In the third test match played at Kolkata from 5 December to 9 December 2012 England won the match by 7 wickets

•  The last test resulted in a draw and was played at Nagpur from 13 December to 17 December 2012

SBI T20 World Cup for the Blind 2012

India won the inaugural SBI T20 World Cup for the Blind on 13 December 2012 after beating Pakistan in the finals at Central College grounds in Bangalore. A total of 5000 crowd cheered as India shattered Pakistan from 29 runs and the Indian captain Shekhar Naik lifted the trophy. India decided to bat first and scored 119 for 4 in 10 overs. India put up a competitive score of 258 runs in 20 overs. Rescuer of the team India was middle-order batsman Ketan Patel who scored 98 runs off 43 balls and is completely blind. Pakistan entered into finals unbeaten. Pakistan is the only team that entered the finals of all the four international blind cricket tournaments till now. At the break of the innings, Pakistan might have thought of winning the match on the grounds of excellent batting skills of the team throughout this tournament. The opener Mohammad Akram who had the highest score in the history of international blind cricket (264 against West Indies) was sent back to the pavilion for 32 runs only. Eventually, India won the T20 World Cup for the Blind and the team was later crowned as the world champions. It is also worth noticing that Men-of-the-Series were all Indians. These were Ketan Patel, Fully blind category (B1) Prakash Jayaramaiah, Partially blind category (B2) and Ajay Kumar Reddy, Partially sighted category (B3).

About T20 World Cup for the Blind 2012

T20 World Cup for the Blind was a 12-day tournament which comprised of nine teams. The T20 World Cup for the Blind 2012 was hosted by India. The tournament ran from 1 December 2012 to 13 December 2012 in Bangalore. The competing teams included Bangladesh, Australia, India, Nepal, England, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, West Indies and South Africa. The tournament was played on league-cum-knockout basis. Cricketer Saurav Ganguly is the Brand Ambassador of T20 World Cup for the Blind.The Cricket Association for the Blind (CABI) is main body which organises as well as conducts cricket for visually impaired in India. CABI is registered NPO which is affiliated to World Blind Cricket Council (WBCC).

About World Blind Cricket Council (WBCC)

World Blind Cricket Council (WBCC) laid its foundation in 1996. The founding chairman of WBCC was George Abraham of India. The primary purpose of WBCC is promotion as well as administration of the game of blind cricket in the world.

About Cricket Association for the Blind (CABI)

CABI is a non-profit organisation affiliated to World Blind Cricket Council (WBCC). Pakistan, South Africa and England Blind Cricket bodies receive sponsorship from their mainstream cricket bodies but CABI does not receive any such sponsorship from Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). CABI survives with the support from corporate houses as well as a few public sector organisations.

Composition of the team

Among the 11 players, four players are under completely blind or B1 category (partially-sighted), four players are under B2 category (players who are able to see up to 3 metres) and three players are under B3 category (players who are able to see up to six metres). According to the rules, B1 players get the scores doubled, which means that when they hit, they can add major difference to the score of the team.

Alastair Cook became the youngest Batsman to score 7000 Runs

England Cricket team captain Alastair Cook on 6 December 2012 claimed his place among the cricketing greats when he set an England record for the most Test centuries and became the youngest player in the long history of the game to pass 7000 runs. The 27 years old Alastair Cook scored his 23rd Test hundred to leave England closing in on a rare series win in India. He has ahead of past legends Wally Hammond, Colin Cowdrey and Geoffrey Boycott. Team-mate Kevin Pietersen has also scored 22 tons. Alastair Cook made an unbeaten 136 to put England on 1 for 216 at stumps at Eden Gardens on 6 December 2012 only 100 runs behind India’s first innings total of 316.

Glenn McGrath to be inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame

Australian pace legend Glenn McGrath is going to be inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame during the third Test between Australia and Sri Lanka starting from 4 January2013 in Sydney. McGrath became the third inductee of the year 2012-13 to the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame and will join Enid Bakewell and Brian Lara to the list and also became the 68th male member of the Hall of Fame. Lara and Bakewell were inducted in September 2012 at the ICC Awards McGrath will be inducted at his home ground of the SCG. A fourth and final inductee of 2012-13 would be announced next summer.

