Sports For the Month – Oct-2023

World champion sprinter Schippers retires

Two-time world champion sprinter Dafne Schippers from the Netherlands announced her retirement at the age of 31 after having struggled with injuries in recent years. The 31-year-old from the Netherlands won gold in the 200m at the 2015 World Championship in Beijing and again in London two years later. She was also the silver medalist in the 200m at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. Schippers still holds the European record in the 200m with a time of 21. 63 seconds set in Beijing in 2015. She was European Athlete of the Year in 2014 and 2015.

Netherlands:

• Capital: Amsterdam
• Prime Minister: Mark Rutte
• Currency: Euro (€)

China and India Join USA and Japan to Stage Formula E Races In 2024

The ABB FIA Formula E World Championship announced a return to China and India for the milestone 10th season of the world’s leading electric motor racing series, making it the only motorsport to stage events during 2024 in the world’s three most populous countries: China, India, and the USA. Shanghai and Hyderabad were confirmed as host cities in Season 10 of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship following approval at the FIA World Motor Sport Council meeting.

Formula E Races:

Formula E, officially the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, is a single-seater motorsport championship for electric cars. The series was started in 2011 in Paris by then-FIA president Jean Todt and Spanish businessman Alejandro Agag, who is also the current chairman of Formula E Holdings.

Next Edition: 13 Jan, 2024 – 21 Jul, 2024

24-yr-old Karthikeyan Murali becomes 3rd Indian to defeat Magnus Carlsen in classical chess

India’s Karthikeyan Murali became just the third player from the country to defeat World number one
Magnus Carlsen in classical chess. Murali’s win over Carlsen, made him the third Indian after Harikrishna, who defeated the Norwegian in 2005, and Viswanathan Anand, the only other player from the country to have defeated Carlsen. With this win, Murali joined the players which included the likes of India’s SL Narayan and Arjun Erigaisi, with a score of 5. 5 out of 7. Karthikeyan Murali is two-time national champion.

23-year-old saurav chauhan smashes fastest fifty in syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy

Gujarat batter Saurav Chauhan breaking the fastest fifty in the tournament history. He achieved this feat
against Arunachal Pradesh at JSCA Oval Ground, Ranchi. Saurav Chauhan demonstrated brilliant batting and completed his fifty off 13 deliveries. He broke the record of Meghalaya’s Abhay Negi who smashed a half-century from 14 balls.

Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy:

The Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy is a domestic T20 cricket championship in India, organized by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), among the teams from the Ranji Trophy. It is named after Indian former test cricketer Syed Mushtaq Ali. The 2006-2007 inaugural season of this trophy was won by Tamil Nadu under the captaincy of Dinesh Karthik,and Rohit Sharma scored the first ever T20 century by an Indian in the T20 format, in it. Mumbai is the current champion and Tamil Nadu is the most successful team of the tournament, winning it thrice.

Adelaide to host 2025 beach volleyball worlds

The International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) has announced that Australia’s Adelaide will host the 2025
FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships. The announcement came after the 2023 edition of the tournament concluded in Tlaxcala, Mexico. This is the first time that Australia will host the Beach Volleyball World Championships. The signing ceremony was held ahead of the final rounds of the championships in Mexico.

Australia:

• Capital: Canberra
• Prime Minister: Anthony Albanese
• Currency: Australian dollar (AUD)

IOC approves five additional sports for LA 2028 Olympics, including cricket

Baseball/softball, cricket (T20), flag football, lacrosse and squash have been officially included as additional
sports on the programme for the Olympic Games Los Angeles 2028 (LA28). For baseball and softball, cricket and lacrosse it will be a return to the Olympic Games, while flag football and squash will be making their Olympic debut in LA. Baseball and softball have been part of the programme at several editions of the Olympic Games, most recently at Tokyo 2020.

Cricket was on the programme for the Olympic Games Paris 1900. Lacrosse was included on the programme at St Louis 1904 and London 1908. Flag football and squash will make their Olympic debut at LA28.

IOC:

• President: Thomas Bach
• Headquarters: Lausanne, Switzerland
• Founded: 23 June 1894
• Director General: Christophe De Kepper
• Founders: Pierre de Coubertin, D. Bikélas

Mohammad Shami creates history, becomes first Indian to take 2 five-wicket hauls in ODI World Cups

Team India fast bowler Mohammad Shami created history by becoming the first Indian to take two fivewicket hauls in OD World Cups. Playing in his first ODI World Cup 2023 match, Shami registered figures of against New Zealand. Shami’s first five-wicket haul in the World Cup was against England in the 2019 edition. ‘Shami surpassed a host of Indian bowlers to become the first to clinch two five-wicket hauls in World Cups.

