(General Awareness For Bank's Exams) Sports
September - 2014

India end England tour with narrow T20 defeat

• India’s long tour of England ended on a heartbreaking note as England held their nerves to pull off a thrilling three-run victory in the only T20 International in Birmingham.

• Chasing a competitive 181 for seven, India needed 17 runs in the final over of the match but captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni could not steer the team home in a contest that went down to the wire at Edbaston.

•  India ended at 177 for five after England posted 180 for seven, thank to captain Eoin Morgan’s 71 runs off 31 balls.

National TSD Rally

•  The Rally of Coimbatore, the fourth round of the third FMSCI Indian National TSD Rally Championship for four wheelers will be held.

•  Organised by the Coimbatore Auto Sports Club, the rally has attracted over 40 competitors.

•  An open TSD event will also be held concurrently with the championship event.

•  It includes a novice and all-ladies class.

Pals Serena Williams, Caroline Wozniacki to meet in U.S. Open final

•  Serena Williams overwhelmed 17th-seeded Ekaterina Makarova of Russia 6-1, 6-3 in the semifinals to extend her U.S. Open winning streak to 20 matches.

•  If Williams can make that 21 in a row by beating Caroline Wozniacki in Sunday’s final, the 32-year-old American will become the first woman since Chris Evert in the 1970s to win three consecutive titles at the tournament.

Fenesta National tennis championship: Prize money doubled for Nationals

•  The prize money for the Fenesta National tennis championship has been doubled for this year to a total prize purse of Rs. 18 lakh.

•  Making the announcement in a press conference here , the Chairman and Senior Managing Director of DCM Shriram Limited, Ajay Shriram, said that the initiative was to celebrate the organisation’s long association with the game, dating back to the first edition in 1992.

•  Welcoming the move, the president of the All India Tennis Association (AITA), Anil Khanna, responded by announcing a wild card each to the men’s and women’s winners of the event for the Delhi Open.

Anand fifth in World rankings

•  An inactive ViswanathanAnand moved up two places to be fifth in the latest World rankings after USA’s Hikaru Nakamura and Russia’s Sergey Karjakin slipped a few rungs following their below par performances in the Chess Olympiad in Norway last month.

•  World champion Magnus Carlsen held on to the top spot despite losing seven rating points. LevonAronian was the other player to hold a published rating in excess of 2800.

•  The lists: World (top-10): 1. Magnus Carlsen (Nor, 2870), 2. LevonAronian (Arm, 2804), 3. FabianoCaruana (Ita, 2801), 4. Alexander Grischuk (Rus, 2789), 5. ViswanathanAnand (2785), 6. VeselinTopalov (2784), 7. Hikaru Nakamura (USA, 2782), 8. Sergey Karjakin (Rus, 2777), 9. MaximeVachier-Lagrave (Fra, 2768), 10. Vladimir Kramnik (Rus, 2760).

•  India (top-10): 1. ViswanathanAnand (2785), 2. P. Hari Krishna (2725), 3. K. Sasikiran (2680), 4. ParimarjanNegi (2669), 5. Abhijeet Gupta (2642), 6. ViditGujarathi (2621), 7-8. B. Adhiban (2619), SandipanChanda (2619), 9. Surya ShekharGanguly (2614), 10. S. P. Sethuraman (2613).

• India women (top-10): 1. K. Humpy (2598), 2. D. Harika (2523), 3. Tania Sachdev (2404), 4. EeshaKaravade (2389), 5. Mary Ann Gomes (2355), 6. Padmini Rout (2354), 7. SoumyaSwaminathan (2352), 8. Bhakti Kulkarni (2328), 9. S. Vijayalakshmi (2314), 10. N. Raghavi (2253).

Davis Cup: Doubles win takes France into final

• Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Richard Gasquet put France back in the Davis Cup final by winning the doubles and ending the two—year reign of the Czech Republic.

• France makes the final for the first time since 2010. It won the last of its nine cups in 2001.

• The defending champions Czechs needed to win the doubles to keep alive their chances of reaching a third straight final.

Honour for Bopanna

• RohanBopanna has received the Davis Cup Commitment Award, an honour accorded to players who have competed in at least 20 ties.

