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West Indies Tri-Nation Series

India on 11 July 2013 won the West Indies Tri-Nation Series 2013 – Final after defeating Sri Lanka with 1 wicket at Queen’s Park Oval, Port of Spain in Trinidad. Mahendra Singh Dhoni captained the Indian Side in the tri-nation series, whereas, AD Mathews was the captain of the Sri Lanka. Kohli captained the Indian side in the second, third and fourth match after Dhoni suffered from a hamstring injury in the first match against and was out from the series in second, third and fourth match.

Match Report Final

• After winning the toss, India chose to field first.

• Sri Lanka batted first in the final match and scored 201 runs at the fall of 10 wickets in 48.5 overs

• India scored 202 with 1 wicket and two balls remaining to win the series

• Player of the match MS Dhoni (India)

• Player of the series B Kumar (India)

Series Report 1st Match

• Batting first Sri Lanka scored 208 in 48.3 overs

• West Indies chased the score in 37.5 overs at the loss of 4 wickets

• West Indies won by 6 wickets (with 73 balls remaining)

2nd Match

• India scored 229at the loss of 7 wickets in 50 overs, whereas, West Indies chased the score in 47.4 overs at the loss of 9 wickets.

3rd Match

• Sri Lanka batted first and scored 348 with 9 wickets remaining in 50 overs and India was bowled out at 187 in 44.5 overs. Sri Lanka won the match by 161 runs.

4th Match

• India scored 311 at the loss of 7 wickets in 50 overs. West Indies lost the match as it was able to score 171 runs as the loss of all wickets in 34 overs. As per Duckworth–Lewis method a game of 39 overs was played and the target given to West Indies was 274.

• India won by 102 runs (Duckworth–Lewis method)

5th Match

• Sri Lanka batting first scored 219 runs at a loss of 8 wickets in 41 overs, whereas, West Indies was able to score only 190 runs at a loss of 9 wickets in 41 overs. The match was played as per Duckworth–Lewis method and the target given to West Indies was 230 runs in 41 overs.

• Sri Lanka won by 39 runs (Duckworth–Lewis method)

6th Match

• India was able to score 119 runs at a loss of 3 wickets in 29 overs; Sri Lanka scored 96 with no wickets remaining at the end of 24.4 overs. A target of 178 runs was given to Sri Lanka to chase as per Duckworth–Lewis method.

• India won by 81 runs (Duckworth–Lewis method)

ICC’s Latest ODI Ranking

India continues to reign at the top of the table in International Cricket Council’s latest ODI ranking released on 25 July 2013. With 122 rating points, India is the number one team followed by Australia with 114 and England with 112 points. The latest ODI rankings were released by the ICC in Dubai. Among the batsmen, South Africa’s Hashim Amla replaces countryman AB Devilliers at the top. India’s Virat Kohli has maintained his position at number three while skipper Dhoni is at number six. At the June ICC Board meeting, it was also decided that the annual update to the Test, ODI and T20I rankings should now take place on 1 May each year, rather than 1 August, since this better aligns with the current international calendar.This change has been incorporated in the latest update, and has been backdated to 1 May 2013.

ICC’s Latest Test Ranking

As per the latest ICC Test rankings issued on 8 July 2013, India moved to second spot while South Africa led the ranking. England was placed at third position. South Africa gained seven rating points making its tally to 135 points. India scored 116 points. Although England won its last two test series against India it was placed below India in ranking due to its less consistent performances in other recent series particularly against Pakistan, New Zealand and South Africa. England needs to win by a margin of 3-0 in the upcoming Ashes series against Australia to get the second position. The annual ICC test ranking ensures that it continues to reflect recent form of all the Cricket teams, with past results being cast off. The recent ICC Board meeting decided that the annual update to the Test, ODI and T20I rankings would now be finalised on 1 May 1 each year instead of 1 August because it aligns better with the current international calendar.

