F1 2019: Lewis Hamilton wins Chinese Grand Prix

As Formula 1 celebrated the 1000th World Championship race, Lewis Hamilton led home team-mate Valtteri Bottas Mercedes secured their third one-two in as many races to start the 2019 season. On a day when Ferrari had no answer for the Silver Arrows, Sebastian Vettel completed the podium in third.

Hamilton’s win means that Shanghai joins the Hungaroring and the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve on the list of tracks where Hamilton has secured six victories. Behind the Mercedes pair, Vettel’s podium position was effectively secured when Ferrari team orders saw Charles Leclerc moved over early in the race, with the Bahrain near-victor ending up a frustrating fifth, behind the Red Bull of Max Verstappen.

Sixth was Pierre Gasly, who strapped a new set of soft tyres onto his Red Bull two laps from the end to help him take the extra point for fastest lap. Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo secured his first finish of the year – and it was a good one too, the Australian ending seventh at the head of the midfield, holding off the Racing Point of Sergio Perez, who used a lightning start from P12 on the grid to finish P8 by the flag.

A strong drive from Alfa Romeo's Kimi Raikkonen saw him finish ninth, while an impressive afternoon from Toro Rosso's Alexander Albon from a pit lane start saw him make a one-stop strategy work to finish P10 after holding off the Haas of Romain Grosjean. The Thai driver’s efforts also saw him earn ‘Driver of The Day’. From the wide open spaces of the Shanghai International Circuit, Formula 1 now heads to tight confines of Baku City Circuit for what promises to be another fraught and frantic Azerbaijan Grand Prix and the start of Formula 1's next 1000 races.

Argentina MotoGP 2019: Marc Marquez wins

After putting a spectacular fight in the first race of the season last month, Honda's Marc Marquez took a dominant win in the 2019 MotoGP Argentina Grand Prix. The rider completed the race with a massive lead of 9.816s over the rest of the pack, having led the race right from pole position. Coming in second was Yamaha's Valentino Rossi, going strong even as newer and younger riders take space on the grid. The Italian managed to pass Ducati's Andrea Dovizioso take P2, with each rider of the top three teams making it on the podium.

Marquez had a near perfect start to the race from pole and was quick to detach himself from the rest of the pack from Turn 1 of the opening lap. The Spaniard had a one-second lead at the end of the first lap, which extended to over three seconds by Lap 3, and was at its highest at 12 seconds by Lap 10, as the race reached half time. While Marquez was untouchable at the front, it was the battle for second place that brought in all the action over the 25 lap race.

Rossi had as a good start as Marquez and was quick to take second place, but Dovizioso was quick to challenge the position. The Ducati rider crossed Rossi early on into second place after the Italian ran wide at Turn 5 on Lap 7. However, Rossi recovered to P2 once again a lap later and held on to the position for the new six laps. Dovizioso was hot on his tail and found a gap on Lap 13 but with Rossi still a close third. It wasn't until the final lap that the Yamaha rider managed to pass Dovi at Turn 7 to retake P2 and cross the chequered flag.

Coming in fourth was Pramac Ducati rider Jack Miller, 12.140s over the race leader, after a late pass on Suzuki rider Alex Rins who finished fifth. Factory Ducati rider Danilo Petrucci took sixth. Yamaha's Maverick Vinales though finished was expected to take seventh after a poor started pushed the rider from P2 to P4 and eventually P8 by the second lap of the race. The Spaniard, however, was taken out by Petronas SRT Yamaha's Franco Morbidelli on the final lap.

The incident promoted LCR Honda's Takaaki Nakagami to seventh ahead of Yamaha Petronas rider Fabio Quartararo (Petronas), Aleix Espargaro of Aprilia and KTM's Pol Espargaro. Coming in 11th was Miguel Oliveira of Tech3 KTM, followed by Honda's Jorge Lorenzo in 12th place, same as his qualifying position.