Glenn McGrath’s Career

• McGrath represented Australia in 124 Test matches between 1993 and 2007 and claimed 563 Test wickets at an average of 21.64.

•  He took more Test wickets than any other seam bowler currently in the game or retired.

•  Glenn McGrath represented Australia in 250 ODIs, claiming 381 wickets at an average of 22.02, and was part of the Australian side that won three successive World Cups — 1999, 2003 and 2007.

•  He still holds the record for most wickets in World Cup competitions, with 71 scalps and his figures of 7-15 against Namibia are the best in the competition’s history.

Michael Hussey Announced Retirement

Australian veteran Michael Hussey on 29 December 2012 announced that he would retire from Test cricket after playing the final match of the series against Sri Lanka at Sydney starting on 3 January 2012. Sydney Test match is going to be the 79th and final Test in 37-year-old Hussey’s career having made his debut at 30. However Hussey will continue playing the ODI tri-series involving Australia, West Indies and Sri Lanka which will be his last international assignment. Michael Hussey, the senior left-hand batsman who is Known as Mr Cricket for his consistency, had a successful year 2012 with four centuries and has been in great scoring form this summer season against South Africa and Sri Lanka.

A Brief insight into Hussey’s Career

Hussey made his Test debut at the age of 30 in the Gabba cricket ground of Brisbane on 3 November 2005, as a replacement for fellow Western Australian batsman Justin Langer in the Australia vs. West Indies series.• Hussey has till now played 78 Tests scoring 6183 runs including 19 centuries and 29 half centuries at an impressive average of 51.52.• Hussey who is also the Australia’s 393rd Test Captain had a fantastic ODI record having scored 5442 runs in 185 ODIs with three hundreds and 39 half-centuries at an average of 48.15.• He was a member of the victorious 2007 ICC World Cup squad. He also played 38 T20 Internationals.• He had played in the Indian Premier League (IPL) for the Chennai Super Kings, although he opted out of the 2009 season. He was retained by Chennai Super Kings in the 2011–2012 season of Indian Premier League for 425000 dollars.

BB Nimbalkar Passed away

Bhausaheb Babasaheb Nimbalkar, a giant of Indian domestic cricket who came close to breaking Sir Don Bradman’s first-class score in the Ranji Trophy, passed away due to age related ailments in his residence in Kolhapur on11 December 2012 just one day shy of his 93rd birthday. Nimbalkar is survived by his son Netaji. His other three sons died a few years ago due to ill-health. Nimbalkar, holds the record for the highest individual first-class score by an Indian - 443 not out for Maharashtra against Kathiawar at Poona Club in December 1948. Nimbalkar had claimed that he was not aware of Bradman’s record at the time of batting, else he would have batted faster.

A Brief insight into his Career

•  He made his Ranji Trophy debut in 1939 against Baroda.

•  Bhausaheb’s first-class cricket spanned decades. From 1939-40 to 1963-64 he played for six teams: Baroda, Maharashtra, Holkar, Madhya Bharat, Rajasthan and Railways.

•  Bhausaheb was the ADC for Maharaja of Baroda, and despite having a first-class batting average of close to 48 in 80 matches (12x100s), never played for India. He once represented the Indians against a ommonwealth team and scored 48.

•  BCCI honoured him with the Col. CK Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award, for his contribution to the sport, in 2002.

•  Nimbalkar had 58 wickets in his domestic career which spanned from 1939-40 to 1964-65, and also kept wickets in some matches.

•  He was a prolific run getter and in his 80-match long first-class career he had scored 4577 runs at an average of 52.01 with 12 centuries.

• With an aggregate of 3,687 runs at a healthy average of 56.72 with 11 centuries he is counted among the outstanding batsmen in the Ranji Trophy.

