Sports News in Brief: January 2010

BADMINTON
Senior National Badminton Championship, 74th
Chetan Anand claimed his fourth national title while Trupti Murgunde clinched her maiden one by winning the men’s
and women’s singles finals. There was more joy for Chetan as his wife Jwala Gutta claimed a double by winning both the
women’s and mixed doubles finals.

BASKETBALL
National Senior Championship, 60th
Indian Railways squeezed past hosts Punjab in men’s section to retain the men’s title. The women’s title was also won
by Indian Railways who defeated Delhi in final to retain the title.

CHESS
World Team championship
Russia won the gold with 24 points. India trounced Brazil in the ninth and last round to earn a bronze. The
championship was held at Bursa, Turkey.

CRICKET
Under-19 World Cup
Australia have become the first team to win the under-19 world cup thrice. They defeated Pakistan by 25 runs to win
the 2010 edition. The tournament was hosted by New Zealand.

Defending champions India finished sixth after being humbled by South Africa in the fifth place play-off match.

Ranji Trophy, 2010

Defending champions Mumbai pulled off a thrilling six-run win over Karnataka to clinch the coveted trophy for the
39th time.

Polly Umrigar Trophy

Delhi’s Vidya Jain Public School has claimed the trophy, symbol of supremacy in school cricket, defeating Presidency
School, Bangalore by 54 runs.

Bangladesh-Sri Lanka-India triangular series

Sri Lanka defeated India by four wickets to win the triangular one-day series final. India had made 245 batting first
and Sri Lanka surpassed the target with nine balls to spare.

Bangladesh-India Test series

India clinched the first Test with an emphatic 113-run victory to take 1-0 lead in the two-Test series.

South Africa-England Test series

England’s last pair of Graeme Swann and Graham Onions survived 17 balls to salvage a thrilling draw in the third Test
against South Africa and keep their side 1-0 ahead in the series.

South Africa won the fourth and final Test at Johannesburg by an innings and 74 runs to level the series 1-1.

Australia-Pakistan Test series

Australia completed a remarkable Test victory over Pakistan, coming from 206 runs behind in the first innings to win
the second Test at SCG by 36 runs. Needing 176 for its first victory in Australia in 14 years, Pakistan was bundled out for 139
runs.

Australia defeated Pakistan by 231 runs in the third Test, to win the three-Test series 3-0. This was a record-equalling
12th successive win against Pakistan. The sequence, which began in November 1999, equals the longest victory string against a
team in Test history. Shane Watson was declared the Mon of the series.

Australia-Pakistan One Day series

Australia completed a series whitewash after defeating Pakistan by two wickets in the fifth and final match, amid
allegations of ball tampering by Shahid Afridi. Afridi was subsequently banned for two T20 matches after pleading guilty to the
charges.
 Catching record of Dravid
Rahul Dravid is the first player ever to take 100 catches overseas for India. His overall tally of 193 catches in 139 Tests
is a world record.

FOOTBALL
Federation Cup
West Bengal clinched the title by over-coming giant-killer Lajong FC of Shillong. The final was held at Guwahati,
Assam.

GOLF
Royal Trophy
Europe survived a dramatic fight-back to beat holders Asia and win the Royal trophy for the third time.

TENNIS
Australian Open, 2010
Serena Williams defeated Belgium’s Justine Henin to win the women’s singles title for the fifth time and her 12th
Grand Slam title. With this win she drew level with Billie Jean King’s record of 12 Grand Slam wins.

Roger Federer beat Andy Murray to win his fourth Australian open men’s title, taking his own Grand Slam titles record
to 16.

Leander Paes, with partner Cara Black, won the mixed doubles title. This was his 11th Grand Slam title, equalling
Mahesh Bhupathi’s record of most wins by an Indian.

Mike and Bob Bryan won the men’s doubles title. The women’s doubles title was won by Serena and Venus Williams.

Chennai Open, 2010

Defending champion Marin Cilic of Croatia retained the title with a victory over Switzerland’s Stanislas Wawrinka.

Sports News in Brief: February 2010

BOXING
Vijender wins silver in Champion of Champions tournament
Olympic hero Vijender Singh broke the bronze jinx and fetched one of India’s two silver medals at the two-day
Champion of Champions invitational boxing tournament in Guangzhou, China. The 24-year-old Olympic and World
Championship bronze medallist lost 0-6 to China's Zhang Jin Ting in the in the middle weight (75kg) category final.

The other silver medal for India came through Olympian Dinesh Kumar, who settled for silver in 81kg after losing 2-10
to Chinese Meng Fan Long.

CRICKET
Cricket can now bid for 2020 Olympics
Cricket’s push to be a part of the Olympic Games received a major boost with International Olympic Council (IOC)
granting recognition to International Cricket Council (ICC) on February 12, 2010. This could be seen as a first step towards
cricket becoming Olympic sports. Its Twenty20 version can now bid to join the 2020 Olympic Games though ICC has not made it
clear which format it will push for.

Cricket was granted the status of a recognised Olympic sport in 2007, for sports not in the Olympic programme but
which conform to certain criteria, pending a decision for a permanent slot in the Games.

Cricket was part of the 1900 Olympics in Paris and has not appeared since then. The game was part of the 1998 Kuala
Lumpur Commonwealth Games and its Twenty20 version is set to feature at Asian Games in Guangzhou, China.

Sachin becomes first batsman to hit a double hundred in an ODI

Sachin Tendulkar rewrote the record books on February 24, 2010, hammering the first double century in the history
of one-day cricket to add another feather to his well-adorned cap. The capacity crowd at the Captain Roop Singh Stadium,
Gwalior witnessed history as Tendulkar, statistically the greatest batsman the game has ever seen, pushed South African bowler
Charl Langeveldt’s delivery through the off-side and ran a single to achieve a feat which no other cricketer has achieved.

One Day International cricket, since its 1971 inception, had to wait nearly four decades to see a batsman score 200.
The previous best mark was shared by Zimbabwean Charles Coventry (194 not out) and Pakistan’s Saeed Anwar (194).

Top 10 highest individual knocks in the history of one day cricket are:
200*: Sachin Tendulkar (Ind) vs South Africa in Gwalior on February 24, 2010.
194*: Charles Coventry (Zim) vs Bangladesh in Bulawayo on August 16, 2009.
194: Saeed Anwar (Pak) vs India in Chennai on May 21, 1997.
189*: Viv Richards (WI) vs England in Manchester on May 31, 1984.
189: Sanath Jayasuriya (SL) vs India in Sharjah on October 29, 2000.
188*: Gary Kirsten (SA) vs United Arab Emirates at Rawalpindi on February 16, 1996.
186*: Sachin Tendulkar (Ind) vs New Zealand in Hyderabad on November 8, 1999.
183*: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Ind) vs Sri Lanka in Jaipur on October 31, 2005.
183: Sourav Ganguly (Ind) vs Sri Lanka at Taunton on May 26, 1999.
181*: Matthew Hayden (Aus) vs New Zealand in Hamilton on February 20, 2007.
181: Viv Richards (WI) vs Sri Lanka in Karachi on October 13, 1987.