Coming in 13th was LCR Honda's Cal Crutchlow who had a strong chance to be a podium contender but earned a ride-through penalty for a jump start that left him fending for 13th. The final point takers were Pramac Ducati's Francesco Bagnaia and Johann Zarco for KTM. The last finishers were Tech3 KTM's Hafizh Syahrin followed by Aprilia's Andrea Iannone in 17th place.

F1 2019: Lewis Hamilton wins Bahrain Grand Prix

Charles Leclerc had looked on course to convert his pole position into a maiden win under the floodlights in Bahrain. That was until 10 laps before the end of the Grand Prix when an issue with his Ferrari engine forced him to concede the lead he’d held for the majority of the race to the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton.

Hamilton went on to lead home Mercedes’ second one-two of the year ahead of Valtteri Bottas, while a late Safety Car brought out for the two Renaults retiring on the same lap at least limited the damage to Leclerc’s race, as he ended up third to claim his first podium in F1.

It was still a heartbreaking end to what had been a superb Grand Prix for Leclerc, who had managed much of the race magnificently from the front and would certainly have become the 108th winner in F1 history had the issue with his engine not manifested.

There was more woe for Ferrari too, as Sebastian Vettel – who himself had looked set to claim a podium behind Leclerc – spun while battling with Lewis Hamilton before dramatically losing his front wing down the back straight. He was left to fight back to fifth, behind the fourth-placed Red Bull of Max Verstappen. Lando Norris put in a fantastic drive to wind up sixth – benefitting from Nico Hulkenberg late retirement from that position, while Kimi Raikkonen was seventh ahead of the Red Bull of Pierre Gasly.

F1 now heads to Shanghai for the Chinese Grand Prix on April 14 – and after Mercedes took their second win from as many races in 2019 in Bahrain, how dearly Ferrari would love to win the next one, as Formula 1 celebrates its 1,000th Grand Prix.

F1 2019: Valtteri Bottas wins Australia Grand Prix

As the 2019 season finally began in earnest at the Australian Grand Prix, Mercedes Valtteri Bottas enjoyed a sensational start to his year with a dominant display in Melbourne, leading home team mate Lewis Hamilton for a Mercedes one-two ahead of the Red Bull of Max Verstappen.

Bottas finished the race over 20 seconds clear of the field, and even claimed a bonus point for the fastest lap of the race to come away from Albert Park with a full 26 points. Ferrari were forced to play third best in Australia, Sebastian Vettel finishing fourth for the Scuderia, one place up on his team mate Charles Leclerc, who was called off the attack on the German late in the race. Haas’ Kevin Magnussen headed off a hugely competitive and closely fought midfield in sixth, ahead of the Renault of Nico Hulkenberg and the Alfa Romeo of Kimi Raikkonen in eighth.

Behind, Haas’ Kevin Magnussen headed what looks to be a very evenly matched ‘front’ of the midfield, the Dane in P6 to Toro Rosso’s Daniil Kvyat in P10 separated by less than 10 seconds. So, the spoils go to Valtteri Bottas who, after failing to score a victory in 2018, has got one under his belt with just one race down in 2019.

Every time a driver has headed a team one-two in Melbourne, that driver has gone on to win the championship, while the team has taken the constructors. Have we just witnessed the dawn of Valtteri Bottas as a serious championship contender? The teams and drivers will head back to Europe to debrief on the opening race, before reconvening in a little less than two weeks in Sakhir for the Bahrain Grand Prix. There they can expect a very different challenge to Melbourne, with hot temperatures, an abrasive track surface and a layout which offers plenty of opportunities for overtaking.

Qatar MotoGP 2019: Andrea Dovizioso wins

Italian Andrea Dovizioso fended off Honda’s MotoGP champion Marc Marquez at the last corner to win a dramatic season opening Qatar Grand Prix for Ducati. Dovizioso, who also battled Marquez down to the line a year ago under the Losail circuit floodlights, beat his Spanish rival by a mere 0.023 seconds.

