Current Affairs February 2020 - Sports

1 - Indian boxers bagged six gold at Golden Girl Championship in Sweden

India's junior and youth won 14 medals, including six golds, the overall championship trophy and the 'Best Boxer' award at the Golden Girl Championship in Boras, Sweden. While the junior women's team clinched five golds, three silvers and one bronze medal, the youth team secured a single gold and four bronze medals.

Haryana's Prachi Dhankar (50 kilogram), playing in the junior category, won the 'Best Boxer' award. A total of 75 teams participated in the championship.

2 - Australian Open 2020

Novak Djokovic won his record 8^th Men's singles title in Australian Open. He beat Dominic Thiem of Austria. It was 17^th Grand Slam title for Novak.

The other winners are:

• Women’s Singles: Sofia Kenin (USA) against Garbine Muguruza (Spain)

• Mixed Doubles: Barbora Krejcikova (Czech Republic) & Nikola Mektic (Croatia)

• Men’s Doubles: Rajeev Ram (United States of America) & Joe Salisbury (United Kingdom)

• Women’s Doubles: Timea Babos (Hungary) & Kristina Mladenovic (France)

3 - Goa 2020 National Games unveiled ‘Rubigula’ as official mascot

'Rubigula', Flame-Throated Bulbul was unveiled as the official mascot for the Goa 2020 National Games in Panaji, Goa. The 36^th edition of the National Games will be hosted in Goa from 20^th October to 4^th November, 2020. The event will witness participation by 36 states and union territories, 12,000 athletes, officials and will host 37 sports disciplines across 24 venues in Goa.

The Flame-Throated Bulbul is the state bird of Goa. The National Games comprises various disciplines in which sportsmen from the different states of India participate against each other.

4 - Rani Rampal becomes first ever hockey player to win World Games Athlete of the Year' award

Indian women's team captain Rani Rampal became the first-ever hockey player to win the prestigious 'World Games Athlete of the Year' award. Rani got 1,99,477 votes. Under Rani's leadership, the Indian women's team qualified for just the third Olympic Games in its history.

India won the FIH Series Finals in 2019 and Rani was named Player of the Tournament. Rani was recently named among the Padma Shri awardees.

5 - Deepa Malik became President of Paralympic Committee of India

Para-athlete and India’s lone woman Paralympic medallist Deepa Malik was elected as President of Paralympic Committee of India. Other elected members include Gursharan Singh as secretary general, Kavender Chaudhury and Shashi Ranjan Prasad Singh as vice presidents, M Mahadeva as treasurer, and Nale Nandkishor Baburao and Kantilal Parmar as joint secretaries.

Deepa Malik is the first Indian woman to win a medal in Paralympic Games and won a Silver medal at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in the shot put. Paralympic Committee of

India is responsible for selecting athletes to represent India at the Paralympic Games.

6 - Weightlifter Sambo Lapung won gold with national record of 188kg

Weightlifter Sambo Lapung from Arunachal Pradesh created a new record of 188 kg in clean and jerk event in the National Weightlifting Championships held in Kolkata. Earlier, the national record of clean and jerk of 187kg was with Rakhi Halder when she won the gold medal in the 64kg event.

Mirabai Chanu created national record for lifting 87 kg in snatch and 115 kg in clean and jerk, a total of 203 kg.

7 - Sourav Ganguly to be Indian Team’s Goodwill Ambassador for Tokyo Olympics

BCCI President Sourav Ganguly was invited as Goodwill Ambassador of the Indian contingent at the Tokyo Olympics. It is only the second time that the Indian contingent will have a ‘goodwill ambassador.’

The 2020 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXXII Olympiad and commonly known as Tokyo 2020 or the Recovery Olympics, is an upcoming international multi-sport event. The Tokyo Olympic Games will be held from July 24 to August 9.

8 - Mizoram won Junior National Football Championship for Dr. BC Roy Trophy

Mizoram has won the final of the Junior National Football Championship for Dr. BC Roy Trophy at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Shillong. Mizoram beat Punjab 5-4 on penalties as both teams finished 1-1 in regulation and extra time.

