Current Affairs Sports-2011

Anand loses No. 1 spot

• World champion Viswanathan Anand hit a career-high rating of 2810 in the latest world ranking list released by the World Chess Federation (FIDE).
• The rating, effective, however, was not good enough to help Anand keep the No. 1 spot he gained since November 1. The second placed Anand had to make way for Norway's Magnus Carlsen who regained the top position at 2814. In the last two months, Carlsen gained 12 points to Anand's six. Armenia's Levon Aronian and Russia's Vladimir Kramnik retained the third and fourth places while the biggest gainer among the elite was USA's Hikaru Nakamura who jumped five places to hold the 10th position.
• The lists: World (Top-5): Magnus Carlsen (Nor, 2814), 2. Viswanathan Anand (Ind, 2810), 3. Levon Aronian (Arm, 2805), 4. Vladimir Kramnik (Rus, 2784), 5. Sergey Karjakin (Rus, 2776),
• India (Top-5): 1. Viswanathan Anand (2810), 2. K. Sasikiran (2690), 3. P. Hari Krishna (2667), 4. Surya Shekhar Ganguly (2651), 5. Sandipan Chanda (2641),
• India (Women Top-5): 1. K. Humpy (2607), 2. D. Harika (2520), 3. S. Vijayalakshmi (2454), 4. Tania Sachdev (2391), 5-6. Soumya Swaminathan (2353), Eesha Karavade (2353),

Gambhir and Dravid take India to a draw

• Neither India nor South Africa deserved to lose this most even of series; neither did, as the third Test in Newlands concluded in a draw.
• South Africa's Jacques Kallis was adjudged the Man of the Match as well as the Man of the Series.

England crushes Australia for Ashes

• Dominant England claimed its first Ashes series in Australia for 24 years with its third innings victory over the home team in the final Sydney Test.
• England wrapped up an innings and 83-run victory.
• It was England's first series victory Down Under since Mike Gatting's team beat Australia 2-1 in 1986-87.

Federer wins Qatar Open

• World No. 2 Roger Federer began his season in formidable fashion by defeating holder Nikolay Davydenko 6-3, 6-4 to win the Qatar Open.
• The 16-times grand slam champion proved too much for his Russian opponent, claiming a break of serve in each set to complete victory under the floodlights at the Khalifa Tennis Complex in central Doha.
• Women: Final: Petra Kvitova bt Andrea Petkovic 6-1, 6-3.
• At Doha (Qatar Open): Final: Roger Federer bt Nikolay Davydenko 6-3, 6-4; Semifinals: Nikolay Davydenko bt Rafael Nadal 6-3, 6-2.
• At Auckland: (WTA Auckland Classic): Final: Greta Arn def Yanina Wickmayer 6-3, 6-3 .

Stanislas Wawrinka crowned champion

• Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka bore away the bell with a 7-5, 4-6, 6-1 win over Belgian Xavier Malisse in the final of the Chennai Open tennis.
• The World No. 21 picked up his third Tour title, displaying in patches the same form that saw him account for top-seeded Tomas Berdych in the semifinal. The 25-year-old, thus, was second time lucky, having lost the 2010 Chennai Open final to Croatian Marin Cilic.
• Wawrinka also became the first wild card since Ivan Ljubicic, in 2006, to triumph in Chennai.
• The result: Singles: Final: Stanislas Wawrinka (Sui) bt Xavier Malisse (Bel) 7-5, 4-6, 6-1

Paes-Bhupathi duo clinches title

• Old warhorses Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi won their first title together in over six years, grinding out a 6-2, 6-7(3), 10-7 win over first-timers Robin Haase and David Martin in the Chennai Open final.
• The fearsome alliance thus set itself up to mount a genuine challenge on the Australian Open, the only major title missing from their collection. The season's first Grand Slam begins in Melbourne on January 17.
• The result: Doubles: Final: Leander Paes & Mahesh Bhupathi (Ind) bt Robin Haase (Ned) & David Martin (US) 6-2, 6-7(3), 10-7.

