Current Affairs August 2018 - Sports

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1 - Indian men's hockey team moved to 5^th position in FIH rankings

The Indian men’s hockey team has moved up one place to be ranked at 5^th position in the latest FIH rankings. India won silver-medal at the recently concluded Champions Trophy that helped India move up one place.

Australia, Argentina, Belgium and Netherlands are the top four teams. The Indian team, which now has 1484 points in its kitty, is above the likes of 2012 Olympic champions Germany, England and Spain.

2 - Netherlands won the Women's WC Hockey

The women’s hockey team of the Netherlands have been crowned the world champions for a record eighth time. The defending champions recorded a stunning 6-0 victory over Ireland in the summit clash at London to extend their unbeaten run in all competitions to 32 matches.

Spain won the third place. India finished the tournament at the 8^th spot. Kitty van Mal finished the tournament as the top scorer with eight goals.

3 - Carolina Marin won World Championships' women's singles title

Carolina Marin of Spain won the World Championships' women's singles title at Nanjing, China after she defeated P V Sindhu of India. Sindhu is the only Indian to have four world championships podium finishes. She had won two bronze medals at the 2013 Guangzhou and 2014 Copenhagen editions.

Marin became the first woman shuttler to win the world championships thrice. She had won the title in 2014 and the 2015 Jakarta edition. In men's singles, Kento Momota of Japan won the title with an easy 21-13, 21-11 victory over Shi Yuqi of China.

4 - Gaganjeet Bhullar grabbed his maiden European Tour title

India's Gaganjeet Bhullar grabbed his maiden European Tour title. At the Fiji International in Natadola Bay, Bhullar soared high with a brilliant chip-in eagle on the 17^th hole for a one-stroke win over Anthony Quayle of Australia.

It was Bhullar's first win on the European Tour, ninth Asian Tour title and 10^th crown overall. He now becomes the most successful Indian player on Asian Tour, overtaking the tally of eight tour wins by Arjun Atwal and Jyoti Randhawa.

5 - Virat Kohli topped ICC Rankings for Test Batsmen

Virat Kohli became the seventh India batsman and first since Sachin Tendulkar in June 2011, to top the MRF Tyres ICC Player Rankings for Test Batsmen. At 934 points, Kohli has become India’s highest-ranked batsman, 14^th overall, on the all-time tally of points.

Apart from Kohli and Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Gautam Gambhir, Sunil Gavaskar, Virender Sehwag and Dilip Vengsarkar are the other India batsmen to have achieved number-one rankings during their careers. Kohli is the 76^th player to top the Test batting rankings.

6 - Neeraj Chopra won javelin gold at Savo Games

Javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra won gold at the Savo Games in Finland. He defeated Chao-Tsun Cheng of Chinese Taipei. Neeraj threw 85.69 m in the event held at Lapinlahti, Finland. Cheng managed 82.52 m to take the second place.

Neeraj is the reigning Commonwealth Games gold medallist and Asian season leader. Neeraj has a personal best and national record of 87.43 m which he achieved during the first leg of the Diamond League Meeting in Doha in May.

7 - Egypt reclaim Team title in World Junior Squash Championships 2018

Egypt national junior squash team defeated England 2-0 in the final and emerged as the 2018 World Junior Squash Champions. India finished in 11^th position. The World Junior Squash Championships 2018 concluded in Chennai, India.

List of Winners is given below:

8 - Neeraj Chopra to be India’s flag bearer at Asian games 2018

Veteran Javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra will be the Indian contingent's flag-bearer at the opening ceremony of the Asian Games 2018. Neeraj Chopra is the one who won gold medal at the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast. He also holds national record of throwing javelin at 87.43 m at the 2016 South Asian Games. He won gold medal in Asian Athletic championships 2017 with a throw of 85.23 meters.

The 2018 Asian Games is a pan-Asian multi-sport event scheduled to be held from 18 August to 2 September 2018 in the Indonesian cities of Jakarta and Palembang.

9 - Indian U-20 and U-16 team bagged titles in football

Indian teams of under-20 and under-16 won COTIF Cup and under-16 championship title in football respectively. India’s Under 20 team defeated Argentina in Valencia’s Els Arcs Stadium and Under 16 team defeated Iraq by 1-0 in Amman, Jordon.

India’s U-20 team included players who represented India in the FIFA U-17 World Cup India 2017 and those who played in the AFC U-19 Qualifiers in 2017. Some of best players include Sachin Suresh, Vishal Dube, Prabhsukhan Singh Gill, Sumit Rathi, etc.

