Sports Current Affairs Yearly Review 2021 b09b6bd1

Sports Current Affairs | Yearly Review 2021
Rupa Gurunath steps down as Tamil Nadu Cricket Association president

 Rupa Gurunath has stepped down from the post of president of the Tamil Nadu Cricket
Association (TNCA) on Dec 31, 2021.
 Rupa had taken over as the TNCA president in Sep,2019, becoming the 1st woman to head a
state cricket association in India.
 During her tenure, TNCA hosted two Test matches against England, IPL and the Tamil Nadu
Premier League (TNPL).
Arif Khan becomes first Indian to qualify for 2 Winter Olympics events
 Jammu and Kashmir-based alpine skier Arif Mohammed Khan has become the first Indian
athlete to qualify for two different events of the Winter Olympics 2022.
 He secured an Olympics quota spot in the men's giant slalom event, after booking his first
Winter Olympics ticket in alpine skiing slalom category in Nov 2021.
 The Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics are set to take place from February 4 to 20.
India becomes the first Asian team to win a Test match at Centurion
 India became the first Asian team to win a Test match at Centurion after beating South Africa
by 113-run.
 The only other teams to beat South Africa in Centurion are England (2000) and Australia (2014).
 2021 is the second time India has won four Tests outside Asia in a calendar year
(Brisbane, Lord's, Oval, Centurion).
 Earlier in 2018 (Johannesburg, Nottingham, Adelaide, Melbourne).
Carrom player Rashmi Kumari wins her third Federation Cup
 The two-time World Champion Rahmi Kumari has won her third Federation Cup title in
Varanasi.
 Rashmi Kumari is the most accomplished woman carrom player in the country.
 It was her third Federation Cup trophy, after the earlier triumph in 2012 and 2010.
 Rashmi beat the reigning World Champion S. Appoorwa in the final.
 Rashmi has also won the World Cup twice, and four times SAARC champion.
S Africa's Quinton de Kock announces retirement from Test cricket
 South African wicket-keeper Quinton de Kock announced retirement from Test cricket.
 The announcement came after South Africa's first Test match against India in Centurion, where
India won by 113 runs.
 Quinton de Kock made his Test debut against Australia in Gqeberha in 2014.
 In 54 matches, he scored 3300 runs with a high score of 141 not-out, at an average of 38.82.
Mohammed Shami becomes 5th Indian fast bowler to claim 200 Test wicket
 Mohammed Shami has become the fifth Indian pacer to take 200 Test wickets.
 Shami achieved the feat against South Africa in Centurion on 29 Dec 2021.
 Shami has joined Kapil Dev, Javagal Srinath, Zaheer Khan, and Ishant Sharma in the elusive list.
1|Page
 Shami reached the milestone in 55 Test matches and is the third quickest Indian after Kapil and
Srinath to join the list.
Ross Taylor announces retirement from international cricket
 New Zealand cricketer Ross Taylor announced his retirement from international cricket on
December 30, 2021.
 He made his debut back in 2006 and amassing 18,074 runs in 445 appearances - also the most
by anyone from his country.
 He is also the first cricketer to play 100 matches in all three formats- Test, ODI and T20.
 Taylor has scored the most runs for NZ in Tests (7584).
Rishabh Pant becomes fastest Indian keeper to reach 100 Test dismissal
 Rishabh Pant has become the fastest Indian wicket-keeper to reach 100 dismissals in Test
cricket.
 He achieved this feat against South Africa in Centurion on Dec 28, 2021.
 The left-handed batter broke former skipper MS Dhoni's record to reach 100 dismissals.
 Pant reached the milestone in 26 matches, Dhoni had taken 36 games to reach 100 dismissals.
Nitesh Kumar wins 2 gold at 4th Para-Badminton National Championship
 Haryana's Nitesh Kumar doubled his gold tally in the 4th Para-Badminton National
Championship held at Bhubaneswar, Odisha on 27 Dec'21.
 Nitesh along with his partner Tarun defeated World No.1 Paralympic Games gold medallist
Pramod Bhagat and Manoj Sarkar in straight sets 21-19, 21-11 in the Men’s doubles finals.
 Earlier, Nitesh also won the gold medal in the Men’s singles category.
Uttar Pradesh wins 11th Hockey India junior national championship
 In Hockey, Uttar Pradesh Hockey was crowned the winner of the 11th Junior National Men’s
Championship in the final at Kovilpatti, Tamil Nadu on 25 December 2021.
 It defeated Hockey Chandigarh by 3-1.
 Hockey Association of Odisha secured third place by defeating Hockey Haryana.
Himachal Pradesh beats Tamil Nadu to clinch Vijay Hazare Trophy
 Himachal Pradesh beat Tamil Nadu in the final of the Vijay Hazare Trophy at the Sawai
Mansingh Stadium, Rajasthan on 26 December 2021.
 Himachal Pradesh beat Tamil Nadu by 11 runs.
 This is its first-ever domestic title.
 The team won via the VJD (V Jayadevan system) method.
 It is a method of calculating target scores in rain-truncated limited-overs cricket matches.
Bangladesh wins SAFF U 19 Women’s Championship
 Bangladesh Under-19 Women’s team defeated India by 1-0 to lift the SAFF U-19 Women’s
Football Championship in Dhaka, in Dec'21.
 Shaheda Akter Ripa scored the maximum number of goals in the tournament.
2|Page
 She was given the ‘most valuable player of the game' award.
 Earlier in the championship, Bangladesh had defeated Bhutan by 6-0.
 India had defeated Sri Lanka 5-0 and Bhutan by 3-0.
Aanchal Thakur wins Bronze at the FIS Alpine Skiing Competition
 Ace Indian skier Aanchal Thakur has bagged a Bronze medal at the FIS Alpine Skiing
Competition in Montenegro in December 2021.
 Georgia Epiphaniou won the Silver medal.
 With this, Aanchal has become the first Indian Ski athlete to win two medals at the international
level.
 She has previously won a bronze medal in the 2018 FIS Alpine 3200 Cup held in Turkey.
18 Indian referees selected in FIFA's International list for 2022
 The All India Football Federation announced that 18 Indian referees have been selected in the
FIFA Refereeing International list for 2022, four are women, and 14 are men.
 Members of the list are eligible to officiate at the international level and are also entitled to
wear a FIFA badge on their uniform for the year they are enlisted.
 FIFA is headquartered in Zürich, Switzerland.
Andy Murray accepts wild-card entry to Australian Open 2022
 Five-time Australian Open runner-up Andy Murray accepted wild-card entry to Australian Open
2022.
 He last played at Melbourne Park in 2019, when he made a retirement announcement.
 Andy Murray, No. 134 in the ATP rankings has three Grand Slam titles to his name winning
Wimbledon twice in 2013 and 2016 and the 2016 US Open.
 Australian Open is played in Melbourne, Australia.
India's Anahat Singh wins Junior US Open Squash Tournament
 India's Anahat Singh won the Junior US Open Squash Tournament in the U-15 girls' category in
Philadelphia on 22 December 2021.
 She defeated Jayda Marei of Egypt 11-9 11-5 8-11 11-5 in the final.
 More than 850 top juniors from 41 nations participated in one of the most revered global squash
tourneys.
 The tournament was played at the Arlen Spectre Centre in Philadelphia.
Asian Men's Champions Trophy: India beats Pakistan to win bronze medal
 India beat Pakistan by 4-3 to finish third in the five-team tournament. Indian team won the
Bronze medal in Asian Men's Hockey Championship.
 The match between India and Pakistan was played at the Maulana Bhashani National Hockey
Stadium in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
 South Korea did a stunning comeback, equalising with 0.01 seconds remaining, to beat Japan
4-2 via tie-breakers to win the gold medal.
3|Page
PV Sindhu appointed BWF's Athletes’ Commission member

 PV Sindhu has been appointed as a member of the Badminton World Federation's (BWF)
Athletes' Commission.
 She was named alongside five others who will serve as members till 2025.
 The six members of the BWF Athletes’ Commission 2021 – 2025 are Iris Wang, Robin Tabeling,
Greysia Polii, Kim Soyeong, Pusarla V Sindhu, and Zheng Si Wei.
 Sindhu had won a bronze medal in the Tokyo Games in 2021.
Emma Raducanu crowned BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2021
 US Open champion Emma Raducanu has been voted BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2021.
 She has become the third WTA (Women's Tennis Association) player to win the award in its 67-
year history.
 Raducanu became the first British woman to win a Grand Slam singles title after defeating
Leylah Fernandez in the Flushing Meadows final in September 2021.
K Srikanth becomes 1st Indian male to win silver at BWF Championships
 Kidambi Srikanth clinched a silver medal in the World Badminton Championships, Spain on 19
December 2021.
 He was defeated by Loh Kean Yew of Singapore.
 The silver medal has also placed Srikanth alongside P V Sindhu and Saina Nehwal, who had
finished runner-up in the past.
 Loh has become the first man from his country to win the World Championships title.
Lakshya Sen bags bronze medal in BWF World Championships
 Lakshya Sen won a bronze medal at the BWF World Championships in Huelva, Spain on 18
December 2021.
 Kidambi Srikanth became the first Indian man to reach a World Championship final after
beating Lakshya Sen and being assured of at least a silver medal.
 This is the first time that India will have two medals in the men’s singles in the same edition of
the badminton world championships.
Norway's Magnus Carlsen won FIDE World Chess Championship
 Magnus Carlsen of Norway won the FIDE World Championship in December 2021 in Dubai.
 He beat Ian Nepomniachtchi of Russia by 7.5-3.5.
 This was Carlsen's fifth world championship title.
 The contest came to life in game 6, won by Carlsen with the white pieces after seven hours 45
minutes, and 136 moves – the longest game in world championship history.
Joe Root becomes 4th player in history to score 1600 Test runs
 England's Joe Root has created history by becoming only the fourth player to score 1600 Test
runs in a calendar year.
4|Page
 He achieved the feat on the 3rd day of the 2nd Ashes Test against Australia at the Adelaide
Oval, in Dec'21.
 He is only behind Mohammad Yusuf (1788 runs in 2006), Viv Richards (1710 in 1976), and Graeme
Smith (1656 in 2008) to score the most number of runs in a calendar year.
India's Hansini Mathan Rajan wins ITTF Hopes and Challenge tournament
 India's Hansini Mathan Rajan defeated Syria's Hend Zaza to win the girl's singles event at the
2021 ITTF Hopes and Challenge table tennis tournament in Amman, Jordan, in December 2021.
 She had also secured her second ITTF World Youth Series title with a win the U-13 girls category
in Muscat in October 2021.
 She had won her maiden Youth Series title in Tunisia in September 2021.
India to host Women's U-18, U-19 SAFF Championships in 2022
 India will host the Women's Under-18 and Under-19 SAFF Championships in 2022.
 While SAFF Under-18 Women’s Championship will be held from March 3 to 14, the SAFF Under-
19 Championship will take place from July 25 to August 3.
 This was announced by the All India Football Federation.
 Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka and hosts India will compete in the SAFF U-18 Women’s
Championship.
India bags three more medals at Commonwealth Weightlifting C'ships
 Indian weightlifters Punam Yadav, Arockiya Alish, and Vikas Thakur have added three more
medals to the country's tally at the ongoing Commonwealth Weightlifting Championships 2021
in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
 Punam bagged a silver medal in the women's 76kg category.
 Arockiya Alish clinched bronze for a total lift of 214kg.
 Vikas Thakur clinched the bronze medal in the men's 96kg.
Anurag Thakur launches Khelo India Women’s U-21 Hockey League
 Youth Affairs and Sports Minister Anurag Thakur launched the first edition of Khelo India
Women’s Hockey League U-21 at Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium in New Delhi on 15
December 2021.
 A total of 14 teams across different states will participate in the league from 15-21 December.
 It is being organized by the Sports Authority of India in collaboration with Hockey India.
Red Bull's Max Verstappen wins Formula One title at Grand Prix
 Red Bull's Max Verstappen won Formula One title at Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on 12 December
2021.
 He defeated Lewis Hamilton from Mercedes.
 Verstappen ended the season with 10 wins.
 Ferrari's Carlos Sainz finished the race in third place, with AlphaTauri's Yuki Tsunoda fourth and
teammate Pierre Gasly fifth.
 After 22 record races, Verstappen had 395.5 points.
5|Page
Chandeep Singh bags Silver medal at Para World Taekwondo Championships

 Para-Athlete Chandeep Singh has bagged a silver medal at Para World Taekwondo
Championships.
 He won the medal in the Men's plus 80 kg event at the 9th Para World Taekwondo
Championships held at Istanbul in Turkey from 9th to 12th December 2021.
 He became the first para-athlete from J&K to achieve the feat.
 This is India's first-ever medal in the history of Para-Taekwondo World Championship.
Hazarika Popy wins Silver medal at Commonwealth Championships
 Hazarika Popy clinched the Silver medal in the women's 59 kg category at the 2021
Commonwealth Weightlifting Championships.
 Hazarika lifted 84 kilograms in the snatch and 105 kilograms in clean and jerk for a total of 189
kilograms to take the second spot on the podium.
 Nigeria's Rafiatu Lawal lifted a total of 207 kilograms to win the gold medal.
India wins 41 medals, including 12 golds at Asian Youth Para Games
 India claimed 41 medals (12 Gold, 15 Silver, 14 Bronze) at the 4th Asian Youth Para Games
(AYPG).
 In swimming, India won three medals, including one silver and two bronze, while the country
also secured a silver in powerlifting.
 The event is organized by the National Paralympic Committee (NPC) of Bahrain.
 Tashkent, Uzbekistan, will host the 5th edition of the Asian Youth Para Games 2025.
Divyansh Panwar wins both senior and junior air rifle National titles
 Divyansh Singh Panwar won two consecutive titles in the Men’s 10m Air Rifle National
Championship
 After topping the qualification with 630.3 points, Divyansh beat Rudrankksh Patil by 0.7 points
to clinch the gold medal.
 Divyansh also won the junior gold after beating Rudrankksh after he shot 252.2 in the junior
final.
Jeremy Lalrinnunga wins gold medal at Commonwealth Championships
 Jeremy Lalrinnunga won the gold medal in the men's 67kg category at the Commonwealth
Championships, in Tashkent on 10 Dec'21.
 He also created a national record in the snatch event.
 The Commonwealth Weightlifting Championships also serve as a qualifying event for the 2022
Commonwealth games in Birmingham.
Manipur wins Senior Women’s National Football Championship
 Manipur won the Senior Women's National Football Championship after defeating Railways in
the final at the EMS Stadium in Kozhikode on 9 December 2021.
 The match went to penalties with the scores at 0-0.
6|Page
 The Best goalkeeper was awarded to Okram Roshini Devi (Manipur).

 The top goalscorer was Sandhiya Ranganathan (Tamil Nadu).
 The most valuable player was Irom Prameshwori Devi (Manipur).
S Bidyarani Devi wins silver at Commonwealth Weightlifting C'ships
 S Bidyarani Devi won silver at the women's 55kg category at the ongoing Commonwealth
Weightlifting Championships at Tashkent, on 10 Dec'21.
 Devi lifted a total of 198kg to finish second behind Nigeria's Adijat Olarinoye.
 However, as per Commonwealth Championship rule, she would also get a gold having lifted the
highest weight in the clean and jerk category with her 114kg effort.
India's Jhilli Dalabehera clinches gold medal in weighlifting
 Indian weightlifter Jhilli Dalabehera has won the gold medal in the women's 49kg category at
the Commonwealth Weightlifting Championships in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
 She lifted the total weight of 167kg with 73kg in snatch and 94kg in clean and jerk to win the
gold medal in the 49kg category.
 The Commonwealth Weightlifting Championships 2021 is being held from December 7 to 17,
2021.
Russia beats Croatia to win Davis Cup title after 15-year wait
 Russia’s 15-year wait for a Davis Cup title ended in December 2021.
 Daniil Medvedev beat Marin Cilic 7-6 (7), 6-2 in the second singles match to give Russia a 2-0
lead over Croatia in the final.
 It is Russia’s third Davis Cup title, and first since 2006.
 Russia’s other Davis Cup title was in 2002.
Sanket Mahadev wins gold at 2021 Commonwealth Senior Championships
 Sanket Mahadev Sargar won a gold medal in the Men's 55kg snatch category at the ongoing
Commonwealth Weightlifting Championships 2021 in Tashkent on 7 December 2021.
 He lifted the weight of 113kg.
 With this lift, Sargar also created the new snatch national record.
 The championship is currently being held concurrently in Tashkent along with World
Weightlifting Championships.
Pranjala clinches women's singles title in ITF World Tour C'ships
 Pranjala Yadlapalli clinched the KSLTA ITF World Tour Championships women's singles title
beating Sowjanya Bhavisetti.
 The finals were held in Bengaluru on 5 December 2021.
 This was Pranjala's fourth ITF title of her career.
 She had last won the ITF Lagos title three seasons ago.
 She was awarded the winner's cheque of USD 2352 and 10 world ranking points.
Lewis Hamilton takes victory in chaotic Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 2021
7|Page
 Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes and Great Britain celebrates winning the F1 Grand Prix of Saudi
Arabia at Jeddah Corniche Circuit on December 5, 2021, in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
 It was his 104th title, won the first title in 2008.
 Saudi Arabia hosted the first-ever Formula 1 Grand Prix.
 Max Verstappen of Red Bull, Valtteri Bottas of Mercedes finish at 2nd and 3rd spot respectively.
BWF World Tour Finals: Sindhu settles for silver, loses to An Seyoung
 Indian badminton ace P V Sindhu settled for a silver medal at the BWF World Tour Finals after
losing to South Korea's An Seyoung 16-21, 12-21.
 This was Sindhu's third final appearance in the tournament.
 She had won the title in 2018 to become the only Indian to achieve the feat.
 World number one Viktor Axelsen lifts Men's Singles title, defeated Thailand's Kunlavut
Vitidsarn.
Argentina wins FIH Odisha Hockey Men’s Junior World Cup 2021
 Argentina won the Men's FIH Hockey Junior World Cup 2021 beating Germany's team.
 This is the second time Argentina won the Men’s Junior World Cup.
 France won the Bronze medal, beat India by 1-3 who finishes in fourth place.
 Germany is the most successful team, having won the tournament six times followed by India,
having won the tournament two times.
Kashish Lakra (F51) bags gold at 2021 Asia Youth Paralympic Games
 The Tokyo Paralympian Kashish Lakra (F51) bagged a gold medal in the club throw at the 2021
Asia Youth Paralympic Games in Bahrain on 3 December 2021.
 Laxit (F54) won bronze in the Javelin Throw and Sanjay R. Neelam (F11) clinched bronze in
Shotput.
 Bahrain is hosting the 4th Asian Youth Para Games (AYPG), from December 2 to 6.
Ajaz Patel becomes third bowler to take all 10 wickets in an innings
 Left-arm spinner Ajaz Patel on December 4 created history by taking all 10 wickets in an innings
in the 2nd test match against India.
 He plays for New Zealand.
 He finished with figures of 10/119.
 He became the third bowler after Jim Laker and Anil Kumble to achieve the feat.
 Patel had made his Test debut against Pakistan in 2018 in Abu Dhabi.
Ananya Bansal wins silver in shotput at Asia Youth Paralympic Games
 Ananya Bansal won the country's first silver medal in shotput in the F-20 category at the Asia
Youth Paralympic Games in Manama, Bahrain on 3 Dec'21.
 She is an athlete with an intellectual impairment.
 Suphattha Inkhaoyoi of Thailand won gold.
 Athletes from 30 countries and under the age of 23 have taken part in the games.
 There are 9 sports categories in the event.
8|Page
Viktor Axelsen, Tai Tzu Ying named BWF Player of the Year
 Denmark's Viktor Axelsen and Taiwan's Tai Tzu Ying have been named BWF Male and Female
Player of the Year respectively.
 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia-based Badminton World Federation (BWF) honoured all eight winners
on 3 Dec 2021.
 Qu Zimo (China) was named Male Para-Badminton Player of the Year, and Leani Ratri Oktila
(Indonesia) the Female Para-Badminton Player of the Year.
Rajshree Sancheti bags women's air rifle gold at Shooting Nationals
 In shooting, Rajshree Sancheti claimed the gold medal in the women's 10-meter air rifle at the
64th National Shooting Championship Competitions (NSCC) in Bhopal on 30 November 2021.
 Zeena Khitta of Himachal Pradesh won silver while Shreya Agrawal won bronze.
 In the junior women's 10m air rifle event, Tamil Nadu's R. Narmada Nithin won the gold.
Ravichandran Ashwin: India's third highest wicket-taker in Tests
 Ravichandran Ashwin on 29 November 2021, went past Harbhajan Singh to become the third-
highest wicket-taker for India in Test cricket, reaching the mark in his 80th match with 418
wickets.
 Anil Kumble tops the chart with 619 wickets and is followed by Kapil Dev, who has a total of 434
wickets under his name.
 Ashwin is the fourth Indian bowler to take more than 400 wickets in Test cricket.
Ramkumar Ramanathan wins first singles title on ATP Challenger Tour
 Indian tennis player Ramkumar Ramanathan won his first Challenger level singles title.
 He outplayed Evgeny Karlovskiy in the summit clash of the ATP 80 Manama event, in Manama,
Bahrain on 28 November 2021.
 The 80 ranking points earned will push Ramkumar back into top-200 and also make him the
highest-ranked Indian on the ATP singles ranking chart.
Tashkent announced as the host for the 2025 Asian Youth Para Games
 The Asian Paralympic Committee (APC) has announced that Tashkent, Uzbekistan will be the
venue for the 2025 Asian Youth Para Games.
 The decision was taken by the APC's executive board.
 For the first time, the event will be held in the same city and same venues.
 The 2021 edition of the Asian Youth Para Games will take place shortly in Bahrain from
December 2-6.
Andhra Pradesh wins National Blind Cricket tournament
 Andhra Pradesh beat Karnataka by 27 runs to win the National T20 Cricket Tournament for the
Blind at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, New Delhi on 25 Nov'21.
 Venkateshwara Rao from Andhra Pradesh, who scored 85 runs off 36 balls, was declared Man
of the Match.
9|Page
 The tournament was organised by the Cricket Association for the Blind in India in association
with the Samarthanam Trust for the Disabled.
Shreyas Iyer becomes 16th Indian to make hundred on Test debut
 Shreyas Iyer on 26 Nov'21 became the 16th Indian batter to make a hundred on his Test debut.
 He achieved the feat in the first Test against New Zealand.
 He scored 105 off 171 balls, striking 13 fours and a couple of sixes.
 He is also the 3rd Indian to score a hundred on debut against New Zealand.
 Arjan Kripal Singh and Surinder Amarnath are the other two Indians to have achieved the feat.
Mahmudullah Riyad announces retirement from Test cricket
 Bangladesh batsman Mahmudullah Riyad announced his retirement from Test cricket on 24
November 2021 after a 12-year career.
 He played his last Test against Zimbabwe in Harare in July 2021 with Bangladesh recording a
220-run win.
 Mahmudullah will continue to play ODIs and T20I for the senior national team.
 He hit 2914 runs in 50 Tests, including 5 hundreds and 16 fifties.
Oman to host inaugural session of Legends League Cricket
 The inaugural session of the Legends Cricket League, a professional cricket league for former
star cricketers, will take place in January 2022.
 It will be played at Al Amerat Cricket Stadium in Oman.
 The first season of LLC will have former cricketers from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, England,
Australia, among others.
 They will be divided into 3 teams.
Indonesia Open Badminton championship begins on 23 November
 The Indonesia Open badminton championship began on 23 November 2021 in Bali.
 PV Sindhu and former world no.1 Srikanth Kidambi will lead India's challenge at the Indonesia
Open.
 The Indonesia Open is a Super 1000 event which will also be the last opportunity for players to
qualify for the upcoming World Tour Finals from 1-5 December 2021.
34th All India Postal Wrestling championship begins on 22 November
 34th All India Postal Wrestling championship began in New Delhi on 22 November 2021.
 Tokyo Olympic Bronze medallist wrestler Bajrang Punia and Indian Olympic Coach Anil Mann
were the chief guests.
 Eleven postal circles across the nation, including Delhi are participating in the event.
 For the first time in the history of the championship, women wrestling has been inducted in the
tournament.
Tamil Nadu wins Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2021
10 | P a g e
 In cricket, Tamil Nadu lifted the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy defeating Karnataka on 22 November
2021.
 Tamil Nadu won their 3rd Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy title.
 The final was played in Arun Jaitley Stadium Delhi.
 Shahrukh Khan was adjudged as the Man of the Match.
 Tamil Nadu will receive a cash prize of Rs 10 lakh while Karnataka will get Rs 5 lakh.
Germany's Alexander Zverev wins second ATP Finals crown
 Germany's Alexander Zverev captured his second ATP Finals title after defeating Russian Daniil
Medvedev in the final in Turin on 21 Nov'21.
 Zverev, the Olympic singles gold medallist in Tokyo, won his tour-leading sixth trophy of the
season.
 He is the fourth player in tournament history to earn semi-final and final wins over the top-two
ranked players, and first since Andre Agassi in 1990.
Indian contingent win 47 medals at Uganda Para-Badminton
 The Indian contingent bagged 47 medals at the Uganda Para-Badminton International event
on 21 Nov'21.
 This medal tally includes 16 gold, 14 silver, and 17 bronze medals.
 Palak Kohli, Abu Hubaida, and Ammu Mohan clinched two gold and one silver each.
 Manasi Joshi won a gold medal in the women’s singles SL3 event.
 Pramod Bhagat finished with a silver medal in the men’s singles SL3 event.
Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton wins inaugural Qatar F1 Grand Prix
 Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton claimed victory from pole at the inaugural Qatar Formula One Grand
Prix, on 21 November 2021.
 Red Bull’s Max Verstappen finished second.
 Hamilton claimed his seventh season win and 102nd overall.
 Double world champion Fernando Alonso was third for Renault-owned Alpine.
 Sergio Perez finished fourth.
Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 will be played in India
 BCCI secretary Jay Shah has announced that the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 will be
played in India.
 The 2020 IPL along with the second leg of the 2021 IPL were held in the UAE because of the
COVID-19 situation in India.
 He announced this at the title celebrations of Chennai Super Kings in Chennai.
 Two new teams will be entering a mega-auction this time.
Kento Momota wins Indonesia Masters badminton tournament
 In Badminton, world no. 1 Japan’s Kento Momota clinched the Indonesia Masters badminton
tournament men’s singles title after beating Denmark’s Anders Antonsen in the final, in Bali on
21 Nov'21.
11 | P a g e
 In the women’s singles final, Japan’s Akane Yamaguchi, was defeated by An Se-Young.
 In the women’s doubles Japan's Matsuyama Nami and Shida Chiharu won 21-9, 21-11.
Arif Khan,J&K alpine skier, qualifies for Beijing Winter Olympics 2022
 Jammu and Kashmir alpine skier Arif Mohammed Khan has qualified for the 2022 Winter
Olympics to be held in Beijing.
 Khan, who hails from North Kashmir qualified in an Olympic qualifier alpine skiing event in
Dubai.
 He has earlier represented the country in many international events, including World
Championships.
 The Winter Olympics will be held in Beijing from February 4 to 20, 2022.
Karnataka CM inaugurates Indian National Basketball League
 The Indian National Basketball League was inaugurated on 20 Nov 2021 by Karnataka Chief
Minister Basavaraj Bommai in the presence of Governor Thawar Chand Gehlot.
 The league which has been announced by the Basketball Federation of India aims to strengthen
basketball.
 The league matches will start in 2022 after the Basketball Senior Nationals tournament.
India bags seven medals at Asian Archery Championships
 India bagged a total of seven medals at the Asian Archery Championships 2021 held in Dhaka.
 India's recurve archery teams added two silver medals and a bronze on the final day of the
Championships.
 India ended the week-long continental event with seven medals - one gold, four silvers, and two
bronze.
 India's recurve women’s and men’s teams settled for silver on 19 November 2021.
AB de Villiers announces retirement from all forms of cricket
 South African legend AB de Villiers has announced his retirement from all forms of cricket.
 He had retired from international cricket in 2018.
 De Villiers has played 228 ODIs and scored 9577 runs at an average of 53.50.
 His highest score in ODIs was 176 at a strike rate of 101.09. He has scored 25 centuries in ODIs.
 He made his ODI debut in 2005 against England.
West Indies to host ICC Under 19 Men’s Cricket World Cup
 The West Indies will host the 14th edition of the ICC Under 19 Men's Cricket World Cup for the
first time ever.
 16 teams will compete in 48 matches from January 14 to February 5, 2022, across four host
countries.
 The four host countries have been confirmed as Antigua and Barbuda, Guyana, St Kitts and
Nevis and Trinidad and Tobago with 10 venues hosting matches.
Indira Marathon held in Prayagraj on 19 November 2021
12 | P a g e
 The 36th All India Prize Money Indira Marathon was held in Prayagraj on November 19, 2021.
 Indira Marathon was started in 1985 in memory of former PM Indira Gandhi.
 The prize money in its early years was ₹50,000 for the winner.
 Later, the prize money was raised to ₹1 lakh for winners and then the same was enhanced to ₹2
lakh for the winner.
 The race covers a total distance of 42.195 km.
Garbine Muguruza beats Anett Kontaveit to win WTA Finals title
 Garbine Muguruza beat Anett Kontaveit 6-3, 7-5 to win the WTA Finals title on 17 November
2021 for the first time in her career.
 Garbine Muguruza, who won back-to-back titles in Monterrey in northern Mexico in 2018 and
2019, became the first Spaniard to win the women's season-ending tournament.
 She is now placed no.3 while Anett is at no.7.
Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova clinch doubles title
 Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic clinched the doubles title at
the WTA Finals in Guadalajara on 17 November 2021.
 They defeated Hsieh Su-Wei of Chinese Taipei and Elise Mertens of Belgium, 6-3, 6-4, in an hour
and 18 minutes.
 The final victory also clinches the year-end WTA Doubles World No.1 ranking for Siniakova, who
will displace Hsieh at the top.
Indian men’s compound team wins bronze at Asian Archery Championships
 The Indian men’s team of compound archers clinched the bronze medal at Asian Archery
Championships 2021 after beating Bangladesh, on 17 November 2021.
 The trio of Abhishek Verma, Rishabh Yadav, and Aman Saini defeated Mohammad
Ashikuzzaman, Nawaz Rakib, and Sohel Rana, beating them 235-22.
 This was India’s first podium finish at the ongoing continental event.
Pakistan to host ICC Champions Trophy in 2025
 Pakistan will host the 2025 Champions Trophy, an ICC flagship tournament, after two decades.
 The United States and West Indies will co-host the 2024 T20 World Cup.
 This will be the first-ever global event hosted in North America.
 India will get to host three ICC events in the next cycle, including the 2026 T20 World Cup and
2031 50-over World Cup.
Pakistan bowler Usman Shinwari announces retirement from Test cricket
 Pakistan pacer Usman Khan Shinwari on 16 November 2021 announced his retirement from test
cricket to prolong his cricket career
 Shinwari has played 17 ODIs and just one Test for Pakistan.
 He last played for Pakistan in his only Test in December 2019.
 The Pakistan pacer made his debut in December 2013 in the T20 format.
 Shinwari will continue playing white-ball cricket for Pakistan.
13 | P a g e
Final of M.P. Cup Polo Championship organized by Ministry of Culture

