French Open 2016

Serbia Novak Djokovic defeated Britain’s Andy Murray in the final of the French Open at Roland Garros to win his 13^th Grand Slam. With this victory, Djokovic won his maiden Roland Garros crown and also completed his career Grand Slam dream.

Coming from a set down, the Serb won back to back three sets to oust Murray from the title hunt. He won 3-6, 6-1, 6-2, and 6-4. The world number one etched his name in the history books by becoming the first man since 1969 to hold all four grand slams concurrently. After a rather sluggish start, Djokovic came back with all guns blazing, only to destroy Murray hopes of becoming the first player from Britain to win the French Open since 1935.

A lot was stake at Murray, who has not only gunning for glory but also looking to shut down his critics. On the contrary, for Djokovic, the French Open was the only silverware missing from his trophy cabinet and the weather gods made it even more difficult for him to his hands on it. Djokovic battled the weather and an adamant opponent, to make his way to the summit. Earlier, 22 year old sensation Garbine Muguruza had stunned Serena Williams to win the crown in straight sets 7-5, 6-4 in women’s singles.

Men’s doubles title is won by F. Lopez and M. Lopez, who stunned Bryan brothers in finals by 4-6, 7-6, and 3-6. Women doubles title is won by C. Garcia and K. Mladenovic by 6-3, 2-6, 6-4. Mixed double is won by M. Hingis and L. Paes who beat S. Mirza and I. Dodig in finals by 4-6, 6-4, and 10-8. Next Grand Slam event will be Wimbledon which will start from 27 June 2016 in Wimbledon.

Sunrisers Hyderabad won IPL 2016

In their first IPL Final, Sunrisers Hyderabad showed their intent early by opting to bat against Royal Challengers Bangalore at a venue where tall scores have been chased down nonchalantly. It was their bowling line up, the best in the tournament that delivered the maiden IPL title with an eight run win over the hosts. Ben Cutting lent the finishing touches with an unbeaten 15 ball 39 to help them post 208 for 7.

RCB had breached the 200 mark thrice previously at home this season and there was no reason why they could not do so again, except the pressure of chasing in a final. Gayle alone contributed 76, with four fours and eight sixes. Sunrisers attack was under pressure early on, but they clinically applied the brakes after Gayle wicket. Shane Watson rare off day with the bowl was costly for RCB. He fed the batsmen an assortment of hittable deliveries.

Gayle, Kohli, and de Villiers fell in the space of 20 deliveries as RCB slipped to 148 for 3. They needed 61 off 37 and they needed Watson to make up for his lapses with the ball. There were promising signs when he swatted Henriques for six over long-on, but his dismissal in the 17^th over immediately after KL Rahul wicket, left the hosts in a position they could not recover from.

Orange Cap for most runs was given to Virat Kohli for his 973 runs in the tournament. Purple Cap for most wickets was given to B Kumar for his 23 wickets in the tournament. Virat Kohli also won Man of the Tournament award. Sunrisers Hyderabad won their maiden IPL title.

Lewis Hamilton wins Monaco Grand Prix

The Formula 1 Grand Prix de Monaco started behind the safety car in wet conditions, but was run mainly in glorious sunshine with Mercedes Lewis Hamilton narrowly defeating Red Bull Daniel Ricciardo after an epic battle around the streets of Monte Carlo.

As the early rain eased, pole sitter Ricciardo pitted first for intermediate tyres, while Hamilton chose to stay out until conditions improved enough for slick rubber. Ricciardo had enough time in hand to make a further stop and regain his lead, but when he arrived at his garage, a miscommunication meant Red Bull had no tyres ready for him and the Australian was stationary for a very costly 13.6s. He rejoined just behind the world champion, a position on which he was never able to improve.