February 2013

World Tennis Championships

Novak Djokovic on 29 December 2012 won World Tennis Championship final against Spanish tennis player Nicolas Almagro. Novak Djokovic beat Nicolas Almagro to clinch the Mubadala World Tennis Championship exhibition tournament held in Dubai. Novak Djokovic, the world number one from Serbia beat Nicolas Almagro the Spaniard by 6-7 (4-7) 6-3 6-4 to get his season off to the perfect start. Also, Spain’s David Ferrer defeated Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia 7-6 (7-4) 6-2 to take third place in Abu Dhabi. All the four players are going to compete in the Australian Open which is meant to be started in Melbourne on 14 January 2013 with Serbia’s Djokovic the defending champion. Novak Djokovic beat world number five Ferrer in straight sets to book his place in the final, while Almagro, a late replacement for the injured Rafael Nadal, fought back from a set down to beat Janko Tipsarevic.

Swiss Male Athlete of the Year 2012

Roger Federer, 31, the No. 2 of the world and 17 times Grand Slam champion, was named Swiss Male Athlete of the Year on 16 December 2012. Federer received the honour for the fifth time. Earlier in 2012, Federer had grabbed the 17th Grand Slam title at Wimbledon Championships, London, while also reclaiming his No. 1 ranking in the month of July 2012 .He also acquired top most position by the end of the season. Roger Federer, the Swiss tennis player acquired the same title in 2003, 2004, 2006 and 2007. The female Athlete of the year was Nicola Spirig, the Olympic triathlon champion of Switzerland.

Junior World TT Championship

China got the clean sweep of titles at Volkswagen 2012 World Junior Table Tennis Championship after it won girls as well as boys trophies on 16 December 2012. In the second week of December 2012, China had won girls’ and boys’ team titles.Petrissa Solja of Germany who was the only non-Chinese, lost in the semifinal to Chinese top seed Zhu Yuling who finished by turning over Gu Yuting 4-0 for the title of girls. Her top speed, superior technique as well as great attitude helped her win the title. Thereafter, Fan Zhendong also overcame to beat Lin Gaoyuan 4-2 and thus claimed boys singles title. Initially, he was also the winner of mixed doubles title. Second-seeded team of Liu Gaoyang and Fan Zhendong recovered fast to beat top-seeded competitors Gu Ruochen and Lin Gaoyuan 4-3 to claim their gold in boys doubles. Gu Yuting and Zhu Yuling defeated Gu Ruochen and Liu Gaoyang with a score of 4-3 to claim girls double gold. The mixed doubles gold was claimed by Fan Zhendong and Liu Gaoyang who defeated Lin Gaoyuan and Gu Ruochen combine 4-3.

Mohun Bagan banned for Two Years

I-League football club Mohun Bagan on 29 December 2012 slapped with a two-year suspension by the All India Football Federation (AIFF) for abandoning their violence-marred I-League match against East Bengal on 9 December 2012. As per the AIFF’s Statement Mohun bagan had breached Regulation 22, the 123-year-old club, had been withdrawn from the current I-League season, with all its past and future matches in the 2012/13 null and void. In effect, this season will have 13 teams now. The I-League Core Committee of All India Football Federation (AIFF) received the detailed Report dated 26th December 2012 of the Justice A K Ganguly relating to I-League Match No. 68 between Kingfisher East Bengal (KEB) and Mcdowell Mohun Bagan (MMB) played at Yuba Bharati Stadium, Salt Lake City Kolkata on 9 December 2012. Justice Ganguly in his report has concluded that the decision of MMB for not playing the match after the interval cannot be supported on the grounds of Force Majeure and accordingly MMB has breached Regulation 22 of the I-League Regulation 2012-2013. The I-League core committee is going to meet on 9 January 2013 to decide if the quantum of punishment on Mohun Bagan is enough or if additional fine and suspension were needed.

About Mohun Bagan Football Club

•  Founded in 1889, Mohun Bagan is the oldest football club in India.

•  It is the first Indian club to win the IFA Shield final, in 1911, beating East Yorkshire Regiment.

•  It have won the erstwhile National Football League thrice — in 1997-98, 1999-2000, 2001-02 — and their best performance in the re-christened I-League has been a runner-up finish in 2008-09.