 The Ministry of Culture organized the final match of the M.P. Cup Polo Championship - Sir
Pratap Singh Cup 2021, on 14 November 2021 at Jaipur Polo Grounds, New Delhi.
 Team Vimal Arion Achievers won the match by 11-8.
 Sir Pratap Singh Cup is one of India’s most historic and premier tournaments, which was
instituted in 1921.
 It was completed exact 100 years with the completion of this event.
Ravi Shastri joins upcoming Legends League as Commissioner
 Former India chief coach Ravi Shastri has been roped in as the Commissioner of the Legends
League Cricket (LLC).
 LLC is a professional event for retired players that is set to take off in 2022.
 The first season of LLC is scheduled to be held in January 2022 in the Gulf.
 The League will have former cricketers from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Australia, England, etc.
Australia beats New Zealand to win T20 World Cup
 Australia beat New Zealand by eight wickets to clinch their first Twenty20 World Cup title under
the captaincy of Aaron Finch on 14 November 2021.
 Chasing a target of 173, Australia won the game with 7 balls to spare.
 David Warner was adjudged the ‘Player of the Tournament’ for the T20 World Cup 2021 for his
brilliant batting.
 He scored a total of 289 runs in 7 matches.
Lewis Hamilton wins Brazilian Grand Prix
 Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton won the Brazilian Grand Prix on 14 November 2021.
 Hamilton, a seven-time world champion, beat Verstappen despite starting from 10th position.
 Verstappen, the winner of the race's previous edition in 2019, finished second.
 Hamilton's teammate, Valtteri Bottas, finished third and Red Bull's Sergio Perez was fourth.
Watanabe re-elected as International Gymnastics Federation President
 Morinari Watanabe has been re-elected to a new three-year term as President of the
International Gymnastics Federation (FIG).
 Watanabe was first elected FIG President in 2016 for a four-year term.
 That was extended by one year when the coronavirus pandemic caused the Tokyo Olympics to
be postponed.
 His new term is three years so the next elections coincide with the 2024 Olympics in Paris.
Akshay Karnewar becomes the first bowler to concede zero runs in T20s
 Akshay Karnewar has become the first bowler in men's T20 cricket to concede zero runs from
his full quota of overs.
 He achieved this feat of bowling four maiden overs during the Round 4 Plate match against
Manipur in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2021-22 at the ACA Stadium in Vijaywada.
14 | P a g e
 Karnewar finished with impressive figures of four overs, four maidens, and two wickets (4-4-0-
2).
Women's cricket to make its debut in 2022 Commonwealth Games
 Women’s cricket will make its debut at the 2022 Commonwealth Games on July 29 while the
final will be played on August 7, 2022.
 India will face Australia in the opening match.
 The last time cricket was played in a multi-sporting event was in the 1998 edition in Kuala
Lumpur.
 The final team set will be finalized at the end of January 2022.
Nethra Kumanan wins gold in Gran Canaria Sailing Championships
 India’s Nethra Kumanan won gold in the laser radial section of the Gran Canaria sailing
championships, one of the European regional open events, held in Gran Canaria (Spain), in
November 2021.
 She finished first in three of the six races while garnering a total of 10 Nett points.
 Beneyto Lancho of Spain came second while Martina Reino Cacho (Spain) emerged third.
Three-day national level squash competition begins in Prayagraj
 The first Sanjay Gupta Memorial National Squash Circuit Competition is being organized at
Amitabh Bachchan Sports Complex (Mayo Hall) in Prayagraj from 12-14 November 2021.
 It is being held under the joint aegis of the Directorate of sports, Uttar Pradesh, and Allahabad
Squash Racquet Association.
 The competition with ₹1 lakh prize money is divided into five parts in boys and girls category.
Babar Azam becomes quickest to reach 2500 T20I runs
 In T20 World Cup semifinal match between Pakistan and Australia, Pakistan skipper Babar
Azam became the fastest batsman to score 2500 runs in T20Is, on 11 November
2021.
 He beat Virat Kohli’s record who took 68 innings to reach the landmark while Azam did it in 62
innings.
 Azam is also the player to have the most number of fours in the T20 World Cup 2021.
Pakistan's Rizwan becomes first batter to score 1,000 T20I runs
 Pakistan wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Rizwan on 11 November 2021 became the first player
to score 1000 T20I runs in a single year.
 Rizwan went past the 1000-run mark in the ongoing ICC Men's T20 World Cup semi-final
against Australia.
 Along the way, Rizwan broke Babar Azam's tally to register most runs in their maiden T20 World
Cup campaign.
India to host first-ever world yogasana championship in June 2022
 India is set to host the first-ever yogasana world championship in June 2022.
15 | P a g e
 This was announced at the opening ceremony of India’s first Physical National Yogasana Sports
Championships in Bhubaneswar by National Yogasana Sports Federation President Udit Sheth.
 Yogasana sport for both male and female categories has also been included in the Khelo India
Youth Games, 2021.
Former cricketer and hockey player Lesley Murdoch appointed as NZC VP
 Former New Zealand cricketer Lesley Murdoch has been elected Vice President of New Zealand
Cricket.
 She has been elected for a one-year term, following which she becomes eligible for nomination
for the role of NZC President.
 Murdoch played six Tests and 25 One Day Internationals for the New Zealand women's team
and represented her country in hockey at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.
Rohit Sharma announced India's new T-20 International Captain
 Rohit Sharma has been officially announced as Team India's T20 International captain,
replacing Virat Kohli.
 Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the decision on 10 November 2021 while
also naming India's 16-man squad for the upcoming home series against New Zealand.
 Kohli had earlier announced his decision to step down as India's captain in the shortest format.
Mitrabha Guha becomes India's 72nd Grandmaster
 International Master Mitrabha Guha has become the 72nd Grandmaster of India after
completing the requirement by securing his third and final GM norm at GM Third Saturday Mix
220 - Novi Sad, Serbia.
 To achieve the GM title, a player has to secure three GM norms and cross the live rating of
2,500 Elo points.
 He scored his second GM-norm at the Sheikh Russel GM tournament in Bangladesh.
Sanjay Bangar appointed Royal Challengers Bangalore's head coach
 Indian Premier League team Royal Challengers Bangalore has elevated its batting consultant
Sanjay Bangar to the post of head coach for the next two years.
 Bangar, who was appointed as the team batting consultant in February 2021, will take over from
Mike Hesson.
 Sanjay represented India in 12 Tests and 15 ODIs between 2001 and 2004.
Rohit Sharma becomes third cricketer to score 3,000 runs in men's T20I
 Rohit Sharma on 8 November 2021, completed 3000 T20I runs and became the third cricketer in
the world to achieve this feat.
 Rohit reached the 3000 run mark in the match against Namibia in ICC men's T20 World Cup at
Dubai International Cricket Stadium.
 Virat Kohli is at the top of the tally with 3227 runs, which is followed by New Zealand's Martin
Guptill with 3115 runs.
16 | P a g e
First National Yogasana Championships to be held in Bhubaneswar

 The first Physical National Yogasana Championships will be held in Bhubaneshwar from
November 11 to 13, 2021.
 The event will be organized by the National Yogasana Sports Federation (NYSF) in association
with the Odisha government.
 Yogasana sport for both male and female categories has also been included in Khelo India
Youth Games 2021.
Inaugural session of the 1st Khelo India Archery Tournament held
 The inaugural session of the 1st Khelo India Archery Tournament kicked off at Sports Authority
of India's (SAI) NCOE Sonepat Centre on 7 November 2021.
 It was organized by the Sports Authority of India (SAI) and Archery Association of India (AAI).
 The Khelo India Archery Competition will now be held monthly, with competitions being held for
Senior and Junior participants.
Max Verstappen wins the Mexico City Grand Prix on 7 November 2021
 Red Bull's Max Verstappen won in the Mexico City Grand Prix on 7 November 2021 to surge 19
points clear of Lewis Hamilton in the Formula One championship with four races remaining.
 Seven-times world champion Hamilton was second for Mercedes.
 This was Verstappen's ninth victory of the season, third in Mexico and 19th of his career.
Sankalp Gupta becomes India's 71st Grandmaster
 Sankalp Gupta has become India's 71st Grandmaster by scoring 6.5 points and
finishing second in the Grandmaster Ask 3 round-robin event in Arandjelovac,
Serbia.
 Gupta secured the three required Grandmaster norms in just 24 days by playing
three tournaments on the trot.
 In all the three events, his rating performances were at 2599 and above.
Saurabh Chaudhary wins silver in ISSF President’s Cup
 India’s Saurabh Chaudhary and Abhishek Verma won silver and bronze respectively in the
men’s 10m air pistol at the inaugural edition of the President’s Cup in Wroclaw, Poland on 6 Nov
2021.
 Germany’s Christian Reitz won the men’s 10m pistol event with a total of 34 points in the final.
 The inaugural ISSF President's Cup is a rechristened version of the ISSF World Cup Finals.
Novak Djokovic wins 37th Masters title in Paris
 World number one Novak Djokovic won a sixth Paris title and record 37th Masters crown on 7
November 2021.
 He defeated 2020 champion Daniil Medvedev 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 in the final.
 The Masters title secured Djokovic's second record after he was confirmed as season-ending
world number one for the seventh time.
17 | P a g e
Russia beat Switzerland to win Billie Jean King Cup title

 Russia claimed their fifth Billie Jean King Cup title on 6 November 2021 after defeating Daria
Kasatkina and Liudmila Samsonova of Switzerland.
 Liudmila Samsonova rallied to capture the decisive point with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory over Tokyo
Olympics singles champion Belinda Bencic.
 Russia, which had won their previous titles all in the mid-2000s, were competing in Prague.
Rashid Khan becomes fastest bowler to take 400 wickets in T20 cricket
 Afghanistan's leg-spinner Rashid Khan picked up his 400th wicket in competitive T20 cricket
during the team's T20 World Cup match against New Zealand on 7 Nov'21.
 He achieved the feat in his 289th T20 match.
 He also holds the record for most T20 scalps in a calendar year, having picked a staggering 96
wickets in 2018.
 Only three other bowlers have crossed the 400-wicket mark in T20 cricket.
Manika Batra and Archana Girish Kamath win women's doubles title
 India’s Manika Batra and Archana Girish Kamath bagged the women’s doubles title at the
World Table Tennis Contender Lasko 2021 event.
 They beat Adriana and Melanie, in three games in the final on 7 November 2021.
 This is the second successive week that an Indian pair has won a title in the WTT Contender
Series.
 G Sathiyan and Harmeet Desai had won the men’s doubles title earlier.
Sarah Taylor becomes first woman coach in men's franchise cricket
 Former England wicketkeeper batter Sarah Taylor has become the first woman coach in men's
professional franchise cricket.
 She was named assistant coach of Team Abu Dhabi for the Abu Dhabi T10 league beginning 19
Nov'21.
 She became the first woman specialist coach at a men’s county side with Sussex in the United
Kingdom.
 She played in 10 Tests, 126 ODIs, and 90 T20Is before retiring in 2019.
Barcelona confirms appointment of Xavi Hernandez as head coach
 FC Barcelona has reached an agreement with Xavi Hernandez for him to become the first-team
coach for the rest of the current season and two more seasons.
 Xavi Hernandez has left his current club, Al-Sadd of Qatar.
 Xavi is a legend at FC Barcelona and his 767 appearances for the senior team were a record
until he was surpassed recently by Leo Messi (778).
Bhaker and Foroughi win air pistol mixed team gold in President's Cup
 India's woman pistol ace Manu Bhaker and Iran's Olympic champion Javad Foroughi won the
10m air pistol mixed team gold at the inaugural ISSF President's Cup.
18 | P a g e
 The Indo-Iranian pair defeated the French-Russian duo of Mathilde Lamolle and Artem
Chernousov 16-8 in the gold medal match on November 5, 2021.
 Yashaswini Deswal who was paired with Slovakian Juraj Tuzinsky ended 10th.
Dwayne Bravo announces retirement from international cricket
 Dwayne Bravo will retire from internationals after West Indies plays its last T20 World Cup
game against Australia in November 2021.
 Bravo played in 90 T20 for the West Indies since making his debut against New Zealand at
Auckland in 2006.
 He scored 1,245 runs at an average of 22.23 and a strike rate of 115.38.
 He was part of the West Indies teams that won T20 World Cup in 2012 and 2016.
Unmukt Chand becomes 1st Indian male to play in Australia's BBL
 Unmukt Chand has become the first Indian player to play in Australia's Big Bash League (BBL)
with 2018/19 champions Melbourne Renegades announcing the signing of him on 4 Nov'21.
 The former India under-19 captain had retired from Indian cricket in August 2021 and has
played league cricket in the USA since.
 Unmukt Chand captained India to the under-19 World Cup title in 2012.
Akash Kumar wins bronze in Men's Boxing World Championships
 Akash Kumar won a bronze medal in the Men’s Boxing World Championships on 4 Nov'21.
 Akash became only the seventh Indian male boxer to secure a medal.
 He also claimed prize money of $25,000.
 India’s previous medal winners are Vijender Singh (Bronze, 2009), Vikas Krishan (Bronze, 2011),
Thapa (Bronze, 2015), Gaurav Bidhuri (Bronze, 2017), Panghal (Silver, 2019), and Kaushik (Bronze,
2019).
BCCI appoints Rahul Dravid as head coach of Indian men's team
 Former captain Rahul Dravid has been appointed as the head coach of the Indian men's cricket
team by the BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India).
 Dravid was working as the head of the National Cricket Academy.
 He has been appointed for a period of two years till the 2023 50-over World Cup in India.
J&K team clinches 1st position in World Deaf Judo Championship
 The Jammu and Kashmir team for deaf clinched 1st position in World Deaf Judo Championship
held at Paris Versailles, France.
 The Indian team for the deaf clinched the bronze medal by defeating the South Korean team in
the semifinal.
 The championship was held at Versailles, France from 26-30th October 2021.
Alexander Zverev beats Frances Tiafoe to win fifth ATP title in 2021
 Alexander Zverev won his fifth ATP title of the season and 18th overall on 31 October 2021 by
defeating American qualifier Frances Tiafoe 7-5, 6-4 at the Erste Bank Open.
19 | P a g e
 He became the second player after Norwegian Casper Ruud with five tournament wins in 2021.
 Alexander Zverev is 25-2 since losing to Felix Auger-Aliassime in the fourth round
of Wimbledon.
Taijul Islam wins gold medal in world kickboxing championship
 Srinanagr's Taijul Islam won a gold medal in the Under-14 category of the World Kickboxing
Championship that was held in Cairo, Egypt on October 22.
 Taijul Islam defeated the Argentinan player in the final of the World Kickboxing
Championship.
 she had four bouts, two with Egypt, a semi-final with France, and faced Argentina in the final of
the World Kickboxing Championship.
Sri Lanka's Eshani Lokusuriyage retires from international cricket
 Sri Lankan cricketer Eshani Lokusuriyage has retired from international cricket.
 Eshani, who made her international debut in 2005, played 89 ODIs and 68 T20 internationals.
 She struck five fifties in ODIs, with the highest score of 65, and took 49 wickets in the format.
 She also has 36 wickets in T20 internationals.
 She last played for Sri Lanka in 2018.
Fran Wilson announces retirement from international cricket
 England middle-order batter Fran Wilson has announced her decision to retire from
international cricket.
 She played 64 internationals and was part of the World Cup-winning squad in 2017.
 Her highest score in ODI came in 2019, with a 49-ball 85 against Pakistan.
 Wilson will continue to play the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy, the Charlotte Edwards Cup as
well as The Hundred, though.
Fabio Quartararo wins the 2021 MotoGP World Championship
 Fabio Quartararo of Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP is the 2021 MotoGP World Champion
with 267 points.
 Round 16 of the 2021 MotoGP season came to an end at Misano, Italy in October 2021.
 Francesco Bagnaia Ducati Lenovo Team is second with 202 points.
 Johann Zarco Pramac Racing is third with 152 points.
Ahmedabad and Lucknow: The two new teams of the IPL
 The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on 25 October 2021 unveiled Ahmedabad and
Lucknow as the two new teams for the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022.
 The RPSG Group picked Lucknow with a winning bid of Rs 7090 crores while CVC Capital
Partners have opted for Ahmedabad with a bid of Rs 5625 crores.
 The IPL 2022 season will comprise ten teams and will have 74 matches.
Sports Ministry upgrades 3 new facilities as KISCE
20 | P a g e
 The Sports Ministry has upgraded three new existing sports facilities across the country as Khelo
India Sports Centres of Excellence (KISCE).
 The Guru Gobind Singh Sports College in Lucknow, the Chhatrasal Stadium in Delhi along with
the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Chennai have been designated as KISCEs.
 The total number of KISCEs now stands at 27 across 26 states and Union Territories.
Max Verstappen wins United States Grand Prix in Texas
 Red Bull's Verstappen won in US Grand Prix in Austin, Texas, on 24 October 2021.
 Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton came second in the race.
 Red Bull's Mexican Sergio Perez was third.
 The win was Verstappen's eighth of the season, and first in America.
Indonesia beats China to win Thomas Cup 2021
 Indonesia lifted the Thomas Cup trophy for the first time since 2002 after defeating China 3-0 in
the final in October 2021.
 Indonesia is the most successful nation in the history of the team championship of men's
badminton with 14 titles but hadn't won the cup for 19 years.
 China settled for silver while Japan and hosts Denmark shared the bronze.
Sahdev Yadav elected as IWLF President
 Sahdev Yadav was elected the president of the Indian Weightlifting Federation (IWLF) in
October 2021.
 S.H. Anande Gowda and Naresh Sharma were elected Secretary General and Treasurer
respectively.
 A total of 10 vice presidents, 4 joint secretaries and 7 executive committee members were also
elected.
Ridhima Veerendrakumar bags gold medal in 50m backstroke
 Karnataka swimmer Ridhima Veerendrakumar bagged gold at the 37th Sub Junior and 47th
Junior National Championships in 50m backstrokes for group II girls, in Bengaluru on 21 October
2021.
 Ridhima clocked 29.94 seconds to erase Maana Patel's record of 30.37 seconds created in 2014.
 Shalini Dixit of Karnataka bagged the silver medal in this event while Sri Nitya Sago of
Telangana took bronze.
72nd Inter-services Football Championship held from 15-20 October 2021
 The 72nd Inter-services Football Championship was held at Maharaja Stadium, Kochi between
15-20 Oct'21.
 Indian Navy, Army Red, Army Green, and Indian Air Force teams participated in it.
 It was conducted by Signal School.
 Indian Air Force emerged as the winner.
 The aim was to select the Services Football Team for the Senior National Football
Championship 2021-22.
21 | P a g e
James Pattinson retires from international cricket

 Australian fast bowler James Pattinson on 20 Oct 2021 retired from international cricket.
 He has played 21 Tests and 15 ODIs and will continue to play domestic cricket.
 He claimed 81 Test wickets in his career after making his Test debut in December 2011 alongside
Mitchell Starc and David Warner against New Zealand in Brisbane.
 His last Test was against New Zealand in Sydney in Jan 2020.
Bhavani Devi wins Charlellville National Competition in France
 Fencer Bhavani Devi, who made history at the Tokyo Olympics by becoming the first Indian to
compete in the sport at the Games, has won the Charlellville National Competition in France in
the Individual Women’s Sabre event.
 At the Tokyo Olympics, she won her round of 64 matches 15-3 against Tunisia’s Nadia Ben Azizi
before going down to eventual bronze-medallist.
Divya Deshmukh becomes India's 21st Woman Grandmaster (WGM)
 Once a princess in the game of 64 squares, Divya Deshmukh has now become a queen by
wearing the Woman Grandmaster (WGM) crown.
 After a 19-month pandemic break, the 16-year-old Divya continued from where she left off and
became Vidarbha’s first and India’s 21st WGM.
 She achieved the rare feat while playing in an international tournament in Budapest, Hungary.
Indian Football Team wins South Asian Football Championship 2021
 Indian football team wins South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Championship for eighth
time.
 India crushed Nepal 3-0 to win their eighth SAFF Championship.
 This is the Indian football team's first title triumph under head coach Igor Stimac.
 Sunil Chhetri has equalled the iconic Lionel Messi's international goals, with his 80th
international strike in the final between India and Nepal.
Chennai Super Kings win Indian Premier League 2021
 Chennai Super Kings beat Kolkata Knight Riders by 27 runs in the 14th Indian Premier League
2021 final to win their fourth title.
 The final match was held in Dubai on 15 October 2021.
 The team had last won the title in the year 2010, 2011, and 2018.
 Harshal Patel from Royal Challengers Bangalore has received Purple Cap.
 Ruturaj Gaikwad of Chennai Super Kings has won Orange Cap.
Rahul Dravid all set to take over as full-time coach of Indian cricket
 Rahul Dravid is all set to take over as the national cricket team's head coach following the T20
World Cup in the U.A.E.
22 | P a g e
 He has been in charge of the India A and U-19 set-up for the past six years and a lot of players
such as Rishabh Pant, Avesh Khan, Prithvi Shaw, and Shubman Gill have come through the
system prepared by him.
 Dravid is currently the head of the National Cricket Academy.
MS Dhoni becomes first in world cricket to captain in 300 T20 games
 Mahendra Singh Dhoni on 15 October 2021, became the first player in world cricket to captain a
team in 300 T20 games.
 He achieved the feat during the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 final between Chennai Super
Kings (CSK) and Kolkata Kight Riders (KKR) in Dubai, UAE.
 Second on the list is Darren Sammy, who has led a team in 208 games for West Indies and
various franchises.
Sunil Chhetri breaks Brazilian legend Pele's international goal record
 Sunil Chhetri on 13 October 2021, broke legendary football player Pele's record during the
match against the Maldives in the ongoing 2021 SAFF Championship.
 Pele had scored 77 goals for Brazil.
 Chhetri scored 79 international goals during the match.
 Lionel Messi (80) and Cristiano Ronaldo (115) are the two footballers who are ahead of Chhetri.
SGADF organized 6th International Championship
 School Games and Activity Development Foundation (SGADF) in collaboration with the
National Sports Council of Nepal organized the 6th International Championship in Nepal.
 It was conducted from 3-7 October 2021.
 Shivam Thakur won a gold medal in 10m pistol shooting.
 All the students who backed medals have been selected for the Asian Games which will be held
from 5-9 Nov 2021 in Abu Dhabi.
Ireland's Amy Hunter becomes world's youngest ODI centurion
 Ireland's Amy Hunter on 11 October 2021 became the youngest player to score an ODI century.
 She scored an unbeaten 121 to take her side to a win against Zimbabwe, bettering the record
previously held by India's Mithali Raj.
 She is just the fourth woman to hit an ODI century for Ireland and the first since 2000.
 Amy Hunter made her international debut against Scotland at the age of 15.
Asiatic lioness 'Ibha' as Mascot for U-17 Women’s World Cup India 2022
 FIFA unveiled the official mascot of the U-17 Women's World Cup India 2022 on 11 October 2021.
 The mascot is Ibha, an Asiatic lioness that represents women power.
 The FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup India 2022 will take place from October 11 to 30, 2022.
 Ibha aims to inspire girls and women around the world to work up to their full potential.
Sports Minister Anurag Thakur launched Delhi Hockey Weekend League
23 | P a g e
 Youth Affairs and Sports Minister Anurag Thakur launched the Delhi Hockey Weekend League
2021-22 on 10 October 2021.
 It is taking place at the Major Dhyanchand National Stadium.
 It is being organized by the Sports Authority of India in association with the Delhi Hockey
Federation.
 It will have a total of 36 teams competing for the trophy.
Valtteri Bottas won Turkish Grand Prix
 Valtteri Bottas won the Turkish Grand Prix on 10 October 2021.
 Verstappen emerged as runner-up and his Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez finished third.
 Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc came on fourth and ahead of seven-times World champion Hamilton,
who had started 11th due to an engine penalty.
 The U.S. Grand Prix in Texas is the next race on 24 October.
Anshu Malik becomes first Indian woman to win silver in WWC
 Anshu Malik on 7 October 2021 became the first Indian woman to win a silver medal in the
World Wrestling Championships(WWC).
 Anshu lost the final to Olympic medallist Helen Maroulis 4-1 in Oslo, Norway.
 Sarita Mor has clinched a bronze medal in the WWC.
 She has become the sixth Indian woman bronze medalist and seventh medalist at the World
Championships overall.
Germany unveils logo for soccer's Euro 2024 tournament
 Germany has unveiled the logo for soccer's 2024 European Championship.
 The logo features an outline of the Henri Delaunay Cup — the bulbous tournament trophy —
set on a colored oval outline that resembles the Olympiastadion's roof.
 Logos for each of the 10 host cities were also presented with each featuring a famous local
landmark.
Ghana to host first-ever African Paralympic Games in 2023
 Ghana will host the first-ever African Paralympic Games in 2023, the President of National
Paralympic Committee of Ghana (NPC-Ghana) Samson Deen said on 5 October 2021.
 About 50 African countries would participate in the continental showpiece.
 Ghana will host the 13th edition of the All Africa Games in 2023, for the first time since the
creation of the continental event.
Aishwary Tomar wins gold in Junior World championship
 Shooter Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar smashed the world record in the final to win gold in the
men's 50m rifle 3 positions event at the ISSF junior world championships.
 He equalled the junior world record score of 1185 in qualification to top the field on 4 October
2021.
 He then bettered the junior world record in the final with a score of 463.4.
 Frenchman Lucas Kryz won the silver medal.
24 | P a g e
Hockey India withdraws from 2022 Birmingham CWG

 India on 5 October 2021, pulled out of the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games' hockey
competition.
 It cited COVID-19 concerns and UK's discriminatory quarantine rules for travellers from the
country.
 The decision came a day after England's withdrawal from the junior men's World Cup in
Bhubaneswar over similar reasons.
Naamya Kapoor clinches gold medal in Women's 25-metre Air Pistol event
 India's shooter Naamya Kapoor clinched the gold medal in the women's 25-metre air pistol
event of the ISSF Junior World Championship in Lima, Peru, on 4 Oct 2021.
 Naamya Kapoor shot 36 in the finals to claim the top prize ahead of France's
Camille Jedrzejewski with 33 and Manu Bhakar with 31.
 India is leading with seven gold, six silver, and three bronze medals for a total of 16 medals.
India wins gold in 10m Air Pistol Mixed and Air Rifle Men's team event
 In the all-Indian 10m Air Pistol Mixed Team Junior match, Manu Bhaker and Sarabjot Singh won
gold medal in the Junior World Championship in October 2021.
 Indian trio of Srikanth Dhanush, Rajpreet Singh, and Paarth Makhija clinched gold in the Air
Rifle Team Men Junior match.
 India's Atmika Gupta and Rajpreet Singh won silver in 10m Air Rifle Mixed Team Junior final.
Somwarpet Vittalacharya Sunil retires from international hockey
 SV Sunil, the veteran forward and striker of the Indian men’s field hockey team, announced his
retirement from international hockey in October 2021.
 The Arjuna awardee from Somwarpet in Coorg made a memorable international debut in 2007
at the Asia Cup in 2007 which India won after beating Pakistan in the final.
 He scored 72 goals in 264 appearances for the national team.
FC Goa clinch maiden Durand Cup trophy
 FC Goa claimed their maiden Durand Cup football tournament title after a 1-0 win over
Mohammedan Sporting in the final in Kolkata on 3 Oct 2021.
 The Durand Cup crown also marked FC Goa coach Juan Ferrando Fenoll's first-ever trophy on
Indian soil.
 FC Goa got 40 lakh rupees for winning the title, while Mohammedan Sporting received 20 lakh
rupees.
Italian Sonny Colbrelli wins epic Paris-Roubaix classic
 Italian Sonny Colbrelli won the Paris-Roubaix Monument classic, a 257.7-km ride from
Compiegne, on 4 October 2021.
 The European champion, of Team Bahrain Victorious, pipped Belgian Florian Vermeersch and
Dutchman Mathieu van der Poel who were second and third respectively.
25 | P a g e
 Paris–Roubaix is a one-day professional bicycle road race which is held in France.