Here’s the complete list:

• 2 – Mohammed Shami
• 1 – Kapil Dev
• 1 – Venkatesh Prasad
• 1 – Robin Singh
• 1 – Ashish Nehra
• 1 – Yuvraj Singh

Shubman Gill becomes fastest cricketer to score 2,000 runs in ODI cricket history

Team India’s 24-year-old opener Shubman Gill created history by becoming the fastest cricketer to score 2,000 runs in ODI cricket, achieving the feat during India’s OD World Cup 2023 match against New Zealand in Dharamshala. Gill took 38 innings to reach 2,000 ODI runs. The previous record was held by former South Africa batter Hashim Amla (40 innings).

Amla had set the record on January 21, 2011 in South Africa’s match against India at St George’s Park in Port Elizabeth. The right-handed Shubman also broke Shikhar Dhawan’s record of being the fastest Indian batter to score 2000 runs. Back on November 9, 2014, Dhawan set the record in his 48th innings in the match against Sri Lanka at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad.

Unnati Hooda captures women’s singles title at Abu Dhabi Masters 2023

In a battle of future Badminton stars from India, Unnati Hooda beat Samiya Imad Farooqui to capture
the women’s singles title at the Abu Dhabi Masters 2023. 16-year-old Unnati Hooda defeated the 20-yearold Samiya Imad Farooqui. This is her second BWF Super 100 World Tour title. She became the youngest Indian to clinch a BWF title last year at 14 years of age.

2023 Abu Dhabi Masters Champions:

• Men’s singles: Mads Christophersen (Denmark)
• Women’s singles: Unnati Hooda (India)
• Men’s doubles: Goh Sze Fei (Malaysia), NurIzzuddin (Malaysia)
• Women’s doubles: Tanisha Crasto (India), Ashwini Ponnappa (India)
• Mixed doubles: Mads Vestergaard (Denmark), Christine Busch (Denmark)

Shanghai Masters: Hubert Hurkacz beats Andrey Rublev to win title

Hubert Hurkacz defeated Andrey Rublev to win the Shanghai Masters. It was Hubert’s second Masters triumph, to go with the one he won in Miami in 2021,and a seventh ATP title in all. The Shanghai Masters is a professional men’s tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts, and held annually in early October at the Qizhong Forest Sports City Arena in the Minhang District of Shanghai. The tournament is chronologically the eighth out of nine ATP Tour Masters 1000 events on the ATP Tour, and is the only one not played in Europe or North America.

• Founded: 2009
• Editions: 12 (2023)

Current champions (2023)

• Singles: Hubert Hurkacz (Poland)
• Doubles: Marcel Granollers (Spain), Horacio Zeballos (Argentina)

IOC’s Executive Board imposes suspension on Russian Olympic Committee

The International Olympic Committee’s Executive Board has imposed suspension on the Russian Olympic Committee for a breach of the Olympic Charter. The Executive Board in their statement mentioned that Russian Olympic Committee is no longer entitled to operate as a National Olympic Committee (NOC), as defined in the Olympic Charter.

The decision was taken as Russia has violated the territorial integrity of the NOC of Ukraine, as
recognized by the International Olympic Committee. As a result of this, Russia cannot receive any funding
from the Olympic Movement. The Board also mentioned that suspension would not affect Russian athletes competing as neutrals. IOC reserves the right to decide about the participation of individual neutral athletes with a Russian passport in the Olympic Games Paris 2024 and the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 at the appropriate time.

Badminton: Satwiksairaj Rankiredy and Chirag Shetty rise to No. 1 in doubles rankings for 1st
time in career

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty scripted a piece of badminton history as they became the first
Indian doubles pair to be ranked No. 1 in the Badminton World Federation Rankings. Satwik and Chirag rose to the No. 1 spot in men’s doubles rankings after their sensational Gold medal-winning run at the recently-concluded Asian Games in Hangzhou.

4th Indian badminton player/pair:

• Satwik and Chirag have become only the 4th Indian badminton player/pair to be ranked No. 1 in the BWF rankings.
• Legendary Prakash Padukone was No. 1 in men’s singles rankings in 1980 after which Saina Nehwal reached the summit in the women’s singles rankings in 2015.
• Kidambi Srikanth was the last Indian player to be ranked No. 1 – in 2018 in men’s singles.

Indian men’s football team wins SAFF Under-19 Championship

In Football, India won the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Under-19 Championship after defeating Pakistan in a dominating display in the finals at the Dashrath Rangasala Stadium in Kathmandu. Manglenthang Kipgen and Gwgwmsar Goyary scored for India. With today’s victory, India successfully defended their title, which they won last year. It was India’s eighth youth title in the SAFF championships.

2023 SAFF Under-19 Championship:

• Top scorer: Jigme Namgyel (Bhutan), Gwgmsar Goyary (India), Samir Tamang (Nepal) (3 goals each)
• Best player: Manglenthang Kipgen (India)
• Best goalkeeper:Lionel Daryl Rymmei (India)
• Fair play award: Bhutan