West Indies Women won Maiden WT20 title

Two sides that are known to play aggressive faced off in what promised to be a thrilling finale. Australia threw the early punches, West Indies then counter punched in the chase as the might of their explosive batting line-up resurfaced their maiden entry into the Women World T20 final ending in a blaze of glory at the iconic Eden Gardens in Kolkata.

West Indies were run ragged in the first half as half-centuries from Elyse Villani and Meg Lanning helped Australia post an imposing 148 for 5. Enter Hayley Mathews and Stafanie Taylor and a daunting chase was clinically brought into the realms of possibility courtesy an opening stand of 120 in 15.4 overs. Once within striking distance, Taylor and Dottin brought all their experience to the fore by seeing off the highest successful chase in Women T20 history with three balls to spare.

Something about the last overs of their bowling stint, off which they conceded just one run, fired West Indies. Despite having the momentum with them, it was going to be a mountain to climb. For the first three overs of their chase, Australia had a lid on the runs, having conceded just eight. Then they relaxed, only to see Mathews unfurl boundary after boundary to leave Australia ducking for cover.

Halfway through the chase, Lanning called her team into a huddle in a bid to regroup. But that was to no avail. The wicket of Mathews, who miscued a pull off Kristen Beams to midwicket with West Indies 29 off 26 balls, came as relief, more than joy. That allowed Dottin, who had an off day with ball, a shot at redemption, which she gleefully accepted as West Indies celebrated a historic triumph in style.

MotoGP 2016: Qatar Grand Prix

All the changes in MotoGP off season, tyres, electronics, couldn’t stop the man who won the last race of 2015 from claiming victory in the opening race of 2016. Yamaha reigning world champion fought past a pair of fast starting Ducatis to comfortably head home Andrea Dovizioso, who won a last lap tussle with Marc Marquez and Valentino Rossi to finish second.

Honda Dani Pedrosa came home fifth from Suzuki Maverick Vinales with Australia Jack Miller coming home inside the world championship points in 14^th. Lorenzo kissed his rear tyre after he rolled into parc ferme at the end of the race, admitting his choice of Michelin soft rear tyre had been a gamble. Lorenzo surged into the lead from pole position as his fellow front raw starters Marquez and Vinales were swallowed up by a pair of fast starting Ducatis.

The two red machines used their formidable horsepower to blast into the lead at the end of the first lap, lannone and Dovizioso surging past Lorenzo as they charged down the front straight. The leading group of five pulled away from Pedrosa and Vinales, holding their order until Dovizioso began to challenge lannone for the lead. The two red bikes swapped places several times until lannone suddenly crashed out on Lap 5.

Australian Jack Miller made his traditional roaring gateway from 18^th on the grid to be 14^th by the end of opening lap. While Lorenzo leaves Qatar with 25 points and a clear psychological edge over his rivals, he was not the biggest winner at Losail. That honor goes to MotoGP new tyre manufacturer Michelin, whose tyres were strong enough to allow the Spaniard to set the fastest lap of the race on the third to last tour. The next round of the MotoGP world Championship is at the Termas do Rio Hondo circuit in Argentina on April 3.

Nico Rosberg won Australian Grand Prix 2016

Ferrari seized control at the start of Sunday 2016 Formula 1 Rolex Australian Grand Prix, but a mid-race stoppage after a huge accident involving Fernando Alonso turned the race on its head, helping Mercedes Nico Rosberg to what had looked an unlikely victory. Team mate Lewis Hamilton recovered from a nightmare start to finish second, while Sebastian Vettel who led into Turn 1 and looked very much in charge prior to the red flags had to settle for third after 57 laps of Albert Park.

Local hero Daniel Ricciardo took a popular fourth place for Red Bull, well clear of the Williams of Felipe Massa, while Romain Grosjean gave the all new Haas team points on their debut with sixth. Force India Nico Hulkenberg, Williams Valtteri Bottas, and the Toro Rosso duo of Carlos Sainz and Max Verstappen completed the top ten, with Renault Jolyon Palmer narrowly missing out on a point in his Maiden Grand Prix.

McLaren Alonso and Haas Esteban Gutierrez meanwhile were thankfully able to walk away from a huge crash at Turn 3 which caused the red flags to fly on lap 19. Up until that moment it was Ferrari who held the cards, Vettel and Raikkonen having burst between the two Silver Arrows to snatch a one two away from the start.

Massa was an uneventful fifth, while behind Grosjean sprang a sensation in sixth, giving Haas points in their debut race. Sergio Perez was 13^th for Force India, while Jenson Button looked good early on but faded to 14^th for McLaren. Felipe Nasr could not repeat 2015 fifth place for Sauber and finished 15^th as team mate Marcus Ericsson retired with transmission problems. Red Bull Daniel Kvyat hit problems and retired even before getting to the grid. 

Asia Cup T20

A thunderstorm and a Mahmudullah squall came in India’s way but a calm chase from Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli helped India make light work of their chase of 121 that brought them their sixth Asia Cup Title.

Dhawan and Kohli added 94 runs for the second wicket before MS Dhoni who walked in bat with India needing 22 off 14 balls, quite fittingly, polished off the chase with an unbeaten six ball 20 as India won with seven balls to spare. Kohli credentials in run chases received another fillip as finished unbeaten on 41. Halfway through the protracted game, India were left with scoring at eight runs per over.

They were denied in the second over as Rohit Sharma was snaffled by Soumya Sarkar at slip off Amin Hossain as Bangladesh kept things tight upfront. Dhawan and Kohli took stock of the situation till the fourth over, before wading into new comer Abu Hider for three fours to kickstart the chase. Shakib gave away 15 runs in the next over. Dhawan helped himself to a half century, even as the Bangladesh bowlers at times tried to do too much, and paid the price.

Shikhar Dhawan was named as the man of the match and Sabbir Rahman was names as the man of the tournament for maximum runs. Virat Kohli was names as the coolest player of the match. This was India’s sixth Asia cup title and overall 10^th win in T20s this year out of 11 matches. India also ranked No 1 in T20s. With World Cup going to start after a week time, this is right time for India as they got right combination in team.