Nagaland to host 56th National Cross Country Championship in 2022
 Nagaland will be hosting the 56th National Cross Country Championship in 2022.
 It will be the first ever for the state to host a National Athletics event.
 The 55th National Cross Country Championship was held in February 2021 and was hosted by
Chandigarh Athletics Association.
 It was organized by the Athletics Federation of India (AFI).
India wins bronze medal in Asian Table Tennis Championships
 The Indian men’s team, comprising Sharath Kamal, Sathiyan Gnanasekaran and Harmeet Desai,
settled for the bronze medal at the Asian Table Tennis Championships 2021 in Doha, Qatar on 1
October 2021.
 They lost to South Korea in the semi-finals.
 The Indian women’s team of Sutirtha Mukherjee, Archana Girish Kamath and Sreeja Akula,
meanwhile, secured a fifth-place.
Rohit Sharma becomes first to score 1000 runs against one team in IPL
 Rohit Sharma, representing Mumbai Indians became the first batter to score 1000 runs against
one team in the IPL, in September 2021.
 He achieved the feat during his 33-run knock against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in an IPL 2021
clash in Abu Dhabi.
 The knock took him past the 1000-run mark against KKR.
 He now has 1015 runs against KKR at an average of 46.13 and strike rate of 132.16.
Saurav Bhattacharya wins first Andhra Pradesh Amateur Golf tournament
 Saurav Bhattacharya of Delhi Golf Club has emerged as the winner of the first Andhra Pradesh
Amateur Golf Championship.
 Arjun Bhati and Rohan Dhole Patil were declared as the first and second runners-up
respectively.
 The championship was organized from September 28 to October 1, 2021.
 The showpiece was organized under the aegis of the Indian Golf Union (IGU).
Rupinder Pal Singh announces retirement from international hockey
 Indian hockey player Rupinder Pal Singh has announced his retirement from international
hockey.
 He was a part of the Indian Men's Hockey Team that won the bronze medal at the Tokyo
Olympics 2020.
 He represented India in 223 matches.
 He represented India in the 2014 Commonwealth Games, 2014 Asian Games at Incheon, 2016
Olympic Games held at Rio de Janeiro, and at the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
Smriti Mandhana becomes first Indian woman to score pink-ball Test ton
26 | P a g e
 Smriti Mandhana reached a new milestone on 1 Oct 2021 as she became the first Indian woman
to score a Test hundred in pink-ball cricket.
 She scored 127 runs with 22 fours and a six.
 The historic century was also the first in the career of Mandhana.
 Earlier, Virat had become the first Indian cricketer in the men's game to have scored a hundred
in pink-ball Test.
1st LG Horse Polo Cup inaugurated at Drass on 29 September
 In Ladakh, the 1st LG Horse Polo Cup was inaugurated at Goshan Horse Polo Ground Drass on
29 September 2021.
 A total of 14 teams from all over Ladakh are participating in the tournament.
 On the inaugural day, Animal Husbandry Leh won over Tahir Holiyal Drass by a margin of 4-1
goals while Bodh Kharbu won over Yulbu Drass by a margin 10-0 goals.
Elite Women's National Boxing Championships to be held from Oct 21-27
 The fifth edition of the Elite Women's National Boxing Championships will be held at Hisar in
Haryana between October 21-27, 2021.
 This event will also mark the return of the championship after a gap of more than one year due
to Covid-19 pandemic.
 It will be played as per the International Boxing Association's revised 12 weight divisions
including 48kg, 50kg, 52kg, 54kg, 57kg, 60kg, etc.
US wins the Ryder Cup, defeats Europe
 The United States reclaimed the Ryder Cup (men's golf competition) in September 2021,
defeating Europe 19-9.
 It’s the first time since 1979 and 1983 that Team USA won back-to-back home Ryder Cups after
winning in 2016 at Hazeltine.
 The Americans lost in 2018 in France and seven of the last 10 Ryder Cups against Europe.
India finish with three silver medals in Archery World Championships
 India archers won three silver medals at the 2021 World Archery Championships, held in
Yankton, South Dakota, United States.
 The three silver medals were won in the Women's Compound Individual, Women's Compound
Team, and Compound Mixed Team events.
 Jyoti Surekha Vennam was part of all medal-winning feats.
England's Moeen Ali decides to retire from Test Cricket
 England all-rounder Moeen Ali has decided to retire from Test Cricket.
 Moeen Ali is currently playing in the Indian Premier League 2021 with the Chennai Super Kings.
 He has represented England in 64 Tests, scoring 2,914 runs at an average of 28.29.
 The batsman has five centuries and 14 half-centuries in the longest format.
Sania Mirza-Shuai Zhang win Ostrava Open women’s doubles title
27 | P a g e
 Sania Mirza won the doubles title at the Ostrava Open with her Chinese partner Shuai Zhang.
 They defeated the pair of Kaitlyn Christian and Erin Routliffe by 6-3, 6-2.
 The final was held at the CEZ Arena in Ostrava in the Czech Republic on 26 September 2021.
 This is the first title of this season for Sania Mirza and the 43rd title of her career.
Virat becomes 1st Indian batter to score 10,000 runs in T20 format
 Virat Kohli has become the first batter from the country to cross the 10,000 runs mark in the T20
format.
 He achieved this mark while batting for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in their Indian
Premier League (IPL) encounter against Mumbai Indians (MI) at the Dubai International Stadium
in Sept'21.
 Kohli is the fifth batter to make 10,000 T20 runs.
ISSF Junior World Championship begins on 27 September
 A first batch of 36 shooters reached the Peruvian capital Lima on 26 September 2021 for the
International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) Junior World Championship.
 It is being held from September 27-Oct 10, 2021.
 Manu Bhaker, Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar, Vijayveer Sidhu, Anish Bhanwala, Ganemat
Sekhon, and Mehuli Ghosh are participating in the event.
Lewis Hamilton wins the Russian Grand Prix 2021
 Lewis Hamilton has become the first Formula One driver to win 100 races with victory in the
Russian Grand Prix to retake the championship lead from Max Verstappen.
 It was Hamilton's fifth win of the season and his first since the British Grand Prix in July 2021.
 Hamilton has now won the Russian Grand Prix on five of eight occasions.
India's Visnu Shivaraj Pandian wins bronze at IOSC
 India's Visnu Shivaraj Pandian won the bronze medal in the 10m air rifle event at the
International Online Shooting Championship (IOSC) on 26 September 2021.
 The gold was won by Mireia Rossello of Spain with a score of 250.7 while the silver was bagged
by Ukraine's Tetyana Halkina.
 The two-day competition was organized by former India shooter Shimon Sharif.
Odisha to host junior men's World Cup Hockey from 24 Nov-5 December
 Odisha will host the junior men's World Cup Hockey from 24 November to 5 December 2021.
 Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik announced this in Bhubaneswar on 23 September 2021.
 He also unveiled the logo and trophy for the tournament.
 As many as 16 countries will take part in the event that will be held in the Kalinga Stadium in
Bhubaneswar.
 Odisha had hosted the 2018 men's hockey world cup.
ICC Women's ODI Player Rankings released
28 | P a g e
 Mithali Raj continues to hold on to the number one spot in the latest ICC women's ODI rankings
for batters released on 21 September 2021.
 New Zealand's Amy Satterthwaite returned to the top five.
 Opener Smiriti Mandhana was placed seventh.
 Veteran Indian pacer Jhulan Goswami moved up a spot to fourth while senior spinner Poonam
Yadav remained static on ninth among bowlers.
Telangana’s Rithvik becomes 70th Grandmaster from India
 Raja Rithvik of Telangana has become the 70th Grandmaster from India.
 The 17-year-old crossed the mandatory ELO 2,500-mark to earn the GM title in the Vezerkepzo
GM chess tournament in Budapest, Hungary.
 He achieved four rating points after defeated FIDE Master Finek Vaclav of Czechoslovakia.
Pankaj Advani lifts Asian Snooker Championship for second time
 India’s Pankaj Advani successfully defended the Asian Snooker Championship at the Al Messila
in Doha, Qatar in September 2021.
 He defeated Amir Sarkhosh of Iran 6-3 (72-42, 72-0, 70-49, 41-66, 70-17, 30-68, 74-34, 12-50, 64-
44) in the best of 11 frames final.
 In 2019, Pankaj also became the only player who won the titles in all forms of billiards, snooker,
6Reds, and 10Reds competitions.
Virat Kohli to step down as RCB captain after IPL 2021
 Virat Kohli on 19 September 2021 announced that he would step down from Royal Challengers
Bangalore captaincy after the 14th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL 2021).
 Kohli has played 199 IPL matches and scored 6076 runs so far with five hundred.
 The highest-paid cricketer in the IPL, Kohli was the first to be retained by his franchise ahead of
the 2018 players auction.
Beijing 2022 WG reveals official motto: "Together for a Shared Future"
 The official motto of the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (WG) Beijing 2022 was
revealed as "Together for a Shared Future" by the organizing team.
 The motto represents the power of the Games to overcome global challenges as a community,
with a shared future for humankind.
 The Olympic Winter Games are scheduled to be held in Beijing, China between February 4 and
20,2022.
National Open Athletics: Harmilan Kaur sets national record in 1500m
 Punjab's Harmilan Kaur Bains broke Sunita Rani's national record in the 1,500 metres on the 2nd
day of the 60th National Open Athletics Championships on 16 September 2021.
 The new record set by her was at 4:05.39 while the previous one by Sunita Rani was at 4:06.03
in the Asian Games in Busan in 2002.
 Harmilan has won eight national-level 1,500 m races since January 2020.
29 | P a g e
Virat Kohli to step down as Indian cricket team's T20 captain

 Indian cricketer Virat Kohli has announced that he will step down as the captain of the T20
cricket team after the T20 World Cup in Dubai.
 The T20 World Cup starts on 17 October, with the final to be played in Dubai on 14 November
2021.
 Kohli took over India's limited-overs captaincy in 2017, succeeding Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
Brendan Taylor announces retirement from international cricket
 Former Zimbabwe captain and wicketkeeper-batsman Brendan Taylor has announced he will
retire from international cricket.
 During his 17-year-long career, he played 34 Tests, 204 ODIs, and 45 T20Is.
 Brendan Taylor made his debut for Zimbabwe in 2004.
 Brendan Taylor has scored 6677 runs in ODIs, 2320 runs in Tests and 934 runs in T20is.
Lasith Malinga announces retirement from all forms of cricket
 Sri Lanka pace veteran Lasith Malinga has announced his retirement from all forms of cricket.
 He was the captain of Sri Lanka's 2014 T20 World Cup-winning team.
 Malinga had retired from Test and ODI cricket in January 2021 but was yet to retire from T20
internationals.
 He picked up 107 wickets in 84 T20 Internationals, 338 scalps in 226 ODIs, and 101 wickets in 30
Tests.
Joe Root, Eimear Richardson named ICC Players of the Month for August
 England's Joe Root and Ireland's Eimear Richardson have been voted as the winners of the ICC
Players of the Month for August 2021.
 Root was voted the ICC Men's Player of the Month for August for his consistent performances in
the first three Tests against India.
 Eimear Richardson was adjudged the ICC Women's Player of the Month for August 2021.
Daniel Ricciardo wins F1 Italian Grand Prix
 Daniel Ricciardo won the Formula One Italian Grand Prix on 12 September 2021.
 Ricciardo was followed by his McLaren teammate Lando Norris in the British team's first win
since the 2012 Brazilian GP.
 Valtteri Bottas was at third despite starting in the last place due to a five-second time penalty
for Sergio Perez.
Daniil Medvedev beats Novak Djokovic in 2021 US Open men’s final
 Russia's Daniil Medvedev was crowned champion of the 2021 US Open after defeating world
number one Novak Djokovic in the men's singles final.
 He clinched his maiden Grand Slam title with a straight-set victory against the Serbian (6-4, 6-4,
6-4).
30 | P a g e
 Medvedev has become the third Russian after Yevgeny Kafelnikov and Marat Safin to win a
Grand Slam.
Emma Raducanu beats Leylah to win US Open women's Sinlges title
 Britain's Emma Raducanu became the first qualifier to capture a Grand Slam title by defeating
Canada's 19-year-old Leylah Fernandez in the US Open women's final.
 Raducanu, ranked 150th, was the first British woman in 44 years to win a Slam crown.
 Raducanu is the youngest US Open champion since Williams in 1999 and the first US Open
women's champion not to drop a set since Williams in 2014.
Harvinder Singh wins bronze medal in archery
 Harvinder Singh has claimed India’s first-ever archery medal at the Paralympics.
 World No. 23 Harvinder collected three shoot-off wins.
 In the Tokyo semi-finals, he lost to world No. 10 Kevin Mather of the US.
 He was also a gold medallist at the Asian Para Games in 2018.
IOC suspends North Korea until end of 2022
 The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has suspended North Korea until the end of 2022
after it failed to send a team to the Tokyo Games.
 The suspension means the country will miss out on the Beijing Winter Games.
 North Korea did not send a delegation to the Tokyo Games.
 The North Korean Olympic Committee would not receive financial aid during the suspension.
Shaun Tait appointed as bowling coach of Puducherry
 Former Australia pacer Shaun Tait has been appointed as the bowling coach of the Puducherry
cricket team.
 He will join the team in the last week of September 2021.
 Tait represented Australia in three Tests, 35 ODIs, and 21 T20 internationals.
 The Cricket Association of Pondicherry (CAP) has named former Rajasthan wicket-keeper
batsman Dishant Yagnik as it's head coach for the season.
Cyrus Poncha elected Vice President of Asian Squash Federation
 Cyrus Poncha, Secretary of Squash Rackets Federation of India (SRFI), has been elected the
Vice-President of the Asian Squash Federation (ASF).
 He was elected for a 4-year term at the 41st ASF Annual General Body Meeting held virtually.
 The other elected VPs are Fayez Abdullah S Al Mutairi (Kuwait) and Tae-sook Heo (Korea).
 David Mui was elected unopposed for his second term as President.
Max Verstappen wins Dutch Grand Prix
 Max Verstappen regained the top spot of the Formula One championship standings as he won
the Dutch Grand Prix on 5 September 2021.
 Verstappen started the race in pole and finished 20 seconds ahead of championship rival
Hamilton, whose Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas completed the podium in third.
31 | P a g e
 It was the seventh win of the season and 17th of his career.
Avani leads Indian contingent at closing ceremony of Paralympics
 Indian shooter Avani Lekhara led India’s contingent at the closing ceremony of Tokyo
Paralympics as the flag-bearer.
 She won gold and bronze medals at the Paralympic Games.
 A total of 54 para-athletes from India across nine sports disciplines participated in the event.
 Badminton and Taekwondo made their debut in Tokyo, both of which were represented by
India.
130th edition of Durand Cup kicks off in Kolkata
 The 130th edition of the Durand Cup kicked off on 5 Sept 2021 at the Vivekananda Yubabharati
Krirangan in Kolkata.
 Mohammedan Sporting Club started their campaign in the tournament with an emphatic win
against the Indian Air Force Football team.
 16 teams are playing in this edition of the oldest club football tournament in Asia.
 The final match will be held on 3rd October 2021.
India finishes with record 19 medals in Tokyo Paralympics 2020
 Indian contingent finished their campaign at the Tokyo Paralympic Games 2020 on 5 Sep 2021
at an all-time high by securing a total of 19 medals.
 It includes 5 gold, 8 silver, and 6 bronze medals.
 Out of a total of 162 nations, India has finished 24th in the overall medal tally, while its
accomplishment of 19 medals is ranked 20th based on the number of medals.
Pramod Bhagat wins gold, Manoj Sarkar wins bronze
 At the Tokyo Paralympics, Indian shuttler Pramod Bhagat has won the gold medal in the men's
singles SL3 category while in the same event, Manoj Sarkar has won a bronze medal for India.
 Earlier Manish Narwal finished on top in the mixed 50m Pistol SH1 final and Singhraj followed
him for a silver medal.
 With this India has won total of 17 medals so far which include.
Manish Narwal wins gold, Singhraj Adhana bags silver
 India’s Manish Narwal won gold, while Singhraj Adhana took home silver in the mixed 50 metre
pistol event at the Tokyo Paralympics on 4 September 2021.
 Narwal shot a total of 218.2, a Paralympic record, to claim the gold while Adhana, who had won
the bronze in the P1 men’s 10m air pistol event, added silver with an effort of 216.7.
 This is India’s third gold at the ongoing Paralympics.
Avani Lekhara: 1st Indian woman to win multiple medals
 Avani Lekhara won bronze in the women's 50m rifle 3 positions SH1 event with a score of 445.9
to become the first Indian woman to win two medals at the Paralympics.
32 | P a g e
 China's Zhang Cuiping won gold with a Paralympic Record score of 457.9, while Germany's
Natascha Hiltrop took silver with a score of 457.1.
 Lekhara had also won gold in the 10m air rifle standing SH1 event.
Praveen Kumar bags silver medal in High Jump T64
 At Tokyo Paralympics, Indian Para-athlete Praveen Kumar has bagged the silver medal in Men’s
High Jump T64 event.
 Praveen jumped 2.07 metre while Great Britain’s Jonathan Broom-Edwards took the gold with a
season-best of 2.10 metre in the event.
 With the win, India’s medal tally at Tokyo Paralympics has risen to 11 with two gold medals, six
silver, and three bronze medals.
Cristiano Ronaldo breaks men’s scoring record
 Cristiano Ronaldo broke the men’s international scoring record before adding a second goal as
Portugal be at visiting Ireland 2-1 in World Cup qualifying.
 Ronaldo grabbed his 110th goal in the 89th minute on 2 September 2021 to move ahead of
former Iran striker Ali Daei.
 Six minutes into stoppage time, Ronaldo made it 111 in 180 games.
Max Verstappen wins Belgian Grand Prix
 Max Verstappen has won the Belgian Grand Prix.
 The race was shortened to last one hour with only half points awarded to the winner, who
needed to complete only two laps to earn points.
 Verstappen's sixth win of the season was the 16th of his career and stopped Hamilton earning a
record-extending 100th win, while also trimming his overall lead from eight points to three.
Paris 2024 proposes para sport representation in emojis
 The Paris 2024 Organising Committee submitted an official proposal to the Unicode Consortium
requesting the addition of 4 Para sports activities emojis to this now-universal language.
 The committee would organize the subsequent Olympic and Paralympic Games.
 The initiative is also supported by the Worldwide Paralympic Committee (IPC) and the French
Nationwide Paralympic Committee (CNPSF).
Dale Steyn retires from all forms of cricket
 South African pacer Dale Steyn announced his retirement from all forms of cricket on 31 Aug 21,
bringing an end to his 17-year illustrious career.
 He featured in 93 tests, picking up 439 wickets, making him the highest wicket-taker for South
Africa in the longest format of the game.
 He also featured in 125 ODIs and 47 T20Is, picking up 196 wickets and 64 wickets respectively.
Mariyappan Thangavelu wins silver in High Jump
 Mariyappan Thangavelu won a silver medal at the Tokyo Paralympics in the Men's High Jump
T63 event.
33 | P a g e
 USA's Sam Grewe won the gold medal with a best jump of 1.88m while India Sharad Kumar took
the bronze in the event.
 Mariyappan and Grewe were involved in an intense battle for a gold medal after clearing the
mark of 1.86m even as rain affected the conditions at the Olympic Stadium.
Cricketer Stuart Binny announces retirement
 India all-rounder Stuart Binny announced his retirement from first-class and international
cricket.
 Binny began his career with Karnataka and represented India in six Tests, 14 ODIs, and 3
Twenty20 Internationals.
 He owns the record of the best bowling figures in ODI format with bowling figures against
Bangladesh when he took six wickets for just four runs in an ODI in June 2014 in Dhaka.
Sumit Antil wins gold medal in Javelin throw
 Indian para javelin thrower Sumit Antil clinched India's second gold in Tokyo Paralympics by
winning the men's javelin F64 event with a world record throw of 68.55 m.
 Australian Michal Burian (66.29m) and Sri Lanka's Dulan Kodithuwakku (65.61m) took the silver
and bronze respectively.
 The F64 category is for athletes with a leg amputation, who compete with prosthetics in a
standing position.
Discus thrower Vinod Kumar to give up medal
 Discus thrower Vinod Kumar has been found ineligible in disability classification assessment and
therefore, will have to give up his bronze medal that he clinched in the men's F52 discus throw
event.
 Vinod's classification in F52, which is for athletes with impaired muscle power, restricted range
of movement, limb deficiency, or leg length difference, was done on August 22, 2021.
India wins silver and bronze medals
 India's Devendra Jhajharia and Sundar Singh Gurjar won silver and bronze in the javelin throw
F46 event at the Tokyo Paralympics on Monday.
 D. Priyantha of Sri Lanka won gold with a world record throw of 67.79m.
 Jhajharia sealed the podium finish with a new personal best of 64.35m.
 Gurjar Singh threw 64.01m.
Avani Lekhara wins gold in air rifle shooting
 Indian shooter Avani Lekhara has won a gold medal in women’s 10 metre air rifle shooting at
Tokyo Paralympics.
 She has won the first gold for the country at the Tokyo Paralympic Games.
 Yogesh Kathuniya won a silver medal in Discus Throw.
 This is the fifth medal for the country at the Tokyo Paralympics.
Rohit strike gold in Asian junior boxing
34 | P a g e
 Indian boxers Rohit Chamoli (48kg) and Bharat Joon (+81kg) clinched gold medals in the Asian
Junior Championships in Dubai on 29 August 2021.
 Chamoli defeated Mongolia's Otgonbayar Tuvshinzaya.
 Bharat Joon got the better of Kazakhstan's Yerdos Sharipbek 5-0 to finish on top.
 The championship is currently organized by the Asian Athletics Association.
Nishad Kumar wins silver medal in High Jump
 In Tokyo Paralympics, India's Nishad Kumar has won silver medal with a best effort of 2.06
meter in Men's High Jump T47 event.
 Nishad Kumar equalled his own Asian record with a jump of 2.06m in the final of the high jump
event.
 Roderick Townsend set a new world record by jumping 2.15m to win the gold.
 Himachal Pradesh govt has announced a reward of 1 cr rupees for high jumper Nishad Kumar.
Vinod Kumar wins bronze medal in Discus Throw
 In Tokyo Paralympics, Vinod Kumar won the Bronze medal with a best effort of 19.91 meters in
the Men's Discus Throw F52 event.
 Vinod Kumar also broke the Asian Record with effort.
 Piotr Kosewicz of Poland won the gold medal with an effort of 20.02m while Croatia's Velimir
Sandor took silver with a throw of 19.98m.
Bhavina Patel wins silver medal
 Bhavina Patel opened the account for India at the Tokyo Paralympics Games winning a silver
medal in the women's individual Class 4 Table Tennis on 29 Aug'21.
 This is India's first medal in Table Tennis, fifth silver at the Paralympic Games.
 She also becomes only the second women para-athlete to finish at the podium after Deepa
Malik claimed silver at the Women's Shot Put F53 in Rio 2016.
T. Chand led Indian contingent at Paralympics
 Javelin thrower Tek Chand led the Indian contingent at the opening ceremony of the 16th
Paralympic Games in Tokyo, Japan.
 The world’s biggest parasports event once again returns to Japan 57 years after hosting the
1964 edition.
 The Indian contingent is nearly thrice as large as that of Rio 2016.
Sethuraman wins Barcelona Open chess title
 Indian Grandmaster S.P. Sethuraman won the Barcelona Open chess tournament title in Aug'21.
 Sethuraman collected 7.5 points from nine rounds to emerge winner on the basis of a better tie-
break score after Daniil Yuffa of Russia also finished level with the Indian player.
 Sethuraman, who was the top seed, remained unbeaten through the nine rounds, winning six
matches and drawing three.
Stadium named After Neeraj Chopra unveiled
35 | P a g e
 Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh on 27 August 2021 unveiled the Army Sports Institute stadium
named after Neeraj Chopra.
 The Indian Army’s “Mission Olympics” program was launched in 2001 with an intent to deliver
medal-winning performances in the Olympics and other international events.
 Mission Olympics through Army Sports Institute has been spearheading this initiative of the
Army.
Indian TT player secures a Paralympics medal
 Bhavina Patel on 27 August 2021 became the first Indian table tennis player to secure a medal
in the Paralympics.
 She entered the semifinals with a win over world number 5 Borislava Peric Rankovic of Serbia in
the women's singles Class 4 event at Tokyo Paralympics.
 She also has become only the second Indian woman to win a medal at Paralympic Games.
Leander Paes becomes ambassador of Sporjo
 Sporting legend Leander Paes on 26 August 2021 has joined Sporjo as Strategic Advisor and
Ambassador.
 Sporjo is an online sports education company founded by sports industry veteran G Srinivasan.
 It offers an assessment tool that allows participants to decipher a road map based on their skill
set and personality, as well as education and training modules led by industry experts.
Canada and UAE qualify for 2022 U-19 men's WC

 Canada, the United Arab Emirates, and Papua New Guinea have all qualified for the ICC U19
Men's Cricket World Cup 2022.
 They have qualified on the basis of securing the most wins in the last five U19 qualifying events
in each respective region.
 The ICC U19 Men's Cricket World Cup Africa has been relocated from Nigeria to Rwanda and
would be played from September 30 to October 7, 2022.
Aaditya Thackeray becomes chairman of AIFC
 Maharashtra minister Aaditya Thackeray, on 25 August 2021, joined the Association of Indian
Football Coaches (AIFC) as an ''Honorary Chairman''.
 Aaditya Thackeray also heads the Mumbai Football Association (MFA).
 The Association of Indian Football Coaches is the premier association of coaches in India.
 The AIFC is also recognized by the All India Football Federation (AIFF).
Yordenis Ugas retains WBA Welterweight Crown
 Yordenis Ugas retained his WBA welterweight title by defeating Manny Pacquiao in August
2021.
 Two judges scored it 116-112 for Ugas, and a third had it 115-113.
36 | P a g e
 Pacquiao is the only man in boxing history to hold world titles in eight different divisions and is
one of the greatest boxers of all time.
Thums Up: Official partner of Paralympic Games
 Coca-Cola owned homegrown beverage brand Thums Up has become the official partner with
the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games set to take place from 24 August to 5 September 2021.
 This is the brand’s first partnership with Paralympic Games.
 Through an eight-decade association, Coca-Cola is the longest continuous corporate partner of
the Olympic Games.
MP launches Talent Search Campaign
 The Madhya Pradesh govt has launched a comprehensive Talent Search Campaign in the field
of sports.
 It has decided to search for new talented players and train them in 18 sports academies of
state.
 On the basis of physical strength and proficiency in sports, promising sportspersons will be
groomed through coaching and training in 18 academies equipped with world-class sports
facilities.
Tokyo Paralympics to begin from 24 August
 54 athletes will represent India at Tokyo Paralympics beginning 24 August 2021.
 Indian athletes will compete in 9 sports disciplines including archery, athletics (track and field),
badminton, swimming, weightlifting among others.
 This is the biggest-ever contingent India has sent to any Paralympics.
 All 54 athletes are part of the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) scheme.
Shaili Singh clinches silver in U20 C'ships
 India's ace long jumper Shaili Singh clinched a silver medal in the women's long jump event at
the ongoing World Athletics U20 Championships in Nairobi with a best attempt of 6.59m on 22
August 2021.
 Sweden's Maja Askag won gold with a jump of 6.60m while Ukraine's Mariia Horielova managed
to settle with bronze by recording 6.50m.
 This was India's third medal in the U20 Championships.
Amit wins silver at U-20 Athletics C'ships
 Amit Khatri won a silver in the men's 10,000m race walk event to clinch India's second medal at
the World U-20 Athletics Championship.
 He finished second behind Kenya's Heristone Wanyoni.
 The World Athletics U20 Championships is a biennial world championship for the sport of
athletics organized by the World Athletics, contested by athletes in the under-20 athletics age
category.
Tim David: First Singapore cricketer in IPL
37 | P a g e
 Tim David is set to become the first Singapore international cricketer to play in IPL.
 Royal Challengers Bangalore have roped in freelance T20 sensation David for the second phase
of the 14th edition of IPL 2021.
 The other players from an associate country, who played in IPL, are Dirk Nannes, Sandip
Lamicchhane, Roelof Van Der Merwe, Ryan Ten Doeschate, and Chirag Suri.
AICF and CAI India announce merger
 All-India Chess Federation (AICF) and the Chess Association of India (CAI) announced that
they have merged into one single entity to administer the sport in the country.
 The AICF is the central administrative body for the game of chess in India.
 The AICF, under its new set of office-bearers, had also announced a number of initiatives to
revitalize chess in the country.
Pune stadium to be named after Neeraj Chopra
 A stadium in the premises of Army Sports Institute in Pune is to be named after Tokyo Olympics
Gold medalist Neeraj Chopra.
 The stadium will be named as 'Neeraj Chopra Army Sports Stadium' in Pune Cantt.
 Neeraj's historic golden throw in the Olympics has been listed as one of the 10 magical
moments of athletics (track and field) in the Tokyo Olympics by World Athletics.
Princepal: 1st Indian to be part of NBA C'ship
 Princepal Singh is now the first Indian to be part of an NBA title-winning team when
Sacramento Kings clinched the 2021 NBA Summer League crown.
 He created history by being the first Indian to be part of a championship roster at any level of
the NBA.
 The Kings won against Boston Celtics and the margin was 100-67 on August 17, 2021.
India wins bronze medal in mixed relay
 The mixed relay team of India won a bronze medal in 4*400 meters at the U20 World
Championships being held in Nairobi, with taking the time of 3:20.60, a season-best.
 The 2021 edition of the World Athletics U20 Championships will continue till 22 August 2021 at
the Nyayo Sports Complex.
 Hima Das had clinched the gold medal in the women’s 400m in Tampere in 2018.
Odisha to sponsor Indian hockey teams
 Odisha would continue to sponsor the men’s and women’s national hockey teams for another 10
years after the current sponsorship ends in 2023.
 In 2018, Odisha had signed a ₹100 crore deal with Hockey India for sponsoring the men’s and
women’s teams for 5 years.
 ₹10 lakh to each of the players and ₹5 lakh each to the support staff has been given by the CM
Naveen Patnaik.
India registers its third-ever Test victory
38 | P a g e
 In cricket, India made history after defeating England by 151 runs in the second Test of five-
match series on 16 August 2021, registering their third-ever Test victory at the iconic Lord’s
Ground, in London.
 With the win at Lord’s, Virat Kohli has become the third Indian captain after Kapil Dev and MS
Dhoni to win a Test at this iconic venue known as the Home of Cricket.
India wins 3 gold medals in Archery C'ships
 The Indian contingent won 15 medals at the World Archery Youth Championships.
 The 2021 World Archery Youth Championships was held in Wroclaw in Poland.
 Of these 15 medals, India won three gold medals in the compound cadet women's and men's
and mixed team events.
 The women defeated Turkey 228-216 in the final to win a gold medal.
Bari becomes junior recurve world champion
 Komalika Bari became the new under-21 recurve world champion at the World Archery Youth
C'Ship in Wroclaw.
 She became the second Indian woman after Deepika Kumari to claim both the U-21 World
Championship and the U-18 title.
 In the U21 men's recurve team final the Indian team of Dhiraj Bommadevara, Aditya Choudhary,
and Parth Sushant Salunkhe clinched the gold medal.
Unmukt Chand announces retirement
 Delhi batsman Unmukt Chand, who shot to prominence by being the 2012 U-19 World Cup-
winning captain, has announced his retirement from cricket in India.
 Chand had made an unbeaten 111, leading a victory over Australia in the 2012 U-19 World Cup
final in Townsville, Australia.
 He had represented Mumbai Indians, Delhi Capitals and Rajasthan Royals in the IPL.
Petroleum Minister felicitates 11 players
 Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister, Hardeep Singh Puri on 13 August 2021 felicitated the
eleven players, who were part of the Bronze medal winning men’s hockey team at Tokyo
Olympics.
 These players are Petroleum Sports Promotion Board (PSPB) Hockey players who are employees
of various public sector companies of the Ministry.
 He announced a reward of 15 lakh rupees to each of the 11 players.
India sends largest contingent for Paralympics
 The largest-ever Indian contingent was given a formal and virtual send-off to Tokyo Paralympic
Games by Youth Affairs and Sports Minister Anurag Thakur on 12 August 2021.
 54 para-sportspersons will compete across 9 sports disciplines.
 Mariyappan, who had won a gold in the last edition in Rio, will be the flag bearer of the Indian
contingent during the opening ceremony on 24 August 2021.
39 | P a g e
Hyderabad Sailing Week’ to start from Aug 13

 The 35th edition of the 'Hyderabad Sailing Week' would begin at the Hussain Sagar lake on 13
August 2021.
 The event is being conducted as Asian Games trials for Laser class and has been accredited as
a Yachting Association of India (YAI) Ranking event.
 The event being held till August 19 would witness races in three categories--Laser Standard,
Laser Radial, and Laser 4.7.
130th edition of Durand Cup to held in Sept
 130th edition of the Durand Cup Football Tournament is scheduled to be held at Kolkata from
the 5th of September to the 3rd of October 2021.
 16 teams from across the country, including four from the Services will participate in the
tournament.
 Durand Cup is the world’s third oldest and Asia’s oldest football tournament.
 It was first held in 1888, at Dagshai, Himachal Pradesh.
Stafanie & Sakib named ICC Player of the Month
 Captain of the West Indies women squad Stafanie Taylor was voted the ICC Women’s Player of
the Month for July 2021.
 She led her team to win the ODI and T20I series against Pakistan in July.
 From the Bangladesh camp, all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan was named the ICC Men’s Player of
the Month for July 2021 for his performance across all three formats of the game.
Punjab announces increased money for athletes
 With a view to further promote sports in the state, the Punjab government has increased the
cash award money for the Olympic medalists.
 Neeraj Chopra would be honoured with an increased amount of ₹2.51 crore instead of ₹2 crore
which was announced earlier.
 11 state players, who were part of the Indian hockey team will get ₹2.51 crore each from the
earlier Rs 1 crore.
India breaks two records in Archery C'ship
 Indian compound archery girls and the mixed team broke two junior world records at the World
Archery Youth Championship in Poland on 10 August 2021.
 Priya Gurjar, Parneet Kaur, Ridhu Varshini Senthilkumar combined to shoot 2,067 out of possible
2,160 in the Cadet Compound girls team category to clinch the top spot of the qualification
round.
 The previous record was held by the USA at 2,045.
James becomes third-highest wicket-taker
 James Anderson surpassed Anil Kumble (619) to become the third-highest wicket-taker in Test
cricket on Day 3 of the first England v India Test in Nottingham, in August 2021.
40 | P a g e
 With 620 wickets, he is only behind Muttiah Muralitharan (800) and Shane Warner (708) on the
list of highest wicket-takers in the longest format of the game.
 He had already become the most prolific fast bowler in Tests.
Punjab announces reward for Neeraj Chopra
 Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh has announced a special cash reward of Rs 2
crore for Neeraj Chopra for winning gold at the Tokyo Games.
 BCCI also announced a cash reward for medal winners at Tokyo Olympics.
 Neeraj will be given Rs 1 cr.
 Rs 50 lakh each will be given to silver-medalist – Mirabai Channu and Ravi Kumar Dahiya.
 Rs 25 lakh each to be given to bronze medalist.
SAI felicitates Tokyo Olympics medal winners
 The Sports Authority of India (SAI) felicitated India's Tokyo 2020 medal winners on 9 August
2021.
 PM Narendra Modi also took part in the felicitation, via a video conference.
 The felicitation ceremony took place at the iconic Major Dhyan Chand Stadium, New Delhi.
 India ended at the 48th spot and returned with their best-ever Olympic showing, winning as
many as 7 medals.
32nd Summer Games conclude
 The 32nd Summer Games closing ceremony was held at the Olympic Stadium in Tokyo on 8
August 2021.
 The Tokyo Olympic Games was delayed by a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
 India’s campaign in the Tokyo edition was the most successful one yet that brought the country
a first-ever gold medal in track and field as Neeraj Chopra secured a gold medal in the Javelin
throw.
Golfer Forrest wins maiden European Tour title
 Scotland's golfer Grant Forrest won his first European Tour title at the Scottish Championship
on 8 August 2021.
 England's James Morrison finished second, followed by Spain's Santiago Tarrio in third.
 The 2021 European Tour is the 50th season of golf tournaments since the European Tour
officially began in 1972 and the 13th edition of the Race to Dubai.
U'khand CM names Vandana as brand ambassador
 Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has named Indian women's hockey team
player Vandana Kataria as the state's Department of Women Empowerment and Child
Development brand ambassador.
 Earlier, Pushkar Singh Dhami had announced a cash reward of Rs 25 lakh to Vandana Katariya.
 Vandana Katariya made history as she became the first Indian woman to score a hat-trick at
Tokyo Olympics.
41 | P a g e
Bajrang Punia wins bronze medal in wrestling

