Current Affairs June 2016 - Sports

News 1 - Novak Djokovic becomes the first player to win $100M Prize Money

The world number one, Novak Djokovic, became the first professional tennis player to earn more than $100 million in prize money after his win over Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut to make his way to the quarter-finals of the French Open for the 10^th time. He entered the Roland Garros tournament with a total prize money of $99,673,404.

Roger Federer, having earned $98,011,727 is the next closest player to breaking that barrier. Serena Williams is the leader among the women, having earned a total prize money of $75,929,696 in 21 years.

News 2 - League System for Test matches could be possible by 2019

According to the ICC Chief Executive, Dave Richardson, a league system for Test cricket could be in place by 2019. Currently, the only global competition for Test cricket are the ICC rankings.

Under the league system, teams would be provided the same number of fixtures, home and away so that at the end of a league period, a champion team can be crowned. However, considering the five-day length of the match and all teams willing to play, ICC can have two groups or two divisions for the league system.

News 3 - Gurpreet Singh Sandhu becomes first Indian to lead a European Top Division team - Tippeligaen

The National Football Team Goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu became the first player from the country to be chosen as the captain of a top division team in Europe. He plays for the Norwegian Premier League (Tippeligaen) Club Stabaek FC. The goalkeeper made more than 100 appearances for East Bengal between 2010 and 2014 before going to Stabæk for a trial.

Gurpreet is the fifth Indian player to play professionally in Europe after Mohammed Salim, Baichung Bhutia, Sunil Chhetri and Subrata Paul.

News 4 - Argentina continues to remain No. 1 in FIFA rankings, India slips to 163^rd

Argentina has retained the No. 1 spot in the latest FIFA ranking. Belgium is ranked second and Colombia made a move into the top 3, while England dropped out of the top ten at the expense of Austria. Indian football team slipped one place to occupy 163^rd position.

Iran and Korea are the two highest ranked teams in Asia, at 39^th and 50^th respectively. The top ten teams are Argentina, Belgium, Colombia, Germany, Chile, Spain, Brazil, Portugal, Uruguay and Austria.

News 5 - Indian Boxing Council gets affiliation from the Commonwealth Boxing Council

The Indian Boxing Council (IBC), a licensing body for professional boxers in India, has been granted affiliation by the Commonwealth Boxing Council (CBC). It was communicated by CBC Honorary secretary Simon Block to IBC President Brig (Retd) P K Muralidharan.

IBC is a National Boxing Governing body that sanctions professional boxing matches and awards national and subordinate championship titles, the first time in India and has so far conducted two fight cards. Indian boxer Vijender Singh will be competing for the WBO Asia title against a yet-to-be-named opponent on July 16 under IBC.

News 6 - Leander Paes completed a ‘Career Slam’ in the mixed doubles with Swiss partner Martina Hingis

Leander Paes completed a "Career Grand Slam" in the mixed doubles with Swiss partner Martina Hingis by winning the French Open final against Sania Mirza and Ivan Dodig. The unseeded Indo-Swiss pair battled out a 4-6 64 10-8 win over the second seeds in the summit clash.

The Indo-Swiss pair had won Australian Open, Wimbledon and the U.S. Open titles in 2015. It was the 18^th Grand Slam title for Paes and 10^th in the mixed doubles. For the 35-year-old Martina Hingis, it was Grand Slam title number 22^nd and the 50^th trophy in the mixed doubles segment.

News 7 - Garbine Muguruza wins French Open Final

Garbine Muguruza of Spain has won the woman's singles title of French Open after she defeated the world number one and defending champion Serena Williams of America by 7-5 and 6-4 in the final at the Rolland Garros in Paris. She had lost to Williams in the last year’s Wimbledon final.

The 22-year-old fourth seed is Spain's first female champion at Roland Garros since Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario in 1998. Williams’s career record in major finals is now 21-6.