• The 34-year-old from Karnataka is the ninth Indian to receive the award.

• ShuttlerPrannoy wins Indonesian Masters

• H. S. Prannoy clinched the maiden title of his career after winning the USD 1,25,000 Indonesian Masters Grand Prix Gold.

• Young Indian shuttler H. S. Prannoy clinched the maiden title of his career after winning the USD 1,25,000 Indonesian Masters Grand Prix Gold, following his straight-game victory over local favouriteFirman Abdul

• Kholik in the finals in Indonesia.

Field Marshal wins Maharaja’s Cup

• Field Marshal (Ranjeet Singh up) won the Maharaja’s Cup (1,600m), the chief event of the races .

• The winner is owned by M/s Harresh N. Mehta and Manav H. Mehta rep. Rohan Bloodstock Pvt. Ltd. and trained by S. Padmanabhan.

RohanBopanna to receive Davis Cup Commitment Award

• Indian tennis star RohanBopanna will be awarded the Davis Cup Commitment Award in Bangalore on the sidelines of the ongoing World Group play-off tie against Serbia, it was announced by International Tennis Federation (ITF).

• The ITF through its national associations, will present Davis Cup Commitment Awards during this weekend’s 2014 Davis Cup by BNP Paribas World Group and zone group ties.

• This new award was conceived as part of the ITF’s 2013 Centenary celebrations, and is presented to Davis Cup players who have shown long-standing dedication to representing their country in this prestigious competition.

• Each award recipient will have competed in a minimum of 20 home-and-away ties or 50 ties at any level of the competition (including week-long zone group events) over their career.

• Besides Bopanna, former Grand Slam tennis champions Lleyton Hewitt of Australia and Gustavo Kuerten of Brazil will also be presented the award after their respective games.

Karun Chandhok set for Formula E debut

• Twenty drivers, including India’s Karun Chandhok, representing 10 teams will kick-start the historic FIA Formula E championship, the world’s first fully-electric racing series, when the 270bhp machines will run on a purpose-built circuit around the iconic Bird’s Nest stadium that was build for the 2012 Olympics.

• The 30-year-old Chandhok, only the second Indian after NarainKarthikeyan to race in Formula One, will be driving for Mahindra Racing Formula E team with Brazilian Bruno Senna, also a former F1 racer, as his partner.

• The grid is brimming with ex-F1 drivers besides two female participants in Italy’s MichelaCerruti and Britain’s Katherine Legge, one of the FIA’s Women in Motorsport Ambassadors.
  The championship comprises 10 rounds over nine months in Europe and the US with a grand finale in London June 27, 2015.

10-wicket win for West Indies

• Bangladesh captain Mushfiqur Rahim completed his third Test century but could not prevent West Indies from romping to a 10-wicket victory early on day five of the opening Test at Arnos Vale Sports Complex .
  Mushfiqur was last man out for 116 as Bangladesh, 256 for five overnight, was bowled out for 314 in its second innings.

• The pint-sized wicketkeeper hit 15 fours and one six off 243 balls in five and a half hours.

• Kemar Roach was the best of the host’s bowlers with four for 64, while fellow pacer Shannon Gabriel grabbed two for 25 and left-arm spinner Sulieman Benn, two for 44.
  West Indies, needing just 13 for victory, eased to the target before the lunch interval.

Munawar and Arathi crowned champions again

•  Kozhikode’s Mohammed Munawar and Ernakulam’sArathi Sara Sunil retained the men’s and women’s singles titles in the 45th Seshasayee Kerala State senior badminton championship at the FACT Udyogamandal Club, Eloor .

•  Munawar, unseeded as he had lost early in the lone State-ranking tourney he had played this season, defeated Ernakulam’s fourth-seeded Alwin Francis in straight sets while Arathi, a former international, defeated Thiruvananthapuram’s J.K. Malavika in a repeat of last year’s final.

•  The seasoned pair of Rupesh Kumar and Sanave Thomas brushed aside the top-seeded DilshadKamaludheen and Ram C. Vijay while Kozhikode’s AgnaAnto and M.H. Haritha took the women’s doubles title.