Patna Pirates won Pro Kabaddi 2016 Title

Patna Pirates recorded a maiden title triumph as they once again stamped their authority in the tournament with a 31-28 victory over U Mumba in the final of Star Sports Pro Kabaddi. The third season of the tournament ended on a high note and Patna Pirates continued on their winning sequence.

Rohit Kumar of Patna Pirates was awarded Best Raider and Mohit Chillar of U Mumba the Best Defender of the match. Rishank Devadiga of U Mumba finished a dream season as the most successful raider with 106 points. Earlier in the evening, Puneri Paltan beat Bengal Warriors in the battle for the third place, raider Deepak Niwas Hooda top scoring for the Puneri Paltan with 9 points.

The Final in the Capital, attended by over 10,000 spectators was a fitting tribute to over a month of enthralling action of Pro Kabaddi. With the players, franchises and audiences hungry for more of the indigenous sport, the wait until June 2016 will be a long one. Led ably by Manpreet Singh with Rohit Kumar and Sandeep Narwal at the forefront of attack and defense, Patna Pirates dashed the hopes of defending champions and three times finalist U Mumba in a pulsating final.

Patna Pirates had established a 19-11 lead at the break which in the final analysis set U Mumba back. A do-or-die raid by substitute Deepak Narwal with the scores at 29-28 in favor of U Mumba titled the scales for the last time in Patna Pirates favor. Anup Kumar, the U Mumba Captain, still had the last opportunity to redeem the situation but his desperate lunge to get D Suresh Kumar for a touch saw him go off the court and the Patna Pirates captured the title and a cash award of Rupees 1 Crore.

Punjab Warriors clinch HIL Title

Jaypee Punjab Warriors were today crowned Hockey India League champions as they clinched their maiden title after thrashing Kalinga Lancers 6-1 in a lop-sided summit clash here today. The Punjab based side was third time lucky as they had finished runners-up in the last two editions. They lost to Delhi Waveriders in 2014 and to Ranchi Rays Last year.

The Warriors, who had finished second in the round robin league phase, totally dominated the final match of the fourth edition of the tournament at the Astroturf Hockey Stadium. They lead 2-1 at the end of the second quarter but pumped in the two field strikes with each field goal counting as two in the final two quarters to take the game away from the reach of Kalinga Lancers.

Armaan Qureshi (4^th Minute), Matt Gohdes (39^th) and Satbir Singh (42^nd) found the target for Punjab Warriors while Captain Mortiz Fuerste scored the consolation goal for Kalinga Lancers in the 24^th minute. The Warriors forward line was too good to handle for the Lancers who had to defend their citadel for most part of the final two quarters. The match started on an attacking note as Kalinga Lancers were straightaway put under pressure by a series of attacks from Jaypee Punjab Warriors.

Earlier in the day, Delhi Waveriders got the better of defending champions Ranchi Rays 2-0 in the bronze medal play off match to finish third. The Warriors walked away with a winner’s cheque of Rs 2.50 crore along with the winner’s trophy. Kalinga Lancers pocketed a cheque of Rs 1.25 crore for finishing as runners up. The player of the tournament Award of Rs 50 lakh was awarded to Rupinder Pal Singh of Delhi Waveriders.

Mark Knowles of the Warriors walked away with the Man of the Match Award, which carried Rs 50,000. The goal of the match award of Rs 50,000 was awarded to Armaan Qureshi of the Warriors. The Emerging player of the Award of Rs 25,000 was awarded also to Armaan Qureshi. The Dhruv Batra Maximum Goals award of Rs 20 Lakh was awarded to Kalinga Lancers Glenn Turner. The Ponty Chadha Upcoming Player of the Tournament award of Rs 20 Lakh went to Sumit of Ranchi Rays.

ICC U/19 Cricket World Cup 2016

The West Indies Team with some brilliant batting after a quick succession of wickets swept the Indian team aside to win their first ever ICC U-19 Cricket World Cup final by five wickets in Mirpur (Bangladesh). Earlier, the Indian batsmen faltered when it mattered most as the three-time champions were bowled out for 145 by the West Indies.

The same batsmen, who helped India stay unbeaten earlier in the competition, failed to apply themselves in the big game after they were put in to bat by the West Indies on a green top and were sent packing in 45.1 overs. Sarfaraz Khan was the lone exception as he saved India the embarrassment of being bowled out for a sub-100 total with a fifth fifty plus score in six innings, also making him only one to score most half centuries in the history of tournament.

While the Indian batting flattered to deceive, the West Indies bowlers did well to exploit the conditions. Joseph ran through top order before Ryan John landed crucial blows for his team. Chema Holder kept things tight to maintain pressure on the Indian batsmen conceding only 20 runs in 10 overs with a timely wicket.

India had won U-19 Cricket World Cup three times in past. KU Party was awarded as the Man of the Match and Mehedi Hasan Miraz from Bangladesh was awarded as the Man of the series. Next World Cup tournament will held in 2018 in New Zealand.

Masters Champions League

Masters Champion League is a Twenty20 cricket League. The tournament was made up of six teams in the first year with a total of 90 players taking part – 15 members per squad. The MCL has received a 10 year approval from the Emirates Cricket Board, and inaugural season of the tournament took place over two weeks in Dubai and Sharjah.

Gemini Arabians won the inaugural edition of Masters Champions League by defeating Leo Lions in the final by 16 runs. Gemini Arabians remained unbeaten in their campaign and were rightly crowned champions of the inaugural edition. Leo, who lost 3 for 3 at the start and then 5 for 6 in the later half, didn’t stand a chance as Gemini Paceman were all over them with Rana Naved picking up a hat-trick, finishing with astonishing figures for 4 for 9.

