June 2012 Sports

German Formula One (F1) racer Sebastian Vettel of Red bull won European Grand Pix 2012 title at Valencia circuit on 24 June 2012. Previously,he won the World Championship in 2012 and 2011.

Indian grand master Koneru Humpy won FIDE womens Grand Pre chess title, held in kazan, Russia on 22 june.

Pakistani Cricket player Danish Kaneria was banned by England and Wales Cricket Board on 21 June 2012. He was given a lifetime ban because he was found guilty for corruption. He is the third Pakistani player who is banned because of match fixing. In addition, in the year 2000 Salim Malik and Ata-ur-rehman were banned for lifetime from Cricket because of match-fixing. Moreover, Salman Butt, Mohammad Aamer and Mohammad Asif were banned by the International Cricket Council and jailed by the court of United Kingdom in the year 2010 for fixing specific parts of a Test match.

Web Simpson of U.S.A won the U.S Open Golf tournament on 18 June by defeating Michel Thomson.

Indian badminton player Saina Nehwal won her third Indonesia Open Super Series title after beating China's Xuerui Li in Jakarta on 17 June 2012. With this victory, the fifth seed, Saina took the total number of her title in the calendar year 2012 to 3. The Olympic-bound shuttler had won the Thailand Open on 9 June 2012. 22-year-old Saina had earlier claimed the Indonesia Open title in 2009 and 2010.

Harmeet Desai won under- 21 Men’s gold medal in Brazil Open Table Tennis tournament on 17 June 2012. He had defeated Belgian Cedric Nuytin by 4-2.

Tejaswini Mule won Silver medal at International Junior Shooting Championship in Suhl, Germany on 17 June 2012. She won the silver medal in the 50-metre rifle prone women’s event. The gold medal was won by Jolyn Beer of Germany and Orth won bronze medal.

Indian Criket Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni was appointed as a brand ambassador of Nepal Cricket Association; Nepal on 17 June 2012.The announcement was made by Posta Bahadur Bogati, Minister for Tourism and Civil Aviation of Nepal. Dhoni will promote and develop cricket in Nepal. Dhoni also advised Nepal cricket officials to get permission from International Cricket Council to construct a stadium.

Rafael Nadal of spain on 11 June 2012 defeated Serbian Novak Djokovic to clinch French Open Singles Title 2012. With this victory, the Spaniard also surpassed the Legend Bjorn Borg’s 6 French Open title feat. The French Open title marked his 11th Gand Slam in his career. While, Maria Sharapova won French Open 2012 on 9 June 2012. She defeated Saria Erani from Italy by 6-3 and 6-2. She won French open for the first time in her career. French open was held at Rolland Garros in Paris. Previously, Sharapova was the winner of Wimbledon in 2004, the US Open in 2006 and the Australian Open in 2008.

Indian Badminton player Saina Nehwal won her 16th career title as she defeated Thailand's Ratchanok Inathon in the Thailand Open Grand title in Bangkok on 10 June 2012. The Thailand Open Grand Prix is Saina’s second title in the year 2012. Earlier, in April 2012 she had won the Swiss Open Title. Saina had reached the women singles quarterfinals round at the Beijing Olympics in 2008, which made her the first Indian woman shuttler to reach the singles quarterfinals at the Olympics. She is also the first Indian to win the World Junior Badminton Championships. Saina Nehwal created a history on 21 June 2009, when she became the first Indian to win a Super Series tournament, by clinching the Indonesia Open Title in Jakarta.

All-rounder Yusuf Pathan, a member of the World Cup winning cricket team, has finally been presented the Gujarat government's Eklavya Award, almost 14 months after it was announced.The award was also presented to his teammate and fellow Gujarati, Munaf Patel, at his residence in Bharuch. CM Narendra Modi had announced the awards for Munaf and Yusuf Pathan in April 2011.

New Zealand beat Argentina 1-0 to win Sultan Azlan Shah Cup hockey tournament at Ipoh, Malaysia on 3 June 2012. India by defeating Britain 3-1 got the third position. Sardar Singh of India was awarded with the trophy of the Best Player of Tournament.

Mahesh Bhupathi and Sania Mirza on 7 June 2012 won their second Grand Slam title together and first French Open trophy after beating Santiago Gonzalez of Mexico and Klaudia Jans Ignacik of Poland in the mixed doubles final, in Paris. It is the second career Grand Slam title for Sania, while the 12th grand slam trophy for Bhupathi, who now has won eight mixed doubles trophies. Sania and Bhupathi had won the 2009 Australia Open and it is their first Grand Slam title since then.