(Current Affairs) Sports | April - 2015

Sports

Poland wins Hopman Cup

  • Poland has won its first ever Hopman Cup title, beating the USA 2-1 in the final. Agnieszka Radwanska showed why she should be considered among the favourites for the Australian Open later this month by beating the world No. 1 Serena Williams in the final.
  • The world No. 5 Radwanska teamed up with Hopman debutant Jerzy Janowicz to beat the US pairing of Serena Williams and John Isner 2-1.

Avinash emerges champion in National junior snooker

  • Avinash Kumar continued his giant-killing spree to win his maiden National junior snooker title at the BRC. The 20-year-old Delhi cueist won all his round-robin semifinal league games, losing just three frames.
  • “He played spectacular snooker. His extraordinary show has caught the attention of everyone in this National meet,” said former World billiards champion Manoj Kothari.
  • “We will try and get him scholarship from one of the oil companies,” he informed. Avinash, whose parents migrated to Delhi from Patna, did not drop a single frame.
  • Playing his second league game against Hritik Jain from Madhya Pradesh, Avinash was thrashed 1-63 in the opening frame. “I came to the venue late and hardly had time to warm-up,” he said.
  • “Though I won the second frame I was still not be able to focus well. I got my rhythm back in the fourth and there was no stopping me.” Avinash lost the first frame to S. Shrikrishna of Tamil Nadu 11-72 in the final league game only to take the next four in a row.

India have slipped to 7th place in Test rankings

  • India have slipped a place to be seventh in the latest ICC Test rankings after losing the four-match away series against Australia 0-2. India’s slide in the rankings come after the two fighting draws which were not enough to prevent another series loss overseas.

  • India captain Virat Kohli however has gained three places to be 12th in the batsmen standings after amassing 692 runs in the eight innings Down Under. His Australian counterpart Steven Smith has reached a career-high fourth after piling up 769 runs in the series at a staggering average of 128.16.

  • Amongst the bowlers, pacer Mohammed Shami has risen seven places to a career-high 31st place after taking match figures of six for 145 runs in Sydney, while Australia’s Mitchell Starc has moved up nine places to 33rd after returning five wickets for 142 runs.

  • Amongst the other bowlers from the Sydney Test are Australia duo Shane Watson and Josh Hazlewood, up to 38th and a career-high 46th respectively.

Railways’ teams win in contrasting styles

  • It was double delight for Railways at the 63rd senior national volleyball championship as it clinched the men’s and women’s titles beating Tamil Nadu and Kerala respectively.
  • While the women’s final was a cakewalk, the men’s title-round will probably go down in the history of Indian volleyball as one of the greatest comebacks in the finals of the national championship.
  • Railways was down two sets and staring down the barrel before it saved three match points in the fourth set and went on to turn it around and win the match 19-25, 18-25, 25-23, 26-24, 15-9.
  • Defending champion TN had no one to blame but itself for the result — letting its crown slip when it had one hand on it with some poor defence work and unforced errors in the final three sets.
  • For Railways, attacker S. Prabagaran was the star performer of the day. He, along with all-rounder Manu Joseph, kept the visitors in the game with some attacking play.

Women’s hockey camp begins

  • The Indian women’s hockey team began its preparatory camp for a Test series against Spain at the National Stadium.
  • Goalkeepers: Yogita Bali, Savita, Rajni Etimarpu.

Brett Lee announced retirement from all forms of cricket

  • Former Australia fast bowler Brett Lee announced his pending retirement from all forms of cricket after a 20-year career.
  • The 38-year-old pacer quit international cricket in July 2012, but had been a Twenty20 regular, both in the Indian Premier League and the domestic competition in Australia.
  • Lee, who made the announcement at the Sydney Cricket Ground, remains the equal leading wicket-taker for Australia in ODIs with Glenn McGrath, with 380 in 221 appearances. Lee also took 310 wickets in 76 Tests for Australia.

Brett Lee announced retirement from all forms of cricket

  • Former Australia fast bowler Brett Lee announced his pending retirement from all forms of cricket after a 20-year career.
  • The 38-year-old pacer quit international cricket in July 2012, but had been a Twenty20 regular, both in the Indian Premier League and the domestic competition in Australia.
  • Lee, who made the announcement at the Sydney Cricket Ground, remains the equal leading wicket-taker for Australia in ODIs with Glenn McGrath, with 380 in 221 appearances. Lee also took 310 wickets in 76 Tests for Australia.

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