Lionel Messi set the Record for most Goals in a Calendar Year

Lionel Messi, the renowned soccer player on 9 December 2012 set the record for most goals in a calendar year by scoring his 86th goal of 2012. He set the record while scoring the winning goal against Real Betis. Messi’s record included 12 for Argentina and 74 goals for Barcelona in 66 games. The earlier record was made by Gerd Mueller who had scored 85 goals in 1972 which included 72 goals for his club Bayern Munich and 13 for his country West Germany. Messi still has to play two league matches and one King’s Cup match before the end of 2012. The record breaking performance has made Messi favourite to claim his fourth FIFA World Player of the Year award.Lionel Andrés Leo Messi is a footballer who plays for La Liga club FC Barcelona and as the captain of the Argentina national team.

Sardar Singh costliest player in Hockey India League Auction

In the Hockey India League Auction held at New Delhi on 16 December 2012 the Indian Skipper Sardar Singh became the highest marquee player after commanding for the best price of 78000 dollar. Sardar Singh was bought by the Delhi Franchisee. The five marquee players for the league were drawn by Delhi Wave Riders, Jaypee Punjab Warriors, Mumbai Magicians, Ranchi Rhinos and Uttar Pradesh Wizards. The marquee players would be offered with 15 percent more price than the commanded best price by the player by their respective teams. The price quoted for the players would be same for next three years and the teams are allowed to buy the players from other teams. Few more players who commanded best prices were V. Raghunath bought by Uttar Pradesh Wizards for 76,000 dollar, Moritz Fuertse bought by Ranchi Rhinos for 75500 dollar, Teun de Nooijer brought by Uttar Pradesh Wizards for 66000 dollar and Jamie Dwyer bought by Jaypee Punjab Warriors for 60000 dollar and Sandeep Singh moved to Mumbai Magicians with a base price of 27800 dollar. The Hockey League will comprise of 33 matches in all and would be played in India from 16 January 2013 onwards.

Australia Won Hockey Champions Trophy

At the Champions Trophy 2012, Australia won once again, adding to fifth victory consecutively after it earned a 2-1 win in a match against Netherlands in Melbourne. The fifth consecutive victory of Australia at this event re-established it as the hockey team (men’s) to beat, after Australia had missed on gold at Olympics. For the Netherlands, it was silver medal with the silverlining. Netherlands upgraded itself from bronze which they acquired last two years. The bronze was claimed by Pakistan after they beat India 3-2 on a match on 9 December 2012. India missed the chance to winbronze, which would have been its second Champions trophy medal as well as the first since 1982. For the fifth place, Belgium won the match against Germany, the Olympic champion. New Zealand, in the meanwhile stood at seventh position over England.

The awards for the tournament were as follows:

•  Top Scorer: Nicholas Wilson (NZL)

•  Best Player: Shakeel Abassi (PAK)

•  Fair Play Award: The Netherlands

• Best Goalkeeper: Jaap Stockmann (NED)

Records of Hockey Champions Trophy (Men’s)

•  In the men’s tournament Australia has won Champions Trophy 13 times.

•  Germany has won this trophy 9 times.

•  Netherlands won the Champions Trophy 8 times.

• Pakistan is only Asian champion that has three titles in its name.

About Hockey Champions Trophy

Hockey Champions Trophy is held every year by International Hockey Federation. The tournament features some of the best teams of the world which compete against each other in round-robin format.

Lal Bahadur Shastri hockey tournament

Air India emerged champion against Bharat Petroleum in the 23rd Lal Bahadur Shastri hockey tournament at the Shivaji Stadium on 4 December 2012. This was second title of this season for Air India. Air India had already shared the MCC-Murugappa Cup with Indian Oil. Air India had an edge over Bharat Petroleum because the team was full of expereinced players.Besides, there was also an advantage because Bharat Petroleum did not give its 100 percent which was evident when it wasted a lot of opportunities. For Bharat Petroleum this was another runner-up in the second event consecutively. Air India, in the meanwhile, won the cheque worth 2 lakh Rupees along with the title of the tournament. Amir Khan, the Bharat petroleum striker was decided as the Best Player of the Tournament. V.S. Vinaya of Air India team, on the other hand won the title of Top Scorer of the Event with six goals.