Sergio Perez took his sixth career podium with third place, after an inspired decision from Force India to switch him early to the hardest of the dry tyres. That allowed Mexican to finish just ahead of Ferrari Sebastian Vettel. Fernando Alonso secured McLaren best result of 2016 to date with a distant fifth place, while a very cautious Mercedes Nico Rosberg lost sixth place on the final straight to Force India Nico Hulkenberg with his championship lead over Hamilton reduced by 19 points as a result.

Toro Rosso, Carlos Sainz, McLaren Jenson Button and Williams Felipe Massa completed the top ten. Max Verstappen went from Spain hero to Monaco Zero with his third crash of the weekend, putting his Red Bull into the wall at Massenet on lap 35. Next race will held in Canada on 12^th June 2016.

Real Madrid won UEFA Champions League 2016

Real Madrid handed Atletico Madrid another cruel Champions League Final defeat when Cristiano Ronaldo spot kick saw them beat their neighbors on penalties to win Europe top club trophy for a record 11^th time.

The match ended 1-1 after extra time as Atletico, giving their usual never say die performance, conceded an early goal, missed a penalty, clung on by the skin of their teeth and then found the strength to equalize at the San Siro. But it was all in vain as Juanfran struck their fourth penalty against the post, allowing a previously subdued Ronaldo to stride up and coolly blast home the decisive penalty for a 5-3 shootout win his third European cup success.

Real former playmaker Zinedine Zidane was left to celebrate winning Europe elite club competition five months after starting his first coaching job and become the seventh man to claim the trophy both as a player and a manager. But it was another demoralizing end for Diego Simeone Atletico who was within a minute of winning the 1974 European Cup Final and 2014 Champions League finals but conceded equalizers and eventually lost them both.

The latter was also against Real Madrid when Sergio Ramos scored in stoppage time to set his side up for a 4-1 extra-time win. This time, Ramos gave Real a 15^th minute lead but after Antoine missed a penalty for Atletico at the start of the second half, the Mattress makers hit back with a superbly taken equalizer by substitute Carrasco. Cristiano Ronaldo has finished as the UEFA Champions League top marksman for the fourth season running, notching 16 goals and the Portuguese star is closing in on a century in Europe premier club competition.

Barcelona won Copa Del Rey 2016

Down a man with top goal scorer Luis Suarez on the sidelines with an apparent hamstring injury, Lionel Messi led Barcelona to a 2-0 extra time victory in an eventful Copa Del Rey final that featured three red cards, two Messi assists and one bizarre game stoppage for the cramping match referee.

When the final whistle blew, Messi stood out as the best player in the park. Argentine defender Javier Mascherano took down Sevilla striker Kevin Gamerio in the 34^th minute to receive the fastest red card in the history of the Spanish Cup Final. However, Messi and Iniesta offered special magical performances. Messi played a perfectly timed pass for Neymar in stoppage time of regulation, and Banega put in a fateful, last ditch tackle to stop the Brazilian from getting in a goal unmarked.

Barcelona and Sevilla were both down to 10 men with 30 minutes of added time to come. Considering Gerard Pique clean clearances in the back, Sergio Busquets tireless tackling in the middle and Messi and Iniesta magical inspiration in the attack, Barcelona being back level up put the Catalans in complete control from that point forward.

With the win, Messi and Barcelona earned the club 28^th Copa Del Rey crown to go with its 24^th La Liga title. The double salvaged a season that had started strong, peaked with a 39 match unbeaten run and nearly collapsed over a three week period that featured four defeats in five games.

MotoGP 2016: Grand Prix of Italy

Jorge Lorenzo won a ferocious last lap duel with Marc Marquez to clinch victory at Mugello, where Valentino Rossi face ended in bitter disappointment with an engine failure. Italian hero Rossi had been shadowing his Movistar Yamaha team-mate Lorenzo in second place when his race came to an unceremonious end on lap nine, when he was forced to park up his smoking factory M1.

