1. Arina Sabalenka won the Australian Open title
Tags: Sports Sports News
In the Australian Open 2023, Arina Sabalenka of Belarus has won the women's singles title by defeating Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan. Sabalenka has won a Grand title for the first time.
An overview of the news
Sabalenka defeated Elena Rybakina 4–6, 6–3, 6–4 in the final match played at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne on 28 January.
Sabalenka has won the Grand Slam title for the first time, while Rybakina missed out on winning the Grand Slam for the second time.
22nd seed Rybakina won the Wimbledon title last year.
It was Sabalenka's 11th win since the start of 2023, meaning the Belarusian player will now reach a career-best No. 2 ranking.
Rybakina and Sabalenka met face to face for the fourth time in their tennis career. Earlier, there was a match between Rybakina and Sabalenka in the fourth round of the 2021 Wimbledon Championship.
Sabalenka had won all the three matches before this.
2. Australian Open: Brazilian duo of Luisa Stefani and Rafael Matos won the Mixed Doubles title
Tags: Sports Sports News
In the Australian Open Tennis, the Brazilian duo of Luisa Stefani and Rafael Matos won the Mixed Doubles title on 27 January.
An overview of the news
The Brazilian pair defeated the Indian pair of Rohan Bopanna and Sania Mirza 7-6, 6-2 at the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne.
The 36-year-old Mirza, regarded as India's greatest female tennis player, reached the decider at Melbourne Park.
But he and the 42-year-old Bopanna could not win and lost to Brazilian pair of Luisa Stefani and Rafael Matos.
Mirza was the first Indian to win a WTA singles title in her hometown Hyderabad in 2005.
She reached the fourth round of the US Open as early as 2005, and by 2007 was in the women's top 30.
She will retire from tennis next month after a tournament in Dubai, where she has spent more than a decade and recently launched a tennis academy.
3. England's Ben Stokes and Nat Sciver win ICC annual awards
Tags: Sports Awards Sports News
England Test captain Ben Stokes and all-rounder Nat Sciver have won ICC cricketer of the year 2022 awards.
An overview of the news
All-rounder Stokes was named the Men's Test Cricketer of the Year, while Sciver won the Rachael Hayhoe Flint Trophy for the ICC Women's Cricketer of the Year.
Sciver, 30, is also named Women's one-day international (ODI) Cricketer of the Year.
The 31-year-old Stokes took over the Test captaincy from Joe Root in April 2022 and has won nine of his 10 Tests in charge.
Stokes previously won the overall Men's Cricketer of the Year award in 2019.
Babar Azam has been given the Men's ODI Player of the Year award (Sobers Trophy), before Pakistan's Shaheen Shah Afridi won the award for 2021.
ICC awards winners for 2022
Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy: Babar Azam (Pakistan)
Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy: Nat Sciver (England)
Men's Test Cricketer of the Year: Ben Stokes (England)
Men's ODI Cricketer of the Year: Babar Azam
Women's ODI Cricketer of the Year: Nat Sciver
Men's T20 International Cricketer of the Year: Suryakumar Yadav (India)
Women's T20 International Cricketer of the Year: Tahlia McGrath (Australia)
Men's Emerging Cricketer of the Year: Marco Jansen (South Africa)
Women's Emerging Cricketer of the Year: Renuka Singh (India)
Men's Associate Cricketer of the Year: Gerhard Erasmus (Namibia)
Women's Associate Cricketer of the Year: Esha Oza (India)
David Shepherd Trophy: Richard Illingworth (England)
Spirit of Cricket Award: Aasif Sheikh (Nepal)
4. India becomes No 1 ODI team in ICC Rankings after 3-0 series win over New Zealand
Tags: Sports Sports News
In cricket, India climbed to the top of the ICC Men's ODI rankings after winning the series 3-0 against New Zealand at the Holkar Stadium in Indore.
An overview of the news
Team India, led by Rohit, defeated the New Zealand team by 90 runs in the third match.
Two-time world champions India have scored 5,010 points in 44 matches.
World Champions England are second with 3,400 points from 30 ODIs.
Former world champions Australia are third with 3,572 points (112 rating points) while New Zealand are now placed fourth in the latest ICC Team Rankings.
5. Suryakumar Yadav named ICC "T20 Cricketer of the Year"
Tags: Awards Sports News
Indian batsman Suryakumar Yadav has been selected as the ICC T20 Cricketer of the Year for the year 2022 for his stellar performance.
An overview of the news
Suryakumar Yadav beat Zimbabwe all-rounder Sikander Raza, Pakistan wicket-keeper batsman Mohammad Rizwan, England all-rounder Sam Curran to win the award.
Suryakumar Yadav scored 1164 runs in 31 T20 matches played in 2022 and also became only the second batsman in T20 history to score more than 1000 runs in a calendar year.
