Sports Current Affairs

· Indian-origin American Abhimanyu Mishra has become the youngest-ever chess Grandmaster in the world. At 12 years, four months and 25 days, he obliterated the long-standing record held by Sergey Karjakin, who was 12 years and seven months old when he attained the title. Three years ago, India’s R Praggnanandhaa had almost surpassed him but missed the opportunity by a whisker.

· Indian wrestler Sumit Malik was banned for two years by the sport’s world governing body UWW after his B sample also returned positive for a prohibited stimulant.

· Top para high-jumper Mariyappan Thangavelu was named the flag-bearer of the Indian contingent in the Tokyo Paralympics, which begins on August 24.

· Karsten Warholm, a 25-year-old athlete from Norway, broke the long-standing world record in the 400m hurdles during the Bislett Games. Earlier the record was held by American hurdler Kevin Young for 29 years. His mark of 46.78 seconds was set at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, Spain, which was finally broken with an official time of 46.70 seconds by Warholm.

· India captain Mithali Raj became the highest run-getter in women’s cricket across formats, overtaking former England skipper Charlotte Edwards. Mithali became the world’s most prolific batter in women’s internationals, overtaking Edwards’ 10,273 runs. Suzie Bates of New Zealand is third with 7849 runs. Stafanie Taylor (7832) and Meg Lanning (7024) round up the top five.

· Red Bull’s Max Verstappen won the Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring, the ninth race of the 2021 Formula 1 World Championship season. Verstappen won the race ahead of Mercedes-AMG’s Valtteri Bottas and McLaren’s Lando Norris. Lewis Hamilton – Bottas’ teammate and Verstappen’s challenger for the 2021 Drivers’ championship – came home in fourth place.

· MC Mary Kom, the six-time world boxing champion, and Manpreet Singh, the men’s hockey team skipper, will be India’s flag-bearers at the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics, announced Indian Olympic Association (IOA). Bajrang Punia, a silver medallist at the 2018 World Wrestling Championships, will be the flag-bearer at the closing ceremony on August 8.

· Veteran England fast bowler James Anderson has added another feather to his cap as he completed 1000 wickets in first-class cricket. Anderson achieved the rare feat during Lancashire’s County Championship clash against Kent in Manchester. Anderson is the leading wicket-taker among pacers in Test cricket. In 162 Tests, the England great has claimed 617 wickets at an average of 26.67 with 30 five-fors and three 10-wicket match hauls.

· The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) released a financial grant of Rs 100 crore to the Rajasthan Cricket Association (RCA), which will be used to build India’s second-largest cricket stadium. The facility, which will be second to the recently inaugurated Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, is set to be built in Jaipur. The construction of the new stadium is likely to be completed within 24-30 months from commencement.

· Women’s Asian Cup in India will be held in Mumbai and Pune after the Asian Football Confederation dropped Bhubaneswar and Ahemdabad as venues to minimise the travelling time for participants and ensure an “optimum environment” for a bio-secure bubble. The Mumbai Football Arena at the Andheri Sports Complex and the Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex in Balewadi, Pune have been chosen as the new venues.

· The Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports has decided to grant recognition to WAKO India Kickboxing Federation as National Sports Federation (NSF) for promotion and development of the Kickboxing sport in India. To be fully included and accepted in the Olympic movement is important for the recognition and development of the sport of kickboxing.

· Lionel Messi-led Argentina beat Neymar’s Brazil 1-0 to win the Copa America final match, held at the Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro. With this win, Lionel Messi has secured his first major international trophy. The 2021 Copa America was the 47th edition of the annual international men’s football championship organised by South America’s football ruling body CONMEBOL.

· Bangladesh cricketer Mahmudullah Riyad has announced his retirement from Test cricket in the middle of Bangladesh’s one-off Test match against Zimbabwe at the Harare Sports Club. Mahmudullah made his Test debut in 2009 during Bangladesh’s tour of the West Indies.

· Indian-American Samir Banerjee has won the Wimbledon Junior Men`s title at Number 1 Court. He defeated Victor Lilov of America by 7-5, 6-3 in the Junior Men`s finals to lift the trophy at All England Club.

· The state government of Haryana will organise the Khelo India Youth Games 2021 in February 2022. Earlier the sports show was scheduled to be held from November 21 to December 5, 2021, but has been shifted due to the possible third wave of Covid-19 pandemic and keeping in mind that Khelo India Youth Games 2021 are to be held in the Under-18 category.

· The European Championship final pits England and Italy against each other. Italy won 3-2 on penalties. Italy, one of the most decorated teams in the world, have ended a few years of trophy drought. England, on the other hand, we’re in uncharted territory.