The BC Roy Trophy is an Indian football tournament for players under 19 years of age. The competition is held every year between the under-19 teams representing states of India.

9 - SAI and Hockey India launch 7 high performance hockey centres

Sports Authority of India and Hockey India announced the establishment of the high performance hockey centres in seven different locations across India. The move was aimed at grooming junior and sub-Junior players in view of 2024 and 2028 Olympic Games.

These seven high performance hockey centres will be set-up under the Khelo India scheme. While the National Hockey Academy at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium, SAI Sundergarh, Odisha, SAI UDMCC, Bhopal and SAI, Bengaluru will be active within the next three months, the remaining three centres will be developed over the next 12 months.

10 - Bangladesh won maiden Under-19 World Cup

Bangladesh beat India by three wickets to win maiden ICC U-19 World Cup cricket title in South Africa. Bangladeshi skipper Akbar Ali was declared the Player of the Match.

Yashasvi Jaiswal of India was awarded the Player of the tournament. Ravi Bishnoi of India was the highest wicket-taker with 17 wickets in the tournament. Yashasvi Jaiswal scored the most runs with 400 runs from 6 innings. India had won the 2018 edition of the tournament.

11 - Ladakh Scouts won Khelo India Ice Hockey Championship

The Ladakh Scouts Regimental Centre (LSRC) Red won the first Men’s section Khelo India Ice Hockey tournament 2020. They defeated Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) team by 3-2 in the finals. Around 6,800 athletes across 37 teams participated in the 20 sports event.

Khelo India School Games are the national level multidisciplinary grassroot games in India. It is a an initiative to strengthen the sports ecosystem by encouraging mass participation and promotion of excellence. The objective of Khelo India is to promote the importance of sports and fitness in our life.

12 - Aditya Mehta won National Snooker Championship

Ace cuiest Aditya Mehta won the National Snooker championship held at Pune. He defeated multiple-time world champion Pankaj Advani by 6-2 to win the National Snooker Championship. Prior to this, he has won won the gold medal at the men's event at the 2013 World Games and team event at the 2009 Asian Games.

Karnataka's Vidya Pillai won women's snooker finals at National Snooker championship defeating Amee Kamani of Madhya Pradesh by 3-2.

13 - Bhawna Jat qualifies for 2020 Olympics

Bhawna Jat of Rajasthan qualified for the 2020 Olympics after setting a new national record in the 20-kilometer race walk category at the 7^th National Open Race Walking Championships in Ranchi. It was her seventh National Pedestrian Championship.

Bhawna clocked 1hour 29 minutes and 54 seconds, well inside the Olympic qualification time of 1hour 31minute 00 seconds. The 2020 Olympics will be held in Tokyo from 24^th July to the 9^th of August this year.

14 - India's Vivek Prasad, Lalremsiami won FIH Rising Star awards

India forward Lalremsiami has been named as the 2019 FIH Women's Rising Star of the Year by the International Hockey Federation. She took the prize ahead of Argentina's Julieta Jankunas and Frederique Matla of the Netherlands.

Indian men's hockey team's Vivek Sagar Prasadwas announced the winner of 2019 FIH Men's Rising Star of the Year by the International Hockey Federation. He beat Argentina’s Maico Casella and Blake Govers of Australia.

15 - Kohli retains top spot in ICC ODI rankings

Virat Kohli continued to hold on to the top spot in the batting chart of the latest ICC ODI rankings while Rohit Sharma also maintained the second position.

Afghanistan's Mohammad Nabi emerged as the new world number one all-rounder. India's Ravindra Jadeja rose three spots to seventh. India pacer Jasprit Bumrah dropped to second place while Trent Boult was top ranked bowler in the list. England is the top ranked team in the ODI rankings followed by India at second and New Zealand at third.

16 - Joshna Chinappa clinched 77^th Senior National Squash Championship

India's squash ace Joshna Chinappa has clinched 77^th Senior National Championship in woman's category at the ISA courts in Chennai. With the win, she claimed her 18^th title in the career. Saurav Ghosal won in Men's category bagging 13^th title to his kitty.