India-South Africa Test Series

India crashed to a humiliating innings and six runs defeat in the first Test played in Nagpur. This was the first Test
defeat under Mahinder Singh Dhoni’s captaincy.

India levelled the two-Test series after winning the second Test at Eden Gardens, Kolkata by an innings and 58 runs.
With this win India managed to retain the number one Test team title it received when it first topped the ratings in December
2009, as also pocketed a cheque for Rs 78.75 lakh.

India-South Africa One-day series

India eked out one-run victory in the first match played at Jaipur. India, batting first, had set a target of 299 runs.
South Africa was bowled out by India for 297. The second match at Gwalior by 153 runs. The highlight of the match was Sachin
Tendulkar becoming the first batsman in the world to hit a double century in One-day format.

India lost the third and last match at Ahmedabad by 90 runs thus depriving itself a chance to register their first ever
clean sweep against South Africa. India won the series 2-1. Sachin Tendulkar was declared the man-of-the-series.

Australia-West Indies One-day series

Australia defeated West Indies by 113 runs in the first match played at Melbourne.

GAMES
South Asian Games, 2010
The 11th edition of South Asian Games (SAG) opened at the Bangabandhu National Stadium, Dhaka, on January 29,
2010. The aquatic show was the main attraction of the opening ceremony, in which a concert hosted by Pt. Ravi Shankar and
Beatles star George Harrison for Bangladesh’s Independence day and the March 7 address of Sheikh Mujibur Rehman were
displayed on a water screen.

This was the third time that the Bangladeshi capital hosted the Games, thus becoming the first city to hold the games
three times.

Athletes from eight countries— Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka—
competed in 23 different sports. India continued its dominance with 175 medals, including 90 gold medals. Pakistan narrowly
beat the host to occupy the second spot with 19 golds, while the host Bangladesh capture 18 golds, including the most popular
and prestigious football and cricket titles. Sri Lanka’s Shehan Abeypitiya became the fastest man while Pakistan’s Naseem
Hamid was crowned the fastest woman of the region.

The logo of the Games was 'Kutumb', a flying doel, known in English as the Oriental Magpie Robin. It is the National
Bird of Bangladesh. The mascot also featured a Magpie Robin.
 Delhi will host the next South Asian Games. India was picked to host the regional sporting event after Bhutan, whose
turn it was to host the next SAG, expressed its inability to stage the meet. India has hosted the South Asian Games twice thus
far—in 1987 (Kolkata) and in 1995 (Chennai).

Winter Olympics, 2010

The 2010 Winter Olympics, officially the 21st Winter Olympics, were a major international multi-sport event held on
February 12–28, 2010, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

Approximately 2,600 athletes from 82 nations participated in 86 events in fifteen disciplines. Cayman Islands,
Colombia, Ghana, Montenegro, Pakistan, Peru and Serbia made their winter Olympic debuts. Also Jamaica, Mexico and
Morocco returned to the Games after missing the Turin Games.

The 2010 Winter Olympics were the third Olympics hosted by Canada, and the first by the province of British
Columbia. Previously, Canada hosted the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Quebec and the 1988 Winter Olympics in
Calgary, Alberta.

Canada topped the medals tally with 14 gold, 7 silver and 5 bronze medals. Germany was second, followed by USA.

The 2014 Winter Olympics will be held from February 7 to February 23, 2014 in Sochi, Krasnodar Krai, Russia.

GOLF
Asian Tour International crown
Gaganjeet Bhullar scripted a sensational come-from-behind victory at Asian tour International crown, played at
Bangkok. This was his second Asian tour title.

SHOOTING
Commonwealth Championships, 2010
With 23 gold medals, 17 silver and 9 bronze medals, India topped the medals tally of the championships held in Delhi
in February 2010. England was second in the medals tally, followed by Australia.

Sports News in Brief: March 2010

ARCHERY
Asian Grand Prix
Recurve Men: India’s Rahul Banerjee won the gold. The team gold medal was also won by India.
Recurve Women: India’s Deepika Kumari won the gold. The teasm event was also won by India.
Compound Men: India’s Hansdah won the gold. The host nation Thailand won the gold medal in the team
competition. India took the bronze.
Compound Women: Ngeain Aung of Myanmar won the gold. India took the team gold medal.
Mixed Teams: India won the gold medal in the recurve category. In compound, Myanmar won the gold over India,
and the bronze went to Vietnam.

BOXING
Commonwealth Championship, 2010
India won six gold medals, which till date is the biggest haul in the Championships, as also the tournament, held at
New Delhi. India bettered their record of four gold, two silver and three bronze medals they had achieved in Scotland in 2005.

Vijender Singh, the Olympic Games bronze-medallist, came out trumps, clinching his maiden gold in the
Commonwealth Boxing Championships.

Asian bronze-medallist Paramjeet Samota (+91), Asian champion Suranjoy Singh (52kg), World Cup bronze-medallist
Dinesh Kumar (81kg), Jai Bhagwan (60kg) and Amandeep Singh (49kg) were the other gold-medallists.

CRICKET
Deodhar Trophy
North Zone beat West Zone by 49 runs to win the Deodhar Trophy cricket tournament. The final was played at
Vadodara.

Bangladesh-England Test series

 England crushed Bangladesh by nine wickets in the second and final Test to sweep the series.

India finish second in ICC ODI rankings

Indian cricket team finished the season as number two ranked, behind Australia, in One-Day cricket rankings of ICC.

Kapil inducted in ICC Hall of Fame

Legendary all-rounder Kapil Dev, who led India to their only ODI World Cup triumph in 1983, has been inducted into
the International Cricket Council’s Hall of Fame. A commemorative cap was presented to Kapil by ICC President David Morgan,
in front of fellow Hall of Famer Clive Lloyd, as well as an audience of ICC officials and other invited guests at the governing
body’s headquarters in Dubai. The Hall of Fame, run in association with the Federation of International Cricketers' Associations
(FICA), recognises some of the legends of the game.

HOCKEY
World Cup, 2010
Australia defeated Germany 2-1 to deny Germany a historic hat-trick of titles. Germany had won the title in 2002 and
2006. The Netherlands came back strongly from a 1-3 first half deficit to prevail over England 4-3 and win the bronze medal.
India could manage eight spot only.

Guus Vogls of The Netherlands was declared the player of the tournament.

NETBALL
National Championship, 29th
Punjab lifted the men’s title of the 29th National Netball championship by defeating Delhi. Chattisgarh defeated
Andhra Pradesh to with the bronze medal. In the women’s section Delhi edged Kerala for the top honours. Chattisgarh eves
won the bronze medal.