· Portugal captain and modern-day great Cristiano Ronaldo won the Euro 2020 Golden Boot after finishing as the top-scorer in the tournament. Despite playing just four games, Ronaldo clinched the top honours as he scored five goals.

· The Badminton World Federation has allotted the BWF World Championships to India for 2026. This will be the second time that India will host the premier tournament, which is held every year except for the Olympic year. India had hosted the BWF World Championships in Hyderabad in 2009.

· Deepak Kabra has become the first Indian to be selected for judging the gymnastics competition of the Olympic Games, a life goal achieved for the man who knew he wouldn’t have made it there as an active gymnast because of his not-so-strong fundamentals.

· Pakistan captain Babar Azam has altered the record books with the century he scored against England during the third ODI at Edgbaston. The Pakistan captain reached his 14th ton in his 81st ODI innings. Former South Africa opening batsman Amla had previously held the record who took 84 innings to reach this feat. Warner had taken 98 innings to get his 14th ODI ton while Kohli took 103 innings.

· The All India Football Federation (AIFF) has nominated Gokulam Kerala FC to represent India in the AFC Club Championship 2020-21. The winners of the Women League compete in the tournament but since it will not be held, the national federation nominated the champions of the fourth edition.

· Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes-Great Britain), won the British Grand Prix 2021, for a record-extending eighth time. The event was held on July 18, 2021, at the Silverstone Circuit in the United Kingdom.

· The International Cricket Council (ICC) inducted Mongolia, Tajikistan, and Switzerland as members at its 78th Annual General Meeting. Mongolia and Tajikistan as the 22nd and 23rd members of the Asia region. Switzerland is Europe’s 35th member. With the ICC now comprising 106 members in total, including 94 associates.

· Viswanathan Anand defeated Vladimir Kramnik to win the Sparkassen Trophy at Dortmund. Anand needed only a draw in the final game of the No-Castling Chess event, and he got it in 40 moves.

· The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has voted the Australian city of Brisbane as the host city for the 2032 Summer Olympics and Paralympic Games. Brisbane is the third Australian city to host the Olympic Games after Melbourne in 1956 and Sydney in 2000.

· Young wrestlers Aman Gulia and Sagar Jaglan emerged as the new world champions in their respective categories as India dished out an impressive show on the second day of the Cadet World Championship 2021 at Budapest, Hungary.

· Madhya Pradesh shooter, Rubina Francis has set a world record at the ongoing Para Sport Cup in Peru. She has won gold in the 10-metre air pistol para-event for women. Scoring 238.1 points, she went past the world record of Aysegul Pehlivanlar of Turkey. This win also secured her the quota for India at the Tokyo Summer Paralympics 2020.

· The Indian Olympic Association has roped in Adani Group as a sponsor for the Indian contingent at the ongoing Tokyo Games. IOA secretary general Rajiv Mehta, who is in Tokyo, announced the development.

· Mirabai Chanu won the silver medal in weightlifting and became the first Indian to win an Olympic medal at the 2020 Tokyo Games in the Women’s 49kg category. China’s Hou Zhihui clinched the gold medal.

· Yang Qian of China took gold in the women’s 10m air rifle final to secure the first gold medal of the 2020 Summer Games at the Asaka Shooting Range on 24th July. Anastasiia Galashina of Russia won silver, while Nina Christen of Switzerland won the bronze medal.

· Indian Wrestler Priya Malik has won a Gold Medal at the 2021 World Cadet Wrestling Championship in Budapest, Hungary.

· Japan’s Yuto Horigome has won the first-ever skateboarding competition at the Olympic Games, taking gold in men’s street event at the Ariake Urban Sport in Tokyo. Yuto overcame a shaky start to pocket the gold with 37.18 points. Kelvin Hoefler of Brazil won silver in the men’s street skating competition, while Jagger Eaton of the United States clinched the bronze.

· Japan’s Momiji Nishiya became one of the youngest individual Olympic champions in history when she won the inaugural women’s skateboarding gold at the age of 13 years and 330 days. Rayssa Leal (13 years and 203 days) of Brazil won silver and Funa Nakayama (16 years) of Japan clinched the bronze. The youngest gold medalist was Team USA’s Marjorie Gestring at the 1936 games in Berlin. Gestring, only 13 years and 268 days old at the time, won gold in the women’s diving competition.

· Vantika Agarwal has won the National Women Online Chess title. She scored 9.5 points from 11 rounds. Arpita Mukherjee of West Bengal took the second spot and Tamil Nadu’s Sreeja Seshadri secured the third spot in the competition.