May 2013

India won Border Gavaskar Trophy 2013

India on 24 March 2013 won the fourth and the final test with 6 wickets remaining against Australia in the Alan Border Series – Australia Tour to India, at Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium, Delhi. India won the series 4-0. In the second innings of the final match, Cheteswar Pujara scored an unbeaten 82 runs while chasing the 155 run target set by team Australia on the third day of the match. Before this Jadeja’s 5 wicket haul for 58 runs in 16 over limited Australia to a lead score of 155 runs. R Ashwin, P Ojha took 2 wickets each and Ishant Sharma booked the last wicket of Pattinson to seal the second innings of Australia at 155 runs.

Man of the Match: Ravindra Jadeja for his all-round performance

Man of the Series: Ravichandran Ashwin for claiming 29 wickets in the four-Test Series

Results of the Tests

• 1st Test: 22-26 February 2013 - India vs Australia at Chennai - Australia 380 and 241; India 572 and 50/2. India won the match by 8 wickets remaining.

• 2nd Test: 2-5 March 2013 - India vs Australia at Hyderabad (Deccan) - Australia declared its innings 237 at the fall of 9 wickets and 131; India 503. India won by an innings and 135 runs.

• 3rd Test: 14-18 March, 2013 - India vs Australia at Mohali - Australia 408 and 223; India 499 and 136/4. India won the match by 6 wickets.

• 4th Test: 22-24 March 2013 - India v Australia at Delhi - Australia 262 and 164; India 272 and 158/4. India won the match by 6 wickets.

Important Records of the Series

Prgyan Ojha, the left arm spinner from India completed his haul of 100 wickets in Test Cricket on second day of fourth test against Australia and became the third fastest Indian to achieve the milestone. Ojha reached the milestone, in 22nd test and is placed in the list after Erapalli Prasanna (who did this in 20 test matches) and Anil Kumble (who achieved the sport in 21 test matches)

Off-Spinner from India, R Ashwin became the leading wicket-taker for India in a series of four test matches; he finished with 29 wickets in this series. To make this record Ashwin surpassed the former Indian Captain Anil Kumble, who took 27 wickets in a series of four test matches.

India never in the 81 year test history won more than two matches against Australia in a single series, but with this clean sweep – India secured wrote a new history in test cricket

Shikhar Dhawan slammed fastest hundred by a debutant in test cricket, by scoring a century in 85 balls

Australia Clinched ICC Women’s World Cup Trophy

Australia won the ICC Women’s World Cup Trophy after defeating West-Indies by 114-runs at Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai. Australia clinched the title for the sixth time in the history of women’s cricket World Cup it last won the title in 2005. Australia scored 259 runs (this is the highest score in Women’s World Cup Final) at the loss of 7 wickets in 50 overs and West Indies lost all its wickets at the score of 145.

Tournament Report

• Player of the tournament - New Zealand’s Suzie Bates for scoring 407 runs with three half-centuries and a ton at an average of 67.83 in the series.

The Australian, all-rounder Lisa Sthalekar announced her retirement from International cricket after the Australian women’s cricket team won the world cup title 2013. She made her debut in the international cricket in 2001 in an ODI match against England till her retirement she managed to play 125 one day internationals, 8 tests and 54 women T20 international matches.

Women’s World Cup History

• First World Cup was played in the year 1973 at England, the final was played between England and Australia and England won the match by 92 runs

• Second World Cup was played in India in the year 1978 India, England and Australia were the teams in the final, Australia won the match by 8 wickets

• Third World Cup was played in 1982 at New Zealand. England and Australia were the team in the final match; Australia won it by 3 wickets

• In 1988 venue for the fourth World Cup was played in Australia. The final was played between Australia and England; Australia won it by 3 wickets

• The sixth World Cup was played in England in the year 1993. The final was played between New Zealand and England; England won it by 67 runs

• The seventh World Cup was played in 1997 in India, Australia and New Zealand were the two teams in the final; Australia won it by 5 wickets

• Eighth World Cup was played at New Zealand in the year 2000. The final was played between, Australia and New Zealand; New Zealand won it by 4 runs

• The ninth World Cup was held in South Africa in the year 2005, Australia and India were the two teams in final; Australia won it by 98 runs

• The tenth World Cup was held in Australia and the final was played between England and New Zealand, England won it by 4 wickets

• 2013 the tournament was played in India, West Indies and Australia were the two teams in final; Australia won the match with 114 runs

Captain of England Women’s Cricket team, Charlotte Edwards became the first women to pass 5000 runs in one-day international after hitting 121 runs of 106 balls in the semi-final match against New Zealand. India failed to make its path into the quarterfinals and had never won any world cup trophy till date.

