Current Affairs February 2018 - Sports

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1 - India won U-19 World Cup trophy for record 4^th time

India has won the ICC Under-19 World Cup for the record fourth time. They defeated Australia by eight wickets in the final. India remained unbeaten throughout the contest. India's Manjot Kalra was adjudged Man of the Match for his ceentury and Shubman Gill Man of the Series. Prithvi Shaw led the Indian side.

With a fourth crown, India surpassed Australia in the race of most U-19 World Cup titles. India had previously won the world cup in 2012, 2008 and 2000.

2 - MCG to host T20 World Cup finals in 2020

Melbourne Cricket Ground will host the final of both the men’s and women’s World Twenty20 in 2020. The eight host cities are Melbourne, Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra, Geelong, Hobart, Perth and Sydney.

The women’s tournament will run from February 21 to March 8, 2020 and the men’s tournament from October 18 to November 15, 2020. The women’s final will take place on International Women’s Day 2020, Sunday March 8, with the aim of creating a world-record attendance for a women’s sporting match.

3 - Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched Khelo India School Games

Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the first Khelo India School Games at Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium in New Delhi on January 31, 2018.

The Khelo India programme has been introduced in an attempt to revive the sports culture in India at the grass-root level. Talented players identified in priority sports disciplines at various levels by a High-Powered Committee will be provided annual financial assistance of Rs. 5 lakh per annum for 8 years.

4 - Sharath Kamal won Table Tennis Nationals Championship

A. Sharath Kamal won his eighth national crown in the 79^th 11Even Sports Table Tennis Senior National Championships after he defeated Anthony Amalraj in the final. With eight titles, Sharath equalled the feat of Kamlesh Mehta for most number of championship titles.

In the women's final, Sutirtha Mukherjee defeated Manika Batra to win the women's singles crown for the first time. While Sharath won Rs 2 lakh as prize money, Sutirtha was awarded Rs 1.5 lakh as prize money.

5 - Gopi Thonakal retained his title at New Delhi Marathon

Reigning Asian Champion Gopi Thonakal retained his title at the IDBI Federal Life Insurance New Delhi Marathon in New Delhi. In the women's event also, Monika Athare retained her title.

Gopi clocked 2 hour, 15 minute and 16 seconds to clinch the gold. Nitendra Singh Rawat was second, while Bahadur Singh Dhoni was third. Monika Athare clocked 2 hours, 43 minutes and 46 seconds, ahead of last edition silver medallist Jyoti Gawte and Monica Raut who finished third.

6 - Shubhankar Sharma named as best Indian golfer in the world

Shubhankar Sharma was ranked number 72 in world rankings by Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR). He, thus, became the top-ranked Indian golfer in the world rankings. There were 5 other Indian golfers included in the list - Anirban Lahiri, Gaganjeet Bhullar, Shiv Kapur and Ajeetesh Sandhu. Shubhanker won Maybank Championship in Malaysia recently.

Shubhankar Sharma has been winner of All India Amateur Golf Championship in 2013, the Open championships and his first European Tour win at the Joburg Open.

7 - Jhulan Goswami created world record by taking 200 ODI Wickets

Indian women cricketer Jhulan Goswami created world record and became the first woman in the world to take 200 wickets in ODI cricket. She achieved the target during the second ODI held between India and South Africa in Kimberley. It should be noted that the first male cricketer to pick 200 ODI wickets, was also an Indian — legendry Kapil Dev.

Jhulan Goswami broke the record held by Australian Cathryn Fitzpatrick, which was created many years ago. Jhulan Goswami received ICC Women Cricketer of the Year in 2007.

8 - Indra Nooyi appointed ICC's first independent female director

PepsiCo Chairman and CEO Indra Nooyi has been appointed to the International Cricket Council (ICC) Board as the governing body's first independent female director.

Nooyi will join the Board in June this year to align with the term of the ICC Independent Chairman. The introduction of an Independent Director, who must be female, was approved by the ICC Full Council in June last year as part of wide ranging constitutional change aimed at improving the governance of the sport.

9 - Guinness World Record attempted for playing Ice Hockey at highest altitude

To set a record in the Guinness book for ice hockey on the world's highest altitude, an international level tournament was organised at Chibra Kargyam in Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir at an altitude of 4371 meters above the sea level.

Five international teams from USA, Germany, Canada, Solvakia and Russia and a local team participated in the tournament. It was jointly organised by the Hockey Foundation, USA, Ladakh Winter Sports Club and Lalok Winter Sports Association. The event at this altitude was certified by the Geological Department government of India.

