Current Affairs October 2016 - Sports

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News 1 - Daniel Ricciardo wins 2016 Malaysian Grand Prix

Daniel Ricciardo won the 2016 Malaysian Grand Prix held at the Sepang International Circuit in Selangor, Malaysia. Max Verstappen finished second while Nico Rosberg stood third in the podium.

Ricciardo has finished third in Hungary, second in Germany and Belgium, fifth in Italy and second in Singapore during the F1 races this year. The Malaysian Grand Prix is one of the rounds of the Formula One World Championship. The FIA-sanctioned racing in Malaysia has existed since the 1960s.

News 2 - First BRICS U – 17 Football Tournament kicked off in Goa

First ‘BRICS’ U-17 football tournament was inaugurated by Union Minister of State (I/C) Youth Affairs and Sports Shri Vijay Goel in Goa. The captains of the football teams lit the torch, followed by an entertainment programme performed by local artists.

The Government of India initiative, the BRICS U – 17 Football Tournament, will be played among the ‘BRICS’ countries Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. Final of the tournament will played on 15^th October, 2016 at Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Fatorda.

News 3 - Gaganjeet Bhullar bagged sixth Asian Tour triumph Shinhan Donghae Open

India’s ace Ganganjeet Bhullar bagged onestroke victory at the Shinhan Donghae Open in South Korea to win his sixth Asian Tour triumph defeating Zimbabwean Scott Vincent and local lad Taewoo Kim of South Korea at the US$ 1 million event.

It was his 7^th International title. Australia’s Scott Hend finished tied for fourth with Sweden’s Malcolm Kokocinski to increase his lead at the top of the Asian Tour’s Order of Merit.

News 4 - Indian Shooter Jitu Rai won silver at World Cup in Italy

Indian shooter Jitu Rai clinched a silver medal in the 50 metre pistol event of the ISSF World Cup Final at Bologna, Italy. China’s Wei Pang won the Gold medal while Italy’s Giuseppe Giordano won the bronze. Jitu also equalled his own national record score in the qualification round.

Jitu had earlier won a Silver medal at the ISSF World Cup in Baku, Azerbaijan in the 10m Air Pistol event.

News 5 - Sprinter Srabani Nanda won the 24^th Ekalabya Award

Sprinter Srabani Nanda has won the 24^th Ekalabya Award for the year 2016 in recognition of her sporting excellence. She will get a cash award of Rs 5 lakh along with a citation at the Ekalabya Award function.

Srabani won gold in 200m, silver in 100m and 4x100m relay in 12^th South Asian Games held in Guwahati in February 2016. She had also won bronze in 100m and 4x100m relay in Asian Grand Prix Athletics in Thailand in June 2015.

News 6 - Andy Murray won China Open Men's Singles 2016

Andy Murray won the China Open Men's Singles 2016 title after he defeated Grigor Dimitrov by 6–4, 7–6 at the National Tennis Center in Beijing, China. Murray pocketed a fifth title of the year and 500 precious ranking points. It was 40^th title of his career.

The China Open (formerly the Beijing Salem Open) is an annual professional tennis tournament held in Beijing, China. The winner for 2015 was Novak Djokovic.

News 7 - Agnieszka Radwanska won the China Open Women's Singles 2016

World Number three Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland defeated Johanna Konta of United Kingdom 6-4, 6-2 to win the China Open in Beijing. It was her third title for the year and 20^th overall. She had earlier won the China Open in 2011.

The China Open (formerly the Beijing Salem Open) is an annual professional tennis tournament held in Beijing, China. The winner of the 2015 tournament was Garbiñe Muguruza of Spain.

News 8 - ISSF named Indian shooter Jitu Rai as 'Champion of Champions'

Ace Indian shooter Jitu Rai was awarded the ‘Champion of Champions’ title for pistol shooting in 2016 by the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF). In the Rifle category, Russia’s Sergey Kamenskiy emerged champion.

Jitu defeated Serbia’s Damir Mikec by 29.6 to 28.3 points in the Champions Trophy 10m Air Pistol final held at the T.S.N. Shooting Range in Bologna, Italy. He was awarded a cash reward of $ 5,587 (5000 euros) along with the title.

News 9 - Indian shuttlers claim two titles at Russian Open

Indian shuttlers signed off an impressive campaign at the Russian Open Grand Prix notching up the women's singles as well as the mixed doubles titles at Vladivostok.