It was the second engine blow up to hit Yamaha on Sunday after Lorenzo bike suffered a similar fate during morning warm-up. As Lorenzo and Marquez engaged in a game of cat and mouse at the front, Andrea Lannone who was down in 10^th place following the opening lap after blowing his front row start was on the move and came through to take third from his Ducati team-mate Andrea Dovizioso.

Dani Pedrosa also came on strong in the second part of the race and became embroiled in a battle with Lannone, although the Italian rider prevailed to seal the final place on the podium. Lorenzo and Marquez traded passes on a nail biting final lap and it looked as though the Honda rider had managed to make the decisive move to lead out of the final corner onto the main straight, but Lorenzo managed to draft past on the blast to the line to win in dramatic style.

Dovizioso finished fifth on the second of the factory Ducati GP16 machines, with Maverick Vinales sixth on the Ecstar Suzuki. Spaniard Vinales also blew his start and had to fight his way through from 11^th place on the GSX-RR. It was Rossi second DNF of the season after he crashed out in Texas and he is now 37 points behind Lorenzo after the first six rounds.

UEFA Europa League 2016

Sevilla continued their reign as kings of the UEFA Europa League as a rousing second half fight back proved too much for Liverpool at Basel and secured them an unprecedented third straight title in the competition and a record extending fifth overall.

Sevilla were in their third successive final whereas Liverpool had not appeared in a European showpiece for nine years, yet there was little sign of nerves from the English newcomers. Emre Can forced the first save of the evening from David before ten minutes had been played, then Daniel Carrico acrobatically cleared a Daniel Sturridge header off the line. Roared on by a fair portion of crowd, Liverpool kept coming, with Soria quickly off his line to block another Sturridge effort.

Captain Marvel and Sevilla hero, Coke is not a natural goal scorer. His 169 games for Sevilla before tonight brought a grand total of 13 goals. A right back by trade, he has been used in midfield this term and twice he turned up in the right place at the right time. Disappointed to be a substitute last season, here he scored two and lifted the trophy. Eight of the last 13 teams to lift this trophy have been from the Liga and this triumph was tenth in all.

Spain surpasses Italy as the leading nation in the competition history. It is a similar story in the European Cup, where Real Madrid and Atletico will face in ten days, time to become the fifth Spanish winner in eight seasons. 

Max Verstappen wins Spanish Grand Prix

Formula 1 Gran Premio de Espana Pirelli 2016 served up a battle royal between Red Bull and Ferrari, with Max Verstappen becoming the youngest F1 winner in history as he took an amazing victory from Kimi Raikkonen in his very first race with his new team.

It came after Mercedes Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton had dramatically collided into retirement on lap 1 in an incident which the stewards are investigating. Verstappen, aged just 18, held off relentless pressure from Raikkonen in the closing laps, while behind them Ferrari Sebastian Vettel did the same from the Sister Red Bull of Daniel Ricciardo, until the Australian right rear tyre deflated just a lap from home.

Ricciardo came home fourth nonetheless, followed by William Valtteri Bottas, Toro Rosso Carlos Sainz and Force India Sergio Perez. Williams Felipe Massa, McLaren Jenson Button and Toro Rosso Daniil Kvyat completed the top ten. The Mercedes aside, there were just three other retirements. Nico Hulkenberg pulled off with flames licking from the rear of his Force India on lap 22, Fernando Alonso home race ended with power loss on his McLaren on lap 47, and Romain Grosjean brought his Haas into the Garage on lap 58.

MotoGP 2016: Grand Prix of France

Jorge Lorenzo ran away with the French GP, taking a flag to flag victory as former championship leader Marc Marquez fell. Tension hung in the air ahead of the 28 lap monster Energy Grand Prix de France as riders in the MotoGP World Championship sat patiently on the grid. Jorge Lorenzo had pole ahead of championship leader Marc Marquez and potential podium challenger Andrea Lannone.

Lorenzo made a perfect start as Marquez wheelied off the line, the Yamaha rider leading through the first chicane with Andrea Dovizioso behind him. Marquez was soon up to fourth as he charged past Pol Espargaro, Valentino Rossi attempted to follow him through but found himself swamped by the likes of Aleix Espargaro and Bradley Smith.