Britain's Cal Crutchlow finished third for LCR Honda, a step up from last year's fourth, after Suzuki's Alex Rins made a late mistake and opened the door to the podium. Italian veteran Valentino Rossi, now 40 years old, completed the top five -- just 0.6 adrift of Dovizioso -- after starting 14th for Yamaha. Marquez seemed to be very pleased with his second-place finish at the Qatar MotoGP as this is a track where the team has traditionally underperformed. He has only won here once before - in 2014, the season where he won ten straight races.

2019 fast seems to be the season of great comebacks (a doff of the hat to Robert Kubica at the Williams F1 Team) as Cal Crutchlow grabbed third. Crutchlow, who is the second oldest rider on the grid, had been out injured with a busted ankle since the 2018 Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix (October).

An unexpected hero on the racetrack was superstar Rossi, who started a lowly P14 but managed to work his way up to P5 — with the possibility of a podium seeming ever so close. Rookie Joan Mir also had a great result for Suzuki, keeping pace with the lead group and eventually finishing in eighth place. In fact, the ‘Rookie of the Year’ title is fascinating this year with four supremely talented rookies — Mir, Quartararo, Francesco Bagnaia and Miguel Oliveira making their presence felt.

Big Bash League 2019

Melbourne Renegades snatched their first ever Big Bash League title from the Melbourne stars by forcing an extraordinary collapse from their crosstown rivals, after Ben Dunk and Marcus Stoinis had appeared to have taken their side to the outskirts of victory.

Needing 53 from 43 balls with all 10 wickets in hand, the Stars lost a shuddering 7 for 39 from those remaining deliveries, turning a momentarily moribund spectacle into that familiar but always entertaining scenario, the rush of late wickets in the face of a mounting required run rate. Having previously monstered a pair of chases against the Renegades, the Stars fell in a heap, unable to be pulled out of their dive by the captain Glenn Maxwell.

Credit was due to the doughty bowling of Cameron Boyce, Harry Gurney, Chris Tremain, and Daniel Christian, as they aptly exploited the vagaries of a slow surface to prevent the Stars from scoring any boundaries between the end of the 12th over and midway through the last. Christian and Tom Cooper had earlier shrugged off the loss of early wickets after the Renegades were sent in to bat by Maxwell, forging a vital stand to mount a defendable total in the face of excellent work by the Stars spin bowlers in particular.

Given two qualifying matches that both followed remarkably similar scripts - Stars bowling first, Renegades being restricted, Stars powering to a successful chase - it was not surprising to see the visiting captain Maxwell choose to attempt a similar path. He was to be well served by his bowlers seeking out well-defined weaknesses in the Renegades' top order: Marcus Harris coaxed into a pull shot he seldom controls, Sam Harper deprived of room to free his arms, and Cameron White pinned on the crease by Zampa's skidding leg spin.

Comilla Victorians won BPL 2019

Bangladesh opener Tamim Iqbal came up with one of the most eye-catching T20 innings in the Final of Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) 2019. Tamim heroics with the bat in Dhaka helped Comilla Victorians beat three time champions Dhaka Dynamites by 17 runs and win their second title.

Tamim had been struggling for form in the lead up to the final but he stepped up on the big night and broke an array of records as he took the Dhaka Dynamites attack to the cleaners. Tamim hit an unbeaten 141 from just 61 balls, his first century in the BPL that had 11 sixes and 10 boundaries. Tamim 141 was the second highest score in a T20 tournament final and it helped the Imrul Kayes-led Comilla Victorians post 199. He also became the first Bangladesh batsman to hit more than 10 sixes in a T20 match.

Even as his much-fancied teammates were struggling to put bat to ball on a tricky Mirpur wicket, Tamim was hitting the big ones at will. Tamim showed little respect to the likes of Andre Russel, Shakib Al Hasan and Rubel Hossain as he scored heavily against the big boys of Dhaka Dynamites. Dhaka Dynamites looked like they would render Tamim special knock in vain when Upul Tharanga and Rony Talukdar took on the Victorians' bowling attack after Sunil Narine was run out in the very first ball of their 200-run chase.