Shane Warne Retired from All Forms of Cricket

Shane Warne, the spin legend retired from all forms of cricket officially. He announced retiring from Twenty20 League, thereby ending the overall competitive cricket career. In the year 2007, the 43-year old Shane Warne quit the Test cricket with 708 wickets. He had remained active in the domestic Twenty20 leagues.

He was also the captain of Rajasthan Royals in the inaugural Indian Premier League (IPL) title in 2008. After four seasons of IPL, Shane Warne signed up for the Melbourne Stars as a marquee player in the inaugural 2011-12 British Basketball League season.

About Shane Warne

• Shane Warne was born on 13 September 1969.

• He was popularly also known as the King of Spin.

• He was the Right-handed, Lower order batsman.

• His bowling style was Right-arm leg break.

• He debuted on the first Test Match in the year 1992.

• He took over 1000 international wickets (in Tests and One-Day Internationals), which is a milestone just second to Muttiah Muralitharan of Sri Lanka.

• His 708 test wickets created the record for most wickets taken by any bowler in Test cricket. His record was broken in the year 2007 by Muttiah Muralitharan.

Santosh Lal Died

Santosh Lal, the member of Jharkhand Ranji Sqad and the inventor of Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s (Captain Indian Cricket Team) signature shot, Helicopter Shot died on 17 July 2013 at a hospital in New Delhi. The 32 year old Santosh was being treated for pancreatitis. He is now survived by his parents, a wife and a 3-year old daughter. For his treatment, the Jharkhand State Cricket Association had donated 1 lakh rupees and 39500 rupees was contributed by the members of the association.

Santosh Lal was the friend of Mahendra Singh Dhoni, captain of Indian cricket team. He was the person, who taught Dhoni the process to play Helicopter Shot.

Chris Martin Retired

38 years old Chris Martin is New Zealand’s third-highest Test wicket taker only after Richard Hadlee and Daniel Vettori. He had taken 233 Test wickets with an average of 33.81.

Chris Martin originally hails from Canterbury and played for the first class cricket team called the Canterbury Wizards before shifting to the Aces in 2005/06. He appeared periodically for the Black Caps in the shorter formats, but was used regularly in the five day version of the game.

Chris Martin, the fast Bowler of New Zealand has announced his retirement on 3 July 2013 from all forms of cricket.

A Brief Insight into Chris Martin’s Cricket Career

• Chris Martin played 71 Tests, 20 ODIs and six Twenty20s for his country in an international career

• His best bowling was seen against South Africa in 2004 when he won the man of the match award for his haul of 11 wickets in an Auckland test.

Martina Hingis inducted in Tennis Hall of Fame

32 Year old Swiss tennis legend Martina Hingis was inducted in Tennis Hall of Fame on 13 July 2013. With the induction she became the fourth youngest members to be included in the tennis hall of fame., followed by Tracy Austin (30), Bjorn Borg (31) and Hana Mandlikova (32). It is important here to note that Czechoslovakia born Martina Hingis was named after Martina Navratilova. She came into limelight after she won the 1993 Roland Garros junior title at just 12 year of age.

A brief insight into Martina Hingis’ Career

• She had won three Australian Open titles (1997, 1998, 1999), one Wimbledon (1997) and a US Open title (1997).

• She held the number one ranking for 209 weeks. She also won nine grand slam doubles titles and a mixed doubles title.

• In June 2011, she was named one of the “30 Legends of Women’s Tennis: Past, Present and Future” by Time.

• In 1997, Hingis became the undisputed World No. 1 women’s tennis player.

• In 1998, Hingis won all four of the Grand Slam women’s doubles titles, only the fourth in women’s tennis history to do so.

• In 2001, Switzerland, with Hingis and Roger Federer on its team, won the Hopman Cup.

• In February 2003, at the age of 22, Hingis announced her retirement from tennis, due to her injuries and being in pain.

• In February 2005, Martina Hingis made an unsuccessful return to competition at an event in Pattaya, Thailand, where she lost to Germany’s Marlene Weingärtner in the first round.