Fourth seed Ruthvika Shivani Gadde emerged triumphant in the women's singles event, beating local favourite Evgeniya Kosetskaya 21-10, 21-13. In the mixed double’s final, N Sikki Reddy and Pranaav Chopra edged past the Russian duo of Vladimir Ivanov and Valeria Sorokina 21-17 21-19 to claim the top honours.

News 10 - Nico Rosberg won the Japanese Grand Prix

Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg won the Japanese Grand Prix and widened his lead in the Formula One drivers’ championship. With four races remaining Rosberg holds a 33-point lead over Hamilton.

Red Bull's Max Verstappen came second while Lewis Hamilton stood third. Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen finished fourth and fifth respectively. Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo took sixth ahead of the Force Indias of Sergio Perez and Nico Hulkenberg.

News 11 - India offcially regains No 1 Test ranking

Indian captain Virat Kohli was presented with the ICC Test Championship mace for leading his team to the top of the Test Team Rankings.

The mace was presented by former India captain and ICC Cricket Hall of Famer Sunil Gavaskar at a ceremony in Indore after the home team completed a 3-0 whitewash. Kohli became only the second India captain after Mahendra Singh Dhoni and 10^th overall to receive the mace.

News 12 - R Ashwin regains No. 1 spot in Test rankings

India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has surged to the top of the ICC Player Rankings for Test Bowlers. Ashwin was named man of the series after he finished with 27 wickets in a 3-0 sweep by India against New Zealand.

With a career-best rating of 900 points, Ashwin has gone past pace bowlers James Anderson and Dale Steyn to rank top on the list. He now has 220 wickets, the most by any bowler after 39 Tests.

News 13 - India's 1^st convertible stadium: The Arena by TransStadia

The Arena by TransStadia, newly-built stadium where World Cup Kabaddi 2016 kick started on October 7^th, is India's first convertible stadium, which means it can be converted from an outdoor stadium into an indoor arena in 6 minutes at a touch of a button.

The cost of this project is Rs. 550 crores and it is built on a unique public private partnership (PPP) model. The facility houses as many as 14 sports, excluding cricket.

News 14 - Tyson Fury's licence suspended by British Boxing Board of Control

The former world heavyweight champion Tyson Fury's licence to box has been suspended by the British Boxing Board of Control.

The decision came after the troubled British boxer, who has admitted taking cocaine to deal with depression, vacated his World Boxing Organization and World Boxing Association titles with immediate effect to concentrate on his medical treatment and recovery. Fury's licence to box had been suspended pending further investigation into "anti-doping and medical issues".

News 15 - Brazil wins inaugural BRICS U-17 football tournament

Brazil has lifted the 1^st BRICS U-17 Football Tournament 2016 held at Goa after they defeated South Africa 5-1 in the finals. Russia defeated China 2-1 to to secure third position.

The BRICS U-17 Football Cup is a U-17 Football tournament to be played among teams of five BRICS countries - economic block formed by Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. The Tournament will take place once every year with 10-day.

News 16 - Government to set up five dedicated centres for divyang athletes

The Central Government will set up five national-level sophisticated sports centres for differently-abled sports persons, with an objective of catering to their special needs like training and diet.

These centres will come up in central, west, north, south and east India. Three out of five state-of-the-art centres will be set up at Zirakpur in Punjab, Ujjain in MP and Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh. Government wants to adopt the best practices and parameters in force at recently concluded Rio 2016 Paralympics.

News 17 - Neeraj Goyat retains WBC Asia welterweight title

Indian boxer Neeraj Goyat outpunched Australia's Ben Kite to retain the WBC welterweight Asia title in New Delhi.

The 24-year-old prevailed 120-110, 119-109, 115-113 in a unanimous decision for the gruelling 12-round contest against his 26year-old rival. Goyat, who came into the contest with 7 wins in 11 fights, is now expected to break into the WBC world rankings, which will be a step towards getting him a shot at the world title.

News 18 - Sourabh Verma clinched men's singles title at Chinese Taipei Open

Sourabh Varma won the men’s singles title at the Chinese Taipei Open after defeating Malaysia’s Daren Liew in the finals. Sourabh had won two sets before Liew retired in the third game due to a shoulder injury.

Sourabh took home a caash award of $55,000. Varma's previous international title came in 2014 after defeating Taiwan's Hsu Jen-hao at the Austrian International Challenge 2014. Sourabh should enter the top 40 to be able to compete at Super Series events.

News 19 - ICC announced the first-ever women's World T20 in 2020

The International Cricket Council announced to organise the first ever ICC Women's World T20 event in 2020.

