Category: Sports

On Sunday, Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic was adjourned by the Australian federal court. The visa case will be considered for its verdict after hearing arguments from lawyers representing him and the federal immigration minister.

Chief Justice James Allsop told the court, “ We would hope to be in a position to identify to the parties later in the afternoon what the course is that we propose”. During the past 10 days, the tennis star has been detained by immigration authorities, released, and then detained again as he prepares for a tournament starting on Monday.

On Sunday morning the immigration officials escorted the player to his lawyer’s office to attend the virtual court hearing. He earlier spent the Saturday night in an immigration detention hotel. Acting for Djokovic, Nick Wood pointed out how the player played in the Australian Open and several other major tournaments last year without provoking any protests or unrest. However, Stephen Lloyd said that Djokovic’s opposition to vaccination can be seen not only in his public statement but also he has not yet been vaccinated against the COVID-19 after it become widely available even for the common people.

On Wednesday, the young shuttler from Gujrat, Tasnim Mir becomes the first Indian to grab the world’s number 1 position in the under-19 girls singles in the latest BWF junior rankings.

The 16-year-old has secured titles in three junior international tournaments to jump three places and was rewarded for last year’s stellar run. She grabbed the top position in the junior world ranking. 

Tasnim said, “I can’t say that I expected this. I thought I will not be able to become number 1 as tournaments were getting affected by COVID-19 but I won three events in Bulgaria, France, and Belgium. So, I am really excited and happy that finally, I could become world No 1. It is a great moment for me.

She further added that she will completely focus on her senior circuit from now on and is looking forward to her tournament in Iran and Uganda next month. She plans to be in the top 200 by the end of the year with her good performance.

Tasnim is currently ranked a lowly 602 in the women’s singles supported by OGQ. It has never been accomplished by any Indian woman, including two-time Olympic medalist P V Sindhu and silver medalist Saina Nehwal.

World number one Tennis player Novak Djokovic arrived at the Australian airport to defend his Australian Open crown in the 21st Grand Slam title but was stopped by border officials on arrival and denied entry to the country. Djokovic is currently fighting deportation from Australia as the Australian government revoked his visa because he failed to meet its Covid-19 protocols that have made double vaccination a necessary requirement.

Although he claimed on his Instagram account a few days back that he has been exempted to play in the tournament which starts on the 17th of January and can attend it without being vaccinated. He has openly said that he is an anti-vexer and has not revealed any information related to his vaccination status yet.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said that Djokovic is facing deportation because he hasn’t provided the officials with his vaccination status or an adequate medical exemption. Morrison further said that “Rules are rules and there are no special cases”.

However, Djokovic’s lawyers are working hard to avoid the cancellation of his visa and are arguing in court to prevent his deportation.  

World Champion Novak Djokovic stated that he will be heading to the Australia’s Open as he has been granted a medical exception to play amid the controversy over him being an anti-vexer. An independent panel of experts decided on the protocols that the players have to follow before entering into the competition. It stated all players need to be fully vaccinated before entering the game, however some can be exempted on medical grounds such as Djokovic.

Djokovic recently sent a confirmation that he is on his way for the Australian open, while his rival Rafael Nadal is also En route to achieve the 21^st Grand Slam Title.

Djokovic was previously criticised heavily due to his opposition to the Covid-19 vaccine. His father also accused the organizers of the game for blackmailing their son to get vaccinated and said that he might not participate in Melbourne.

Although government officials of Victoria state which is also hosting this year’s Australian Open clearly were against the entry of unvaccinated players to the tournament. However, the State’s Deputy Premier James Merlino said that “They’re the rules. Medical exemptions are just that — it’s not a loophole for privileged tennis players,”.

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.