News 8 - Novak Djokovic completes his "Career Grand Slam" after winning the 1^st French Open Title

The World Number One Novak Djokovic completed the career Grand Slam after he defeated Britain's Andy Murray 3-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-4 in the final to win his first French Open title. Djokovic won his 12^th major title. He also became the first man since Rod Laver in 1969 to hold all four Grand Slams at once.

He becomes only the eighth man in history to have won all four of the sport's major singles prizes.

News 9 - Lucknow to host the Junior Men’s Hockey World Cup 2016

The International Hockey Federation (FIH) has confirmed that the men’s Hockey Junior World Cup 2016 will be played in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh between 8-18 December, 2016.

This event will feature 16 of the world’s best junior men’s teams. Those qualified are: Argentina; Australia; Austria; Belgium; Canada; Egypt; England; Germany; India; Japan; Korea; Netherlands; South Africa; New Zealand; Pakistan and Spain. The women's junior World Cup will take place in Santiago, Chile, from November 24 to December 4.

News 10 - Tintu Luka won the Silver at the Josef Odlozil Memorial Athletics Meet in Prague

India's Tintu Luka won a Silver Medal in the 800m in the Josef Odlozil Memorial Athletics Meet in Prague in Czech Republic. The Riobound athlete ran her season's best of 2:00.61 to finish second in the race behind 2013 World Youth Championship Gold Medal winner Anita Hinriksdottir of Iceland who ran 2:00.54.

The reigning Asian Champion qualified for the Rio Olympics during the World Championships in Beijing last year. She holds the national record of 1:59.17 which she did way back in 2010.

News 11 - Saina Nehwal clinches the Australian Open Super Series Badminton trophy

Saina Nehwal clinched her second Australian Open Super Series Badminton tournament title after she defeated Chinese Sun Yu in a thrilling 3-game final match played at Sydney. It was her first title of the year 2016. Saina beat World No. 2 Yihan Wang of China in the semifinals. She had previously won the title in 2014.

The Badminton Association of India (BAI) announced a reward of Rs. 10 lakhs for Saina Nehwal for winning the title.

News 12 - USA won the 3^rd Consecutive FINA Women Water Polo World League Super Final Title

The United States women’s water polo team won their 3^rd consecutive title, defeating Spain 13-9 to claim the gold medal at the 2016 FINA Women’s World League Super Final in Shanghai. Australia defeated hosts China 11-3 for the bronze medal.

Courtney Mathewson of the US was named as the most valuable player; the best scorer went to Roser Tarrago of Spain while Australia's Lea Yanitsas was named the best goal-keeper. Eight best teams qualified for the super final.

News 13 - Lewis Hamilton wins the Canadian Grand Prix 2016

Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes won the Formula 1 Canadian Grand Prix. In the 2016 season, it was the second title for him as he already secured the Monaco Grand Prix. Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel stood second in the race. Lewis Hamilton has closed to within nine points of Nico Rosberg's world championship lead. Nico Rosberg finished only fifth.

Valtteri Bottas came third in the race while Max Verstappen claimed the fourth spot for Red Bull.

News 14 - Indian men's 4x400m relay team breaks 18-year-old National Record

The Indian men's 4x400m relay team, comprised of Asian Games Bronze medalist Arokiya Rajiv, Mohd. Anas, A Darun and Mohd Kunhu, broke an 18-year-old national record when they clocked 3:02.17 seconds at the International Sprint and Relay Teams Cup at Erzurum, Turkey. The team bettered the previous record of 3:02.62 seconds set at the 1998 Asian Games in Bangkok.

The men's relay team is currently placed on No 17 in the world. The Indian women's 4x400m relay team clocked 3:30.16 seconds and jumped to world No. 12 in the rankings. The IAAF Regulations allow only the top 16 teams to participate in the Rio Olympics. Hence, the women's team is a strong contender while the men's team with a couple of more matches can improve on their rankings to book a berth.

