Current Affairs June 2017 - Sports

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1 - Harmanpreet Kaur became the first Indian woman to play in Kia Super League

Captain of India’s T20I team, Harmanpreet Kaur has been selected to feature in the second season of the Kia Super League, the English domestic T20 league. With this, she became first Indian woman to play in Kia Super League. She was signed up by Surrey Stars.

Kia Super League is also known as the Women’s Cricket Super League. It is a game of domestic T20 tournament held in England and Wales played among women cricketers. Harmanpreet has played 139 international matches for India.

2 - Bercelona’s Lionel Messi honored with fourth Golden Shoe

Lionel Messi won the European Golden Shoe as he scored 37 goals in the Spanish league. With this, he drew level with Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo with the fourth honour.

Golden Shoe award is given to the leading goal scorer from every top division national league in Europe.

Lionel Messi’s other achievements include five Ballon d’Or awards so far, five La Liga Best Player awards, and both a FIFA World Cup Golden Ball and Player of the Year title.

3 - West Indies cricket team’s official name changed to WINDIES

The cricket board for West Indies has re-branded themselves as Cricket West Indies from the former West Indies Cricket board. The board also announced that the cricket team from now on will be officially known as "WINDIES."

The WINDIES name has been associated with the representative teams within International cricket for long and this new brand will be printed on all the teams’ playing shirt. Also, the board has come up with a new website that will provide user-friendly information on match scores, team updates, videos and player information.

4 - Real Madrid became first team to win consecutive UEFA Champions League titles

Real Madrid created history after they became the first team to win back-to-back European Cups since the Champions League era began in 1992-93. Real Madrid defeated Juventus, 4-1 in the Champions League final.

Real Madrid now have 12 European titles, the most ever. Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice in the game. Real Madrid is a Spanish Club while Juventus is an Italian club.

The coach of Real Madrid is Zinedine Zidane. Crisitano Ronaldo scored 600^th career goal in win over Juventus.

5 - B Sai Praneeth won Thailand Open Grand Prix Gold title

India's B Sai Praneeth won the $120,000 Thailand Open after he defeated Indonesia's Jonatan Christie 17-21, 21-18, 21-19 in the final. Praneeth became the second Indian man after Kidambi Srikanth to win a Superseries and a Grand Prix Gold event.

This is Praneeth's second consecutive title win, following the Singapore Open victory. In 2016, Sai Praneeth had won the Canada Open Grand Prix. He reached the final of the Syed Modi GP Gold in January.

6 - Rohan Bopanna won maiden grand slam with French Open mixed doubles title

Rohan Bopanna lifted his maiden Grand Slam title after he won the French Open mixed doubles trophy with Canadian partner Gabriela Dabrowski. The duo made a memorable 2-6 6-2 12-10 win over Germany’s Anna-Lena Groenefeld and Colombia’s Robert Farah in the final.

Rohan became only the fourth Indian ever to clinch a major, only Leander Paes, Mahesh Bhupathi and Sania Mirza have won Grand Slam trophies for India. The only other time Rohan had played in the final of a Grand Slam was in the 2010 US Open.

7 - Ramkumar Ramanathan lifts ITF men’s Futures tennis title

Indian player Ramkumar Ramanathan won the $15,000 ITF men's Futures tennis title in Singapore after he defeated Raymond Sarmiento of the USA in straight sets. It was his first title of the season and 15^th of his career.

Ramakumar Ramanathan is a regular in India's Davis Cup team. Currently he is ranked second in the top ten Indian male singles tennis players list. He beat the Indian No.1 Somdev Devvarman in the first round of the 2014 Aircel Chennai Open.

8 - Muttiah Muralitharan inducted into ICC Hall of Fame

Muttiah Muralitharan was inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame in London. The legendary off-spinner, with 800 Test wickets to his name, became the first Sri Lanka to be inducted into the prestigious list.

Muralitharan became the first player from Sri Lanka and the 83^rd overall to be formally inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame.

The retired Sri Lanka spin great was awarded the honour along with Arthur Morris, George Lohmann and Karen Rolton by fellow ICC Cricket Hall of Famers and members of the media.

9 - IOC approved new events for 2020 Tokyo Olympics

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has approved new events for the 2020 Tokyo Games. The choices reflect the IOC’s focus on gender equality and appeal to young people.

The additions include a mixed team event for judo. Table Tennis will also get a mixed doubles competition. The IOC has also included three-on-three basketball, a 10-minute match on a half-sized court which is known for its speed.

The number of mixed events will double from 9 in Rio 2016 to 18 in Tokyo 2020.

10 - Michael Venus-Ryan Harrison won French Open men's doubles title

New Zealand's Michael Venus and America's Ryan Harrison won the French Open men's doubles title. The duo defeated Santiago Gonzalez of Mexico and American Donald Young 7-6 (7/5), 6-7 (4/7), 6-3 in the final at Roland Garros.

Michael Venus became New Zealand's first Grand Slam champion since 1974. He won the championship after Onny Parun had won the men's doubles crown in Paris 43 years ago.

11 - Jelena Ostapenko won French Open title 2017

Unseeded Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia won the women's singles of the French Open 2017 after she defeated Simona Halep of Romania 4-6 6-4 6-3 in the finals.

She became the first unseeded woman to win the Suzanne Lenglen trophy since 1933. She had never won a single championship at any event on the WTA Tour.

She won a prize money of €2,100,000. The French Open is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks between late May and early June at the Stade Roland-Garros in Paris, France.

12 - French Open 2017 winners announced

French open title 2017 was organized in Paris, France.