Government de-recognised the Indian Amateur Boxing Federation

The Union government of India on 7 December 2012 de-recognised the Indian Amateur Boxing Federation and the Archery Association of India. The government took this step in the interest of sportspersons. Earlier, the International Boxing Association (AIBA) had suspended the Indian Amateur Boxing Federation, IABF alleging possible manipulation in its recent elections. However, the IABF has denied the charge, insisting that the process was transparent. The development comes within a few days of the International Olympic Committee suspending the Indian Olympic Association. During the September elections, outgoing President Abhay Singh Chautala, who was elected IOA President despite IOC’s suspension, was retained in the body as nominated Chairman.

National Shooting Championship

Mahaveer Singh of Rajasthan and Tejaswini Sawant of Maharashtra won gold medals on 28 December 2012 in National Shooting Championship. In the category called standard-pistol, Mahaveer Singh shot 569 to get hold of the prestigious prize ahead of Pemba Tamang (567) who belongs to Army as well as Samaresh Jung (563) belonging to CISF at Karni Singh Shooting Ranges. ONGC’s Amanpreet Singh shot 580 + 99.5 to secure gold in the men’s air pistol. The silver was grabbed by Army’s Jitu Rai scoring 579 + 100. Karnataka’s P N Prakash was the one to win bronze with 580 + 98.4 score. In 3-position women’s event, Tejaswini Sawant shot 581 + 98.2 for the gold. Army’s Raj Chaudhary grabbed silver with 579 + 98.5 score while the bronze was grabbed by Lajja Gujarat’s Gauswami who scored 578 + 96.6. In the category of air pistol junior, Army’s Sarjeet Singh claimed gold medal by scoring 573.

Women’s Air Rifle

Apurvi Chandela of Rajasthan on 24 December 2012 won Women’s Air Rifle Gold in the Sahara 56th National Shooting Championship. The 19 year old managed to take a lead with 0.2 points from Pooja Ghatkar with a 10.7 last shot, till the ninth shot the game between two was tied. Pournima Zanane, the former champion and National record holder was successful in winning the Bronze and was 0.2 points ahead of the Avneet Sidhu the World Championship finalist. Pournima clinched the bronze 0.2 point ahead of the World championship finalist Avneet Sidhu. Nikita Salunke lost her race in the final but was successful in winning a junior gold.

World Cup Kabaddi Tournament 2012

India on 15 December 2012 won the 3rd World Cup Kabaddi Tournament for the third consecutive time in the Men’s category and second consecutive time in the Women’s category. Indian men thrashed arch rival Pakistan with a decisive margin of 37 points whereas, Indian women out scored Malaysia 72-12. Both the finals were played at the Guru Nanak Dev Stadium in Ludhiana. The Kabaddi world cup was a 15-day tournament. In men’s category, third prize went to Canada and in women’s category, it went to Denmark. Indian men registered a hat trick by dashing Pakistan to the ground in every aspect. At the end of the first half, Indian men squad was leading with a point difference of 34-9. India’s raider and stoppers showed an extraordinary sport in collecting points for their country. Women’s final was virtually a one sided show as Malaysian team was no match against Indian eves. India on 15 December 2012 won the 3rd World Cup Kabaddi Tournament for the third consecutive time in the Men’s category and second consecutive time in the Women’s category. Indian men defeated arch rival Pakistan with a decisive margin of 37 points whereas, Indian women thrashed Malaysia 72-12. Both the finals were played at the Guru Nanak Dev Stadium in Ludhiana. The Kabaddi world cup was a 15-day tournament. In men’s category, third prize went to Canada and in women’s category, it was given to Denmark. Indian men registered a hat trick by outclassing Pakistan in every aspect of game. At the end of the first half, Indian men squad was leading with a point difference of 34-9. India’s raider and stoppers showed an extraordinary sport in collecting points for their country. Women’s final was virtually a one sided show as Malaysian team was no match against Indian eves.

Women’s World Open Squash Championship 2012

        Dipika Pallikal of India who ranked 10th in the world and 13th seed in tournament lost in the pre quarters of Women’s World Open Squash Championship. Pallikal lost to second seed Weleily in the 38-minute match at South Sound squash club on 20 December 2012. In the pre-quarters at Grand Cayman Island, Caribbean, Dipika Pallikal of India played a fruitless game to lose against Egypt’s Raneem El Weleily. In the match there were short rallies and also some errors on both the sides. Pallikal had good shots in the beginning of the match but the opponent took away the match. Pallikal, the Chennai girl had earlier won against Malaysian qualifier Delia Arnold 3—0 in USD 188,000 WISPA event first round.