 India wrestler Bajrang Punia defeated Kazakhstan's Daulet Niyazbekov to win the bronze medal
in men's freestyle 65kg wrestling at Tokyo Olympics.
 Punia won the sixth medal for India at the Games, and the fourth bronze for the nation.
 Haryana government will give ₹2.5 crore, a government job and a plot of land at 50 per cent
concession to wrestler Bajrang Punia for winning bronze medal.
Neeraj Chopra wins gold in men's javelin throw
 Neeraj Chopra has won gold in men's javelin throw at Olympic Games.
 With this, he has become the first Indian athlete to win gold ever and India's second-ever
individual Olympic gold medalist.
 In the finals, he covered his highest throw of 87.58m (in the 2nd of six attempts).
 Czech Republic's Jakub Vadlejch won silver with 86.67m and Vitezslav Vesely claimed bronze
with 85.44m.
US Women win Olympic gold In beach volleyball
 April Ross and Alix Klineman won a gold medal in beach volleyball at Tokyo Olympics on 6
August 2021.
 April Ross now has the complete set of Olympic beach volleyball medals: silver in London,
bronze in Rio de Janeiro, and gold she won with Alix Klineman at the Tokyo Games.
 She beat Mariafe Artacho del Solar and Taliqua Clancy of Australia 21-15, 21-16.
Lionel Messi to leave Barcelona
 Lionel Messi, the six-time Ballon d’Or winner, would leave the Barcelona club after 18 years.
 Messi will be leaving Barcelona after 17 successful seasons in which he won 35 titles, including
four Champions League titles, seven Copa del Rey’s, and eight Spanish Super Cups.
 Barcelona is a professional football club based in Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight
of Spanish football.
Wrestler Ravi Kumar Dahiya bags silver medal
 Ravi Kumar on 5 August 2021, became the second Indian wrestler to clinch an Olympic silver
after losing his 57kg final to Russian two-time defending world champion Zavur Uguev.
 This is India's second silver and fifth medal overall at the Tokyo Olympics.
 Ravi Kumar joined Sushil Kumar to become only the second Indian wrestler to win an Olympic
silver.
India wins bronze medal in hockey
 Indian men's hockey team defeated Germany to win the bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics
on 5 August 2021.
 This is India's first Olympic medal in hockey since they won the gold medal in the 1980 Olympics
in Moscow.
 This is India's fourth medal in Tokyo so far.
42 | P a g e
 Wrestler Ravi Kumar Dahiya has also confirmed a medal and will compete in the gold medal
bout.
Boxer Lovlina Borgohain wins bronze medal
 Indian boxer Lovlina Borgohain (69kg) won a bronze medal in the Olympic Games.
 She lost to reigning world champion Busenaz Surmeneli on 4 August 2021.
 She is only the third Indian boxer to ensure a podium finish after Vijender Singh (2008) and M C
Mary Kom (2012).
 Hers is also the first Olympic medal in Indian boxing in nine years.
Theme song for Tokyo Paralympics launched
 Sports Minister Anurag Thakur has launched the theme song for Tokyo Paralympics in New
Delhi.
 The song “Kar De Kamaal Tu” is composed and sung by a Divyang cricket player Sanjeev Singh.
 The biggest ever Indian contingent of 54 para-athletes will participate in the Tokyo Paralympics
in nine disciplines.
Zverev wins men’s singles tennis gold
 Germany’s Alexander Zverev has beaten Russian Karen Khachanov 6-3 6-1 to win the men’s
singles gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics.
 Zverev became only the second German to win Olympic singles gold, matching Steffi Graff’s
achievement at the 1988 Seoul Olympics.
 Germany also won Olympic gold in the doubles with Boris Becker and Michael Stich at the 1992
Barcelona Games.
Indian Women’s Hockey team scripts history
 In the Tokyo Olympics, the Indian women’s hockey team scripted history by qualifying for the
Olympic Games semifinals for the first time ever, on 2 August 2021.
 This comes a day after, Indian Men’s Hockey team entered the Olympic semifinals after four
decades beating Great Britain 3-1.
 However, the men's team lost to Belgium in the semifinals.
Avinash Sable betters own national record
 Avinash Sable broke the National Record (NR) in 3000m steeplechase.
 He finished seventh in round 1 in Tokyo.
 Sable clocked 8:18.12 seconds, bettering his own NR of 8:20.20 seconds at the Federation Cup in
Patiala in March 2021.
 However, he failed to qualify for the final despite clocking a better time than the top three in
another heat race.
Esteban Ocon wins Hungarian GP
 France's Esteban Ocon won the Hungarian Grand Prix on 1 August 2021 to collect his first-ever
win.
43 | P a g e
 Hamilton was promoted to second place.

 For Ocon, it marked the first win in his 78th Grand Prix.
 Max Verstappen was promoted to ninth while Hamilton took an eight-point lead in the
championship.
Lamont Jacobs wins 100m gold in 9.80 seconds
 Italy’s Lamont Marcell Jacobs became the world's fastest man alive, winning men’s 100m gold
with a time of 9.80s.
 American Fred Kerley clocked 9.84sec to take silver.
 In the women’s section, Jamaican sprinter Elaine Thompson-Herah won gold in 100 meters,
becoming the fastest woman alive.
 China’s Gong Lijiao won gold in Women’s shotput at Tokyo’s Olympic Stadium.
PV Sindhu secures bronze at Tokyo Olympic
 Indian star shuttler PV Sindhu has secured a bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics, defeating
China’s He Bing Jiao in Women’s Singles.
 PV Sindhu also created history by becoming the first Indian woman to win two consecutive
individual Olympic medals.
 She had won silver at Rio Olympics in 2016.
 Sushil Kumar is the only other Indian athlete to win two individual medals at the Olympic
Games.
Rajasthan Royals acquire Barbados franchise
 The owners of Rajasthan Royals have acquired a majority stake in CPL (Caribbean Premier
League) team Barbados Tridents.
 It has become the third IPL franchise to be associated with the Caribbean league after Kolkata
Knight Riders and Punjab Kings.
 Royals Sports Group are the owners of the Rajasthan Royals.
 The two-time CPL champions will be rebranded as the Barbados Royals.
Vandana: 1st hockey player to score hat-trick
 Vandana Katariya, an Indian field hockey player, has become the country's first female to score
a hat-trick at Olympics.
 India defeated South Africa 4-3 in the women’s hockey pool A match on July 31, 2021.
 She had won the player of the tournament award in the Asian Champion Trophy, 2018 wherein
India won a silver medal.
 She was also the part of 2016 Rio Olympics.
Rs 1756 cr allocated under Khelo India
 The Union Government is promoting sports in 13 states which includes Left Wing Extremism
(LWE) areas, Jammu and Kashmir and North-Eastern states.
 Under the Khelo India programme, 1,756 crore rupees has been allocated and 272 sports
infrastructure projects are in the pipeline.
44 | P a g e
 Across the country, 360 Khelo India Centres have been developed and 24 Centres of Excellence
have been identified.
Momiji Nishiya wins gold in skateboarding
 Japan's Momiji Nishiya has become one of the youngest individual Olympic champions in
history.
 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.
 It was the first gold medal of the sport in the Olympics.
Golfer Diksha Dagar qualifies for Olympics
 Indian golfer Diksha Dagar has qualified for the Tokyo Olympics 2020 after South Africa’s Paula
Reto withdrew.
 Austria also decided not to make a reallocation for their golfer Sarah Schober.
 International Golf Federation has reallocated that vacant spot to Diksha Dagar.
 Apart from Dagar, Aditi Ashok will also represent India in women’s golf at the Tokyo 2020
Olympics.
Carissa Moore: Olympic women's surf champion
 Carissa Moore of the USA is now the Olympic women's surf champion.
 She beat Bianca Buitendag of South Africa and registered a score of 14.93.
 She is the first woman to ever win a gold medal in her sport at the Olympics.
 In men's surfing, Brazilian Italo Ferreira went on to beat Japan's Kanoa Igarashi and secured a
gold medal.
Turkmenistan takes home first Olympic medal
 Turkmenistan is the newest nation to join the all-time Olympic medal count, following a
standout performance in the women's 59kg weightlifting competition at the 2020 Tokyo Games.
 Polina Guryeva won a silver medal.
 It was Turkmenistan's first podium finish in the nation's history.
 The gold medal went to Chinese Taipei's Kuo Hsing-Chun, who set Olympic records in all three
categories.
Clarisse of France wins gold in women’s judo
 French judoka Clarisse Agbégnénou won the gold medal in the women's -63 kg weight class on
27 July 2021 by defeating Slovenian Tina Trstenjak in the final.
 Italy's Maria Centracchio and Catherine Beauchemin-Pinard of Canada were awarded bronze
medals.
 Romain Cannone won France’s first gold medal of the Games on July 25, beating Gergely Siklosi
of Hungary 15-10 in the men’s épée final.
Team GB: 1st to launch official NFT collection
45 | P a g e
 Team GB will launch an NFT storefront to showcase the achievements of British Olympic
athletes.
 Team GB became the first Olympic team to create a native storefront for non-fungible tokens
(NFTs).
 The partnership is with a leading NFT commerce provider Tokns.
 The partnership will run from the beginning of the Summer Games to the end of the Winter
Games in Beijing.
2nd Senior National Sqay Championship
 The sport of Sqay martial arts, which is currently part of the Fit India Movement, will soon be
part of Khelo India Youth Games 2021, which are slated to be hosted in November 2021.
 The Senior National Championship is being played virtually from July 26 to 29, 2021.
 In the women's category of the championship, Seerat Jan bagged the gold medal while
Chanchal Kushwaha bagged a silver medal.
British swimmer Tom Dean wins gold at Olympics
 Britain's Tom Dean won gold in the 200-meter freestyle on 27 July 2021 and led a historic 1-2 in
swimming for Team GB as teammate Duncan Scott took silver.
 He had contracted COVID-19 not once but twice in the run-up to the Olympics.
 It was also Britain's first 1-2 finish in the pool at the Olympics in over 100 years, since the 1908
Games in London.
Weightlifter Diaz gets 1st Philippines gold
 Hidilyn Diaz became the first ever Olympic gold medallist from the Philippines on 26 July 2021,
winning the women's 55-kilogram category.
 At her fourth Olympic Games, Diaz overtook Liao Qiuyun of China on her last lift in the clean
and jerk to win with a total of 224 kilograms. That was one more than Liao.
 Zulfiya Chinshanlo of Kazakhstan took bronze with 213kg.
Pramod: Differently Abled Sportsman of Year
 World No. 1 para shuttler Pramod Bhagat has been named Differently Abled Sportsman of the
Year at Indian Sports Honours for 2019.
 Bhagat won two gold medals and a bronze at the Dubai Para-Badminton Tournament 2021.
 He will be participating in singles and mixed doubles events at the Paralympics which opens in
Tokyo from August 24, 2021.
IOA announces cash rewards for coaches
 The Indian Olympic Association has announced cash awards to the coaches of the medal-
winning athletes of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
 The coaches who trained and accompanied the athlete to Tokyo will receive Rs.12.5 lakhs for
gold, Rs.10 lakhs for silver, and Rs.7.5 lakhs for the bronze medal.
 Mirabai Chanu, who won a silver medal will receive Rs.50 lakhs cash awards from IOA.
46 | P a g e
BCCI announces schedule for IPL 2021

 The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has announced the schedule for the remainder
of the IPL 2021 which will be held in UAE.
 A total number of 31 matches will be played in the duration of 27 days.
 The 14th season, which was postponed in May 2021 in the wake of the pandemic, will resume on
19th September in Dubai with a clash between Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians.
Two-day Golf tournament concludes in Srinagar
 In the Kashmir Valley, a two-day Golf tournament concluded on 25 July 2021 in Srinagar with
the distribution of prizes among the winners and runners-up.
 The Golf Tournament was held at the Royal Springs Golf Course and Kashmir Golf Club.
 The refurbished and upgraded Kashmir Golf Course was thrown open recently and it was the
first major sporting activity at the course.
Priya Malik wins gold medal at CWC
 Indian junior wrestler Priya Malik won a gold medal in the 73-kg category at the Cadet World
Championship held in Budapest, Hungary, in July 2021.
 CWC is a tournament where the best Greco-Roman, freestyle, and women wrestlers worldwide
below the age of 17 compete.
 Priya had won gold at the Khelo India youth games in Pune in 2019.
 Jaskaran Singh also won a silver in the 60-kg category.
Batsarashkina wins women's 10m pistol gold
 Russian Vitalina Batsarashkina won the gold medal in the women's 10-meter pistol event at the
Tokyo Olympics 2021.
 Bulgarian Antoaneta Kostadinova won the silver at the Asaka Shooting Range while the bronze
went to Jiang Ranxin of China.
 Russian athletes are competing under the flag of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) at the
Tokyo Olympics as part of sanctions for several doping scandals.
Mirabai Chanu bags silver at Tokyo Olympics
 Mirabai Chanu ended India's 21-year wait for a weightlifting medal at the Olympics by clinching
a silver medal in the 49kg category to open the country's account on 24 July 2021.
 She lifted a total of 202kg (87kg+115kg) to better Karnam Malleswari's bronze in the 2000
Sydney Olympics.
 The gold went to China's Hou Zhihui while Aisah Windy Cantika of Indonesia took home the
bronze.
China clinches its 1st gold medal in Olympics
 China has clinched its first gold medal in Tokyo Olympics in women’s 10m air rifle shooting.
 Yang Qian set an Olympic record of 251.8 to win the medal at the Asaka Shooting Range.
47 | P a g e
 Russia’s Anastasiia Galashina won silver while Switzerland’s Nina Christen won the first bronze
medal of Tokyo 2020.
 Syria’s Hend Zaza lost to her Austrian opponent Liu Jia in table tennis.
First 5-time woman lifter in Olympics
 Papua New Guinea's Toua became the first 5-time woman Olympian lifter.
 When women's weightlifting was introduced as an Olympic sport in 2000, Papua New Guinea's
then 16-year-old Loa Dika Toua became the first-ever female Olympian lifter.
 Her previous four achievements were in Sydney, Athens, Beijing, and London Olympics.
IOA rope in Adani Group as sponsor
 The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) has roped in Adani Group as a sponsor for the 2020
Tokyo Olympics and the future.
 Earlier, IOA had announced that SFA Pvt Ltd had joined as one of its sponsors for the event.
 IOA had also earlier entered sponsorship agreements with MPL Sports Foundation as the
'Principal Sponsor' covering the Tokyo Olympic Games, 2022 Asian Games, and Commonwealth
Games.
Tokyo Olympic Games begin on 23 July
 After a year-long delay due to the Coronavirus pandemic, the Tokyo Olympic Games finally got
underway on 23 July 2021.
 The mega quadrennial event began at 4.30 pm Indian time at the newly-built National Stadium
in Tokyo.
 Only about 950 people, including officials and reporters, were allowed to watch the ceremony
in person.
 From India, only 28 members participated in the opening ceremony.
Tannu wins title at Cadet World Championship
 Young Indian wrestler Tannu won the 43kg title without conceding a single point at the Cadet
World Championship on 22 July 2021.
 Tannu is the third Indian to emerge world champion at this event, where Aman Gulia (48kg) and
Sagar Jaglan (80kg) took titles in men's freestyle competition to propel India to the Team
championship title for the first time in history.
Sandesh Jhingan: Footballer of the Year
 Sandesh Jhingan has been named the AIFF men’s Footballer of the Year.
 Suresh Singh Wangjam was picked as the Emerging Player for the 2020-21 season.
 It is the first time that Sandesh has received the AIFF Player of the Year award, having won the
Emerging Player of the Year Award in 2014.
 Jhingan made his senior national team debut in 2015 in Guwahati.
Brisbane declared host of 2032 Olympics
 Brisbane has been formally awarded hosting rights for the 2032 Olympic Games.
48 | P a g e
 The Olympic Games will be held in Australia for a third time, before this Melbourne held the
Games in 1956 and Sydney hosted them in 2000.
 Paris will host the event in 2024 and Los Angeles will host the tournament in 2028.
Viswanathan Anand wins Sparkassen Trophy
 Viswanathan Anand has defeated Vladimir Kramnik to win the Sparkassen Trophy at Dortmund
in July 2021.
 The Chennai maestro won the match 2.5-1.5.
 The event was played as part of the "No-Castling" Chess.
 Castling is a special move to protect the king and activate the rook.
 It is the only time in chess a player can move two pieces in one move.
Odisha Cricket Association to setup academies
 Odisha Cricket Association has decided to set up cricket academies in all 30 districts of the
state.
 Sports Minister of Odisha, Tusharkanti Behera has laid the foundation stone for 15 affiliated
centres in the first phase.
 These will be developed under OCA's District Infrastructure Development Program and Cricket
Academies in accordance with their much ambitious Vision-2024 project.
Shibaji to be awarded Mohun Bagan Ratna
 Former India goalkeeper Shibaji Banerjee will be conferred with Mohun Bagan Ratna
posthumously.
 Fijian striker Roy Krishna has also been adjudged as the Best Footballer of 2020-21.
 Abhimanyu Easwaran has been chosen as the Best Cricketer, while Bidisha Kundu, who won the
100m hurdles and high jump events at the National Championship, was named as the Best
Athlete.
ICC inducts Mongolia, Tajikistan as members
 The International Cricket Council (ICC) has inducted Mongolia, Tajikistan, and Switzerland as
members at its 78th Annual General Meeting.
 The meeting, which was conducted virtually, welcomed Mongolia and Tajikistan as the 22nd
and 23rd members of the Asia region, while Switzerland is Europe's 35th member.
 ICC now comprises 106 members in total, including 94 associates.
Hamilton wins British Grand Prix
 In Formula One, Lewis Hamilton has won the British Grand Prix.
 This is his eighth British win.
 Also, it was his 99th overall win.
 Hamilton's win gave him 25 points to put him just eight behind Verstappen in the drivers'
standings.
Fastest Indian opener to reach 6000 ODI runs
49 | P a g e
 Shikhar Dhawan became the fastest Indian opener to reach the 6000-run mark in ODI cricket,
crossing the milestone in the series opener against Sri Lanka in Colombo on 18 July 2021.
 Dhawan is the second-fastest opener in the world to cross the feat behind Hashim Amla, who
went past the mark in 126 innings.
 He is also fourth on the all-time list behind Amla, Virat Kohli, and Kane Williamson.
Indian Grandmasters win in FIDE World Cup
 Indian Grandmasters R Praggnanandhaa and Adhiban Baskaran registered wins in the first
game of the two-game mini-match in the second round of the FIDE chess World Cup.
 In the women's event, Padmini Rout and Sarasadat Khademalsharieh shared honours in the first
game of the second-round match.
 D Harika scored a win over Medina Warda Aulia of Indonesia in 48 moves.
Wasim Jaffer appointed Odisha coach
 The former India opener Wasim Jaffer has been appointed as Chief Coach for the Odisha
cricket team for two seasons.
 Jaffer played 31 Tests for India and scored 1944 runs with the highest score of 212.
 Prior to accepting the Chief Coach offer from the Odisha Cricket Association, he was also the
Head Coach of the Uttarakhand Ranji Trophy Team for the year 2020-21.
Gokulam FC to represent India in AFC C'ship
 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.
 The 5th edition was originally supposed to be held in Bhubaneswar by Odisha Sports with AIFF.
Babar Azam: Fastest to score 14 ODI centuries
 Pakistan captain Babar Azam has become the quickest to score 14 ODI centuries reaching the
milestone in 81 innings at Edgbaston, Birmingham in the third ODI against England.
 He also became the second Pakistan captain to score an ODI century in England.
 Only Imran Khan had previously hit a century in England when he registered an unbeaten 102
against Sri Lanka in World Cup 1983.
Official team India cheer song launched
 Sports Minister Anurag Thakur has launched the 'Cheer4India' song of the country's Olympic
contingent.
 Grammy Award winner composure AR Rahman and young singer Ananya Birla collaborated to
present the official song.
 MoS (Sports) Nisith Pramanik, Sports Secretary Ravi Mittal, Sports Authority of India Director,
and General Sandip Pradhan were also present on the occasion.
Chris Gayle: 1st to score 14,000 T20 runs
50 | P a g e
 Chris Gayle has become the first-ever batsman to breach the mark of 14,000 runs in the T20s.
 He achieved the feat during the third T20I match between the West Indies and Australia in St
Lucia.
 Gayle smashed 67 runs off 38 balls as he became the first cricketer to breach the 14,000-run
mark in T20 cricket.
 It was also Gayle's highest score in T20Is since 2016.
Roger Federer withdraws from Tokyo Olympics
 Swiss Tennis player Roger Federer has withdrawn from the Tokyo Olympics because of a knee
injury.
 The eight-time Wimbledon champion had missed the 2016 Rio Olympics also due to a knee
injury.
 The 20-time Grand Slam champion was knocked out of Wimbledon in the quarter-finals by
Hubert Hurkacz in July 2021.
Haryana defers Khelo India Youth Games to 2022
 The Haryana government has deferred from its earlier decision to hold Khelo India Youth
Games-2021 in November-December.
 It has now decided to organize the sports show in February 2022.
 The government had also announced that BRICS Games-2021 will be organized during Khelo
India.
 The BRICS countries include Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa.
Deepak Kabra: 1st Indian gymnastics judge
 Deepak Kabra has become the first Indian to be selected for judging the gymnastics
competition of the Tokyo Olympic Games.
 Kabra will be seen officiating the men's artistic gymnastics at the Tokyo Games.
 The 2010 Commonwealth Games in India was his first international assignment and he went on
to become the first Indian judge to officiate in the 2014 Asian Games and Youth Olympics.
India to host BWF World Championships in 2026
 The Badminton World Federation (BWF) has confirmed that India has been awarded the
hosting rights of the BWF World Championships in 2026.
 Suzhou, China, will stage the BWF Sudirman Cup Finals 2023.
 Suzhou was due to host the championships in 2021, but with BWF unable to stage any
tournaments in China for 2021, the event was switched to Vantaa in Finland.
PUMA inks deals with 18 Indian athletes
 Sports brand Puma has inked sponsorship deals with 18 Indian athletes ahead of the upcoming
Tokyo Olympic Games.
 It has added a group of athletes such as boxer Pooja Rani, track and field athlete Tejinder
Singh, shooter Manu Bhaker and swimmer Srihari Nataraj to its plan.
 Sports stars Mary Kom and Dutee Chand are already brand ambassadors of Puma India.
51 | P a g e
Ecclestone win ICC Player of the Month Award

 England's Sophie Ecclestone has become the ICC Player of the Month for June 2021.
 New Zealand opener Devon Conway bagged the honour in the men's category.
 Left-arm spinner Ecclestone thus became the second English female to win the award after
Tammy Beaumont, who was crowned in February 2021.
 Conway became the first New Zealand player to win the award.
Manpreet to lead Indian Hockey Team as captain
 After 21 years, Punjab has got the captaincy of the Indian Hockey team in the Olympics.
 Manpreet Singh, DSP of Punjab Police will lead Indian Hockey Team as captain in Tokyo
Olympics.
 He will also be the flag bearer of the Indian contingent.
 Athlete Gurjit Kaur from Punjab is also part of the women's hockey team for the Olympics.
Cristiano Ronaldo wins Golden Boot
 Cristiano Ronaldo claimed his first European Championship Golden Boot as EURO 2020
concluded on 11 July 2021.
 Italy emerged as the winner of the championship.
 Ronaldo also became the leading goal-scorer in the history of Euros during the tournament,
with his 14th strike.
 Euro 2020 winners Italy's 22-year-old goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma was named Player of
the Tournament.
Samir wins Wimbledon Boys’ singles title
 Indian-American tennis player Samir Banerjee has won the Wimbledon Boys’ singles title.
 He defeated Victor Lilov of the USA, 7-5, 6-3 to win the title in the final, which lasted one hour
and 22 minutes.
 At the junior French Open, Banerjee ranked 19 in the world.
 The last time an Indian player won a singles junior Grand Slam title was when Yuki Bhambri won
the 2009 Australian Open.
BCCI forms seven-member working group
 The Board of Control for Cricket in India has formed a seven-member working group
comprising of the member associations for domestic cricket in India.
 The group comprises Rohan Jaitley, Yudhvir Singh, Jaydev Shah, etc.
 BCCI has already announced the return of domestic cricket in India for the upcoming 2021-22
season with a total of 2,127 domestic games to be played across various age groups.
Italy crowned Euro Cup 2020 champions
 Italy was crowned Euro Cup 2020 champions after winning over England on 11 July 2021.
 Italy beat England 3-2 on penalties after the Euro 2020 final ended 1-1 following extra time at
Wembley to secure their second European Championship title.
52 | P a g e
 It was the first final to be decided on penalties since Czechoslovakia beat West Germany in
1976.
Djokovic wins his sixth Wimbledon Tennis title
 World no.1 Novak Djokovic has clinched his sixth Wimbledon Tennis title after beating Matteo
Berrettini of Italy.
 Mixed Doubles title was lifted by Neal Skupski of Britain and Desirae Krawczyk of the US.
 Elise Mertens of Belgium and Hsieh Su-Wei of Taiwan have clinched the Women's Doubles title.
 Croatian pair Nikola Mektić and Mate Pavić have won the Men's Doubles final.
Argentina beat Brazil to win Copa America
 Lionel Messi won his first trophy with his national team as Angel Di Maria's goal gave Argentina
a 1-0 win over hosts Brazil in the Copa America final on 10 July 2021.
 The victory at Rio de Janeiro's Maracana stadium ended Argentina's 28-year wait for a major
trophy.
 Messi has won the FIFA World Player of the Year a record six times and is widely considered
one of the greatest players.
Ladakh Marathon cancelled for the second time
 One of the world’s toughest and country’s prestigious Ladakh Marathon in Leh is being
canceled for the second time in a row, due to covid.
 The 2020 Marathon registrations will be valid for the 9th edition to be held in 2022 from 7 to 11
September 2021.
 The marathon claims to be the highest marathon in the world, held at a height of 11,500 to
17,618 feet.
Ashleigh Barty wins maiden Wimbledon title
 Ashleigh Barty has become the first Australian woman to win a single's Wimbledon title in 41
years.
 The World No. 1 defeated Czech Republic's Karolina Pliskova in the Wimbledon 2021 final 6-3,
6-7 (4-7), 6-3 to win her first Wimbledon trophy.
 In the men’s singles, the match was played between Novak Djokovic and Italy’s Matteo
Berrettini on 11 July 2021.
Pawan Singh: 1st ever Indian juror for Olympic
 Pawan Singh, the Joint Secretary-General of the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI), has
been selected as the first-ever Indian juror for the upcoming Tokyo Olympic Games.
 He is the founder-director of the Gun for Glory Shooting Academy in Balewadi in Pune.
 A total of 26 jury members will officiate at the Olympics, of which six will be from Japan and the
rest from other countries.
Revathi qualifies for Tokyo Olympics
53 | P a g e
 Revathi V. of Tamil Nadu has been selected to participate in the 4 x 400 meters mixed relay
team for the Tokyo Olympics.
 She emerged fastest in the trial.
 She clocked 53.55 seconds in the trial run for the selection.
 She has been a part of the Indian national camp for quite some time now and is currently
employed with the Railways.
Udayan: 2nd golfer to qualify for Olympics
 Udayan Mane has become the second Indian male golfer after Anirban Lahiri to qualify for
Tokyo Olympics.
 He is currently the second-highest-ranked Indian in the world.
 The men will compete from July 29-August 1, 2021 while the women's competition is scheduled
from August 4 to 7 at the Kasumigaseki Country Club.
Mithali Raj tops ICC Women's ODI rankings
 India women's Test and ODI team captain Mithali Raj rose to the No.1 spot in women's ODI
rankings for batters.
 This is the eighth time in her international career that she has taken the top spot.
 Shafali Verma has reached the 71st position while Jhulan Goswami is at 53rd.
 In the bowlers’ list, Deepti Sharma is at 12th position.
AFC Asian Cup to be held in Mumbai and Pune
 The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Women’s Asian Cup 2022 will be held in Mumbai and
Pune.
 The Mumbai Football Arena and Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex in Balewadi, Pune will be the
new venues and host cities for the competition.
 The AFC Women’s Asian Cup India 2022 is slated to take place from January 20 to February 6,
2022.
James Anderson reaches 1,000 wickets
 James Anderson on 5 July 2021, reached a remarkable milestone in his career as he took his
1,000th first-class wicket.
 He achieved the feat during Lancashire’s County Championship match against Kent at the Old
Trafford Stadium.
 With that wicket, he also completed his 51st first-class five-wicket haul.
 He became just the 14th player to reach 1,000 first-class wickets this century.
Golf Training Academy launched in Srinagar
 J&K Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha launched Golf Training Academy at the Kashmir Golf
Club, in Srinagar on 5 July 2021.
 The initiative is aimed to continue the endeavors of promoting and strengthening the sports
ecosystem in Jammu and Kashmir.
54 | P a g e
 Eminent coaches will impart training and the 1st batch itself is starting with the world-renowned
player and Coach of the Indian team Amandeep Johl.
26-member team for Tokyo Olympics announced
 The Athletics Federation of India (AFI) has announced a 26-member team to compete in the
Tokyo Olympics.
 The athletics events at the Olympics will start on July 31 and it will run through August 8, 2021.
 The team includes Dutee Chand (women's 100m and 200m), MP Jabir (men's 400m hurdles),
Gurpreet Singh (men's 50km race walk), Annu Rani (women's javelin throw), etc.
Mary Kom to be India's flag bearer at Olympics
 Boxer M C Mary Kom and men's hockey team skipper Manpreet Singh will be flag bearers at
the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics.
 Wrestler Bajrang Punia will be the flag bearer at the closing ceremony on August 8, 2021.
 For the first time, India is having two flag-bearers, one male and one female at the upcoming
Tokyo Games to ensure "gender parity".
Verstappen wins Austrian Grand Prix
 Formula One championship leader Max Verstappen won the Austrian Grand Prix from pole
position on 4 July 2021.
 He clinched a third straight victory and extending his lead over Lewis Hamilton to 32 points
after nine races.
 It was Verstappen's fifth win of the season compared to three for Hamilton, who dropped down
from second place to fourth.
Mithali Raj: Leading run scorer in int cricket
 India captain Mithali Raj has become the highest run-getter in women's cricket across formats,
overtaking Charlotte Edwards.
 Mithali achieved the feat during the third and final ODI against hosts England while chasing
220 for a consolation win.
 She scored an unbeaten half-century, 75 not out, to hand the Indian women's team their first
win on their ongoing tour of England.
Sumit Malik gets 2-year ban for doping
 Indian wrestler Sumit Malik has been banned for two years by the sport's world governing body
UWW after his B sample also returned positive for a prohibited stimulant.
 He had qualified for the Tokyo Games in the 125kg category.
 A specified substance was found in Malik's sample.
 He is a 2018 Commonwealth Games gold-medallist.
Mariyappan: Flag-bearer for Tokyo Paralympics
 Top para high-jumper Mariyappan Thangavelu has been named the flag-bearer of the Indian
contingent in the Tokyo Paralympics, which begins on August 24, 2021.
55 | P a g e
 He was conferred with the Khel Ratna, the country’s highest sporting award, in 2020.
 India has been granted 24 slots, including four women athletes, by the World Para Athletics.
WAKO Federation gets government recognition
 The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports has decided to grant recognition to WAKO India
Kickboxing Federation as National Sports Federation (NSF).
 It has been recognized for promotion and development of the Kickboxing sport in India.
 WAKO Federation is affiliated to the World Association of Kickboxing Organizations (WAKO),
which is the International Federation for the sport of Kickboxing.
Richardson suspended for one month
 American sprinter Sha'Carri Richardson has accepted a one-month suspension after testing
positive for cannabis.
 She has been ruled out of the 100 metres in Tokyo.
 Cannabis is banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency but if athletes can prove that their
ingestion of the substance was unrelated to sports performance, then a suspension of three
months rather than the usual four years is imposed.
Maana Patel qualifies for Tokyo Olympics
 Maana Patel, on 2 Jul'21, became the first Indian female swimmer to qualify for the Tokyo 2020
Olympics through the 'Universality quota'.
 The Universality quota allows one male and one female competitor from a country to
participate in the Olympics, provided no other swimmer from the same gender qualifies for the
Games.
 She joins Sajan Prakash and Srihari Natarajan in India's swimming squad.
Indian Navy athlete qualifies for Olympics
 Indian Navy's ace athlete MP Jabir qualified for the Tokyo Olympics in 400m hurdles on 1 July
2021 after he clocked 49.78s to win gold at the recently concluded Inter-State Athletics
Championships in Patiala.
 Jabir qualified through the World ranking quota where there are 14 spots available.
 He would be the first Indian male athlete to participate in the 400m hurdles in Olympics.
Anshula Rao given a 4-year ban
 Madhya Pradesh allrounder Anshula Rao has been handed a four-year ban by the National
Anti-Doping Agency for failing a dope test, backdated to July 2020.
 Rao thus becomes the first woman cricketer to have been punished for doping.
 The U-23 cricketer took 19-Norandrosterone, a performance-enhancing steroid, knowingly and
intentionally.
 She tested positive for the steroid in March 2020.
Abhimanyu: Youngest Grandmaster in Chess
56 | P a g e
 Indian-American Abhimanyu Mishra has become the youngest-ever chess Grandmaster in the
world.
 At 12 years, 4 months, and 25 days, he has broken the long-standing record held by Sergey
Karjakin, who was 12 years and 7 months old when he attained the title in 2002.
 He scored his third GM norm in Budapest, having already crossed the required 2500 ELO rating
barrier.
Dutee Chand qualifies for Tokyo Olympics
 Indian sprinter Dutee Chand has qualified for the upcoming Tokyo Olympics in both 100m and
200m races via the World Rankings quota.
 22 spots were available in 100m and 15 spots in 200m via the World Rankings route.
 Chand's overall position was world no. 44 in 100m and world no. 51 in 200m.
 She has also recently scripted a new national record in the women's 100m with a time of 11.17
seconds.
Aditi: 1st golfer to qualify for Olympics
 Aditi Ashok has become the first female Indian golfer to qualify for Tokyo Olympics.
 She qualified in 45th place and will now play in her second Olympics.
 Tokyo Olympics will begin on July 23 and the Games will run up to August 8, 2021.
 The event was slated to be held in 2020 but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Manipur CM announces cash award for Olympians
 Manipur Chief Minister has announced that all five Olympic-bound athletes from the state will
be handed financial support of Rs 25 lakh and will be given more cash awards if they return
with medals.
 The gold medal winner will be given a cash prize of Rs 1.20 crore and the silver medallist will get
Rs. one crore.
 The bronze medal winner will get Rs 75 lakh.
Seema Punia qualifies for Tokyo Games
 In the National Inter-State Athletics Championships in Patiala, 2018 Asian Games bronze
medallist discus thrower Seema Punia has won a gold medal.
 Seema bettered the Olympic qualification mark of 63.50m.
 Meanwhile, Aditi Ashok qualified for her second Olympic Games.
 In gymnastics, the Asian Championships bronze-medallist in vault, Pranati Nayak, earned a
quota for Tokyo Olympics.
SFI announces cash reward for Sajan Prakash
 Swimming Federation of India has announced a cash reward of Rs 5 lakh for Sajan Prakash.
 He has created history by becoming the first swimmer from the country to earn a direct
qualification for the Olympics.
 Prakash qualified for the Tokyo Olympic Games by breaching the 'A' standard time, clocking
1:56:38 seconds in the men's 200m butterfly event at the Sette Colli Trophy in Rome, Italy.
57 | P a g e
Badminton Sudirman Cup moved to Finland