This setting was tailor made for Lara to step up and lead from the front after a poor tournament so far, with a highest of 8. He, along with Hamish Marshall forged a stand for the fourth wicket to get the chase on course. This time, Lara seemed to have found his feet and brought up a 50 run stand with Marshall before he limped away, retiring hurt with a hamstring injury with 53 on the board.

Man of the match was awarded to Rana Naved and Man of the tournament was awarded to Kumar Sangakkara. Retired Sri Lankan scored 386 runs in with five half centuries in seven matches. Retired Sri Lankan Muralitharan took 15 wickets in six matches. 

Australian Open 2016

Novak Djokovic crushed Andy Murray 6-1, 7-5,7-6(3) to match Roy Emerson record of six Australian Open titles and leave the Briton heartbroken again at Melbourne Park. The defending champion was at his ruthless best under the lights at Rod Laver Arena, mauling Andy Murray in the baseline duels and closing out the match in two hours and 53 minutes.

Murray succumbed to his fifth loss in five Australian Open finals, and fourth against the Serbian World number one, who claimed his 11^th Grand Slam title to draw level with the totals of Australian Rod Laver and Swede Bjorn Borg. For a man who has owned the year’s first Grand Slam for five of the past six years and won his first in 2008, Djokovic celebrations were subdued and he gave Murray a consoling pat on the chest as they shook hands.

In Female single, Angelique Kerber upset world number one Serena Williams 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 to clinch the Australian open and become the first German to win a grand Slam title. In Men’s double Jamie Murray became the first Briton to win the Australian Open men’s doubles title in 82 years as he and Bruno Soares beat Daniel Nestor and Radek Stepanek 2-6, 6-4, 7-5.

Women Doubles title is won by World Number one Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza by 7-6, 6-3. Mixed Double title is won by Elena Vesnina and Bruno Soares by 6-4, 4-6 (10-5). Bruno Soares won two titles in a single day winning Mixed Doubles and Men Doubles. Next Grand Slam Tournament will be French Open which is played on Clay Court.

Big Bash League 2016

The fifth BBL final was a tale of two innings and two collapses. Kevin Peterson who is in marvelous form scored 74 before Usman Khawaja who is in simply superhuman touch, made 70 which as wickets tumbled proved enough to hand Sydney Thunder their first title. Thunder had never finished outside the bottom two for the first four sessions and 2015-16 has been a topsy turvy one too.

They lost four consecutive games after winning their first three and only crept into the finals when their fate was beyond their control. Thunder have won only 11 out of 41 matches since the Big Bash inception and Hussey has been at the helm of nine of them, including a final on the same day Thunder won the inaugural Women BBL too. In final game, Hussey was given a guard of honor by Stars led by their captain, David Hussey.

Stars were 50 for 2 in seven overs when the other opener Luke Wright fell, but Pieterson was unperturbed. In Peter Handscomb and David Hussey, Pieterson found a pair of willing assistants to run hard and exploit the MCG vast expenses. But when Kallis bowled Hussey with a magnificent Yorker, it sparked a collapse as Stars lost six wickets for 45 runs.

In response, Khawaja ends the BBL with 345 runs in four innings, three of which were genuinely match winning. In last Ben Rohrer flicked to leg for two, and drove down the ground for six to win the game. Usman Khawaja was named Man of the Match and Chris Lynn was named as Man of the Series.

Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy

Uttar Pradesh clinched their maiden Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy with a thumping 38 run win over two time champions Baroda in the final played under lights at the Wankhede Stadium. Displaying all round display, UP pulled out all stops even overcoming the loss of the toss, to put it across the champions of 2011-12 and 2013-14 and win the summit clash in front of a crowd of 5000 spectators.

This was UP ninth straight win in the tournament, including five in the preliminary league phase and three more in the super league stage. UP built their innings around opener Prashant Gupta 49 in 41 balls and Captain Suresh Raina unbeaten 47 in 37 balls to post a challenging score of 163 for 7. In reply, Baroda lost half their side for 84 and then was stopped at 125 for 7 wickets.

Medium pacer Ankit Rajpoot picked up an early wicket in his opening spell and then came back to snap up two more to end up his figures of 3 for 30. Fellow medium pacer Amit Mishra grabbed 2 for 33. Yusuf Pathan, known for his big hitting prowess, flopped miserably once again by crawling to 14 off 27 balls. Captain Irfan Pathan came in at No 7 but by that stage the asking rate had climbed beyond 12 per over.

Delhi Acers won Premier Badminton League Title

A high octane action coupled with Bollywood Star quotient kept the spectators enthralled in the final of the Premier Badminton League between Delhi Acers and Mumbai Rockets. The city team didn’t disappoint a sizeable crowd at the Siri Fort Sports Complex as it clinched the title beating Mumbai 4-3 in an exciting tie.

Mumbai who entered the final match with a 3-2 lead, saw themselves losing the last match when Delhi’s Rajiv Ouseph playing in his trump match, aside Gurusai Dutt 15-11, 15-6 to power the hosts to title victory. Mumbai mixed doubles pair of former world champion Kamilla Juhl and European champion Vladimir Ivanov which drew the first blood. 2014 World Championship bronze medalist Tommy Sugiarto of Indonesia proved that he is a force to reckon with as he maintained his unbeaten record in the league.

There was an intense fight between the duos in the first game as they engaged in long rallies and scored points on smashes. Sugiarto won second and third game against Indian shuttler Prannoy. After the match, Bollywood actors Akshay Kumar, Riteish Deshmukh and Abhishek Bachchan entertained the capacity crowd as they took up raquets to play the match along with and against established Badminton stars.

In the beginning of the fourth match, Thulasi seemed to steal the thunder from Li as Delhi Shuttler won the first game 15-12. But she probably invested her entire energy in the first game itself as Li eased past the Delhi shuttler in remaining two games 15-8 and 15-8. In Final match, Ouseph kept Dutt at bay throughout the match and won both the games to hand Delhi title victory in front of home crowd.

