Sports News (July)

1. The International Cricket Council (ICC) announc­es likelihood of four-day Tests as part of a series of innova­tions to keep the oldest form of the sport exciting to spec­tators in the wake of Twenty 20's growing popularity.

2. Jordan retains the Vinodini Goenka Trophy for the women's team event beating Pakistan by 80-44 IMPs in the final of the 15th BFAME bridge championships in Amman.
Pakistani cricket authorities fine Mohammad Asif one million rupees over the fast bowler's 19-day detention at Dubai airport for alleged drug possession.

3. Ravi Kumar wins gold in the boys' 800m sprint in the inaugural Asian Youth Games in Singapore. In the girls' 800m run, Namita Kabat bags gold. Aaron Agnel D'souza wins the third gold of the day in the boys' 200m freestyle swimming.
Grandmaster P. Magesh Chandran tops a four way tie to win the Montcada International Open chess tournament at Montcada, Spain.

4. Yuki Bhambri makes it a hat-trick of titles at home as he beats Rohan Gajjar 6-2, 7-6(6) in the final of the Central Bank $15,000 ITF men's Futures tennis tourna­ment in New Delhi.
For the fifth consecutive time, the Indian-team wins the Zakaria Adamjee Trophy for the Bridge Federa­tion of Asia and Middle East (BFAME) championship played once in two years by beating traditional rival Pakistan.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni plays a captain's knock as India battles inclement weather to defeat the West Indies by six wickets via the Duckworth-Lewis method and take an unassailable 2-1 lead in the four-match ODI series at the Beausejour Stadium in Gros Islet, St. Lucia. Scores : West Indies 186 for 7 and India 159 for 4
Serena Williams ends Venus Williams' reign at Wimbledon, defeating her sister 7- 6( 3), 6- 2 in final, capturing her third Wimbledon singles crown and depriv­ing Venus, a five- time champion, of a hat- trick.
Serena Williams wins a pair of Grand Slam titles at Wimbledon, when she teams with big sister Venus to beat Rennae Stubbs and Samantha Stosur of Australia 7-6(4), 6-4.

5. Sayali Gokhale keeps a tactical leash on Neha Pan­dit's explosive stroke play, to carve out a 21-19, 21-15 win at the second Tata Open All India badminton tournament in Mumbai. Chetan Anand wins the men's title clash.
Speed NK Racing's Ashwin Sundar completes a grand double by winning the second race of the Formula Rolon class in the third round of the J K Tyre National rac­ing championship at the Kari Motor Speedway in Chettipalayam, near Coimbatore.
India wins the one-day series against the West Indies 2-1 after the fourth and final match is abandoned due to heavy rain in Gros Islet.
Roger Federer becomes the most successful Grand Slam champion of all time when he beats Andy Roddick in the men's singles final of the 123rd Wimbledon championships.

6. Kerala weight lifter M. Shyamlal and Tamil Nadu bodybuilder K. Gopinath are banned for two years by the Anti-Doping Disciplinary Panel for testing positive for ste­roids in National-level meets in 2009.

7. Aswin Jayaram and Padmini Rout complete India's golden 'double' for the third successive year by claiming the honours in the Asian junior chess championship at Colombo.
French tennis player Mathieu Montcourt dies in Paris.
Sri Lanka's bowlers engineer a dramatic Pakistan batting collapse to clinch a 50-run victory on the fourth day of the opening Test in Galle. Left-arm spinner Rangana Herath is adjudged "Man of the Match." Scores : Sri Lanka 292 & 217 and Pakistan 342 & 117
Jamaican Usain Bolt runs the fourth fastest 200 metre race ever in 19.59 seconds in sinking temperatures and heavy rainfall at the Lausanne Grand Prix meet in Switzerland.

8. Aaron Peirsol reclaims his world record in the 100m backstroke at the United States championships in Indianapolis, clocking 51.94 seconds, becoming the first person ever to break the 52-second barrier. He bettered Aschwin Wildeboer Faber's mark of 52.38.

9. The International Cricket Council (ICC) inducts three Ashes heroes - Tom Graveney and Peter May of England and Ian Chappell of Australia - into its Cricket Hall of Fame.Michael Phelps breaks the 100m butterfly world record in Indianapolis, winning the United States champi­onships race in 50.22sec - 18-hundredths of a second quick­er than the previous record of 50.40 set by compatriot Ian Crocker at the 2005 World Championships in Montreal.

10. Rudi Koertzen makes history by becoming the first umpire to stand in 200 One-Day Internationals by officiating in the second ODI between Ireland and Kenya in Dublin.
Squash ace Joshna Chinappa wins the third WISPA title of her career when she defeats home favourite Low Wee Wern in the final of the $ 16,000 NSC series event in Kuala Lumpur.
Vishnu Vardhan defeats Rohan Gajjar 6-4, 6-2 in the final of the Central Bank $15,000 ITF men's Futures tennis tournament at the DLTA Complex in New Delhi.

11. Team Meco Racing's Vishnu Prasad staves off a stiff challenge from Red Rooster Racing's Mohit Ahuja to win the senior class race in the second round of the JK Tyre Rotax National karting championship at the Kari Mo­tor Speedway in Coimbatore.
Mark Webber secures his maiden Formula One vic­tory - and Australia's first since 1981 - when he leads team­mate Sebastian Vettel home in a triumphant one-two for the Red Bull team in German Grand Prix in Nurburgring.England tailenders James Anderson and Monty Panesar deny Australia victory in the first Ashes Test with a heroic unbeaten last-wicket stand in Cardiff. Scores: England 435 & 252 and Australia 252 for 9 & 674 for 6

12. Mahmudullah completes a memorable debut Test, when he cruelly exposes West Indies' frailty to spin, and bowls Bangladesh to a historic 95-run victory in the open­ing Test in Kingstown. Scores : Bangladesh 238 & 345 and West Indies 307 & 181Sri Lanka clinches its first home series win over Pakistan after the temperamental tourists suffer a spec­tacular collapse in the second Test in Colombo. Scores : Pakistan 90 & 320 and Sri Lanka 240 & 171.

13. England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff announces retirement from Test cricket after the Ashes series against Australia because of his ongoing struggle with injuries.

14. Former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly adds an­other feather to his cap when he is awarded an honorary fellowship by the University of Central Lancashire.