1) FIFA admits votes were bought in World Cup hosting contests.
- World football body FIFA, for the first time, has acknowledged that votes were bought in past World Cup hosting contests.
- It is also seeking to claim “tens of millions of dollars” in bribe money seized by U.S. federal prosecutors.
- FIFA submitted a 22-page claim to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in New York that seeks a big share in restitution from more than $190 million already forfeited by soccer and marketing officials who have pleaded guilty in the corruption case.
- FIFA claims it is the victim of corrupt individuals, despite widespread criticism that bribe-taking was embedded in its culture in the presidencies of Joao Havelange and Sepp Blatter, who was forced from office after 17 years.
2) Vijay Mallya resigns as Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) Director.
- IPL franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore has written to the Indian cricket board (BCCI), intimating them about Vijay Mallya’s resignation from the post of Director of Royal Challengers Sports Private Limited (RCSPL).
- Russell Adams will now be the man in-charge of the Royal Challengers Bangalore team.
- Mallya, who has defaulted in loans in excess of Rs 9000 crore, is facing probe by various investigative agencies.
- He bought RCB in 2008 but the popular franchise has not been able to win a single Indian Premier League title in eight attempts.
3) Russia’s swimming world champion Yuliya Efimova suspended.
- Russian four-time breaststroke world champion Yuliya Efimova has been suspended lifetime from competition over alleged doping(using meldonium), Russia’s swimming federation.
- Efimova - who won a bronze medal at the London Olympics and trains in the United States - faces a life ban after becoming the latest athlete to test positive for meldonium.
- The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) said 99 athletes worldwide have tested positive for the drug since the ban came into force at the start of the year.
4) Wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt Bags Olympics Berth.
- Wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt has bagged an Olympic quota in the men’s 65 kg freestyle category at the ongoing Asian qualifying tournament in Astana, Kazakhastan.
- In the final match he defeated Katai Yeerlanbieke from China.
- This is the second quota place that Indian wrestlers have bagged for the Rio Olympics to be held later this year.
- Narsingh Pancham Yadav had bagged a quota place in the men`s 74kg freestyle division in Las Vegas last year.
- In the 2012 London Olympics, Yogeshwar had won bronze in men’s 60kg freestyle category. But later he had moved up to 65kg category after the international governing body FILA had re-jigged the weight classes at the end of 2013.
5) ICC suspends Bangladesh bowlers Taskin Ahmed and Arafat Sunny for illegal bowling action.
- The International Cricket Council (ICC) has suspended Bangladesh bowlers Taskin Ahmed and Arafat Sunny for bowling with an illegal action with an immediate effect.
- As per the suspension orders, while the two bowlers will be barred from bowling in international cricket, they may be able to play in domestic cricket events played in Bangladesh with the consent of Bangladesh Cricket Board.
- The assessments were performed at the ICC-accredited testing centre at the Sri Ramachandra University in Chennai.
- Arafat’s analysis revealed that the elbow extension for majority of his deliveries had exceeded the 15 degrees level of tolerance permitted under the ICC Regulations for the Review of Bowlers Reported with Suspected Illegal Bowling Actions, while not all of Taskin’s deliveries were legal.
6) S.S.P. Chawrasia won Hero Indian Open title of Golf.
- Shiv Shankar Prasad Chawrasia won the Hero Indian Open title of golf played at the Golf Course in New Delhi.
- He won the title with 71 points in the final round to defeat the defending champion Anirban Lahiri with 69 who stood second.
- Jeunghun Wang of Korea stood third with a score of 68 totaling 15-under 273.
- In the past, Chawrasia had ended runner-up four times in the Hero Indian Open.
About Hero Indian Open:
- The Indian Open, well known as the Hero Indian Open due to sponsorship, is a golf tournament on the Asian Tour held at the Delhi Golf Club since last several years. It became a European Tour co-sanctioned event in 2015.
- He inaugural event was held in 1964 and won by Peter Thomson of Australia. There have been a number of sponsors over the years, with Hero Honda Motors Ltd taking over sponsorship in 2005.
7) Gurmeet Singh becomes first Indian to win Asian 20 km Race Walk Championships.
- Gurmeet Singh created history by becoming the first Indian athlete to clinch a gold medal in the Asian 20 km Race Walk Championships as he won the men`s event with his season`s best effort held at Nomi, Japan.
- Gurmeet clocked 1 hour 20 minutes and 29 seconds. He beat Japan`s Isamu Fujisawa (1:20:49) in a close fight in the last 5 kms.
- Kazakhstan`s Georgiy Sheiko won the bronze medal in 1:21:52.
