Category: Sports

World number one Novak Djokovic has been named on the official entry list for next year’s Australian Open but 23-times Grand Slam singles champion Serena Williams has opted out of the competition on advice of her medical team. Williams, who last won the Australian Open titles in 2017, had a season disrupted by injury and has not played since her first-round match at Wimbledon in June where she sustained a leg injury.

All the players, staff, officials and also spectators have to be fully vaccinated in order to be a part of the Australian Open, but Djokovic has declined to disclose his vaccination status. If the tennis star is not fully vaccinated, he will have to undergo 14 days quarantine upon arrival and the state government will have to apply for an exemption for him.

However, Djokovic has not confirmed his availability for the event yet, saying he would be making a decision “very soon” about travelling to Australia. If he plays, he will be playing for his 21st Grand Slam men’s singles title.

Meanwhile, 20-times Grand Slam champion Roger Federer is also not playing the Australian Open next year as he is still recuperating from a knee surgery.

The United States government officials will boycott the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing to protest China’s human rights “atrocities”, the White House said on Monday. This news comes as a surprise because only until a few weeks ago, talks aimed at easing the problematic relations between the two countries.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters that U.S. diplomatic or official representation would treat these games as business as usual in the face of the PRC’s egregious human rights abuses and atrocities in Xinjiang, and they simply won’t do that.

Psaki also said that the U.S. athletes will be allowed to compete in the competition but will not be contributing to the fanfare of the games.

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Robert Menendez, D-N.J., said that the boycott is a necessary step to demonstrate the unwavering commitment of the U.S. to human rights in the face of the Chinese government’s unconscionable abuses.

President Biden will host a White House Summit for Democracy this week, where leaders and representatives of more than a 100 countries will meet virtually. The topic of human rights is likely to be discussed at the summit.

Defending champions Spain were knocked out of the Davis Cup after Russia registered a thrilling win over them to book their spot in the quarter-finals where they will face Sweden. Marcel Granollers and Feliciano Lopez needed to win their doubles decider to send Spain through, but Aslan Karatsev and Andrey Rublev set up a 4-6 6-2 6-4 victory for Russia.

Speaking to the reporters after the match, Rublev said that Russia will do their best to go even further into the competition. He recalled that Russia made it to the semi-finals two years ago, and said that every player was giving their best to advance further into the tournament.

A total of four quarter finals will be played – Russia will take on Sweden, Great Britain will play Germany, Italy will face off against Croatia while Serbia will fight it out with Kazakhstan. The winner of Russia vs Sweden and Great Britain vs Germany will contest the first semi-final, while the winner of Italy vs Croatia and Serbia vs Kazakhstan will play the second semi-final. Winner of the semi-finals will play the final.

The Davis Cup was scheduled to be played last year but was postponed to 2021 due to the Covid19 pandemic.

On Tuesday, Garbine Muguruza won the championship match against fellow Spaniard Paula  Badosa in Guadalajara. Muguruza put Badosa on the back foot from the outset in their first career meeting with a 6-3 6-3 win.

In an 11-minute third game, Muguruza held off Badosa’s three break point opportunities, going in at 3-0 and cruising from there, firing an ace to go up 5-2 and sealing victory when Badosa hit a backhand into the net on match point. The former world number one and two-time Grand Slam champion Badosa was unable to hold her serve during the lengthy second game of the second set as her frustration boiled over.

The Spanish player broke the Indian Wells champion for a second time, winning the first set with a forehand winner. She said, “I think it is the best match that I played so far here in Guadalajara, It was a tough match facing another Spaniard in the semifinals of a Master”. The player was seen extremely happy after her win.

Muguruza will be playing against either Maria Sakkari of Greece or Estonian Anett Kontaveit on Tuesday. Till then she will end the year rank at the world number three.

India has created scripted history at the Tokyo Paralympic with winning 19 medals for the country. It was the best-ever tally in a single edition of Paralympic where India won 5 gold medals, 8 silver medals, and 6 bronze medals. India finished inside the top 25 at the Paralympic Games in Japan’s Capital.

Paralympic games are for able-bodied athletes. Total 19 medals for the nation was the best so far at a multi-spot world event which broke its initial mark of 12 medals at the Summer Youth Olympics in 2018. In Rio, Paralympic India had a total of 19 athletes where they won their four medals for the country. With 54 strong units and the para-athletes, India had high hopes for the largest contingent at the Paralympics.

Bhavinaben Patel became the first Indian to win a table tennis medal at the Paralympics to start the list for medals and it ended with two badminton players, who won the medal as Krishna Nagar won gold in men’s single SH6 and Suhas Yathiraj an IAS officer, won silver in the SL4 category. Avani Lekhara won gold and a bronze in shooting along with Singhraj who won silver and bronze in the shooting.

Avani is supposed to be the flag-bearer at the closing ceremony on Sunday at the Tokyo Paralympics.