Tharanga and Talukdar stitched a 102-run stand in just 8.4 overs before Thisara Perera got the wicket of his Sri Lankan teammate with a slower ball. Once the big partnership was broken, the Dynamites imploded as the likes of Shakib, Andre Russel, and Kieron Pollard were dismissed cheaply. Talukdar looked to keep the Dynamites in the hunt but he was run out (for 66 off 38 balls) after a mix-up with Pollard in the middle.

The Dynamites felt the pressure of chasing a big total in the final as their seasoned campaigners, including the likes of Shakib, Pollard and Russell, were unable to get going. Wahab Riaz shone for the champions with figures of 3/28 while Mohammad Saifuddin and Thisara Perera picked up two wickets each. There were a couple of costly run outs that brought the downfall of the Dynamites.

New England Patriots win Super Bowl LIII

Once again, the New England Patriots are champions, grinding to win Super Bowl LIII 13-3 at Mercedes Benz stadium in Atlanta and launching Tom Brady and Bill Belichick into a different stratosphere. They have now won six Super Bowls together, extending their record for the most by a head coach and starting quarterback combination. With the win, the Patriots are tied with the Pittsburgh Steelers for the most Super Bowl titles in NFL history.

Brady now has won more Super Bowls than any other player in history, surpassing Pro Football Hall of Famer Charles Haley (five). At 41 years old, Brady also is the oldest starting quarterback to win a Super Bowl, eclipsing Peyton Manning, who was 39 when he won Super Bowl 50.

Belichick is the oldest head coach to win a Super Bowl at age 66, and no head coach has won more Super Bowls than him. Now, he joins George Halas and Curly Lambeau as the only NFL head coaches with six championships since the league began postseason play in 1933. This was the pair's ninth Super Bowl appearance together, the most title games for any head coach and starting quarterback duo in NFL history.

Brady was 21-for-35 passing for 262 yards, and most of those yards went to wide receiver Julian Edelman, who is boosting his hall-of-fame resume. Edelman -- who was named the game's MVP -- had 10 catches for 141 yards. In addition to already having the second-most receptions in postseason history, he's now second all-time in postseason receiving yards. He trails just the legendary Jerry Rice in both categories.

Women Big Bash League: Brisbane Heat won maiden WBBL title

Australia wicketkeeper batswoman Bath Mooney skillful innings helped Brisbane Heat to clinch their maiden Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL) title in Sydney. Bowling efforts of Delissa Kimmince (2/25) and Grace Harris (3/23) assisted the Heat to wrap up hosts Sixers for 131 for the loss of seven wickets.

Although Harris failed with the bat, opener Mooney powered to add 84 for the third wicket with her skipper Kirby Short in hot and testing conditions. Mooney brought up her fifty in just 35 deliveries, which included nine boundaries, before departing for 65, while short pitched in with 29.

No other Heat batswoman got to double figures, as they slipped from 98/2 to 126/7. With just four runs needed off five balls, Laura Harris walloped the ball to the boundary to seal a memorable three-wicket victory over two-time champions Sydney Sixers.

Ellyse Perry, on the other hand, was declared Player of the Tournament for amassing 744 at an average of 93 and scalping 10 wickets. Short heaped praises on Sixers skipper Perry for making it a great contest.

Novak Djokovic wins record seventh Australian Open

At 31 years old, Novak Djokovic has established himself as the player to beat on the ATP circuit. The No. 1 player in the world claimed his third consecutive Grand Slam with a 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 victory against Rafael Nadal in the Australian Open men’s final with the sweep also giving Djokovic his seventh career title in Melbourne.

The achievement makes Djokovic the Australian Open's winningest player in history, drawing him ahead of Roy Emerson and Roger Federer. Federer was eliminated by Stefanos Tsitsipas in the Round of 16 after winning the last two opens on the hard court. Djokovic put on an utter clinic against Nadal, serving up eight aces to Nadal's three and notching five break points while never having his own serve broken. He won on 81 percent of his first serves, and he somehow won on 84 percent of his second serves. He somehow took a Nadal who had not lost a set all Open coming into the final and made him look completely toothless for the 2 hour and 4 minute duration of the match.