New owner for Mumbai franchise

•  Hockey India announced DoIT Sports Management (India) Pvt. Ltd as the new owner of the Mumbai franchise, taking the total number of teams back to the original six in the Hockey India League (HIL).

•  The Mumbai franchise, originally owned by Dabur, was dismantled recently due to financial issues. Along with Ranchi Rhinos, the pullout had reduced the number of original owners in the HIL to four before Pune came on board as one of the new teams two days back.

• However, the present batch of players contracted to the Mumbai team would not be retained and would be part of the min-auction to be held towards end of October.

Asian Games

•  17th Asian Games began with a lovely show of colour, light and vibrant music at the Incheon Asiad Main Stadium.

•  Nepal led the athletes’ march, following the Korean alphabetical order, and loud cheers were reserved for Japan, China, Afghanistan and, of course, the host team.

•  Each team had been allowed only 130 athletes for the march past but China, a powerhouse in the sporting world, came up with a contingent which was almost double that number or more.

•  The Indian team, which had hockey team captain Sardar Singh as its flag-bearer, looked smart with the men in navy blazers and blue trousers while the women wore green sarees with blazers on top.

•  Saudi Arabia turned up with an all-men team, a bit disappointing considering the progress the country had made by fielding women at the 2012 London Olympics for the first time, but all was forgotten in the dance, music and lights.

•  A lovely display of ring gymnastics by children and later, the treat offered by Korean pop stars Exo, JYJ and Psy lit up the night.

•  South Korean President Park Geun-Hye opened the Games with the simple one-liner as is the custom and a little later, it was time to party.

AbhinavBindra plans to quit shooting

•  India’s Olympic gold medalist AbhinavBindra plans to leave full-time shooting after competing in his favourite 10m air rifle event in the Asian Games.

•  “Tomorrow will mark the end of my professional shooting life!,” “I will however still shoot, compete as a hobby shooter training twice a week.” Bindra, tweeted.

•  Despite giving up serious shooting, Bindra still hopes to qualify for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

•  Bindra, who won the gold medal at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow this year, failed to make the final at the world championships in Spain.

SauravGhosal missed out on winning the gold medal for India

•  It was Indian squash’s biggest moment at the Asian Games. SauravGhosal, who has been leading the charge here, was just a point away from winning a historic men’s singles gold. But the top seed slipped at the doorstep of victory as Kuwaiti Abdullah Al Muzayen grabbed the gold with a fighting 3-2 verdict at the Yeorumul courts.

•  After winning the first two games in contrasting style, the 28-year-old Ghosal was on match ball at 10-8 but still could not pull it off. Abdullah grabbed the chance with both hands, took risks, raised his game impressively and raced to victory after that.

Sawarn Singh wins bronze in rowing

•  Young rower Sawarn Singh brought some cheers back to the Indian contingent as he clinched the bronze medal in men’s single sculls final at the 17th Asian Games in Incheon.

•  The 24-year-old Singh finished behind Iran’s Mohsen Shadinaghadh, who won the gold medal and silver medallist Kim Dongyong of hosts South Korea.

•  Another rower Dushyant Singh was the only athlete to manage a podium finish for India as he grabbed a bronze in the men’s lightweight single sculls.

Lifetime Achievement award for KapilDev

•  Indian cricket legend KapilDev has been honoured with a Lifetime Achievement award at a ceremony in the House of Lords in London.

•  The award, constituted by the Indo-European Business Forum (IEBF), was presented to the former India World Cup-winning captain for his contribution to the sport and for his work in the field of upliftment of poor and destitute communities through the Khushii society.

SandeepSejwal’s bronze in 50m breaststroke

•  SandeepSejwal won a rare swimming medal for India at the Asian Games, with his coach insisting that better facilities at home would have fetched him the gold.

•  Sejwal won the bronze in the 50m breaststroke with a timing of 28.26s, and it was only the third Asiad medal in the pool by an Indian in the last 28 years.

•  Khajan Singh clinched a silver in 200m butterfly at Seoul in 1986 and VirdhawalKhade bagged a bronze in the 50m butterfly event in Guangzhou four years ago.
   

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