MotoGP 2017: Grand Prix of Malaysia

Andrea Dovizioso beat Ducati teammate Jorge Lorenzo in a wet Malaysian Grand Prix to keep his slim MotoGP title hopes alive, as Marc Marquez could manage no better than fourth place. In wet conditions, the two factories Ducati’s of Dovizioso and Lorenzo had the clear measure of the opposition, although it was the Tech 3 Yamaha of Johann Zarco that led the early going.

Marquez fleetingly led into the first corner with a great start from seventh, but ran wide to allow Zarco and Lorenzo through into the top two positions. Dovizioso settled into fourth and pressured Marquez until finding his way past at Turn 14 on the fourth lap, as the top four escaped from the rest of the field. Zarco stretched a lead of almost two seconds before Lorenzo began to reel in the Frenchman, the only one of the top four who opted for a soft compound rear tyre.

Lorenzo made his move on the ninth lap, with Dovizioso following through a few corners later to establish a one-two out front. With Marquez unable to make an impression on Zarco in fourth, it meant Dovizioso could take the title fight to Valencia by finishing ahead of Lorenzo, who received what appeared to be a coded instruction on his dashboard to move aside. It took until lap 16 for the positions to switch, as Lorenzo ran wide at the final corner to allow Dovizioso through and seal his sixth victory of the year by a margin of 0.748s.

Zarco hung on for his second podium of the year, a further eight seconds back, and a similar margin ahead of Marquez in fourth. Marquez's advantage heading to the finale is cut to 21 points, meaning an 11th-place finish in Valencia will be enough for the Honda rider to seal the crown, even if Dovizioso wins. Pole man Dani Pedrosa slipped to fifth by the end of the opening lap, and remained in that position for the rest of the event, albeit 11 seconds behind teammate Marquez.

Scott Redding spent several laps in sixth, but slipped back to 13th in the closing laps behind Alvaro Bautista (Aspar Ducati) and Bradley Smith (KTM). Cal Crutchlow was the final points-scorer in 15th after dropping to 21st on the opening lap, while Michael van der Mark missed out on a point in his maiden MotoGP outing on the second Tech 3 Yamaha. Andrea Iannone also failed to score in what turned out to be another dismal outing for Suzuki, as Alex Rins crashed twice before finally being black-flagged for shortcutting his way back to the pits. Sam Lowes (Aprilia), Karel Abraham (Aspar Ducati) and Loris Baz (Avintia Ducati) likewise all crashed out.

Patna Pirates won Pro Kabaddi 2017

Patna Pirates came back from an early 7-point deficit to win 55-38 in the VIVO Pro Kabaddi Season 5 final against Gujarat Fortunegiants in Chennai. After failing to score big in the two previous encounters against Gujarat, Pardeep Narwal finally came good and scored 19 points to seal a third victory for his side. Monu Gayat and Vijay supported Pardeep well to make life even more difficult for the Fortunegiants.

Rakesh Narwal and Monu effected big raids early on for their respective teams but the Gujarat defence held steady to inflict the first All-Out of the night on Patna, which gave them a 9-3 lead. Sachin and Sukesh Hegde soon came to the party as well as Gujarat extended their lead to 14-7, bringing Patna down to 4 men in the process. The Pirates ship was steadied by Vijay and Monu though, and a brilliant 5-point super raid by Pardeep finally inflicted an All-Out back on Gujarat as Patna leveled at 15-15. The Pardeep-Monu combination marched on from there to take their team 21-18 ahead at half-time.

Gujarat tried hard to avoid another All-Out in the second half but Pardeep’s raids proved too good for them and they conceded an All-Out in the 4th minute. In spite of a having 29-26 lead, Patna were under pressure as they were brought down to 4 men by Gujarat. But all-rounder Vijay once again rose to the challenge to get his team back in the game before another 5-point raid from Pardeep inflicted a third All-Out on Gujarat, giving his team a huge 38-27 lead. Jaideep, meanwhile, held the Patna defence together and soon reached his High 5.