SHOOTING
ISSF World Cup
World champion marksman Manavjit Singh Sandhu lived up to his top billing and clinched the trap gold in the ISSF
World Cup at Acapulco, Mexico. Another Indian, Anirudh Singh also impressed by entering his first ever World Cup final with a
score of 122.

In the women’s trap event, none of the three Indian shooters could make it to the final round. Shagun Chowdhary
finished 13th, Shreyasi Singh ended 16th and Seema Tomar 17th. Chinese shooter Yang Huan claimed the gold.

Sports News in Brief: March 2010

ARCHERY
Asian Grand Prix
Recurve Men: India’s Rahul Banerjee won the gold. The team gold medal was also won by India.
Recurve Women: India’s Deepika Kumari won the gold. The teasm event was also won by India.
Compound Men: India’s Hansdah won the gold. The host nation Thailand won the gold medal in the team
competition. India took the bronze.
Compound Women: Ngeain Aung of Myanmar won the gold. India took the team gold medal.
Mixed Teams: India won the gold medal in the recurve category. In compound, Myanmar won the gold over India,
and the bronze went to Vietnam.

BOXING
Commonwealth Championship, 2010
India won six gold medals, which till date is the biggest haul in the Championships, as also the tournament, held at
New Delhi. India bettered their record of four gold, two silver and three bronze medals they had achieved in Scotland in 2005.

Vijender Singh, the Olympic Games bronze-medallist, came out trumps, clinching his maiden gold in the
Commonwealth Boxing Championships.

Asian bronze-medallist Paramjeet Samota (+91), Asian champion Suranjoy Singh (52kg), World Cup bronze-medallist
Dinesh Kumar (81kg), Jai Bhagwan (60kg) and Amandeep Singh (49kg) were the other gold-medallists.
 CRICKET
Deodhar Trophy
North Zone beat West Zone by 49 runs to win the Deodhar Trophy cricket tournament. The final was played at
Vadodara.

Bangladesh-England Test series

England crushed Bangladesh by nine wickets in the second and final Test to sweep the series.

India finish second in ICC ODI rankings

Indian cricket team finished the season as number two ranked, behind Australia, in One-Day cricket rankings of ICC.

Kapil inducted in ICC Hall of Fame

Legendary all-rounder Kapil Dev, who led India to their only ODI World Cup triumph in 1983, has been inducted into
the International Cricket Council’s Hall of Fame. A commemorative cap was presented to Kapil by ICC President David Morgan,
in front of fellow Hall of Famer Clive Lloyd, as well as an audience of ICC officials and other invited guests at the governing
body’s headquarters in Dubai. The Hall of Fame, run in association with the Federation of International Cricketers' Associations
(FICA), recognises some of the legends of the game.

HOCKEY
World Cup, 2010
Australia defeated Germany 2-1 to deny Germany a historic hat-trick of titles. Germany had won the title in 2002 and
2006. The Netherlands came back strongly from a 1-3 first half deficit to prevail over England 4-3 and win the bronze medal.
India could manage eight spot only.

Guus Vogls of The Netherlands was declared the player of the tournament.

NETBALL
National Championship, 29th
Punjab lifted the men’s title of the 29th National Netball championship by defeating Delhi. Chattisgarh defeated
Andhra Pradesh to with the bronze medal. In the women’s section Delhi edged Kerala for the top honours. Chattisgarh eves
won the bronze medal.

SHOOTING
ISSF World Cup
World champion marksman Manavjit Singh Sandhu lived up to his top billing and clinched the trap gold in the ISSF
World Cup at Acapulco, Mexico. Another Indian, Anirudh Singh also impressed by entering his first ever World Cup final with a
score of 122.

In the women’s trap event, none of the three Indian shooters could make it to the final round. Shagun Chowdhary
finished 13th, Shreyasi Singh ended 16th and Seema Tomar 17th. Chinese shooter Yang Huan claimed the gold.

Sports News in Brief: April 2010

BADMINTON
Asian Championship, 2010
Men’s Singles: Lin Dan (China).
Women’s Singles: Q-Li Xuerui (China)
Men’s Doubles: Gun Woo Cho and Yeon Seong Yoo (Korea).
Women’s Doubles: Pan Pan and Quing Tian (China)
Mixed Doubles: Peng Soon Chan and Liu Ying Goh (Malaysia)

The Championship was held in New Delhi.

CRICKET
Deodhar Trophy
North Zone beat West Zone by 49 runs to win the Deodhar Trophy cricket tournament. The final was played at
Vadodara.
 Indian Premier League-3
Chennai Super Kings beat Mumbai Indian by 22 runs to win the third edition of the tournament. Electing to bat first,
Chennai posted 168 for 5 and then restricted Mumbai to 146 for 9 to win their maiden title. Suresh Raina was declared the man
of the match.

Royal Challengers Bangalore routed Deccan Chargers by nine wickets in the third and fourth place play-off match.
With this win Royal Challangers qualified for the Champions League Twenty20 tournament.

Sachin Tendulkar won the DLF Golden Player award and the Orange cap for hitting the maximum runs in the
tournament. Pragyan Ojha won the Purple cap for taking maximum wickets in the tournament. The Kingfisher Fair-play award
was won by Chennai Super Kings.

KABADDI
World Cup Kabbadi Punjab Championship, 2010
India outclassed Pakistan 58-24 to win the title. The championship was held in Ludhiana, Punjab.

SHOOTING
Narang shoots World Cup bronze
Ace Indian shooter Gagan Narang won a bronze in 10 meter air rifle event at the World Cup in Beijing. Russian Denis
Sokolav won the gold

Sports News in Brief: May 2010

BOXING
Asian Women’s Championship
The Asian Women's Championships were held in Astana, Kazakhistan, in May 2010. Kazakhastan topped the medals
tally with eight gold medals. China won the most medals in total—10, followed Korea and India amassing eight medals each.

CHESS
World Title, 2010
Viswanathan Anand held his nerve and focus better than his opponent, Veselin Topalov, to win the 12th and final
game to retain his World Championships title.

The 40-year-old Indian beat the local man from Bulgaria in the closing game with black pieces, to emerge a 6.5-5.5
winner and seal his place as a dominant player of his era.

Anand first won the world title in 2000 and held it till 2002 when the chess world was still split. He became the
undisputed World champion in 2007 and then retained the title in 2008 when he beat Vladimir Kramnik.

Commonwealth Championship
Grandmaster R.R. Laxman clinched his career best win and bagged the gold after beating GM Pablo Lafuente of
Argentina at the Parsvnath Commonwealth Chess Championship.