Swedish Open Title

Serena Williams on 21 July 2013 won Swedish Open title by defeating Johanna Larsson in the final of the Swedish Open at Bastad in Sweden. The win is her 53rd WTA title and 51st match win of the year. She defeated Johanna Larsson with a 6-4, 6-1 success.

The 24-year-old Johanna Larsson broke to lead 3-1 in the first set before Williams bounced back to 3-3. Larsson proceeded to 4-3 before losing to the American’s strong serve and losing the next three games. Serena Williams is 16-time Grand Slam winner, and was knocked out in the fourth round of Wimbledon by Germany’s Sabine Lisicki, who went on to lose to Marion Bartoli of France in the final. Williams dominated the second set, breaking Larsson’s serve twice. It is important here to note that, Williams also defeated 76th-ranked Larsson in their only previous match in the Fed Cup earlier this year.

Claro Open title

Purav Raja and Divij Sharan of India on 20 July 2013 clinched their first ever ATP tour doubles title by defeating Edouard Roger-Vasselin of France and Igor Sijsling of the Netherlands in the final match of Claro Open in Bogota, Colombia. The tournament was played from 15 July to 21 July. The fourth seeded Indian pair defeated the second seeded French-Dutch pair by 7-6(4), 7-6(3) in the final of the 638085 US Dollars, hard court event. This was the first ever ATP tour level tournament for the duo Divij and Purav together. The victory bought them 250 ranking points.

Wimbledon Trophy 2013

Andy Murray on 7 July 2013 defeated Novak Djokovic in straight sets 6-4, 7-5, 6-4 at Center Court of London to become the first Briton in 77 years to win the Men’s Singles Title at Wimbledon 2013. Wimbledon was held from 24 June to 7 July 2013 in London. The 26-year-old became the Britain’s first male winner after almost eight decades, to win the championship. Earlier he was Fred Perry, who won his last Championship in 1936. Earlier in the tournament, Rafael Nadal was knocked out in the first round at Wimbledon by Belgian Steve Darcis. Later Roger Federer, the record holder of 37 Grand Slams, faced a defeat from the hands of Sergiy Stakhovsky (116 ranked player) on day three of the championship. This is the first time, in nine years that Roger Federer failed to qualify even to the Quarter Finals. Swiss Tennis maestro Roger Federer was the winner of the 2012 edition of Wimbledon Men’s Singles Title. He defeated Andy Murray 4-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-4 to win the Wimbledon Open Championship Gentlemen’s Singles Final 2012 in London on 8 July 2012

Andy Murray Record Chart

• Wimbledon is Andy Murray’s second Grand Slam Title, earlier he captured the 2012 US open by defeating Novak Djokovic, 7-6 (12-10), 7-5, 2-6, 3-6, 6-2 on 11 September 2012

• With this win, Murray became the most successful Briton in terms of grand slams

• This is the 36th time, when any British Man has won a Wimbledon Singles Title (this is the maximum in the medal chart of any nation)

• With a hat-trick of win’s in 1936 Fred Perry was the last man from Britain to win Wimbledon. He had three Wimbledon, one US Open and Australian Open each and three French Opens by his name.

Wimbledon Result Tally of the Finals

Men’s Singles Championship

• Andy Murray defeated Novak Djokovic in straight sets with 6-4, 7-5, 6-4 to capture the men’s title.

Women’s Singles Championship

In the Women’s Singles category of Wimbledon, Marion Bartoli of France on 6 July 2013 won her maiden Grand Slam title. 23rd seed Sabine Lisicki of Germany failed to match Bartoli and lost in title clash in straight sets, 1-6, 4-6. Lisicki was the first German woman since 1999 to reach a Grand Slam final.

The tournament was played in London. Marion Bartoli is a top-10 French professional tennis player and presently French no. 1. She has won one singles major, seven other Women’s Tennis Association singles titles and three doubles titles. Marion Bartoli is 28 years old. She had played her previous Wimbledon final in 2007 which she had lost to Venus Williams. She is the fifth oldest woman to become a first time major winner in the Open Era.