London Chess Classic

Viswanathan Anand, the World Chess Champion in a match against Luke McShane of England finished with a draw in second round of the London Chess Classic on 3 December 2012. In the game which was finely crafted, the number one of the world Norwegian Magnus Carlsen achieved himself the position of highest-rated player in the history by defeating second seed Levon Aronian of Armenia. The former World Champion Russian Vladimir Kramnik ensured in the meanwhile that victory wouldn’t come easy to Carlsen in merely two rounds. He also grinded US-based Hikaru Nakamura in the endgame that had queen and the pawns.

Another game that concluded in a draw was a match between Gawain Jones of England and Judit Polgar of Hungary. With eight rounds still remaining in the 9-player tournament, Carlsen and Kramnik rushed forward with six points respectively.

In first round, Carlsen thrashed McShane while on the other hand, Kramnik achieved an advantage at Polgar’s expense. Michael Adams of England as well as Nakamura shared third position with the three points each and Michael Adams had his extra match in hand when he bid adieu in second round only. Just like Adams, Anand too had a game in hand and now he shares fifth spot jointly in the rankings with Jones, McShane and Polgar. Aronian on the other hand, is at the lowest position in table because he has still not opened his account.

Women’s World Championship Crown

Anna Ushenina of Ukraine on 1 December 2012 won the Women’s World Championship Crown of Chess at Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia after defeating Antoaneta Stefanova of Bulgaria in first set of tie-break game. Anna won the title along with 60000 US dollar for the efforts made by her to win the Chess championship. In 2013 Anna would be playing the next world championship against Chinese Yifan Hou, which is a part of new cycle in Women’s World Championship.

Asian Championship

Shiva Keshavan, the top luge athlete of India won the gold medal for second time successively and set the Asian record of 49.590 seconds in the Asian Championship. In the race, at first Keshavan was at second place during his first run at 0.129 seconds behind Hidenari Kanayama of Japan. At the third place was the runner up of last year Oguchi Takahisa with just 0.058 seconds after Shiva. All the three athletes broke the track record of previous years. The previous record was 50.072, which was set back in 2004. In the second heat however, the champion of last year, Shiva collapsed the scores, breaking the Asian track record by 0.482 seconds. Inspite of having the disadvantage from his first run, Shiva won with good margin. At fourth and fifth position were Yamaura Yohan of Japan and Kim Dong Hyeon of Korea respectively. Shiva Keshavan now has two out of three Asian records. The only record that he needs to break is start record of 3.190 seconds which was set in 1999.

Five wrestlers suspended for testing positive

Five wrestlers which also include four medalists were tested positive on banned substances during Senior National Wrestling Championship at Gonda, Uttar Pradesh which was held from 8 November 2012 to 11 November 2012. All five wrestlers were provisionally suspended while they have pending hearing against them.

All these wrestlers agreed to B Sample testing which would be conducted soon. Four out of these five wrestlers were till now attending national camp at Sonepat, Haryana. After the information, they were asked to leave the camp till this issue was sorted finally. The wrestlers who failed the test include Manoj and Balraj, winners of bronze in 55kg freestyle Sukhwinder, finishing at the fifth position in same category of the weight Jitender, silver medalist in 74kg and Manish (60kg), winner of bronze in Graeco-Roman.

Athens Olympics Athletes Lose Medals over Doping After 8 Years

      International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced on 5 December 2012 that four 2004 Athens Olympic medalists had their medals taken away because the re-tested samples, which were stored for 8 years, proved positive. The four medalists included shot put champion of Ukraine Yuriy Bilonog, women’s shot putter of Russia Svetlana Krivelyova, discus thrower Irina Yatchenko of Belarus and Belarussian hammer thrower Ivan Tsikhan. 3-times world champion Tsikhan also had to give away his bronze medal from the 2008 Beijing Games. However, this decision was reversed at Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on the grounds that there were errors in laboratory procedures. IOC declared that the case which involved fifth athlete from Athens Games was pending. The four athletes who had to give their medals had tested positive for the anabolic steroids. Around 100 samples from Athens Games were target tested eight years ago by IOC with the help of modern methods. IOC has a procedure of storing the samples for eight years in order to enable re-testing of newly found substances or those substances for which no tests were available at that time. IOC also declared additionally that respective federations had the responsibility to check whether medals were returned or not. Athens Olympics doping cases tally now stands at 31 after 26 positive tests as of now. This is the maximum in any game. IOC declared that it would like the extension of law of limitation from current 8 years. It was added by IOC that World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) was considering this law of limitation to extend to 10 years.