As they crossed the finish line for the first time Lorenzo lead stood at half a second with Dovizioso and lannone behind. It was not the start Rossi had wanted, able to make up just a single place from seventh on the grid as the second lap began. Dovizioso, who had seemingly banished his recent bad luck, remained strong in second.

Dani Pedrosa was unable to close the gap to Vinales despite his best efforts and settled for fourth. Pol Espargaro was once again the fastest independent team rider as he ended Tech 3’s home round in a credible fifth ahead of his brother. Aleix Espargaro, Danilo Petrucci, Hector Barbera, Alvaro Bautista and Stefan Bardl completed the top ten. Of the 21 riders on the grid, 13 finished the race.

Nico Rosberg wins Russia Grand Prix

Nico Rosberg dominated Sunday 2016 Formula 1 Russian Grand Prix after a Sochi race in which his main rivals struck trouble. Team mate Lewis Hamilton fought his way up from 10^th on the grid to secure a Mercedes one-two, as Ferrari Kimi Raikkonen completed the podium.

It was Rosberg fourth win of the season and his seventh in succession, and gives him a 43 point lead in the driver standings. Hamilton, meanwhile, believed he had the pace to win, but yet again saw his challenge compromised as falling water pressure obliged him to back off after he had reduced a 12.9s deficit to 7.5s between laps 23 and 36.

Where the World Champion at least finished second this time, however, it was another pure disaster for 2016 other unlucky man, Sebastian Vettel. He was hit from behind by Chinese nemesis Daniil Kvyat in Turn 2 on the opening lap as he pushed the Ferrari inside Daniel Ricciardo sister Red Bull. Then as Vettel appeared to slow slightly with a resulting rear puncture he was again hit from behind by Kvyat and sent spinning hard into the wall in Turn 3. The Russian was given a 10s stop-go-penalty and three penalty points, but Vettel was done.

Valtteri Bottas was strong initially despite losing second place on the opening lap to Raikkonen, the Williams driver got that back after a safety car intervention because of Vettel accident and a resultant Turn 2 clash further back between Haas Esteban, the Force India of Nico Hulkenberg, Marcus Ericsson Sauber and Rio Haryanto’s Manor, as racing resumed on the fourth lap.

Rosberg now has a lead of 43 points over Hamilton and joins Alberto Ascari, Michael Schumacher and Vettel as the only men ever to win seven Grand Prix in a row. As Raikkonen rises to third with 36 points, Vettel himself lies fourth on 33, one ahead of Massa.

MotoGP 2016: Grand Prix of Spain

All Weekend the leading three were in a league of their own. Rossi, Lorenzo, and Marquez had filled the top three spots of almost every practice session and lined up next to each other on the front row of the grid. The three biggest names in MotoGP were alongside each other once more and everything in practice had indicated that there was almost nothing to choose between them.

As is typical of the Spanish GP, the grid was packed with mechanics, guests and officials but the riders did their best to block it out and run through their race plans. With all three on the same hard front and medium rear tyres, managing tyre life could very well decide the race but those concerns would came later. Race can’t be won in the first corner, but they can certainly be lost.

Across the line they went as the second lap began as the Movistar Yamaha MotoGP pair stretched their lead. Marquez attacked Pedrosa into Turn 6, running wide as his line was blocked. Through Turn 9 Lorenzo launched a similar attack on Rossi, the Italian holding off his teammate as the Hondas clawed back the gap with Marquez now in third.

After a terrible start to the race, lannone set about making up for lost time and quickly got past Pol Espargaro and ran away with seventh place. This would be one of the last battles of the race as the field stretched out, only a handful of riders within a second of each other. For the 113^th time in his career and the 87^th time in the premier class, Valentino Rossi pulled a wheelie across the line to celebrate victory. Behind him Jorge Lorenzo took his 100^th premier class podium finish and Marquez was able to keep the lead of the championship, his lead reduced slightly to 17 points.