Djokovic now has 15 career Grand Slam wins, after having 12 at this time last year. Nadal, 32, retired in the US Open semifinals due to pain in his knee, so his greatness in this tournament perhaps flew under the radar a bit. The last time these two greats played was in Wimbledon, a 5-hour 17-minute thriller that saw Djokovic win in five sets. This match went a little differently.

In Women’s Singles Japan's Naomi Osaka beat Czech Petra Kvitova in a thrilling Australian Open final to win back-to-back Grand Slams and become the new world number one. N. Mahut and P.H. Herbert won Men’s Double title. S. Zhang and S. Stosur won Women’s Doubles title. B. Krejcikova and R. Ram won mixed double title.

Bengaluru Raptors wins Premier Badminton League

Bengaluru Raptors beat Mumbai Rockets 4-3 in the final of the Premier Badminton League (PBL) in Bengaluru to win their maiden title. Kidambi Srikanth, Vu Ji Trang and men’s doubles pair of Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Satiawan won their matches for Bengaluru Raptors.

Sameer Verma of Mumbai Rockets had fought back in the men's singles tie against B Sai Praneeth to put his team in the hunt but the men's doubles pair of Bengaluru Raptors proved too good for their opponents in the end. Kim Gi Jung and Pia Zebadiah of Mumbai Rockets started the contest by winning the Trump match against Marcus Ellis and Lauren Smith of Bengaluru Raptors 15-8 15-14 in the mixed doubles. The victory put Mumbai Rockets 2-0 up after the first tie.

But Kidambi Srikanth had other plans as he thrashed Anders Antonsen of Mumbai Rockets 15-7 15-10 in the men's singles to keep Bengaluru alive. Vu Ji Trang then won her women's singles tie against Shriyanshi Pardeshi in straight games. It was a Trump game for Bengaluru and the victory put them 3-2 ahead in the contest.

However, Sameer Verma registered a come-from-behind victory over B Sai Praneeth to put Mumbai on level terms and send the match into the decider. Bengaluru's men's doubles pair then beat Kim Gi Jung and Lee Yong Dae of Mumbai Rockets 15-13 15-10 in the winners-take-all contest to seal the victory. Bengaluru have become the fifth team after Chennai Smashers, Delhi Dashers, Hyderabad Hotshots and Hyderabad Hunters to win the title.

Bengaluru Bulls lift Pro Kabaddi 2018 Cup

Pawan Sehrawat produced a raiding master class to lead Bengaluru Bulls to their maiden title as they were crowned champions of Vivo Pro Kabaddi League season 6. Sehrawat scored 22 raid points as Bengaluru Bulls beat Gujarat Fortune Giants 38-33 in a thrilling final in front of a house packed in Mumbai.

Sehrawat single handedly led Bulls to the title as he turned the match around in the second half with a terrific performance. Gujarat Fortune giants were in the match till the last five minutes and fought really hard but couldn’t contain Sehrawat. Sachin got a super 10 for Gujarat Fortune Giants but just fell short to lead his team to the title.

Bengaluru Bulls got off the mark with a tackle point as they sent Gujarat’s danger man Sachin to the bench. Prapanjan made a successful raid to give Gujarat Fortune giants their first point. Pawan Sehrawat got his point as he secured a bonus as Bengaluru Bulls tied the match at 2-2 after four minutes. It took more than six minutes for Gujarat’s famed defence to get their first tackle point. 

The first half was closely contested as after 10 minutes both teams were level at 6-6. Gujarat Fortune giants burst into life in the last five minutes as they reduced Bengaluru Bulls to lead 10-7. In the 19th minute Prapanjan made a two-point raid to inflict an all-out and give 15-9 lead. At the end of the first half, Gujarat Fortune giants led 16-9. 

Bengaluru Bulls’ defence started the second half strongly as they picked up a couple of tackle points. Gujarat though kept their noses in front till the 27th minute as they maintained a six-point lead. Pawan Sehrawat then turned the match on its head with a slew of successful raids. He picked up a couple of two-point raids including one in the 31st minute that led to Bengaluru Bulls inflicting an all-out and taking 23-22 lead.

