Today, we talk about relevance of June 1 in sports. We bring you few birthdays and stories of those born today, few wins that impacted the world of sports, or just that sport. There have been more than few lacs of Olympians, add that to the number of sport which were never added to Olympic program. Here, we bring you few stories related to June 1 in sports.
Karnam Malleswari was Born
Former Indian Weightlifter Karnam Malleswari was born on June 1, 1975 in Andhra Pradesh. The weightlifter would go on to win many accolades for India and eventually become the first Indian female to win an Olympic Medal. A key figure in the development of women in sports in India, she achieved this at Sydney Olympics in 2000. Appearing in 69 kg weight category for India, she lifted a total of 240 kg weight (110 kg in Snatch and 130 kg in Clean & Jerk) to win the Bronze medal of that weight category.
Apart from her Olympic medal, she has also won 2 World Championships gold & 2 World Championships bronze, two Asian games silver. Malleswari is a Padma Shri recipient and Khel Ratna awardee for her achievements in sports.
In Tennis: 50 Years of Margaret Court’s Calendar Grand Slam
Ashok Kumar was Born
Ashok Kumar or Ashok Dhyan Chand as people would call him is the son of legendary Indian Hockey player, Dhyan Chand. A Hockey marvel himself, Ashok Kumar was born on June 1, 1950. He would go on to win the Munich Olympics Bronze medal in field hockey. A key member of Indian Squad of 70s, he would score the World Cup winning goal for India at the FIH World Cup 1975. This is the only title win India achieved in Field Hockey in the World Cup.
Before the gold medal win at the world cup, Indian team had also won Bronze in 1971 & Silver in 1973. In addition to his team’s Olympics & World Cup feats, he won thrice the Asian Games Silver in 1970-78.
Justine Henin was Born
Former Belgian Tennis star Justine Henin was born on June 1, 1982. She would go on to win 7 grand slams in women’s singles and stay at World no. 1 rankings for 117 weeks. Her grand slams included 1 Australian Open title, four French Open titles and two US Open titles. The Belgian would also win the Women’s Singles gold medal at the Athens 2004 Summer Olympics in her marvelous career.
In Cricket: 5 Memorable Individual Performances in Cricket World Cup
Rajasthan Royals win IPL 1
June 1 in sports also relates to two IPL finals which we’ll talk about now. In 2008, in the inaugural season of Indian Premier League, Rajasthan Royals & Chennai Super Kings played the finale at DY Patil Stadium Mumbai. Batting First, Chennai Super Kings scored 163 on the loss of 5 wickets in their 20 overs with Suresh Raina scoring 43 off 30 & Parthiv Patel scoring 38 off 33. Yusuf Pathan took 3 wickets for Rajasthan based franchise.
Rajasthan Royals chased down the target in a thrilling contest that went over only on last ball of the match. Yusuf Pathan scored 56 off 39 balls and Shane Watson scored 28 off 19 balls. Albie Morkel & Muttiah Muralitharan scalped 2-each for the Chennai based franchise.
KKR win IPL 7
This is the second IPL final that June 1 in sports also relates to. In 2014, in the seventh season of Indian Premier League, Kolkata Knight Riders & Kings XI Punjab played the finale at M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru. Batting First, Punjab scored 199 on the loss of 4 wickets in their 20 overs with Wriddhiman Saha scoring 115 not out off 55 & Manan Vohra scoring 67 off 52. Piyush Chawla took 2 wickets for Kolkata based franchise.
In Hockey: Olympic Gold Medal in 1928
Kolkata Knight Riders chased down the target in a thrilling contest that went over only on third ball of the last over. Manish Pandey scored 94 off 50 balls and Yusuf Pathan scored 36 off 22 balls. Karanveer Singh scalped 4 for the Punjab franchise.
This is all we have for June 1 in sports. Don’t forget to write down your comments.
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