In the open category, Grandmaster Maletin Pavel of Russia signed peace with International Master Lalith Babu on the
top board to win the title. Both Pavel and Laxman had nine points after 11 rounds, but the former had the better tie-break
record on Bucholz count. The Russian was not in contention in the Commonwealth category.

In the women’s category, D. Harika outwitted IM Tania Sachdev on account of superior tie-break.

CRICKET
T20 World Cup, 2010
Chasing a challenging target of 148 runs, England defeated Australia by seven wickets to win the T20 World Cup. The
tournament was held in West Indies.

Australia’s women held their nerves in a low-scoring final as they beat New Zealand by three runs to lift the Women’s
T20 World cup title.

West Indies-South Africa One-Day series

 South Africa defeated West Indies by 67 runs in the third match to win the series. They went on to win the fourth
match also. South Africa beat West Indies by seven wickets.

England-Bangladesh Test series

England beat Bangladesh by five wickets in the first Test of the series, played at Lords, to be one-up in the two-Test
series.

FOOTBALL
Premier League
Chelsea has won the title by a single point. They have swept back the trophy after four years.

Champions League, 2010

A goal in each half by Argentina striker Diego Militi helped Inter Milan overcome Bayern Munich 2-0 in the Champions
League final.

HOCKEY
Sultan Azlan Shah Cup, 19th
India and South Korea were named joint champions after the final match was abandoned following heavy rains in
Malaysia. For defending champions India it was their fifth win, matching Australia, while for Asian champions South Korea this
was their second title win; they had last won the cup in 1996.

TABLE TENNIS
World Team Championship
Chinese fans were left in shock after their women paddlers failed to win the gold medal at the World Team Table
Tennis Championships for the first time since 1991.

The Chinese trio of Ding Ning, Liu Shiwen and Guo Yan fell to their Singaporean counterparts 3-1 in the final in
Moscow as Singapore claimed their first title in the event.

WRESTLING
Sushil, Narshing win gold in Asian Wrestling
Olympic bronze medallist Sushil Kumar lived up to his reputation as he bagged a gold in men's 66kg freestyle in the
Senior Asian Wrestling Championships held at New Delhi. Narshing Yadav won a gold in the 74kg freestyle category.

Sports News in Brief: June 2010

BADMINTON
Yonex-Sunrise India Open Grand Prix
Saina Nehwal of India beat Malaysia’s Mew Choo Wong to win the title. This was her second international title win at
home. She had won the Lucknow Grand Prix in 2009.

Indonesia Open
Saina Nehwal notched up an incredible hat-trick of titles by successfully defending her Indonesian Open Super Series
title with s hard-fought win over Japan’s Sayaka Sato. She had earlier won the Indian Open Grand Prix and the Singapore Open
Super Series.

Singapore Open
Indian ace Saina Nehwal clinched the second Super Series title of her career by winning the Singapore Open with a
straight-game triumph over Chinese Taipie’s Tzu Ying Tai.

CRICKET
Asia Cup
India defeated Sri Lanka by 81 runs to win the Asia Cup. India had set the Lankans a stiff target of 299 runs. Dinesh
Karthik was declared man of the match.

West Indies-South Africa One Day Series

 South Africa completed a 5-0 white-wash of the series with a thrilling one wicket win in the final match. Earlier, the
South Africans had also won the Twenty20 two-match series.

England-Australia One Day series

England won the five-match series 3-0. This followed 2009’s Ashes triumph and 2010’s Twenty20 World Cup final win
over their oldest rivals.

SHOOTING
ISSF Shotgun World Cup
Double-trap marksman Ronjan Sodhi clinched the gold in the tournament held at Lonato, Italy.

TENNIS
French Open, 2010
Men’s Singles title: Rafael Nadal won the title by defeating Robin Soderling. This was his fifth French Open win.

Women’s Singles title: Francesca Schiavone became the first Italian woman to win a Grand Slam singles title when she
defeated Australian Samantha Stosur to win the women’s singles title.

Men’s Doubles title: Canada’s Daniel Nestor and Serbia’s Nenad Zimonjic won by beating defending champions
Leander Paes of India and Lukas Dlouhy of Czech Republic.

Women’s Doubles title: Serena and Venus Williams of USA. Serena Williams won her second French Open Women's
Doubles title, and the twelfth title in that discipline, which this was the fourth win in a row in the women's doubles in the Slams.
Venus Williams won her second French Open Women's Doubles title, and the twelfth title in that discipline, which this was the
fourth win in a row in the women's doubles in the Slams.

Mixed Doubles: Katarina Srebotnik and Nenad Zimonji? were the winners. Srebotnik won her third French Open
Mixed Doubles title, and the fourth Slam title in that discipline. Zimonji? won his second French Open Mixed Doubles title, and
the fourth Slam title in that discipline

Sports News in Brief: July 2010

BOXING
Senior National Championship
World Youth champion Vikas Krishan stole the show with his maiden gold medal and the ‘Best Boxer’ trophy, but the
Railways Sports Promotion Board clinched the overall title for the fourth consecutive year in the 57th Senior Men’s National
Boxing Championships, held in New Delhi. The RSPB swept the overall tally with four gold, two silver and three bronze medals.

Haryana finished a distant second with two gold and three bronze medals. The Services Sports Control Board (SSCB)
was third in the overall list with two gold, two silver and an equal number of bronze medals.

SSCB’s Manpreet Singh (91kg), the defending champion who signed off with a bronze, was adjudged the ‘Best Loser’
of the event.

CRICKET
Sri Lanka-India Test Series
Sri Lanka defeated India by ten wickets in the first Test to take lead in the three-Test series. This Test will be known in
cricket history as one in which Sri Lankan off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan became the first bowler in the world to take 800
wickets. This Test was also the last Test match of Murali’s career.

The second Test meandered to a tame, high-scoring draw with a staggering 1,478 runs getting scored over five days.
India scored 707 all out in the first innings, its second highest total ever. Suresh Raina became the 12th Indian to score a Test
century on debut.

Pakistan-Australia Test Series

Australia completed a record 13th consecutive victory win over Pakistan when they beat them by 150 runs in the first
Test at Lords.
 Pakistan beat Australia in a Test for the first time since 1995 after winning by three wickets in the second Test, played
at Leeds, to level the two-match series 1-1. The series was played in England as Pakistan is still not considered safe place for
visiting teams.

England-Bangladesh One-Day series

England defeated Bangladesh by 144 runs in the third match, played at Birmingham, to clinch the series 2-1.

Muralitharan becomes first bowler to take 800 wickets

On July 22, 2010, Sri Lankan off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan became the first bowler to take 800 Test wickets,
reaching the milestone in the last Test of his illustrious cricket career. The 38-year-old spin wizard got Indian tail-ender Pragyan
Ojha caught at slip by Mahela Jayawardene to reach the magical figure, which puts him several pedestals above his
contemporaries.