Chinappa defeated Tanvi Khanna, 8-11, 11-6, 11-4, 11-7 in to add yet another national title to her record while Ghosal defeated second seed Abhishek Pradhan 11-6, 11-5, 11-6 to win the title.

17 - Indian hockey captain Manpreet Singh named Player of the Year 2019 by IHF

The Indian men's hockey team captain Manpreet Singh was named Player of the Year for 2019 by the International Hockey Federation. Manpreet, a midfielder, became the first Indian to win the accolade, since the awards were introduced in 1999.

Manpreet beat competition from Belgium's Arthur van Dorren and Lucas Villa of Argentina, who came second and third respectively. Manpreet Singh made his debut in the Indian National Hockey Team in 2011. Since then, he has played over 260 matches for the national team.

18 - Ladakh Scouts Regimental Centre Red won 1^st Khelo India Ice Hockey tournament

The Ladakh Scouts Regimental Centre (LSRC) Red won the first Men’s section Khelo India Ice Hockey tournament 2020. They defeated Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) team 3-2 in the final. 13 teams participated in the Khelo India Ice Hockey Championship.

Khelo India is an initiative taken by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports to aware people about the importance of sports and fitness. The ultimate goal of the program is to develop India as a sporting nation and to promote sports in the country.

19 - Australia presented with ICC Women’s Championship trophy

Australia was presented with the ICC Women's Championship trophy by England's World Cup champion Holly Colvin, which they have retained by taking a winning lead in the eight-team ODI competition played from 2017 to 2020. Captain Meg Lanning received the trophy.

Australia was at the top of the points table with 34 points from 18 matches. England finished with 29 points from 21 matches while South Africa finished 22 from 18.

20 - Armand Duplantis broke Pole Vault world record

The son of a former elite American pole vaulter, Armand Duplantis broke his own pole vault world record by clearing 6.18m at the Indoor Grand Prix in Glasgow. Prior to this record, he cleared 6.17 meters in the pole vault to set a new world record followed by breaking his own world record with a 6.18 meter vault.

Armand "Mondo" Duplantis won gold as a 15-year-old in the boys' pole vault at the 2015 World Youth Championships and holds a number of age group world bests.

21 - 13^th edition of ESPN Cricinfo Awards 2019 announced

ESPN Cricinfo announced the 13^th edition of the Annual ESPNcricinfo Awards 2019. The awards were presented under 12 categories.

22 - Robin Singh appointed as UAE’s director of cricket

Former India all-rounder Robin Singh was appointed director of cricket of the United Arab Emirates by Emirates Cricket Board after the dismissal of head coach Douglas Robert Brown. Robin Singh has played 1 test and 136 ODIs (One Day International) between 1989 & 2001. He served as the coach of Hong Kong and the USA. He coached the Deccan Chargers and Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League.

United Arab Emirates Cricket Board is the official governing body of the sport of cricket in United Arab Emirates.

23 - Haryana government announced Rs. six crore to those winning gold medals at Olympics

Haryana government has decided to give 6 crore rupees to players of the state that bag gold medals at the Olympic Games. The state government will also give 3 crore rupees to those winning gold medals at Asian Games and 1.5 crore rupees to the winners of yellow metal at Commonwealth Games.

An amount of 15 lakh rupees will be given to each player participating in the Olympic Games so that the players can make the state, as well as the country, proud.

24 - Latest ICC T20 Rankings

Babar Azam of pakistan is number one ranked batsman with 879 points followed by Lokesh Rahul with 823 points and Aaron Finch at third with 820 points. Rashid Khan of Afganistan is top ranked bowler followed by his teammate Mujeeb Ur Rahman at second and Adam Zampa of Australia at third. Mohammad Nabi of Afganistan leads the chart of all-rounder rankings.

Among the teams, Pakistan is the top ranked nation followed by Australia and England in the top three respectively. India is ranked fourth with South Africa at fifth.

25 - Koneru Humpy won Cairns Cup Chess Tournament in US

World rapid champion Koneru Humpy won the Cairns Cup Chess Tournament at St Louis in USA. She ended with six points ahead of reigning champion Zu Wezun who finished with 5.5 points.