Mixed Doubles

• Daniel Nestor of Canada and Kristina Mladenovic of France defeated Bruno Soares of Brazil and Lisa Raymond of USA to win Mixed Doubles – Final at Centre Court.

M K Kaushik appointed Coach of Indian Men’s Hockey Team

Hockey India on 10 July 2013 appointed Olympic Gold Medalist Maharaj Krishan Kaushik as the Coach of the Senior Men’s Hockey team of India.
He replaced Australian Michael Nobbs as the coach of India after Sports Authority of India (SAI) sacked Nobbs for the poor performance of Men’s Team. Krishan Kaushik has been deputed as the coach to assist High Performance Director of Hockey India, Roelant Oltmans till a new Chief Coach is appointed.

He will join the training camp of the senior men team starting from 16 July 2013 at SAI Centre in Bangalore for the preparations for the 9th Asia Cup to be held in Malaysia from 24 August- 1 September 2013.

FOOTBALL

Brazil Won the FIFA Confederations Cup Brazil 2013; Defeated Spain 3-0

Brazil won the FIFA Confederations Cup Brazil 2013 on 30 June 2013 against Spain in the final match. Brazil won 3-0 against FIFA World Cup holders Spain. On the Brazilian side, two goals were scored by Fred and one was scored by Neymar.

Brazil grabbed the FIFA Confederations Cup for the third time. Earlier, it had won the Cup in the year 2005 in South Africa, 2009 in Germany and 1997 in Saudi Arabia. Fernando José Torres of Spain was awarded with the Golden Boot Award, while Fred of Brazil won the Silver Boot Award. The Bronze Boot Award was given away to Neymar. Italy defeated Uruguay on penalties and secured the third place.

Facts about the FIFA Confederations Cup Brazil 2013

• The 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup was the ninth cup, held at Brazil from 15 June to 30 June 2013.

• It was the prelude to 2014 FIFA World Cup.

• The FIFA Confederations Cup Brazil 2013 was the first national team tournament which made use of the goal-line technology. This technology will also be used in 2014 World Cup.

• The final positions of the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup were: Brazil (Champions), Spain (Runners-Up), Italy (3rd Position) and Uruguay (4th position).

• The top scorers of the tournament were Fred of Brazil and Fernando José Torres of Spain who scored 5 goals each during the tournament. Neymar of Brazil was declared as the Best Player of the Tournament.

• 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup participating teams were: Brazil, Spain, Italy, Uruguay, Japan, Mexico, Nigeria and Tahiti.

• Prize Money: Brazil won 4.1million US dollar, Spain won 3.6 million US dollar, Italy won 3 million US dollar, Uruguay won 2.5 million US dollar. The teams from Fifth to eighth place won 1.7 million US dollar.

About FIFA Confederations Cup

• The FIFA Confederations Cup is the international association football tournament for national teams.

• It is held after every 4 years by FIFA.

• The teams participating in the tournament belong to each of the six FIFA confederation championships, i.e., UEFA, CONMEBOL, CONCACAF, CAF, AFC, OFC, apart from the FIFA World Cup holder and the host nation.

• Total of eight teams participate in the FIFA Confederations Cup.

Under-16 SAFF Football Title 2013

Indian boys defeated Nepal

1-0 in final to lift the South Asian Football Federation Under-16 Championship title in Kathmandu on 30 July 2013.The match was played at the Dashrath stadium. It was the second edition of the championship. The early and spectacular goal by defender Jerry Lalrinzuala through a long ranger turned out to be the match winner. India was represented by All India Football Federation’s Regional Academy. India scored its first goal in the 18th minute. The early goal, which stunned the home crowd to silence, turned out to be the match-winner. India remained unbeaten in the biennial tournament. The Indian lads, who led 1-0 at halftime, maintained the pressure on the opposition team.Bangladesh won the third place, defeating Afghanistan 1-0 in the other match played for the third position.