Australian Open 2016: The Contenders

Novak Djokovic, World No 1 and had won 10 Grand Slam Titles. He was virtually unstoppable in 2015, when he put together one of the best seasons even seen: three grand slam titles among 11 tournament victories and a win loss record of 82-6. As the season closed, it was only the rapier backhand of Wawrinka in the French Open final that had stopped Novak Djokovic from completing the first men’s calendar year Grand Slam.

Andy Murray, World No 2 and had won 2 Grand Slam Titles. Murray has contested four Australian Open finals without winning any. Murray won four tournaments last season, including two Masters Titles, and finished the year as World No 2 for the first time. But his runner-up finish behind Djokovic in last year Australian Open final turned out to be his best performance in a major tournament.

Roger Federer, World No 3 and had won 17 Grand Slam titles. Federer lost to Djokovic in the Wimbledon and US Open Finals last year, and piercing the armour of the World No 1 is a key challenge as he looks to add to his collection of major titles. Federer, the oldest man in the top 10, and without a Grand Slam title since 2012, has not had a trouble free build up to the year first Grand Slam as he lost to Raonic in the Final.

Stan Wawrinka, World No 4 and had won 2 Grand Slam Titles. One of the few men to trouble Djokovic in recent times will be watched warily by rivals in the men’s draw. Wawrinka stunned Djokovic on his way to winning his first Grand Slam title in the Australian Open in 2014 breaking a four year stranglehold over the Grand Slam Titles by the men’s “Big Four”. In 2015 he won four titles including French Open title.

Rafael Nadal, World No 5 and had won 14 Grand Slam Titles. A wretched spell last year prompted Nadal to wonder whether his Grand Slam winning days were over as the oft injured Spaniard looked a busted flush. Nadal failed to win a major tournament last year for the first time in a decade, and saw his ranking drop to 10^th before he clawed his way back up late in the season. Runner-up finishes in Beijing and Basel and victories over Wawrinka, Murray and David Ferrer at the World Tour Finals.

Cricket Weekly

In the first week of Cricket around the world, matches were played with different teams in different countries. Sri Lanka toured New Zealand, West Indies toured Australia, England touring South Africa, Zimbabwe and Afghanistan are playing in UAE, and Big Bash league in Australia.

Sri Lanka lost Test Cricket & ODI cricket series in New Zealand. Both series were dominated by New Zealand in form batsman Martin Guptill and Kane Williamson. Sri Lanka tried best to give good challenge but team without retired legends is still looking for good combination of players. In another Australia remain unbeaten this year in test cricket and their complete team work won test cricket series against West Indies.

Australian Openers, captain and their bowlers are in tremendous form and players in all three cricket formats are in good form. England cricket team is showing a winning determination in South Africa to win Test cricket series. Ben stokes created records in second test match. England won the first test match and now lead the series. South African Skipper has stepped down as Captain.

Afghanistan won ODI cricket series against Zimbabwe in UAE in a thrilling finish in last match. They now are close to win T20 Series too if they win last match. In Big bash League; Adelaide Strikers is on top now followed by Perth scorchers, Melbourne Stars, and Sydney Thunder. In coming week, Pakistan will tour New Zealand for T20 and ODI series. India will tour Australia for T20 and ODI series. 

Retired Cricketers in 2015

2015 is the year where a lot of experienced players and iconic players have been retired which will miss by a lot of cricket lovers in World Cricket. Here is the list of Cricketers who retired in 2015.

Michael Clarke: (All Formats) The Skipper of Australia in both formats had called his career off in 2015. Retired after memorable 2015 World Cup Championship but unfortunately lost in Ashes Test before retirement.

Brad Haddin: (All Formats) The Wicket Keeping batsman from Australia also retired from Cricket in 2015 along with Michael Clarke in ODI after World Cup and also in Tests after Ashes.

Shane Watson: (Test Cricket) An all-rounder from Australia who is blessed with rich all round abilities but unfortunately could not showcase his talent in the middle. His trouble with in-swinging deliveries is spot on which made him trouble in this format of game.

Chris Rogers: (All Formats) The Veteran Cricketer who only represented for Australia in Tests also announced his retirement in 2015. He had not been picked in the squad for many years as the Australia team is having golden players in their side.

Ryan Harris: (All Formats) Harris the one of the reason for Australia to lose against England in Ashes Test Series. His ankle injury made him to take the decision of retirement. One of the successful bowlers for Australia.

Shahid Afridi: (Test and ODI) Big hitter from Pakistan also retired in this year after their elimination from World Cup 2015. He had a glorious career as an All-rounder for Pakistan.

Kumar Sangakkara: (All Formats) The legendary cricketer called time on his career in all formats of the game in 2015.

Mahela Jayawardene: (All Formats) Another Sri Lanka Great called time of his career after 2015 World Cup.

Zaheer Khan: (All Formats) Indian legendary bowler recently retired from Cricket this year in October. Zaheer had been facing injury from a long time. He was not able to bowl as he was bowling in his earlier phase of Cricket.

Virender Sehwag: (All Formats) He put curtains on a remarkable career in which he scored 17,253 international runs across formats. Sehwag is the only Indian batsman to score a triple century in Tests and he did it twice.

Mitchell Johnson: (All Formats) One of the most shocking decisions of retirement. Johnson announced retirement from International Cricket in November in a test series against New Zealand. He was not able to maintain his speed and was not effective since the Ashes.

Some other Cricketers who retired from International Cricket are Matt Prior (All Formats), Brendon McCullum (All Formats), Daniel Vettori (All Formats), Shoaib Malik (Test), Ian Bell (ODI), Craig Kieswetter (All Formats), Misbah-ul-haq (ODI), Alex Cusack (All Formats), John Mooney (All Formats), Brendan Taylor (All Formats), Ramesh Powar, and Kyle Mills (All Formats).