 In badminton, two key tournaments, the Sudirman Cup Finals 2021 and the BWF World Tour
Finals have now been moved to Vantaa, Finland, and Bali, Indonesia respectively.
 They were originally planned to take place in China in 2021.
 Vantaa, Finland is the new host of the Sudirman Cup Finals 2021 from Sept 26 to Oct 3, 2021,
followed by the Thomas and Uber Cup Finals 2020 in Aarhus, Denmark.
BCCI confirms 2021 T20 World Cup switch to UAE
 The BCCI has informed that T20 World Cup 2021 will be held in the UAE.
 However, BCCI retains the hosting rights of the 16-team event that is scheduled to begin on
October 17, 2021.
 BCCI President Sourav Ganguly stated that the decision had been taken after several rounds of
discussions internally.
 The ICC is expected to make an official announcement in due course.
Rahi Sarnobat wins gold in 25 m pistol event
 In the ISSF World Cup shooting, India’s Rahi Sarnobat won gold in the women’s 25 meters pistol
event in Osijek, Croatia.
 She Rahi shot 39 out of 50 in the 25m pistol final to win the first gold for India in the ongoing
World Cup.
 Manu Bhaker finished seventh in the eight-competitor final.
 Mathilde Lamolle won silver while Russia’s Vitalina Batsarashkina took home bronze.
Red Bull's Verstappen wins Styrian GP
 Max Verstappen dominated the Styrian Grand Prix on 27 June 2021 to win back-to-back races
for the first time in his career.
 Hamilton's teammate Valtteri Bottas finished third ahead of Sergio Perez as Red Bull and
Mercedes occupied the top four places once more.
 It was Verstappen’s 14th career win and fourth of the season.
 A race win is worth 25 points.
SAI, IOA with MyGov to organize a quiz
 In light of the upcoming Olympics, a quiz is being organized by the Sports Authority of India
and the Indian Olympic Association in collaboration with the MyGov platform.
 Participants will be required to answer 10 questions within a span of 120 seconds.
 This quiz will be based on the past and current Olympics and athletes.
 The Quiz is open till the 22nd of July.
Deepika Kumari bags 3 gold medals
 In Archery, India’s Deepika Kumari defeated Russia's Elena Osipova 6-0 in the final of the
women's individual recurve event on 27 June'21.
 She completed a hat-trick of gold medals in one day at the World Cup Stage III in Paris.
58 | P a g e
 She was also a part of the mixed recurve event and women's recurve team winning gold medal.
 In the mixed recurve team event, Atanu Das and Deepika Kumari won a gold.
Neeraj Chopra bags bronze medal
 Javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra clinched the bronze medal at the Kuortane Games in Finland on
26 June 2021.
 He finished third behind world no. 1 Johannes Vetter of Germany and former Olympic gold
medallist Keshorn Walcott of Trinidad and Tobago.
 Neeraj Chopra threw his javelin at the 86.79m mark.
 This was Chopra's third best performance.
Sajan Prakash qualifies for Tokyo Olympics
 Sajan Prakash has become the first Indian swimmer to qualify for the upcoming Tokyo
Olympics.
 Sajan achieved the feat as he clocked 1 minute 56.38 seconds in the men's 200m butterfly at the
Sette Colli Trophy in Rome.
 The qualification cut-off was 1 minute 56.48 seconds.
 The Tokyo Olympics will begin on July 23 and the games will run up to August 8, 2021.
Gurindervir Singh shatters 100m record
 Punjab's Gurindervir Singh won the men's 100 metres dash with a meet record of 10.27 seconds
at the National Inter-State Athletics Championships in Patiala.
 Lovepreet Singh of Punjab was second with a time of 10.47 secs while Amiya Kumar Mallick of
Odisha was third with a time of 10.49 secs.
 Mallick holds the national record of 10.26 secs.
Manu, Saurabh settle for silver medal
 The Indian duo of Saurabh Chaudhary and Manu Bhaker settled for a silver medal in the 10m
air-pistol mixed team event at the ISSF Shooting World Cup in Osijek, Croatia on 26 June 2021.
 The duo lost to Russia's Vitalina Batsarashkina and Artem Chernousov in the gold medal match.
 Russia currently leads the medal tally with three golds as many silver and one bronze.
60th National Inter-State Athletics Ch’ships
 The 60th National Inter-State Athletics Championships began on 25 June'21, at the Netaji
Subhas National Institute of Sports (NSNIS), Patiala.
 The first day of the 5-day event witnessed six finals: men’s 10000m, men’s pole vault, women’s
5000m, 100m hurdles, triple jump, and hammer throw events.
 Vikram Bharatsinh of Madhya Pradesh won gold in men’s 10,000 m by clocking 30 mins 16.44
seconds.
Judoka Sushila Devi qualifies for Olympics
 Indian judoka Sushila Devi has qualified for the Tokyo Games through the continental quota.
59 | P a g e
 Sushila, who competes in the 48-kg category, has 989 points which puts her at the seventh spot
in the Asian list.
 The continental quotas are allotted based on a judoka’s ranking in the region.
 Avtar Singh in the 90-kg was the lone Indian judoka to compete at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Zhizhen: 1st Chinese to qualify for Wimbledon
 Zhang Zhizhen has qualified for Wimbledon to become the first Chinese man in the Open era to
play in the Grand Slam tournament.
 He defeated Argentina’s Francisco Cerundolo 6-0, 6-3, 6-7 (4/7), 7-6 (8/6) in the final round of
qualifying to make the main draw.
 Ranked 178 in the world, Shanghai native Zhang is the only Chinese man in the world top 250.
Andy Murray selected for Tokyo Games
 Two-time defending champion Andy Murray has been selected for Great Britain’s tennis team
at the Tokyo Games.
 He will play in the men’s singles alongside Dan Evans and team up with Joe Salisbury in the
doubles.
 Heather Watson and Johanna Konta will compete in the women’s singles.
 The Games will be held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Japan.
Saurabh Chaudhary bags bronze medal
 In shooting, world number two Saurabh Chaudhary won a bronze medal at the ISSF World Cup
at Osijek, Croatia in the men’s 10-meter air pistol event on 24 June 2021.
 Saurabh scored 220 in the eight-man finals after qualifying with a score of 581.
 Iran’s Javad Foroughi claimed gold, his 2nd in successive ISSF World Cups, while the seasoned
three-time Olympian Damir Mikec of Serbia won silver.
New Zealand crowned World Test Champions
 New Zealand has become ICC World Test Champions after beating India.
 They defeated India by 8 wickets in Southampton on 23 June 2021.
 This is their first-ever ICC title.
 Kyle Jamieson (NZ) has been adjudged as the “Player of the match”, while Kane Williamson (NZ)
is the “Player of the series”.
Manipur okays incentive for Mirabai Chanu
 The Manipur Cabinet has decided to extend a one-time cash incentive of ₹10 lakh to Tokyo
Olympics-bound weightlifter Saikhom Mirabai Chanu.
 Mirabai Chanu has qualified for the upcoming Tokyo Olympics in the women’s 49 kg category.
 She has been ranked 2nd in the International Weightlifting Federation’s Absolute Ranking List in
the 49 kg category.
India launches its Olympic Theme Song
60 | P a g e
 India's "Official Olympic Theme Song" was launched on 23 June 2021 ahead of the Summer
Games in July-August.
 Mohit Chauhan has composed and sung the song titled "Lakshya Tera Samne Hai".
 The Games will open on 23 July 2021 and over 100 Indian athletes have qualified for the event
so far.
 The event was organized by Indian Olympic Association (IOA).
Manpreet Singh: Captain of men's hockey team
 Hockey India has named Manpreet Singh as captain of the 16-member Olympic-bound men’s
hockey team.
 Birendra Lakra and Harmanpreet Singh were named vice-captains.
 This will be Manpreet’s third Olympics.
 Under Manpreet’s captaincy, the Indian team won the Asia Cup in 2017, the Asian Champions
Trophy in 2018, and the FIH Series Final in 2019.
South Africa's Keshav picks 1st Test hat-trick
 South African spinner Keshav Maharaj has bagged a hat-trick against West Indies to hand a
158-run win to his team in the second Test in Saint Lucia.
 He became only the second South African bowler, and the first Proteas cricketer in more than
60 years, to take a hat-trick in Test.
 The only previous South African to take a hat trick in tests was Geoff Griffin against England at
Lord’s in 1960.
Laurel: 1st trans athlete at Olympics
 Laurel Hubbard has become the first openly transgender woman to individually qualify for the
Olympics, even though the Games have had an inclusion policy for trans athletes since 2003.
 She lifted a net weight of 628 pounds across two lifts to qualify and will enter the Games ranked
4th among women's weightlifters weighing more than 192 pounds.
 She is the oldest weightlifting qualifier at 43.
Ons Jabeur: 1st Arab woman to win a WTA title
 Tunisia's Ons Jabeur made history on 20 June 2021, when she became the first Arab woman to
win a WTA title.
 She beat Russian Daria Kasatkina in the final of the grasscourt event in Birmingham.
 Jabeur's victory means she has now won 28 matches on Tour for 2021, more than any other
player apart from world number one Ash Barty who also has 28.
Tokyo Olympics: Maximum of 10,000 fans allowed
 Tokyo Olympics organising committee on 19 June confirmed that the spectator limit for the
Games has been set at 50 per cent of venue capacity, up to a maximum of 10,000 people.
 The decision on the Paralympic Games will be made by July 16.
 Students in the schools' spectator programme and their supervisors will not be considered in
these limits and will be treated separately.
61 | P a g e
Dr Tadang Minu: AIBA’s coaches member

 Dr Tadang Minu from Arunachal has become the first woman in the country and the second
Indian to be appointed as a member of the Coaches Committee of the International Boxing
Association (AIBA).
 AIBA is the parent body for boxing in the world.
 Dr. Minu is an assistant professor at Rajiv Gandhi University (RGU).
 She is also the president of the Arunachal Amateur Boxing Association (AABA).
Seoul will host 2022 Formula E electric race
 The electric motorsport competition will be held in Seoul in August 2022.
 'SEOUL E-PRIX 2022', the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, will be held at Jamsil Sports
Complex from August 13 to 14, 2022.
 The ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, called shortly 'Formula E', is the competition
event by International Automobile Federation (FIA) and is being held annually since 2014.
BCCI approves support for Olympic campaign
 BCCI Apex Council has approved up to Rs 10 crore to support India's forthcoming Olympic
campaign in Tokyo.
 It sanctioned the proposal in an emergent meeting after it received a request from the Ministry
of Youth Affairs and Sports.
 The apex council has decided to release Rs 2.5 crore liquid funds and a maximum of Rs 7.5 crore
for running a promotional campaign in the lead-up to the Olympics.
Max Verstappen wins French Grand Prix 2021
 Red Bull's Max Verstappen has won the French Grand Prix on 20 June 2021.
 This was Verstappen's 3rd victory in the ongoing F1 2021 season.
 He has also set the fastest lap and has 131 points as compared to 119 points of Hamilton who
finished second.
 Verstappen's Mexican teammate Sergio Perez finished third.
 Mercedes' Valterri Bottas finished 4th while Lando Norris completed the top 5.
Kevin O’Brien announces retirement from ODIs
 Ireland’s batsman Kevin O’Brien has decided to retire from the One Day International but he
has decided to remain available for the T20Is and the Test format.
 He has taken 114 wickets in his 50-overs career.
 Kevin O’Brien played the biggest knock of his ODI career when he scored 113 runs off just 63
balls in the 2011 World Cup match against England.
Romania banned from Olympic weightlifting
 Romania has been banned from competing in weightlifting at the Tokyo Olympics over past
doping cases, the International Weightlifting Federation ruled in a decision.
62 | P a g e
 The Romanian Weightlifting Federation was issued a one-year ban from competition over five
doping cases.
 Romania becomes the fourth country barred from the Tokyo weightlifting competition after
Egypt, Malaysia and Thailand.
First ever 10 meter shooting range in J&K
 In Jammu and Kashmir, the first-ever 10-meter shooting range was inaugurated at Youth Hostel
in Srinagar on 17 June 2021.
 The shooting range has all the modern equipment for 10-meter air rifle and 10-meter air pistol
events.
 A first of its kind basic training camp will be started within a few days for students and the
shooting range shall be utilized for the upliftment of this sport.
'Khedo Punjab' mobile app launched
 Punjab Sports and Youth Services Minister Rana Gurmit Singh Sodhi launched a special mobile
app Khedo Punjab on 18 June'21.
 This is the first time in the history of the Sports Department that the department has launched a
mobile app.
 With the launch of it, the current sportspersons and the budding players will be in a position to
register online and can choose any game of their interest.
Shefali: Youngest to score twin half-centuries
 In the Women’s Cricket Test at Bristol, India’s 17-year-old Shafali Verma became the youngest
woman and the fourth overall, to score twin half-centuries in her debut Test.
 The record was previously held by Australia’s Jessica Louise Jonassen, who was 22, when she
scored the fifties in both innings of her debut Test against England.
BCCI lifts ban on Ankeet Chavan
 Former Mumbai left-arm spinner Ankeet Chavan, who was involved in the IPL spot-fixing
scandal in 2013 along with S Sreesanth, has been formally cleared by the Board of Control for
Cricket in India (BCCI) to resume competitive cricket.
 In 2020, the BCCI's Ombudsman Justice DK Jain had reduced the quantum of sentence for both
Sreesanth and Chavan to seven years from the life ban.
MP para shooter wins gold at Peru event
 Madhya Pradesh shooter, Rubina Francis won the gold in the 10-metre air pistol para women
event at the World shooting Para Sport Cup in Peru on 16 June 2021.
 Rubina scored 238.1 points and beat the world record of Aysegul Pehlivanlar of Turkey in 10m
air pistol shooting.
 She has also secured the Paralympic quota for India at Tokyo Olympic 2020.
S. Verma notches highest score on Test debut
63 | P a g e
 Opener Shafali Verma has broken the record for the highest individual score by an Indian
woman cricketer on Test debut.
 Shafali hit 96 on her Test debut against England Women at the County Ground in Bristol on 17
June'21.
 She broke the record of Chanderkanta Kaul who had scored 75 on her Test debut.
 She also became the 1st Indian women cricketer to hit a six on Test debut.
D. Gukesh wins Gelfand Challenge
 World's second youngest Grandmaster D. Gukesh won the $15,000 Gelfand Challenge chess
title in June 2021.
 With this win, he has also won a ‘wild card’ for the elite Meltwaters Champions Chess Tour.
 Gukesh won all four rounds, including the key battle against Praggnanandhaa, and emerged on
top after a series of favourable results from the games involving other title-contenders.
ICC signs Upstox as its official partner
 The International Cricket Council (ICC) has signed up digital stockbroking firm Upstox as its
official partner.
 The partnership will encompass all ICC events until the end of 2023, starting with the inaugural
ICC World Test Championship Final between India and New Zealand.
 Established as RKSV Securities India Private Ltd in 2009, Upstox currently claims to have over
four million customers.
Tennis player, Bertens announces retirement
 Former World No. 4 tennis player, Kiki Bertens announced on 16 June 2021 that she will retire at
the end of the 2021 season.
 Bertens had won 10 doubles titles and reached her high singles ranking of No. 4 in May 2019.
 Bertens’ best showing in a Grand Slam event came in 2016 when he reached the semifinals of
the French Open before losing to Serena Williams.
Kathryn: ICC Player of the Month for May
 ICC has announced Scotland's Kathryn Bryce and Bangladesh's Mushfiqur Rahim as the winners
of the ICC Player of the Month Awards for May 2021.
 Kathryn is the first player from Scotland, to make it to the top 10 of the batting or bowling lists
in the ICC Player Rankings.
 Mushfiqur played one Test and three ODIs in May'21 where he helped Bangladesh win their first
ODI series.
Ronaldo breaks record for most goals
 Cristiano Ronaldo scored two late goals in a 3-0 Euro 2020 win against Hungary on 15 June
2021.
 With this win, Ronaldo is now the all-time leading goal scorer in the European Championship
finals.
64 | P a g e
 Ronaldo has now scored 11 goals in the tournament, two more than French great Michel Platini,
who netted nine times when he led France to glory in 1984.
ICC announces prize money for World Test
 The ICC has announced prize money for the winner and runner-up of the World Test
Championship final.
 The winning team of the final between India and New Zealand will receive about 12 crore
rupees along with an ICC Test Championship Mace.
 The losing team will receive 6 crore rupees approximately.
 The final match will start on June 18, 2021, at Ageas Bowl, Southampton.
Dentsu launches sports marketing unit
 Advertising firm Dentsu International has announced the launch of its sports marketing unit in
India.
 The launch is supported by Tokyo headquartered Dentsu Sports International (DSI) and Dentsu
Sports Asia (DSAsia), Singapore.
 The agency has appointed former cricketer and sports marketing executive Anand Yalvigi as
the Director of the new vertical for India.
Mirabai Chanu qualifies for Tokyo Olympics
 India’s Mirabai Chanu, the 2017 world champion in weightlifting, has qualified for the Tokyo
Olympics in the women's 49-kg category.
 She is ranked second in the women’s 49-kg category.
 As per the rules of the International Weightlifting Federation, the top eight lifters in each of the
14 weight categories, including seven in the women’s group, are eligible to compete in Tokyo
Games.
Vinoo Mankad named in ICC's Hall of fame list
 Former India cricketer Vinoo Mankad on 13 June 2021 was among the 10 players included in the
special edition list of the International Cricket Council's (ICC) Hall of Fame.
 The ICC announced a list of 10 cricketers who were included in their special edition of Hall of
Fame players to celebrate the history of Test cricket.
Djokovic clinches his 19th Grand Slam title
 World No.1 Novak Djokovic clinched his second French Open Men's Singles Tennis title after
beating world No. 5 Stefanos Tsitsipas on 13 June 2021.
 The Serbian Djokovic increased his Grand Slam tally to 19 titles.
 Djokovic has also become the first man in the Open era, and third overall, to win all four Majors
at least twice.
Krejcikova wins French Open women's singles
 Barbora Krejcikova has won her maiden Grand Slam Women's Singles Tennis title, beating
Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the French Open final.
65 | P a g e
 Former doubles world number one Krejcikova defeated 31st seed Pavlyuchenkova 6-1, 2-6, 6-4
at Roland Garros on 12 June 2021.
 Barbora became the first Czech women’s singles champion since 1981.
Wrestler Vinesh Phogat wins a gold medal
 Wrestler Vinesh Phogat won the women's 53kg freestyle gold with an 8-0 win over Khrystyna
Bereza of Ukraine at the Poland Ranking Series in Warsaw on 11 June 2021.
 This was India’s second medal at the event after Ravi Kumar Dahiya’s silver in the men’s 61kg.
 Vinesh has earlier won a gold medal at the Matteo Pellicone event in Rome, Italy.
Central Athlete Injury Management System
 Youth Affairs and Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju has launched the Central Athlete Injury
Management System for streamlining the sports medicine and rehabilitation support offered to
the athletes.
 It aims to provide the best sports injury management support nearest to the athlete’s
geographical location.
 It will start with support for athletes who are a part of the Target Olympic Podium Scheme.
Virender Sehwag launches website 'CRICURU'
 Former India opener Virender Sehwag has launched cricket coaching website “CRICURU" with
an aim to redefine the learning experience for budding players.
 The curriculum for each player has been developed by Sehwag along with former India
batsman and coach Sanjay Bangar.
 It is country’s 1st AI-enabled coaching website aims to offer a personalised learning experience
for the younger player.
‘The Hundred women’s competition’
 Five Indian women cricketers have joined The Hundred women’s competition.
 The cricketers are Shafali Verma, Harmanpreet Kaur, Jemimah Rodrigues, Smriti Mandhana,
and Deepti Sharma.
 The tournament, to be organised by the England and Wales Cricket Board and played in a 100-
ball format, will see some of the best women cricketers from around the world compete for
different franchises.
Neeraj Chopra wins javelin gold medal
 India's Neeraj Chopra won the javelin gold medal in the Meeting Cidade de Lisboa in Lisbon on
10 June 2021, with a throw of 83.18 metres recorded with his sixth and last attempt.
 His opening throw was 80.71m while his second and third attempts were no throws.
 Chopra has a season-best of 88.07m recorded in March in Patiala.
J. Anderson: Most capped player for England
 England pacer James Anderson, on 10 June 2021 became the most capped player for England
in Tests.
66 | P a g e
 Anderson has now played in 162 Test matches for England overtaking Cook, who featured in 161
matches.
 He stands at fourth place for most wickets, behind Muttiah Muralitharan's 800, Shane Warne's
708 and former Indian leg-spinner Anil Kumble's 619 wickets.
French Open'21: 1st final for Pavlyuchenkova
 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova beat world No 85 Tamara Zidansek of Slovenia to reach a first
Grand Slam final on 10 June 2021.
 With this win, Pavlyuchenkova became the first woman to play 52 Grand Slam tournament
before making her first final, breaking the previous mark of 44 set by 2015 US Open runner-up
Roberta Vinci.
 She will face the French Open 2021 final on 12 June 2021.
10 legends to be inducted in ICC Hall of Fame
 The International Cricket Council (ICC) will induct 10 legends of the game into its Hall of Fame,
with two players each from five eras joining an existing list of 93 of the world's greatest.
 ICC has announced a special edition of the ICC Hall of Fame to coincide with the first-ever
World Test Championship final, to be contested between India and New Zealand, from 18 June
2021 in Southampton.
Sports
 The Athletics Federation of India has announced that the 4th Indian Grand Prix will be held in
Patiala on June 21, 2021. The AFI will also conduct the National Inter-State Athletics
Championships from June 25 at the same venue.
 The Indian Premier League will be played between September 19 and Oct 15, 2021, in the United
Arab Emirates. BCCI Vice-President Rajeev Shukla has confirmed the dates.
Yuka Saso wins U.S. Women's Open
 Filipino Japanese teenager and Japan LPGA Tour player Yuka Saso has won the U.S. Women’s
Open Golf Tournament at the Olympic Club, San Francisco.
 Saso stands with the record of Inbee Park as the youngest U.S. Women's Open winner.
 Only two other women with Japanese citizenship have won majors — Hisako Higuchi at the
1977 LPGA Championship and Hinako Shibuno at the 2019 Women’s British Open.
India drops Chinese Olympic kit sponsor
 The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) has dropped Chinese sportswear maker Li Ning as its
official kit partner.
 Its athletes will wear unbranded apparel at the Tokyo Games instead.
 Chinese companies have faced a backlash in India since 20 Indian soldiers were killed in a clash
with Chinese forces in a Himalayan border dispute in 2020.
Chhetri: 2nd highest international goalscorer
67 | P a g e
 India men's football team captain Sunil Chhetri overtook Ali Mabkhout and Lionel Messi on 7
June 2021 to become the second-highest international goalscorer among active men's players.
 Chhetri struck a brace against Bangladesh in the FIFA World Cup qualifiers match in Qatar.
 He is now placed 11th on the all-time goal-scorers list in men's international football.
Sumit Malik fails dope test
 Olympic-bound Indian wrestler Sumit Malik has been provisionally suspended after failing a
dope test during the recent Qualifiers in Bulgaria.
 It marks the second consecutive instance of a wrestler being caught in a dope net before the
Olympics -- the previous being ahead of the 2016 Rio Olympics when Narsingh Pancham Yadav
had failed one and was slapped with a four-year ban.
FIH world rankings: Indian team at 4th
 In Hockey, the Indian men’s team maintained their fourth position while the women’s team held
to the ninth position in the latest International Hockey Federation world rankings.
 Belgium leads the rankings, followed by Australia.
 The Netherlands is placed third.
 Germany has jumped to fifth place due to their recent performances in the FIH Pro-League.
Ollie Robinson suspended from cricket
 Soon after the first Test between England and New Zealand ended in a draw,
the England Cricket Board (ECB) has suspended Ollie Robinson for his racist and
sexist tweets that he made back in 2012-2013.
 He has been suspended from all international cricket.
 He would not be up for selection for the second Test.
Singapore Grand Prix called off this year
 The Singapore Grand Prix has been called off for 2021 and Formula 1 is assessing its options to
replace the race.
 Turkey, China, and a second race at Austin in the USA are all under consideration as
replacements.
 Turkey had been scheduled as a substitute for the Canadian Grand Prix for June 2021.
K.Jamieson: NZ's 'Cricketer Of The Year'
 New Zealand all-rounder Kyle Jamieson was awarded the 2021 version of the Gamers’ Cap.
 Gamers’ Cap award is given to the player who has been voted as ‘Cricketer of the Year’ by the
players & support staff.
 By winning this award, Kyle has joined a elite list which includes Brendon McCullum, Tim
Southee, Ross Taylor , K. Williamson and Trent Boult, who won the same award in past.
Horse rider F. Mirza qualifies for Olympics
 Expert horse rider Fouaad Mirza has completed the minimum eligibility requirement (MER) to
compete in Olympics Games’ event.
68 | P a g e
 Fouaad Mirza, a double 2018 Asian Games medallist, officially became the first Indian to qualify
for Olympics after the 2000 Sydney Games,
 Imtiaz Anees had competed at the 2000 Olympics while Wing Commander IJ Lamba
represented India at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics Games.
Devon Conway breaks 125 yr old record
 New Zealand's opener Devon Conway smashed a double hundred on his Test debut against
England at Lord's on 3 June 2021.
 He broke a 125-year-old record held by the legendary KS Ranjitsinhji for the highest score by a
batsman on Test debut in England.
 He had also broken Sourav Ganguly’s 25-year-old record of the highest Test score on debut at
Lord’s, when he went past 131.
ICC to expand World Cup to 14 teams
 The T20 World Cup will be held every two years during the next eight-year Futures Tours and
Programme (FTP) cycle while the 50-over event will be a 14-team affair from the 2027 edition.
 This was announced by ICC on 1 June 2021.
 The World Test Championship will have four editions in the next cycle apart from two
Champions Trophy.
 The 50-over format currently is a 10-team event.
Shafali Verma continues to top ICC rankings
 Teenage India batswoman Shafali Verma continues to top the ICC women’s T20I batting
rankings.
 She has 776 points and is leading second-placed Beth Mooney of Australia by 32 points.
 India's T20 vice-captain, Smriti, is fourth with 693 points.
 Jemimah Rodriques is the third Indian in the top 10 of the T20I batting rankings with 640 points.
Brazil named Copa America host
 Brazil has been named as the new host for Copa America after Colombia and Argentina were
stripped of the tournament.
 Argentina was ruled out amid an increase in COVID-19 cases in the country.
 Colombia was removed as co-host on May 20, 2021, as street protests against President Iván
Duque rocked the nation.
 The tournament is confirmed to take place between June 13 and July 10, 2021.
Sanjeet wins gold at Asian Boxing C'ships
 India boxer Sanjeet Kumar has won a gold medal in the 91 kg weight category at the ASBC
Asian Boxing Championships.
 Sanjeet defeated five-time Asian Championships medallist and Rio Olympic silver medalist
Vassiliy Levit of Kazakhstan in the final.
 The 27-year-old Assam boxer has previously won gold in 2013, silver in 2017, and two bronze in
2015 and 2019.
69 | P a g e
Ashok Kumar to officiate bouts in Olympics

