Yearly Review of Sports 2018 - Current Affairs Capsule in PDF January 2018 • Sharath Kamal won TT Championship o Sharath Kamal beat top-seeded Anthony Amalraj to win the men singles title in the 79th edition of the 11Even Sports Senior Nationals in Ranchi, Jharkhand. o He won the championship for the eighth time, equalling the feat of Kamlesh Mehta. o Suthirta Mukherjee from West Bengal emerged the new women champion, beating Hyderabad Nationals winner Manika Batra. • 1st Khelo India School Games launched o Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the first Khelo India School Games at Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium in New Delhi. o The Khelo India programme has been introduced to revive the sports culture in India at the grass-root level. o The Games are being held from 31st January to 8th February 2018. • Melbourne To Host Final Of 2020 WT20 o Melbourne Cricket Ground will host the final of both the men’s and women’s World Twenty20 when the tournaments come to Australia in 2020. o It will mark the first time the tournaments are held as stand-alone events in the same year in the same country. o The women’s final will coincide with International Women’s Day (8th March). 1 | P a g e • Prakash won Lifetime Achievement Award o Vice President Venkaiah Naidu conferred Badminton Association of India Lifetime Achievement Award to 1983 World Championship medallist Prakash Padukone. o Naidu termed Padukone a "grand legend of a great game", who inspired the nation through his "sheer passion, grit and determination". o The Mysuru-born had won gold medals at the 1978 Commonwealth Games & the All England Championships in 1980. • 2018 India Open, starts o The 2018 India Open, is a badminton tournament which will take place at Siri Fort Indoor Stadium in Delhi from 30 January to 4 February 2018. o The event will also feature 2014 champion Kidambi Srikanth beginning his new season after missing last week’s Indonesia Masters. o Saina Nehwal bagged silver medal at Indonesia Masters recently. Saina clinched the India Open Super Series in 2015. • Pak. became world number 1 T20I side o Pakistan became the top-ranked T20I side in international cricket after beating New Zealand in the third and final T20I to claim the three-match series 2-1. o This was Pakistan's sixth T20I series win on the trot. o Notably, New Zealand had whitewashed Pakistan in the five-match ODI series before the T20I series. • Tai Tzu Ying won Indonesian Masters o The world no.1 Tai Tzu Ying of Taiwan has defeated Saina Nehwal in the finals of the Indonesia Masters in Jakarta. o Tai Tzu has now defeated the former world No.1 nine times in their last 10 meetings. o Saina had enjoyed early success against the Taiwanese till 2011 but the Nehwal has beaten her only once at the 2013 Swiss Open ever since. 2 | P a g e • Australian Open 2018, winners o Women's Singles - Caroline Wozniacki won by defeating Simona Halep. o Men's Doubles - Oliver Marach and Mate Pavic won by defeating Robert Farah and J. Cabal. o Women's Doubles - Kristina Mladenovic and Tímea Babos won by defeating Elena Vesnina and Ekaterina Makarova. o Mixed Doubles - Gabriela Dabrowski and Mate Pavic won by defeating Timea Babos and Rohan Bopanna. • Roger Federer won Australian Open o World No. 2 Roger Federer defeated No. 6 Marin Cilic 6-2, 6-7(5), 6-3, 3- 6, 6-1 to clinch his sixth Australian Open title. o This is Federer’s 20th Grand Slam title. o Roger Federer is from Switzerland and Marin Cilic from Croatia. • First Nepal player to get IPL contract o Sandeep Lamichhane has become the first cricketer from Nepal to land an IPL contract. o He was picked by Delhi Daredevils in the ongoing players auction at his base price of Rs 20 lakh. o The leg-spinner rose to prominence with a successful outing at the 2016 U- 19 World Cup where he guided Nepal to a creditable eighth place. • Caroline Wozniacki wins Australian Open o Denmark's Caroline Wozniacki defeated Romanian Simona Halep to win her first Grand Slam title at the Australian Open. o Twice a runner-up at the US Open, Wozniacki becomes the first Dane to win a Grand Slam singles title. 