Patna were down to their last man Pardeep in the 16th minute but the season’s highest-scoring raider helped them avoid an All-Out with a super raid and then the defence responded with a super tackle on Chandran Ranjit to put the pressure back on Gujarat. A fourth Gujarat All-Out with little more than a minute left to play ensured Patna would win with a huge margin. The match finally ended with Patna Pirates winning 55-38 and lifting the trophy for the third time in a row. 

England won FIFA U-17 World Cup

England came from two goals down to defeat European champions Spain 5-2 and wins their first FIFA U-17 World Cup title in front of 66,684 at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan Stadium in Kolkata.

In what was a pulsating final contest at India 2017, Spain raced out to a two-goal lead through a brace from Sergio Gomez. The Barcelona youngster opened the scoring just ten minutes in, nodding home in front of England goalkeeper Curtis Anderson after Juan Miranda’s cross from the left struck Cesar Gelabert and bounced goal wards. Gomez’s second goal just after the half-hour mark was a fine strike from close range, with Gelabert and Captain Abel Ruiz involved in the build-up.

Undeterred, England fought back to score five unanswered goals. They halved the deficit just before half-time through Brewster’s tournament-leading eighth goal. The Liverpool striker headed home Steven Sessegnon’s fine cross from the right. Sessegnon’s willingness to get forward and support the England attack drew them level just before the hour mark, as his low cross found an unmarked Morgan Gibbs White to make it 2-2. The Young Lions then took the lead through Philip Foden’s second goal of the tournament on 69 minutes, as he converted Callum Hudson-Odoi’s run and cross.

Any hopes of a Spain comeback ended on 84 minutes, as Marc Guehi finished off a Hudson-Odoi free-kick for England’s fourth before Foden raced in on the counter-attack for his second of the match in the late stages. England’s win follows the U-20’s success at Korea Republic 2017 earlier this year. Brazil finished as the third place team and also won Fair Play Award. Gabriel Brazao won the Adidas Golden Glove award. Rhian Brewster won the Adidas Golden Boot and Philip Foden won the Adidas Golden Ball. 

Lewis Hamilton wins United States Grand Prix

Ferrari Sebastian Vettel led the opening five laps of the 2017 Formula 1 United States Grand Prix, but it was Mercedes Lewis Hamilton who went to dominate the race, winning by 10 seconds from his title rival, whose team mate Kimi Raikkonen clinched third after a last lap pass on him by Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was deemed illegal. The result means Mercedes secure the 2017 constructors’ crown, but the drivers’ battle goes on to next weekend’s round in Mexico.

A five-second time penalty for leaving the track while passing Raikkonen meant the fans’ Driver of the Day Verstappen, who started 16th, lost out on the podium by just 0.9s, having seen his team mate Daniel Ricciardo retire early on with engine issues. Valtteri Bottas ended up fifth in the sister Mercedes, followed by the Force India’s of Esteban Ocon and Sergio Perez, split by Renault new boy Carlos Sainz, who like Verstappen saw his team mate, Nico Hulkenberg, retire. Williams’ Felipe Massa and Toro Rosso returnee Daniil Kvyat completed the top ten, the latter’s rookie team mate Brendon Hartley taking the flag 13th on his F1 debut.

Hamilton had a scare on the 20th lap as he emerged from what transpired to be his sole pit stop, and Vettel, who had stopped three laps earlier, had wiped out a 4.4s deficit and was almost right on him. Hamilton wasn’t amused and rebuked his team, but at the same time he quickly pulled away again, and when Vettel had to stop again on the 39th lap, it was also soon clear that Mercedes would not need to do the same.

Though Hamilton still needs nine points to secure the drivers’ title – just fifth place in Mexico next weekend will be enough – Mercedes cemented the constructors’ championship, and now have 575 points to Ferrari’s 428, Red Bull’s 315 and Force India’s 159. Renault have moved back in front of Haas and to within five points of Toro Rosso in the fight for sixth place.