 India's international wrestling referee Ashok Kumar will be the only Indian who will be officiating
bouts during the Tokyo Olympics to be held between July 23 and August 8, 2021.
 The United World Wrestling (UWW), the governing body of the sport, has nominated him.
 His final selection took place during the World Olympic Qualifiers in Sofia, Bulgaria in May 2021.
Diya Chitale wins medal at WTT Youth Star
 Indian players Diya Chitale and Swastika Ghosh confirmed a medal in the U-19 girls’ doubles
category and also made it to the knockout stage in singles, at the 2021 World Table Tennis
Youth Star Contender.
 This is the first international youth event where India TT players are competing since the Covid-
19 pandemic.
 Both secured at least a bronze with an entry into the semi-finals.
Pooja Rani bags gold at Boxing Championship
 At the Asian Boxing Championships in Dubai, defending champion Pooja Rani won the gold
medal in the 75kg women's category.
 MC Mary Kom, Lalbuatsaihi, and Anupama finished with silver.
 Pooja defeated Mavluda Movlonova of Uzbekistan 5-0 and secured India’s first gold medal at
the ongoing event.
 She had also won the gold medal in the previous edition in 2019 but that was in the 81kg
division.
Chelsea win Champions League 2020-21
 Chelsea defeated Manchester City 1-0 in an all-English final at the Estádio do Dragão in
Portugal's Porto to win the Champions League nine years after winning their first one on 29 May
2021.
 Chelsea's German attacking midfielder Kai Havertz scored the lone goal in the final in the 42nd
minute.
 It was Manchester City's first-ever final in the Champions League.
Novak Djokovic clinches Belgrade Open title
 In Tennis, world number one Novak Djokovic clinched the Belgrade Open title after defeating
Slovakia's Alex Molcan in Serbia on 30 May 2021.
 With this win, Djokovic has secured 83 singles titles in his career.
 In his next travel to Paris, he will play American Tennys Sandgren in the French Open first round.
 Djokovic has only won the French Open competition once five years ago.
BCCI moves IPL 2021 to UAE
 The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has decided to move the Indian Premier League
(IPL) 2021 to the UAE in view of the Covid-19 situation in India.
 The announcement was made by BCCI chairman Rajeev Shukla on 29 May 2021.
70 | P a g e
 The IPL matches are expected to resume tentatively on September 18 or 19, 2021.
Tejaswini Sawant tops MQS section
 In the European Shooting Championship in Croatia, former world champion Tejaswini Sawant
topped the Minimum Qualification Score section of the 50-m rifle prone event.
 She shot 622.7 to finish ahead of three other compatriots and six Iranians.
 She will represent India in the 50-m rifle 3 positions event at the Olympic Games in July-August
2021.
Villarreal wins Europa League
 Villarreal defeated Manchester United 11-10 on penalties to win their first major trophy after a 1-
1 draw in the Europa League final.
 Moreno's 82nd goal for Villarreal equalled the club record of former Manchester United forward
Giuseppe Rossi.
 Villarreal Club de Fútbol, S.A.D., usually abbreviated to Villarreal CF, is a professional football
club based in Villarreal, Spain.
Achinta Sheuli bags silver medal
 Indian weightlifter Achinta Sheuli ended with the silver medal in the men’s 73 kg category at the
Junior World Weightlifting Championships 2021 in Uzbekistan, on 26 May 2021.
 He lifted a total of 313 kg (141 kg snatch and 172 kg clean and jerk) to finish behind Indonesia’s
Rizki Juniansyah, who lifted a world record 349 kg (155 kg snatch and 194 kg clean and jerk) for
the gold medal.
Sports
 At the Asian Boxing Championships, Indian boxer Shiva Thapa secured his fifth successive
medal by advancing to the semifinals after out-punching Kuwait’s Nader Odah 5-0 in the men’s
64kg, on 25 May 2021.
 Two-time Olympian Sushil Kumar, who was arrested by the Delhi Police in connection with the
death of wrestler Sagar Dhankar, has been suspended by the Indian Railways until further
orders.
Verstappen wins in Monaco
 Max Verstappen has won Monaco Grand Prix.
 Carlos Sainz for Ferrari took second with Lando Norris of McLaren completing the podium.
 Red Bull’s Verstappen displaced Lewis Hamilton at the top of the 2021 standings after the
Mercedes world champion finished in seventh.
 Hamilton finished in seventh.
Hockey stadium renamed after Balbir Singh Sr
 The Mohali International Hockey Stadium in Punjab was dedicated to legendary centre-forward
Balbir Singh Senior on his 1st death anniversary.
 Legendary Hockey player had passed away on 25 May'20.
71 | P a g e
 He was part of the Indian teams that won gold at 1948 London Olympics, Helsinki 1952 &
Melbourne 1956.
 His record for most individual goals scored in an Olympic men’s hockey final remains unbeaten.
PBKS's Covid relief program 'Project Saah'
 IPL franchise Punjab Kings have extended their hand to help India fight the battle against
COVID-19 through the COVID relief program called 'Project Saah'.
 PBKS have joined forces with Round Table India (RTI) to provide oxygen concentrators to needy
COVID-19 patients.
 Punjab Kings will finance the oxygen concentrators and RTI will handle the distribution part of
the assistance.
143 Khelo India Centres to be opened
 The Sports Ministry has dedicated a total of 143 Khelo India Centres across seven states with a
total budget estimate of Rs 14.30 crore.
 These centres will be entrusted with one sports discipline each.
 The states include Maharashtra, Mizoram, Goa, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Arunachal
Pradesh and Manipur.
 The Sports Ministry, in June 2020, had planned to open up as many as 1,000 new KICs.
Tsitsipas wins Lyon Open
 Stefanos Tsitsipas claimed his seventh ATP title after beating Britain’s Cameron Norrie 6-3, 6-3
in the final of the Lyon Open on 23 May 2021.
 He won his first Masters 1000 crown at Monte Carlo in April 2021.
 Tsitsipas’ best Grand Slam results to date are three semifinals at the 2019 Australian Open, 2020
Roland Garros, and the 2021 Australian Open.
5 players in Target Olympic Podium Scheme
 Five players have been included in the Target Olympic Podium Scheme, TOPS.
 Tennis player Ankita Raina, Rowers Arjun Lal Jat, Arvind Singh, and wrestlers Seema Bisla and
Sumit Malik have been included in the core group of TOPS.
 In order to improve India’s performance at the Olympics and Paralympics, the Ministry of Youth
Affairs and Sports had started the Target Olympic Podium Scheme in 2014.
Harry Kane wins his 3rd Golden Boot award
 Tottenham's Harry Kane has won the Premier League Golden Boot for the third time after
registering 23 goals in the 2020-21 season.
 This is the fifth time in the last seven years that Kane has crossed the 20-goal mark in the
English top-flight.
 Kane registered 23 goals in the 2020-21 season, finishing ahead of Liverpool's Mohammed Salah
(22 goals), and hence he was awarded the Golden Boot.
Clarkson wins NBA 6th man of the year award
72 | P a g e
 Utah’s Jordan Clarkson was announced on 24 May 2021 as the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year.
 He is the only player to score 40 points in a game this season.
 It’s the first time a Jazz player has won the award.
 Utah’s Joe Ingles was second, marking the first time the top two finishers for this award came
from the same franchise.
Asia Cup 2021 postponed to 2023
 The Asian Cricket Council (ACC) has officially postponed the 2021 edition of the Asia Cup to
2023, the dates of which will be confirmed by the committee later.
 The tournament was moved from Pakistan to Sri Lanka but rising cases in the island nation had
led to its cancellation.
 The tournament is usually held every two years.
Phil Mickelson wins PGA Championship
 In Golf, Phil Mickelson won the PGA Championship by two shots over Brooks Koepka and South
African Louis Oosthuizen on 23 May 2021 to become the oldest major winner in history.
 The victory by Mickelson marked the sixth major championship win of his career and the first
since the 2013 British Open.
 He surpassed the record previously held by Julius Boros, who won the PGA Championship in
1968.
Indian boxing's 1st Dronacharya awardee dies
 O P Bhardwaj, India's first Dronacharya awardee coach in boxing, died on 21 May 2021 in New
Delhi.
 Bhardwaj was India's national boxing coach from 1968 to 1989 and also served as a national
selector.
 He won the Dronacharya Award in 1985, the year it was first announced along with
Bhalchandra Bhaskar Bhagwat (wrestling) and O M Nambiar (athletics).
Para shuttlers to qualify for Paralympics
 Women's pair of Palak Kohli and Parul Parmar on 21 May'21 became the 1st Indian para
shuttlers to qualify for Tokyo Paralympics.
 The duo qualified for the SL3-SU5 Women's Doubles event in para-badminton.
 The top 6 pairs in BWF ranking have qualified for the event and this pair is currently ranked 6th.
 Palak is the youngest para-badminton player in the world to qualify for Tokyo Paralympics.
Coco Gauff wins Emilia-Romagna Open
 US' Coco Gauff defeated Qiang Wang to win the singles title at Emilia-Romagna Open and
partnered with Caty McNally to win doubles title.
 If Gauff wins the doubles title with Caty McNally, she will become the youngest player to
complete the singles/doubles sweep in nearly 17 years, since Maria Sharapova won both titles in
Birmingham in 2004.
 Gauff won her only previous final in Lienz in 2019.
73 | P a g e
Tennis player Ruud wins Geneva Open title

 Norwegian Casper Ruud won his second career title on the ATP Tour after beating Denis
Shapovalov 7-6(6) 6-4 in the final of the claycourt Geneva Open on 22 May 2021.
 The title will see Ruud moves up to 16th in the rankings.
 He had also won the Argentina Open title in 2020.
23 Russians to compete as neutral athletes
 World Athletics' doping review board has approved 23 Russians to compete at international
competitions as neutral athletes
 Russia's athletics federation, RusAF has been suspended since 2015 by World Anti-Doping
Agency for mass doping among athletes
 World Athletics in March'21 reinstated the Authorised Neutral Athlete scheme to clean these
athletes after approval of RusAF's reinstatement plan
Atletico Madrid win La Liga 2020-21
 Atletico Madrid were crowned La Liga 2020-21 champions of Spain on 22 May 2021.
 Atletico topped the table with 86 points, two points more than second-placed Real Madrid.
 While Barcelona finished third with 79 points.
 It is Atletico's 11th La Liga title victory and their first since 2013-14.
Bengaluru: Venue for Indian Grand Prix IV
 The Athletics Federation of India has ruled out Bengaluru as the venue for June’s Indian Grand
Prix IV and Inter-State Athletics Championships.
 It is the last domestic competition to achieve the Tokyo Olympic qualification mark for Indian
athletes.
 The eight-lane synthetic track at Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru has still not been
completed due to lockdown in Karnataka.
Colombia dropped as Copa America co-host
 Colombia will no longer co-host 2021 Copa America amid civil unrest and surging coronavirus
cases, as per the South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL).
 The tournament was to be held jointly by Colombia and Argentina.
 Copa America is scheduled to be played between June 13 and July 10.
 Colombia has reported more than 3 mn confirmed cases of the virus, as of 21 May'21.
Ireland and England pacer Boyd Rankin retires
 England and Ireland pacer Boyd Rankin has announced his retirement from international
cricket.
 He was the only cricketer to play for two countries in all three formats.
 Rankin made his Ireland debut in 2003 and played last for the country in a T20 against
Afghanistan in Greater Noida in 2020.
 In all, he played three Tests, 75 ODIs and 50 T20s.
74 | P a g e
2022 FIFA U-17 Women’s WC to be held in India

 The 2022 FIFA under-17 Women's World Cup will be held in India from October 11 to 30, 2022.
 This global event will be the second FIFA tournament to be hosted by India after the FIFA
under-17 World Cup in 2017.
 The FIFA under-17 World Cup in 2017 has a record of being the most attended youth World Cup
in FIFA's history.
Sami Khedira announces retirement
 Sami Khedira will retire from football when the Bundesliga season finishes.
 Khedira, a World Cup winner in 2014, made the last of his 77 appearances for his national team.
 started his career at Stuttgart, where he won the 2007 Bundesliga title.
 He joined Real Madrid after the 2010 World Cup finals.
Sports
 Barcelona Femeni won the Women’s Champions League for the first time after a brilliant 4-0
win over Chelsea in the final in Gothenberg in May 2021.
 The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports has invited nominations and applications from eligible
athletes, coaches, and universities for the annual National Sports Awards for 2021. The National
Sports Federations will also nominate athletes.
Leicester City wins FA Cup for the first time
 Leicester City has won FA Cup for the first time in their history, beating Chelsea 1-0 in the final
at Wembley.
 The final was watched by 21,000 fans at the Wembley Stadium -- the biggest crowd in England
since the resumption of sporting activities in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
 Leicester City last reached the FA Cup final in 1969.
Shiv Sunder: Coach of women’s cricket team
 Former Test opener Shiv Sunder Das has been named the batting coach of the Indian women’s
cricket team only for the upcoming seven-match tour of England.
 The tour comprises a one-off Test, three One-day Internationals, and three T20 Internationals in
June-July 2021.
 Former Indian Railways player Abhay Sharma has been named the fielding coach.
Iga Swiatek enters WTA top 10
 In the women’s section, Italian Open champion Polish teenager Iga Swiatek jumped six places
on the WTA Tour rankings to enter the top 10.
 The player is now ninth, behind American legend Serena Williams, winner of 23 Grand Slams.
 The top three slots continue to be retained by Australia’s Ashleigh Barty, Japan’s Naomi Osaka,
and Romania’s Simona Halep, respectively.
ATP rankings: Rafael Nadal remains at 3rd spot
75 | P a g e
 In tennis, despite a three-set victory over Novak Djokovic in the Italian Open final, Spaniard
Rafael Nadal continues to be at the third spot on the ATP rankings, released on 18 May 2021.
 Djokovic is way ahead with 11,063 points.
 Russian Daniil Medvedev continues to be ranked No. 2 in the world with 9,793 points, just 163
points ahead of Nadal.
Tejaswini Shankar bags men's high jump titles
 India's Tejaswini Shankar has bagged men's high jump titles in the Big 12 Outdoor Track and
Field Championships in Manhattan, USA.
 The athlete cleared the bar at 2.28 meters to win high jump gold on 15 May 2021.
 However, despite the spectacular performance, Shankar fell short of the Tokyo Olympic Games
qualification standard of 2.33 m.
Rafael Nadal wins Italian Open title
 In tennis, Rafael Nadal beat world number one Novak Djokovic to win a 10th Italian Open title
on 16 May 2021.
 Nadal won through 7-5, 1-6, 6-3 against the defending champion.
 He also equalled Djokovic’s record of 36 ATP Masters 1000 titles in his 12th Rome final.
 In the men's doubles, Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic won the title, beating Rajeev Ram and Joe
Salisbury.
Richard Bland wins British Masters Golf
 Leading Indian golfer Shubhankar Sharma ended up Tied-34th at the Betfred British Masters in
Wishaw, Scotland, on 17 May 2021.
 England’s Richard Bland won the title, getting in a pole position for a chance to earn a place in
the US Open.
 The only Indian to make the cut among four participants, Sharma had five birdies in his final
round.
Iga Swiatek wins Italian Open
 Poland's Iga Swiatek defeated Karolina Pliskova from the Czech Republic 6-0, to win the Italian
Open on 16 May 2021.
 The French Open champion took just 45 minutes to win the match.
 Swiatek, ranked 15, claimed her third WTA title having followed her Roland Garros success with
a win in Adelaide in January 2021.
N. Korea withdraws from 2022 FIFA World Cup
 The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) confirmed on 16 May 2021 that North Korea has pulled
out of the qualifying tournament for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
 The move comes after the country had already withdrawn from the Olympic Games in Tokyo
because of concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic.
 Overall qualification in Asia for the 2022 World Cup is scheduled to conclude in November 2021.
76 | P a g e
1st Indian-origin fighter to win MMA title

 Arjan Bhullar has become the first Indian-origin fighter to win a world title in a top-level MMA
event.
 He defeated Filipino-American's Brandon Vera to become the heavyweight world champion in
the Singapore-based One Championship.
 He had also become the first Indian-origin freestyle wrestler to represent Canada at the
Olympics.
NBA creates social justice award
 The NBA (National Basketball Association) has announced the creation of a new award — the
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Social Justice Champion Award.
 It will recognize players who are taking steps in the fight for social justice.
 Each NBA team will nominate one player for consideration; from there, five finalists will be
selected and ultimately one winner.
Roman Khassanov banned for corruption
 A tennis player who represented Kazakhstan in the Davis Cup- Roman Khassanov has been
banned for 10 years after admitting a string of corruption charges.
 He has been banned from attending any official tennis events and fined $100,000.
 The charges included breaking rules against fixing.
 Khassanov had a career-high ranking of 671 in 2018 and his last recorded tournament was in
2019.
New dates women’s Rugby World Cup
 World Rugby has confirmed the dates for the 2022's women's Rugby World Cup in New
Zealand.
 The tournament will run from 8 Oct-12 Nov 2022.
 The 12-team tournament was due to be held in 2021.
 The third-place playoff and final will be played on 12 Nov 2022, with Eden Park set to create
history by becoming the first stadium to host both the men’s and women’s Rugby World Cup
finals.
England pacer Harry Gurney decides to retire
 England and Nottinghamshire pacer Harry Gurney announced his decision to retire at the age
of 34 on 14 May'21.
 Gurney has played a whopping 103 first-class, 93 List A and 156 T20 matches in his career
picking a total of 614 wickets across all the formats.
 He has played 10 ODIs and 2 T20Is for England in his short international career.
 He also played for the Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL.
Appointments
 CarDekho Group has decided to appoint Mayank Jain as CEO of the new auto business.
77 | P a g e
 Prior to this, he was the CEO of the Hindi news cluster at Network18.
 Former spinner Ramesh Powar on 13 May 2021 replaced WV Raman as the Indian women’s
cricket team’s head coach.
 He was recommended by the Madan Lal-led Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) after
interviewing 8 candidates.
BJ Watling to retire from cricket
 New Zealand wicketkeeper-batsman BJ Watling would be retiring from international cricket
after the three Tests, including the World Test Championship final against India, on their
upcoming England tour.
 He has played 73 Tests, 28 ODIs and 5 T20Is for the BlackCaps.
 He became just the 9th wicketkeeper to hit a double hundred and the first to hit a double
against England in 2019.
Ravichandran Ashwin in the top 10 ICC rankings
 In the latest ICC men’s Test Player Rankings released on 12 May'21, Ravichandran Ashwin is the
only Indian bowler to feature in the top 10 ICC rankings in the Test format.
 He is on the second spot.
 Jasprit Bumrah has also held on to his 11th position.
 Pakistan bowler Hasan has moved up six places to the 14th position.
 Shaheen is at 22nd and Nauman has gone from 54th to the 46th position.
Manchester City: Premier League champions
 In the English Premier League, Manchester City has crowned Premier League champions for the
third time in four seasons.
 Manchester United came second.
 Having won both the Premier League and the League Cup, Manchester City will now play to win
the Champions League final on May 29, 2021.
Babar Azam: ICC Men's Player of the Month
 Pakistan captain Babar Azam has won the International Cricket Council (ICC) Men's Player of
the Month award for April 2021.
 He has been awarded for his performances in the three-match One-Day International (ODI) and
four-match T20I series against South Africa.
 Australia's wicketkeeper/batter Alyssa Healy was named the ICC Women's Player of the Month
for April 2021.
Aryna Sabalenka wins Women's Madrid Open title
 In tennis, Aryna Sabalenka defeated world number one Ashleigh Barty to win the Madrid Open
for the first time on 9 May 2021.
 In the women’s doubles final, Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova, both from the Czech
Republic, defeated Gabriela Dabrowski of Canada and Demi Schuurs of France 6-4, 6-3.
78 | P a g e
Lewis Hamilton wins Spanish Grand Prix

 In Formula One, Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes secured victory at the Spanish Grand Prix on 9
May 2021, defeating Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.
 This was Hamilton’s third win this season and 98th of his career, and he also matched Michael
Schumacher’s record of most Spanish Grand Prix wins with six triumphs each.
 Verstappen settled for second place and Valtteri Bottas for third.
Seema Bisla qualifies for Tokyo Olympics
 Indian wrestler Seema Bisla has secured a Tokyo Olympics berth in women's 50kg after
reaching the finals of the World Olympic Qualifier at Sofia in Bulgaria on 7 May 2021.
 Seema becomes the fourth woman and eighth overall wrestler to qualify for the quadrennial
event.
 With this, India equals its previous best qualification of eight wrestlers from the 2016 Olympics.
ICC Test Rankings released
 New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson continues to lead the charts with 919 points, with former
Australian skipper Steve Smith giving him tough competition at No. 2 with 891 points.
 Three Indian players figure in the list, with skipper Virat Kohli at No. 5 with 814 points being the
highest ranked.
 Sri Lanka skipper Dimuth Karunaratne has moved up four spots to 11th.
BCCI suspends IPL 2021
 IPL Governing Council and Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has postponed the 14th
edition of the Indian Premier League in view of the surge in Covid cases in the country.
 The decision was taken unanimously in an emergency meeting on 4 May 2021.
 The development comes after a lot of players tested positive for Corona.
BCCI grants NOC to 4 Indian women cricketers
 The BCCI has granted “No Objection Certificates” to four Indian women cricketers to play in the
inaugural ‘Hundred’ tournament in the United Kingdom starting in July 2021.
 Opener Smriti Mandhana, T20 captain Harmanpreet Kaur and all-rounder Deepti Sharma and
Jemimah Rodrigues will take part in the 100-ball tournament.
 The tour will begin with a one-off Test at Bristol on June 16, 2021.
Jose Mourinho named as AS Roma coach
 Jose Mourinho has been appointed Italian football club AS Roma's coach on a 3 yr contract
from next season onwards.
 He will succeed Paulo Fonseca.
 Mourinho has also coached Real Madrid, Manchester United and Chelsea in his coaching
career.
 Mourinho has won 25 major titles in his coaching career, highlighted by 2004 Champions
League success with Porto and the 2010 treble with Inter Milan.
79 | P a g e
Mark: World Champion for 4th time in Snooker

 In Snooker, Mark Selby became the World Champion for the fourth time.
 Selby won the Championship defeating Shaun Murphy by 18-15 victory at Crucible Theatre,
Sheffield.
 He has now moved up to the second spot in world rankings, next only to Judd Trump.
 He won prize money of five hundred thousand pounds in the Championship.
Lewis Hamilton wins Portuguese Grand Prix
 Lewis Hamilton has won the Portuguese Grand Prix after defeating Valtteri Bottas and Max
Verstappen.
 The win gives Hamilton an eight-point championship lead over Verstappen.
 It was a statement race for Hamilton, who has moved on to 97 career Grand Prix victories.
 Sergio Perez (Red Bull) was in the fourth position.
India 2nd in ICC T20 rankings
 India retained second place in the ICC Twenty20 team rankings but dropped to third in the ODI
chart.
 Sri Lanka and Bangladesh have gained one place each to reach eighth and ninth positions,
respectively, while the West Indies have dropped two places to 10th.
 New Zealand is at the top followed by Australia.
Gymnast Pranati Nayak to get continental quota
 Gymnast Pranati Nayak will get the continental quota to compete in the Tokyo Olympic
Games.
 Since the Asian Championship has been cancelled due to the Covid pandemic, the unused
continental quotas will be reallocated to the eligible athletes from the Asian zone only.
 Sri Lankan Elpitiya Badalge Dona Milka Geh is the first reserve for the Asian quota while Pranati
is the second reserve.
SBC Asian Boxing Championships in Dubai
 The Boxing Federation of India (BFI), in consultation with Asian Boxing Confederation (ASBC),
has decided to conduct the upcoming 2021 edition of the ASBC Asian Elite Men and Women
Boxing Championships in Dubai.
 It will now be organized by BFI in association with UAE Boxing Federation.
 It was earlier scheduled to take place between 21-31 May'21 at Indira Gandhi Sports Complex in
New Delhi.
Indian wins gold medal at Archery World Cup
 In the Archery World Cup, the Indian women's recurve team including Deepika Kumari, Ankita
Bhakat, and Komalika Bari won a gold medal in Guatemala on 25 April 2021.
 This was Deepika's fifth World Cup stage event team gold medal.
80 | P a g e
 In another match, the Indian mixed recurve team of Atanu Das and Ankita Bhakat won the
bronze medal after a 6-2 victory over the USA.
Virat: 1st player to reach 6000 IPL runs
 Virat Kohli has become the first player in history to score 6000 runs in IPL during Royal
Challengers Bangalore’s ten-wicket win over Rajasthan Royals at the Wankhede Stadium in
Mumbai on 22 April 2021.
 He extended his all-time run-scoring record over other batsmen in the league by getting to 6021
runs in 196 matches.
 He has five hundreds and 40 fifties.
Arjun Kalyan becomes 68th Indian Grandmaster
 Tamil Nadu teenager Arjun Kalyan has become India’s 68th Chess Grandmaster.
 He crossed the 2500 ELO (Electric Light Orchestra) mark after beating Dragan Kosic in the fifth
round of GM Round Robin “Rujna Zore-3” in Serbia.
 Arjun is coached by IM Saravanan and Ukrainian GM Aleksandr Goloshchapov and began
playing chess at the age of nine.
Indian women boxers create history
 In the World Youth Boxing Championships, Indian women boxers created history with seven
gold medals in Kielce, Poland.
 All the women finalists Gitika, Naorem Babyrojisana Chanu, Poonam, Vinka, Arundhati
Choudhary, T Sanamacha Chanu, and Alfiya Pathan registered their wins and finished on the
top of the podium.
 Apart from the eight finalists, three others won bronze medals at the tournament.
Max Verstappen wins Emilia Romagna Grand Prix
 Max Verstappen recorded a victory in Italy, defeating Lewis Hamilton, at the Emilia Romagna
Grand Prix.
 Lando Norris came third.
 The current drivers' standings are- Hamilton (Mercedes) with 44 points, Verstappen (Red Bull)
with 43 points, Norris (McLaren) with 27 points, Leclerc (Ferrari) with 20 points, and Bottas
(Mercedes) with 16 points.
India Open Badminton Tournament postponed
 India Open Badminton Tournament 2021 has been postponed in the wake of a sudden rise in
the COVID-19 cases in New Delhi.
 The tournament was scheduled to be held at the KD Jadhav Indoor Hall in New Delhi from May
11-16, 2021.
 The 2021 edition was already scheduled to be held in a biosecure bubble with no spectators and
media.
Narendra Modi Stadium will host T20 final
81 | P a g e
 Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium will host the T20 World Cup final in November 2021.
 The BCCI has zeroed in on eight venues in all for the October-November T20 Cup, which
includes Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Dharamshala.
 BCCI has also decided to field both the men’s and the women’s teams at the 2028 Los Angeles
Olympics if the game is included in the roster.
Deepak Punia wins silver in Asian C'ships
 World championships silver medalist Deepak Punia settled for a silver medal in the Asian
wrestling championships in Almaty, Kazakhstan on 18 April 2021.
 Sanjeet bagged bronze for India in the 92 kg category.
 India thus ended the Asian Championships with seven medals in the men’s freestyle event and
an overall tally of five gold, three silver, and six bronze medals.
Jhilli Dalabehera wins gold in weightlifting
 India's Jhilli Dalabehera on 18 April 2021 clinched the gold medal in the 45kg category at the
Asian Weightlifting Championship.
 Jhilli lifted 69kg in the snatch & followed that up by 88kg in clean jerk for a total of 157kg to
finish on top.
 Her gold was India's 2nd medal of the tournament after weightlifter Mirabai Chanu won bronze
by smashing the world record in the clean & jerk category.
India’s Mirabai Chanu creates world record
 Indian weightlifter Mirabai Chanu on 17 April 2021 set a new world record in Clean and Jerk by
lifting 119 kg at Asian Weightlifting Championships.
 Previously, the world record for clean and jerk was 118 kg.
 Mirabai also created a new national record as she lifted a total of 205 kg and won the bronze
medal at Asian Weightlifting Championships.
BCCI agrees to issue visas to Pakistan team
 The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has got the approval for visas for the Pakistan
cricket team as well as the touring media for the upcoming T20 World Cup that is scheduled to
begin in India in Oct 2021.
 It was announced at BCCI's Apex Council meeting on 16 April 2021.
 India and Pakistan have not played bilateral cricket for close to a decade now due to
diplomatic tensions.
India clinches 7 medals in women's wrestling
 Indian wrestlers Vinesh Phogat and Anshu Malik clinched their Asian Championship titles on 16
April 2021 at Almaty, Kazakhstan as India ended with seven medals from the women's event
with four gold.
 It was Vinesh's seventh podium finish at the Asian Championships.
 India also bagged one silver and two bronze medals.
82 | P a g e
India wins one gold, two bronze medals in AWC