Vijay Hazare Trophy 2015

Parthiv Patel produced his first century in Style to give Gujarat their maiden title. A collapse after Parthiv wicket had left the issue open in giving Delhi a manageable target of 274, but Veteran RP Singh, playing his first match in the knockout stages, settled the matter with an opening burst of 4 for 23, which includes a first ball wicket of Rishabh Pant and later those of Shikhar Dhawan and Gautam Gambhir.

Parthiv and Bhatt added 149 runs for the third wicket, the highest for the third wicket in his tournament. Parthiv hit 10 fours, mainly through cuts and flicks off the hips. Bhatt hit four fours and a six in his 60 off 74 balls, which took his tournament tally to 338, which is the highest for Gujarat and ninth highest overall. They were helped along by two sets of four overthrows, various fumbles and a few clumsy dives.

Delhi came back into the chase with some hope, but RP squashed it immediately. With a generous sprinkling of grey in this beard, RP might look older than his 30, but the ball is still coming out all right from his hand. The only blip on Gujarat night arrived when Bhatt dropped Unmukt Chand off the bowling of Kalaria, but he made up for it soon enough when he accepted a low offering from Gambhir at first slip.

As wickets continued to fall, the only man capable of a miraculous comeback was Chand. He played attractive shots in his 33 off 48, but once he placed Jasprit Bumrah on the contest was officially over. Negi half century managed to push the score past 100. This was Gujarat Maiden Vijay Hazare Trophy title. Parthiv and RP Singh were awarded Player of the match awards.

Mumbai Garuda wins Pro Wrestling League Title

Putting up a sparkling show in the final showdown, Mumbai Garuda outclassed Haryana Hammers 7-2 to clinch the inaugural Pro Wrestling League title. High on confidence after winning all their previous matches in the tournament, Mumbai started as the favorites in the grand finale and successfully lived up the expectations with a comfortable win.

In the final, none of the categories were blocked as all nine bouts were fought and Mumbai ended up unbeaten in the event. Down 1-2, Mumbai Garuda won their next four bouts on the trot to claim the trophy after the seventh match itself, making the last two ties inconsequential. Mumbai won back to back bouts through Captain Adeline Gray, Giorgi Sakandelidze, Odunayo Adekuoroye and Odikadze Elizbar.

Mumbai Amit Dhankar had an easy outing against Haryana Vishal Rana, who was the replacement for injured Yogeshwar Dutt, bagging the first bout 12-0 by technical superiority and giving favorites Garuda an early lead in Men’s 65 kg. But World Championship Gold Medalist Oksana Herhel of Haryana tied the scores by posting a 4-4 by fall win against Sakshi Malik of Mumbai in Women 58 Kg.

Mumbai icon player Adeline Gray then predictably scored the equalizer for her team by beating Geetika Jakhar of Haryana Hammers in Women +69kg. Odikadze Elizbar sealed the title for Mumbai with his stunning 6-4 win over Andriitesey Valerii in Men 97 kg category. The next two bouts were also won by Mumbai with Ritu Phogat eking out a narrow win over Nirmal Devi, while Rahul Aware defeated Nitin 6-3. 

Singapore Slammers is new IPTL Champion

In an anticlimactic result for the Indian Aces, who had topped the table coming into the final, the Indian team lost the champions crowns to hosts Singapore Slammers, who prevailed 26-21 in the final. Indian Aces were easily the most dominant side this season, losing only three matches and winning 54.1% of the games they played in their campaign.

Carlos Moya handed slammers a two point lead with his 6-4 win over Fabrice Santoro in the Legend Singles. Belinda Bencic extended her team’s lead after she beat Kuznetsova 6-4 in a grueling women singles that lasted 42 minutes. The Indian aces roared back with a 6-2 win in the mixed doubles as Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna teamed up for an impressive win over Dustin Brown and Karolina Pliskova.

Two-time grand slam champion Stan Wawrinka then beat Bernard Tomic 6-3 in the men’s singles to help Slammers maintain slight edge. The men’s doubles, this season last set, turned into a title deciding contest and it was Slammers pair of Wawrinka and Marcelo Melo that prevailed 6-3 against Bopanna and Ivan Dodig to give Singapore a 26-21 win. The Slammers, coached by India’s double specialist Purav Raja, claimed a prize pursed of $1 Million while Indian Aces got $500,000.

Ivan Dodig was adjudged the most valuable player (male) while Slammers Belinda Bencic was adjudged the most valuable player (female) for their superlative performances through the season. They got $50,000 each for the dominant tennis they played all throughout the season. Bhupathi said they will continue with five teams in the next season.

Chennaiyin lift Indian Super League Title

Forced to shift base to another venue due to flood in their home city, Chennaiyin FC were crowned the Hero Indian Super League Champion after they beat FC Goa 3-2 in a drama filled summit clash, in which three goals were scored in the last four minutes.

In a befitting grand finale of the ISL second season which saw 186 goals scored in 60 matches as compared to 121 last year, the Chennaiyin vs Goa clash at Jawaharlal Nehru stadium saw as many as five goals, all of them coming in the second half of the edge of the seat match. Bruno Pelissari put Chennaiyin ahead in the 54^th minute but Goa equalized within four minutes with Haokip finding the target.

Gonzalez then put Goa ahead for the first time in the 87^th minute in what looked like to be the winning goal. But under dramatic circumstances Goa goalkeeper Laxmikant Kattimani conceded an own goal in the 90^th minute to level the score before Chennaiyin striker Mendoza found the target in the first minute of the injury time to stun the home supporters of Goa. For Chennaiyin, coached by Italian World Cup Winner Marco Materazzi, the triumph was all the more remarkable as they had to shift to Pune for their semi-final first leg after their home venue was devastated by flood.

They were also struggling in the early part of the league and needed four wins on the trot in their last four matches to qualify for the semi-finals. But it was heartbreak for Goa FC who looked the most attacking side in the season under Brazilian legend Zico, who is not expected to return for the next season. The winner got richer by Rs 8 crore while FC Goa got Rs 4 crore. The two semi-final losers got Rs 1.5 crore each.