On Sunday, Tunisia retained the African basketball crown after overcoming the Ivory coast 78-75. They won the title on home soil after four years at Kigali Arena in the Rwandan capital and retained the AfroBasket continental title.

It was started slowly in the final by Dirk Bauermann’s side but soon found their stride. It was a 12-point run that allowed ‘The Eagles’ to build up a 47-32 lead in its halftime. In the third quarter, the Ivorians fought back and closed to within four points but Tunisia pulled back to lead by 11 in the fourth. However, their opponents never gave up and the gap was cut to just three before the end of time.

Walters Tavares 18 points and Joel Almeida’s 17 points were the highlights for Cape Verde. With game-high 22 points, the winners were led by Salah Mejri who was backed by 18 from Michael Roll and 10 from Omar Abada.

Tunisia became the first team to win back-to-back AfroBasket titles after their victory since Angola achieved the feat in 2009.

At the 2021 AfroBasket continental championship in Kigal, Senegal took the bronze medal following a comfortable 86-73 over Cape Verde.

Team Europe beats the United States to retain the Solheim Cup with 15-13. Matilda Castren sank a final hole put at the Inverness Club on Monday and won for the second time on American soil.

To edge Lizette Salas, the Finn steered in a right to left to par putt on the 18th as Europe held the trophy. Dane Emily Pedersen secured victory eight years after they won on US soil with three matches to compete before a half a point. With 9-7, Europe started the day ahead and sped to retaining the trophy before the Americans. The US attempted a late comeback before flattering as the pressure mounted. By the end of the day, both the teams got five singles with the other two halved.

Pedersen sank a birdie on the 18th as it was her last stroke for gripping day’s golf as Europe triumphed. However, the celebrations were already underway after Catren finished up over Salad. Meghan Khand and Brittany Altomare revived American hopes to reduce Europe’s lead to 13-11 but Salas faltered on the last sparked European celebration while the Americans won two of the last three matches. Pedersen defeating Danielle Kang was a big deal to survive a late mini-collapse and ensure cup success.

Novak Djokovic fought hard as he beat American wildcard Jenson Brooksby to reach the quarter-finals at the US Open. He kept his calendar Grand Slam hopes alive by winning 1-6 6-3 6-2 6-2.

With a poor first set, the world number one overcame to win with a brushing encounter as he was pushed by Brooksby. Brooksby was well-supported by the full crowd at Arthur Ashe Stadium. He found himself embroiled in a super encounter across the two hours and 58 minutes with the world number 99 Brooksby. With the crowd repeatedly jumping out of their seats to applaud their court coverage and shots, both the players were involved in punishing rallies.

Brooksby made his opponent look uncomfortable with a run for much of the match and kept Djokovic in lengthy rallies. Later Brooksby simply ran out of energy and Novak’s fitness and stamina kept him in front in almost every set.

The 20-minute game was a highlight for Djokovic’s competitiveness as he got 24 points, nine deuces, and six breakpoints. Novak is now three steps behind from his 21st Grand Slam title that can be a men’s record. To secure his place in the semifinals he will have to face Matteo Berrettini.

American Shelby Rogers stunts No.1 Ashleigh Barty of Australia three sets to advance at the US Open. Shelby was beaten five times by Bart four of those matches coming this season. On Saturday night, the third round of the US Open Roger ranked No. 43 changed the game.

Roger mixed up her pace and hit moon shots. She threw in some high balls which led her to the third-set tiebreaker in which Barty had served for the match twice. Roger was left on the court shaking her head in disbelief and smiling as she defeated Barty by 6-2, 1-6,7-6 (7-5).

When Roger was asked to explain how she pulled it off she said she was not sure and couldn’t explain it. She said she made balls try to stay in this match as it can’t get any worse because she has lost to her every time and said she wanted to try something different. She was completely at a loss for words.

Roger has earlier missed the 2018 season due to knee surgery followed by a long rehab period. She was unsure she’d get back to the court again after that.

On Wednesday, Cristiano Ronaldo broke the all-time Men’s international goalscoring record with 110th and 111th Portugal goals. A stunning late show for his side took him past Iranian great Ali Daei’s mark. He breaks the record with 2 goals to hit 111.

After the confirmation on Tuesday regarding Ronaldo’s return to Manchester United from Juventus, he scored an 89th-minute equalizer in Portugal’s World Cup qualifier against the Republic of Ireland in Faro. In the game, Ronaldo snatched all three points for Portugal in the sixth minute of injury time. He rose to his highest power with a header from Joao Mario’s right-wing cross.

Serbia is three points behind with a game in hand and Portugal sat at the top of Group A with 10 points from four matches. The next year’s finals will be held in Qatar where the group winners will qualify automatically with the runner-up heading into the play-offs.

Many thought Daie scored 109 goals in 149 appearances from Iran between 1993 and 2006 will never be beaten by any other player. In the opening game of Euro 2004 in Portugal, Ronaldo scored his first international goal in a 2-1 loss against Greece.