Focus Merit

Category: Sports Current Affairs

Manav Thakkar becomes world no.1 in ITTF rankings

January 4, 2020

Young Indian paddler Manav Thakkar became world no.1 in the latest International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) rankings in the Under-21 men’s singles category.

Thakkar became the fourth Indian to achieve the feat after Harmeet Desai, G Sathiyan and Soumyajit Ghosh.

Thakkar was also world no. 1 in the Under-18 category in February 2018. He was part of the Indian men’s team which won a bronze medal in the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta.

Malavath Poorna scales the highest mountain in Antarctica

January 3, 2020

Malavath Poorna, 18-year-old girl from Telangana has conquered Mt Vinson Massif, the Antarctica continent’s highest mountain peak (4,987 mts). She has become the first and youngest tribal woman in the world to set foot on the six tallest mountain peaks across six continents.

So far, Poorna scaled Mt Everest (Asia, year 2014), Mt. Kilimanjaro (Africa, 2016), Mt. Elbrus (Europe, 2017), Mt. Aconcagua (South America, 2019) Mt. Cartsnez (Oceania region, 2019) and Mt. Vinson Massif (Antarctica, 2019).

Leh: National Ice Hockey Championship-2020 begins

January 3, 2020

The 5th Ice Hockey Association of India (IHAI) National Ice Hockey Championship -2020 has begun in Leh, Ladakh. The tournament will continue till 7th January in Karzoo Ice Hockey Rink in Leh. In the inaugural match in Under-20 Boys category between Chandigarh and Haryana, the contest ended in a draw with 4 goals each.

The Army, Chandigarh, Delhi, Haryana, Maharashtra and home team Ladakh are participating for the championship in U-20 boys category. In Girls category Ladakh, Maharashtra, Delhi and Chandigarh are playing for the championship.

Australia pacer Peter Siddle announces retirement from international cricket

January 1, 2020

Australia paceman Peter Siddle has announced his retirement from international cricket at the age of 35 after taking 221 wickets in a distinguished 67-Test career.

Siddle announced the retirement to his teammates at the Melbourne Cricket Ground after being released from the squad for the third and final test against New Zealand in Sydney.

He will continue to play domestic cricket for Victoria state and T-20 side Adelaide Strikers in the Big Bash League, along with English county cricket for Essex.

Guwahati to host Third Khelo India youth games in Jan 2020

January 1, 2020

The third Khelo India youth games will be held in Guwahati between 10th and 22nd of January 2020. Cycling and lawn ball have been introduced as new disciplines in the games. It will be advocating for the elimination of single-use plastics this time. The emphasis will be given to the responsible use of plastic material and proper collection and disposal of plastic waste.

The opening ceremony of the third Khelo India Youth Games will take place at the Indira Gandhi Stadium in Guwahati on January 10 before the athletes take part in their respective events in full flow. Six thousand five hundred athletes from 37 teams will take part in the event.

Assam CM Sarbananda Sonowal launched the torch relay of the competition in Guwahati, which will be carried to all district headquarters to elicit the cooperation of the people for the success of the Games.

K Srikkanth and Anjum Chopra to receive BCCI’s CK Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award

January 1, 2020

Former India captain and member of the 1983 World Cup – winning team Krishnamachari Srikkanth and former India women’s captain Anjum Chopra, one of India’s finest batswomen, will be the recipient of this year’s prestigious CK Nayudu Lifetime Award given by the BCCI.

The BCCI Annual Award function will be held in Mumbai on January 12 ahead of the first ODI against Australia on January 14.