Rohit Gulia produced a super raid for Gujarat Fortune giants in the 36th minute as they led 27-25. Pawan Sehrawat picked a couple of more points and Mahendra put in a strong tackle as Bengaluru Bulls leveled the match at 29-29 in the 37th minute. In the 39th minute Pawan Sehrawat made a two-point raid as Bengaluru Bulls inflicted a critical all out to lead 36-29.  Gujarat Fortune giants picked up a few raid points as they trailed 32-37 in the last minute. Sehrawat produced another two-point raid as Bengaluru inflicted another all out in the 39th minute as they were crowned champions for the first time.

Belgium wins Hockey World Cup 2018

A gritty Belgium defeated former Champions the Netherlands in sudden death in a thrilling summit clash to win their maiden men’s Hockey World Cup title at the Kalinga Stadium. Olympic silver medalist Belgium created history by eking out a 3-2 win in the penalty shoot-out after the final match of the game’s showpiece event ended in a goalless draw.

It was a great day for Belgium hockey as the country registered its second biggest international title after the Olympics silver in Rio in 2016. In the last edition of the World Cup at The Hague in Netherlands, Belgium had finished fifth. The Netherlands, on the other hand, failed to match Pakistan’s record of a fourth world title for the second consecutive edition. The Dutch had finished runners-up to Australia four years ago in front of their home crowd. They last won a World Cup title way back in 1998 in Utrecht.

Incidentally, it was the Netherlands’ second consecutive match that went to shoot-out in the tournament after their victory over Australia in the semi-finals on Saturday. In shoot-out, Belgium goalkeeper Vincent Vanasch outmatched his Dutch counterpart Pirmin Blaak by making four saves to hand his side their maiden World Cup title.

Earlier in the day, Australia thrashed England 8-1 to claim the bronze medal. The title clash, which was witnessed by none other than cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar and Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, turned out to be a fierce contest between the two European sides. While the Netherlands took the early initiative and attacked continuously in the first two quarters, Belgium made a strong comeback after the change of ends.

F1 2018: Lewis Hamilton wins Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

As it played in their championship battle this year too, Sebastian Vettel was forced to play second fiddle to an imperious Lewis Hamilton at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix season finale as the Mercedes driver took his 11th win of the season, enjoying a serene performance that perfectly reflected his majestic run to his fifth title this year.

Strong from the very start of the race, having recorded his 11th pole position of the year on Saturday, Hamilton benefitted from an early switch to supersoft tyres under a Virtual Safety Car – brought out after Kimi Raikkonen was forced to retire on lap seven in his final race for Ferrari – before biding his time to re-inherit the lead and sweep to his 83rd career victory.

Behind him, Vettel had a lonely run to second place, after dispatching Hamilton’s team mate Valtteri Bottas mid-race, while he was followed home by the Red Bull pair of Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo, Ricciardo unable to claim that podium he so dearly wanted in his 100th and final race for Red Bull before he moves to Renault. Bottas ended up fifth.

Carlos Sainz, in his own last race for Renault before switching to McLaren, enjoyed a strong run to sixth place to help Renault to seal fourth place in the constructors’ title, while his team mate Nico Hulkenberg fared less well, clashing with Romain Grosjean on lap one and barrel rolling into the barriers, although fortunately not suffering any ill effects from the ugly looking incident.

Charles Leclerc was seventh in his final outing for Sauber before he moves to Ferrari for 2019, ahead of the Force India of Sergio Perez and the Haas of Grosjean in ninth – who managed to continue after his first-lap brush with Hulkenberg. Kevin Magnussen’s run to 10th denied Fernando Alonso the chance to up his points tally in his final Grand Prix before retiring, the McLaren driver employing some questionable cornering techniques in the final part of the race – and getting a five-second penalty for his troubles – in his bid to get after the Dane, but ultimately ending up 11th in his 311th race. Meanwhile apart from Raikkonen, Force India’s Esteban Ocon, Toro Rosso’s Pierre Gasly and Sauber’s Marcus Ericcson all retired from their last races with their respective teams due to technical trouble.