England won the Twenty20 Cricket Series against New Zealand

England defeated host New Zealand in the third and last Twenty20 Cricket match played at Wellington on 15 Feb 2013 to win the series 2-1. England bowled first and they restricted the Kiwis to 139-8 and later achieved the winning target with 44 balls remaining. The Second Twenty20 was played at Hamilton on 12 February 2013 in which New Zealand defeated England by 55 runs to level the three match Twenty20 international series at 1-1.

The First Twenty20 was played at Auckland on 9 February 2013 which was won by England. It defeated New Zealand by 40 runs.

India Maintained their Number One Spot in the ICC ODI Championship Table

India maintained their number one spot in the ICC ODI Championship table in the latest rankings issued in Dubai on 11 February 2013. Both India and England have same 119 rating points, but England lags behind on the basis of decimal points. Australia and South Africa follow the top two teams closely with 116 and 112 points respectively. Among the batsmen, South African run machine Hashim Amla is at number one followed by fellow countryman AB Devilliers. India’s Virat Kohli is at number three followed closely by the skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Among the bowlers, Pakistan off spinner Saeed Ajmal maintains his top billing followed by Mohammad Hafeez. In the All rounder’s category, Pakistan skipper Mohammed Hafeez is the leader followed by Bangladesh’s Shakib Al Hasan.
Angelo Mathews appointed Captain of the Sri Lankan

Angelo Mathews, the Sri Lankan all-rounder cricketer was appointed the Captain of the test and one-day cricket team of Sri Lanka for a period of one year. Mathews replaced Mahela Jayawardene, who announced to quit captaincy after Sri Lanka’s tour of Australia. Dinesh Chandimal, the wicket-keeper batsman was appointed as the vice-captain in the test and one-day format of the game and will lead the country as a captain in the T20 format of the game. Lasith Malinga was appointed as the vice-captain for the T20 team.

Angelo Mathews

• Angelo Mathews is a Sri Lankan all-rounder cricketer, who made his debut in the international cricket in a One Day International match against Zimbabwe in November 2008.

• In 31 test matches Mathews have scored 1668 runs since making his debut in 2009 and recorded his first and only test century against Australia

Sachin Tendulkar Equaled Sunil Gavaskar’s Record

Sachin Tendulkar on 8 February 2013 equaled the record of Sunil Gavaskar of 81 first class hundreds in first class cricket at Mumbai. He managed to equal Gavaskar’s record after scoring an unbeaten 140 runs in Irani Trophy against Rest of India in the first innings of the tournament of Mumbai team.

Centuries of Sachin in first class cricket

• 51 in Test matches

• 18 in Ranji Trophy

• 2 in Irani Cup

• 3 in Duleep Trophy

• 1 in county cricket for Yorkshire

• 6 in other games

ATP Dubai Open Tennis title 2013

World Number one Novak Djokovic on 2 March 2013 won the ATP Dubai Open Tennis title 2013. He defeated third seed Czech Republic’s Tomas Berdych 7-5, 6-3 in the finals in Dubai.

India’s Mahesh Bhupathi and his French partner Michael Lloldra bagged the doubles crown defeating Serbian-Swedish duo of Nenad Zimonjic and Robert Lindstedt 7-6, 7-6 in straight sets.

ATP Mexican Open 2013 Tennis Tournament

Rafael Nadal defeated top seed and defending champion David Ferrer 6-0, 6-2 on 2 March 2013 in the final match of the ATP Mexican Open 2013 tennis tournament. David Ferrer was the 3-time defending champion, who had also won 19 straight matches in the event. But eventually in the final of ATP Mexican Open 2013, he lost to Spanish compatriot Nadal. On the other hand, in the women’s final, Italy’s Sara Errani defeated Carla Suarez-Navarro of Spain 6—0, 6-4. Rafael Nadal won ATP Mexican Open tournament for the second time.

Earlier he had won this title in 2005. This is the second title for Nadal in 2013. Prior to this, he had won Brazil Open Tennis Tournament 2013 on 17 February 2013. This is the 38th clay court title of Nadal.

