Expecting Questions from Recent National and International Sports Events
1) Philipp Lahm has announced his retirement from international game. He is the captain of which of the following countries football team ?
National and International Sports Current Affairs of Last 6 Months (March - September)
National and International Sports Current Affairs:
- India won the 5-match One-Day International (ODI) series played against
England by 3-1. The first match of the series was washed out due to rain
without a ball being bowled. However, India won the second, third and
fourth matches of the series but suffered a defeat by the hands of
England in the fifth and the final match.
- Jaipur Pink Panther (JPP) owned by Abhisek Bachchan on 31 August 2014
won the inaugural title of the Star Sports Pro Kabaddi League. To win
its first title of the tournament, Jaipur Pink Panther defeated U Mumba
35-24 at the NSCI Stadium in Mumbai.
- World number three tennis player, Roger Federer of Switzerland on 17
August 2014 won Cincinnati Tennis Open, also called Western &
Southern Open. He defeated David Ferrer of Spain 6-3, 1-6, 6-2 in the
final played in Cincinnati, US. This was sixth Cincinnati title for
33-year-old Federer and was the first Masters title for Federer since
2012.
- Rafael Nadal (rank no. 1) of Spain won the French Open title 2014 for
the ninth time on 8 June 2014. He is the first men to win five French
Open titles in a row. He won against Novak Djokovic (rank no. 2) of
Yugoslavia with 3-6, 7-5, 6-2, and 6-4 in the final.
- Germany was ranked number One in the latest release of the FIFA's world
rankings released on 17 July 2014. Germany improved its position by one
places as it was ranked number two behind Spain until now.
- Australia won the 2014 edition of Men’s Hockey World Cup for second
successive time. Australia won against the Netherlands with 6-1 in the
final held at Kyocera Stadium in The Hague, Netherlands on 15 June 2014.
- The International Cricket Council (ICC) on 9 September 2014 suspended
Saeed Ajmal, the off-spinner of Pakistan, from bowling in international
cricket with immediate effect for illegal bowling action.
- Former Captain of Bangladesh Mohammad Ashraful on 18 June 2014 was
banned for eight years by the disciplinary panel set up by the
Bangladesh Cricket Board.
- Zimbabwe on 31 August 2014 defeated Australia for the first time in 31
years in the one-day match played at the Harare Sports Club. This was
the first win for Zimbabwe since 1983 World Cup of Cricket in Trent
Bridge.
- Kush Kumar on 13 August 2014 became the first Indian player to reach the
semi-final of World Junior Squash Championship. The championship is
being held in Windhoek, Namibia.
- Parupalli Kashyap on 3 August 2014 became the third Indian to win Gold
medal in Badminton at Commonwealth Games (CWG). He achieved the feat at
the 2014 CWG in Glasgow, Scotland when he defeated Derek Wong of
Singapore. This was also his first Gold medal in any international
tournament.
- Saina Nehwal, Indian badminton ace, on 29 June 2014 won 750000 US dollar
Australian Open Super Series by defeating Carolina Marin of Spain in
straight-game 21-18, 21-11 in final played at Sydney.
- Pankaj Advani, the Indian cueist on 29 June 2014 won his maiden IBSF
6-Red World snooker title at Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt. To win the title,
he defeated Kacper Flilpiak of Poland in a game that lasted for an
hour.
- Vikas Gowda of Karnataka on 31 July 2014 won a gold medal in discus
throw in Men's Track events at 2014 Commonwealth Games at Glasgow,
Scotland.
- Dipa Karmakar on 31 July 2014 became the first Indian woman gymnast and
second person of the country to win a medal at the Commonwealth Games.
She bagged a bronze in the vault event and scripted history for and in
India.
- Sim Bhullar became the first basketball player of Indian origin to join
the National Basketball Association (NBA). He signed a summer contract
in second week of July 2014 with the Sacramento Kings, a professional
basketball team in the US.
- Wrestlers Yogeshwar Dutt and Sushil Kumar on 1 June 2014 won Gold and
Silver respectively at the International wrestling tournament held in
Sassari city of Italy.
- Paralympic swimmer Sharath Gayakwad won two Bronze and one Silver at the
IDM Berlin 2014. He won Bronze Medals in the 200m Individual Medley
(2:44.06 seconds) and the 100m Butterfly (1:09.67 seconds) and won the
Silver Medal in the 100m Breaststroke.
- The 151st edition of the Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack published on 9
April 2014 carries a picture of Sachin Tendulkar on its cover page. With
this Sachin Tendulkar, the Indian cricketer, who retired from
International cricket in November 2013 and ended his glorious 24-year
long career, became the 1st Indian cricketer to be featured on the cover
page of the Almanack.
