1. IPL 2019 auction takes place in Jaipur
• Architect turned cricketer Varun Chakravarthy of Tamil Nadu and Jaydev Unadkat were bought for a whopping 8.4 crore rupees each.
• While Rajasthan Royals bought Unadkat, Chakravarthy joins Kings Eleven Punjab.
• Varun is a mystery spinner having as many as seven variations up his sleeve.
• Sam Curran was bought by Kings Eleven for 7.2 crores. Axar Patel, Mohit Sharma and Shivam Dube were bought for 5 crores each. Bengal cricketer, Prayas Ray Barman became the youngest millionaire at the tender age of 15.
• Royal Challengers Bangalore roped in the youngster for 1.5 Crore rupees.
• Yuvraj Singh was bought by Mumbai Indians for one crore rupees.
• Many prominent cricketers, including Cheteshwar Pujara, Morne Morkel, Hashim Amla and Angelo Mathews remained unsold when reports last came in.
2. 37th Senior National Rowing Championship begins in Pune
• The 37th Senior National Rowing Championship will start in the Army Rowing Node in Pune from 17 December.
• Around 500 rowers and coaches from various rowing associations` across the country will take part in the Championship which will run up to 22nd of this month.
• The Rowers for the World Championships-2019 will be selected from this event. World Championship -2019 is the first qualifying Championship for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
3. Belgium wins Hockey World Cup 2018 Title
• Belgium Hockey team won their first ever Word cup title on 16th December 2018 after they defeated The Netherlands.
• Belgium, which also won a silver medal in Rio Olympics 2016, made history by beating the opponents by 3-2 in the penalty shoot-out after finals ended without any goal.
• The Hockey World Cup 2018 was held at Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneshwar, Odisha from 28 November to 16 December 2018. It was the 14th edition of the cup.
• Belgium finished first while India came at sixth place in the Hockey World Cup 2018.
4. Sports Minister Rajyavardhan Rathore flags off special marathon `Soldierathon` in New Delhi
• On the occasion of Vijay Diwas, Sports Minister Col Rajyavardhan Rathore flagged off a special marathon `Soldierathon` at JLN Stadium in New Delhi.
• The marathon was organised in the honour of Martyrs and wounded Soldiers. Wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt and former cricketer Gautam Gambhir were also present on the occasion.
• With over 12 thousand participants, the marathon was held in five categories.
• The proceeds from the event will be donated to Indian Army’s Artificial Limb Centre for wounded soldiers to help them acquire state-of-the-art prosthesis at the Paraplegic Rehabilitation Centre.
5. BWF Rankings: PV Sindhu jumps three spots
• Olympic silver medallist PV Sindhu has climbed 3 spots to Number 3 in the latest world badminton rankings.
• She moved up after claiming a 21-19, 21-17 win against Nozomi Okuhara of Japan in last week’s BWF World Tour Finals in Guangzhou, China, for her first title of the year.
• Her compatriot Sameer Verma, who had reached men`s singles semi-finals at this prestigious tournament, also moved up reaching a career-high No. 12.
• Among other established shuttlers from India, Saina Nehwal remains at the ninth position. Kidambi Srikanth is still eighth while HS Prannoy has moved one place to 20th and Sai Praneeth has risen one rung to 22nd.
6. WV Raman appointed India women`s team coach
• Former India opener, W. V. Raman has been appointed the new coach of the Indian women`s cricket team.
• The BCCI said in a statement in Mumbai yesterday that the selection of 53-year-old Raman was based on recommendations of the ad-hoc committee comprising Mr Kapil Dev, Mr Anshuman Gaekwad and Ms Shantha Rangaswamy.
• He was among 28 candidates to bag the high-profile job. Raman`s first assignment is the tour of New Zealand beginning next month.
• Raman is a vastly-experienced coach having been in charge of Tamil Nadu and India Under-19 teams in the past. Raman has represented India in 11 Tests and 27 ODIs.