1) Former French Open champion Francesca Schiavone won her first title since 2013.
- Uruguay`s Pablo Cuevas, coming off an upset of Rafael Nadal, won his fourth career ATP title, defeating Argentina`s Guido Pella in the Rio Open final.
- The USD 303,000 top prize was the biggest single payday of Cuevas` career, coming after his semi-final shocker over Nadal.
- Left-hander Pella, ranked 71st, is likely to jump to a career-best ranking later Monday despite failing to capture his first ATP crown.
- He took home a runner-up prize of USD 142,450 (US), the biggest payday of his career.
- The Italian former world number four, now ranked at 132, came back from a set and a break down to defeat her 23-year-old opponent and claim her seventh career title.
- Schiavone is the third Italian winner on the WTA Tour after Roberta Vinci in St Petersburg last week and Sara Errani in Dubai.
2) Dnipro FC wins 2016 Nagjee International Club Football Tournament.
- Ukraine’s Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk Football Club (FC) has won the 2016 Sait Nagjee International Club Football Tournament in Kozhikode.
- The Ukrainian FC also created a record in the Sait Nagjee tournament that was brought alive after 21 years with Ronaldinho inaugurating the same, as they scored the most number of goals in the championship (10) and also kept a clean sheet in all their three games.
- With this victory, Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk became first European team to win this prestigious Football tournament held in India.
- It was 36th edition of the tournament and the first edition after 1995 when it was stopped. In this edition, total 8 clubs from Latin America, Germany and Europe had participated.
- The tournament was established in 1952 and since then it was very popular and had attracted large crowd.
- The Sait Nagjee Trophy International Club Football-2016 has launched with eight teams from different countries participating in the 15-day tournament.
3) Jaypee Punjab Warriors was crowned Hockey India League (HIL) champions.
- Jaypee Punjab Warriors were crowned Hockey India League champions as they clinched their maiden title after thrashing Kalinga Lancers in a lop-sided summit clash.
- They lost to Delhi Waveriders in 2014 and to Ranchi Rays in 2015
4) Long jumper Prem Kumar wins silver medal in Asian Indoor Athletics.
- India`s Kumaravel Prem Kumar bagged a silver in long jump on the final day of Asian Indoor Athletics Championships.
- Prem Kumar cleared a creditable 7.92m in his final attempt to win the silver. Zhang Yaoguang of China won the gold with a best effort of 7.99m.
- Another Indian, Ankit Sharma could manage only 7.66m with four fouls which marred his chance to win a medal.
- Om Prakash Singh Karhana added a bronze in shot put by clearing a distance of 18.77m. Four of his attempts turned out to be foul.
- With this, the Indians signed off their campaign in Doha with 1 Gold, 3 silver and 3 bronze medals.
- Meanwhile Jharkhand capital Ranchi has been confirmed by the continental body as host city of 2017 Asian Athletics (Outdoor) Championships.
5) ICC Rankings: India lose No. 1 Test spot to Australia.
- Australia comprehensively beat New Zealand by seven wickets in the second Test to sweep the series 2-0 in Christchurch and go to No. 1 in the world rankings.
- Australia now sits on top of the Test ranking table with India coming a close No. 2 with 110 points. South Africa and Pakistan coming in at No. 3 & No. 4.
- Australia also claim the US $1 million prize for the number one side at the end of the cricket year.
- Captain Steven Smith and Joe Burns hit fifties on the final day as Australia achieved target of 201 set by the hosts losing just 3 wickets in their second innings.
6) Reimbursement of training expenses in respect of Women 4x400 M Relay Team for their training in Turkey.
- Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports has approved financial assistance for reimbursement of training expenses amounting to Rs. 68.99 Lacs approx. in respect of Women 4x400 Relay Team for their training in Turkey from 17.10.2015 to 24.12.2015.
- Competent Authority has approved reimbursement of training expenses to a maximum of Rs. 62,71,389.00 subject to the entitlement under TOP Scheme in respect of the following ten athletes, who are included in the TOP Scheme:
- 1) M.R. Poovamma; 2) AswaniAkunj; 3) Mandeep Kaur 4)Sini Jose; 5) Priyanka Panwar; 6) JaunaMurmu; 7) DebashreeMajumdar; 8) Anilda Thomas; 9) Anju Thomas & 10) ShaviSaravat
7) Mumbai wins Ranji Trophy 2016.
- Mumbai were crowned Ranji Trophy champions for the 41st time with a comprehensive innings and 21 run victory over Saurashtra.
- With this victory, Mumbai clinched Ranji title for record 41st time (10 of them being won with innings wins) after playing in record 45 finals.
About Ranji Trophy
- The Ranji Trophy is a domestic first-class cricket championship played in India between teams representing regional cricket associations.
- The competition currently consists of 27 teams, with 21 of the 29 states in India and Delhi (which is a Union Territory), having at least one representation.
- The competition is named after first Indian Cricketer who played for England and Sussex, Ranjitsinhji who was also known as "Ranji".
8) Stan Wawrinka wins 2016 Dubai ATP Tennis title.
- Stan Wawrinka from Switzerland has won the 2016 Dubai ATP Tennis title in the men’s singles category.
- It was his ninth straight final and overall 13th title of his career and second of the 2016 season after winning Chennai Open.
Women’s Singles
- Sara Errani (Italy) won the 2016 Dubai ATP Tennis title in the women’s singles category. In the final she defeated Barbora Strýcová of Czech Republic Barbora Strýcová.
Men’s Doubles
- Italian pair of Simone Bolelli and Andreas Seppi has won the 2016 Dubai ATP Tennis title in the men’s doubles category. They defeated Feliciano López and Marc López pair from Spain.
Women’s Doubles
- Chuang Chia-jung (Chinese Taipei) and Darija Jurak (Croatia) won the 2016 Dubai ATP Tennis title in the women’s doubles category. They defeated French pair of Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic.
9) Rahul Sachdev wins 1st All India Open Invitational Snooker Championship 2016.
- Former National 6Reds runner-up Rahul Sachdev clinched his maiden title by winning the 1st All India Open Invitational Snooker Championship.
- Sailing in cue sports since last five years, Rahul had achieved the highest by reaching the National 6Reds final in the year 2013. Winning the All India level Invitation tournament is a major breakthrough and certainly will raise his confidence in the years to come.