Recap 2018: Highs and lows in March

From Grandmaster Musunuri Lalith Babu beating Magnus Carlsen to the Indian men's hockey team finishing fifth in the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup, we track the highs and lows of March 2018.

Viswanathan Anand won the Tal Memorial rapid chess title in Moscow.

HIGHS

2 March - Grandmaster Musunuri Lalith Babu beats world champion Magnus Carlsen in an online chess tournament – PROChessLeague.

4 March - Meerut-based shooter Shahzar Rizvi clinched gold in the ISSF World Cup with a world record score, while Jitu Rai grabbed bronze in the men's 10m air pistol. India collected a third medal of the day when Mehuli Ghosh shot 228.4 to win bronze in the women's 10m air rifle event.

5 March – Viswanathan Anand wins the Tal Memorial rapid chess title in Moscow after an easy final round draw against Boris Gelfand of Israel.

Grandmaster Musunuri Lalith Babu defeated world champion Magnus Carlsen.

8 March - William Opoku Asiedu's goal in the 16th minute against Churchill Brothers wins Minerva Punjab its maiden I-League title in its final league match.

9 March – India’s 23-year old shooter Anjum Moudgil wins the silver medal in the women’s rifle 3-position event in the shooting World Cup in Guadalajara, Mexico.

Anjum Moudgil had a fine campaign in the shooting World Cup.

 

24 March – Manu Bhaker, 16, wins gold medals in the individual and team 10m Air Pistol in the ISSF Junior World Cup shooting in Sydney.

24 March –Afghanistan qualifies for the 2019 ICC World Cup with a five-wicket win over Ireland in the WC Qualifiers. Captain Asghar Stanikzai, who was recovering from a surgery, scored 39 off 29 balls to guide his team to the victory.

26 March – Dustin Johnson becomes only golfer to win all four World Golf Championships—HSBC Champions, Bridgestone Invitational, Mexico Championship, Dell Technologies Match Play.

31 March – Sloane Stephens wins the Miami Open 2018 with a 7-6(7-5), 6-1 win over Jelena Ostapenko.

LOWS

3 March - Leander Paes had to be content with a runners-up finish at the Dubai Tennis Championships with American partner Jamie Cerratani.

Leander Paes finished as runners-up in the Dubai Tennis Championships with American partner Jamie Cerratani.

 

10 March - India's Sharath Kamal and G. Sathiyan lose in the men's singles pre-quarterfinals of the Qatar Open table tennis championships.

10 March - The Indian men's hockey team finished fifth in the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup by beating Ireland 4-1 in Ipoh.

17 March – England batsman Kevin Pietersen announces retirement.

28 March – Australia captain Steve Smith alongside Vice-Captain David Warner banned for a year from cricket for ball tampering in the Test match against South Africa in Capetown.

Steve Smith breaks down after the Australian captain was found guilty in match-fixing.

 

Australia opening batsman Cameron Bancroft banned for nine months for aiding his captain by concealing a piece of sandpaper that was used for doctoring the condition of the ball.