 Sarita Mor has won a gold medal in the Asian Wrestling Championships in Almaty, Kazakhstan.
 Indian also won two bronze medals through Seema and Pooja besides Sarita's gold.
 In the Asian Championships held in February 2020 in New Delhi, Sarita had won gold while in
the 2017 edition of the continental competition, she had won silver in 58kg.
Babar Azam: World's No.1 batsman
 In the International Cricket Council's (ICC) rankings for ODI batsmen, Pakistan Captain Babar
Azam has climbed to the No.1 spot.
 Azam replaced Virat Kohli, who was occupying the top position for nearly three and a half
years.
 Babar's 82-ball 94 in Pakistan's third ODI against South Africa, took his rating points to 865,
eclipsing Kohli's 857 points and pushing the Virat to second place.
Davis Cup Finals 2021 in three cities
 The 2021 Davis Cup Finals will be held in three cities, with Innsbruck and Turin joining Madrid as
hosts.
 The International Tennis Federation (ITF) has announced that Madrid, Austrian city Innsbruck,
and Turin in Italy would host two of the six groups each, with the latter two staging one quarter-
final.
 The finals will run from 25th November to 5th December 2021.
Four sailors from India qualify for Olympics
 Four sailors from India created history by qualifying for Tokyo Olympics.
 Vishnu Saravanan and the pair of Ganapathy Chengappa and Varun Thakkar made the cut
during the ongoing Asian Qualifiers in Oman.
 This was after Nethra Kumanan on 7 April 2021, became the first Indian woman sailor to qualify
for the Olympics in the laser radial event in the Mussanah Open Championship.
Indian wrestlers secure Tokyo Olympics berths
 Indian wrestlers Anshu Malik & Sonam Malik have secured the Tokyo Olympics berths in the 57-
kg and 62-kg categories in women wrestling.
 Sonam Malik became the 6th Indian wrestler to win a quota for the Olympics.
 Vinesh Phogat has already made a cut for Tokyo in the 53-kg category.
 Among men, Bajrang Punia, Ravi Dahiya & Deepak Punia have qualified for Olympics in the
men's freestyle event.
Khelo India Centre of Excellence launched
 Union Minister for Sports and Youth Affairs Kiren Rijiju inaugurated the Khelo India State Centre
of Excellence for Rowing discipline at the Jammu & Kashmir Sports Council Water Sports
Academy in Srinagar on 10 Apr'21.
 At present, it will focus on the sports discipline of Rowing.
83 | P a g e
 It will be provided with a first-time grant of Rs 145.16 lakhs and an annual recurring grant of Rs
96.17 lakhs.
Inaugural Indo-US online cricket tournament
 An Indo-U.S. Cricket eSports Competition was conducted to celebrate the growing trade ties
between the two countries.
 The event was live-streamed on April 8, 2021.
 Sixteen players from India and the U.S. competed on a mobile cricket gaming platform, 'Real
Cricket ‘20', in a five-over format.
 The U.S. finalist beat the Indian player by 13 runs.
Nethra Kumanan creates history
 Nethra Kumanan has become the first Indian woman sailor to qualify for the Olympics after she
was assured of a top-place finish in the laser radial event of the Asian Qualifiers in Oman.
 She has a 21-point advantage over her nearest rival Ramya Saravanan – in the Laser Radial
Class event.
 In sailing, the athlete who has the least points wins the competition.
FIFA suspends Pakistan Football Federation
 World football governing body FIFA has suspended the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) with
immediate effect due to third-party interference.
 The interference accounts for serious violations of the FIFA Statutes and guidelines.
 Pakistan had earlier been suspended for six months by FIFA from October 2017 to March 2018
when a court-appointed administrator had taken over the PFF headquarters.
IPL 2021 to begin on April 9
 The 14th edition of the Indian Premier League 2021 will begin on 9th April 2021.
 The opening match will be played between the defending champion Mumbai Indians against
Royal Challengers Bangalore in Chennai.
 The final match will be played on 30th May 2021 in Ahmedabad.
 The matches will be played at 6 venues across the country in Mumbai, Chennai, Delhi,
Ahmedabad, Kolkata and Bengaluru.
North Korea to not participate in Olympics
 North Korea would not be participating in the upcoming Tokyo Olympics due to concerns over
Covid-19.
 This is the first time that North Korea will miss the Olympics since it boycotted the 1984
Olympics in Los Angeles and the 1988 Olympics in Seoul.
 Tokyo Olympics are slated to be held from July 23 to August 8 2021.
 After that, the Paralympics will follow from August 24 to September 5, 2021.
Australia women create record with 22 ODI wins
84 | P a g e
 Australian women's cricket team on April 4, 2021, created history as they broke the all-time
record for the most consecutive wins in any format after beating New Zealand by six wickets in
the first ODI.
 The team recorded their 22nd straight ODI victory.
 Earlier, the Australian men's cricket team held the record of 21 consecutive ODI victories which
they achieved in 2003.
Mary Kom wins Sportstar of the Decade
 M. C. Mary Kom, the only boxer to win eight world championships medals, was named Sportstar
of the Decade at the 2021 Sportstar ACES Awards on 4 April 2021.
 The 2021 edition of the Sportstar ACES Awards honoured the Giants of the Decade in Indian
sport, with the winners being assessed on their performance and consistency from 2011 to 2020.
Hubert Hurkacz clinches Miami Open title
 In Tennis, Hubert Hurkacz of Poland won the biggest title of his career beating Jannik Sinner of
Italy in the Miami Open final on 4 April 2021.
 Ranked 37th, he beat two top-10 opponents in the same tournament for the first time, and he is
projected to climb to a career-high 16th in next week's rankings.
 Hurkacz also became Poland’s first Masters 1000 champion.
India wins 20 medals at Dubai Para Badminton
 In Badminton, defending world champion Pramod Bhagat clinched two gold medals as India
finished their campaign in the 3rd Sheikh Hamdan bin Al Maktoum Dubai Para-Badminton
International 2021 in Dubai with 20 medals on 4 April 2021.
 Krishna Nagar and Prem Kumar Ale also won the other two gold medals.
 India topped the tally with 20 medals (4 gold, 6 silver, and 10 bronze medals).
Ashleigh Barty retains Miami Open crown
 World No. 1 Ashleigh Barty clinched her second Miami Open title by trailing 3-6, 0-4 in the final
against Bianca Andreescu on 4 April 2021.
 She had also won the previous edition of the event, back in 2019 (the tournament was cancelled
in 2020 due to the pandemic).
 Barty, the 2019 French Open champion, has held the No 1 ranking since September 2019.
Real Sociedad wins Copa del Rey 2020 title
 Real Sociedad won the Copa del Rey title by beating the rival Athletic Bilbao 1-0 in the delayed
2020 cup final held in Sevilla on 3 April 2021.
 Sociedad had only won the Copa del Rey twice previously in its history, in 1909 and in 1987, its
last major trophy.
 Copa del Rey is an annual knockout football competition in Spanish football, organized by the
Royal Spanish Football Federation.
Official song of ICC Women’s World Cup 2022
85 | P a g e
 Girl Gang, a track by New Zealand singer Gin Wigmore, has been announced as the official
song of the 2022 ICC Women's World Cup.
 The tournament is set to be hosted in New Zealand from 4 march-3 April 2022.
 The soundtrack of the World Cup was also the name of a project Wigmore created to coincide
with the release of Ivory, her fourth album which was released in 2017 which includes Girl Gang.
India wins gold at south Asian Wushu tourney
 Aniyan Midhun of Nattika won the gold at the South Asian Wushu Championship that
concluded in Nepal on March 31, 2021.
 He represented the country in the 70-kg category in the championship.
 He is the first Wushu player from southern India to reach the Indian team.
Men's Boxing C'ships to be held in Tashkent
 The 2023 Men's Boxing World Championships will be held in Uzbekistan capital Tashkent.
 International Boxing Association (AIBA) President Umar Kremlev has confirmed Tashkent as the
host city.
 The 22nd edition of the competition will be the first time when Uzbekistan will be hosting it.
 The central Asian nation won 3 gold medals in boxing at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
Virat Kohli at top spot in ICC ODI rankings
 Virat Kohli has retained his top spot in the ICC rankings for ODI batsmen released on 31 March
2021.
 Rohit Sharma has been ranked third, behind Pakistan's Babar Azam.
 K L Rahul has moved up from the 31st to the 27th spot.
 Hardik Pandya has achieved a career-best 42nd position while Rishabh Pant has entered the
top 100.
 In the Test rankings, Ravichandran Ashwin retained his second spot.
National Jr Women’s Hockey C'ship postponed
 The National Junior Women’s Hockey Championship scheduled to begin from April 3, 2021, in
the Simdega district of Jharkhand has been postponed until further announcement.
 The decision was taken after 11 players and a coach tested COVID-19 positive.
 All other participating teams have been advised to return back following the COVID-19
protocols.
Lewis Hamilton wins Bahrain Grand Prix
 Lewis Hamilton won his eighth world title by winning the Bahrain Grand Prix on 28 March 2021.
 He defeated Max Verstappen.
 Hamilton represented Mercedes while Verstappen represented Red Bull.
Puma signs deal with RC Bangalore
 Global sports brand Puma has signed a three-year partnership with the Indian Premier League
(IPL) team franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore.
86 | P a g e
 Puma will be the official kit partner of the team from the upcoming 14th edition of the
tournament, scheduled to start from 9 April 2021.
 It also makes Puma the only global sports brand to be associated with IPL 2021.
India moves to 7th position in ICC standings
 India moved up to the seventh position on the International Cricket Council's (ICC) Men's
Cricket World Cup Super League standings after their seven-run win over England in the third
ODI.
 The victory helped India seal a 2-1 win over England in the series.
 Despite the loss, England remains the top-ranked team in the standings with 40 points.
 India has 29 points.
Sam Curran equals world record
 England all-rounder Sam Curran on 28 March 2021 equalled the world record for smashing the
highest score by a number eight batsman in ODI cricket history.
 The 22-year-old scored an unbeaten 95 off 83 deliveries, including 9 fours and 3 sixes.
 Curran equalled the record of his England teammate Chris Woakes, who had scored 95 off 83
balls while batting against Sri Lanka in 2016.
Residential Hockey centre of excellence
 A centre of excellence in hockey will be soon set up in the Uttar Pradesh capital, Lucknow.
 This would be the first advanced excellence centre for hockey in the state
 100-bed hostel for boys and girls, modern sports medicine and physiotherapy centres as well as
top coaches would be part of the centre.
 It will be run by the Uttar Pradesh Sports Directorate.
1st Indian fencer to qualify for the Olympics
 Tamil Nadu's Bhavani Devi, the 1st Indian fencer to qualify for the Olympics, was felicitated by
Indian Fencing Association.
 She is a 27-yr-old fencer qualified for the Tokyo Olympics through Adjusted Official Ranking
method.
 In March'21 ending, Bhavani storms into semifinals of the Women's sabre individual competition
in the 31st Senior National Fencing Championships at Delhi Public School.
IPL 2021: Cornitos joins Delhi Capitals
 Delhi Capitals, an Indian Premier League (IPL) team franchise, has announced that nachos
brand Cornitos has come onboard as one of its official partners for the upcoming edition of IPL.
 The Cornitos logo will be displayed on the team's official playing and training jerseys.
 Manufactured by Greendot Health Foods Pvt. Ltd, Cornitos brand portfolio includes nacho
crisps, roasted nuts, etc.
Indian team wins gold in 50 meter rifle event
87 | P a g e
 In shooting, Indian trio of Niraj Kumar, Swapnil Kusale and Chain Singh won the gold medal in
the 50-meter rifle 3 positions Men’s Team event at the ISSF World Cup in Delhi on 26 March
2021.
 The Indian team defeated the Unites States 47-25 in the final.
 This was India’s 12th gold of the competition at the Dr Karni Singh Shooting Range.
AFC Women's Asian Cup India 2022
 The D.Y. Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai, Ahmedabad's TransStadia and the Kalinga Stadium in
Bhubaneswar will host the AFC Women's Asian Cup India 2022.
 This was confirmed by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and the AFC Women's Asian
Cup India 2022 Local Organising Committee (LOC).
 The event will be held from January 20 to February 6, 2022.
ICC T20 Rankings: Virat Kohli at 4th position
 India captain Virat Kohli and vice-captain Rohit Sharma are among the India batsmen to
progress in the ICC Men's T20I Player Rankings.
 Kohli has moved up one place to fourth position and is now the highest-ranked from the
country ahead of KL Rahul.
 Rohit moved up three places to 14th.
 Shreyas Iyer has moved up five places to a career-best 26th position.
Tokyo 2020 Olympic Torch Relay starts
 The Tokyo 2020 Olympic Torch Relay kicked off in Fukushima, Japan on 25 March 2021.
 It will travel through all of Japan's 47 districts over the next 121 days.
 The torch will arrive in Tokyo for the Olympic Games opening ceremony on July 23, 2021.
 Japanese footballer lwashimizu Azusa was the first receiver at the start of the Olympic Torch
Relay.
India wins gold in women's 25m pistol event
 India won gold in the women's 25m pistol team event on 25 March 2021 at the ISSF World Cup
in Delhi.
 It beat Poland in the final to win the country's 10th gold.
 The Indian women's team of Rahi Sarnobat, Chinki Yadav and Manu Bhaker beat Poland's
Joanna Iwona Wawrzonowska, Julita Borek and Agnieszka Korejwo 17-7 in the match.
 India is dominating with 21 medals, including 10 gold medals.
The Great Khali in the 2021 WWE Hall of Fame
 The Great Khali has been announced as the latest inductee into the 2021 WWE Hall of Fame.
 Khali will receive his induction into the WWE Hall of Fame on April 6, 2021.
 So far, the 2021 WWE Hall of Fame class includes Eric Bischoff, The Great Khali, and Molly Holly.
 Khali is an India-born former WWE Superstar who worked for Vince McMahon's company from
2006 to 2014.
88 | P a g e
ISSF WC: Chinky Yadav wins gold

 Chinki Yadav won the gold medal in the women's 25m Pistol event at the ISSF World Cup in
New Delhi on 24 March 2021.
 Chinki outgunned the experienced Rahi Sarnobat in a shoot-off to clinch the top spot.
 Manu Bhaker secured the bronze medal in the same match.
 Earlier, India's Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar won the gold medal in the men's 50m Rifle 3
Positions event.
ISWA gets government recognition
 The Indian Style Wrestling Association of India (ISWAI) has officially been recognised as a
National Sports Federation (NSF) by the Sports Ministry.
 It is now eligible to receive fund and support from the government.
 The ISWAI was formed in 1958 and has been in existence for about 60 years.
 Indian Style Wrestling is a traditional indigenous sport that is played on mud.
Khelo India scheme to be extended
 The Sports Ministry has decided to extend the Khelo India scheme from 2021-22 to 2025-26.
 The Ministry has furnished an Expenditure Finance Committee (EFC) memorandum to the
Ministry of Finance for extension/continuation of the Khelo India Scheme from 2021-22 to 2025-
26.
 An amount of Rs 8,750 crore has been estimated as a financial implication of the new Khelo
India Scheme.
Grandmaster Iniyan wins silver in chess
 The 1st FIDE World University online chess saw India's Grandmaster P Iniyan win silver in the
open section.
 Armenian Haik Martirosyan won gold while Russia Mikhail Antipov bagged bronze.
 The event concluded on 18 March 2021.
 The event saw 960 student players from 84 countries featuring in it.
 The women's section of the tournament was won by Armenia's Anna Sargsyan.
India wins Road Safety World Series T-20
 In cricket, India Legends defeated Sri Lanka Legends by 14 runs in the final of the Road Safety
World Series to clinch the title at Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium in Raipur,
Chhattisgarh on 21 March 2021.
 Sachin Tendulkar, captain of the India Legends, finished the tournament as the third-highest
run-getter in the tournament.
 He scored 234 runs.
ISSF WC: Gold medal in 10m air rifle
 India's Divyansh Singh Panwar and Elavenil Valarivan won the gold medal on 22 March 2021 in
the 10m Air Rifle Mixed Team.
89 | P a g e
 The International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup is being held in Delhi.
 The Indian duo put on a brilliant display of shooting to beat the Hungarian team of Istvan Peni
and Eszter Denes 16-10 to win the top prize.
Two gold and a silver for India at ISSF Cup
 In shooting, India won two gold and a silver medal on the third day of the ISSF World Cup being
held in New Delhi on 21 March 2021.
 While the Indian women and men's teams won gold medals in the 10m air pistol events, a trio of
Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar, Deepak Kumar, and Pankaj Kumar won silver in the men’s team
air rifle event.
India's Singhraj wins gold in Para Shooting
 Indian para-athlete Singhraj won a gold medal in the 2021 Para Shooting World Cup at Al Ain in
the UAE on 21 March 2021.
 He defeated Uzbekistan's Server Ibragimov to get the top honor in the P1 - Men's 10m Air Pistol
SH1 final.
 Turkey's former Paralympic champion Muharrem Korhan Yamaç took the bronze with 214.4
points.
 With this, India has moved to third place in the medals table.
Lee Zii Jia wins All England Badminton C’ships
 Malaysia's Lee Zii Jia has won the All England Badminton Championships men's title.
 He defeated Axelsen 30-29, 20-22, 21-9 in the summit clash.
 Lee Chong Wei had last won the All England Open for Malaysia in 2017.
 Japan's Nozomi Okuhara won the women's title as she defeated Pornpawee Chochuwong 21-12,
21-16 in the finals.
ISSF WC: India's Yashaswini Deswal wins gold
 Yashaswini Deswal bagged the first gold medal for India in the Women's 10 Meter Air Pistol final
of the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup on 20 March 2021 at the Dr
Karni Singh Shooting range.
 Deswal accumulated 238.8 points to lead in her category.
 Another Indian shooter Manu Bhaker won a silver medal with 236.7 points.
India beat England in 5th T20, win series 3-2
 In Cricket, India beat England by 36 run in the fifth and final T20 International at Narendra
Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on 20 March 2021.
 With this win, India have clinched the five-match series 3-2.
 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who took 2 wickets for 15 runs in 4 overs, was adjudged Player of the
Match while Virat Kohli was adjudged Player of the Series.
Rohit: 2nd Indian to reach 9000 T20 runs
90 | P a g e
 India opener Rohit Sharma became the second Indian and ninth player overall to reach 9000
T20 runs during the fourth T20I of the five-match series against England in Ahmedabad on 18
March 2021.
 He also became the first player from the country to complete 50 T20I sixes at home.
 Virat Kohli (9650 runs) is the only other Indian cricketer with 9000-plus runs in the shortest
format.
Haryana wins 11th Hockey Women National C'ship
 Haryana defeated Jharkhand 4-3 in a shootout to clinch the 11th Hockey India sub-junior
women National Championship 2021 title after the final ended 0-0 on 18 March 2021.
 The first half ended goalless in a closely contested final between two high-scoring sides.
 Earlier on the same day, UP Hockey finished 3rd in the championship after edging out Hockey
Odisha 3-1.
PhonePe announces six IPL 2021 sponsorships
 Digital payments platform PhonePe has signed up six sponsorship deals for the Indian Premier
League (IPL) 2021.
 Apart from the co-presenting sponsorship with official broadcaster Star India, it is also an
associate sponsor with Disney+Hotstar.
 PhonePe is also sponsoring four IPL franchises - Mumbai Indians, Chennai Super Kings, Royal
Challengers Bangalore, and Delhi Capitals.
ISSF Shooting World Cup 2021 begins
 The International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) Shooting World Cup 2021 began on 18
March 2021 at the Dr. Karni Singh Shooting Ranges in Delhi.
 More than 300 shooters from as many as 43 countries are expected to participate in the
season’s first World Cup being held in all three disciplines - shotgun, rifle, and pistol.
 The event will end on March 29, 2021.
BSF-BGB Maitree Football Match series begin
 BSF-BGB Maitree Football Match series began from Belonia in the South Tripura District on 18
March 2021.
 Border Security Force, BSF is organizing the friendly football match series in all six Frontiers of
Eastern Command BSF to mark the celebration of 50 years of the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation
War.
 The final would take place at Dhubri under the Guwahati frontier on May 1, 2021.
ICC bans Naveed and Shaiman for eight years
 The ICC has slapped 8-year bans on UAE cricketers Mohammad Naveed and Shaiman Anwar
Butt for their alleged role in trying to fix matches in the T20 World Cup qualifier in 2019.
 The bans are backdated to Oct 16, 2019, when they were provisionally suspended for
attempting to corrupt matches and found guilty of breaching Anti-Corruption Code.
 Naveed has played 39 ODIs for his country.
91 | P a g e
Upstox as official partner for IPL 2021

 The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has announced online brokerage firm Upstox as
its official partner for IPL 2021.
 This will be a multi-year partnership.
 The upcoming season of the tournament is slated to begin on April 9, and the final is scheduled
for May 30, 2021.
 Upstox, backed by Tiger Global and industrialist Ratan Tata, has more than 2.8 mn customers.
Sports Minister meets President of IPU
 Youth Affairs and Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju met the President of the Inter-Parliamentary Union,
Duarte Pacheco in New Delhi on 16 Mar 2021.
 He proposed the World Youth Parliament to promote fitness activities.
 They also discussed about India's Fit India Movement and how India has been able to start
certain sports-related activities in the country in a controlled manner despite COVID-19.
India to host Asian Boxing Championships 2021
 International Boxing Association (AIBA) has announced that the Asian Boxing Championships
2021 will be hosted by New Delhi, India from May 21-31, 2021.
 It will be the first boxing tournament in Asia to be held in 2021.
 The Championships, earlier scheduled to take place in 2020, were postponed to 2021 due to the
pandemic.
Bhavani Devi: 1st to qualify for Olympics
 Tamil Nadu's Chadalavada Anandha Bhavani Devi has become the first-ever fencer from India
to qualify for Olympic Games.
 Bhavani secured a spot for the Tokyo Olympics at the World Cup in Hungary.
 She qualified through the Adjusted Official Ranking (AOR) method.
 The eight-time national champion had failed to qualify for the Rio Olympics.
Prithvi Shaw: 1st player to score 800 runs
 Prithvi Shaw has become the 1st player to breach the 800-run mark in a single edition of the
Vijay Hazare Trophy.
 He achieved the feat during his 73-run knock against UP in the ongoing final of Vijay Hazare
Trophy at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi, in March 2021.
 A few days back he broke MS Dhoni and Virat's record of the highest individual score by an
Indian batsman in a List A chase.
Virat: 1st to score 3,000 runs in T-20
 Virat Kohli has become the first-ever batsman to score 3,000 runs in T-20 International.
 Kohli achieved the milestone during the second T20-International against England at Narendra
Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on 14 March 2021.
 He now has 3,001 runs from 87 T20I matches.
92 | P a g e
 New Zealand's Martin Guptill is second on the list of T20I cricket, having scored 2,839 runs in 99
matches.
Afghanistan's Rashid Khan sets new record
 Afghanistan spinner Rashid Khan broke Australian spin legend Shane Warne’s mega record on
14 Mar 2021 as he bowled the most number of overs in a single Test in the 21st century.
 Warne had bowled 98 overs in a Test match against South Africa in Cape Town in 2002.
 The 22-yr-old Afghan spinner achieved this feat in ongoing 2nd Test against Zimbabwe at Abu
Dhabi’s Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium.
Mithali Raj creates another huge record
 Indian Women's ODI team captain Mithali Raj became the first female cricketer in history to
score 7,000 ODI runs.
 She achieved this landmark in her 213th ODI on 15 March 2021.
 This feat comes after Mithali Raj, on 12 March 2021, became the first Indian woman cricketer
and only the second overall to score 10000 international runs.
Rawalpindi's KRL stadium renamed
 The KRL Stadium in Rawalpindi has been renamed after former Pakistan's fast bowler Shoaib
Akhtar.
 Shoaib Akhtar is renowned as 'The Rawalpindi Express'.
 He has featured in 47 Tests, 163 ODIS and 15 T20Is for Pakistan during his illustrious career.
 He has a record of a total 444 international wickets under his name.
Mithali: 1st woman to score 10,000 runs
 Captain of the India women’s team, Mithali Raj on 12 March 2021 became the first woman
cricketer from the country and only the second overall to score 10,000 international runs.
 Mithali Raj, playing her 212th ODI for India, achieved the landmark during the third match of the
bilateral series against South Africa.
Jharkhand’s Simdega to host 2 hockey events
 For the first time, Jharkhand's Simdega is hosting two back-to-back national events that
started on 10 Mar'21.
 Hockey India sub-junior women’s national championship-2021 is being held at Simdega
AstroTurf Hockey Stadium during March 10-18, while the junior national women’s championship
will take place during April 3-12, 2021 at the same venue.
 There will be 26 teams in each of those events.
Goa to host AFC Champions League matches
 Indian Super League side FC Goa will host the Group E matches of the AFC Champions League
(ACL) at the Fatorda Stadium in Margao.
 The Asian Football Confederation on 11 March 2021 confirmed the venues for the ACL 2021
group stage matches.
93 | P a g e
 FC Goa had become the first Indian club to directly qualify for the group stage of the ACL.
Thomas Bach re-elected as IOC president
 Thomas Bach was re-elected as president of the International Olympic Committee on 10 March
2021 for a final four-year term.
 The German lawyer was unopposed and won the vote 93-1.
 He also signed future Olympic hosts Paris and Los Angeles, while Brisbane is now being fast-
tracked for 2032.
 Bach first presided over the 2014 Sochi Games.
Southampton to host World Test final
 The final of the ICC World Test Championship between India and New Zealand will be played
in a bio-secure bubble at the Hampshire Bowl in Southampton.
 The decision, taken by the ICC Board, follows discussions with the England and Wales Cricket
Board (ECB).
 India qualified for the final after beating England 3-1 in the recently-concluded Test series.
Ravichandran Ashwin: Player of the month
 Ravichandran Ashwin has been named the ICC men's Player of the Month for February 2021 for
his stellar show against England in a four-match Test series which India won to qualify for the
World Test Championship final.
 England's Tammy Beaumont was adjudged the women's Player of the Month.
 Ashwin who played in three Tests in the four-match series scored a 106 in the second innings.
Kiren Rijiju flags off Fit India Walkathon
 To commemorate International Women's Day, the Fit India Movement in association with Nehru
Yuva Kendra Sangathan (NYKS) organized an All Women Fit India Walkathon at Delhi's
Jawahar Lal Nehru Stadium.
 The 2km event, was flagged off by the Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Kiren Rijiju.
 Similar walkathons were organized in 1000 venues across India.
Vinesh Phogat wins her 2nd gold medal
 Vinesh Phogat won her second gold medal in the Matteo Pellicone Ranking Series event and
reclaimed the top rank in her category in Rome.
 She defeated Canada's Diana Mary Helen Weicker 4-0 in the 53kg title clash.
 She is the only Indian woman wrestler to have qualified for the Tokyo Games.
 Vinesh had also won a gold medal in Kiev a few days back.
BCCI announces schedule for IPL 2021
 The Board of Control for Cricket in India, BCCI has announced the schedule for the 14th edition
Indian Premier League 2021 to be held in India.
 It will be held from April 9, 2021, with the first match between Mumbai Indians and Royal
Challengers Bangalore.
94 | P a g e
 The world’s largest cricket stadium - Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad will host the final
on 30th May 2021.
PV Sindhu wins silver medal in BWF Swiss Open
 PV Sindhu settled for a silver medal in the BWF Swiss Open Super 300 at Basel, in the final of
the women's singles event on 7 March 2021.
 She defeated World No. 3 Carolina Marin 12-21, 5-21.
 She had entered the semifinal stage of a BWF tournament after 19 months.
 In her first semifinal after 13 tournaments, Sindhu had defeated Denmark's Mia Blichfeldt 22-20,
21-10.
Manish Kaushik clinches gold medal
 In Boxing, Manish Kaushik clinched a gold medal at the Boxam International Tournament in
Castellon, Spain.
 The 2018 Commonwealth Games silver medallist Kaushik, beat Denmark’s Nikolai Terteryan
with a split 3-2 decision in the men’s 63kg summit bout.
 In the women’s category, Jasmine settled for a silver in the 57kg after going down 0-5 in the
final.
Bajrang Punia clinches gold in Rome
 In wrestling, Bajrang Punia has clinched a gold medal by defeating Tumur Ochir of Mongolia in
the Matteo Pallicone World Ranking Series event in Rome.
 Bajrang defeated Ochir 2-2 by criteria in the final of the 65kg freestyle.
 This is Bajrang's second consecutive gold medal at the Matteo Pellicone event as he had
finished on the top of the series in January 2020 as well.
Kieron Pollard: 3rd to hit 6 sixes in an over
 West Indies captain Kieron Pollard has become just the third batsman in international cricket to
hit 6 sixes in an over.
 Kieron Pollard hit 6 sixes in over against Sri Lanka's Akila Dananjaya in Antigua T20I on 4 March
2021.
 Pollard is only 2nd batsman after Yuvraj Singh to achieve the feat in T20Is.
J&K to host 1st White Water Rafting Festival
 The first-ever White Water Rafting Festival was organized by Bhaderwah Development
Authority and JK Adventure Group in the river Chenab at Premnagar Shibnote on 5 March 2021.
 The event was organized to promote adventure tourism in the Union Territory of J&K.
 Over 1500 people from across the district attended the festival on day 1.
 The two-day festival culminated on 6 March 2021.
69th Senior National Volleyball Championship
 The 69th Senior National Volleyball Championship 2020-21 was inaugurated at the Biju Patnaik
Indoor Stadium, KIIT Deemed to be University on March 5, 2021.
95 | P a g e
 For the first time in the history of Indian volleyball, Odisha as a state hosted the senior national
championship for the second time.
 Also for the first time, all the matches would be played in Indoor courts with live streaming.
Varun, Malvika win Uganda International titles
 Indian shuttlers Varun Kapur and Malvika Bansod registered wins to clinch the men's and
women's singles titles respectively at the 2021 Uganda International in Kampala.
 Varun defeated Sankar Muthusamy 21-18 16-21 21-17 in the men's singles final, while Malvika won
17-21 25-23 21-10 over Anupama Upadhyaya in the women singles summit clash.
J&K tops medals tally at Khelo India Games
 Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir has topped the medals tally in the second edition of the
Khelo India Winter National Games.
 It won 11 gold, 18 silver, and 5 bronze medals.
 The five-day mega sports event which began on 26 February 2021, concluded in north Kashmir's
Baramulla district on 2 March 2021.
 In the event, more than 1,000 athletes from 27 states and Union Territories took part.
Ladakh Sqay Team wins eight medals
 Ladakh Sqay Team won eight medals in the recently concluded 21st National Sqay
Championship held at Jaipur in Rajasthan.
 It was also presented an Outstanding Performance Award by the Sqay Federation of India.
 For the first time after Ladakh became a UT, a team of Sqay was flagged off by Kargil Deputy
Commissioner Santosh Sukhadeve on 23rd of February 2021 by the Ladakh Sqay Association.
Indian Women's League to be held in Odisha
 Odisha will host the 2020-’21 Hero Indian Women’s League.
 This was announced by the All India Football Federation on 28 Feb 2021.
 The dates for the tournament are yet to be finalised and will be announced soon.
 India is scheduled to host the AFC Women’s Asian Cup in the year 2022 which will be followed
by the Fifa U-17 Women’s World Cup in 2022.
Recognition of GFI restored by Sports Ministry
 Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports has decided to restore the recognition of the Gymnastics
Federation of India (GFI) as a National Sports Federation (NSF).
 The recognition has been granted for the period till 31st December 2021.
 Sudhir Mittal and Kaushik Bidiwala have been elected as President and Treasurer respectively
for the term 2019- 2023.
Vinesh Phogat bags gold in Ukraine wrestling
 Indian wrestler Vinesh Phogat has won the gold medal in the women's 53-kg category at XXIV
Outstanding Ukrainian Wrestlers and Coaches Memorial in Kyiv, Ukraine.
96 | P a g e
 Vinesh Phogat defeated world number seven Vanesa Kaladzinskaya of Belarus in the finals on
28 February 2021.
 As of February 2021, Vinesh is the only Indian woman wrestler to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics
for the 53kg category.
Strandja Memorial: Deepak Kumar wins silver
 Boxer Deepak Kumar (52kg) won the silver medal in the men's flyweight at the 72nd Strandja
Memorial Tournament in Sofia, Bulgaria on 27 Feb'21.
 He lost the final face-off in a split decision against Bulgaria’s Daniel Asenov.
Indian men's skeet team wins bronze
 The Indian trio of Mairaj Ahmed Khan, Angad Vir Singh Bajwa and Gurjoat Khangura won the
bronze medal in the men’s skeet team event at the International Shooting Sport Federation
tournament (ISSF) Shotgun World Cup in Cairo, on 26 Feb 2021.
 The Indians defeated the Kazakhstan team of David Pochivalov, Eduard Yechshenko and
Alexandr Mukhamediyev 6-2 in the bronze medal match.
Cricketer Yusuf Pathan announces retirement
 India's all-rounder Yusuf Pathan announced his retirement from all formats of the game on 26
February 2021.
 He played 57 ODIs and 22 T20Is for India between 2007 and 2012.
 He was part of the 2007 T20 World Cup as well as the 2011 ODI World Cup, both of which were
won by the Indian team.
2nd Khelo India National Winter Games
 PM& Narendra Modi delivered the inaugural address at the 2nd Khelo India National Winter
Games on 26 Feb 2021. through video conferencing.
 The games will begin on 27 Feb 2021 and will continue till 2 March 2021.
 The sports activities will include alpine skiing, nordic ski, snowboarding, ski mountaineering, ice
hockey, ice skating, etc.
 27 states and UTs are participating in the games.
Tech Mahindra to launch Global Chess League
 With an aim to revolutionize and popularise chess across the world, Tech Mahindra has
announced the launch of the Global Chess League.
 It will be a first-of-its-kind phygital (physical and digital) format league.
 Tech Mahindra has also roped in five-time world chess champion and Indian chess grandmaster
Viswanathan Anand as mentor and partner for the league.
G Sathiyan wins 82nd National TT Championship
 G Sathiyan won over Sharath Kamal in the 82nd National Table Tennis Championships on 23
Feb 2021.
 This is his first national title.
97 | P a g e
 World No. 37 Sathiyan beat three-time Olympian Achanta Sharath Kamal 11-6, 11-7, 10-12, 7-11,
11-8, 11-8, thus denying the latter a record-extending tenth national title.
Training facilities inaugurated at SAI
 Union Minister of State for Sports and Youth Affairs Kiren Rijiju laid the foundation stone for a
330-bedded hostel, up-gradation of kitchen and dining hall, and synthetic athletics track in the
Bengaluru campus of Sports Authority of India on 22 Feb 2021.
 He also inaugurated a gym complex and modern change room.
 He also felicitated the sportsmen who have qualified for the Tokyo Olympics.
Indian women boxers claim five gold medals
 Indian women boxers ended with five gold medals overall in the 30th Adriatic Pearl tournament
in Budva, Montenegro, on 21 Feb 2021.
 Lucky Rana (64kg) secured a silver.
 Indian women emerged as the top team with 10 medals (five gold, three silver and two bronze).
 Uzbekistan (2 gold) and Czech Republic (1 gold) ended at second and third position respectively.
Karnataka to host second Khelo India Games
 Union Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju has announced that the 2nd Khelo India University Games will
be hosted by Karnataka.
 It will be held in partnership with the Association of Indian Universities.
 Over 4,000 sportsmen under the age of 25 will compete.
 The 1st edition was held in Bhubaneswar in 2020.
 In the 2nd edition of the games, Yogasana and Mallakhamb have also been added.
Novak Djokovic wins 9th Australian Open title
 In Tennis, Novak Djokovic won his ninth Australian Open title, beating Daniil Medvedev 7-5, 6-2,
6-2 in the final at Melbourne Park on 21 Feb 2021.
 The victory takes Djokovic’s grand slam singles tally to 18, just two behind Roger Federer and
Rafael Nadal.
 In men's doubles, Ivan Dodig and Filip Polasek won the title on 21 Feb 2021.
 This was their first Grand Slam as a team.
Naomi Osaka won her fourth Grand Slam title
 Nomi Osaka won her fourth Grand Slam title by pulling away to beat Jennifer Brady 6-4, 6-3 in
the Australian Open final.
 Osaka has won her past 21 matches at all tournaments dating to last season.
 She also won the U.S. Open in 2018, and the Australian Open in 2019.
 Osaka's victory at a floodlit Rod Laver Arena gave the Japanese her fourth major crown.
LSRC lifts 1st Lt Governor Ice Hockey Cup
 Ladakh Scouts Regiment Centre (LSRC) Men's and Kharu women lifted the 1st Lieutenant
Governor Ice Hockey Cup in their respective sections, in Leh on 19 Feb 2021.
98 | P a g e
 Kharu beat the Domkhar women by 3-1 goal in a penalty shootout.