Yadav hit 68 sixes in 2022, the most by any batsman in a single year in the history of the format.
In the Women's Section
Australia's Tahlia McGrath has been awarded the ICC T20 Women's Cricketer of the Year award.
McGrath left behind India's Smriti Mandhana, New Zealand's Sophie Devine and Pakistan's Nida Dar for the award.
Tahlia McGrath scored 435 runs and 13 wickets in 16 T20 matches in 2022.
6. Thailand's shuttler Kunlavut Witidson won men's singles title at India Open Badminton
Tags: Sports News
Thai shuttler Kunlavut Vitidsarn won the India Open title on 22 January.
An overview of the news
He defeated World No.1 Denmark's Viktor Axelsen in the men's singles final of the India Open Badminton Championship 22-20, 10-21 and 21-12 at K. D. Jadhav Indoor Stadium in New Delhi.
Earlier, Korean sensation An Seyoung won the Women's singles final. She beat World No.1 Japanese Akane Yamaguchi 15-21, 21-16, 21-12.
Other winners (doubles)
Men's : Liang Weikeng and Wang Chang (China)
Women's : Nami Matsuyama and Chiharu Shida (Japan)
7. Sports Ministry holds its first Mission Olympic Cell (MOC) meeting outside Delhi
Tags: Sports Sports News
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The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports (MYAS) organised its first Mission Olympic Cell (MOC) meeting on January 19 and 20 outside Delhi and during the Hockey World Cup in Bhubaneswar, Odisha.
An overview of the news
The MOC members met to discuss the major agenda of India's Olympic program and proposals for the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) athletes.
The Indian men's and women's hockey teams are the only teams that are funded under MYAS's TOPS Scheme and get an annual expenditure of Rs 24 cr under Sports Authority of India's (SAI) Annual Calendar for Training and Competitions (ACTC) scheme.
Normally, MOC members from all over India visit Delhi every month to discuss agenda related to TOPS.
During the outbreak of COVID-19, the meetings were conducted through a video conferencing so that the athletes do not suffer due to the delay.
After the lockdown, the meetings have adopted a hybrid approach where one meeting a month is held virtually, while the other is held as a physical meeting.
Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS)
It was created in July 2014 under the auspices of the National Sports Development Fund (NSDF) with the objective of identifying and preparing potential medal prospects for the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
It is a flagship program of the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports.
The idea of the scheme is to look to the future and fund a developmental group of athletes who have the potential to bring medals to the Olympic Games in Paris in 2024 and Los Angeles in 2028.
8. India Open Badminton: Korean sensation An Seyoung wins Women's singles final
Tags: Sports Sports News
In the India Open Badminton Championship, Korean sensation An Seyoung wins Women's singles final on 22 January at K D Jadhav Indoor Stadium in New Delhi.
An overview of the news
In the finals, An Seyoung beat World No.1 Japanese Akane Yamaguchi 15-21, 21-16, 21-12.
In the semifinal on 21 January, Viktor Axelsen defeated Indonesia's Jonatan Christie 21-6, 21-12.
Axelsen has earlier won the India Open in 2017 and 2019.
In other semifinal, former world junior champion Thailand's Kunlavut Vitidsarn defeated Anthony Sinisuka Ginting of Indonesia 27-25, 21-15 to reach the final.
9. National Sports Club of India Snooker Open Crown 2023
Tags: Sports News
Petroleum Sports Promotion Board (PSPB's) Laxman Rawat 'Boulkline' emerged winner at the NSCI All India Snooker Open, defeating fellow PSPB challenger Aditya Mehta 9-6 in a best-of-17-frame final.
An overview of the news
Laxman Rawat had finished runner-up in the previous edition of the tournament, losing to Sourav Kothari.
This is Rawat's first major title after two-three years.
NSCI Snooker Open Crown
The NSCI Snooker Open Crown is a snooker tournament organised by the National Sports Club of India (NSCI).
The tournament is open to players from all over India and consists of a best-of-17-frames final.
The tournament is considered a major title in Indian snooker and the champion of the tournament is awarded the NSCI Snooker Open Crown.
10. Sports Ministry suspends all activities of Wrestling Federation of India
Tags: Sports Sports News
The Sports Ministry has suspended all activities of the Wrestling Federation of India till the appointment of a monitoring committee to oversee the functioning of the Wrestling Federation of India on 21 January.
An overview of the news
These include suspension of ranking events and refund of entry fees collected from participants.
The government has already suspended Vinod Tomar, assistant secretary of the federation.
The Monitoring Committee will investigate the allegations levelled against the Executive Committee of the Federation and ensure efficient management of the Federation.
Wrestling Federation of India President Brij Bhushan Singh was accused by the wrestlers of running the union arbitrarily and sexually abusing women players.