FOOTBALL
World Cup, 2010
Spain, the European champions, defeated third-time finalists the Netherlands 1–0 after extra time, with Andrés
Iniesta's goal in the 116th minute giving Spain their first world title, the first time that a European nation has won the
tournament outside its home continent. Host nation South Africa, 2006 world champions Italy and 2006 runners-up France
were eliminated in the first round of the tournament.

In the semi-finals, Spain defeated Germany by 1-0 while Netherlands had defeated Uruguay.

Germany defeated Uruguay 3–2 to secure third place. Germany holds the record for most third place finishes in the
World Cup (4), while Uruguay holds the record for most fourth place finishes (3).

The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup. It took place in South Africa from June 11 to July 11, 2010. In
2004, the international football federation, FIFA, had selected South Africa to become the first African nation to host the
tournament.

The matches were played in ten stadiums in nine host cities around the country, with the final played at the Soccer
City stadium in South Africa’s largest city, Johannesburg. Thirty-two teams were selected for participation via a worldwide
qualification tournament that began in August 2007.

Golden Ball: Diego Forlán (Uruguay)

Golden Boot: Thomas Müller (Germany)
Golden Glove: Iker Casillas (Spain)
Best Young Player: Thomas Müller (Germany)
FIFA Fair Play Trophy: Spain

The official mascot for the 2010 World Cup was Zakumi, an anthropomorphised leopard with green hair, presented on
22 September 2008. His name came from “ZA” (the international abbreviation for South Africa) and the term kumi, which
means “ten” in various African languages. The mascot's colours reflected those of the host nation's playing strip–yellow and
green.

The official song of the 2010 World Cup, "Waka Waka", was performed by the Colombian singer Shakira and the band
Freshlyground from South Africa. The song was sung in both English and Spanish. The song is based on a traditional African
soldiers’ song, Zangalewa. Shakira and Freshlyground performed the song at the opening ceremony and at the closing
ceremony.

HOCKEY
Asian Champions Trophy (Women)
Korea beat Japan 2-1 to win the inaugural Asian Women's Hockey Championship, held at Busan South Korea.

The first Asian Women Champions Trophy drew the four highest-ranking teams in the region—South Korea, China,
Japan and India—which will also compete for the gold medal in the Asian Games to be held in Guangzhou, China, in November
2010.

India beat higher-ranked China 2-1 to win the bronze medal.

 Rangaswamy Cup, 63rd
Mumbai overcame Haryana 3-2 to regain the senior national men’s hockey championship. The tournament was held
in Bhopal.

TENNIS
Wimbledon Championship, 2010
The 124th Championships, a Royal tournament thanks to the first visit to the All England Club by Her Majesty the
Queen for 33 years, was also a record-breaking occasion in many ways, most notably in that unforgettable first round men's
singles between John Isner of the United States and France's Nicolas Mahut, which smashed every existing record in the sport.

The Isner-Mahut first round marathon, which stretched over three days, lasted 11 hours five minutes and totalled 183
games before Isner staggered away the winner 6-4, 3-6, 6-7, 7-6, 70-68. The final set alone lasted just over eight hours. Both
men shattered the record for aces in one match, previously held by Ivo Karlovic at 78. Isner delivered 112 and Mahut also
cracked the century with 103. An exhausted Isner crashed out to Thiemo De Bakker of Holland in the next round, collecting just
five games.

In the men’s singles final Rafael Nadal beat Tomas Berdych 6-3, 7-5, 6-4 to win the title. This was the second
Wimbledon title for the Spaniard. Berdych became the first Czech since Ivan Lendl in 1987 to reach the Wimbledon final.

The women’s singles title was won by defending champion Serena Williams who beat Russia’s Vera Zvonareva 6-3, 6-
2. The victory took her to 13 Grand Slam singles titles, past Billie Jean King, and sixth in the all-time list.

In the doubles, the men's title went to an unseeded pair, Austria's Jurgen Melzer and Germany's Philipp Petzschner,
playing only their seventh tournament as a team. The women's doubles was won by an American-Kazakh combination, Vania
King and Yaroslava Shvedova. Also unseeded, they overcame the Russians, Elena Vesnina and Zvonareva, 7-6, 6-2. The mixed
double's championship fell to a seeded combination, Leander Paes and Cara Black, the second seeds, who beat Wesley Moodie
of South Africa and Lisa Raymond (United States) 6-4. 7-6.

Sports News in Brief: August 2010

ATHLETICS
National Athletic Meet, 50th
Kerala, Punjab and Haryana stood overall first, second and third, respectively, in the National Athletic Senior
Championship held at NIS Patiala.

CRICKET
Sri Lanka-New Zealand-India One-Day Tri-series
Sri Lanka rode on Tillakaratne Dilshan’s century to clinch the tri-series title with an emphatic 74-run win over India,
ending M.S. Dhoni’s sequence of four consecutive series triumphs on Sri Lanka soil.

England-Pakistan Test series

England crushed Pakistan by an innings and 225 runs to win the fourth and final Test at Lord’s, London. England
ended up winning the series 3-1.

Pakistan overcame a late batting collapse to beat England by four wickets in the third Test.

England batsmen Jonathan Trott and Stuart Broad set a world record eighth wicket partnership when they extended
their stand to 332 on the third day of fourth Test. The record was earlier held by Pakistan’s Wasim Akram and Saqlain Mushtaq.

Earlier, in the first Test, James Anderson took ten wickets in a Test for the first time to help England crush Pakistan by
354 runs. In their second innings, Pakistan were bundled out for just 80 runs, their lowest total against England, replacing the
87 they made at Lord’s in 1954.

Sri Lanka-India Test Series

Veteran V.V.S. Laxman cracked a fighting unbeaten 103 as India pulled off a five-wicket win in the third Test to level
the three-Test series 1-1. Laxman was adjudged the man of the match while Virender Sehwag was adjudged man of the series.
 Tendulkar becomes most-capped player
Iconic Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar has become the most-capped Test cricketer (169 Test matches). This feat was
achieved in the third and final Test against Sri Lanka, played in August 2010. Steve Waugh (168 Test matches) of Australia had
held the record earlier.

FOOTBALL
Santosh Trophy, 2010
Kerala lad Denson Devdas struck twice as Bengal made a spectacular comeback to beat Punjab 2-1, ending their 11
years title drought in the National Football Championship for Santosh Trophy.

GAMES
Youth Olympic Games
Singapore hosted the first Youth Olympics from August 14 to 26, 2010. A total of 3,531 athletes between 14 and 18
years of age from 204 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) competed in 201 events in 26 sports.

The opening ceremony of the Games was held on 14 August at The Float@Marina Bay, a floating stage near
downtown Singapore. Approximately 27,000 spectators attended the event, which took place against a backdrop of the city's
skyline.