10 - Ramesh Powar appointed head coach of women's national team

Ramesh Powar has been appointed as the coach of the Indian women's team till the ICC World T20, scheduled to be held in November. Powar was appointed interim coach of the team in July 2018 after the resignation of Tushar Arothe.

Ramesh Powar was an off spin bowler and lower order batsman affiliated with both, the Mumbai Ranji team as well as the Indian national team. Powar has played in 2 Test matches and 31 ODIs for India.

11 - Shesar Hiren Rhustavito won Vietnam Open Badminton

Shesar Hiren Rhustavito of Indonesia defeated India's Ajay Jayaram in the finals to clinch the Vietnam Open Men's Singles Final held at Ho Chi Minh City. Singapore's Jia Min Yeo won the women's singles title defeating Yue Han.

Korea's Sung Hyun Ko and Baek Cheol Shin won the men's doubles division against Sheng Mu Lee and Po-Hsuan Yang. Misato Aratama and Akane WATANABE from Japan won the Women's Doubles against Nami Matsuyama and Chiharu Shida. Thailand's Nipitphon Phuangphuapet and Savitree Amitrapai won the Mixed Doubles.

12 - Rafael Nadal won Rogers Cup 2018

Veteran grand slam champion Rafael Nadal won 33^rd ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title Rogers Cup 2018 defeating Greek teenager Stefanos Tsitsipas. It was Rafael Nadal’s 80^th career title and fourth Canadian Masters 1000 title at the Rogers Cup. He also became first singles player to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals. Rafael Nadal had won three U.S. Open titles, three Indian Wells titles and two Beijing tournaments.

Rogers Cup presented by National Bank is a prestigious professional tennis tournament organized by Tennis Canada.

13 - Manjit Singh won gold, PV Sindhu becomes first Indian to win silver in Badminton

In Athletics, Manjit Singh won gold in men's 800 metres while Jinson Johnson took silver. Ace shuttler PV Sindhu created history by becoming the first Indian to win a Silver medal in Badminton.

India finished second in the first ever mixed 400m relay race event, and got a silver. India also settled for two Silver medals in Archery as both the Compound Men's and Women's teams lost to South Korea in their respective Finals. India bagged two medals in Kurash, a form of wrestling indigenous to central Asia.

14 - Bajrang Punia won 1^st gold medal for India in Men's Freestyle 65 kg

Bajrang Punia won India's first gold medal account by defeating Japan's Daichi Takatani 11-8 in the final of Men's Freestyle 65 kg. category. Sushil lost his qualification bout 3-5 to Bahrain's Adam Batirov in the 74 kg. category.

India opened its medal tally with a bronze by Apurvi Chandela and Ravi Kumar in rifle mixed team shooting event. Prime Minister Narendra Modi appreciated Bajrang Punia for winning the first Gold for India at the Games.

15 - Asian Games officially began in Jakarta

The 18^th edition of the Asian Games officially began in Indonesian capital Jakarta.

Around 11,000 athletes from 45 countries will compete in 40 sports and 67 disciplines in the 16-day quadrennial event. For the first time, eSports (a form of competition using video games) and canoe polo will be contested as demonstration sports.

Over 570 Indian athletes will be vying for top honours across 36 sports took place in Jakarta and in Palembang. Javelin Thrower Neeraj Chopra was India's flag-bearer at the glittering opening ceremony.

16 - Teen cyclist created history by claiming India's first ever medal

Teen cyclist Esow Alben created history by claiming India's first ever medal - a silver - at the UCI Junior Track Cycling World Championships in Aigle, Switzerland. The 17-year-old from Andaman and Nicobar is trained in Delhi at the Sports Authority of India's National Cycling Academy.

He put enormous pressure on Czech Republic's Jakub Stastny in the final sprint before settling for the silver medal. Esow finished just 0.017 seconds behind gold medallist Stastny in the thrilling photo-finish of a race.

17 - Indian eves won SAFF U-15 Championship defeating Bangladesh

India defeated Bangladesh in the final of the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Under-15 Women's Championship in Thimpu, Bhutan. A solitary second-half strike by Sunita Munda helped the Indian U-15 team clinch the title.

In the semifinals, India defeated Nepal by 2-1. This is the second edition of the Championship. Bangladesh had won the inaugural edition in 2017, beating India, 1-0 in the final played at Dhaka.

