Current Affairs April 2019 - Sports

1 - Lewis Hamilton Wins Bahrain Grand Prix 2019

Five times world champion Lewis Hamilton won Bahrain Grand Prix 2019 title by beating Valtteri Bottas of Finland who secured the second position.

Charles Leclerc was finished at the third position and became Ferrari’s youngest ever race winner at the age of 21.

2 - 12^th Asian Airgun Championships Concludes: India Clinches 25 Medals

Indian shooters continued their dominance claiming five gold medals on the final day of the Asian Airgun Championships to sign off with a total of 25 medals in Taoyuan, Taipei.

India finished with 16 gold, 5 silver, and 4 bronze medals. Yash Vardhan and Shreya Agrawal bagged three gold medals each on the last day.

3 - Saurav Ghosal Becomes 1^st Indian Man To Enter Top-10 In Squash

Saurav Ghosal became the first Indian male squash player to enter the top 10 in latest Professional Squash Association (PSA) world rankings.

Egypt's world champion Ali Farag, meanwhile, maintains his position at the top of the ladder. Indian women squash players Joshna Chinappa and Dipika Pallikal had earlier reached top 10 in the world rankings.

4 - Praful Patel Becomes 1^st Indian In FIFA Executive Council

Praful Patel, president of All India Football Federation (AIFF), has become the first Indian to be elected as a member of FIFA Executive Council.

Patel, who serves as a Senior Vice President at the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), was one of the eight candidates vying for the spot in the election, which was held during the 29^th AFC Congress in Kuala Lampur in Malaysia.

5 - Malaysia Open 2019 Concludes: Complete List of Winners

The 2019 Malaysia Open, officially the CELCOM AXIATA Malaysia Open 2019, is a badminton tournament which takes place at Axiata Arena in Malaysia.

Lin Dan of China won in Men's Singles category after defeating Chen Long of China. Tai Tzu-ying of Chinese Taipei won in Women's singles after defeating Japan's Akane Yamaguchi.

6 - Graham Reid Named As Chief Coach of India Men's Hockey Team

Hockey India named Graham Reid as the new chief coach of the India men's hockey team.

The 54-year-old will join the team in Bengaluru shortly for the on-going National Camp at Sports Authority of India.

7 - Bajrang Regains Top Spot In World Wrestling Rankings

India's Bajrang Punia has regained the world number one spot in the men's 65-kilogramfreestyle category rankings. The rankings were released by United World Wrestling. Punia, who won Gold in the Asian Games and Commonwealth Games as well as a silver in the World Championships in 2018, secured 58 points ahead of Akhmed Chakaev of Russia.

8 - Singapore Open 2019 Concludes: Complete List of Winners

The 2019 Singapore Open, was a badminton tournament which took place at Singapore Indoor Stadium in Singapore and had a total purse of $355,000.

Below is the complete list of Winners of Singapore Open 2019

9 - Shuttler Harsheel Dani Clinched Dutch International Badminton Title

Former junior national champion Harsheel Dani rallied from a game down against Mads Christophersen of Denmark to clinch the Dutch International badminton title in The Hague, Netherlands.

10 - Gelete Burka and Abrha Milaw Win Paris Marathon

Ethiopian athletes Gelete Burka (women’s race) and Abrha Milaw (men’s race) won the 43^rd edition of the Paris Marathon.

They led a record 60,000 participants to the finish line through the French capital. Milaw won the men’s race with a time of 2 hours: 07 minutes and: 50 seconds. Burka was the fastest woman with 2 hours: 22 minutes and: 48 seconds.

11 - Tiger Woods Wins 2019 Masters To Claim 15^th Major in Golf

Famous Golfer Tiger Woods completed one of the sport's great all-time comebacks to end an 11-year major title drought at the Masters by claiming a fifth Green Jacket.

A gritty two-under 70 clinched a one-shot victory over Dustin Johnson, Brooks Keopka and Xander Schauffele. It is Wood's 15^th major title.

12 - Lewis Hamilton Wins Formula One’s 1,000^th Race

In motor racing, Lewis Hamilton won the Chinese Grand Prix for a record sixth time.

He seized the overall lead from his Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas in Formula One’s 1,000^th world championship race. The comfortable win was the 75^th of Hamilton’s career, and second in a row.

13 - Meena Kumari Maisnam Clinches Gold In Boxing World Cup 2019

India bagged a Gold and two Silver medals at the Boxing World Cup at Cologne in Germany. Meena Kumari Maisnam (from Manipur) claimed the Gold medal in the 54 kg category.

The 2014 Asian Championships bronze medallist defeated Thailand’s Machai Bunyanut in the final. Sakshi in 57 kgs and Pwilao Basumatary in 64 kgs had to settle for Silver medals after they lost their final bouts. India finished the tournament with five medals.