The list of winners is as follows:

13 - Shashikant Kutwal bagged gold at World Chess Championship

Pune’s Shashikant Kutwal bagged gold medal after scoring 7.5 points from a possible 9, in the 17^th World Individual Chess Championship for differently-abled, held in Slovakia. It was organized by Physically Disabled Chess Association.

Shashikant Kutwal is a railway employee. Shashikant Kutwal has represented India in Central Railway, Indian Railways and India at various chess competitions.

Around 40 men and women from 12 countries took part in the championship, where 4 players were participants from India.

14 - Ace shooters Jitu Rai and Heena Sidhu bagged gold medal in ISSF World Cup

Among 430 athletes from 45 countries, India’s Jitu Rai and Heena Sidhu bagged gold medal in mixed team 10m air pistol event of the ISSF World Cup held in Gabala, Azerbaijan, defeating Russia by 7-6 in finals.

Similarly, France beat Iran by an identical score to win the bronze in the event. Event was topped by China with 6 medals.

The mixed team air pistol event is one of the new events qualified for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. India was represented by a 23-member Rifle and Pistol squad.

15 - Lewis Hamilton clinched Canadian Grand Prix

Meredes Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton dominated the Canadian Grand Prix for the 6^th time beating Sebastian Vettel's title lead to 12 points, held at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It was the Mercedes team’s first one-two finish win of the year 2017 and Hamilton’s 56^th career win.

The Canadian Grand Prix is an annual auto race championship held in Canada since 1961. It has been part of the Formula One World Championship since 1967.

16 - Virat Kohli ranked topmost ODI batsman

Virat Kohli’s performance in ICC Champions Trophy 2017 has made him ranked first in ODI batsman list, followed by Australia’s David Warner and South Africa’s AB de Villiers.

Similarly, bowlers were also ranked where Australian fast bowler Josh Hazlewood took over from Proteas pacer Kagiso Rabada as the No.1 ranked bowler, followed by South Africa’s Imran Tahir at 2^nd spot and Australia’s Mitchell Starc at 3^rd spot.

Two unbeaten fifty-plus scores improved Virat Kohli’s ranking from No.3 to No.1 in the latest ICC ODI rankings.

17 - K Srikanth bagged Indonesian Open Super Series badminton title

Veteran player Kidambi Srikanth bagged Indonesia Open Super Series badminton title backing Japan’s Kazumasa Sakai. With this win, it was Srikanth’s third Super Series title after 2014 China Open and 2015 India Open. Among other Indian players, Saina Nehwal has eight Super Series titles.

With this victory, Srikanth is likely to move in the top-five and even as good as World No 2 after his remarkable win over Wan Ho. It was the first time an Indian male player has won the title in Indonesia.

18 - Kidambi Srikanth bagged Australia Open Super Series

Kidambi Srikanth clinched his fourth Super Series title with an incredible straight-game triumph over reigning Olympic and world champion Chen Long in the Australian Open final in Sydney.

The world no.11 Srikanth won 22-20, 21-16 in a 45-minute clash against the world no. 6 Chinese, who is also a two-time All-England champion.

The triumph is his second successive after clinching the Indonesia Open Super Series Premier title. Entering the summit showdown, Srikanth was only the fifth player in the world to contest three successive Super Series finals.

19 - Srinivas Gokulnath became 1^st Indian to finish solo Race Across America

Srinivas Gokulnath from Maharashtra created history by becoming the first Indian to complete the 4,900-km Race Across America (RAAM) in solo category.

Considered to be the toughest cycle race in the world, he cycled for 11 days, 18 hours and 45 minutes.

Among the nine men who finished, Gokulnath stood 7^th while another Indian, Dr Samarth, was at number 8. The race was won by Christoph Strasser.

20 - Yashaswini Deswal bagged gold in 10m air pistol in ISSF Junior World Championship

India's Yashaswini Singh Deswal has won a gold at the women's 10 metre air pistol event in the ISSF Junior World Championship. Anish Bhanwala won gold in the 25m standard pistol men's event. He also teamed up with Anhad Jawanda and Shivam Shukla to total 1733 in the 25m pistol and win gold.

The Indian shooting squad finished a creditable second at the ISSF Junior World Championship with three gold, two silver and three bronze medals in Suhl, Germany. China topped the tally in the rifle/pistol tournament with 19 medals, including eight gold.

21 - India cricket team sets record for most 300-plus totals in ODI cricket

The India cricket team created record for the most 300-plus totals in One Day International Cricket.

India crossed the 300-run mark for the 96^th time after they scored 310 runs while playing against West Indies. The previous record was held by Australia with 95 such occasions.

India and Australia are the only countries who have notched up a 300-plus totals over 90 times. South Africa have registered 300-plus totals 77 times.

22 - Ankush Dahiya won Gold at Mongolia boxing tournament

Ankush Dahiya (60 kg) clinched a gold while the experienced L Devendro Singh (52 kg) settled for a silver medal on the final day of the Ulaanbaatar Cup boxing tournament in Mongolia. Ankus defeated Korean Man Choe Chol while Devendro lost to Indonesia's Aldoms Suguro.

India finished with a gold, a silver and three bronze medals from the tournament. K Shyam Kumar (49 kg), Mohammed Hussamuddin (56 kg) and Priyanka Chaudhary (60 kg) won the bronze medals.

23 - Federer won his ninth Halle Open title

Tennis legend Roger Federer has clinched his ninth Halle Open title after beating hapless Alexander Zverev 6-1, 6-3 in the final. It was the quickest final in the history of the Halle Open.

This was the first time Federer won a tournament nine times. He has won 18 grand slam singles titles, the most in history for a male tennis player.

Federer is currently ranked world number 5 by the Association of Tennis professionals (ATP).