With this win, Humpy would be gaining five ELO rating points, the basis for international rankings and moving to no.2 in the world list. Humpy was crowned as the world champion in the last week of December 2019.

26 - India to host Men's Hockey Junior World Cup in 2021

The International Hockey Federation (FIH) announced that India will host the Junior Men's World Cup 2021. India had earlier hosted the event in 2016 as well, becoming the first host nation to lift the trophy defeating Belgium 2-1 in the final.

India has already been named as the host for the 2023 Men’s World Cup after the 2018 edition. The FIH also announced that the next women’s Junior World Cup would be held for the first time ever in Africa, naming Potchefstroom, South Africa, as the host.

27 - NADA bans javelin thrower Amit Dahiya for four years

National Anti Doping Agency (NADA) has banned javelin thrower Amit Dahiya for four years for evading sample collection and trying to cheat officials during the 2^nd National Javelin Throw Open Championship 2019 held at SAI Centre in Sonipat.

NADA had issued the charge of notice to Dahiya on July 16 for violating rule 2.3 of the NADA. The doping agency presented the case to the Anti-Doping Disciplinary Panel (ADDP) on January 9 where, the athlete's justification was found to be unsatisfactory.

28 - Laureus World Sports Awards 2020

• Best Sporting Moment: Sachin Tendulkar being carried on the shoulders of his teammates following the 2011 World Cup victory

• Sportsman of the Year: Lionel Messi and Lewis Hamilton. Messi became the first footballer to win the World Sportsman of the Year award.

• Sportswoman of the Year: 22-year-old United States gymnast Simone Biles

• Comeback of the Year: Sophia Floersch

• Team of the Year: South Africa Men's Rugby Team

• Breakthrough of the Year: Egan Bernal

• Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability Award: Oksana Masters

• Lifetime Achievement Award: German basketball legend Dirk Nowitzki

29 - AIFF received 'Grassroots Charter Bronze Level' membership of AFC

The All India Football Federation (AIFF) has received the "Grassroots Charter Bronze Level" membership of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). This declaration accords AIFF the right to promote its grassroots events and activities with the support and recognition of the AFC in accordance with the applicable terms of the AFC Grassroots Charter.

Back in 2014, AIFF received President Recognition Award for Grassroots Football alongside Philippines and Tajikistan. Furthermore, in 2013, AIFF had achieved a podium finish for their work at the Grassroot levels along with Japan and Vietnam.

30 - PM Modi inaugurated first-ever Khelo India University Games at Cuttack

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the first-ever Khelo India University Games at Cuttack in Odisha. With this inauguration, India joined the league of nations where University Games are organised. It was held at the Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT) campus with more than 4,000 athletes from 176 universities from across the nation participated in the games.

The 2020 edition included Archery, Athletics, Badminton, Basketball, Boxing, Fencing, Football, Hockey, Judo, Kabaddi, Rugby, Swimming, Table Tennis, Volleyball, Tennis, Weightlifting and Wrestling.

31 - Birmingham Commonwealth Games 2022 to be held in Chandigarh

The events of the shooting and archery as part of the Birmingham Commonwealth Games - 2022 will be held in Chandigarh. The Commonwealth Games Federation announced that the competitions would take place in Chandigarh in January 2021, with the main Games in Birmingham starting in July.

Birmingham decided not to include shooting or archery in its sports programme for 2022. However, after resistance from India, the Commonwealth archery and shooting championships was moved to Chandigarh.

32 - ICC banned Oman player Yousuf Abdulrahim Al Balushi from all forms of cricket for 7 years

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has banned Oman player Yousuf Abdulrahim Al Balushi from all forms of cricket for seven years for his involvement in trying to fix matches. The charges are all related to the ICC men's T20 World Cup Qualifiers 2019 held in the United Arab Emirates.

Al Balushi breached Article 2.1.1 of the Anti-Corruption Code - being party to an agreement or effort to fix or contrive in any way the result, progress, conduct or any other aspect of matches.

33 - Ross Taylor becomes first player in the world to play 100 matches in all three formats

Veteran New Zealand batsman Ross Taylor became the first player in the world to play 100 matches in all three formats of cricket. The landmark achievement came as he took the field against India in the first Test at Basin Reserve in Wellington.