Dubai Tennis Championship 2013

India’s Sania Mirza and her American partner Bethanie-Mattek Sands won the Dubai Tennis Championship on 23 February 2013. The Indo-American duo defeated the second seeded Russian-Slovenian combination of Nadia Petrova and Katarina Srebotnik, 6-4, 2-6, 10-7. Sania bagged her second Doubles title of the season. Meanwhile, Czech Republic’s Petra Kvitova yesterday clinched the Women’s Singles trophy. In the finals, she defeated Sara Errani of Italy, 6-2, 1-6, 6-1 to win her career’s 10th title.

Brazil Open 2013

Rafael Nadal on 17 February 2013 won the finals of Brazil Open 2013 by defeating Argentinean David Nalbandian in straight sets by 6-2, 6-3 in Sao Paolo. He won the tournament for the second time; he won it for the first time in 2005. This was the second tournament for the former world number 1 Spanish tennis star after returning back from to the game after seven months. He was absent from the game due to the knee injury that he suffered from. His next event is Mexican Open that is scheduled to start on 25 February in Acapulco.

Indian Wells BNP Paribas Open 2013 Titles

Rafael Nadal of Spain won Indian Wells BNP Paribas Open 2013 on 17 March 2013. Nadal defeated Argentine Juan Martin del Potro 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the final. After winning Tokyo Open in October 2010, this is the first hard court victory of Nadal. With this, Nadal became number 4 in the world ranking. Apart from this, Maria Sharapova won the first title of 2013 in women’s final of the tournament by defeating Caroline Wozniacki 6-2, 6-2.

Serena Williams Became the New World Number One Women’s Tennis Player

Serena Williams became the new World number one women’s tennis player. Serena Williams who is aged 31 years thrashed Petra Kvitova of Czech Republic 6-3,3-6,7-5 and reached Semifinals of Qatar Open Tennis Championship in Doha. On entering the semi-finals, she achieved the top position after a period of two and a half years. Serena Williams will compete against Maria Sharapova in the Semifinals on 16 February 2013. Maria Sharapova reached semi-finals after defeating Samantha Stosur 6-2,6-4. Serena Williams (31 years, 4 months, 24 days) is now the oldest woman tennis player to hold number 1 ranking. She broke the record of Chris Evert (30 years, 11 months, 3 days) of USA.

Sultan Azlan Shah Hockey Tournament 2013

Australia, the World Champions won the Sultan Azlan Shah Hockey Tournament title for the seventh time on 17 March 2013. Australia defeated Malaysia 3-2 in the final match in Malaysia. South Korea came at the third position. It is important to note that Malaysia came at the runner-ups position for the fourth time. South Korea won bronze after defeating 2012 winner- New Zealand 2-1.

At the fifth position was India which defeated Pakistan 4-2. Trent Mitton was declared as the man-of-the-match for final match. The top scorers of the tournaments were India’s Rupinder Pal Singh and Malaysia’s Faizal with six goals each. Earlier, Australia had won the Sultan Azlan Shah Hockey Tournament in 1983, 1996, 2004, 2005, 2007 and 2011.

About Sultan Azlan Shah Hockey Tournament

The Sultan Azlan Shah Hockey Tournament is held in Malaysia every year. The first tournament took place in 1983. After 1998, the tournament started taking place every year. The tournament is named after the ninth king of Malaysia- Sultan Azlan Shah. It is important to note that India won its first Sultan Azlan Shah Hockey Tournament in 1985.

Hockey India League

Ranchi Rhinos beat Delhi Waveriders 2-1 to win the inaugural Hockey India League (HIL) in the match at Astroturf Hockey Stadium on 10 February 2013. Apart from winning the trophy, Ranchi Rhinos took away 2.5 crore Rupees. Runners-up Delhi Waveriders on the other hand, pocketed 1.25 crore Rupees. Uttar Pradesh Wizards that completed in the third place took away 75 lakh Rupees. Uttar Pradesh Wizards defeated Punjab Warriors 4-3 to claim third position. Mumbai Magicians player Sandeep Singh hit maximum goals (11) in the tournament.

