Sri Lanka President sack sports minister Roshan Ranasinghe
Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe has sacked Sports Minister Roshan Ranasinghe. On November 6, Roshan Ranasinghe suspended the whole Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) board following outrage over Sri Lanka’s 302-run defeat against India in the Cricket World Cup. Ranasinghe also appointed an Interim Committee for Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC), chaired by World Cup-winning captain Arjuna Ranatunga. The current committee stands “Temporally Suspended. ” Ranasinghe had appointed Arjuna Ranatunga, Sri Lanka’s World Cup-winning captain in 1996, to oversee a new interim board. A retired Supreme Court judge and a former board president are among the seven members of the newly constituted body.
Sri Lanka:
- Capital: Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte (legislative), Colombo (executive and judicial)
- President: Ranil Wickremesinghe
- Prime Minister: Dinesh Gunawardena
- Currency: Sri Lankan rupee
Manchester City whitewash Fluminense to claim FIFA Club World Cup title
European champions Manchester City claimed their first FIFA Club World Cup title in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia after whitewashing South American champions Fluminense in the final. Alvarez was named the Man of the Match. With the victory, City has become the quintuple champions of 2023, having won the FA Cup, the Premier League, the UEFA Champions League, the UEFA Super Cup, and now, the FIFA Club World Cup.
Manchester City
- Captain: Kevin De Bruyne
- Manager: Pep Guardiola
- Founded: 1880
Chennai Grand Masters 2023; Dommaraju Gukesh clinches title
In Chennai Grand Masters 2023 tournament, Indian chess prodigy, Dommaraju Gukesh clinched the title by holding compatriot Pentala Harikrishna for a draw.Meanwhile, Arjun Erigaisi secured the second spot. Both Arjun and Gukesh finished the event at 4. 5 points out of 7. Gukesh won the tournament on tiebreaks. Pentala Harikrishna finished third with 4 points, as all three Indians in the tournament ended the campaign with a podium finish. With this win, Gukesh takes the lead in the FIDE Circuit. If he keeps the lead till 1st January 2024, he will qualify for the highly coveted Candidates Tournament 2024. Earlier, R. Praggnanandhaa qualified for the Candidates by finishing second at the FIDE World Cup 2023 held at Baku, Azerbaijan this year.
ICC rankings: Shubman Gill loses top ODI batters spot to Babar Azam
India opener Shubman Gill’s reign at the top of of the ODI batters’ list was short-lived as he was replaced by former Pakistani skipper Babar Azam in the ICC Player Rankings. The Indian attained the top spot during the ODI World Cup last month, but since then he has not played any ODI. Babar is back at the top with 824 rating points, while Gill (810) is the second spot followed by teammates Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. Shreyas Iyer has dropped to 12th, while KL Rahul has moved a spot to 16th.
Other changes:
In the bowlers’ chart, South African spinner Keshav Maharaj remains at the top followed by Australia pacer Josh Hazlewood. Fast bowler Mohammed Siraj (3rd), Jasprit Bumrah (5th) and Kuldeep Yadav (8th) are the other Indians to feature in the top 10.
FIH Hockey Stars Awards: Hardik is Player of the Year; Savita voted Goalkeeper of the Year (Female) again
Indian men’s hockey team midfielder Hardik Singh and women’s side captain Savita won the FIH Player of the Year and Goalkeeper of the Year (women) awards respectively. The awards were declared following a vote by an expert panel, National Associations — represented by their respective national teams’ captains and coaches, fans and media. This is Hardik’s second big award this year as he was also conferred the Hockey India Balbir Singh Sr Award for Player of the Year 2022. As for Savita, this is her third consecutive FIH Women’s Goalkeeper of the Year award, having won the recognition in 2021 and 2022. Xan de Waard of the Netherlands has been elected as 2023 FIH Player of the Year in the women’s category. Dutch goalkeeper Pirmin Blaak won the FIH Goalkeeper of the Year awards among men, while the awards for FIH Rising Stars went to Teresa Lima (Spain) and Gaspard Xavier (France). China women’s head coach Alyson Annan and Germany men’s head coach André Henning won the FIH Coaches of the Year awards, while Ayanna McClean (Trinidad-and- Tobago) and Ben Göntgen (Germany) were awarded with the FIH Umpires of the Year recognitions.
International Hockey Federation (FIH)
- Headquarters: Lausanne, Switzerland
- Founded: 7 January 1924
- CEO: Thierry Weil
- Founder: Paul Léautey
- Legal status: Governing body of: Field hockey;Indoor hockey
Mallika Sagar to become first woman to conduct IPL auction
Auctioneer Mallika Sagar will conduct PL 2024 auction in Dubai. She’ll become the first-ever woman to conduct an IPL player auction. Notably, Mallika had also conducted Women’s Premier Leaque 2023 and 2024 auctions.
Indian Premier League:
- Headquarters: Cricket Centre, Churchgate, Mumbai, Maharashtra
- First edition: 2008
- Current champion: Chennai Super Kings (2023)
- Most successful: Chennai Super Kings, Mumbai Indians (5 titles each)
- Most runs: Virat Kohli (7263)
- Most wickets: Yuzvendra Chahal (187)
First-ever Khelo India Para Games conclude in New Delhi; Haryana dominates medal tally with 40 gold, 39 silver and 26 bronze
The first-ever Khelo India Para Games (KIPG) concluded in New Delhi with Haryana winning the inaugural title by securing 105 medals including 40 gold, 39 silver, and 26 bronze. Uttar Pradesh came second with 62 medals including 25 gold, 23 silver, and 14 bronze, while Tamil Nadu finished third with 20 gold, eight silver, and 14 bronze medals. Athletes from 32 states and Union Territories participated in the Games. The Games also witnessed an Asian record being bettered by Pranav Soorma of Haryana, who improved his Asian Para Games gold medalwinning performance of 30. 01 with an effort of 33. 54 metres in the club throw event. He improved the Asian record of 31. 09m held by Dharambir.