The 35-year-old played his 100^th T20 International against India. He has also played 231 ODIs for New Zealand. The right-handed batsman is already New Zealand's leading run-scorer in Test and ODI.

34 - ESPN India Awards 2019

35 - Asian Wrestling Championships 2020

The 2020 Asian Wrestling Championships was held at the KD Jadhav Indoor Stadium in Indira Gandhi Arena, New Delhi from February 18 – 23, 2020. Japan topped the medal tally with 16 medals (8 Gold, 4 Silver, 4 Bronze). While India finished 3^rd rank with 20 medals (5 Gold, 6 Silver, 9 Bronze).

Iran was second in the medal's tally with 7 Gold, 3 Silver and 7 Bronze. The 2019 Asian Wrestling Championships was held in Xi’an, China from April 23 – April 28, 2019, where Iran cliched top spot in Medal tally.

36 - India to host AFC Women's Asian Cup in 2022

The Women’s Committee of the Asian Football Confederation awarded the hosting rights of the AFC Women’s Asian Cup 2022 to India. The other two bidders were Chinese Taipei and Uzbekistan. The venues proposed by India — D. Y. Patil Stadium, Trans Stadia Arena and Fatorda Stadium — are also being used in the FIFA tournaments.

India is also to host the FIFA Women’s U-17 World Cup in November 2020. India also hosted the AFC U-16 Championships in 2016 and the FIFA U-17 World Cup in 2017.

37 - FIFA U-17 Women's Football World Cup to be hosted in 5 cities in November

The FIFA Under-17 Women's Football World Cup which kicks off on 2^nd of November 2020, will be held in five cities including Ahmedabad, Bhubaneswar, Guwahati, Kolkata and Navi Mumbai. The finals of the tournament will be played on 21^st of November at Navi Mumbai.

The cities will play host to 16 teams which will compete across 32 matches to lift the coveted title. The official slogan of the tournament is - Kick Off The Dream.

38 - ‘United by Emotion’ chosen as Tokyo 2020 Olympics motto

'United by Emotion' was revealed as the motto for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and Paralympics. The motto expresses the power of sport to bring together people from diverse backgrounds of every kind and allow them to connect and celebrate in a way that reaches beyond their differences.

“United by Emotion” expresses the hope that the spectators, volunteers and athletes from over 200 National Olympic Committees and the Refugee Olympic Team gathering in Tokyo. Tokyo 2020 will host the XXXII Olympic Summer Games from Jul 24 - Aug 9.

39 - FC Goa became first Indian team to qualify for AFC Champions League

FC Goa scripted history as the club became the first Indian team to qualify for the group stages of the AFC Champions League. FC Goa sealed the top spot in the Indian Super League (ISL 2019-20) rankings beating Jamshedpur FC 5-0 in an Indian Super League match. Ferran Corominas, Hugo Boumous, Jackichand Singh and Mourtada Fall registered top goals for Goa.

AFC Champions League is viewed as Asia's top club competition. AFC is an annual continental club football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation.

40 - D Gukesh bagged 34^th Cannes Open in France

India's Grandmaster D Gukesh won the 34^th Cannes Open in France. Gukesh defeated Harutyun Bargseghyan of France in 50 moves to win the chess tournament. India’s Siva Mahadevan ensured 10^th place with six points.

Prior to this tournament, Gukesh won the Hillerod 110^th Anniversary Open event in Denmark and became world’s second youngest Grandmaster ever in 2019. Gukesh has not only won two open events, but also pumped up his rating to 2565. Cannes Open is a chess competition.

41 - Russia to host AIBA World Cup 2020

Russia will host the International Boxing Association (AIBA) Team World Cup 2020. With this, Russia became first country to host the new format of AIBA Team World Cup in 2020. The tournament will be coinciding with the 75^th anniversary of the victory in World War II under the motto “Boxing for peace”.

World Cup was held before from 1979 to 1998 and also in period 2002-2006 as a team event. The last tournament was organised in Moscow in 2008, when Cuban team celebrated the victory.