14 - AITA Signs MoU With Serbian Tennis Federation To Train Junior Players

The All India Tennis Association (AITA) has signed an MoU with Serbian Tennis Federation (STF) to train Indian junior players under world-renowned Serbian coaches.

Both the federations have also agreed to work on the education of officials, coaches and physical trainers and their exchange for tournaments.

15 - Fabio Fognini became the first Italian to win an ATP Masters 1000 title

Fabio Fognini achieved this feat at the Monte Carlo Masters by defeating Dusan Lajovic 6-3, 6-4 in one hour and 38 minutes. Fognini will rise to a career-high ranking of 12. Fognini had beaten Rafael Nadal in the semi-final. Fognini earns 1000 ATP Rankings points and receives €958,055 in prize money.

Lajovic gains 600 points and €484,950 for his run to the championship match. Last time an Italian player Nicola Pietrangeli won the trophy in 1968. This event held every year at Monte Carlo Country Club. Fognini is the eighth player to win his first Masters 1000 title over the past 17 events at the elite level. In the 92 ATP Masters 1000 events prior to 2017 Rome, only eight players won their first Masters 1000 crown.

16 - Services lifted Santosh Trophy Football; beat Punjab in final

Services won their sixth Santosh Trophy title with a 1-0 victory over Punjab, at Ludhiana. In the semi-finals earlier, eight-time champions Punjab had defeated five-time winners Goa 2-1 to enter their 15^th final. Services beat Karnataka 4-3 in the semis via a penalty shootout to book a place in the title clash for the 11^th time. The 2018–19 Santosh Trophy was the 73^rd edition. About Santosh Trophy: It is an Indian football tournament in which the states of the country along with some government institutions participate. This is held annually since 1941.

17 - Former Judo Federation Of India Chief Mukesh Kumar Elected As Judo Union Of Asia General Secretary

Mukesh Kumar, chief of former Judo Federation of India was re-elected as general secretary of Judo Union, the Asian governing body, at its ordinary congress at Fujairah, UAE. He is also the Chairman of the Technical Conduct Committee of the 36^th National Games that is allotted to Goa. The present President of Judo Federation of India, Partap Singh Bajwa was elected as Vice President of Judo Union of Asia and as president of South Asia Judo Federation.

18 - Rathi lifts Maharashtra junior boys golf title in Pune

Gurgaon boy Saurav Rathi hit an impressive 5 under 66 on Day 4 of the IGU Maharashtra junior boys golf championship 2019 held at the Poona Golf Course in Yerwada to lift the category A (16 to18 years) and category B (13 to 15 years) titles with a four-day score of 3 under 281. The leader Aryan Roopa Anand, a phenomenal return on the front 9 saw him close the deficit before carrying his momentum on the back 9 to ensure he had his hands on the title at the end. The unions highlighted that a section of employees. A total of 97 students played in the event with 21 kids participating from 11 Salwan Schools in Delhi NCR.

19 - Mithali Raj named goodwill ambassador of Team India at the Street Child Cricket World Cup

Indian women's cricket team captain Mithali Raj has been named the goodwill ambassador of Team India at the Street Child Cricket World Cup (SCCWC). She, alongside Saurav Ganguly and Rajasthan Royals, joins in supporting the team as they gear up for the final match at Lords, just ahead of the ICC Cricket World Cup in May this year.

India has over 20 lakh street connected children.

About Street Child Cricket World Cup 2019

The Street Child Cricket World Cup 2019 is the first cricket world cup for street-connected children. The tournament is being organised by Street Child United (SCU), a UK based organisation, which has a legacy of holding street child tournaments around major sporting festivals like FIFA World Cup in South Africa, Olympics in Brazil, FIFA World Cup Russia and more.

20 - ICC partners with UNICEF to deliver One Day for Children at Mens Cricket World Cup 2019

International Cricket Council (ICC) Cricket for Good in partnership with UNICEF announced #OneDay4Children, a tournament-wide campaign focused on bringing the world of cricket together as one team to help build a better world for every child, at the 2019 World Cup. The campaign was launched by Former England batsman and #OneDay4Children ambassador Nasser Hussain along with all-rounder Chris Woakes. There will be #OneDay4Children (#OD4C) activity throughout all 48 matches of the event. England and India will sport special one-off #OD4C branded kit on June 30 at Edgbaston. The money raised will support UNICEF's work in cricket playing nations to help children learn to play and be healthy.