3 | P a g e o With the win, Wozniacki will reclaim the WTA World No. 1 ranking exactly six years since she last held it. • India retain ICC Test Championship mace o India's win over South Africa in the 3rd & final Test helped it retain the ICC Test Championship mace. o Kohli will be presented with the mace, which is a symbol of excellence & a recognition of a side’s outstanding performance in the purest format of the game. o Kohli had become the 10th captain since 2002 to get his hands on the mace when he had received it from Sunil Gavaskar in 2016. • Babos, Mladenovic win Australian Open o The hungarian-french pairing of Timea Babos & Kristina Mladenovic have won the Australian Open women's doubles title. o They were crowned Grand Slam champions for the 1st time. o The duo battled past Russians Ekaterina Makarova & Elena Vesnina 6-4, 6-3 in the final. o Babos & Mladenovic have become the first players from their respective countries to lift the Australian Open women's doubles crown • Delhi lifts Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy o Delhi lifted its maiden Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy after defeating Rajasthan in the finals by 41 runs. o Chasing 154 for a win, Rajasthan were bundled out for 112 in a brilliant display by the Delhi bowlers. o The Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy is a Twenty20 cricket domestic championship in India. It is named after a famous Indian cricketer, Syed Mushtaq Ali. • Tamil Nadu clinches men’s crown 4 | P a g e o Tamil Nadu beat Services by 94-86, in the final to emerge the men’s champion of the senior National basketball championship at the Nehru indoor stadium. o This is Tamil Nadu’s tenth title in the men’s category. o Railways beat Chhattisgarh 100-71 in the women’s final for its 28th title in 32 years. Captain P.U. Navaneetha top-scored with 30 points. • Rakhi Halder Creates New National Record o Lifter Rakhi Halder created a new national record in clean and jerk to a gold medal in the 63kg women’s category in the 33rd Women Senior National Weightlifting Championships, in Mangaluru, Karnataka. o Rakhi lifted 128kgs in the clean and jerk to create a new national record, bettering Karnam Malleswari’s feat (127kg) created in Athens in 1999. • West Indies to Host Women’s World T20 o The International Cricket Council (ICC) has announced, the 2018 edition of the Women’s World T20 will be hosted by West Indies in November 2018. o Hosts Windies will defend the title they won over Australia in Kolkata in 2016. o The three venues were selected by Cricket West Indies through a bidding process and have been ratified by the ICC. • Siddharth Singh won Swedish Open o Young Indian shuttler Siddharth Pratap Singh secured his maiden international title, bagging the Swedish Open Junior International Series. o He won by defeating Denmark’s Mads Christophersen in the finals in Uppsala in Sweden. o Playing his first career final, Siddharth defeated Christophersen in a 33- minute match to claim the men’s singles title. • India retains Blind World Cup title 5 | P a g e o India defeated arch rivals Pakistan by two wickets in a thrilling summit clash to retain the Blind Cricket World Cup title. o Sunil Ramesh was the star performer for India in the Blind World Cup 2018 final, scoring 93 runs. o It was India’s second title at the mega event as earlier they won World Cup, outclassing Pakistan at Cape Town, South Africa in December 2014. • Ronaldinho retires from football o Former Brazil and Barcelona midfielder Ronaldinho has retired from professional football. o Ronaldinho has not played for a professional team since leaving Brazilian side Fluminense in July 2015. o Ronaldinho was part of the triumphant Brazil 2002 World Cup squad, won the Champions League in 2006 with Barcelona and won the Balon d'Or in 2005. • India rises 3 places in FIFA rankings o India has jumped three ranks to be placed 102nd in the first FIFA rankings of the year. o India, which is just above Qatar (103rd), is ranked 14th among Asian countries. o The Indians remained unbeaten in 2017, having won seven of their nine matches while two ended in draws. o The top 14 spots remained unchanged with reigning World Champions Germany at the top followed by Brazil, Portugal. • Kohli named ICC Cricketer of the Year o Indian Cricket Captain Virat Kohli has been named as International Cricket Council Cricketer of the Year 2017. o He was also named the ICC ODI Player of the Year & recipient of Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy. 6 | P a g e o Kohli had an outstanding year in the 50-over format where he scored 6 centuries at an astonishing average of 76.84. o He has also been named the captain of Men's ODI & Test Teams of the Year. • Assam wins 8th Sub-junior Hockey Champ. o Assam Hockey won the 8th Hockey India Sub Junior Men National Championship 2018 (B Division), at Hojai Hockey stadium, in Assam. o Assam Hockey beat Hockey Rajasthan 3-2 in the final and won the 8th Hockey India Sub Junior Men National Championship 2018 (B Division).