Nico Rosberg wins China Grand Prix 2016

Nico Rosberg left the drama and chaos of the Chinese GP in his wake to claim a commanding sixth win in a row and open up a big lead at the top of the driver championship. Lewis Hamilton finished seventh after starting from the back of the grid, but his chances of a stronger result were compromised by a broken front wing on an accident filled opening lap.

Rosberg now leads his Mercedes team-mate by 36 points in the World Championship after three races. Sebastian Vettel finished second for Ferrari but a whopping 38 seconds behind Rosberg after being involved in the chaotic opening lap most controversial moment when he crashed into his team-mate Raikkonen. Vettel blamed the fast starting Daniil Kvyat for triggering the incident, with the pair later meeting on track as the Ferrari made his way back through the field after his own front wing change.

Vettel overtook the Red Bull, but Kvyat still claimed Red Bull first podium of the year in the third. Red Bull team-mate Daniel Ricciardo finished fourth for the third consecutive race was left to rue what might have been after a puncture scuppered his podium hopes when leading from Rosberg in the early stages. Raikkonen dropped to the back of the field after his tangle with Vettel but fought back to fifth, ahead of Massa and a frustrated Hamilton.

However, that was as good as the race would get for the Woking team, as both the Spaniard and team-mate Jenson Button steadily dropped down the top 10 order and eventually out of the points. Toro Rosso pair Max Verstappen who finished right on Hamilton tail and Carlos Sainz along with the second Williams of Valtteri Bottas, rounded out the points finisher instead.

MotoGP 2016: Grand Prix of the Americas

All eyes were on Marc Marquez as the MotoGP World Championship lined up at the head the grid for the Red Bull Grand Prix of the Americas. The Spaniard went into the race with a perfect record on America Soil, winning every MotoGP race he started in the United States. While Marquez was quietly confident, there were a number of riders who were looking to return to the front once more.

Amongst them was Jorge Lorenzo, the 2015 MotoGP World Champion having suffered an uncharacteristic crash during Warm Up. Andrea Lannone was another ready to make an impact; having qualified fourth he started seventh after his penalty from the Argentina GP. All of the factory Yamaha and Ducati riders opted for medium tyres front and rear while pole man Marquez chose the soft front with medium rear.

Roaring off the line, Lorenzo grabbed the lead into Turn 1 but ran wide on exit, allowing Marquez to move ahead. The field all make it through the opening corners safe, Lorenzo in the second with Valentino Rossi hot on his tail. Andrea Dovizioso also made a good start and used the power of the Ducati Slide into second down the back straight. The third lap began with Rossi crashing out of the race at Turn 2, losing the front mid corner.

All the while Marquez and Dovizioso ran away at the front, Lorenzo defending his third place position. For the first time in 25 races, Rossi failed to finish the top five. Lap after lap, Marquez extended his lead and after only five laps his fourth straight win in Texas looked certain. But the remaining two spots on the podium were wide open, Lorenzo getting past Dovizioso with Dani Pedrosa waiting patiently behind. Round 4 of MotoGP World Championship takes place on the 24^th April at the Gran Premio Red Bull De Espana.

MotoGP 2016: Argentina Grand Prix

Argentina delivered a bizarre race befitting an equally bemusing lead up, Marc Marquez taking his first MotoGP win of 2016 simply by staying out of trouble. The Honda rider seized the lead early and held off a feisty Valentino Rossi ahead of compulsory pit stops at the halfway point of the shortened 20 lap race, both measures due to tyre issues suffered by Michelin during practice.

Marquez was peerless after the stops, Rossi unable to match his early pace and allowing his chief rival to race to a comfortable 7.6 second victory. There should have been a pair of Ducatis between them but, in a total disaster for the Italian team, Andrea Lannone took out teammate Andrea Dovizioso at the final corner as he tried to nab second place. The pair went tumbling into the gravel, allowing Rossi through to second and a surprised Dani Pedrosa into third.