News 15 - ‘A New World’ Rio 2016 slogan unveiled for the Olympics and Paralympic Games

Thomas Bach, President of the International Olympic Committee unveiled their official slogan ‘A New World’ for the First Olympic and Paralympic Games in South America. For Rio 2016, the core values of the slogan and the manifesto are unity, respect for diversity and the will for change. The theme stands for changing the world for the better.

Olympic motto is ‘Citius, Altius, Fortius’ which means faster, higher and stronger. According to Thomas Bach, slogan is all about creating a better world and leaving this as a legacy to the generations to come. Besides, the organizing committee also unveiled the designs for the 2488 gold, silver and bronze medals.

News 16 - AIFF to launch 'Mission 11 Million' for football

The All India Football Federation is all set to launch a football promotion program, titled ‘Mission 11 Million', in October. It aims to engage more than 11 million children in football-related activities. The program will reportedly be launched in 30 cities. AIFF also hopes to tap into the Indian Diaspora in countries that already have strong football infrastructure (Germany, US, Australia) as part of their strategy.

This program encourages anyone under the age of 16 with an Indian passport to post, on a soon-to-be-launched portal, a two-minute video from a competitive match.

News 17 - Aegon Championships: Andy Murray wins a record fifth Queen's Club title

Andy Murray became the first player to win the Aegon Championships five times. He defeated Milos Raonic 6-7, 6-4, 6-3 in the final. It was Murray's 37^th career ATP title and his second of 2016. The 29-year-old had earlier won the Aegon Championships in 2009, 2011, 2013 and 2015.

Andy Murray is currently ranked World No.2 and has now reached the final of his last four tournaments. John McEnroe and Boris Becker have won the Queen's title four times.

News 18 - India Beat Zimbabwe to win the T20 Series 2-1

India defeated Zimbabwe by three runs in the third and final match of the T20 series between the two nations to clinch the series by 2-1. Zimbabwe defeated India by 2 runs in the first match while India had defeated Zimbabwe by 10 wickets in the second match.

Indian bowler Barinder Sran was adjudged Man of the Series. Indian captain M S Dhoni equaled Ricky Ponting's record of captaining in 324 international matches.

News 19 - Anil Kumble appointed as the new coach of the Indian Cricket Team

Former Indian leg-spinner Anil Kumble has been appointed as the new coach of Indian Cricket Team for a tenure of 1 year. The decision of his selection was taken in the BCCI working committee meeting in Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh. Kumble's first assignment will be India's Four-Test tour of West Indies.

The Forty-five-year-old Anil Kumble was among the 57 candidates who applied for this position advertised by the BCCI earlier this month. The Cricket Advisory Committee comprising Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman and Saurav Ganguly then proposed the name of Kumble after interviewing a number of candidates.

News 20 - Russian Hockey Winger Artemi Panarin wins the 2015-2016 Calder Memorial Trophy

The US National Hockey League announced that the Russian Hockey Winger Artemi Panarin, playing for the Chicago Blackhawks, has won the 2015-2016 Calder Memorial Trophy.

The Calder Memorial Trophy is an annual award given to the player selected as the most proficient in his first year of competition in the National Hockey League. Panarin, 24, surpassed all the rookies in goals 30, assists 4, points 77, power-play goals 8, power-play points 24 and game-winning goals 7 in 80 games in 2015-16.

News 21 - Harika wins the best women's player award in the Eurasian Blitz Chess Tournament

Grand Master Harika Dronavalli has won the best women's player award in the Eurasian Blitz Chess Tournament in Kazakhstan. She received a cash prize of USD 2500 and 60 ELO points to regain her position in the top 10. She is currently ranked as the World Number 9 in the Classical Rankings list.

The win was a big confidence booster for her since the elite field also included World No. 1 Hou Yifan. She had won the best woman’s prize at the Zalakaros International Chess Festival in Hungary.

