1944 in sports

1944 in sports describes the year's events in world sport.

Note — many sporting events did not take place because of World War II

American football

Green Bay Packers defeats the New York Giants in New York City 30-7 for the NFL title
Army Cadets – college football national championship

Association football

La Liga won by Valencia CF
German football championship won by Dresdner SC
Serie A – not held due to the conquest of Italy.^[a]
Primeira Liga won by Sporting CP
There is no major football competition in England, Scotland or France due to World War II. In England, several regional leagues are played but statistics from these are not counted in players’ figures.

Australian rules football

Victorian Football League
- July 29: North Melbourne 11.21 (87) pip Richmond 14.2 (86) in the only VFL/AFL match where the winning team scored three fewer goals than the loser.^[1]
- September 30: Fitzroy wins the 48th VFL Premiership defeating Richmond 9.12 (66) to 7.9 (51) in the Grand Final.

Baseball

May 7 – Chucho Ramos made his major league debut as first baseman and outfielder with the Cincinnati Reds. He was the third baseball player from Venezuela to play Major League Baseball.
June 10 – 15-year-old Joe Nuxhall becomes the youngest baseball player to pitch a game in major league history.
World Series – St. Louis Cardinals defeats St. Louis Browns, 4 games to 2.
Negro World Series – Homestead Grays defeat Birmingham Black Barons, 4 games to 1.
Hall of Fame election – Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis is elected by the Hall of Fame Committee in December following his death the previous month. The long-delayed selection of at least 10 players from the 19th century is promised the following year.

Basketball

NBL Championship

Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons win three games to none over the Sheboygan Redskins

Boxing

August 4 – the "War Bonds Fight". $36m is raised to fund the war effort as Beau Jack wins a ten round decision over arch-rival Bob Montgomery at New York's Madison Square Garden. A few weeks later, they were both drafted on the same day by the U.S. Army.

Cricket

Events

There is no first-class cricket in England, Australia or South Africa due to World War II. A few first-class matches are played in the West Indies and New Zealand but are not part of any official competition.

India

Ranji Trophy – Western India beat Bengal by an innings and 23 runs.
Bombay Pentangular – Muslims

Cycling

Tour de France

not contested due to World War II

Giro d'Italia

not contested due to World War II

Figure skating

World Figure Skating Championships

not contested due to World War II

Golf

Men’s professional

Masters Tournament – not played due to World War II
U.S. Open – not played due to World War II
British Open – not played due to World War II
PGA Championship – Bob Hamilton

Men’s amateur

British Amateur – not played due to World War II
U.S. Amateur – not played due to World War II

Women’s professional

Women's Western Open – Babe Zaharias
Titleholders Championship – not played due to World War II

Horse racing

Steeplechases

Cheltenham Gold Cup – not held due to World War II
Grand National – not held due to World War II

Hurdle races

Champion Hurdle – not held due to World War II

Flat races

Australia – Melbourne Cup won by Sirius^[b]^[2]
Canada – Queen's Plate won by Acara
France – Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe won by Ardan^[c]
Ireland – Irish Derby Stakes won by Slide On
English Triple Crown Races:
1. 2,000 Guineas Stakes – Garden Path
2. Epsom Derby – Ocean Swell
3. St. Leger Stakes – Tehran
United States Triple Crown Races:
1. Kentucky Derby – Pensive
2. Preakness Stakes – Pensive
3. Belmont Stakes – Bounding Home

Ice hockey

Stanley Cup – Montreal Canadiens sweep the Chicago Black Hawks in four straight games.

Motor racing

Events

No major races are held anywhere worldwide due to World War II

Olympic Games

1944 Winter Olympics

The 1944 Winter Olympics, due to take place at Cortina d'Ampezzo, are cancelled due to World War II

1944 Summer Olympics

The 1944 Summer Olympics, due to take place at London, are cancelled due to World War II

Rowing

The Boat Race

Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race is not contested due to World War II

Rugby union

Five Nations Championship series is not contested due to World War II

Speed skating

Speed Skating World Championships

not contested due to World War II

Tennis

Australia

Australian Men's Singles Championship – not contested
Australian Women's Singles Championship – not contested

England

Wimbledon Men's Singles Championship – not contested
Wimbledon Women's Singles Championship – not contested

France

French Men's Singles Championship – Yvon Petra (France) defeats Henri Cochet (France) — score to be ascertained
French Women's Singles Championship – Raymonde Jones Veber (France) † details to be ascertained

USA

American Men's Singles Championship – Frank Parker (USA) defeats Bill Talbert (USA) 6–4, 3–6, 6–3, 6–3
American Women's Singles Championship – Pauline Betz Addie (USA) defeats Margaret Osborne duPont (USA) 6–3, 8–6

Davis Cup

1944 International Lawn Tennis Challenge – not contested

Awards

Notes

^a Ettore Rossi did organise a “Campionato Alta Italia” for teams from northern Italy, whilst in southern Italy only regional competitions followed by playoffs were held.
^b Owing to government bans on weekday sport, the Melbourne Cup was run on a Saturday from 1942 to 1944.
^c The 1944 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe was run at Le Tremblay over 2,300 metres.

References

↑ Rogers Results — Scoring shots
↑ "Past Winners - 1941 to 1950 Melbourne Cup Winners". Races.com.au. Retrieved 28 May 2011.

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 7/6/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.