Cricket Australia, hosts for the men’s and women’s ICC World Twenty20 in 2020, proposed holding the women’s tournament as a stand-alone event six months ahead of the men’s edition. The decision was taken considering into account the recent success of the Women's Big Bash League. The Women's Big Bash League (WBBL) is the Australian women's domestic Twenty20 cricket competition.

News 20 - India bag four medals at TAFISA World Games

Indian wrestlers won four medals, including a gold, at the sixth edition of the Tafisa World Games in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Dalmiya bagged the Gold metal in 60kg category after defeating Muhammad Sahan of Azerbaijan 4-1 in the final clash. Similarly, Luv Singh won a silver in the 80-kg category after he lost to Muhammad Alim of Azerbaijan. Naveen Kumar defeated Oleg of Lithuania 5-2 to take the bronze medal in the 90-kg category. In the super heavyweight (90 kg) category, India's Josil defeated Mustafa Sultani of Afghanistan 3-1 to settle for the bronze in the tournament.

News 21 - Saina Nehwal appointed member of IOC's Athletes' Commission

Indian star shuttler Saina Nehwal has been appointed as a member of the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) Athletes' Commission. Saina has received a letter to the effect from the IOC President Thomas Bach.

The Athletes' Commission is chaired by Angela Ruggiero and it comprises nine vice presidents and 10 other members. The next meeting of the Commission is scheduled for November 6. Luis Scola (Argentina), Aya Medany (Egypt) and Nadin Dawani (Jordan) were also appointed along with Saina Nehwal.

News 22 - Novak Djokovic retains top spot in ATP rankings

Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic has retained the top spot with 12.900 points in the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) rankings. Andy Murray stood second in the ranking with 10.485 points. Djokovic lost 640 points after he was defeated by Spain's Roberto Bautista in the Shanghai Masters' semi-final clash.

Scotish player Andy Murray garnered 640 points after winning Shanghai Masters on Sunday to be at second spot with 10.485 points.

News 23 - Morinari Watanabe elected President of International Gymnastics Federation

Morinari Watanabe of Japan has been elected as the President of the International Gymnastics Federation at the world governing body’s congress in Tokyo. He defeated France's Georges Guelzec in the race for the post. Watanabe will replace Italy's Bruno Grandi.

Currently, he is the Secretary General of the Japan Gymnastics Association. Watanabe becomes the first Asian to head the FIG. He joined the FIG executive committee in 2013.

News 24 - India achieved its highest FIFA ranking in six years

The Indian national football team have been ranked 137^th in the latest FIFA ranking, the best in over six years. India jumped 11 places after they earned 230 points in September.

In August 2010, India was ranked 137^th which stayed India’s best-ever FIFA ranking since then. India now stands above the likes of Hong Kong, Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Thailand. At present, Argentina tops the FIFA World Rankings, followed by Germany and Brazil.

News 25 - Indian Boxing Council inducted into WBO

The Indian Boxing Council has been inducted into the World Boxing Organisation with voting rights in the WBO’s annual convention at Puerto Rico. IBC is a licensing body for the country’s professional boxers.

This paves the way for Indian Boxers to participate in WBO Events and be eligible to compete for WBO Asia Pacific as well as WBO World Titles. The President of IBC is Brig. PKM Raja and the Founder Chairman of WBO is Luis Batista Salas. Vijender Singh is the reigning WBO Asia-Pacific super middleweight champion.

News 26 - Indian Railways won the World Railway Shooting Championship Cup

Indian Railways have won the World Railway Shooting Championship Cup for the first time held at Saint Mandrier, France after they won a total 10 medals – 5 Gold, 3 Silver and 2 Bronze. They had been the runners up team last time.

Medal details:

• Swapnil Kusale won Gold in 50 Meter Rifle Event.
• Ayonika Paul won Gold in Air Rifle.
• Jitendra Vibhute won Gold in Air Pistol.

News 27 - Luis Suarez received second European Golden Shoe of his career

Luis Suarez received a second European Golden Shoe of his career after becoming the leading scorer in Europe's top domestic leagues last season. The 29-year old Barcelona forward scored 40 goals in 35 La Liga starts, helping Barca retain the Spanish title. He ended the 2015-16 campaign with 59 goals in 52 appearances for Barca in all competitions.

His other golden shoe award came with Liverpool in the 2013-14 when he scored 31 times. He shared the prize that year with Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo.

News 28 - North Korea won the 2016 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup

North Korea's women's U-17 team beat Japan in penalty kicks to win the 2016 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup. It was the second U-17 Women's World Cup title for North Korea having won it in 2008 earlier.

The FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup is an international association football tournament for female players under the age of 17. The tournament is held in even-numbered years, starting in 2008. This year it was held in Jordan.

News 29 - The Mascot for 2018 FIFA World Cup unveiled

The Official Mascot for the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia was finally revealed. Zabivaka, a wolf, was declared as the Official Mascot for the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia.

Zabivaka means “the one who scores” in Russian, a very suitable name for the mascot who radiates fun, charm and confidence. Zabivaka received 53 percent of the more than one million votes cast in a poll, beating a tiger (27 percent) and a cat (20 percent).

News 30 - India beat Iran to win the Kabaddi World Cup

India has lifted the 2016 Kabaddi World Cup, beating Iran 38-29 in a thrilling final played at Ahmedabad. India with a strong comeback performance in the second half beat a resolute Iranian side to become the World Champions for the third time.

With a brilliant second half performance by Ajay Thakur, India beat Iran in the title clash. This was India's 3^rd World Cup in the Standard Style version of Kabaddi.

News 31 - Goa becomes the third city to host FIFA U-17 World Cup

Goa joined Kochi and Navi Mumbai as one of the venues to host the next year's FIFA Under-17 World Cup after it received the green signal from a high-level delegation of football's world body.

A 13-member FIFA delegation along with the Local Organising Committee expressed satisfaction with the work put in at the venue and ratified Goa as the third venue to host the event after Kochi and Navi Mumbai.

News 32 - Lewis Hamilton won the 2016 US Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton won the F1 United States Grand Prix. Nico Rosberg finished second while Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo came third in the race followed by Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel. Hamilton stands 26 points behind his Mercedes team mate Rosberg with 75 available in the remaining three races for the championship.

Hamilton has now won 50 races in his career, with only Alain Prost (51) and Michael Schumacher (91) having won more than that number in the history of the sport.

News 33 - Renato Sanches won the 2016 European Golden Boy Award

Renato Sanches of Portugal has won the European Golden Boy award. He plays as a midfielder for Bayern Munich. Sanches beat Manchester United and England striker Marcus Rashford for the award and joined the likes of Wayne Rooney, Raheem Sterling, Lionel Messi and Sergio Aguero. He became the first Portuguese player to win the award.

This award is run by the Italian newspaper Tuttosport. Sanches also won the Young Player of the Tournament award in the Euro2016.

News 34 - FIFA U-17 WC to be played from October 6 to 28 in 2017

The Under-17 football World Cup will be held from October 6 to 28, 2017 in India across six cities - Kochi, Pune, New Delhi, Kolkata, Guwahati and Margao.

The draw for the mega-event will take place on July 7. This will be the first-time India will host a FIFA-accredited football tournament. The 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup will be the 17^th edition of the FIFA U-17 World Cup, contested by the under 17 national teams of the member associations of FIFA.

News 35 - Union Ministry announced Financial Assistance to Sports in ‘Others’ Category

The Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Youth Affairs & Sports, Shri Vijay Goel announced resuming financial assistance to sports disciplines in ‘others’ category. There are 26 sports disciplines in ‘others’ category. The participants in the meeting unanimously supported inclusion of ‘sports’ in the concurrent list of the Constitution to promote sports in India.

The Minister stressed the need to scrupulously observe the norms of good governance and transparency as prescribed in the sports code and bring out a quarterly journal to highlight the achievements of sportspersons in the country.

News 36 - Punjab Directorate bagged NCC National Games – 2016

The Minister of State for Defence Dr. Subhash Bhamre reviewed an impressive march past of the young NCC Cadets at the Garrison Parade Ground, Delhi Cantt which marked the culmination of twelve-day long NCC National Games – 2016. The overall Champions Trophy was given to Punjab Directorate.

The games aim to provide the talented sportsmen among the cadet exposure of a major sporting event while preparing them with the requisite matching temperament towards furthering their sporting careers. The ceremony was attended by the NCC cadets from 17 directorates all over India.

News 37 - International Medal in Roller Skating at Asian Championships bagged by Indians

Indian veteran roller skaters Dhanush Babu, Vikram Ingale and Nikhilesh Tabhane bagged India’s first ever senior international roller skating medal, by securing the bronze medal in the 3000m team relay event held in Lishui, competing with 5 teams. The topmost position was secured by South Korea (goldmedalist team), followed by China at 2^nd position, India (3^rd), Iran (4^th) and Indonesia at 5^th spot.

In the Indian history of roller skating, this is for the first time in 2 decades that a medal has been secured in a racing event by Indians.