Sports News in Brief: May 2009

GAMES
Twenty20 to feature in Guangzhou Asian Games: India and Pakistan have promised to send their best cricket teams as the sport makes its maiden Asian Games appearance in Guangzhou in 2010. "India and Pakistan were the drivers. Asia's four Test-playing nations have committed to sending their best available teams. Both men's and women's teams will participate in a Twenty20 format contest, with India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh automatically qualifying, along with host nation China.

CRICKET
Deccan Chargers win IPL, 2009: In a surcharged finale before a packed stadium, Deccan Chargers soared to the summit of the Twenty20 Indian Premier League from 2008's zenith by overcoming Royal Challengers Bangalore by six runs. The best bowling of the match by Anil Kumble, who claimed four for 16, thus, went in vain, as Challengers choked in their run chase.
Golden player of the league: Adam Gilchrist.
Orange Cap for highest run getter of the tournament: Mathew Hayden.
Purple Cap for highest wicket taker of the tournament: R.P. Singh.
U-23 success of the tournament: Rohit Sharma.
Fairplay award: Kings XI Punjab.

England-West Indies Test series: England began a Test series on a winning note for the first time in 14 attempts and won at Lord's for the first time since 2005 as they wrapped up a convincing 10-wicket success against West Indies in the first Test. Seamers James Anderson and Tim Bresnan ripped through the West Indies batting order to lead England to victory by an innings and 83 runs in the second Test and win the series 2-0.

England-West Indies One-Day series: Paul Collingwood hit an unbeatedn 47 and took 3 wickets for 16 runs as England beat West Indies by six wickets in the second match to take a 1-0 lead. The first match was washed out due to rain. England then beat West Indies by 58 runs in the third and final one-day international in Birmingham, to win the series 2-0.

Pakistan-Australia One-Day Series: Shahid Afridi exposed Australia's frailties against spin to help Pakistan to a four-wicket win in the first One-Day International at the Dubai Stadium. Andrew Symonds starred in Australia's much improved performance with both bat and ball as they beat Pakistan by six wickets in the second day-night international. Clarke and Shane Watson combined for an unbroken 197-run stand, to give Aussies a 3-1 lead in the five-game series, ensuring their first One-day series win since September 2008, when they beat Bangladesh in Darwin. Kamran Akmal hit an aggressive century to overshadow Shane Watson's hundred as Pakistan beat Australia by seven wickets in the fifth and final match.

 

South Africa-Australia One- Day Series: Herschelle Gibbs hit a sparkling century and Dale Steyn took four wickets to lift South Africa to a series-clinching 61-run win over Australia in the fourth one-dayer. The hosts clinched the series 3-1.

India to host Champions League in India: Twelve teams will contest in the inaugural Champions League Twenty20 (CLT20) tournament to be played in India from October 8-23, 3009. The tournament will feature three teams from India (two finalists and the top league finishing team), top two domestic T20 teams from South Africa, England, Australia and the domestic T20 Champions from New Zealand, West Indies and Sri Lanka. The Royal Challengers, Deccan Chargers and Delhi Daredevils will represent India, Victoria and New South Wales will represent Australia, while the Cobras and Eagles will the two South African teams.The tournament is a joint venture by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), Cricket Australia (CA) and Cricket South Africa (CSA).

Wisden's first-ever Dream Test XI:Wisden, the highly respected cricket publication, has named Virender Sehwag as the leading cricketer in the world for 2008. The five previous winners have been Ricky Ponting, Shane Warne, Andrew Flintoff, Muttiah Muralitharan and Jacques Kallis.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni has been named as the captain of its first-ever Dream Test XI which has five Indians in the ranks. India's rich vein of form found ample reflection in Wisden's first-ever dream XI which includes Sehwag, Dhoni, Sachin Tendulkar, Harbhajan Singh and Zaheer Khan.

 

India has the largest representation in the Test squad, followed by Australia (Ricky Ponting and Mitchell Johnson) and South Africa (Graeme Smith and Dale Steyn) who have two each.