India won Hockey Asia Cup

India ended their 10 year wait for continental triumph when they beat a gutsy Malaysia 2-1 in a nail biting final to clinch their third Asia Cup Hockey title. India, which won the Asia Cup last time in 2007 in Chennai, scored from field efforts through Ramandeep Singh (3rd minute) and Lalit Upadhyay (29th) to dash Malaysian hopes. Malaysia were in summit clash for the first time since tournament's inception.

The ever-improving Malaysians, however, fought valiantly and didn't give up for a single minute. Their efforts bore fruit in the 50th minute when Shahril Saabah pulled one goal back.The Indians, ranked sixth in the world, were in for nervous last 10 minutes but the defence did enough to hold on to the lead. Pakistan won the bronze medal after edging out Korea 6-3 in the third-fourth place play-off match earlier in the day.

The top-ranked Indians finished unbeaten in the tournament, having won all their matches except for the 1-1 draw against Korea in the Super 4s stage. Today's win was India's second victory over Malaysia in the tournament, having beaten them 6-2 in the Super 4s stage. For Malaysia, it was their best result in the tournament. They had earlier won the bronze in the 2007 edition of the event in Chennai.

It was a battle fought on even keel between the two teams as Malaysia secured their first penalty corner in the 13th minute but wasted it. Harmanpreet Singh was then denied by Razie Rahim as he made a goalline save to keep out the Indian defender's flick from India's first penalty corner. Minutes later Malaysian goalkeeper Kumar Subramaniam made double save -- first kept out Akashdeep Sinh's shot and then denied Amit Rohidas from the resultant set piece.

MotoGP 2017: Grand Prix of Australia

Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez secured his sixth win of the year in a stunning fight in the Australian GP. The latter stages of the MotoGP race saw an eight-rider fight for the win in the latter stages with Marquez taking a close win ahead of Valentino Rossi and Maverick Vinales of Yamaha.

Championship contender Andrea Dovizioso of Ducati was lucky to finish within points after running wide on Lap 2 and was pushed to down to 20th before eventually finishing 13th. Marquez now leads the championship with a 33 point lead over Dovizioso, while Vinales is out of contention, 50 points back with two rounds to go.

Marquez started the Australian GP on pole but couldn't hold for long as Jack Miller of Marc VDS Honda pulled through to take the lead and started pulling away. Marquez was in second while Vinales followed close in third place on the opening lap. Dovizioso, who looked sharp on Lap 1 and was expected to put up a tough fight had the ran wide and dropped to P20. Miller continued to lead for the first five laps pulling eight-tenths clear of the field, only to be passed by the two Yamahas.

However, Marquez was quick to pass the two Yamaha's by mid-race and soon closed in on the Tech 3 rider. Incredibly, with 10 laps remaining, the race turned into an eight-rider fight with Marquez Miller, Rossi, Vinales, Andrea Iannone of Suzuki, Cal Crutchlow of LCR Honda; and Alex Rins of Suzuki following the leader. MotoGP will now be moving into its penultimate round at Sepang in Malaysia, and Dovizioso will be looking to cut the points gap. It's going to be one exciting round in Malaysia.

MotoGP 2017: Grand Prix of Japan

Andrea Dovizioso claimed his fifth victory of the season and closed the gap to championship leader Marc Marquez to 11 points in a thrilling race at Motegi in the 2017 MotoGP Grand Prix of Japan.

The Ducati rider overtook Repsol Honda's Marquez on the final lap, and the pair were battling to the last corner in one of the great duels in recent memory. Danilo Petrucci completed the podium as he came in third, 10 seconds down from the leading pair, while Italian veteran Valentino Rossi crashed out in the wet.

Marquez made a fantastic start on a soaking wet track in Japan, taking the lead from the off having been third on the grid. However, he could not hold on to the front spot, and it was actually Ducati's Petrucci who led the way for much of the race's opening half. Marquez and Dovi then hit the front with 11 laps of the race remaining, and it became clear the winner would be one of the title contenders.

