Category: Sports

On Wednesday, the International Cricket Council (ICC) named the big-hitting batter Suryakumar Yadav T20I Player of the Year. ICC described him as the backbone of India’s middle order who got starts throughout the year. Taking home the award for the second time in a row, he made several match-winning contributions.

After a fantastic 2023 season, he emerged as Full Member nations’ top run-scorer. He started slow with his first match of the year scoring just seven runs against Sri Lanka. However, in the next two matches, he scored 51 (36) and 112 not out (51). With the passing matches, he emerged as a much stronger player as he participated in 17 T20I innings. He scored 733 runs at 48.86, including five half-centuries, and two centuries by maintaining his strike rate of 155.95.

His last match in 2023 was against South Africa as he scored 100 (56). Adding to his feathers, he was also handed the captaincy of the T20I when Sharma opted out of the captaincy and Pandya was injured. He was considered a good choice as he led India to a 4-1 victory against Australia.

On Sunday, Serbian player Novak Djokovic dominated his 20th-seeded French opponent Adrian Mannarino 6-0, 6-0, 6-3 at Rod Laver Arena. He made a rare daytime appearance at the Melbourne Park Australian Open to march towards his 11th title.

When asked about his possibility of winning without losing, he joked, “I really wanted to lose that game in the third set because the tension was building up so much in the stadium.” He added that he just needed to get that out of the way and refocus on the game.

He is now among the final eight of the Grand Slam for the 58th time. As he picked pace to record his 25th Grand Slam title, his record of being in the quarterfinals is now on par with that of Roger Federer.

Djokovic has now won 32 games in a row without suffering a setback. The last time he lost was in 2018 to Chung Hyeon of South Korea. He will now be facing seventh seed Stefanos Tsitsipas or 12th seed Taylor Fritz in the semi-finals.

He struggled with sickness and lost sets in his opening two matches at the 2024 Australian Open, but he has since improved greatly.

Indian opener Shubman Gill was honoured by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) with the ‘Cricketer of the Year’ award.

The BCCI awards were held after a gap of four years. The awards were held on Tuesday, January 23 in Hyderabad. Additionally, Mohammad Shami, Shubman Gill, and Bumrah have been named the best international cricketers for 2019-20, 2022-23, and 2021-22, respectively.

Gill made history during his World Cup match against New Zealand. He emerged as the top scorer in world cricket in 2023 across formats by achieving 2154 runs in 52 innings at an average of 46.82 with seven centuries.

He joined the Indian team after his impressive performance in under-19 cricket. His achievements included winning runs at the 2018 ICC Under-19 World Cup and in Punjab’s domestic cricket league. In January 2019, he made his debut by playing for the India team in Hamilton.

Indian cricket legend Ravi Shahstri was felicitated with the BCCI’s Lifetime Achievement Award for his remarkable journey both as a player and as a coach. He represented India in 80 Tests and 150 ODIs, and after his retirement, he ventured into broadcasting.

Heavy snowfall on Saturday disrupted several activities at the 2024 Winter Youth Olympics in Gangwon Province, South Korea. The Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) recorded more than 28 centimetres (11 inches) of snowfall in Gangneung province. 5,620 officials and 693 pieces of snow removal equipment were deployed to control the situation and continue the event.

The agency has issued a heavy snow advisory for mountainous regions of the province. Government officials have declared an emergency and implemented protocols to protect the players and residents in the province.

Choi Min-Jeong, a two-time Olympic champion in short-track speed skating, suffered the cancellation of her one-point lesson session in Gangneung, an area located 30 kilometres east of Pyeongchang. The clinic scheduled for Lee June-seo, the silver medalist in the men’s relay in 2022, was also cancelled. In addition, every outdoor activity, performance, and skate session in Gangneung was cancelled.

The fourth edition of the Winter Youth Olympics began on Friday, January 19, and will conclude on February 1. A quadrennial youth winter sports event is held in Gangwon Province for the first time in Asian history.

Tata Group will continue to be the title sponsor of the India Premier League (IPL) for the next five years (2024–2028). The conglomerate acquired the deal for a record-breaking amount of Rs. 2,500 crore ($300 million). In addition to 2021, Tata Group served as the title sponsor for 2022 and 2023, for the men’s IPL and the women’s Premier League.

IPL has become the world’s richest T20 tournament, as the acquisition price is the highest in the history of the league, and its brand value is estimated to be $8.4 billion.

The IPL chairman, Arun Singh Dhumal, said, “The record-breaking sum of Rs. 2500 crore by TATA Group is a testament to the immense value and appeal that the IPL holds in the world of sports.”

Meanwhile, BCCI secretary Jay Shah said in a statement that the unprecedented amount represents a new benchmark in the history of the league. Furthermore, it will reaffirm India’s IPL status as a leading international sporting event.

Other league boards find it challenging to compete with the lucrative multi-league contracts offered by the Indian IPL. However, this may exacerbate concerns about the priority of Twenty20 competitions by players over international cricket.

Chess prodigy R Praggnanandhaa surpassed his idol Vishwanathan Anand to become India’s No.1 chess player. He was ranked No. 1 in FIDE’s live ratings for his new total of 2748.3, which is slightly above Anand’s 2748 score.