Women’s World T20: Australia claim title

Two years ago, in the World Twenty20 semi-final, England suffered a humiliation at the hands of Australia, a six-run loss, courtesy of a collapse that saw them lose seven wickets for 60 runs. In the interim they have changed their captain, blooded new players and won a World Cup.

Even so there was a sense of deja vu today as they subsided from 30-1 to 105 all out, the equation this time nine wickets lost for 75 runs. Once again, it was the old enemy Australia who were their nemesis, storming to their fourth World T20 title by eight wickets.

For Australia it was their young leg-spinner Georgia Wareham who unexpectedly stole the show in her first ever outing against England, finishing with 2-11, a catch and a direct hit run-out to her name. Ashleigh Gardner (33*) and Meg Lanning (28*) then shared a 62-run partnership, Lanning stroking the winning single through the off-side after Gardner punished two huge sixes over Kirstie Gordon’s head to ensure the victory came in style, with 29 balls to spare.

Their under-par showing in the final completes what has been a difficult World Twenty20 with the bat for England, only Amy Jones finishing in the top ten tournament run-scorers. For Australia, meanwhile, the challenge was always to live up to pre-tournament expectations which put them as clear favourite: today’s clinical victory shows they have done just that.

Valencia MotoGP 2018: Andrea Dovizioso wins

A smashing and crash ridden finale to the 2018 MotoGP season, Ducati Andrea Dovizioso won the Valencia Grand Prix turning out to be one of the few riders to actually complete the very wet race.

The rain drenched track made for a spectacle at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Valencia, as the top riders were pulled out of contention after back-to-back crashes. The race was even stopped at half-point bringing with the red flag out, only to be started again for a 14 lap stint. Dovizioso ended the season just like he started it - with a win. However, the race was a game changed for KTM, which saw rider Pol Espargaro take his and the team's first ever podium in the sport. Suzuki's Alex Rins took his fifth podium of the season, finishing behind Dovizioso.

The Valencia GP started out wet but was drying when the race begun. However, it wasn't long before the clouds were back over the circuit and the track was soaked again. Yamaha's Maverick Vinales started on pole in a surprise qualifying session, but couldn't hold on to the lead for long as Rins and Dovi were quick to pass the rider on Turn 2 of the opening lap. Rins took the lead and was a good 2 seconds clear of Dovi. The next few laps saw Rins extend his gap further to 4 seconds.

Bringing an end to a legendary career, Honda's Dani Pedrosa completed his final MotoGP race in fifth place, ahead of Honda rider Takaaki Nakagami. Tech3 Yamaha's Johann Zarco and KTM's Smith finished at P7 and P8. Tech3's rookie rider Hafizh Syahrin finished tenth behind Stefan Bradl, who was standing in for LCR Honda's Cal Crutchlow. Aprilia's Scott Redding finished 11th, ahead of Ducati's Jorge Lorenzo and a damaged Yamaha ridden by Rossi. Bautista, who also crashed, re-mounted to finish 16th, behind Angel Nieto's Karel Abraham, who moves back to WSBK next year and Jordi Torres.

F1 2018: Lewis Hamilton wins Brazil Grand Prix

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was cruelly robbed of what looked set to be a remarkable win at Interlagos, after a dramatic collision while battling the lapped Force India of Esteban Ocon allowed Lewis Hamilton through to take the race victory, helping to secure Mercedes fifth consecutive constructor title in the process.

Verstappen was enjoying a strong Brazilian Grand Prix, and had seized the lead from Hamilton when Ocon attempted to unlap himself down the pit straight on lap 44. Both drivers refused to yield, with Ocon holding out around the outside of Turn 1 before the pair touched, sending both drivers into a spin, Hamilton gratefully nipping through between them before going on to record his 72nd career win. Verstappen was left unimpressed, as were the stewards, who duly handed Ocon as 10-second stop-go penalty.