18 - Chess master Nihal Sarin became 53^rd Chess Grandmaster of India

International Master of Chess championships Nihal Sarin became the 53^rd Grandmaster of India, by winning his third GM norm at the Abu Dhabi Masters against Richard Rapport of Hungary in final round. Prior to Nihal Sarin, it was R Praggnanandhaa who became 52^nd Grandmaster of India. Nihal Sarin had previously won World Youth Chess silver medal in 2015, World Youth Blitz Chess Championships in 2013 and TV2 Fagernes International in 2017.

The 25^th edition of the Abu Dhabi Chess Festival is a 9-round Swiss open Masters tournament.

19 - Novak Djokovic won Cincinnati Open 2018

Novak Djokovic defeated Roger Federer in straight sets, 6-4, 6-4, at the 2018 Western and Southern Open in Cincinnati. Djokovic made history in the process after he became the first men's tennis player in history to win all nine Masters 1,000 tournaments.

Djokovic had finished as the runner-up in Cincinnati five different times. It was the second title for Djokovic after he had won the Wimbledon. Federer is a seven-time champion at the Western and Southern Open.

20 - Saurabh Chaudhary won gold in the 10m air pistol finals in Asian games

16-year old Saurabh Chaudhary claimed a gold in the Asian Games in the 10m air pistol finals scoring 240.7 points. He became only the fifth Indian shooter to claim a gold in the Asian Games history. Abhishek Verma won bronze in the event. It was India's eighth shooting gold across all editions of the Asian Games.

Tomoyuki Matsuda of Japan won the Silver medal. Chaudhary had earlier set a World record, scoring 243.7 at the ISSF Junior World Cup in Germany, where he won a gold medal in the same event.

21 - Vinesh Phogat became first Indian woman wrestler to win a gold medal at the Asian Games

Vinesh Phogat became the first Indian woman wrestler to win a gold medal at the Asian Games. She won the gold medal in the 50kg category against Japan's Yuki Irie. She won by 6-2 in the final.

Vinesh also became the only woman wrestler to win two medals in back-to-back Asian Games. She had earlier won a bronze medal in the 48kg category at the 2014 Incheon Asian Games. She had also won gold medals in Glasgow and Gold Coast Commonwealth Games in 2018.

22 - Rahi Sarnobat became first Indian woman shooter to win Asiad gold

Rahi Sarnobat became the first Indian female shooter to win a gold at the Asian Games after winning the 25m pistol event in Palembang. Thailand's Naphaswan Yangpaiboon won silver while South Korea's Kim Minjung won bronze.

Rahi is also the sixth Indian to shoot a gold at the Games, joining Chaudhary, Jaspal Rana, Randhir Singh, Jitu Rai and Ronjan Sodhi. Rahi is a double gold medallist at the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games and had a bronze in the 25m pistol pairs event at the 2014 Incheon Asian Games.

23 - India won its second-ever Asian Gold medal in Rowing

India won its second-ever gold medal in rowing at the Asian Games. The team comprising Sawarn Singh, Dattu Bhokanal, Om Prakash and Sukhmeet Singh clocked 6:17.13 to win the gold medal in men’s quadruple sculls.

Indonesia (6:20.58) and Thailand (6:22.41) were placed second and third respectively in the quadruple skulls. Rowing has won India twenty medals over ten editions of the Asian Games.

24 - North Korea to host Asian Youth Weightlifting Championships

North Korea will host 2019 Asian Youth and Junior Weightlifting Championships. The Asian Weightlifting Federation is a non-for-profit organization composed of 45 affiliated National Federations from all Asian Countries. An agreement was signed between North Korea's Sports Minister Kim IlGuk and Asian Weightlifting Federation.

AWF is responsible for organizing competitions such as the Asian Weightlifting Championships with special regard to the IWF Constitution and By-Laws, the IWF Technical and Competition Rules& Regulations and the IWF Anti-Doping Policy.

25 - Neeraj Chopra won India’s first javelin gold in Asiad History

Neeraj Chopra won India’s first javelin gold in Asiad History. Neeraj Chopra became the first Indian javelin thrower to win an Asian Games gold medal as he shattered his own national record by clearing a distance of 88.06 metres in men's final. Neeraj Chopra’s gold is India's only second medal in javelin throw in Asian Games history after Gurtej Singh won a bronze in 1982 in New Delhi.

He has also won gold medal at 2018 Commonwealth Games and at 2016 South Asian Games. He created world junior record at U20 championships. He represented India at IAAF Diamond League.