On Tuesday, the 18-year-old from Chennai became the second Indian to beat reigning world champion China’s Ding Liren at the Tata Steel Chess Tournament in Wijk aan Zee, Netherlands. By using the black pieces, he played a flawless game in the classical format. He had also previously defeated Ding last year on the same occasion to become No. 2. While achieving his present rank, he has become the only Indian after Anand to reach the final of the Chess World Cup.

With his sensational win, he entered the fourth round by ranking 2.5 points with one victory and three draws. Currently, he is behind Alireza Firouzja (3 points) from France and Anish Giri (3.5) from the Netherlands.

Praggnanandhaa’s ranking comes months after his impressive performance in the 2023 FIDE World Cup, where he finished runner-up. Although he lost to renowned player Magnus Carlsen, he caught everyone’s attention with his valiant efforts in Baku.

On Wednesday, day 4 of the Grand Slam 2024, the future generation of women tennis players, Mirra Andreeva and Maria Timofeeva, emerged as the shining stars at the Rod Laver Arena. The young Russians outplayed sixth seed Ons Jabeur and previous champion Caroline Wozniacki in the Australian Open second round.

The 16-year-old Mirra Andreeva defeated 29-year-old Jabeur 6-0, 6-2, in just fifty-four minutes. Andreeva will next face Diane Pary of France in the third round, or her fellow Russian player, Kamilla Rakhimova. Additionally, it was Andreeva’s second appearance on Melbourne’s centre court following her defeat by fellow Russian Alina Korneeva in the 2023 girls’ final. Currently, Andreeva is balancing her studies with her aim of becoming a professional tennis player.

Meanwhile, the 20-year-old Timofeeva equally amazed the audience while playing against 2018 champion Wozniacki. Wozniacki had an easy win in the first set but broke down in the second. Timofeeva forced her way back into the match and won 1-6, 6-4, 6-1 against Wozniacki, who is 13 years her senior.

The Australian Open matches held on the outdoor courts were delayed for more than three hours due to rain.

On Monday, Karnataka batter Prakhar Chaturvedi broke Indian cricketer Yuvraj Singh’s 24-year-old record. Chaturvedi scored 404 runs in 636 balls in the U-19 Cooch Behar Trophy final against Mumbai. He outshined Singh’s 1999 record of 358 runs for Punjab against Bihar, and interestingly, MS Dhoni was part of the Bihar team. Singh held the record for the highest individual score for more than twenty years.

The BCCI appreciated the 18-year-old’s smashing record on their official account X. He smashed 46 fours and three sixes, which helped the team earn 890 for eight in reply to Mumbai’s 380. He opened the inning and played the unbeaten inning, staying at the crease for 885 minutes.

Chaturvedi was not selected for the Under-19 team this season. However, he emerged as another addition to India’s talent in cricket. With his massive win, he now has a chance to play for Karnataka in the Ranji Trophy as a member of the senior team.

In an interview, he said that breaking Singh’s records feels ununbelievable; he is proud and is beyond words. Meanwhile, Yuvraj Singh also praised Chaturvedi and said that records were meant to be broken. He added that he is happy to see that the future of Indian cricket is in safe hands.

On Monday, January 15, Argentina World Cup winner Lionel Messi enjoyed another major win by clinching FIFA’s best men’s player for 2023 by defeating rivals Erling Haaland of Norway and Kylian Mbappe of Paris Saint-Germain. It was Messi’s third win in the last four years. In October, he added the Ballon d’Or to his list of individual accolades.

Since Haaland had a higher chance of winning the award, Messi was absent for the controversial award. Arsenal and France player Thierry Henry picked up the award on Messi’s behalf. Meanwhile, Haaland and Mbappe were absent from the event as well. Haaland scored 52 goals in his City debut season, where the English team won the FA Cup, the Premier League, and the Champions League. Messi was declared the winner despite having the same points from a scoring system. The votes were determined based on fans, team captains, and journalists.

Meanwhile, Spanish and Barcelona striker Aitana Bonmati was crowned FIFA’s best player in the women’s division. Her win was a clean sweep after helping Spain win the World Cup and leading Barcelona to the Champions League in 2023.

On Saturday, the United Kingdom’s tennis player, Jack Draper, will face Czech Republic player Jiri Lehecka for the championship match at the Adelaide International final. The Adeleine International finals will be held on Saturday in Melbourne, Australia. It will be Draper’s first chance to win the ATP final since he lost to French player Adrian Mannarino at the Sofia Open last November.

The 22-year-old defeated Kazakhstan’s No. 8 player, Alexander Bublik, by 7-6 (7-2) 6-4 to prepare for the Australian Open. Even though Draper has never won an ATP title, he enjoyed a confident lead of 2-0 early in the opening set before Bublik battled back and forced a tie-break. After an hour of hard play, he managed to win the first set. Despite Bublik displaying some incredible drop shots, Draper took a 4-2 lead.

Ahead of the final, Draper said that he hopes to get it over the line and win his first title.

Meanwhile, the No. 7-seeded Czech player, Lehecka, defeated third-seeded Sebastian Korda 6-2, 6-1 to reach his second tour final. Against just six unforced errors, he blasted 22 winners, including seven aces, whereas Korda finished with 8 and 11, respectively.