The awards given away in the Hockey India League (HIL) were as follows:

• Hero Goal of the Day: Manpreet Singh

• Man-ofthe-Match: Mauritz Furtse

• Winners (Prize Money Rs. 25000000): Ranchi Rhinos

• Runners-Up (Prize Money: Rs. 12500000): Delhi Waveriders

• Third Place (Prize Money: Rs. 7500000): Uttar Pradesh Wizards

• Fair-Play Award: Ranchi Rhinos

• Hero Player of the Tournament (Rs. 2500000): Sardar Singh

• Ponty Chadha Trophy for Upcoming Player of the Tournament (Rs. 2000000): Mandeep Singh

• Airtel Award for Most Goals in the Tournament (Rs. 1000000): Delhi Waveriders

About Hockey India League (HIL):

• Hockey India League (HIL) was played from 14 January 2013 to 10 February 2013 in which 5 teams Delhi Waveriders, Jaypee Punjab Riders, Sahara India Uttar Pradesh Wizards, Dabur Mumbai Magicians and Patel-Union Ranchi Rhinos participated.

• The tournament was played at 5 places- Delhi, Jalandhar, Lucknow, Mumbai and Ranchi.

• Renowned hockey players of the world participated in the Hockey India League (HIL). 34 matches in all were played during the tournament.

67th Santosh Trophy

In the final of the 67th Santosh Trophy on 3 March 2013, Services won the soccer contest by defeating hosts Kerala 4-3 on penalties at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Kochi. The Man of the Match title was clinched by Services striker Lalian Mawia. The Services team bagged their third Santosh Trophy title.

About the Santosh Trophy

Santosh Trophy is the yearly Indian football tournament that is played among states and government institutions. This tournament was initiated in 1941. The Santosh Trophy is named after late Maharaja Sir Manmatha Nath Roy Chowdhary of Santosh.

David Beckham Named Richest Footballer of the World

David Beckham was named as the richest footballer of the world, according to the Goal Rich List 2013. David Beckham has a total income of 175 million pound. 37-year-old Beckham is the biggest brand in the world now, leaving behind Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. In 2012, Beckham earned more than 20 million pound from wages as well as endorsement. The Goal Rich List 2013 revealed that the worth of Beckham is 60 million pound more than Messi.

At the third position is Ronaldo, aged 28 years. He earned a total of 112 million pound in his career. Wayne Rooney, the Manchester United and England striker made it to the list of Top Ten with a total of 50 million pound.

Goal-Line Technology at the 2014 World Cup

Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) on 19 February 2013 confirmed the use of goal-line technology during the 2014 FIFA World Cup to be organised in Brazil. It also stated that the technology could be introduced in the next season’s Premier league. FIFA had invited tenders from more service providers of the technology to conduct an official bidding ahead of the Confederations Cup to be held in June 2013. Introduction of the technology in football is being insisted to provide a high-tech aid to the World Cup referees to rule on the disputed incidents. IFAB, the rule making panel of FIFA in July 2012 decided to approve the goal-line technology for the competitive matches after it passed an extensive test conducted by the body. The decision by FIFA was expected once its rule-making panel, known as IFAB, decided last July to approve goal-line technology at competitive matches after two systems passed extensive tests.

Goal-Line Technology (GLT)

Goal-line Technology is a technology that is used to determine the fact that has the ball passed the goal-line or not with the support of an electronic-device to help the referee decided to take a call that either it was a goal or not.

May 2013

Marussia F1 Team Unveiled Their New Formula 1 Car, MR02

Marussia F1 team unveiled their new Formula 1 car called MR02 on 5 February 2013. The specialty of this car is that it equips the KERS (the kinetic energy recovery system) power-boost system which is not found in any other existing teams. KERS was legalised since 2011. The benefit of KERS is that enables 0.3 seconds per lap.

New driver of the Marussia F1 team, Max Chilton drove this car on first day of the F1 pre-season testing at Jerez in Spain ON 5 February 2013. Marussia F1 team described this car as an all-inclusive evolution of older 2012 model. MR02 is first of its kind car that is designed using the technique of CFD complementing wind tunnel.

Australian Grand Prix 2013

Kimi Raikkonen, the Australian driver of Formula One team Lotus won the season-opening Australian Grand Prix 2013 on 17 March 2013. Kimi Raikkonen started at the seventh spot in Finland and adopted just two pit stops technique for winning the race. In the Australian Grand Prix 2013 opening season, Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso and Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel finished at the second and third position respectively.
Brazilian Felipe Massa, the Ferrari driver and Britain’s Lewis Hamilton, the Mercedes driver finished at the fourth and fifth positions respectively.

