Current Affairs February 2019 - Sports
1 - Vani Kapoor Is First Indian to Have Australian LPGA Card
Vani Kapoor became the first Indian golfer to earn a card for the Australian Ladies PGA Tour (LPGA). To earn this card, she qualified the tournament at Ballarat Golf Club. Vani shot rounds of 71, 78, and 69 to finish at two-over 218. She secured the rank 12 tying with three others.
From the field of 81, the top 20 got the opportunity to play the Australian LPGA. Other Indian girls in the Australian LPGA Qualifying were Diksha Dagar, Astha Madan, and Ridhima Dilawari.
2 - Mithali Raj Became First Woman To Play 200 ODIs
The captain Indian cricket team, Mithali Raj has played her 200th One Day International (ODI) Cricket Match and last month and became the first woman cricketer to play 200 ODIs. Ms. Raj has played her 200th ODI against New Zealand.
The 36-year old Mithali has also the record of the highest run-scorer in ODIs. She has scored 6622 runs with an average of 51.33 in ODIs. Ms Raj had played her first ODI in 1999 against England.
3 - Qatar Defeated Japan to Win Asian Cup (Football)
First time, Qatar has won Asian Cup by defeating four times champion Japan. Qatar won the final match by 3-1 to win first Asian Cup Title. Almoez Ali performed outstandingly with his spectacular overhead kick to set fix victory of his team.
Sudan born Mr. Ali has scored total nine goals in the tournament; likewise, he became the first player to score nine goals at a single Asian Cup. Mr. Ali has broken the record of Iranian Ali Daei, who had scored eight goals in 1996 Asian Cup Tournament.
4 - Ramit Tandon Won His First PSA Title – 2019
Top seed Ramit Tandon won his first Professional Squash Association (PSA) title (2019) by defeating Egypt's Mohamed El Sherbini in the final of the Seattle Open. Mr. Todon has won by 11-4, 11-7, 2-11, 11-2 against El Sherbini.
It was his first PSA title in 2019 and overall fourth title in his career. 26-year old Ramit Tandon is a professional squash player from Kolkata, West Bengal. As a junior, he won 6 Junior National Titles and many international titles. He ended his junior career as India’s number 1, Asia’s number 2, and world’s number 5.
5 - Jamie Chadwick Became First Female Winner of MRF Challenge Series
Jamie Chadwick has excelled the title of first female driver to clinch the MRF Challenge. She has scored a triple win in the final round of the season in Chennai, Tamil Nadu to win the title.
Likewise, 20-year-old Jamie Chadwick (from Bath, England) has set a new record in the MRF Challenge, as she became the first female driver to annex the championship in seven seasons. Chadwick won three of the five races in the previous round in Bahrain; however, she ended the championship with 280 points, which also includes two bonus points for the fastest lap in the last race.
Inaugurated in 2013, MRF Challenge is an open-wheel motorsport formula based in India. It is organized by Madras Motor Sports Club.
6 - Saina Nehwal Defeated PV Sindhu to Win National Championship
Saina Nehwal has maintained her crown by winning her fourth national championship title. She has defeated PV Sindhu by 21-18, 21-15 and retains the women’s singles title (badminton).
28-year old, from Hisar, Haryana, Saina Nehwal is a professional badminton singles player. She has won more than 20 international titles and also was former world no. 1 player.
On the other hand, in the men’s singles final, Sourabh Verma defeated Lakshya Sen to win the championship title.
7 - Chris Gayle Made Record for Most Sixes in International Cricket
Chris Gayle, the opener batsman of West Indies, set a new record by hitting his 477th six in the international cricket match. Previously, it was Sahid Afridi, Pakistan’s all-rounder who was holding the record of maximum number of sixes (476) in the international cricket match.
Chris Gayle hit his 477th six at the first ODI playing against England at the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados and broke the record of Sahid Afridi. Gayle hit 477th six on the bowl of Moeen Ali of England. Gayle excelled this record in his 444th match, whereas Sahid Afridi had scored total 476 sixes in 524 international cricket matches.
8 - Saurabh Chaudhary Won Gold with World Record in Shooting Sport
Appearing in his maiden senior World Cup, the 16-year-old, Saurabh Chaudhary claimed the top honors in the men’s 10m air pistol event at the season-opening International Shooting Sport Federation event.
Teenager Saurabh Chaudhary set the world record by winning the gold in the ISSF World Cup; he has secured India’s third Olympic quota. The Asian Games and Youth Olympics gold medalist ended the event with a total score of 245.
Last year, Saurabh has already won gold at the Junior World Cup in Suhl, Germany and acquired the crown of junior world champion and Youth Olympic champion.
9 - Rashid Khan Became 1st Bowler in T20I History to Pick 4 wickets in 4 Balls
Rashid Khan, the Afghanistani Leg-spinner has set a history by taking four wickets on successive four deliveries in Twenty20 Internationals while playing against Ireland. In addition to this, Rashid became the 7th bowler in the T20I history to excel hat-trick and also completed his 2nd 5-wicket haul.
With outstanding performance by Rashid Khan, Afghanistan has swept the T20I series against Ireland in Dehradun.
10 - Abhijeet Gupta Won Cannes International Open (Chess)
Grandmaster Abhijeet Gupta has won the Cannes International Open, played in Cannes. In the ninth and final round, he drew with Pier Luigi Basso of Italy to win the championship.
Abhijeet has won six matches and three were drawn; likewise, he finished with 7.5 points and won the Cannes International Open. 29-year old from Bhilwara, Rajasthan, Abhijeet Gupta is an Indian chess player. He is adorned with the title of Grandmaster. Gupta is the first player to win the title of Commonwealth Chess Champion four times.
11 - Jitendra Singh Won National Race Walking Championship at Chennai
Jitendra Singh Rathore has won the arduous 50 km event in the 6th Open National Race Walking Championship held at Chennai, Tamil Nadu. Rathore, native of Rajasthan won the race in a time of 4:23:23.00, whereas the second ranker Joshi Sagar, native or Gujarat finished the race in 4:24:21.00. Pawan Kumar, native of Haryana placed at third rank.
The National Open Race Walking Championships were meant to serve as an opportunity to qualify for the Athletics World Championships, which will be held in Doha in September month of this year.
12 - Corentin Moutet Won Chennai Open ATP Challenger
France’s Corentin Moutet, the second-seed, has won the Chennai Open ATP Challenger Tennis Tournament held at Chennai, Tamil Nadu. Moutet has defeated Andrew Harris of Australia by 6-3, 6-3 in the singles final to win the title.
It is the second Challenger title for the French man Moutet. With the Championship, Moutet received prize money of USD 7,200 and 80 ATP points. On the other hand, the runner up, Andrew Harris received USD 4,240 and 48 ATP points.