England crushes Australia; keeps Ashes

• England retained the Ashes with a crushing innings and 157-run win in the fourth Test on Wednesday, breaking a 24-year away drought in the series and leaving Australian captain Ricky Ponting's future in doubt.
• England's biggest win over Australia since 1956 put it an unbeatable 2-1 up with one to play, almost a quarter of a century after Mike Gatting's team claimed the series 2-1 in 1986-87 in England's last triumph in Australia.
• Australia's humiliation was complete when Ben Hilfenhaus was the last man out before lunch on the fourth morning at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, caught behind off Tim Bresnan for a duck after Ryan Harris was unable to bat because of an ankle injury.
• “Winning the Ashes in Australia has always been a bit of a Holy Grail for English sides,” skipper Andrew Strauss said.
• “We haven't won the Ashes yet but we obviously retain the urn which has been one of our primary goals and the guys deserve everything they get because the players stood up and performed when it mattered.”
• There was only going to be one outcome after Australia was routed for a miserable ground record low of 98 on Sunday's opening day after Strauss had won the toss and put the Australians in to bat on a greenish wicket.
• The English responded with a towering 513 to hold a match-winning 415-run innings lead which Australia found totally beyond it.
• “The really important thing we need to do is pay credit to England and the way its team played for the whole tour,” Australian skipper Ricky Ponting said.
• “Apart from the third Perth Test, they've played a really high level of cricket the whole way through, not only this series, but the tour games as well. Credit to them for the way they prepared.”
• Pressure on Ponting
• The crushing loss will heap further pressure on an embattled Ponting. It was the Australian skipper's third failure to win an Ashes series following his earlier defeats in England in 2005 and last year.
• Wicketkeeper Brad Haddin was left unbeaten with a defiant 55 including four fours and a six in Australia's second innings of 258 for nine.
• Bresnan finished as England's best bowler with four for 50 off 21.4 overs, while England No. 3 Jonathan Trott was named man-of-the-match for his unbeaten 168.
• In 1986 England won the series and the Ashes after an innings and 14-run victory at the MCG.
• Australia can still level the series if it can fight back and win next week's fifth Sydney Test, but the Ashes are gone.
• “Our objective was to come out here and win the series, so we haven't achieved that yet,” Strauss said.
• “It's very reassuring to know that the Ashes are going to remain in England for the next couple of years, but it would leave a very sour taste in the mouth if we weren't able to go on and convert our position into a series win in Sydney.”
• England last won at the MCG in 1998 with Dean Headley taking six for 60 in the second innings as the tourists won by just 12 nail-biting runs.
• Second heavy defeat
• The heavy defeat was only Australia's second in its last 12 MCG Tests, the previous coming two years ago against South Africa by nine wickets.
• It was England's 20th win in 54 Ashes Tests at the MCG.
• A small crowd, dominated by the celebrating Barmy Army and other English supporters, witnessed the final rites with the Australian fans giving up on a lost cause.
• Australia lost Mitchell Johnson in the second over bowled by Chris Tremlett for six.
• Haddin and Peter Siddle stalled England's victory push with some lusty hitting in an 86-run partnership with both clubbing sixes off spinner Graeme Swann.
• Siddle finally fell for his Test best 40 when he hoisted Swann to Kevin Pietersen on the long-on boundary.
• Hilfenhaus only lasted four balls before the axe finally fell on Australia.
• Ponting, who is expected to hold on to the captaincy for next week's Sydney Test, fitness permitting with his fractured little finger, said he hoped history would not only focus on his three Ashes defeats.
• “The fact that I've lost those three Test series is disappointing for me,” he said.
• “Hopefully, I am not only remembered as the guy that lost those three Ashes series, there's lot of other great things I've been part of in my career.”
• Australia's next Test after Sydney is not due until August against Sri Lanka.

SCOREBOARD

• Australia — 1st innings: 98.
• England — 1st innings: 513.
• Australia — 2nd innings: S. Watson lbw b Bresnan 54, P. Hughes (run out) 23, R. Ponting b Bresnan 20, M. Clarke c Strauss b Swann 13, M. Hussey c Bell b Bresnan 0, S. Smith b Anderson 38, B. Haddin (not out) 55, M. Johnson b Tremlett 6, P. Siddle c Pietersen b Swann 40, B. Hilfenhaus c Prior b Bresnan 0, R. Harris (did not bat); Extras (b-1, lb-6, w-2): 9; Total (for nine wkts. in 85.4 overs): 258.
• Fall of wickets: 1-53, 2-99, 3-102, 4-104, 5-134, 6-158, 7-172, 8-258, 9-258.
• England bowling: Anderson 20-1-71-1, Tremlett 17-3-71-1, Swann 27-11-59-2, Bresnan 21.4-8-50-4.