BCCI retires No. 7 jersey in honour of Dhoni
MS Dhoni’s iconic No 7 jersey has been retired by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) as a tribute to the former skipper’s contribution to the sport. The only other cricketer to have been bestowed a similar honour is Sachin Tendulkar, whose No 10 jersey is also out of commission. Dhoni had retired from international cricket three years ago. The former skipper guided India to all three white-ball ICC titles – – T20 World Cup 2007, ODI World Cup 2011 and Champions Trophy 2013 — while wearing the No. 7. Sachin Tendulkar was the only other cricketer to receive a similar honor; back in 2017, his iconic No. 10 jersey was also retired, paying tribute to his legendary career and contributions to the sport.
BCCI:
- President: Roger Binny
- Headquarters: Mumbai
- Founded: December 1928
Paes, Amritraj become first Asian men in International Tennis Hall of Fame
Former doubles world No. 1 Leander Paes and broadcaster and promoter Vijay Amritraj of India have become the first Asian men to be inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame. Besides the duo, renowned journalist and writer Richard Evans have also been elected in the Ultimate Honour in Tennis. Paes, an 18-time Grand Slam champion in doubles and mixed doubles, has been selected in the player category, while Amritraj and United Kingdom’s Evans are inductees in the contributor category, which is considered for election every two years. The contributor category recognises true pioneers, visionary leaders, or individuals/groups who have made a transcendent impact on the sport. Paes, Amritraj and Evans will join an elite group of 264 inductees from 27 nations with India set to become the 28th nation represented in the Hall of Fame.
India’s Ashwini Ponnappa and Tanisha Crasto win women’s doubles title at Guwahati Masters badminton tournament
India’s Ashwini Ponnappa and Tanisha Crasto won the women’s doubles title at the Guwahati Masters 2023 badminton tournament. Ashwini Ponnappa and Tanisha Crasto, the second seeds at the BWF Super 100 tournament, beat the Taipei’s Sung Shuo Yun and Yu Chien Hui to win what was their second title as a pair.
2023 Guwahati Masters Champions:
- Men’s singles: Yohanes Saut Marcellyno (Indonesia)
- Women’s singles: Lalinrat Chaiwan (Thailand)
- Men’s doubles: Choong Hon Jian (Malaysia),Muhammad Haikal (Malaysia)
- Women’s doubles: Tanisha Crasto (India),Ashwini Ponnappa (India)
- Mixed doubles: Terry Hee (Singapore), Jessica Tan (Singapore)
Punjab defeats Haryana to clinch 13th senior men’s national hockey championship
Punjab claimed the Gold medal after their penalty shootout triumph over defending Champions Haryana in the Final of the 13th Hockey India Senior Men’s National Championship 2023 at the Mayor Radhakrishnan Hockey Stadium, Chennai. Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu overcame Karnataka in penalty shootouts to claim the Bronze Medal.
Hockey India:
- Founded: 2009
- Headquarters: New Delhi, India
- President: Dilip Tirkey
- CEO: Elena Norman
- Secretary: Bhola Nath Singh
- Men’s coach: Craig Fulton
- Women’s coach: Janneke Schopman
Italy lifts Davis Cup for 1st time in 47 years
A dominant Jannik Sinner outclassed Australia’s Alex de Minaur to help Italy secure their first Davis Cup title for 47 years. It is the second time Italy have lifted the Davis Cup, having previously won the title in 1976. Australia were bidding for a 29th Davis Cup title but have now lost back-to-back finals, having been beaten by Canada last year.
Davis Cup:
The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men’s tennis. It is run by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and is contested annually.
- Founded: 1900
- Founder: Dwight F. Davis
- No. of teams: 155 (2023)
- Most recent champion: Italy (2nd title)
- Most titles: United States (32 titles)
Sports ministry suspends Sanjay Singh-led new Wrestling Federation of India body over ‘hasty’ announcement
The Sports Ministry suspended the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) till further orders after the newly-elected body made a “hasty announcement” of organising the U-15 and U-20 nationals “without following due procedure and not giving sufficient notice to wrestlers” for preparations. The ministry also said the new body was working under the “complete control of former (WFI) office-bearers”, which was not in conformity with the National Sports Code. The WFI elections were held on December 21 with former president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh’s loyalist, Sanjay Singh, and his panel winning the polls by big margins. Top wrestler Bajrang Punia, who along with Vinesh Phogat and Sakshi Malik, had led the agitation against Brij Bhushan had returned his Padma Shri award to the government in protest over Sanjay Singh, who is a Brij Bhushan loyalist, becoming WFI President. This was a day after Sakshi Malik quit wrestling for the same reason.
Background
Several top wrestlers, including Olympic medallists Bajrang Punia and Sakshi Malik and World Championship medallist Vinesh Phogat have levelled allegations of sexual harassment against Brij Bhushan and the case is being heard in the Delhi High Court.