- Iwao Hakamada, the Japanese boxer on 6 April 2014 was awarded with an
honorary championship belt by World Boxing Council (WBC). Hakamada was
freed from death row on 27 March 2014 after 48 years in prison following
a murder conviction.
- Heena Sindhu, the Indian shooter on 7 April 2014 clinched the World’s
Number One spot in 10 meters air pistol event. By achieving this fete,
she became the first Indian pistol shooter to be ranked at the top
position in the list.
- Heena Sidhu on 10 March 2014 won the Gold medal in the Women’s Air pistol event at the 7th Asian Air Gun Championship in Kuwait.
- Pooja Ghatkar, Indian shooter on 9 March 2014 won the Gold medal in
women’s air rifle event at the 7th Asian Air Gun Championship in Kuwait.
- Sachin Tendulkar on 14 March 2014 was voted as the Cricketer of the
Generation by a 50-member jury that comprised current and former
cricketers and journalists. To win the award, Sachin defeated his
competitors spin legend Shane Warne and all-rounder Jacques Kallis.
- Indian shuttler, Arvind Bhat won the men’s singles German Open Grand
Prix title against Danish Hans-Kristian Vittinghus 24-22 19-21 21-11 in
Mulheim an der Ruhr, Germany on 3 March 2014.
Commonwealth Games:
- 20th Commonwealth Games (CWG) 2014 concluded at Hampden Park stadium in
Glasgow, Scotland on 3 August 2014 at. The game that saw 17 sports in a
competition of 11 days was held from 23 July to 3 August 2014.
- Olympic Gold medalist Abhinav Bindra on 25 July 2014 won the Gold medal
in Men’s 10-m Air Rifle event at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow,
Scotland He shot 205.3 points to win the Gold.
- Weightlifters Sukhen Dey and K Sanjita Chanu on 24 July 2014 clinched a
Gold Medal each in weightlifting in the 20th Commonwealth Games in
Glasgow, Scotland. In all, India won seven medals on the first day of
Games in Glasgow, Scotland.
US Open:
- Croatia’s Marin Cilic on 8 September 2014 won the Men’s Singles title of
the US Open of Tennis. To win his first Grand Slam title, the 14th seed
Cilic defeated 10th seeded Kei Nishikori of Japan in straight sets,
6-3, 6-3, 6-3. The final match of the title was played at Arthur Ashe
Stadium in New York.
- World number one Serena Williams on 7 September 2014 won her third
consecutive Tennis US Open trophy. To win her third consecutive title
and to secure a record-equaling sixth US Open title in US Open, Williams
defeated Caroline Wozniazki of Denmark in straight sets, 6-3, 6-3.
- India’s Sania Mirza and her Brazilian teammate Bruno Soares on 5
September 2014 won the Mixed Doubles trophy of the US Open Tennis. In
the title clash, the top seeded, Indo-Brazilian pair defeated the
American-Mexican team of Abigail Spears and Santiago Gonzalez, 6-1, 2-6,
11-9. The US Open is the fourth and final Grand Slam of the season.
- American twin brothers Mike and Bob Bryan on 7 September 2014 won the men’s doubles titles of the US Tennis Open at Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York, USA.
Wimbledon Tennis:
- Petra Kvitova of Czechslovakia on 5 July 2014 won the women’s single of
Wimbledon Tennis Open of 2014. To win her second title, she defeated the
Canadian Eugenie Bouchard 6-3, 6-0.
- Novak Djokovic of Serbia on 6 July 2014 won the Men’s Wimbledon Tennis
Open defeating Roger Federer of Switzerland. This is the second Wimbledon title for
27-year-old, Djokovic and seventh career Grand Slam. Djokovic won his
first Wimbledon title in 2011.
- Vasek Pospisil and Jack Sock won the Men's Doubles of Wimbledon Tennis Open of 2014.
- Sara Errani and Roberta Vinvi won the Women's Doubles of Wimbledon Tennis Open of 2014.
- Nanad Zimonjic and Samantha Stosur won the Mixed Double's of Wimbledon Tennis Open of 2014.
Appointments:
- Adille Sumariwala, President of Athletics Federation of India (AFI), was
appointed as the Chef-de-Mission for Asian Games on 18 August 2014. He
was appointed by Indian Olympic Association to represent India in the
Asian Games 2014.
- Midfielder Ritu Rani was selected to lead Indian women's hockey team in Asian Games 2014. It was announced by a panel comprising B P Govinda, Harbinder Singh and Surinder Kaur along with Director High Performance Roelant Oltmans and chief coach Neil Hawgood on 3 September 2014.
