(Current Affairs) Sports | May - 2015

Sports

Kidambi Kidabi clinches swis grand prix gold 2015

  • Indian Shuttler Kidambi brought fruitful movement for India as he clinched the badminton prestigious $ 120000 Swiss Grand Prix Gold championship title after defeating a strong Denmark’s Viktor Alexson in men’s singles final.

  • In the final world No. 4 Srikanth showed nerves of steel to prevail over his opponent, ranked sixth in the world, 21-15 12-21 21-14 in the thrilling summit clash of the event as the contest lasted 47 minutes.

Services wins 69th Santosh trophy

  • Services has clinched 69th Santosh Trophy Nationals after deafiting hosts Punjab 5-4 via tie-breaker in a nail-biting clash at Guru Nanak Stadium. Services dominated possession in the first half and also created number of scoring opportunities but failed to convert.
  • Services sealed the title for the fourth time besides finishing runners up on five occasions.

Karnataka wins Ranji Trophy 2015

  • Defending champions Karnataka has won their eighth Ranji Trophy title as they defeated their southern opponents Tamil Nadu by an innings and 217 runs on the last day of the Ranji Trophy cricket tournament final at the Wankhede stadium.

  • The man of the match was Karnataka’s Karun Nair who had scored 338 runs. The captain of Karnataka team was R Vinay Kumar and of Tamil Nadu team was Abhinav Mukund.

  • Earlier Karnataka has won 7th Ranji Tile, which are- 1973-74 - Vs Rajasthan, 1977-78 - Vs Uttar Pradesh, 1982-83 - Vs Bombay, 1995-96 - Vs Tamil Nadu, 1997-98 - Vs Uttar Pradesh, 1998-99 - Vs Madhya Pradesh, 2013-14 - Vs Maharashtra .

Snagakara hits record four consecutive ODI centuary

  • Sri Lanka cricket team wicketkeeper Kumar Sangakkara has become the first player to hit four successive one-day international centuries after notching up a ton in his side’s 148-run win against Scotland in the world cup. Sangakkara now has a total of 14,189 career ODI runs and five World Cup centuries, only one behind record holder Sachin Tendulkar.

  • Sangakara century against Scotland followed an unbeaten 105 against Bangladesh, 117 not out against England and 104 against Australia. Previously, six other players had scored three ODI hundreds in a row.
    AB Deviler hits

Fastest 150 in ODI

  • South African batsman AB de Villiers hit the fastest 150 in one-day internationals during a match between South Africa & West Indies. De Villiers took 64 deliveries to reach 150, beating the previous best, set by Australia’s Shane Watson, by 19 balls.

  • He finished 162 not out from 66 balls as South Africa made 408-5, the second-highest total in World Cups. Only last month, De Villiers hit the fastest-ever ODI hundred against the same team in Johannesburg, from 31 balls. In that same innings, South Africa’s captain also set the record for the fastest fifty in ODIs, from 16 balls.

Ranchi Ray wins Hero Hockey India League 2015

  • Indian Cricket team captain Mahaendra Singh Dhoni owned Ranchi Rays have been crowned Hero Hockey India League champions for 2015 following a dramatic penalty shoot-out triumph over Jaypee Punjab Warriors in a high quality tournament final at New Delhi’s Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium. Jaypee Punjab Warriors lead the final on two occasions, with Lovell’s 2014 World Cup winning team-mates Kieran Govers and Chris Ciriello finding the net while Stanli Minz and Barry Middleton twice pulled the Rays level as the match finished with the scores locked at 2-2.

  • Lovell, who had made numerous breathtaking saves in normal time, produced a goalkeeping master-class in the shoot-out, keeping out efforts from Simon Orchard, SV Sunil and Robert Hammond to give Ranchi a 3-2 win.

  • Lovell’s performance deservedly earned him the Hero Man of the Match Award, while team-mate and Rays’ captain Ashley Jackson was named Hero Most Valuable Player of the Tournament thanks to a series of wonderful displays during this season’s HHIL.

  • Delhi Waveriders claimed a third place finish in this year’s Hero Hockey India League, with Rupinder Pal Singh and Yuvraj Walmiki both on target in their team’s 2-1 triumph over Uttar Pradesh Wizards.

Chris Hayle hits first World Cup Double Centuary

  • West Indies opener Chris Gayle hit the first double century in World Cup history in their Pool B victory over Zimbabwe at Canberra.He reached 200 off 138 balls, hitting Tendai Chatara for a boundary in the 46th over.
  • His mark eclipsed the unbeaten 188 by South Africa’s Gary Kirsten against the United Arab Emirates in 1996. Gayle hit a total of 16 sixes in 147 balls before he was out for 215 off the last delivery of his side’s innings.
  • It was also only the fifth double century in all one-day internationals and the first by a non-Indian, with Rohit Sharma (two), Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag the only other batsmen to achieve the feat.