News 22 - Usain Bolt wins the 100m in 9.88 seconds at Racers Grand Prix 2016

The Six-time Olympic champion, Usain Bolt, won the men’s 100 meters at the inaugural Jamaica National Racers Grand Prix at the JN Racers Grand Prix in Kingston with season’s best run of 9.88 seconds. Nickel Ashmeade and Yohan Blake were second and third respectively in 9.94, while Asafa Powell finished fourth in 9.98 seconds.

Bolt clocked the second fastest time of the year behind Frenchman Jimmy Vicaut's 9.86 seconds.

News 23 - India set for their maiden show at U17 Futsal World Cup

India is ready to make its maiden appearance in the U-17 Futsal World Cup next month in Paraguay. India was given a wild card entry by the sport’s governing body, Association Mundial de Futsal (AMF). The competition will be held from July 11 to 20. India is among 12 nations taking part. It is drawn in Zone A along with Paraguay, Catalonia and Kazakhstan.

The Futsal Association of India (FAI) is the AMF-accredited governing body for futsal in the country.

News 24: India won the Silver Medal at the Archery World Cup in Antalya

The Indian mixed recurve team of Deepika Kumari and Atanu Das won a Silver Medal at the Archery World Cup in Antalya, Turkey. The Indian team lost to South Korea 1-5 in the final at Konyaalti Beach Park against the top-seed Korean pair of Choi Misun and Ku Bonchan.

The women's recurve team of Deepika Kumari, Bombayla Devi Laishram and Laxmirani Majhi lost their bronze medal clash to Italy 1-5. Atanu Das lost to Woojin Kim in a thrilling shoot-off for bronze in the men’s individual competition.

News 25: Nico Rosberg won European Grand Prix

Mercedes Driver, Nico Rosberg of Germany, clinched the European Grand Prix Formula 1 championship in Baku, Azerbaijan. With this win, Rosberg extended his championship lead over reigning world champion, Hamilton, to 24 points. It was his fifth victory of the Formula One season as he won in Austria, Bahrain, China and Russia also.

Sebastian Vettel of Ferrari finished second while Sergio Perez, the Force India driver, came third. Rosberg completed second career Grand Slam during the process. Grand Slam in Formula One racing denotes winning a race from pole while leading every lap and scoring the fastest lap.

News 26: Australia defeat India to win the Hero Hockey Champions Trophy 2016

Australia won the Hero Hockey Champions Trophy 2016 after they defeated India 1-3 in a shoot-out in the final at the Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre in London. Australian goalkeeper Tyler Lovell conceded just once in the shoot-out. It was the 14th Champions Trophy title for Australia. India won the silver medal. Germany edged past Great Britain to win the bronze medal. The last two teams were Belgium and Korea respectively.

Germany’s Tobias Hauke was named as the best player in the competition, with Great Britain’s George Pinner taking the best goalkeeper award. India’s Harmanpreet Singh was named as the best junior player. The top scorer was Marco Miltkau (Germany).

News 27: BCCI announces to host mini IPL in September

The BCCI is planning to host a shortened version of the IPL overseas every September, beginning this year, branding it the "mini IPL" or "IPL overseas" in the time window they got after Champions League T20 was scrapped from the calendar. However, the final dates and format is yet to be announced. The USA and the UAE were two options that were discussed at both the IPL governing council meeting and the working committee meeting.

The full-fledged IPL lasts about for almost two months. The ninth edition of the tournament was held in India from April 9 to May 29.

News 28: Jitu Rai wins a Silver Medal in the ISSF World Cup

'Pistol King' Jitu Rai won the silver medal at the ISSF Shooting World Cup in Baku, Azerbaijan. He shot 199.5 in the finals to bag the silver medal in men's 10m air pistol. Brazilian Felipe Almeida Wu won the gold medal with a total of 200.0, while Jongoh Jin of Korea totaled 178.8 to win bronze.

It was Rai's sixth World Cup medal and second this year after winning one in Bangkok.