Lyo and Merly were the official mascots. The duo ere made up of a red male lion and a blue female Merlion. A contest
held to name the two mascots was won by two Singaporeans. It took designers from Cubix International about six months to
complete designing the mascots.

China topped the medals tally with 30 gold medals, followed by Russia (18) and South Korea (11). India was ranked 58
with 6 silver medals and 2 bronze medals in its kitty.

It was during the 119th session of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in Guatemala City on the July 5, 2007
when the IOC decided to create Youth Olympic Games (YOG). The vision of the innovative concept for the new sport event is to
inspire young people all around the world to participate in sport and adopt and live by the Olympic values (excellence,
friendship, respect).

Innsbruck and Seefeld will host the first Winter Youth Olympic Games from January 13-22, 2012.

GOLF
Atwal first Indian to win US PGA title
Arjun Atwal has become the first Indian ever to win a US PGA title when he won the Wyndham Golf Championship.

HOCKEY
Champions Trophy, 2010
Australia won their third successive Champions Trophy, and 11th in all, with a comprehensive 4-0 win over England.
Netherlands secured the third place. The championship was held at Monchengladbach, Germany.

SHOOTING
Tejaswini becomes first Indian woman to win gold at World Championships
Tejaswani Sawant scripted history by becoming the first Indian woman shooter to clinch a gold medal at the World
Championships, with a world-record equalling score in 50m Rifle Prone event in Munich, Germany.

Sports News in Brief: September 2010

ARCHERY
India wins gold in fourth leg of World Cup
The Indian men's recurve team of Jayanta Talukdar, Tarundeep Rai and Rahul Banerjee won gold in the fourth leg of
the World Cup archery in Shanghai. The trio whipped Japan, who had beaten the formidable Koreans in the semi-final.

Talukdar won bronze in the individual event defeating Athens Olympic champion Marco Galiazzo of Italy 7-3.

Deepika Kumari lost the women’s recurve final, but the silver medal ensured Deepika her maiden place in the grand
final in Edinburgh.
 BOXING
Mary Kom wins World Championship
India’s woman boxer MC Mary Kom claimed a historic fifth successive world championship title on September 18,
2010, beating Steluta Duta of Romania 16-6. This mother-of-two from Manipur remains the only boxer to have won a medal in
each edition of the world championship.

CRICKET
T20 Champions League, 2010
IPL champions Chennai Super Kings, led ably by Mahendra Singh Dhoni, defeated the Warriors of South Africa by eight
wickets to win the Airtel Champions League, played in South Africa.

J.P. Atray Trophy

ONGC posted a six-wicket victory over Air India to win the 17th J.P. Atray Memorial Cricket tournament.

England-Pakistan One-Day series

England defeated Pakistan by 121 runs in the fifth and final match to win the series3-2.

GOLF
DLF Masters
Ashok Kumar won the DLF Masters. Gaganjeet Bhullar won the second spot.

HOCKEY
Women’s World Cup
Argentina defeated reigning World and Olympic champions Netherlands 3-1 to win their second field hockey world
title. They had earlier won the title in 2002 in Australia. The championship was held at Rosario, Argentina.

SHOOTING
Ronjon shoots gold at ISSF World Cup
India’s Ronjon Sodhi clinched a gold at the double trap in the ISSF World Cup finals in Izmir, Turkey with a stunning
score of 195 out of 200.

TENNIS
US Open, 2010
Rafael Nadal of Spain defeated Novak Djokovic (Serbia) to win the men’s singles title. The win gave him his first US
open title and was his ninth Grand Slam win.

Kim Clijsters of Belgium defeated Vera Zvonareva (Russia) to take the women’s singles title.

The men’s doubles title was won by Mike and Bob Bryan of USA who defeated Indo-Pak team of Rohan Bopanna and
Aisam-ul-Haq.

The women’s doubles title was won by Vania King (USA) and Yaroslava Shvedova (Kazakhistan) while the mixed
doubles title was won by Liezel Huber (USA) and Bob Bryan (USA).

India enters Davis Cup World Group

In a stunning turnaround, Somdev Devvarman and Rohan Bopanna powered India to the elite Davis Cup World Group
by scripting a sensational 3-2 win over Brazil. The matches were played in Chennai.

WRESTLING
Sushil becomes first Indian to win World Championship gold
Wrestler Sushil Kumar has become the first Indian to win a gold medal in the World Wrestling Championships, held in
Moscow. He defeated Alan Gogaev in the 66-kg freestyle category
 Sports News in Brief: October 2010
GAMES
XIX Commonwealth Games, New Delhi
Conventional fervour, glitter, gaiety and a rich cultural bonanza climaxed into a magnificent ceremony that brought
curtains down on the Commonwealth Games at the massive Jawahar Lal Nehru Stadium on October 14, 2010. It was real Chak
De India as music of universal love made the stadium reverberate to some of the best Bollywood beats and the theme song by
A.R. Rahman. Unlike conventional ceremonies that leave many athletes and officials with moist eyes, Delhi bade a joyous
farewell to all participants.

Athletes and officials departed to meet againin 2014 at Glasgow. Members of the 2014 Commonwealth Games, in a
brief, but impressive flag handover ceremony, extended an open invitation to all to enjoy the next edition of the festival of the
Commonwealth.

President of Sri Lanka was among the dignitaries who watched the nearly three-hour long ceremony, along with Vice-
President Ansari, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the UPA President Sonia Gandhi.

The music of universal love ended with a pyro burst that lit up the sky in colour. Before the music blast, an amazing
laser show held the audience spellbound. Singer Shaan came with Shera, the mascot of the games, to bid goodbye and touch an
emotional chord with the audience. Vande Matram was sung by school children of Delhi and musical band display by pipe and
brass bands of the defence forces gave an immaculate start to the ceremony.

Earlier, on October 3, 2010, Delhi gave full-throated vent to its pleasure to usher in the 19th Commonwealth Games,
which were declared open by Britain’s Prince Charles, at a packed Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium. Immediately afterwards,
President Pratibha Patil said: “Let the Games begin.”

A total of 6,081 athletes from 71 Commonwealth nations and dependencies competed in 21 sports and 272 events. It
was the largest international multi-sport event to be staged in Delhi and India, eclipsing the Asian Games in 1951 and 1982.

Australia topped the medals tally, with 74 gold, 55 silver and 48 bronze medals. India was second on the medals tally
list with 38 gold, 27 silver and 36 bronze medals. India was followed by England, Canada and South Africa.

Mascot
The official mascot for the 2010 Commonwealth Games was Shera, an anthropomorphised tiger.

Official song
The official song of the 2010 Commonwealth Games was Jiyo Utho Bado Jeeto. It was composed and performed by
the A. R. Rahman. The song's title was based on the slogan of the games, "Come out and play". The song was penned by
Mehboob in Hindi with a sprinkling of English words.

