The Sports Portal
Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, through casual or organized participation, improve one's physical health. Hundreds of sports exist, from those between single contestants, through to those with hundreds of simultaneous participants, either in teams or competing as individuals. In certain sports such as racing, many contestants may compete, simultaneously or consecutively, with one winner; in others, the contest (a match) is between two sides, each attempting to exceed the other. Some sports allow a "tie" or "draw", in which there is no single winner; others provide tie-breaking methods to ensure one winner and one loser. A number of contests may be arranged in a tournament producing a champion. Many sports leagues make an annual champion by arranging games in a regular sports season, followed in some cases by playoffs.
Sport is generally recognised as system of activities based in physical athleticism or physical dexterity, with major competitions such as the Olympic Games admitting only sports meeting this definition. Other organisations, such as the Council of Europe, preclude activities without a physical element from classification as sports. However, a number of competitive, but non-physical, activities claim recognition as mind sports. The International Olympic Committee (through ARISF) recognises both chess and bridge as bona fide sports, and SportAccord, the international sports federation association, recognises five non-physical sports: bridge, chess, draughts (checkers), Go and xiangqi, and limits the number of mind games which can be admitted as sports. (Full article...)
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Did you know...
- ...that West Ham Stadium in London holds the record for the lowest ever attendance of a football match in The Football League, despite its capacity of 120,000?
- ...that cyclist Gerald Ciolek (pictured) became the youngest ever German National Cycling Champion, aged just 18 in 2005?
- ...that Thoroughbred racehorse Arazi's victory over Bertrando has been described as the single-most spectacular performance in Breeders' Cup history?
- ...that Welsh international footballer Joe Davies was suspended by Sheffield United for "lodging in a public house"?
- ...that Buzz Holmstrom was the first person to row alone all the way down the Colorado River from Green River, Wyoming to the Boulder Dam?
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David is the first squash player to have won the World Junior title twice; in 1999 and 2001 under the tutelage of Richard Glanfield. She remained the only female squash player to have achieved this, until Raneem El Weleily emulated David's feat by winning her second World Junior Championship in 2007. David joined WISPA and turned professional in 2000 when she won her first WISPA title, after only a month in the tour. The victory came in February, when she defeated Salma Shabana in the final of the Savcor Finnish Open. On 7 June 2008, David was honoured with the Order of Merit (Darjah Bakti) or D.B. in conjunction with the birthday of the His Majesty Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin. She was the first recipient of the award which was established on 26 June 1975. David was also invited to carry the Olympic torch for Malaysia during the build up to the Athens Olympics in 2004 and being appointed as UNDP National Goodwill Ambassador for Malaysia.
Considered by some to be one of the greatest women's squash player of all time, David's other notable achievements include the Asian Squash Championship, which she won a record eight times (in 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010 and 2011). She also held a 13-month, 51-match winning streak, from March 2006 until April 2007, when she finally lost to Natalie Grinham in the final of the 2007 Seoul Open. David has also obtained the WSA Player of the Year on seven occasions, from 2005 until 2010 and 2012. (Full article...)
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Founded in 1899 by a group of Swiss, English and Catalan footballers led by Joan Gamper, the club has become a symbol of Catalan culture and Catalanism, hence the motto "Més que un club" (More than a club). Unlike many other football clubs, the supporters own and operate Barcelona. It is the world's second-richest football club in terms of revenue, with an annual turnover of €398 million. The club has a long-standing rivalry with Real Madrid; matches between the two teams are referred to as "El Clásico".
The club has won 21 La Liga, 26 Copa del Rey, 10 Supercopa de España, 3 Copa Eva Duarte, and 2 Copa de la Liga trophies, as well as being the record holder for the latter four competitions. In international club football Barcelona have won four UEFA Champions League, a record four UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, four UEFA Super Cup, a record three Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, and a record two FIFA Club World Cup trophies. Barcelona is also the only European club to have played continental football every season since 1955, and one of three clubs never to have been relegated from La Liga, along with Athletic Bilbao and Real Madrid. In 2009, Barcelona became the first Spanish club to win the treble consisting of La Liga, Copa del Rey, and the Champions League. That same year, it also became the first football club ever to win six out of six competitions in a single year, thus completing the sextuple, comprising the aforementioned treble and the Spanish Super Cup, UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup. (Full article...)
In this month
- June 6, 1946 – The Basketball Association of America, a predecessor to the National Basketball Association, is founded
- June 14, 1900 – The only game of Basque pelota (pictured) ever played in the Olympics takes place at the 1900 Summer Olympics
- June 15, 1909 – The international governing body of cricket, the International Cricket Council, is founded
- June 20, 1904 – Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, the federation in charge of Formula One and World Rally Championship, is founded
- June 23, 1894 – Pierre, Baron de Coubertin founds the International Olympic Committee, the organizers of the Olympic Games and Youth Olympic Games
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