IOC suspended IOA

• The International Olympic Committee (IOC) suspended the India Olympic Association (IOA) on 4 December 2012 and eventually this might also lead to IOA ban from Olympic movement. IOC suspended IOA because India was following the Sports Code of government in the IOA elections, which is against the Olympic Charter. IOC declared that following of Sports Code of government is actually the interference of the government in the Olympic Movement. Suspension of IOA from Olympics came just before the Election Day. IOA officials declared that the elections would go as planned and scheduled. IOA has been holding the elections on direction by the Delhi high court which had asked this body to conduct its polls as per the Sports Code and its own constitution.IOA decided this after it put down the bid of IOA to send the 2-member delegation for explaining its scenario. It was already evident that the suspension was in the line because of the development in run-up to these elections. After sending various letters to IOA, asking it to follow the Olympic Charter, IOC warned for the first time regarding suspension on 23 November 2012. Then it gave the second warning of suspension to IOA on 28 November 2012. It is worth noticing that the decision of IOC was welcomed by several former as well as current sportspersons. They believed that suspension was an opportunity of cleaning the hassles in IOA. IOA ban from Olympic would result in consequences such as:

•  No funding from IOC

•  No officials from India would be invited by IOC to any events such as Paralympics and Olympics

•  No India athlete would be allowed competing under India’s flag but could be permitted competing under IOC flag

•  Commonwealth Games Federation as well as The Olympic Council of Asia might also go with the trend which would lead to similar sanctions in case of Commonwealth Games as well as the Asian games.

Golf World Challenge

Graeme McDowell of Northern Ireland ended his two-year wait of winning the tournament on 2 December 2012 with his three-shot victory in World Challenge which was hosted by Tiger Woods. McDowell had last won in 2010 season in which he captured the victory in US Open but since then, he hasn’t won anywhere. For the 72-hole total out of 17-under 271, McDowell carded four-under par 68 in his final round. He received a three-stroke triumph over Keegan Bradley. Bradley, in the meanwhile posted 69 for 274. Bradley had won PGA Championship in 2011. After he took the 54-hole lead on 1 December 2012, McDowell accepted that though this tournament was not a part of the tour but it would definitely help him check the mixed season in which he tied the match for second at US Open and also tie for the fifth in British Open. Another player, Bo Van Pelt carded 70 acquiring the individual ownership of third place on 278. The host, Tiger Woods, on the other hand carded one-under 71 on the courses of Sherwood Country Club for the fourth place on 279. Rickie Fowler (69) and Jim Furyk (70) joined him as well.Kobe Bryant Became Youngest Player to Reach 30000 Career Points

Kobe Bryant, 34, achieved the title of youngest ever player to reach the milestone of 30000 career points in NBA (basketball) on 5 December 2012. He achieved the milestone when he took Los Angeles Lakers towards the 103-87 victory over New Orleans Homets. In the second quarter, only 1:16 time was left and within that time period, Bryant took his jump shot, taking his career points to 30001. With that accomplishment, Kobe Bryant joined the elite list of just 5 more players to reach that milestone in the history of NBA. Other four of this elite segment are Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (38387 points), Karl Malone (36928 points), Michael Jordan (32292) and Wilt Chamberlain (31419). He is the youngest player in NBA history to reach this landmark at the age of 34 years. Chamberlain was aged 35 when he achieved this milestone Malone and Abdul-Jabbar were 36 years of age while Jordan on the other hand was 38 years old to achieve this landmark. Bryant however was the fifth-fastest NBA player in context to the games played for reaching this milestone. He achieved this milestone in 1179th match. Chamberlain on the other hand achieved it in 941 games only.

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