10 - Khelo India School Games concluded

The inaugural edition of the Khelo India School Games (KISG) concluded. Haryana emerged as the overall champions, finishing with 102 medals, which included 38 gold, 26 silver and 38 bronze medals.

Maharashtra won36 gold medals (total 102 medals) and Delhi won 25 gold medals (total 94 medals) to finish second and third respectively in the medal tally. The government has launched Khelo India Programme with around Rs. 1756 crore budget from 2017-2020. 1000 athletes will be selected and provided Rs. 5 lakh as scholarship for the next 8 years.

11 - Winter Olympics 2018 kicked off in Pyeongchang

The 2018 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XXIII Olympic Winter Games kicked off in Pyeongchang County, South Korea. It was held from 9 to 25 February 2018. Previously, Seoul had hosted the Summer Olympics in 1988.

The Games featured 102 events in fifteen sports, with the addition of big air snowboarding, mass start speed skating, mixed doubles curling, and mixed team alpine skiing to the Winter Olympic programme.

12 - Shikhar Dhawan becomes first Indian to score century in 100^th ODI

Shikhar Dhawan became the first Indian to score a century in his 100^th ODI after he scored his 13^th century in the fourth ODI against South Africa in Johannesburg. He is the ninth batman to achieve this feat.

Dhawan made his ODI debut in 2010 against Australia. Former captain Sourav Ganguly came close to scoring a century in his 100^th ODI before falling for 97 in the 1999 World Cup game against South Africa.

13 - Kishan Gangolli won National 'A' Chess Championship

Karnataka's Kishan Gangolli won the National A Chess Championship. It was organised by the All India Chess Federation for the Blind (AICFB). Gangolli became the champion for the fifth consecutive time.

The top five players were Kishan Gangolli (Kar, 10.5 pts), Ashvin K. Makwana (Guj, 9.5), Soundarya Kumar Pradhan (Odi, 9), Aryan B. Joshi (Mah, 8.5), Patra Subhendu Kumar (Odi, 7.5). They will form the Indian team for the forthcoming 'World Team Championship' for the blind to be held in Bulgaria in July 2018.

14 - Germany retained top spot in FIFA rankings

World Champions Germany remained at the top of the FIFA rankings published in Lausanne, Switzerland. Olympic Champions Brazil is second in the football rankings with European title-holders Portugal third.

The others in the top ten are Argentina, Belgium, Spain, Poland, Switzerland, France and Chile respectively. India has been ranked 102 in the list. Mexico at 17^th place is the top ranked team in north and central America. Tunisia lead the Africans in 23^rd while 33^rd-ranked Iran are leading in Asia.

15 - Roger Federer won Rotterdam Open for 97^th career title

World No 1 Roger Federer has won the Rotterdam Open for his 97^th career title. In the Open era, only American Jimmy Connors has won more titles with 109. The record 20-time Grand Slam winner won the Australian Open in January 2018.

Federer defeated Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov 6-2, 6-2 in the final. This was his third title in Rotterdam following successes in 2005 and 2012. The Rotterdam Open is held annually at the Ahoy Rotterdam in Rotterdam, Netherlands.

16 - Aruna Budda Reddy became 1^st Indian to win individual medal at Gymnastics World Cup

Aruna Budda Reddy has created history by becoming the first Indian to win an individual medal at the Gymnastics World Cup. She clinched a Bronze in the Women's Vault event in Melbourne.

Aruna scored 13.649 average points to finish third. Tjasa Kysslef of Slovania won Gold, while Emily Whitehead of Australia won the Silver. The other Indian gymnast in the competition, Pranati Nayak finished on the sixth spot.

17 - Parupalli Kashyap wins Men's Singles title at the Austrian Open badminton

Reigning Commonwealth Games champion Parupalli Kashyap has won Men's Singles title at the Austrian Open International Challenge badminton tournament. Kashyap defeated Malaysia’s June Wei Cheam in straight games to clinch his first international title in over three years.

Kashyap is a former National champion. His last title came at the Syed Modi International Badminton Championships in 2015. He had reached the final of US Open Grand Prix Gold in 2017.

18 - Closing Ceremony ends Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang

The 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea concluded with a brilliant closing ceremony. Norway topped the medal tally with 14 Gold, 14 Silver and Eleven Bronze medals. Germany was second with 14 Gold, 10 Silver and 7 Bronze.

Canada followed next in the third place with a tally of 11 Gold, 8 Silver and 10 Bronze. The United States were in fourth spot with a haul of 9 Gold, 8 Silver and 6 Bronze.

19 - India Open 2018 winners announced

The winners of India’s badminton event of year 2018, ‘India Open’ were announced. India Open is a badminton event organized annually in New Delhi.