- The Board of Cricket Control India (BCCI) appointed Ravishankar
Jayadritha Shastri as the Director of Indian Cricket Team on 19 August
2014. The decision came after seeing defeat of Indian Cricket Team in
Test series against England.
- Former Indian cricketer Kapil Dev Nikhanj was selected as the
Chairperson of the Arjuna Awards Selection Committee on 7 August 2014.
This Committee will choose outstanding sportspersons for 2014 of the
Country. This Committees will have 15 members which includes12
sportspersons and 3 officials
- Indian tennis star Sania Mirza was appointment as Brand Ambassador of
Telangana on 22 July 2014. Sania Mirza will promote the new state’s
interests in India and abroad.
- Sachin Tendulkar on 27 May 2014 was selected as the goodwill ambassador
of 35th National Games that is scheduled to be held in Kerala from
January-February 2015. The games will be held in seven cities of the
state.
- Hockey India on 19 April 2014 appointed former senior coach Harendra
Singh as the coach of the junior men's team. Harendra will join the
training camp of the team on 25 April 2014.
- Cheteshwar Pujara, the middle order batsman of Indian cricket team on 20
February 2014 was appointed as the brand ambassador of the Gujarat
State Election Commission.
- Three-time Olympian and former Hockey Captain Ajitpal Singh was selected
as the Chairman of the Dronacharya Award Selection Committee on 7
August 2014.
Records:
- Yohann Diniz of France broke the 50-km Walk World Record at the European Athletics Championship held in Zurich, Switzerland. He broke the record with a timing of 3 Hours 32 Minutes and 33 Seconds.
- Katie Ledecky, an American distance swimmer on 23 August 2014 created a
World Record in Women’s 1500 Meter Freestyle at the 2014 Pan Pac
Championships on the Gold Coast, Australia. To create the new record
Ledecky swam the distance in 15 minutes 28.36 seconds.
- Jo Pavey of Great Britain became the oldest-ever woman to win a Gold
medal in European Championships. She achieved this feat when she won
Gold medal in 10000 meter running at European Championship 2014 in
Zurich, Switzerland on 12 August 2014.
- German Sabine Lisicki on 30 June 2014 created a record of fastest serve
in the women’s tennis. The world No29 Lisicki set the record by serving
at 131 miles per hour during the first-round loss in the Bank of the
West Classic Stanford, USA. However, she lost the game played against
Ana Ivanovic 7-6 (7-2) 6-1.
Retirements:
- Pankaj Advani on 5 September 2014 announced to retire from the professional snooker tour. He decided to retire as he was finding it difficult to divide the time between billiards and snooker. However, he will continue to participate in Billiards.
- Miroslav Klose of Germany announced his retirement from international
football on 11 August 2014. He was the part of Germany team that won the
FIFA World Cup 2014 held in Brazil.
- Didier Drogba, the striker of Ivory Coast announced retirement from
international football on 8 August 2014. The 36-year-old Drogba played
in three World Cups for his country and made 104 appearances and scored
65 goals, over a 12-year period.
- Jacques Kallis, the South African all-rounder on 30 July 2014 announced
his retirement from all-formats of International cricket, viz., One Day
Internationals and T20s. In December 2013, he had announced his
retirement from Test cricket after playing the Test series against
India. But he would continue to play further for club cricket like
Sydney Thunder and Kolkata Knight Riders.
- Philipp Lahm, the captain of Germany’s football team announced his
retirement from international game on 18 July 2014. He announced his
retirement just five days after Germany led by him won its fourth
football World Cup beating Argentina 1-0 in the final of the 2014 FIFA
World Cup in Brazil.
- Mahela Jayawardene, the former skipper of Sri Lankan cricket team,
announced his retirement from Test cricket on 14 July 2014. He will
retire from Test Cricket after the home series against Pakistan in
August 2014.
- Gareth Hopkins the former New Zealand wicketkeeper on 11 April 2014
announced his retirement from cricket. He announced his retirement after
a career spanning over 17 years.
- Graeme Smith, the South African cricket team Captain on 4 March 2014
announced that he will retire from international cricket at the end of
the test match against Australia at Newlands. Smith is the longest
serving captain for South Africa in international cricket.
Deaths:
- Sir Jack Brabham, the three-time Formula One world champion died on 19
May 2014 at his home in Australia after a long illness. He was 88.
- Former British No 1 tennis player, Elena Baltacha died on 4 May 2014 due
to liver cancer at the age of 30. She was diagnosed of liver cancer in
January 2014.
- Rusi Dinshaw, the only Parsi Community cricketer of Pakistan died on 24
March 2014 in Karachi. He was 86 and was suffering from schizophrenia.
13) The 2nd Summer Youth Olympic Games was recently started in which of the following countries ?