2015 Bangladesh Premier League

Alok Kapali played a spectacular innings of 39 not out to give Comilla Victorians the BPL title off the last ball of the final. The Valiant Barisal Bulls were beaten by three wickets in the end, but it could so easily have been their trophy heading into the final overs of the match.

But it was Kapali, who made 39 off 28 balls with five fours, four of those off the last eight balls of the game. He struck two fours in the last two over, and ran the winning run off the last ball in front of a packed Shree Bangla National Stadium. Imrul Kayes 53 had earlier set Comilla up but the chase was almost derailed when their key player Ashar Zaidi was run out at a crucial stage.

Zaidi, Comilla best player in the tournament, was run out for 16 off 14 balls. His dismissal illustrated Barisal impressive fielding throughout this BPL, as Mahmudullah brilliant pick up and throw was well taken by the bowler Cooper who broke the stumps in time. Before that Mahmudullah and Nafees aggressiveness with the bat had earlier propelled Barisal to 156 for 4 after they were put in to bat. The pair added 81 runs for the fourth wicket.

Alok Kapali was awarded as Man of the match in Final and Ashar Zaidi was awarded as Man of the tournament. He scored 215 runs in 11 matches and took 17 wickets. After this third season of BPL, Mashrafe Mortaza became the only Bangladesh captain to pick up all three titles. 

FIH Hockey World League

A Spirited India broke their 33 year old medal jinx in a major International tournament as they came back from two goals down to stun defending champions Netherlands in the shootout after both the teams were tied at 5-5 at regulation time in a thrilling bronze medal play-off match of the Hockey World League Final in Raipur.

India last won a medal in an International tournament way back in 1982 when they beat Pakistan 5-4 in the Champions trophy in Amsterdam. In the shootout, the Indians prevailed over the Dutch 3-2 at the Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel Stadium and win avenged India’s 1-3 defeat against the Netherland in the pool stages in the tournament here. After starting the match on a slow note, India produced a fine show in the last two quarters to beat the world number two side with their relentless attacks in the second half.

Netherlands were quick to take a 2-0 lead in the first half. It was high intensity match which produced as many as six goals in the last 10 minutes, three each to India and Netherlands. The Indians got their acts together after the change of ends and Ramandeep Singh scored from a field strike before Rupinder Pal Singh converted a penalty corner in the 47^th minute to level the scores.

It was raining goals as India took the lead in the next minute when Akshdeep Singh found the back of the Dutch net to give India 5-3 lead. But the Dutchmen did not sit back and fought back valiantly to score two goals in the last two minutes to take the match into shoot-out. Final match was won by Australia beating Belgium by 2-1 in Raipur.

Nico Rosberg wins Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

Nico Rosberg defeated Mercedes team mate Lewis Hamilton for the third race in succession on Sunday, with a commanding drive in the 2015 Formula 1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. The World Champion put in a late charge, but it wasn’t enough to stop Rosberg prevailing by 8.2s to score his sixth win of the season.

Kimi Raikkonen was a distant third for Ferrari – his third podium of the season – with team mate Sebastian Vettel coming through from 15^th on the grid to take fourth, ahead of Force India Sergio Perez who held off Red Bull Daniel Ricciardo for fifth. Nico Hulkenberg was seventh in the second Force India, ahead of Williams Felipe Massa and Lotus Romain Grosjean with Red Bull Daniil Kvyat completing the top ten.

Lotus Pastor Maldonado was the only retirement of the afternoon after a first lap clash with Fernando Alonso McLaren on the run into Turn 1. Alonso, who had brushed the Sauber of Felipe Nasr before hitting Maldonado, continued after pitting for a new nose and tyres, but was given a drive through penalty for causing the incident. The Spaniard eventually came home 17^th ahead of Marussias of Will Stevens and Roberto Merhi.

Lewis Hamilton was handed the 2015 DHL Fastest Lap Award and Ferrari collected the 2015 DHL Fastest Pit Stop Award. Valtteri Bottas was another driver to pick up a penalty after Williams released him into the path of Jenson Button McLaren during pit stops. Bottas, who finished 14^th just 0.4s behind the Englishman, had to complete a lap with a damaged front wing before returning for a new nose. This was the last race of the 2015 Formula 1 Season. New Season will begin in Race from Australia in January 2016.

Novak Djokovic won ATP World Tour Title

Novak Djokovic capped a remarkable season with victory over Roger Federer to claim a record fourth straight ATP World Tour Finals Title. The world number one from Serbia broke serve three times to win 6-3 6-4 in 80 minutes at London O2 Arena. Djokovic also made amends for defeat by six time champion Federer in group stage.

He ends the year with 11 titles including three Grand Slams taking his total to 10 majors. The 28 year old has now won the season Finale five times and surpasses Ivan Lendl’s 1987 achievement, when he won his third straight Tour Finals title in New York. The defeat by Federer has been his first Indoor since 2012, but Djokovic responded in simply irresistible style as he dispatched first Rafael Nadal and then in the final, Roger Federer.

It ended with a double fault as even the 17 time Grand Slam Champion wilted under the pressure of such relentless accuracy from his opponent. Aside from the trophy, another 1300 ranking points and the cheque for Euro 1.4m, Djokovic draws level with Federer at 22-22 in career meetings. The pair has shared 11 of the best 13 season ending titles between them, but it is the Serb who now dominates.

Djokovic victory ended Federer chance of overtaking Andy Murray in the rankings, meaning the British will end the year as world Number two for the first time. Federer had been quick to play down the significance of his group stage win and Djokovic did indeed prove a very different opponent in the final just as he had at Wimbledon and US Open. Djokovic was within two sets of winning the calendar Grand Slam this year, losing out to an inspired Stan Wawrinka in the French Open Final but completing his set of majors will not be the only target for 2016.