News 29: Anju Bobby George & Pullela Gopichand taken as members of Khelo India

India's lone athletics World Championship Medal winner Anju Bobby George and Chief National Badminton Coach Pullela Gopichand have been drafted as members of Khelo India. The Khelo India initiative is a national program, an enterprise by the Government of India, for the development of sports in the country. The duo has been appointed members to the seven-member committee.

This committee will be headed by Sports Secretary Rajiv Yadav.

News 30: Chile beat Argentina to win the 2016 Copa America Football tournament

Chile successfully defended the Copa America football title after they defeated Argentina 4-2 through penalties shootout in the final clash played at MetLife Stadium. Chile had won the first title in 2015 and it was Argentina they played against in the final.

The winners in other different categories are:

News 31: N Srinivasan re-elected as the President of the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association for the 15th term

The Former BCCI Chief and ICC Chairman, N Srinivasan, was unanimously re-elected as the President of the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA) for a 15th consecutive term. Kasi Viswanathan was also re-elected secretary for the 10th year in succession. VP Narasimhan was also appointed as its Treasurer.

All candidates, including four City Vice Presidents and two District Vice Presidents were also elected unopposed. There was no election since there were no opponents.

News 32: Argentina women win a record seventh Champions Trophy Hockey title

The Argentina women's team won their record seventh Champions Trophy hockey title. They defeated the reigning World and Olympic champions, The Netherlands by 2-1 in the final at the Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre.

Argentina captain Carla Rebecchi was named as the competition's best player. Netherlands' shot-stopper Joyce Sombroek was named as best goalkeeper while Argentina's Maria Granatto was named as the best junior player.

Final standings: 1: Argentina, 2: The Netherlands, 3: USA, 4: Australia, 5: Great Britain, 6: New Zealand

News 33: India's Rajput wins a Silver Medal in the ISSF World Cup

Ace shooter Sanjeev Rajput clinched the silver medal for India in men's 50-metre rifle 3 position event of the ISSF World Cup in Baku, jerbaijan. Rajput shot 456.9 to win the silver medal. Croatia's Petar Gorsa won the gold medal with 457.5, while Hyeonjun Kim of Korea bagged the bronze after he shot 445.5.

Rajput finished seventh in the qualification with a score of 1167 in kneeling, prone and standing position, while Olympic bronze medalist Gagan Narang was 23rd with 1161. Chain Singh was placed 32nd with a total of 1159.

News 34: National Inter-State Senior Athletics Championships began in Hyderabad

The 56th National Inter-State Senior Athletics Championships, a qualifying event for the Rio Olympics, began in Hyderabad. As many as 744 athletes, including 264 women from 26 states will take part in the five-day event.

So far, 21 athletes have qualified for the Rio Olympic Games besides the women's 4x400m relay squad. A Sri Lankan relay team will also take part in the event in its bid to attain the Rio qualification standard.

News 35: India retain third position in the ICC ODI team rankings

India retained its number three position in the ICC ODI team rankings which is being headed by world champions Australia. With 110 rating points, India are placed below Australia (123) and second-placed New Zealand (113).

In the ICC Player Rankings for ODI batsmen, India's Virat Kohli is placed second while Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan occupy the sixth and eighth positions respectively. South Africa's AB de Villiers has continued to lead the ODI batsmen chart while his countryman Hashim Amla is placed third.

The top 10 of the ICC Player Rankings for ODI bowlers is being headed by West Indian Sunil Narine, followed by New Zealand's Trent Boult and Bangaldesh's Shakib Al Hasan. Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin is the highest placed Indian in the 11^th spot.

News 36: Amul signs up as the official sponsor of the Indian team to the Olympics

Amul has signed up as the official sponsor for the Indian contingent to the Rio Olympics 2016. In 2012 too. Amul sponsored the Indian contingent at the London Olympics. The company will launch a series of advertising campaigns for milk and other dairy products to promote this association.

Amul has embarked upon an ‘Eat Milk with Every Meal’ campaign. Asia’s largest milk brand will use “Amul Doodh Pita Hai India” ad campaign to cheer the Rio-bound Indian athletes.