About Kimi Raikkonen

• Kimi Raikkonen won 2007 World Championship with Ferrari.

• 33-year-old Kimi Raikkonen won a total of 20 titles in Formula One.

• He started his career as a driver in Formula One in 2001.

Grenke Chess Classic Trophy

Viswanathan Anand, the World Champion in Chess from India won the Grenke Chess Classic trophy of 2013 after defeating Arkadij Naiditsch from Germany on 17 February 2013. To secure his win in the Grenke Chess Classic, Anand also defeated Fabiano Caruana from Italy. This was his first title of the year.

The 43 years old Anand, managed to take a 49 move win against Arkadij with his black pieces to claim the title for his all-play-all tournament title in five years. Anand last won a title in March 2008 at Linares, when he topped the field with 8.5 points in the eight player field. In January 2013, Anand finished at third position in the Tata Steel at Wijk aan Zee in although he lost the first round to Wang Hao from China.

Standings of Players Point wise:

• Viswanathan Anand from India (6.5/10)

• Fabiano Caruana from Italy (6/10)

• Michael Adams from England (5/10)

• Georg Meier from Germany (5/10)

• Arkadij Naiditsch from Germany (4/10)

• Daniel Fridman from Germany (3.5/10)

PGTI Players

Championship Title 2013

Shamim Khan of Delhi on 1 March 2013 defeated Mukesh Kumar of Mhow in the playoff to win the PGTI Players Championship title at the Classic Golf Resort. S Chikkarangappa of Bangalore came third with an aggregate of 11-under-277. Both Shamim and Mukesh finished the regulation 72 holes with matching totals of 12-under-276. Shamim (66-70-70-70) was in third position earlier. However, he placed three strokes behind Mukesh and made a solid start to the day with pars on the first eight holes and followed that up with a birdie on the ninth. He made his approach shot from 115 yards to within a foot of the pin on the ninth. The 34-year-old reigning Rolex Rankings champion Afterwards, he went two-under for the day with a birdie on the 14th after landing his chip within three feet of the hole. Shamim Kahn is 34 years old.

BT Pro Am of Champions Golf Tournament 2013

Neha Tripathi defeated Thailand’s Pennapa Pulsawath to win BT Pro Am of Champions golf tournament 2013 in Manesar on 10 March 2013. After initially tying up at a score of 141, Neha won the match in second playoff on 18th hole. At the third position was golfer Smriti Mehra from India who got the total score of 142. Thai golfer Tiranan Yoopan finished at the fourth position with a score of 143. Tang Ni Nhung of Vietnam came at the fifth position with an overall score of 148. It is important to note that Neha Tripathi had won the first tournament of Hero Women Professional Golf Tour on 31 January 2013. This is her third title in the Women Tour.

Hero Women’s Pro Golf Tour 2013

Smriti Mehra, the veteran golfer, on 6 March 2013 won her second title in the fourth leg of Hero Women‘s pro golf tour 2013 in Mumbai. Smriti played a round of one under 64 and finished with an overall score of 194 at the Willingdon Sports Club. At the second position was Neha Tripathi who completed with the final round score of one over 66 and an overall score of 200. Sharmila Nicollet achieved third position with lowly six over 71 and a total score of 202. Pallavi Jain came at the fourth position with par 65 and an overall score of 205. At the fifth position were Vani Kapoor and Saaniya Sharma who tied at a total score of 209.

The winners were as follows:

• Smriti Mehra-194 (67, 63, 64)

• Neha Tripathi-200 (70, 64, 66)

• Sharmila Nicollet-202 (63, 68, 71)

• Pallavi Jain-205 (65, 75, 65)

• Vani Kapoor - 209 (73, 68, 68)

• Saaniya Sharma- 209 (74, 67, 68)

Eighth NCR Cup Golf Tournament

Vijitha Bandara of Sri Lanka won Eighth NCR Cup Golf Tournament at Delhi Golf Club on 1 March 2013. Vijitha Bandara shot four-over 76 for a total of 293 in order to win the tournament. With the victory of this tournament, Bandara became the second Sri Lankan to clinch this title. The first one to win this title was N Thangaraja in 2012. Prince Kajotia of Indian Navy finished at the runner-up position with three-over 295.
The third position was clinched by Samarth Dwivedi, the India-born Thai golfer who scored a total of 300. Indian Lakhan Singh and Amit Kumar tied at the fourth position at 303. Devendra Singh achieved hole-in-one on seventh hole and finished at 22nd position. Lakhan Singh, on the other hand won longest drive challenge prize on the sixth hole. Sunny Nagar grabbed straightest drive on 10th hole.