 While Ladakh Scouts won the finals, beating the ITBP, by 3-0 goals.
 A total of 8 men teams and five women teams have played for the cup.
Elise Mertens, Aryna Sabalenka win doubles
 In Tennis, the Belgian and Belarus pair of Elise Mertens and Aryna Sabalenka has won the
WOMEN'S doubles final of the Australian Open 2021.
 They defeated Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic in straight sets
of 6-2, 6-3.
 The women's singles final will be played on 20 Feb 2021 while the men's singles clash will be
held on 21 Feb 2021.
Chris Morris becomes costliest player at IPL
 Chris Morris became the costliest ever player at an IPL auction for Rajasthan Royal.
 Krishnappa Gowtham became the costliest Indian uncapped player for Chennai Super Kings at
the IPL 2021 auction.
 Cheteshwar Pujara was also sold to Chennai Super Kings.
 A total of 292 players were enlisted for the auctions- 164 of them Indian and 125 overseas.
VIVO returns as title sponsor for IPL
 The Indian Premier League (IPL) has made an announcement that smartphone manufacturer
VIVO will be returning as the title sponsor for 2021.
 Brijesh Patel, the Chairman of the Indian Premier League made this announcement.
 Under the IPL "mini-auction" for 2021, 291 players will be listed.
 The cricketers have been shortlisted by the eight franchises.
S.Africa's Faf Du Plessis declares Retirement
 Former South Africa captain Faf du Plessis announced his retirement from Test cricket on 17
February 2021.
 Faf du Plessis played 69 Tests, scoring 4163 runs at an average of 40.02. He stepped down as
South Africa's Test and T20I captain in 2020.
 He desires to focus on his career in the shorter formats with T20 being the priority.
India's largest hockey stadium in Rourkela
 Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik laid the foundation stone of India's biggest international hockey
stadium at Rourkela in Sundergarh district on 16 Feb'21.
 The new hockey stadium will be named after freedom fighter 'Birsa Munda' and will have a
seating capacity of more than 20k.
 The state govt has set a target to complete the construction of stadium ahead of the men's FIH
Hockey World Cup 2023.
M Rawat wins inaugural 35km race walk gold
99 | P a g e
 Olympian Manish Rawat of Uttarakhand won the inaugural men's 35km event of the National
Open Race Walking Championships held on 13th and 14th Feb'21 in Ranchi.
 Rawat beat Tamil Nadu's Ganapati Krishnan comfortably and qualified for next World Athletics
Championships.
 The 35km race walk event was being staged in India for the first time.
Naman Ojha retires from all forms of cricket
 Former India wicketkeeper-batsman Naman Ojha has announced his retirement from all forms
of cricket on 15 Feb'21.
 He holds the record for the most dismissals by a wicketkeeper in the Ranji Trophy, has featured
in one Test, one ODI & two T20 Internationals.
 Ojha made his international debut in 2010 in his only ODI against Sri Lanka, followed by his first
T20I match in Zimbabwe.
Hsieh Su-Wei becomes oldest quarterfinalist
 In Australian Open Tennis, 35-year-old Hsieh Su-Wei has become the oldest first-time
quarterfinalist in a Grand Slam.
 Hsieh is the current doubles world number one but ranked 71 in singles.
 She made her Grand Slam debut in 2005 but had never gone beyond the fourth round before in
37 previous attempts.
Ravichandran: First to take 200 wickets
 In cricket, Ravichandran Ashwin has become the first player in the 143-year history of Test
cricket to take 200 wickets against left-handed batsmen.
 He achieved the feat during India’s second Test against England at the MA Chidambaram
Stadium, Chennai.
 Stuart Broad was the 200th left-hander to be dismissed by Ashwin.
 Ashwin has picked 391 wickets in his career so far.
Abhin Devadiga, Ancy Sojan claim 200m titles
 Karnataka's Abhin Bhaskar Devadiga and Kerala's Ancy Sojan claimed the under-20 men and
women's 200m crowns respectively on the final day of the 36th National Junior Athletics
Championships on 10 Feb 2021.
 Praveen Chithravel won the triple jump event, while MP's Arjun Waskale rewrote the under-18
boys 1500m meet record by winning the race with a timing of three minutes 50.38 seconds.
Rishabh Pant wins ICC's Player of the Month
 Rishabh Pant has been named the winner of ICC's inaugural Player of the Month Award.
 He has been awarded for Jan 2021 for his performances in the two Tests against Australia
where he scored a 97 at Sydney and an 89 at Brisbane that led India to a historic series win.
 Among female cricketers, the award was won by South Africa Shabnim Ismail for her
performance in series against Pakistan.
100 | P a g e
BCCI can use drones for aerial cinematography

 Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) and Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) have granted
a conditional exemption to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for the deployment
of drones for live aerial cinematography of the India Cricket Season in 2021.
 The Drone Rules 2021 are in the final stages of discussion with the Law Ministry and approval is
expected by March 2021.
Ankita Raina: 5th to feature in Grand Slam
 Ankita Raina on 7 Feb 2021, qualified for the doubles event of the Australian Open and became
the fifth Indian woman to secure a place in the main draw of a Grand Slam.
 Ankita along with her Romanian partner Mihaela Buzarnecu earned a direct entry for the
doubles event.
 Nirupama Mankad, Nirupama Vaidyanathan, Sania Mirza and Shikha Uberoi have competed in
the Grand Slam main draws earlier.
ICC announces BYJU'S as global partner
 The International Cricket Council (ICC) has announced edu-tech company BYJU'S as its global
partner from 2021 to 2023.
 The three-year agreement will see BYJU'S partner all ICC events over the period, including the
forthcoming men's T20 World Cup in India and the women's World Cup in New Zealand.
 In August 2019, the company became the official jersey partners of the Indian cricket team.
Ishant: 3rd Indian to take 300 Test wickets
 Ishant Sharma has become the sixth Indian and third pacer from the country to take 300
wickets in Test cricket, joining former India captains Kapil Dev and Anil Kumble.
 Ishant reached the landmark on 8 February 2021.
 Ravichandran Ashwin (377 before this game), Harbhajan Singh (417), and Zaheer Khan (311) are
the other bowlers from the country who have reached the landmark.
Drass Red wins 13th CEC Cup Ice Hockey C'ship
 The 13th CEC Ice Hockey Cup 2021, organized by the Department of Youth Services and Sports,
Kargil concluded at Ice Hockey Rink Biamathang, in Ladakh on 7 Feb 2021.
 In the final of the men’s category, Drass Red won over Chiktan Ice Hockey Club with a margin of
3-2 goals.
 In the women’s category, Chiktan Women Ice Hockey Club won over Wakha Mulbekh Club with
a margin of 1-0 goal.
Root becomes first player to score 200 in Test
 England's Joe Root became the first cricketer to score 200 in his 100th Test, touching the
milestone on the second day of the first Test against India, on 6 Feb 2021.
 Former Pakistan skipper Inzamam ul Haq, who hit 184 against India in Bengaluru in 2005, held
the previous best score in the 100th Test.
101 | P a g e
 This was Root's fifth double century.

Lisa in Australian Cricket Hall of Fame
 Former Australia captain Lisa Sthalekar has become only the fourth female cricketer inducted
into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame.
 She was the first woman to achieve the career double of 1,000 runs & 100 wickets in ODIs.
 Sthalekar is also one of just two women to have scored at least one century and taken at least
one 5-for in both Tests and ODIs, the other being Ellyse Perry.
Ajay Singh re-elected as President of BFI
 Ajay Singh has been re-elected as President of the Boxing Federation of India after defeating
former Maharashtra Sports Minister Ashish Shelar in the polls.
 He received 37 votes while Shelar, who has held many top positions in sport, including the role
of President of Maharashtra Cricket Association and Mumbai District Football Association, got
27 votes in the BFI elections on 3 Feb 2021.
New Zealand in final of World Test C'ship
 New Zealand has become the first team to reach the final of the inaugural World Test
Championship.
 India will qualify if they beat England in the upcoming series that will kickstart from February 5,
2021, by winning at least two matches.
 As of now, India has the highest percentage points 71.7 while New Zealand has 70.
 The WTC final is scheduled to be held from June 18 at the Lord's.
Rishabh Pant nominated for an award
 Rishabh Pant has been nominated for the ICC Men's Player of the Month award along with
England's Joe Root and Ireland's Paul Stirling.
 Pant played two Tests against Australia where he scored a 97 at Sydney and led India to a
historic win.
 In January 2021, Root played two Tests against Sri Lanka, where he scored a 228 and 186 and
led his team to a 2-0 Test series victory.
UP man unfurls national flag at Kilimanjaro
 Mountaineer Nitish Singh from Gorakhpur unfurled the national flag at Mount Kilimanjaro peak,
the highest mountain in the African continent.
 He scaled a height of 5,895 m above sea level and unfurled the Indian tricolor flag at the
mountain on 26 January 2021.
 He has also raised a flag for the transgender community for supporting him in his journey.
Ashoke Dinda retires from all forms of cricket
 Fast bowler Ashoke Dinda announced his retirement from all forms of cricket on 2 Feb 2021
after 15 years in Bengal cricket.
102 | P a g e
 Dinda played 116 first-class matches for Bengal, bagging 420 wickets at a bowling average of
28.28.
 The right-handed pacer made his international debut in 2009, in a T20I against Sri Lanka,
followed by making his ODI debut in Zimbabwe in 2010.
Merv Hughes in Australian Cricket Hall of Fame
 Former pacer Merv Hughes has been inducted into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame.
 He captured 212 Test wickets at an average of 28.38 in a career spanning 53 Tests and 33 ODIs
for Australia from 1985 to 1994.
 In 2005, Hughes became a selector for the Australian cricket team, a role he held until 2010.
Tamil Nadu wins Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy
 In Cricket, Tamil Nadu lifted the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy after defeating Baroda by seven
wickets in the final at the Sardar Patel Stadium in Ahmedabad on 31 Jan 2021.
 This was Tamil Nadu’s second Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT) triumph, after winning their first
title way back in 2006-07.
 Baroda had won the title twice in the past (in 2011-12 and 2013-14).
Zanskar Sports and Youth Festival concludes
 In Kargil, Ladakh, the first-ever Zanskar Winter Sports and Youth Festival, 2021 concluded at
Munskit Chumik Zanskar on 30 Jan 2021.
 The 13 days festival featured various cultural and sports activities like ice hockey, snow skiing,
horse riding, yak riding, ice climbing, snow sculpture, etc.
 Around 700 people from various different parts of Zanskar participated in the event.
Jay Shah appointed as president of ACC
 The Board of Control for Cricket in India's (BCCI) Secretary Jay Shah was appointed on 30 Jan
2021, as the President of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC).
 He has become the youngest to take charge of the post, taking over the reins from Bangladesh
Cricket Board's (BCB) chief Nazmul Hussain.
 The ACC is Asia's regional administrative body and it consists of 24 member associations.
Pujara rises to 6th place in Test rankings
 Virat Kohli remained the highest-placed Indian batsman at the fourth position in the latest ICC
Test rankings issued on 30 Jan 2021.
 Cheteshwar Pujara moved up one place to 6th.
 Test vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane is the other Indian batsman in the top-10 on the eighth spot.
 New Zealand captain Kane Williamson continued to lead the batting charts.
No Ranji Trophy for first time in 87 years
 The BCCI will not be conducting Ranji Trophy for the first time in 87 years as it has opted for the
Vijay Hazare Trophy.
103 | P a g e
 The BCCI will also host the U-19 National One Day tournament for the Vinoo Mankad Trophy
and the Women’s national 50-over tournament.
 The Ranji Trophy is a domestic cricket championship played in India.
 The competition currently consists of 38 teams.
ICC announces Player of the Month awards
 The International Cricket Council (ICC) has announced the introduction of the ICC Player of the
Month awards.
 It will recognize and celebrate the best performances of both male and female cricketers across
all forms of international cricket.
 An independent ICC Voting Academy comprising former players, broadcasters, and journalists
from around the world, will team up with fans to vote.
Former India goalkeeper P Dora passes away
 Former India and Mohun Bagan, East Bengal goalkeeper Prasanta Dora passed away in
January 2021.
 He made his national debut in 1999 against Thailand in the Olympic qualifiers.
 Prasanta also represented Bengal in the Santosh Trophy.
 After turning out for clubs like Tollygunge Agragami and Calcutta Port Trust, the big break
came in 1999 when he joined East Bengal.
IOC, Tokyo Olympics to unveil a rule book
 Playbook is the rule book that the International Olympic Committee and Tokyo organizers are
set to launch in the coming few days.
 It will explain how 15,400 Olympic and Paralympic athletes and others can safely enter Japan.
 The rollout at Olympic headquarters in Switzerland is also planned for 4 February 2021.
Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2020-21
 In Cricket, the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2020-21 is being played from 26-31 January 2021, at
Sardar Patel Stadium, Ahmedabad.
 The stadium is now the largest in India in terms of capacity.
 As per the schedule, four quarter-finals were played from 26-27 January 2021, two semi-finals
will be played on January 29, 2021, with the final scheduled on January 31, 2021.
Archery competition under Khelo India
 Ladakh Administration organised the opening ceremony of Archery Competition at Leh.
 Union Minister of State for Sports and Youth Affairs Kiren Rijiju inaugurated the competition on
22 Jan 2021.
 The Archery Competition was held under First Khelo India Ladakh Winter Games at NDS Sports
Stadium in Leh.
ITBP wins national ice hockey championship
104 | P a g e
 The Indo-Tibetan Border Police has won the 10th National Ice Hockey Championship held in
Jammu and Kashmir's Gulmarg.
 The team defeated Ladakh 5-1 at the Gulmarg ice rink located at a height of 8,694 feet.
 The national championship was organised by the Ice Hockey Association of India (IHAI) from
January 16-22, 2021 in which eight teams participated.
Juventus wins Italian Super Cup
 Juventus won the Italian Super Cup by beating Napoli 2-0 on 20 January 2021.
 It was Juventus' ninth Super Cup title, taking it two above AC Milan, which is the team with the
second-most victories in the competition.
 Andrea Pirlo won his first trophy as a coach after the team won the match.
Hockey India inducts 5 academies as members
 Hockey India has announced Khalsa Hockey Academy (Amritsar), RoundGlass Punjab Hockey
Club, Adyar Hockey Academy, Surjit Hockey Academy Jalandhar and S.G.P.C Hockey Academy,
as new members.
 With the inclusion of new members, Hockey India currently has 22 permanent members, 36
associate members, 39 academy members and 2 hockey members.
First-ever scientific training for players
 The Kho Kho Federation of India (KKFI) along with Ultimate Kho Kho (UKK) have introduced a
revolutionary High-Performance Assessment and Scientific Analysis & Evaluation Programme -
“Rise in Sports Excellence” for the very first time.
 During a rigorous camp of almost a month, scheduled from January 18 to February 16, 2021, 138
players, including 18 women players, will be monitored by experts.
Malinga to retire from franchise cricket
 Lasith Malinga will retire from franchise cricket.
 He had informed his decision to the Mumbai Indians management earlier in January 2021.
 Mumbai Indians has released seven players including Malinga, Nathan Coulter-Nile, and James
Pattinson for the 2021 edition of the IPL.
 The retained players include Rohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya, Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan,
Chris Lynn, Anmolpreet, etc.
Premier League being held in J&K
 In J&K, Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha declared open Premier League on 20 Jan 2021.
 It is an ambitious sporting event for the youth that will enhance the quality of competition and
performance of the players.
 Jammu & Kashmir is the first to organize 1250 matches across all the districts in four different
disciplines, such as Football, Hockey, Volleyball, and Kabaddi.
India wins Border-Gavaskar Trophy
105 | P a g e
 India defeated Australia by 3 wickets in the final Test at the Gabba in Brisbane and retained the
Border-Gavaskar Trophy, on 19 Jan'21.
 India successfully chased the 328-run target to seal the 4-match series 2-1.
 This was the 1st defeat for Australia at their fortress Gabba in 32 years.
 Rishabh Pant's 89 and Shubman Gill's 91 runs knock in the 2nd innings guided India to the win.
Nihal Sarin wins Gazprom Brilliancy Prize
 Indian chess prodigy Nihal Sarin has won the Gazprom Brilliancy Prize.
 The award is given to the best game from the FIDE Online World Cadets and Youth
Championship played during December.
 Sarin had beaten Francesco Sonis 1.5-0.5 in the Open Under-18 section on the way to winning
the gold medal at the event.
 Rakshitta Ravi and D Gukesh had also won gold medals in their respective categories.
1st Zanskar Winter Sports Festival begins
 In Ladakh, Khelo India 1st Zanskar Winter Sports Festival began on 18 Jan 2021.
 Engaging the youth and opening new vistas of tourism in Zanskar are the main aims of the
festival.
 A series of snow-based activities are scheduled for the next 13 days in Zanskar.
 Chadar Trek was also inaugurated as part of the festival.
Srinagar's first-ever snowshoe run organised
 A new snowshoe run and interaction programme was held in Srinagar for the first time, in
January 2021.
 The programme was held during the heavy snowfall season in the state.
 It was organized by the Snowshoe Federation of India to boost winter sports in the Kashmir
region.
 The event was organized in under 19 categories and open categories.
Sporting facilities to be named after athletes
 Sports Ministry will name all upcoming and upgraded sporting facilities of the Sports Authority
of India, after renowned athletes, who have contributed to sports in India.
 In the first leg, the newly built wrestling hall and the learners swimming pool in the National
Centre of Excellence, NCOE in Lucknow, and the 100-bedded hostel in NCOE Bhopal will be
named after local star sportspersons.
Varun Kapur in top-10 in world junior rankings
 In badminton, Indian shuttlers Varun Kapur and Samiya Imad Farooqui have confirmed top-10
spots in the world junior rankings of Badminton World Federation.
 They have been ranked world no. 2.
 3 more shuttlers-Tasnim Mir (4), Treesa Jolly (8) and Aditi Bhatt (10) have found a place in the
top-10.
 In the women’s doubles category, Tressa (8), Tanisha Crasto (9) and Aditi (9) are in top-10.
106 | P a g e
Voot bags streaming rights for Poker League

 Viacom 18 Media Pvt. Ltd-owned over-the-top (OTT) video streaming platform Voot has
bagged streaming rights for Poker Sports League (PSL).
 The league will hold its third season online as the pandemic has disrupted the physical
tournament.
 Instead of the 5-day on-ground event, the virtual league will have 8 teams battling it out over
two months with 2-3 matches per week, starting 16 Jan 021.
F1 postpones Australia, China Grands Prix
 Formula One has confirmed a revised calendar for the start of the 2021 season after the
postponement of the Australian and Chinese Grands Prix.
 Australia was due to open the season in Melbourne on 21 March while China on 11 April 2021.
 F1’s plan is to hold 23 races this year and Bahrain will now host the first on 28 March 2021.
Khelo India Zanskar Festival 2021 from Jan 18
 A 13-day Khelo India Zanskar Winter Sport & Youth Festival 2021 will begin from 18th January
2021 in Ladakh.
 It will go on till 30 January 2021.
 Various events like meditation, yoga, ice skating, hockey, snow skiing, climbing, traditional
archery, snow scooter, biking, Yak and horse riding, snow sculpturing, etc. would be a part of the
festival.
Panicker defeats world's strongest bodybuilder
 Kochi-based arm wrestler Rahul Panicker defeated 'world's strongest bodybuilder' Larry Wheels
in Jan 2021.
 The super match took place in Dubai.
 Rahul, the current 70kg National Arm Wrestling champion, has already earned six national
medals in the last ten years.
 Rahul’s father PT Panicker was a powerlifter and had won the title of Powerman of India.
Ronaldo becomes joint-highest goalscorer
 Ronaldo has become the joint-highest goalscorer of all time in the history of football.
 Ronaldo now has 759 goals and he is tied at the first spot along with Josef Bican.
 The Portuguese striker achieved the feat on 10 Jan 2021 after scoring a goal against Sassuolo in
Serie A.
 He also became the only player to score at least 15 goals in each of the last 15 seasons in the
top five leagues.
SPO from Ladakh wins 4th position in Marathon
 Jigmet Dolma from India secured the fourth position in the Dhaka Marathon 2021 organized on
10 Jan 2021.
107 | P a g e
 The marathon was organized to commemorate the return of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur
Rahman from Pakistan jail to Bangladesh in 1972.
 Hicham Lakohi of Morocco came 1st in the men’s category while Angela Jim Asunde from
Kenya won the women's category in the same event.
WADA launches ADEL platform
 The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has launched its Anti-Doping Education and Learning
platform (ADEL).
 It is a new and improved version of the current Anti-Doping e-Learning platform (ADeL) that
was launched in January 2018.
 It will provide education and learning opportunities for the anti-doping community worldwide;
including: athletes, coaches, parents, medical professionals and more.
First woman to officiate in a men’s Test
 Australia’s Claire Polosak became the first woman to officiate at a men’s Test match on 7 Jan
2021 when she walked out on the ground as the fourth umpire during the encounter between
India and Australia in Sydney.
 She was also the first woman umpire to stand in an Australian men’s domestic fixture after
officiating a one-day match between New South Wales and a Cricket Australia XI in 2017.
Sports Minister inaugurates residential hostel
 Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Kiren Rijiju has inaugurated a residential hostel in the
premises of the Dr. Karni Singh Shooting Range, Delhi.
 It will be a 162-bed air-conditioned hostel.
 There will also be an air-conditioned dining area and facilities for sports-specific diet and a
separate recreation area for boys and girls.
 The facility has been created at a cost of Rs 12.26 crore.
Oldest cricketer Alan Burgess passes away
 The world’s oldest living first-class cricketer Alan Burgess passed away at the age of 100 in
January 2021.
 A right-hand batsman and slow left-arm bowler, Alan appeared in 11 first-class matches for
Canterbury from 1940/41 to 1951/52 and also for New Zealand Services in England in 1945.
 After the demise of Alan, Raghunath Chandorkar has become the world’s oldest surviving
cricketer.
Ice Hockey tournament begins in Kargil
 In Kargil, Ladakh, Khelo India Ice Hockey Tournament is being organized at Chiktan from 6
January 2021.
 For the first time, the women team of Chiktan also participated in the Khelo India Games in the
Kargil district.
 There are 13 teams from different villages of Chiktan participating in the tournament, which
include 11 men's teams and 2 women's teams.
108 | P a g e
Ronaldo becomes 1st to get 25 cr followers

 Cristiano Ronaldo has become the first person ever to reach 250 million followers on image-and
video-sharing platform Instagram.
 He is also the most followed person on Facebook and the most followed sportsperson on
Twitter.
 The only account which has more followers than Ronaldo on the platform is Instagram’s official
account, which has 382 million followers.
Cristiano Ronaldo Surpasses Pele's record
 Cristiano Ronaldo surpassed Brazilian legend Pele in the list of all-time leading goalscorers by
netting twice for Juventus in a Serie A match against Udinese on January 3, 2021.
 Ronaldo scored his 757th and 758th goal in either half of a 4-1 win as he became the second-
highest goalscorer pushing Pele (757) down to the third spot.
 Ronaldo has now scored 758 goals for club and country.
Dagmara Baskova banned for match-fixing
 Slovakian tennis player Dagmara Baskova has been banned for a period of 12 years after an
investigation by the Tennis Integrity Unit (TIU) uncovered five incidents of match-fixing by the
player in 2017.
 Baskova, who had the highest WTA ranking of 1117 in singles and 777 in doubles, has also been
fined $40,000.
 The majority of the fine is suspended, with $1,000 payable within 90 days.
Leon Mendonca: India’s 67th Grandmaster
 Leon Mendonca has become India’s 67th chess Grandmaster by winning the third and final
norm at the Vergani Cup in Italy.
 Mendonca, who achieved the feat at 14 years, is the second GM from Goa.
 At the Vergani Cup in Bassano del Grappa, he finished second with 6.5 points behind Ukraine’s
Vitaliy Bernadskiy (7 points).
Ronaldo named 'Player of the Century'
 Juventus' Cristiano Ronaldo has won the 'Player of the Century' award at the Globe Soccer
Awards.
 Bayern Munich's Robert Lewandowski, during the event, won the Player of the Year award.
 The club's coach Hansi Flick bagged the Coach of the Year award.
 Also, Bayern Munich won the Club of the Year award.
 Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola won the Coach of the Century award.
109 | P a g e

Sports Current Affairs Yearly Review 2021 b09b6bd1

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Sports Current Affairs Yearly Review 2021 b09b6bd1

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Sports Current Affairs | Yearly Review 2021

Rupa Gurunath steps down as Tamil Nadu Cricket Association president

PV Sindhu appointed BWF's Athletes’ Commission member

Chandeep Singh bags Silver medal at Para World Taekwondo Championships

 The Best goalkeeper was awarded to Okram Roshini Devi (Manipur).

Final of M.P. Cup Polo Championship organized by Ministry of Culture

First National Yogasana Championships to be held in Bhubaneswar

Russia beat Switzerland to win Billie Jean King Cup title

James Pattinson retires from international cricket

Hockey India withdraws from 2022 Birmingham CWG

 Paris–Roubaix is a one-day professional bicycle road race which is held in France.

Virat Kohli to step down as Indian cricket team's T20 captain

Canada and UAE qualify for 2022 U-19 men's WC

Hyderabad Sailing Week’ to start from Aug 13

Bajrang Punia wins bronze medal in wrestling

 Hamilton was promoted to second place.

BCCI announces schedule for IPL 2021

Ecclestone win ICC Player of the Month Award

Badminton Sudirman Cup moved to Finland

Dr Tadang Minu: AIBA’s coaches member

Ashok Kumar to officiate bouts in Olympics

Tennis player Ruud wins Geneva Open title

2022 FIFA U-17 Women’s WC to be held in India

1st Indian-origin fighter to win MMA title

Lewis Hamilton wins Spanish Grand Prix

Mark: World Champion for 4th time in Snooker

India wins one gold, two bronze medals in AWC

ISSF WC: Chinky Yadav wins gold

Upstox as official partner for IPL 2021

 Kharu beat the Domkhar women by 3-1 goal in a penalty shootout.

BCCI can use drones for aerial cinematography

 This was Root's fifth double century.

Voot bags streaming rights for Poker League

Ronaldo becomes 1st to get 25 cr followers

You might also like