Anil Kumble Inducted into ICC Hall of Fame

  • Internation Cricket Council has inducted former Indian captain Anil Kumble into their hall of fame at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Kumble is just the fourth Indian to be included in the elite group, joining Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev and Bishan Bedi.

  • Australian legend Betty Wilson was also inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame, along with Kumble.

  • Kumble has played 132 Tests for India, capturing 619 wickets and became the second man in history to take 10 wickets in an innings when he dismantled Pakistan in 1999 to finish with figures of 10-74.

  • Alongside Kumble, Wilson becomes the second Australian woman in the Hall of Fame behind champion batter Belinda Clark.

  • Wilson, considered one of the greatest female cricketers of all-time, played 11 Tests between 1947 and 1958, scoring 862 runs at an average of 57.4 and claimed 68 wickets at 11.8 runs apiece. In 1957 against England, Wilson became the first cricketer, male or female, to take score a century and take 10 wickets in a Test. Kumble and Wilson become the 77th and 78th inductees into the Hall of Fame.

Geeta, Kavita win Crowns

  • National Games gold medallists O. Geeta Devi and Kavita Devi recorded contrasting wins to take the honours in their respective categories in the National weightlifting championship.

India storms into the final, meets Poland

  • India, expectedly, booked a spot in the final of the Hero women’s Hockey World League Round 2 with a 5-0 win over Thailand at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium.

Jackie Chan song for Olympics App

  • Jackie Chan has recorded a theme song for the application of 2022 Winter Olympic Games titled ‘Wake up Winter.’ Songwriter Wang Jiuping explained that the song was a “call to people around the world”.

Selection criterion for Multi-discipline events

  • In a move that may affect careers of several athletes, the Union Sports Ministry has formulated a selection criterion which states that for participation in a multi-discipline event an individual sportsperson must perform at par with the top-six finishers in the previous edition of the competition.

  • According to a statement issued, “The performance of sportspersons in the individual events during the last 12 months prior to commencement of the event should not be less than the performance achieved by the sixth position holder of the previous edition of the respective tournament in measurable sports.”

  • This will be applicable for events such as the Olympic Games, Winter Olympics, Asian Games, Commonwealth Games, Asian Indoor Games, Asian Beach Games, Youth Olympics, Asian Youth Games, Commonwealth Youth Games, Paralympics and Para-Asian Games.

  • “For team events, only those teams which have achieved ranking up to eighth among participating countries of the tournaments concerned in the last one year should be considered for participation in the respective tournaments.”

  • In a communication sent to the Indian Olympic Association (IOA), Paralympic Committee of India (PCI) and the National Sports Federations (which are actually responsible for the selection of athletes and teams for international events), the Ministry said that the same criteria would be applicable in non-measurable sports as well.

  • The Ministry has also made it clear that no additional sportsperson and support staff would be cleared “even at no cost to government.”

  • However, Cycling Federation of India (CFI) Secretary Onkar Singh pointed out the flaw in the new guideline.

  • “The Government should not limit the participation in multi-sport events to the elite athletes. What about the younger athletes who are talented but do not have exposure? For example, one has to go through the qualification process to participate in the Olympics. But who will help an athlete to reach the qualification?”

  • Meanwhile, the Ministry has requested the IOA to formulate guidelines for inclusion of athlete support personnel in the contingent for multi-disciplinary events.

  • “IOA and Sports Authority of India (SAI) should ensure that only those support personnel are considered for Indian contingents who have worked with the sportspersons in camps or have the necessary credentials and experience and are eligible as per the rules and guidelines of the International Olympic Committee/Olympic Council of Asia/Organising Committees of the Games/respective International Federations.”

India draws with China

  • India kept its chances alive by holding China 2-2 in the Indo-China Chess Summit 2015 for the Komatireddy Prateek Reddy Trophy.
  • GM Sethuraman came up with another impressive display to outwit GM Ding Liren in 23 moves in Grunfeld Defence.
  • Sethuraman, with a score of five out of seven, was the top-scorer for his team.
  • India later suffered a blow when captain K. Sasikiran frittered away an advantageous position to go down to Wei Yi in Grunfeld Defence. GMs B Adhiban and M.R. Lalith Babu drew against Wang Chen and Zhou Jianchao respectively.

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