21 - India's squad for 2019 Cricket World Cup announced

Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced India's 15-member squad for 2019 Cricket World Cup, which will take place in England and Wales from May 30 to July 14. Virat Kohli, who led India to Under-19 World Cup victory in 2008, will lead the senior team in World Cup for the first time. Rohit Sharma has been appointed as Vice-Captain. The team included Dinesh?Karthik as the second wicket-keeper besides MS?Dhoni. MS Dhoni will feature in his fourth World Cup. Vijay?Shankar was included in the squad as an all-rounder along with Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja and Kedar Jadhav.

22 - Mumbai Shuttler Dani clinches Dutch International badminton title 2019

India’s Harsheel Dani, a former junior national champion, defeated Mads Christophersen of Denmark, world no 149, to clinch the 20^th Victor Dutch International Badminton title in Wateringen, The Netherlands with a 15-21, 21-12, 21-13 victory in a 47-minute clash. It was the second win for Dani opposite Christophersen. The 22-year-old won the Ghana international crown in 2018 second Karvy All India junior-ranking badminton tournament in 2012. About Victor Dutch International: The Victor Dutch International is the Netherlands’ second biggest badminton event Prize money of $ 10.000. It is a part of the Badminton Europe Elite Circuit. This tournament has been an International Series level, another tournament for Grand Prix level named as Dutch Open.

23 - Viswanathan Anand secured 5^th place in the Shamkir Chess 2019 tournament

Viswanathan Anand secured 5^th place in the Shamkir Chess 2019 tournament, Shamkir, Azerbaijan. He drew with Veselin Topalov in the ninth round to finish fourth with 4.5 points, the same as Alexander Grischuk and Teimour Radjabov. However, Anand was placed fifth in the rankings behind Magnus Carlsen, Ding Liren, Sergey Karjakin, and Grischuk.

The results (ninth round) are as follows:

• Anand (4.5) drew with Veselin Topalov (4)

• David Navara (4) drew with Teimour Radjabov (4.5)

• Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (3.5) drew with Sergey Karjakin (5)

• Ding Liren (5) drew with Anish Giri (3)

• Magnus Carlsen (7) bt Alexander Grischuk (4.5)

24 - Deepa Malik honoured with New Zealand Prime Ministers Sir Edmund Hillary Fellowship for 2019

Rio Paralympics silver medallist Deepa Malik was named as the recipient of the New Zealand Prime Minister’s Sir Edmund Hillary Fellowship for 2019 in recognition of her “inspiring achievements“. She became the first Indian woman to win a medal at the Paralympic Games when she bagged a silver in shot put F 53 at the Rio Paralympics in 2016, scoring her personal best of 4.61m.

She will work to promote sporting, cultural as well people-to-people relationship between India and New Zealand. The fellowship, awarded by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, aims to strengthen the ties between India and New Zealand. Deepa Malik is the only Indian woman to have won medals in three consecutive Asian Para Games in 2010, 2014 and 2018.

Her tally of laurels stands at 58 national and 23 international medals. She is also the recipient of India’s civilian honour Padma Shri and the prestigious Arjuna Award for excellence in sports. Deepa has entered the Limca Book of World Records four times.

25 - ISSF World Cup: Abhishek Verma Wins Gold In 10m Air Pistol

Abhishek Verma won the 10m air pistol gold medal at the ISSF World Cup at Beijing, China. He clinched the top spot with a total score of 242.7.

Russia's Artem Chernousov took silver. His brilliant performance in the Shooting World Cup Final also secured a fifth Olympic quota for India.

26 - Asian Boxing Championships: India Wins 13 Medals

India won 13 medals, including 2 gold, 4 silver, and 7 bronze at the Asian Boxing Championships in Bangkok. Boxers Pooja Rani and Amit Panghal gave India 2 gold medals.

While the men won 1 gold, 3 silver, and 3 bronze, the women bagged 1 gold, 1 silver, and 4 bronze medals.

27 - Pankaj Advani Wins Asian Snooker Tour Title

Pankaj Advani, the 21-time India’s cueist defeated Ehsan Heydari Nezhad of Iran 6-4 to clinch the Asian Snooker Tour title.

He had previously bagged the 2^nd leg of the Tour in China and was leading the ranking before the final leg of the Tour in Bengaluru.

28 - Asian Athletics Championships: India Finishes Fourth

Asian Athletics Championships 2019 held at Doha in Qatar. It was the 23^rd edition of the Championships. India ended at the fourth spot in the medals tally with 3 Gold, 7 Silver and 7 Bronze. Bahrain topped the table with 11 Gold, 7 Silver and 4 Bronze. China was second while Japan was third.

Tejinder Pal Singh Toor (Shot put), Gomathi Marimuthu(800 metres) and P. U. Chitra(1500 metres) won gold for India. India had won 29 medals - 12 Gold, 5 Silver and 12 Bronze in the last edition in Bhubaneswar in 2017, topping the medal tally for the first time.