FIFA barred Iraq from holding any Friendly Football Matches

World soccer body FIFA on 3 July 2013 again barred Iraq from holding any friendly football matches due to soaring violence, just three months after the ban was lifted. The ban will be in force until further notice. FIFA has issued a resolution to prevent any friendly matches in Iraq after increasing attacks on playgrounds and an assault in which Mohamed Abbas, the coach of the Karbala football club, was killed. FIFA decided on 21 March 2013 to lift a ban that had been imposed on Iraq to prevent it from hosting any friendly matches. On 26 March 2013 Iraq hosted a friendly between Iraq and Syria and the home team won 2-1. On 27 May 2013, the Iraq lost 0-1 to visiting Liberia in another friendly in Iraq. Violent bomb attacks are still common in Iraq despite the dramatic decrease in violence since its peak in 2006 and 2007when the country was engulfed in sectarian killings. The UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) stated 761 Iraqis were killed and another 1771 were wounded in acts of terrorism and violence in June 2013.

Archery World Cup Stage 3

India finished at fourth Position in the Archery World Cup Stage 3 on 21 July 2013 with Deepika Kumari winning gold and bronze medal on the concluding day, of Archery World Cup Stage 3 in Medellin, Colombia. Deepika Kumari who is world number three recurve archer shot four perfect 10s in breezy conditions to lead India to a 201-186 beating of China for the team gold medal. It is important here to note that it was India’s first World Cup team gold since Shanghai 2011. Deepika also teamed up with Atanu Das to win the mixed team bronze with an 18-point margin (150-132) against the Mexicans. Overall, India finished fourth with one gold and two bronze, while the US topped the standings with nine medals (2-5-2), while China (2-1-2) and Colombia (1-1-0) were second and third respectively. The other two Indian members Rimil Buriuly and Bombayla Devi Laishram managed 11 between them while Deepika had an 8 to open up a massive 46-33 lead after the first end.

Shooting World Cup

Lajja Goswami on 9 July 2013 won silver medal in women’s 50-metre Rifle 3 Position event at the ISSF World Cup in Granada, Spain. She shots 584 in the qualification round and 454 in the finals to bag the silver to lead Norway’s Malin Westerheim, who shot 443.9 in the finals.Petra Zublasing of Italy won the gold after scoring 459.1 in the medal round. Goswami totalled 152.4 over three series in kneeling. She has scored 154.8 in prone and 146.8 while standing to win the country’s first medal in the tournament.

Scottish Open 2013

American golfer Phil Mickelson on 14 July 2013 won the Scottish Open title in a sudden-death play-off against South Africa’s Branden Grace at Castle Stuart in Inverness in Northern Scotland. The 43-year-old Mickelson finished on 17-under-par while Sweden’s Henrik Stenson tied with Denmark’s J.B. Hansen for third place on 15-under-par, and Scotland’s Martin Laird finish fifth tied with Northern Irishman Gareth Maybin and England’s John Parry, all on 14 under.

Scottish Open 2013

The four-day event started on 11 July 2013 at the four-year-old Castle Stuart Golf Links at Balnaglack Farmhouse, which will host the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open within the next three years after the tournament moves to Royal Aberdeen in 2014.

It was sponsored by Aberdeen Asset Management, and is considered to be one of the richer golf tournaments on the European Tour.

The Scottish Open was first held in 1972 at Downfield Golf Club near Dundee, but after the second event at St Andrews in 1973 there was a twelve-year break before its return to the European Tour calendar in 1986, replacing the Glasgow Open.

IPCA World Chess Championship

India’s K Jennitha Anto on 24 July 2013 won the 13th IPCA World Women’s Individual Chess Championship title. In the event organised by the Interntional Physically Disabled Chess Association, at Velke Losiny in the Czech Republic, she competed in a combined group with men and became the highest scorer among the women players with four and a half points. For Jennitha, who hails from Tamil Nadu, the win came along with the Woman International Master title. The WIM title would allow her direct entry to many of the National events for women except the premier. The IPCA event attracted 49 physically challenged players of fifteen countries. Jennitha being a wheel chair player participated in Fide A category and almost all the players are international rated players.