Nico Rosberg wins Brazil Grand Prix

Nico Rosberg beat Lewis Hamilton for the second race in succession to win the Brazilian Grand Prix. The German converted pole position into a lead at the first corner and controlled the race from there, despite Hamilton pushed hard throughout. Hamilton looked faster but in the turbulent air behind Rosberg car he was unable to get close enough to try to pass his team-mate. Ferrari Sebastian Vettel was third ahead of team-mate Kimi Raikkonen.

Rosberg took the initiative at the start, narrowly avoided contact with Hamilton, and held on to it throughout. Hamilton got very close at one stage before his tyres cried enough. They eventually finished 7.7s apart after a nip and tuck battle, as the champion struggled and was being caught gently by hard charging Vettel. Kimi Raikkonen, on a two stop strategy to Ferrari teammate Vettel three, had an undramatic run to fourth place ahead of William’s Valtteri Bottas.

Nico Hulkenberg and Daniil Kvyat battled throughout, the Force India driver taking sixth ahead of the Red Bull. Felipe Massa was eighth in the second Williams, but is being investigated by the stewards after the pressures and temperatures of his right rear tyre were found to contravene FIA regulations before the start. A fine drive by Grosjean netted Lotus two points.

Red Bull stablemate Daniel Ricciardo did the same to Maldonado but still finished behind the Venezuelan, who received a five second time penalty for tipping Sauber Marcus Ericsson into a spin in the Senna S. They finished 11^th and 12^th with Perez 13^th from Nasr as the Brazilian attempt to make two pit stops work failed to pay off. Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso had a race long intra McLaren battle, which the Englishmen won comfortably by 9.3s.

Sachin Tendulkar vs Shane Warne

One can take champions out of cricket but one cannot take cricket out of champions. This seems to be true in case of Sachin Tendulkar and Shane Warne who are all set to renew their rivalry in the Cricket All Stars series that starts in New York.

Right from Sydney in January 1992, when Warne made his Test debut in the third match of the series in which Tendulkar smashed an unbeaten 148, to the numerous T20 Matches in the Indian Premier League, the two greatest cricketers of the past two decades have fought enduring battles on the pitch which have become part of cricket folklore.

The draw for the teams was conducted at the Times Square garden in New York and 27 players were assigned randomly to Sachin Blasters and Warne Warriors. The two greatest batsman of their generation Sachin Tendulkar and Brian Lara, were drawn on the same team. Australian big hitters like Matthew Hayden, Ricky Ponting, and Andrew Symonds ended up with Warne. Sachin Blasters will also have swashbuckling Virender Sehwag, the wristy VVS Laxman, and the enigmatic Saurav Ganguly.

It will be surely be a sight for the eyes when these batsmen take guard against a bowling attack comprising Warne, Courtney Walsh, Allan Donald and Wasim Akram. Tendulkar bowling attack will have Muttiah Muralitharan and great pacers Curtly Ambrose, Glenn McGrath, Shaun Pollock and Shoaib Akhtar. Apart from these legends Blasters will also have Mahela Jayawardene, Carl Hooper, Lance Klusener, Moin Khan, and Graeme Swann.

Michael Vaughan, Jacques Kallis, Kumar Sangakkara, Jonty Rhodes, Saqlain Mushtaq, Daniel Vettori and Ajit Agarkar complete the team of warriors. These ICC sanctioned matches will be played on drop in pitches at major baseball fields in New York, Houston, and Los Angeles.

Nico Rosberg won Mexico Grand Prix

The World Championship may have gone to Mercedes Lewis Hamilton but Nico Rosberg at least had the satisfaction of making F1 memorable return to Mexico with a pole to checkered flag win on Sunday. This takes Nico Rosberg to second position this year and increases his margin of points from Ferrari Sebastian Vettel.

Hamilton finished second, with Valtteri Bottas completing the podiums for Williams. Rosberg who dominated practice and qualifying held off Hamilton after a Vettel crash saw the safety car deployed on lap 53 of 71. A late mistake in a similar situation in the previous round last Sunday had seen Hamilton win the United States Grand Prix to wrap up his second straight title.

But Nico Rosberg was clearly determined to avoid a repetition and it was errors by Hamilton which left him unable to claim his fourth straight win. It has also cost him chance to equal the record wins for an F1 season of 13, with 10 under his belt but only two rounds to go in 2015 in Brazil and Abu Dhabi. The Red Bull pair of Daniil Kvyat and Daniel Ricciardo drove fine races for fourth and fifth.

Home hero Sergio Perez finished eighth for Force India. Raucous Scenes greeted the drivers at the end of an enthralling race, enlivened by Vettel collision into a barrier the four time champion walking away unscathed. The next race will held in Brazil on 15^th November 2015.

New Zealand won Rugby World Cup 2015

The 2015 Rugby World Cup was the eighth Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial rugby union world championship. The tournament was hosted by England from 18 September to 31 October 2015. New Zealand won the cup for the third time and two consecutive years. Australia took second place as runner up and South Africa took third place.

England was chosen to host the competition in July 2009, beating rival bids from Italy, Japan and South Africa. Of the 20 teams competing the 2015 World Cup, 12 of them qualified by finishing in the top three place in their pools in the 2011 World Cup. The other eight teams qualified through regional competition. Next and ninth Rugby World Cup will held in Japan from 20 September to 2 November 2019.

New Zealand won the game by 34-17. Wonderful tries from Milner-Skudder and Nonu had given the all blacks a 21-3 lead early in the second half before David Pocock and Tevita struck back. With 15 Minutes to go there was just four points in it, but a nerveless long distance drop goal and penalty from Dan Carter snatched back control. In the end, Barrett sprinted away on to Ben Smith clearing kick at the death history was made.

After Missing the 2011 World Cup final through Injury, this was the perfect ending for world Rugby most perfect 10 Dan Carter, who also won Man of the Match award. No team has ever scored so many in the first period of a World Cup Final, and the brilliance resumed a minute into the second half. In this World Cup, most tries are scored Julian Savea, most penalties are scored by Handre Pollard, most conversions are scored by Daniel Carter and most points are scored by Nicolas Sanchez.