Avantha Masters Golf Tournament 2013

In the Avantha Masters golf tournament at Jaypee Greens course in Greater Noida on 17 March 2013, India’s Gaganjeet Bhullar finished at the runners-up position. Thomas Aiken of South Africa won the Avantha Masters golf tournament. At the third position was China’s Liang Wen-Chong who finished two spots behind Bhullar. Gaganjeet Bhullar won a total prize money of 2 lakh Euros or 1 crore 34 lakh Rupees. Thomas Aiken won by three-stroke margin, claiming 3 lakh Euros or 2 crore Rupees.

The score of Gaganjeet Bhullar was 20 under 268. On the other hand, Thomas Aiken scored 23-under 265. Among other Indians who gained good position was, Himmat Rai who finished at ninth spot. His tally was 14-under 274. Jeev Milkha Singh also claimed limelight in the event with 23rd position in the tournament.

All England Open Badminton Championships 2013

Tine Baun won the women’s singles title in the All England Open Badminton Championships 2013 at the National Indoor Arena, Birmingham, England on 10 March 2013. With this victory, the 33-year-old Baun became the oldest All-England women’s singles champion of Open Era. She defeated three-time world junior champion Ratchanok Intanon of Thailand 21-14, 16-21, 21-10. This was the last tournament of Tine Baun’s career. Earlier, she had won the same title in 2008 and 2010.

About Tine Baun

• Tine Baun is the female badminton player. She is from Denmark.

• The most important highlight of her career is winning the All England Open Badminton Championship women’s singles three times in 2008, 2010 and most recently, in 2013.

• This was the last tournament of her career.

About All England Open Badminton Championships

• All England Open Badminton Championships is also known as All England.

• It is one of the oldest as well as the prestigious badminton tournaments of the world.

• All England Open Badminton Championships tournament is played annually.

• The first tournament was held in 1898 in Guildford.

• Earlier, the All England Open Badminton Championships was held in only three categories- Men’s Doubles, Women’s Doubles and Mixed Doubles.

• Men’s Singles and Women’s Singles titles were added to the tournament in 1900.

Asian Grand Prix Archery Championship

India won a total of eight medals in the inaugural Asian Grand Prix Archery Championship at Bangkok on 14 March 2013. India won two gold, two Silver and four bronze. In the category of compound Men’s individual, Ch. Jignas clinched the Gold after he defeated China’s He Ying 145-142. In the Compound Men’s trio category, Ch. Jignas, Abhishek Verma and Ritul Chatterjee won the Gold, registering a victory over Vietnam, 226-218. Silver was won by Rahul Banerjee in Recurve Men and Anjali Kumari in Compound Women in the individual categories. In the Recurve Men’s event, Atanu Das clinched the Bronze. Recurve Women’s team of Bombayala Devi, Dola Banerjee and Rimil Biruli defeated Indonesia to win a Bronze. In the same section, Bombayla Devi won a Bronze in individual category. Atanu and Bombayala also defeated opponent team in Mixed team event to win fourth Bronze for India.

India Clinched a Gold and a Bronze Medal in Asian Archery Grand Prix

In the Asian Archery Grand Prix, the men’s compound team of India won a gold medal while men’s recurve trio won a bronze in Bangkok on 12 March 2013. The men’s compound team comprised of Jignas Chittibomma, Sandeep Kumar and Abhishek Verma. It defeated Vietnam team 226-218 to clinch gold.

The recurve trio men’s team comprised of Binod Swansi, Rahul Banerjee and Atanu Das. It defeated Russia 217-201 to win the bronze medal. India won 55-51, 53-47, 55-53, 54-50. In the meanwhile, the women’s recurve team of India comprising of L Bombayla Devi, Dola Banerjee and Rimil Buriuly missed their bronze after losing 202-203 to Indonesia. India lost 48-52, 52-52, 53-51, 49-48.