Commonwealth Chess Championship

Grandmaster and former world junior champion Abhijeet Gupta on 14 July 2013 won the Commonwealth Chess Championship. Abhijeet Gupta settled for a draw with Indian national title holder G Akash in the 11th and final round that concluded at Boardwalk in Port Elizabeth. Abhijeet scored nine points out of a possible eleven and had the best tiebreak score to win the gold medal in the championship that also incorporated the South African International open. Gupta was tied for the top spot along with top seed Sergey Fedorchuk of Ukraine and Sergei Tiviakov of Holland and had the best Bucholz among the three toppers to not only win the Commonwealth but also the overall title.

Among the women, WGM Soumya Swaminathan won the silver medal while national women’s champion Mary Ann Gomes won the bronze.

The gold in this category went to International Master Jovanka Housak of England. The junior section was also swept clean by Indians as G Akash wo the gold Sahaj Grover getting the silver and Rakesh Kulkarni ending with the bronze medal. Kulkarni also won the South African open blitz championship held during the course of the championship.

Snooker Gold Medal in the World Games

India’s number one snooker player, Aditya Mehta on 31 July 2013 clinched the gold medal in the World Games, beating China’s Liang Wenbo, 3-0, in the final of the quadrennial event at Cali, Columbia. Aditya Mehta hails from Mumbai. Mehta had earlier defeated Thailand‘s Dechawat Poomjaeng 3-1 in the semifinal. Poomjaeng defeated another Indian and eight-time world champion Pankaj Advani 3-1 in the quarterfinals. Poomjaeng won the bronze medal after securing a 3-2 win over Brazil‘s Igor Figueiredo in his third-place play-off match.

Journalists’ Player of the Year Award by Kicker Magazine

Bastian Schweinsteiger, the German midfielder defeated his teammates Thomas Mueller and Franck Ribery to grab the Journalists’ Player of the Year Award announced by the Kicker magazine on 28 July 2013. Bastian Schweinsteiger won 92 out of 527 votes. Franck Ribery won 87 votes, while Thomas Mueller won 85 votes.

Tour de France 2013

Chris Froome from Britain on 21 July 2013 has won the 100th edition of the Tour de France. It was Britain’s second successive victory in the race. Earlier in year 2012 Sir Bradley Wiggin, Froome’s Team Sky colleague became the first Briton to win Tour de France.

Facts and Figures of the Race

• Marcel Kittel claimed the final stage in the twilight, with Manxman Mark Cavendish third in a hotly-contested sprint along the Champs Elysees.

• The second half of the race, heavy on climbing, with five mountain stages, took the riders to the top of Mont Ventoux and on two ascents of the legendary Alpe d’Huez.

• The final stage ended as the first, with German sprinter Marcel Kittel in front.

• Omega Pharma-Quick Step rider was third, as Germany’s Kittel won a fourth stage in this year’s race and Andre Greipel finished second, with more than 35000 spectators lining the streets in the French capital.

About Tour de France

The Tour de France is an annual multiple stage bicycle race primarily held in France while also occasionally making passes through nearby countries. The race was first organized in 1903 to increase paper sales for the magazine L’Auto; it is currently run by the Amaury Sport Organisation. The race has been held annually since its first edition in 1903 except for when it was stopped for the two World Wars. The Tour is a UCI World Tour event, which means that the teams that compete in the race are mostly UCI ProTeams, with the exception of the teams that the organizers invite. The modern editions of the Tour de France consist of 21 day-long segments (stages) over a 23-day period and cover around 3200 kilometres (2,000 mi).[10] The race alternates between clockwise and anticlockwise circuits of France. The number of teams usually varies between 20 and 22, with nine riders in each.