- Gurmeet`s feat was the first time in 34 years that an Indian has won a gold in either an Asian Championships or Asian Games in this event.
- Hakam Singh and Chand Ram won a gold each in 20 km road walk in 1978 and 1982 Asian Games respectively. Since then, no Indian has won a gold at the continental level in this event.
- In the women`s 20 km walk race event, National Games champion and Rio Games-bound Sapna finished fourth in a time of 1:35:57.
8) H.S. Prannoy wins 2016 Swiss Open Grand Prix Gold badminton title.
- Ace Indian shuttler H.S. Prannoy (World No. 13) has won the prestigious 2016 Swiss Open Grand Prix Gold badminton tournament in the men’s single category held at Basel, Switzerland.
- In the final match he defeated Marc Zwiebler (World No. 7) of Germany 21-18, 21-15 score.
- It was his second Grand Prix Gold title after the Indonesia Open Grand Prix Gold won in 2014.
Other winners:
Women’s Single: He Bingjiao from China won the title by defeating Wang Yihan from China by 21-16, 21-10 score.
Women’s Doubles: Japanese pair of Shizuka Matsuo and Mami Naito won the title by defeating Japanese pair of Naoko Fukuman and Kurumi Yonao by 21-16, 12-21 and 21-12 score.
Men’s Doubles: Denmark pair of Kim Astrup and Anders Skaarup Rasmussen won the title by defeating Chinese Taipei pair of Lee Sheng-mu and Tsai Chia-hsin by 21-15 and 21-8 score.
Mixed Doubles: Chinese pair of Wang Yilu and Chen Qingchen won the title by defeating Thailand pair of Bodin Issara and Savitree Amitrapai by 21-19, 16-21 and 15-21 score.
Background:
- The Swiss Open is an annual badminton tournament held in Switzerland since 1955 and become one of the BWF Super Series tournament began 2007. In 2011 the tournament was dropped down to a Grand Prix Gold event.
9) Novak Djokovic and Victoria Azarenka won BNP Paribas Open titles.
- World No. 1 Novak Djokovic of Serbia and Victoria Azarenka of Belarusia on 20 March 2016 won men`s and women’s singles titles of the BNP Paribas Open at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in Southern California.
- Novak Djokovic rolled past Milos Raonic 6-2, 6-0 to win the BNP Paribas Open for a record fifth time, while improving to 22-1 in matches this year.
- Victoria Azarenka defeated Serena Williams 6-4, 6-4, returning Azarenka to the world’s top 10 for the first time since August 2014.
About BNP Paribas Open:
- It is popularly known as Indian Wells open as it is held in Indian Wells Tennis Garden in Southern California.
- It is the largest two-week combined ATP World Tour Masters 1000 and WTA Premier professional tennis tournament in the world.
- It is held annually in March and features the top men and women professional players competing in a 96 singles draw and 32 doubles draw.
- The tournament offers more than 10 million US Dollars in prize money with each of the Champions earning 1 million US Dollars prize purse.
10) Germany’s Nico Rosberg won 2016 Australian Grand Prix.
- Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg of Germany won the 2016 Formula 1 Rolex Australian Grand Prix at Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit at Albert Park, Melbourne, Australia.
- Rosberg`s 15th Formula One victory was also his fourth in succession after he won the final three races of last season.
- The 30-year-old German came home first ahead of his Mercedes team-mate defending drivers’ world champion Lewis Hamilton with four-time champion German Sebastian Vettel finishing third for Ferrari.
- Rosberg’s win was his second in Melbourne, following his triumph in 2014, and the 15th of his career.
- German Nico Hulkenberg finished seventh for Force India ahead of Finn Valtteri Bottas in the second Williams and Spaniard Carlos Sainz, who held off his frustrated Toro Rosso team-mate Dutch teenager Max Verstappen to take ninth.
11) Wrestler Hardeep Singh wins silver medal in Asian Olympic Qualification Tournament.
- Indian wrestler Hardeep Singh has won silver medal in the Asian Olympic Qualification Tournament in the 98 kg category held at Astana, Kazakhstan.
- Hardeep lost to his opponent Di Xiao of China. By reaching the final in the 98 kg category, he qualified for participation in the 2016 Rio Olympics in Greco-Roman category.
- With this win, Hardeep became the first Indian to get an Olympic berth in the Greco-Roman category in last 12 years.
- With this he becomes third Indian wrestlers to qualify for 2016 Rio Olympics after Yogeshwra Dutt and Narsingh Yadav who had qualified in men’s freestyle category.