1. GS Lakshmi - first woman on ICC international panel of match referees

 

• India`s G.S. Lakshmi has become the first woman to be appointed to ICC`s international panel of match referees and will be eligible to officiate in international games with immediate effect. 

• Claire Polosak had become the first ever woman umpire to stand in a men`s ODI, earlier this month.

• Lakshmi, 51, who first officiated as a match referee in domestic women`s cricket in 2008-09, has overseen three women`s ODI matches and three women`s T20 International matches.

 

2. Shagun best-placed Indian in women`s trap at Changwon Shotgun WC

 

• Shagun Chowdhary shot 65 out of 75 to emerge the best-placed Indian at 34th position after day one of the Women`s Trapshooting qualifiers at the International Shooting Sport Federation World Cup Shotgun in Changwon, Korea. 

• Shagun shot rounds of 21, 21 and 23 to lie at 34th spot with France`s Carole Cormenier and China`s Wang Xiaojing leading the 59-strong field with scores of 72 each at the year`s third Shotgun World Cup stage.

• Rajeshwari Kumari, the second Indian in the field on the day, shot 58 to be at 56th position with two more rounds of qualifying remaining. 

 

3. India lose to Australia in 4th hockey match of Down Under tour

 

• In Hockey, the Indian men`s team were blanked 0-4 by World No. 2 Australia in Perth in the fourth match of the Tour Down Under. 

• World No. 5 India remained unbeaten in their first three matches of the tour. 

• India will again play Australia in their fifth and last match of the tour.

 

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 1. FIFA announces two new award categories to promote women’s football globally

 

• Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) has introduced two new award categories,off Women’s goalkeeper of the year and a women’s team of the year, to promote women’s football across the globe.

• These additions means and both men and women will be up for receiving accolades in the same categories at the FIFA Best ceremony 2019 in Milan.

• The Best FIFA Football Awards 2019 ceremony will take place on 23 September 2019 at TeatroallaScala, Milan, Italy.

• Awards will be given out in 11 categories:The Best FIFA Men’s Player,The Best FIFA Women’s Player,The Best FIFA Men’s Coach,The Best FIFA Women’s Coach,The Best FIFA Men’s Goalkeeper,The Best FIFA Women’s Goalkeeper,FIFA Pro Men’s World 11,FIFA Pro Women’s World 11,The FIFA PuskasAward,The FIFA Fair Play Award,The FIFA Fan Award.

 

2. Roger Federer climbs to third in men`s rankings

 

• Former world number one Roger Federer has returned to third in the ATP Men`s rankings released, replacing Alexander Zverev after the reigning champion was knocked out of the Munich Open at the quarter-finals stage.  

• Federer, who has won a record 20 Grand Slams, is making his return to clay at the Madrid Open this week after three years` absence.

• Novak Djokovic remains first ahead of Rafael Nadal to mark the Serb`s 250th week as world number one, a record only bettered on four occasions in the past.

• Japan`s Naomi Osaka remained atop of WTA Women`s rankings, ahead of Czech Petra Kvitova and Romanian Simona Halep.

• The largely unchanged top 20 saw Belgian Elise Mertens drop two places to 20th after being knocked out of the first round of the Madrid Open by Slovakia`s Anna Karolina Schmiedlova, 103rd in the world.

 

3. Mumbai beat Chennai by one run to win record 4th IPL title

 

• Mumbai Indians became IPL champions for the fourth time after defeating Chennai Super Kings by one run in a thrilling final in Hyderabad last night. 

• Last ball dismissal of Shardul Thakur by paceman Lasith Malinga registered final win for Mumbai over Chennai. Chasing a victory target of 150 set by Mumbai, Chennai Super Kings were restricted to 148 for 7 in stipulated 20 overs. 

• Earlier, put into bat, Mumbai made 149 for 8 in stipulated 20 overs. Kieron Pollard top-scored with his unbeaten 41-run knock while Opener Quinton de Kock scored 29.

• Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni became the most successful wicket-keeper in the history of IPL by taking his dismissals tally to 132, surpassing his India teammate Dinesh Karthik.

 

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 1. Azerbaijan Grand Prix

 

• Valtteri Bottas won the Azerbaijan Grand Prix to retake the Formula One world championship lead from teammate Lewis Hamilton.

• Mercedes set an all-time record of four consecutive one-twos at the start of a season.

• Sebastian Vettel was on able to score the third position for Ferrari.

• The 2019 Azerbaijan Grand Prix (formally known as the Formula 1 SOCAR Azerbaijan Grand Prix 2019) was a Formula One motor race that took place on 28 April 2019 at the Baku City Circuit in Baku, Azerbaijan.

• The race was the fourth round of the 2019 Formula One World Championship, and marked the third time that the Azerbaijan Grand Prix had been run as a round of the Formula One World Championship.

 

2. China`s Ma Long captures the third world title

 

• China`s Ma Long captured a third ITTF-World table tennis championships completing a dream comeback after six months on the sidelines with a knee injury.

• The 30-year-old, nicknamed the `Dragon`, defeated Sweden`s Mattias Falck 4-1 in the final.

• Ma Long now joins the elite club of male paddlers, who have won the Worlds singles for three consecutive times: Victor Barna and China’s Zhuang Zedong being the others.

• Ma Long, current World No. 11, won the Worlds crown in 2015 (Suzhou), 2017 (Dusseldorf) and 2019 at Budapest.

 

3. Bajrang Punia won gold at Ali Aliev Tournament 2019

 

• A 25-year old, Bajrang Punia won a gold medal at Ali Aliev Tournament, held at Kaspiysk in Dagestan, Russia. He defeated Russian wrestler Viktor Rassadin in 65-kg category by 13-8. This was his second gold medal in the last 10 days. Last week, Punia won a gold medal in the 65-kg category at the Asian Championship in Xi’an, China.

• Bajrang Punia won prize money of around USD 7,700. He currently holds the world No. 1 rank in the 65kg freestyle category.

• Continuing his winning spree, star Indian wrestler Bajrang Punia pocketed another gold medal at the Ali Aliev invitational tournament in Dagestan, Russia .

• Bajrang, currently the world No. 1 in the 65kg freestyle category, made a stunning comeback in the final affair to defeat local favourite Viktor Rassadin 13-8.

• Earlier on April 23, Bajrang had won a gold in the same category, beating Kazakhstan`s Sayatbek Okassov 12-7 in the final of the Asian Wrestling Championships in China. Bajrang will now head to the United States to participate in the `Beat the Streets` competition at the Madison Square Garden, New York.

 

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