Devendra Jhajharia won Gold at IPC Athletics World Championships

Devendra Jhajharia on 21 July 2013 became the first differently-abled Indian to win gold at the IPC Athletics World Championships (19 to 28 July 2013) in France. He bagged the gold medal in javelin throw event at Rhone Stadium in Lyon. He threw the javelin to 57.04 meters in F-46 category, which is meant for one-armed athletes. The silver medal was captured by Mirshekari Abdolrasoul of Iran and the bronze medal was won by Ismail Mahmoud of Egypt. The championships has been organised by the International Paralympics Committee. With this win, India now stands at 19th Position in the medal tally.

A 10-member contingent represented India in the Championships. PCI has announced a cash reward of 5 lakh rupees for Jhajharia and the Sultan Ahmed, President of Paralympics Committee of India announced that he would be felicitated on his return to the country.

Tyson Gay and Asafa Powell found Positive in Doping Test

Two of the sport’s biggest names Tyson Gay and Asafa Powell had failed drugs tests and tested positive for an Unidentified Substance at an out-of-competition test on 16 May 2013. 30 years old Gay is the second fastest man of all time and has run the three quickest 100m times of 2013, but tested positive for an unnamed substance. The triple world champion will have his ‘B’ sample tested in last week of July 2013, but has already backed of the USA’s World Championships team and Diamond League meeting in Monaco. Asafa Powell on the other hand has clocked 9.88s but was not selected in Jamaica World Championships team to travel to Moscow in August 2013. Jamaican Asafa Powell’s name emerged as one of five Jamaican athletes – two in field events and three sprinters – who returned adverse findings following the tests conducted at their National Trials, staged in Kingston from June 20th-23rd.

Sochi 2014 Winter Olympic Torch to be sent in Space

The Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics Organizing Committee on 26 June 2013 made a declaration to send Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics Torch into the space in November 2013. The torch would be sent to the International Space Station (ISS) from where it will be sent for a space walk. This will be the first time in the history that Olympics Torch will be carried in the open space. The torch will arrive at the ISS on the Soyuz TMA-11M manned spaceship in November 2013.

The historical assignment will be completed by the Russian cosmonauts, Sergei Ryazansky and Oleg Kotov, who has been tasked with the assignment. Mikhail Tyurin, Captain of the spacecraft, who received the Sochi 2014 Olympic Torch in June 2013, will be responsible to pass it over to the cosmonauts who will take the torch on its unique walk. Following the mission, cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin, who is currently based on the ISS, will deliver the special cargo safely back to Earth. To ensure safety, during the space journey, the torch will not be lit during the spacewalk.

Al Mana Sports Right Activist of Qatar honoured by IOC

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) on 1 July 2013 honoured six women for their outstanding contributions to the development of women’s participation in sport and its administration at Lausanne. Ahlam Salem Mubarak Al Mana was honoured with Annual World Trophy for her work as President of the Qatar Women’s Sport Committee. Al Mana as the sports administrator helped Qatar to send its first female athletes to the Olympics with top award for women in sports. Ahlam was honoured as the pioneer for women’s right in Qatar by the IOC as Ahlam has played a major role in popularizing sports among schoolgirls in the Gulf nation. Al Mana played an integral role in the participation of four Qatari female athletes at London Olympics 2012 – first time participation of Qatar women in its history. This was the first time, when Qatar sent women athletes to the games. Women from five continents also received awards for promoting gender equality.

Five Continental trophies were awarded to

• Dj Saran Camara (Guniea, Africa)

• Marlene Bjornsrud (US, Americas)

• Boossaba Yodbangtoey (Thailand, Asia)

• Ona Baboniene (Lithuania, Europe)

• Catherine Alice Wong (Fiji, Oceania)

About Annual World Trophy of IOC

The International Olymipic Committee (IOC) Annual trophy was established by the IOC in 1985 in order to promote the teaching of Olympism. Every year the IOC Executive Board selects a different theme. The selection of the recipient and the awarding of the trophy are entrusted to the National Olympic Committee to recognise a person or institution of their choice.

Jacques Rogge is the President of International Olympics Committee.