India Sports

March 2011 Sports News

International Sports Events in March 2011



BADMINTON
All-England Championship, 2011
World number one Wang Shixian of China won the women's singles title by defeating Eriko Hirose of Japan who became the first Japanese to reach the final since 1979.

Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia successfully defended his All-England Open men's singles title when he beat his greatest rival, Lin Dan, the Olympic champion from China, in the final.

Mathias Boe and Carsten Mogensen of Denmark recovered from a game and 11-14 down to beat Koo Kien Keat and Tan Boon Heong, the former world number one pair from Malaysia, to win the men's doubles title.

China's Yu Yang, with a new partner, Wang Xiaoli overwhelmed Mizuki Fujii and Reika Kakiiwa of Japan to retain the women's doubles title.

No Thai player had reached an All-England final for almost 50 years; Sudket Prapakamol and Saralee Thoungthongkam found this piece of history hard to live up to in the mixed doubles as well when they were beaten by Xu Chen and Ma Jin, which gave China its third title.

SQUASH
WSF World Team Championship
Egypt justified their billing as top seeds in beating second seeds England in final of the World Squash Federation mixed team championship to win the $50,000 top prize at the Express Avenue Mall in Chennai, India. The win is the latest success in Egypt's rapidly-growing status in world squash. Following recent success in the Men's World Team Championship, the Men's World Junior Individual Championship, and Men's & Women's World Junior Team Championships, the World Cup is the fifth major world title currently held by the nation.

India Sports News in March 2011



CRICKET
ICC World Cup 2011
India scored 277 for four off 48.2 overs to win the ICC World Cup 2011 by six wickets, beating a valiant Sri Lanka, whose 274 for six was scripted by one of the finest centuries of ODI cricket by Mahela Jayawardene.

India won the World Cup after a gap of 28 years. India also became the first host-country to win the tournament. Sri Lanka had won the World Cup as co-hosts in 1996 but the final was held in Lahore, Pakistan.

India found its own heroes, a surprising one in Gautam Gambhir, a much-awaited one in captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, and in Virat Kohli.

Yuvraj Singh, who strode in to strike some imperious blows, was declared Man of the Series, while Dhoni was declared Man of the Match.

Zaheer Khan became the joint highest wicket taker of the World Cup along with Shahid Afridi of Pakistan. Both ended with a tally of 21 wickets each.

Tilakratne Dilshan of Sri Lanka became the highest run getter of the tournament, scoring 500 runs.

Earlier, India had defeated Pakistan in the semi-final match played at Mohali. Sri Lanka defeated New Zealand in the semi-final played in Colombo.

In quarter-finals, India defeated Australia for the first time in World Cup since 1987. It was also the first time since 1992 that Australia did not figure in the World Cup final. It was the sixth consecutive time that an Asian team featured in the final.

HOCKEY
All-India Sahibzada Ajit Singh Championship
Punjab and Sind Bank (PSB), Jalandhar, survived many anxious moments against Punjab National Bank (PNB), Delhi, before winning 2-1 and emerging champions in the men's section.

In the women's section, Rail Coach Factory (RCF), Kapurthala, proved too good for Sonepat XI whom they blanked 3-0 to lift the Nirpjit Kaur Gill Memorial Trophy.

BADMINTON
Saina wins Swiss Open
Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal notched up her first title of the year, clinching the Swiss Open Grand Prix Gold trophy

TENNIS
Paes-Bhupathi clinch World No. 1 Title
Third-seeded Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi won their second title of the season by clinching the Sony Ericsson Open to become number one in the ATP World Tour Doubles Team rankings. They had earlier won the Chennai Open at the start of the season.

Last Updated on 7/9/2012