India’s performance
Indian competitors came out with flying colours. A record medal haul of 38 gold, 27 silver and 36 bronze medals, the
best-ever harvest for the country in the Games history, helped India climb to the record-high second position and end the
multi-discipline event on a thumping note. The main haul of these 101 medals came from the shooting range, wrestling mat,
boxing ring, archery range and, to everyone's surprise, the track and field events.

Rifle-shooting ace Gagan Narang scooped up four gold medals, but could not achieve the feat of overhauling five-gold
hero of the 2006 Melbourne Games—Samresh Jung.

Teenage woman archer Deepika Kumari, daughter of an auto-rickshaw driver, who held her nerves even as the more
seasoned Dola Banerjee wilted, to come up with a golden double in the women's recurve event.

The track and field events witnessed India's first gold medal in 52 years when Krishna Poonia led a clean sweep of the
women's discus throw, Harwant Kaur and Seema Antil won the silver and bronze.

The women's 4x400m relay squad struck an unexpected gold with a superb display that pushed Nigeria and England
to second and third places.
 The women shuttlers, led by Saina Nehwal, brought two gold medals to bring down the curtains on the country's
competitive show with a bang. Those two gold medals in badminton were vital to help India push England to the third place by
the skin of their teeth.

Saina Nehwal created history by becoming the first Indian woman to win the singles gold in badminton at the
Commonwealth Games. Legendary Prakash Padukone (1978) and the late Syed Modi (1982) were the two men players to win
the singles gold in the Games. Jwala Gutta and Ashiwni Ponnappa scripted history by becoming the first Indian pair to win the
gold at Commonwealth Games.

The men's hockey team, whose fortunes are followed closely by the sports fans of the country, made history by
making it to the final for the first time before coming a cropper against world and defending champions Australia in the summit
clash. The 8-0 defeat was huge and one of the biggest suffered by the country.

Wrestling contingent also did very well, winning 19 medals in the 21 designated event. Among the 19 medals, there
were 10 gold, five silver and four bronze medals. Sushil Kumar literally walked his way to gold, while the women wrestlers,
participating in the Games for the first time, stole the show with a memorable performance. In the six events for women, India
won three gold, two silver and a bronze medal to show their supremacy in the freestyle category.

The trio of Alka Tomar, Geeta and Anita won their final bouts with ease, while Babita Kumari and Nirmala Devi missed
out on gold, losing their final rounds, but their performance drew praise from all. Geeta became the first Indian women
wrestler to bag a gold medal in the Commonwealth Games.

India achieved unprecedented success in athletics by bagging 12 medals, including two gold. India's 12 medals were
two more than the number it won in all the earlier editions.

Krishna Poonia created history by breaking India's 52-year-old Commonwealth Games gold medal jinx by winning the
gold medal in women's discus throw. Harwant Kaur and Seema Antil bagged silver and bronze, respectively.

Poonia also became the first Indian woman to bag a Commonwealth Games gold after 'Flying Sikh' Milkha Singh won
the men's 440 yards race in 1958 edition in Cardiff, Wales.

The women's 4X400m relay team of Manjeet Kaur, Sini Jose, Ashwini Akkunji and Mandeep Kaur added another gold
in a memorable race, beating strong teams like Nigeria and England.

Fancied fisticuff exponents Vijender Singh and Akhil Kumar were ousted early but Indian boxers still delivered a
historic golden punch to come up with their best-ever campaign in the Games history. With a hat-trick of gold plus four bronze
medals, the Indian ring stylists recorded their best medal haul at the quadrennial multi-discipline sports event, bettering the
2006 campaign at Melbourne by two.

Ashish Kumar of India created history by winning a bronze medal in Gymnastics, the first ever medal in gymnastics for
India in the Commonwealth Games.

BODYBUILDING
World Championship
Bobby Singh of Imphal, a clerk at the North Frontier Railway, scripted history by becoming the world champion at the
second WBPF World Bodybuilding Championship, held at Varanasi. India has won a world Bodybuilding Championship after 22
years.

CHESS
Anand regains Number One Spot
World Champion Viswanathan Anand played out a hard-fought draw with Magnus Carlsen of Norway to finish second
in the Bilbao Final Masters chess tournament. The silver lining for the Indian ace was the fact that he dethroned Carlsen from
the number one ranking in Live rating list for the first time since January 2010 and ended up as the top player in ratings too.

Vladimir Kramnik of Russia won the Final Masters after settling for an easy draw with Alexei Shirov of Spain.

CRICKET
India-Australia One Day Series
 India won the three-match series 1-0 after the third and final ODI was abandoned because of rain. The first match
also had to be abandoned because of rain. This was the first one-day series victory over Australia in over two decades.

India beat Australia by wickets in the second ODI. The highlight of the match was the match-winning 118 runs by Virat
Kohli.

Bangladesh-New Zealand One Day Series

Rubel Hossain grabber four wickets as Bangladesh completed a sweep with a thrilling three-run victory in the fifth and
final one day match. The 4-0 series win is Bangladesh’s first sweep against a major team.

India-Australia Test Series

Debutant Cheteshwar Pujara struck a sparkling 72 as India defeated Australia by seven wickets in the second and final
Test, played at Bangalore, to sweep the series, win the Border-Gavaskar trophy and consolidate their world number one status.
Man of the series Sachin Tendulkar followed up his first innings double century with an unbeaten 53 to help India chase down
the 207-run target.

Earleir, India won the first Test at Mohali by one wicket. A 81-run ninth wicket stand between V.V.S. Laxman and
Ishant Sharma set up the opening win. Laxman scripted an unbeaten 73 runs and Ishant Sharma chipped with a contribution of
31 runs.

Sachin first to make 14,000 runs in Tests

Sachin Tendulkar has become the only player to make 14,000 runs in Test cricket. At 12,178 runs, Australian skipper
Ricky Ponting remains his nearest rival.

ICC Awards
Indian batting icon Sachin Tendulkar has bagged his maiden ICC Cricketer of the Year trophy along with the People's
Choice Award, while compatriot Virender Sehwag has been named the Test Cricketer of the Year.

India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni was named captain of the ICC's World Test XI, while Australia was chosen as the
best ODI team of the period between August 2009 and 2010.

South African AB de Villiers clinched the ICC ODI Player of the Year award.

England fast bowler Steven Finn, who played in six Test matches in the voting period and took 27 wickets at an
average of 21.85, won the ICC Emerging Player of the Year Award.

New Zealand swashbuckler Brendon McCullum's blistering 56-ball unbeaten 116 against Australia in Christchurch was
adjudged the ICC Twenty20 International Performance of the Year.

Spirit of the Game Award went to New Zealand and Aleem Dar of Pakistan won the ICC Umpire of the Year trophy.