Hero Asian Cycling Championships

India’s Deborah and Manorama Devi on 10 March 2013 won a bronze in the team sprint on the second to last day of the Hero Asian Cycling Championships in New Delhi. The pair came just 0.148 secs ahead by defeating Malaysia’s Faihah Shahwati Mohd Adnan and Nurul Alissa Mohamad Azman. Manorama, was little slow as she completed the first lap in 22.243 secs as compared to Malaysia’s rider (21.527). in contrary Deborah, wrested back the advantage and completed the race with an aggregate of 38.645 secs to bag a podium finish in the junior category while the Malaysian duo took 38.793 secs to finsh the two-lap race. Earlier in the day, Faihah and Nurul had qualified with better timings (38.848 secs) as compared to the Indian pair (39.245 secs).

General Sparrow

Centenary Polo Cup-2013

Sona Polo Team won the General Sparrow Centenary Polo Cup-2013 played at Jaipur Polo Ground on 2 March 2013 by defeating Sailors team.The Vice President of India, M. Hamid Ansari on 2 March 2013 presented prizes to the winners of the General Sparrow Centenary Polo Cup-2013 at Jaipur Polo Ground. Sona Polo Team won the Centenary Polo Cup after defeating Sailors team in the final game.
42nd Senior National and Inter-State Carrom Championship Men’s Title

Shrinivas won 42nd Senior National and Inter-State Carrom Championship at Akola. He defeated world no. 3 Yogesh Pardeshi in the men’s final 8-25, 25-18, 25-4. In the women’s final, Rashmi Kumari defeated I Ilavazhaki 25-9, 25-18 to win the women’s title. This was the fifth title of her career. The nationals ended on 10 March 2013. These nationals were organised at the Desai Stadium by Vidarbha Carrom Association and All India Carrom Federation.

Maharaja Jiwaji Rao Scindia Gold Cup 2013

61st Cavalry defeated IPG 9-5 ½ in the M3M Maharaja Jiwaji Rao Scindia Gold Cup 2013 to lift the trophy. Major Ravi Rathore scored five goals in the Jaipur Polo Ground, New Delhi, thereby giving a comfortable lead to the Cavalry men. Bhawani Kalvi of IPG managed to score four goals, but could not close the gap, thus losing to the 61st Cavalry in the M3M Maharaja Jiwaji Rao Scindia Gold Cup 2013.

About M3M Maharaja Jiwaji Rao Scindia Gold Cup 2013

• M3M Maharaja Jiwaji Rao Scindia Gold Cup 2013 was the 16th edition of the tournament in which a total of 8 teams participated. The teams which participated in the tournament include Jindal Steel & Power, Elevation, Action Polo, 61st Cavalry, IPG 9-5 ½, Jindal Power, Sahara Warriors and ASC-RVC.

• M3M India is the luxury real estate property developer that associated with exclusive sports events such as polo as a part of its marketing strategy. M3M is the sponsor of this Maharaja Jiwaji Rao Scindia Gold Cup 2013 tournament.

• Maharaja Jiwaji Rao Scindia Gold Cup was instituted by late Rajmata Vijaya Raje Scindia of Gwalior, to commemorate Maharaja Jiwaji Rao Scindia. The Maharaja Jiwaji Rao Scindia Gold Cup is patronized by Royal Scindia Family of Gwalior.

•  Proceeds of the tournament were given to Rajmata Shrimant Vijaya Raje Scindia Centre for Development, which is an NGO that works towards hunger eradication, primary health care, water management, women empowerment and primary education.

Pyeongchang Special Olympics World Winter Games

The 2013 Pyeongchang Special Olympics World Winter Games finished after a week of competition among differently-abled athletes. The games took place from 29 January 2013 to 5 February 2013. Almost 200000 spectators witnessed the games in venues- Pyeongchang and Gangneung. India returned with 46 medals in 2013 Special Olympics World Winter Games at Pyeong Chang, South Korea.

The differently-abled athletes of India won 46 medals in all- 13 gold, 17 silver and 16 bronze from mentally-challenged 2200 athletes participating from more than 120 nations in the games. The medal tally of India doubled from World Winter Games 2009. These games were completed in eight categories of sports- alpine skiing, cross-country skiing, snowboarding, snowshoeing, figure skating, short track speed skating, floor hockey and floorball. Various celebrities participated in the games to support these athletes. Some of the popular faces were former NBA All-Star Yao Ming and Chinese actress Zhang Ziyi. In its closing ceremony, figure skating superstars Kim Yu-na and Michelle Kwan were also present.

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