 

Flamboyant batsman Kevin Pietersen is the lone English player in the XI, while the West Indies is represented by run-machine Shivnarine Chanderpaul. Smith is Dhoni's deputy in the side.

BADMINTON
Sudirman Cup: The 2009 Sudirman Cup (World Mixed Team Badminton Championships) was held in the Guangzhou Gymnasium of Guangzhou, China. Hosts China crushed Korea 3-0 in the final to win the cup.

India to host World Badminton Championship: Players from 50 countries will participate in the World Badminton Championship, to be held at the Gachibowli stadium in Hyderabad, from August 10 to 16, 2009. India would be hosting this mega event for the first time. The World Badminton Championship, which is held every year, except in an Olympic year, was last held in Kuala Lumpur in 2007, and will move to Paris in 2010. 

BOXING
World Boxing Council Flyweight title: Japan's Daisuje Naito defeated China's Xiong Zhaozhong to retain the title.

FOOTBALL
Champions League: Lionel Messi produced something special in the form of a rare headed goal to help Barcelona beat Manchester United 2-0 in the Champions League final and establish itself as the unofficial best team on the planet. The win was Barcelona's third in Europe's premier club competition, following their earlier successes in 1992 and 2006 and completed a treble after their successes in La Liga and the King's Cup.

UEFA Cup: An extra-time goal from Brazilian mid-fielder Jadson earned Shakhtar Donetsk a 2-1 victory over Werder Bremen in the UEFA Cup final to clinch the Ukrainian side's first European title.

English League, 18th: Manchester United captured their 18th English league title when they secured the point they needed in a 0-0 draw with Arsenal.

GOLF
US Masters, 2009: Argentina's Angel Cabrera, who had not cracked the top five in any event in more than a year, won the 73rd Masters in a sudden-death playoff with some unlikely help from a tree. Cabrera, who had not won a title since claiming his first major at the 2007 US Open at Oakmont, made a par on the second playoff hole, to defeat Kenny Perry, who at 48 could have become golf's oldest Major champion.

 

HOCKEY
Asia Cup: South Korea won their third Asia Cup hockey title after beating three-time champions Pakistan 1-0 in a hard-fought final in Malaysia. China claimed third place after a 7-6 penalty shootout with Malaysia. Tushar Khandekar pumped in two late goals as defending champions India routed Japan 5-1 to finish a lowly fifth in the seven-nation Asia Cup.

Azlan Shah Cup: India beat hosts Malaysia 3-1 to win their fourth Sultan Azlan Shah title in Malaysia. Previous victories were in 1985, 1991 and 1995. This was India's first title win abroad since 2003. Sandeep Singh was named the player of the tournament. He was also the top goal scorer, hitting 6 out of India's 12 goals. Arjun Halappa was named the player of the final.

 

SAILING
Rohini becomes first Indian woman to win a international medal: Chennai-based sailor Rohini Rau has won the bronze medal in the Laser radial event of the 2009 Izola Spring Cup in Slovenia, becoming the first Indian woman to finish on the podium in an international Olympic class Regatta. Elisabetta Macchini of Italy landed the gold followed by Austrian Katharina Roeggla.

 

SHOOTING
Gagan touches peak: Gagan Narang, the 26-year-old Hyderabad sharpshooter has become the first Indian to bag a 50 m rifle three position gold in a World Cup, with an aggregate of 1264.0 points at Changwon (South Korea). His burgeoning kitty now has three World Cup gold and two bronze. He was also the first Indian to clinch a Beijing Olympic quota berth when he bagged his first gold at the 2006 World Cup in Guangzhou in the 10 m rifle event.

Sawant shoots bronze at Munich world cup: Tejaswani Sawant won a bronze in the women's three position rifle event of the shooting World Cup at Munich. She is the first time World Cup finalist.

SWIMMING
Alain Bernard sets swimming world record: France's Alain Bernard set a new 100 m freestyle swimming record with a time of 46.94 seconds at the French championships.

 

TENNIS
Yuki wins 2nd ITF title on the trot: Yuki Bhambri gave ample display of his class as the Delhi teen sensation when he won his second successive ITF Men's Futures title after edging past top seed Raven Klassen.