GOLF
Ryder Cup, 2010
The 38th Ryder Cup matches were held at the Celtic Manor Resort in the city of Newport, Wales. It was the first time
the competition was staged in Wales. With the USA as the defending Cup holder the event was played on the newly-
constructed Twenty 10 course, specifically designed for the Ryder Cup. Team Europe won the competition.

HOCKEY
Surjit Hockey Tournament
Indian Oil, Mumbai, have clinched the overall trophy in the 27th Indian Oil Surjit Hockey tournament. They defeated
Air India, Mumbai via tie-breaker.
 Sports News in Brief: November 2010
CRICKET
Australia-England (Ashes) Test Series
The Ashes opener in Brisbane ended in a draw after Alastair Cook and Jonathan Trott shared in England’s highest
partnership in Australia of 329 runs. Cook became only the fourth Englishman to score a Test double-century in Australia (235
not out). England managed to draw the match despite conceding a first innings lead of 221 runs.

Sri Lanka-West Indies Test series

The second Test, played in Colombo, ended in a draw.

India-New Zealand Test series

India won the three-Test series 1-0 after winning the third Test in Nagpur by an innings and 198 runs.

The first Test, played in Ahmedabad, ended in a draw after VVS Laxman and Harbhajan Singh put in a fight-back after
India had been reduced to 15 for 5 at one time.

In the second Test played in Hyderabad, Brendon McCullum notched up his best-ever Test score of 225 to ensure a
draw.

Harbhajan Singh made history by becoming the first number eight Test batsman to hit back-to-back centuries. In the
first Test he hit 115 and followed this with 111 not out in the second Test. His 105-run 10th wicket stand with Sreesanth the
was best for India.

Sri Lanka-West Indies Test Series

West Indies opener Chris Gayle made the joint 12th highest Test score with a magnificent 333 in the first Test. He
became only the fourth man to achieve the feat twice in Test history, after Sir Donald Bradman, Brian Lara and Virender
Sehwag.

Australia-Sri Lanka ODI series

Australia snapped a run of seven straight losses in all forms of cricket when it beat Sri Lanka by eight wickets in the
third and final match. Sri Lanka claimed the series 2-1, after winning the first match by one wicket and the second by 29 runs.

FOOTBALL
Durand Cup
Chirag United defeated JCT to win the Durand Cup, 2010.

GOLF
Hero Honda Women’s Indian Open Championship
England’s Laura Davies notched up a thrilling play-off win to lift the trophy. The tournament was held in Gurgaon.

TENNIS
ATP World Tour Finals
Roger Federer polished of Rafael Nadal 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 to capture his fifth season-ending finale, the ATP World Tour
final. It was for the first time in 24 years that top two players in ATP ranking reached the season finale.

GAMES
Asian Games, 2010
The 16th Asian Games were held in Guangzhou, China from November 12 to 27, 2010. 9,832 athletes from 44
countries participated in record 42 disciplines—including T20 cricket, dance-sport, women’s boxing and roller skating, which
were introduced in this Asiad.

Two years after the spectacular success of Beijing Olympics, China dazzled the world once again by unveiling the 16th
Asian Games with a spell-binding opening ceremony in which water was the overwhelming theme and athletes were ushered in
a unique boat parade on Pearl River.

The theme was water and the main part of the ceremony was held at Hai Xinsha, an island located on China’s third
longest river, which is the life-giver to the southern part of the world’s most populous nation.
 The four-and-a-half-hour ceremony started with trademark fireworks and the 37,000 capacity crowd was up on its
feet when 1320 artists from the city’s oldest kung fu school descended with giant LED screens in the backdrop.

China ended on top with 199 gold, 119 silver and 98 bronze (total 416), followed by South Korea (76-65-91) and Japan
(48-74-94) at second and third, respectively.

For the closing ceremony, China, known for its grand planning and execution, ensured that there was joy and
enthusiasm all over, with a ceremony no less than the opening in grandeur. Once again the Haixinsha Island, which welcomed
more than 10,000 athletes from 42 countries on November 12, came alive and all the emptiness was forgotten as dusk fell.

Colourful fountains flashed out of nowhere, Roman candles and many more of those 38,003 innovative fireworks
worked magic in the sky and ship-shaped fountains, with a few hundred fountain heads, sprayed water 40 metres into the sky.
With more than 30 types of costumes and 11,000 props, it was a ceremony that paled even the grandest of shows on earth.

An art performance was also dedicated to India, with singers Tanya Gupta and Ravi Tripati especially flown from India,
enthralling the audience as River Ganga appeared on the sail-shaped screen followed by Indian architecture, including the Taj
Mahal.

India’s Biggest medal haul

After producing their best ever show in the Commonwealth Games, India underlined its rising sporting prowess by
bagging the biggest medal haul in the Asian Games.

India finished sixth with 14 gold, 17 silver and 33 bronze for a record 64-medal haul.

India’s best medal haul in the Asian Games till date was recorded in the 1982 Games in New Delhi when they had won
13 gold, 19 silver and 25 bronze for an overall tally of 57.

India had finished 10th in the last edition of the Games in Doha with a tally of 10-17-26.

A quarter century ago there was no Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and the rest of the former Soviet bloc to make the
competition as stiff as it was in Guangzhou.

Out of the 14 gold India won in Guangzhou, the highest number of five came from athletics and two each were won in
boxing, kabbadi and tennis and one each from shooting, cue sports and rowing.

Just like in many earlier editions of the Asian Games, athletics contributed the lions share in India’s number of gold
medals in this addition also. A.C. Ashwini (400m hurdles and women’s 4x400 relay) and tennis star Somdev Devvarman (men’s
singles and doubles) won two gold medals while Preeja Sreedharan bagged a gold and a silver in women’s 10,000m and
5,000m, respectively.

India got its first gold medal of the 2010 Asiad in Billiards with Pankaj Advani winning the English Singles.

Joseph Abraham and Ashwini Chidananda grabbed gold medals in men’s and women’s 400m hurdles, respectively.

Teen sensation Vikas Krishan ended Indian Boxing’s 12-year-old gold medal drought in the Asian Games by winning
the lightweight (60kg) title.
Tarundeep Rai re-wrote history in the archery championship by becoming the first Indian individual medal winner,
finishing second behind South Korean world record holder Kim Woojin.

Somdev Devvarman became the first man in 24 years to win a gold in both single and doubles tennis category in Asian
Games.
Ronjan Sodhi brought an end to the gold drought in shooting by winning gold in the double trap (shot gun) event.
Bajrang Lal Takhar created history by notching up the first rowing gold medal for India in the Asian Games.

India opened a new page in its Asian Games history with Ashish Kumar clinching the first-ever medal (bronze medal in
men’s floor exercise) in gymnastics. Virdhawal Khade broke the swimming medal drought after 24 years by winning a bronze
medal in men’s 50m butterfly event.