Nov 2011 Sports

Swiss tennis star Roger Federer defeated Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France in their singles final tennis match at the Barclay’s ATP World Tour Finals, in in London on 27 November 2011. The victory earned him a record sixth ATP World Tour Finals title. Federer has won 70 trophies in his career and has also equalled Lendl's record of 39 match wins in the end-of-season event.

Karnataka emerged the overall champion of the five-day 65th National aquatics meet that concluded on 20 November 2011 in Ranchi. Karnataka won men’s team championship (swimming) and the women’s team championship. Karnataka swimmers won a whopping 23 gold, 11 silver and nine bronze medals. Aaron D'Souza and Richa Mishra of Police were crowned the best swimmers of the meet. Both won five individual gold medals and broke three records. Karnataka emerged the overall champion by collecting 327 points. Maharashtra ended second with 176 points and Railways (143) third.

Hyderabad wicketkeeper Ibrahim Khaleel created a record for the most dismissals in a first-class cricket match during his side's victory over Assam in a Ranji Trophy Plate Group ‘B' contest. The 29-year-old Khaleel took seven catches in Assam's second innings to finish with 14 victims (11 catches, 3 stumping) in the match. The previous mark of 13 dismissals was set by Zimbabwe's Wayne James, who claimed 11 catches and effected two stumpings when playing for Matabeleland against Mashonaland in 1995-96.

India wins the title for both men and women in kabaddi world championship held in Bhatinda. Indian men’s team defeated Canada easily by 59-25 while women team beat U.K. The prize money for men was 20 million. The CM Punjab has announced government jobs for Indian women team for winning the trophy.

Jamaican sprint icon Usain Bolt and Australian hurdler Sally Pearson won ’Athlete of the Year' awards in Monaco. They were named athletes of the year by athletics' governing body, the IAAF.

Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova was voted WTA's Player of the Year. In 2011, she claimed her debut grand slam title. In the 2011 season, she steered the Czech Republic to Fed Cup glory. Kvitova also bagged the Most Improved Player award and the fair play prize, while fans voted her the Breakthrough Player of the Year.

Rohan Bopanna and Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi won their first ever ATP Masters tournament by beating Julien Benneteau and Nicolas Mahut 6-2, 6-4 in the final of Paris Masters on 13 November 2011.Bopanna and Qureshi had earlier won the Gerry Weber Open at Halle and the Stockholm Open.

McLaren Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain won the Abu Dhabi F1 Grand Prix at Yas Marina circuit in Abu. The victory at Abu Dhabi marked Hamilton’s third win of 2011 and 17th of his career.

Richa Mishra became the first woman to clock the best Indian time in 800m freestyle. On 17 November 2011, she won three gold medals at the 65th National aquatic championships (meet) at the Veer Budhu Bhagat Stadium. She became the first to win three gold medals of the meet and set two senior championship marks (800m & 200m freestyle).

Ace shooter and silver medal winner at Asiad-2010, Gagan Narang, inaugurated the annual sports and games meet of Hyderabad police at Shiv Kumar Lal police stadium.

Sachin Tendulkar became the first batsman to cross the 15000 run mark in test cricket when he reached 28 during his unbeaten 33 run knock on the third day of the first test match against West Indies at Feroz Shah Kotla. Tendulkar was playing his 300th innings in his 182nd Test match.

Three Pakistan cricketers and an agent were sentenced imprisonment in Britain for their involvement in one of the biggest fixing scandals. Former captain Salman Butt received two and a half years, Mohammad Asif was sentenced to 1 year, while 19-year-old Mohammad Amir will serve six months. Agent Mazhar Majeed was sentenced to 2 years, 8 months. Butt, Asif and Majeed are expected to begin their sentences at Wandsworth prison in south London, Amir is due to be sent to Feltham young offenders' institute in west London. The players were found guilty of conspiring with Majeed to bowl deliberate no-balls as part of a betting scam during the test match against England at Lord's in August 2010.The scandal is being described as the biggest fixing scandal in cricket since South Africa captain Hansie Cronje was banned for life in 2000 for taking bribes from bookmakers.

India's Rohan Bopanna and Pakistan's Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi won the Stockholm Open men's doubles title by defeating Brazilians Marcelo Melo and Bruno Soares 6-1, 6-3 on 23 October 2011. The Stockholm Open was top-seeded India-Pakistan pair's second ATP World Tour title of 2011. They had earlier won on grass at the Gerry Weber Open in Halle in June 2011.

Mary Ann Gomes of Airports Authority of India(AAI) emerged winner of the Velammal Educational Trust National Premier women's chess championship on 9 November 2011. Mary became the 17th player to win this event. She received a trophy and Rs.75000 from D.V. Sundar, vice-president, FIDE (World Chess Federation).Eesha Karavade finished second after defeating Padmini Rout.

Malaysian squash superstar Nicol David won a record sixth women's World Open title on 6 November 2011 by defeating England's Jenny Duncalf at Luxor Theatre, Rotterdam. With this victory, David surpassed Sarah Fitz-gerald's record five world titles. She won her first world title in Hong Kong in 2005.

Cricket personality M.S. Dhoni and Shooting personality Abhinav Bindra were commissioned as Honorary Lieutenant Colonels in the Territorial Army on 1 November 2011.The honour was bestowed upon Dhoni and Bindra for their outstanding contribution to sports and their commitment to the Indian Army on various occasions. They were pipped-in by Army chief General V K Singh. Dhoni was chosen to represent the Parachute Regiment of the Indian Army while Bindra joined a TA battalion of the Sikh Regiment.