Jorge Lorenzo, the Yamaha Man got the holeshot off the start but immediately began to slip down the order as he struggled with Michelin emergency spec rear tyre. His day ended early with a crash on the sixth lap. A promising race for Jack Miller also ended with his machine tumbling through the gravel. The Australian made a lighting start to pass the fading Lorenzo for sixth on the third lap, only to endure his fourth crash of the weekend on the next tour.

The upshot of it all is that Marquez now leads the championship on a machine that locked in all sorts of trouble in pre-season testing, with Rossi eight points in arrears, Pedrosa 14 points back and Jorge Lorenzo 16 behind. The next race is the Grand Prix of the Americas in Austin in one week’s time.

Nico Rosberg won Bahrain Grand Prix 2016

Mercedes Nico Rosberg made it five wins on the trot with a dominant victory in 2016 Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix. Rosberg took the flag 10 seconds clear of Ferrari Kimi Raikkonen after an incident filled Sakhir Race. Rosberg team mate Lewis Hamilton dropped to ninth on the opening lap after Turn 1 contact with William Valtteri Bottas but in a damaged car fought his way back to secure a lonely final podium place.

The second Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel failed to start after a suspected engine failure on the formation lap. As Hamilton and Kimi made poor starts, he sped into a lead that was never seriously contested, thus increasing his championship lead. Kimi and Rosberg switched back to supersofts in their second stops, as did Hamilton, but it was clear the race lay between Kimi and Rosberg. They shadowed each other yet again in their final stops, back to softs, but in the end the Mercedes driver was 10.2s ahead.

Rosberg thus leads the world Championship with 50 points to his team mate 33, with fourth place Daniel Ricciardo, now third overall for Red Bull, on 24 after another fast and fighting race. Romain Grosjean and Haas again proved stars. As a result, he is ahead of Vettel in the championship, and equal with Kimi on 18 points. In 10^th place Stoffel Vandoorne fulfilled all his promise on a day when team mate Jenson Button McLaren let him down, to score the final point on his debut for the Working team after a swift and intelligent performance.

Felipe Nasr brought the second Sauber home 14^th as Force India had a horrible race which yielded only 16^th and 17^th places for Sergio Perez and Nico Hulkenberg, the latter making four stops and the former suffering debris damage early on. Rio Haryanto was the final finisher in the second manor, as Toro Rosso Carlos Sainz, Haas Esteban Gutierrez, Button and Renault Jolyon Palmer joined Vettel on the side lines.

West Indies won T20 World Cup 2016

A Brilliant knock from Carlos Brathwaite and Marlon Samuels gave West Indies their second World T20 Champion title in Eden Gardens, Kolkata. Carlos hit four sixes in last over in four balls to win the title. This year Under 19 World Cup Trophy, Women T20 World Cup Trophy and Men T20 World Cup Trophy are lifted by West Indies Team.

So far, in World Cup West Indies lost only one match to Afghanistan in Super 10 round. They beat England twice including Final match, South Africa, Sri Lanka and India in Semi-Final. England was in game till 19^th over and set a target of 19 runs in last over. Ben stokes went for the final over and Carlos Brathwaite smashes four sixes in four balls to clinch the title and created history.

Virat Kohli was the top scorer in the World Cup with 273 runs in five matches in knockout rounds. Marlon Samuels was awarded Man of the Match award for his brilliant knock in Final. Samuels walked to the crease in the second over of the chase, when England had surprised West Indies by using Joe Root with the new ball, and he duly claimed Johnson Charles and Chris Gayle in his first over.

Virat Kohli won the Man of the tournament award in 2016 World T20 Final. He scored 273 runs at an average of 137. This was the sixth edition of the tournament. Next T20 World Cup will be hosted by Australia in 2020. 

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).