United States Grand Prix

Mercedes Lewis Hamilton won his third Formula 1 World Championship to become only the second British Driver after Sir Jackie Stewart to achieve the feat. Hamilton won a thrilling United States Grand Prix to seal the driver’s title with his 10^th victory of 2015. It was an exciting climax to a race of fluctuating fortunes, lead changes and superb racing in changing conditions.

Ferrari Sebastian Vettel could have kept the race open until Mexico next weekend had he finished second, but could manage only third place behind Mercedes Nico Rosberg. Hamilton started from second on the grid behind Rosberg and taking the lead at the first corner, forcing his teammate wide in the process and giving the Red Bulls of Daniil Kvyat and Daniel Ricciardo the chance to demote Rosberg to fourth.

On a wet track on treaded intermediate tyres, the Red Bulls were faster than the Mercedes and Hamilton faced an initial attack from Kvyat. The top four were locked together for the first 19 laps as Rosberg moved into second, only for Ricciardo to pass him and then Hamilton take the lead. At last, Kvyat crash added a final twist and Hamilton sealed a title for which he has appeared on course since the beginning of the season.

Only three races are left in this season and Lewis Hamilton is already champion of this season. This is his consecutive second Championship win and overall third. Next race will held in Mexico on 2^nd November 2015. Lewis Hamilton point tally is 327 points. Second Position is hold by Sebastian Vettel with 251 Points and third by Nico Rosberg with 247 Points. This season is still interesting as fight for second position will be exciting to watch.

Shanghai Masters 2015

The Shanghai Masters is a professional men’s tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts, and held annually in early October at the Qizhong Forest Sports City Arena in the Minhang district of Shanghai, People Republic of China. The Shanghai Masters is eighth out of the nine ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournaments on the Association of Tennis Professionals World Tour Season and is the only one not played in Europe or North America.

Matches in Singles and Doubles main draws are played over eight days, from one Sunday to the next. The Singles main draw features 56 different players including 44 or 45 direct acceptances, 7 qualifiers, 4 wild cards and 1 eventual special exempt. The Singles qualifying draw features 28 different players with 24 direct acceptances and 4 wild cards. The doubles draw, features 24 different teams including 22 direct acceptances and 2 wild cards.

World Number One Novak Djokovic became the first ever player to win five Masters 1000 titles in two different years. In one sided Shanghai Masters final he defeated Jo-Wilfred Tsonga in straight sets 6-2, 6-4 in one hour 19 minutes. This year, Djokovic has so far won five 1000 Masters Titles in seven finals – Indian Wells, Miami, Monte Carlo, and Rome. He was the finalist at Montreal and Cincinnati.

In 2011 he won titles at Indian Wells, Miami, Montreal, Madrid, and Rome. No other player has won five Masters 1000 titles two times. Other players to win five Masters Titles are US Legend Jimmy Conners in 1976 and Spaniard Rafael Nadal in 2013. His total of 25 Masters 1000 is second highest in Open Era Behind, Nadal who has won it 27 times. With Paris Masters left in the season, the record breaking Serbian can hope to create another record. The doubles Shanghai Masters is won by Raven Klaasen and Marcelo Melo.

Russian Grand Prix 2015

Mercedes Lewis Hamilton eased to victory in Sochi, Russia Grand Prix. His teammate Nico Rosberg had retired from the lead with throttle problems on Lap 7. Ferrari Sebastian Vettel took the runner up spot to move into second in title standings, with Force India Sergio Perez earning third in dramatic fashion after a final lap clash involving Williams Valtteri Bottas and Ferrari Kimi Raikkonen.

Rosberg started complaining of throttle problems on Lap 5 and by Lap 7, Hamilton was past and the German was in the pits, retiring his car. After racing resumed on Lap 17, Hamilton never looked back, retaining his lead even during his single stop and going on to win by six seconds. In the process he extended his championship advantage over Rosberg to 73 points with 100 still up for grabs.

There were plenty of battles for the remaining point’s positions. Running third, Perez was passed by Bottas and Raikkonen on the penultimate lap, only to regain the place a few corners later when Raikkonen bungled overtaking attempt on Bottas put the Williams out and left the Ferrari limping to behind the sister Williams of Felipe Massa. Bottas was classified 12^th and the collision is under investigation.

Daniil Kvyat was sixth in his home race for Red Bull, ahead of Sauber Felipe Nasr and Lotus Pastor Maldonado. McLaren got both cars into the points, with Jenson Button ninth and Fernando Alonso Tenth. Toro Rosso Carlos Sainz fought back before retiring on Lap 47 after spinning with fading brakes. Red Bull Daniel Ricciardo was the other DNF, the Australian pulling out with suspected suspension issues on Lap 49. Next race will held in United States on October 26^th, 2015.

Indian Super League

The Indian Super League (ISL) is a professional football league in India. The league is one of the top tier football leagues in India, the other being the I-League. The league features eight franchise teams from all around India. The ISL runs from October to December with a final determining the champion.

It was founded in 2013 in an effort to make football a top sport in India and to make Indian Football a major player worldwide. The league operates along the lines of the Twenty20 cricket Indian Premier League and Major League Soccer of the United States. ISL does not use the promotion and relegation system but instead a franchise system in which eight teams was created to participate in the league.

The first season was played in 2014, which was won by Atletico de Kolkata by beating the Kerala Blasters by 1-0. The second season of ISL kicked off from 3^rd October 2015 and final will take place on 20^th December 2015. This season, one team will play 14 matches against the other seven sides twice. In total there are 56 games played during the regular season before the top 4 games go into the finals.

There are eight teams from different regions of the country. Eight teams are Atletico de Kolkata, Chennaiyin FC, Kerala Blasters, Delhi Dynamos, Goa FC, Mumbai City, North East United and Pune City. In first season, Elano from Brazil & Chennai scored the maximum number of 8 goals. ISL will boost up football awareness in India and will Indian football team to find more players so that India can register a place in FIFA top tournaments.