A thrilling game of cat-and-mouse then ensued between the pair with Italian Dovizioso first taking the lead from his Spanish competitor on the 19th lap. Marquez then re-took the lead with three laps to go, and heading into the final lap, it looked as though the defending world champion would have enough to claim victory. The pair will resume their championship battle in Australia in a week's time.

Roger Federer wins Shanghai Masters

Roger Federer got one over his old rival Rafael Nadal to win the Shanghai Masters 6-4, 6-3 in a showdown between the two best players on the planet. It was a 94th title for the Swiss legend, drawing him level with the great Ivan Lendl, and was a fifth victory in a row against world number one Nadal.

Nadal was ahead in their overall record down the years, with 23 wins to Federer’s 14 but he was up against it almost right away. Number two Federer put Nadal under the cosh immediately on the Spaniard’s serve, breaking him in the first game – to roars of approval from the majority inside the arena. Another break to 36 year old Federer in the pivotal fifth game of the second set put him in a reach of a second Shanghai Masters crown – and a sixth title in 2017.

Federer, fondly known as "Cow" in China for his laid-back personality, had started the better in grabbing the break and he then rattled through his own service game for 2-0. Federer, a 19-time Grand Slam champion, was in full flow under the Qizhong Tennis Center roof, which was closed because of downpours in Shanghai. Nadal, 31, fresh from winning the US Open and China Open, groaned while lashing many of his shots; Federer was all quiet efficiency.

Federer rapidly made it 4-2 with two booming aces in a row, drawing huge cheers from much of the stadium. In contrast, Nadal - a 16-time Grand Slam winner but who had never won the Shanghai Masters - was laboring through his service games. There were suggestions that Federer might not be quite as fresh as his old foe, having been pushed to three sets a day earlier in the second semi-final against Juan Martin Del Potro.

Lewis Hamilton wins Japanese Grand Prix

A thrilling finish saw Mercedes Lewis Hamilton beat Red Bull’s Max Verstappen by just 1.2s to win 2017 Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix, with Daniel Ricciardo taking third. The Suzuka round was equally notable, however, for Sebastian Vettel’s second retirement in three races, thanks to a technical problem on his Ferrari.

Hamilton now has a 59-point lead over Vettel in the standings, with only four races remaining and 100 points on the table. The German’s Ferrari was being inspected on the grid, just as team mate Kimi Raikkonen’s had been in Malaysia last week, but he seemed to be okay as he chased Hamilton away at the start. But soon Verstappen passed him in the hairpin to snatch second place, and the next time around fast-starting Esteban Ocon had moved to third for Force India as Ricciardo and Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas also passed the Ferrari. Two laps later, Vettel’s troubled day was done, all thanks to a faulty spark plug.

Meanwhile, so was Carlos Sainz’s after the Spaniard lost control of his Toro Rosso in Turn 7 on the opening lap, prompting the first of three safety-car interventions. It was an unhappy ending to Sainz’s last race with the Italian team prior to switching to Renault in place of Jolyon Palmer. Hamilton and Verstappen soon resumed their battle, but gradually the Mercedes driver began to pull away. He was five seconds clear when Verstappen made his sole pit stop on the 21st lap, and Hamilton covered that next time around.

Haas also had a great day after Kevin Magnussen had forced his way by Massa’s Williams in Turn 2 on the 43rd lap; as the Brazilian ran wide, Romain Grosjean also passed him in the second Haas, to give the America team eighth and ninth places and move them a point ahead of Renault in seventh overall. It was a horrible day for the French team as Nico Hulkenberg ran in the points for a long time after starting on softs, but tumbled when he switched to supersofts and then ran into a retirement-prompting problem with the DRS mechanism on his rear wing. Team mate Palmer had an unhappy final race for the team to 12th place. Ahead of the Briton, Massa just held on for the final point by eight-tenths from the aggressive Alonso, as Pierre Gasly brought his Toro Rosso home 13th ahead of Stoffel Vandoorne’s McLaren and Pascal Wehrlein’s Sauber.