Bad for Verstappen but great for Mercedes, who become only the second team – after Ferrari – to claim five consecutive constructors’ crowns, to add to Hamilton’s fifth drivers’ title from last time out in Mexico. In a thrilling final few laps, Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen just managed to hold onto the final podium position from a charging Daniel Ricciardo who finished fourth in the second Red Bull. Mercedes' Valtteri Bottas took fifth and Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel sixth, while Sauber’s Charles Leclerc drove a fine race to claim the best-of-the-rest prize in seventh.

We now head to the season finale at the spectacular Yas Marina circuit in Abu Dhabi on November 23-25. With both titles now decided, this is set to be an enjoyable romp for personal glory, as the drivers – with no championship pressure to dictate their strategies – go all-out for the final race win of 2018.

Malaysia MotoGP 2018: Marc Marquez wins

Marc Marquez took a comfortable ninth victory of the 2018 MotoGP season in the Malaysian Grand Prix after long-time leader Valentino Rossi crashed. From second on the grid, Rossi outdragged poleman Johann Zarco to take the lead into the first corner and from there proceeded to build a lead of more than a second.

Marquez meanwhile quickly set about making up for his six-place grid penalty for impeding Andrea Iannone in qualifying and by the end of the fifth lap of 20 he had taken up station behind Rossi. Initially Rossi was able to extend the gap over his former arch-rival, but as the race moved into its second half Marquez began to chip away at the Yamaha rider's advantage.

Closing in at around a tenth per lap, Marquez had managed to get within 0.6 seconds of Rossi when the Italian rider suffered a low-speed crash at Turn 1 with three laps to go, denying the crowd a repeat of the pair's infamous 2015 Sepang duel. Marquez inherited a lead of four seconds over Zarco as a result of Rossi's incident, and from there he was able to cruise to a straightforward 1.8s win and clinch the constructors' title for Honda.

Zarco was passed for second by the Suzuki of Alex Rins on the final lap at Turn 4, allowing Rins to equal his career-best result, while Zarco held on for third to claim his first podium finish since May. Maverick Vinales could well have contended for victory but for his poor grid slot of 11th, which left him losing time stuck behind the Nieto Ducati of Alvaro Bautista in the early laps.

Pedrosa fifth place equals his best result of a difficult 2018 season, while Andrea Dovizioso endured a low-key run to sixth on the best of the Ducati’s. Hafizh Syahrin stormed from 23rd and last on the grid to 12th on the opening lap, and managed to secure the final top 10 position on a day he became the first Malaysian to start a premier class grand prix. Aleix Espargaro was 11th ahead of Franco Morbidelli, LCR Honda stand-in Stefan Bradl, Takaaki Nakagami and Bradley Smith.

F1 2018: Max Verstappen wins Mexico Grand Prix

The Champagne and the big trophy in Mexico City went to Max Verstappen, the Dutchman driving an exemplary race to repeat his 2017 victory. But while it was a fifth race win for Verstappen, it was a fifth title win for Lewis Hamilton, the British driver’s fourth place enough to see him crowned champion with two races to go, becoming only the third ever driver, behind Juan Manuel Fangio and Michael Schumacher, to claim five world championships.

Verstappen’s win was arguably the most polished of his career so far. He was incisive off the line to pip his pole-sitting team mate Daniel Ricciardo before enjoying a mostly lonely race out at the front of the field. Sebastian Vettel knew that his chances of staying in the title hunt were minimal coming into the race. But despite putting in a fine performance – including executing a terrific move on Hamilton on lap 39 – to finish second, it wasn’t enough for Vettel to deny Hamilton.

Vettel was joined on the podium by his team mate Kimi Raikkonen, the Finn having had a mostly quiet afternoon but doing enough to deny Hamilton a podium finish on his momentous title-winning day. That left the Mercedes boys to finish fourth and fifth, Hamilton ahead of Valtteri Bottas, with Hamilton massively dropping his pace towards the race end to make it home safely and claim the championship.

Some fine midfield performances saw Nico Hulkenberg take sixth – good news for Renault on a day when Haas failed to score – Charles Leclerc finish seventh, while the beleaguered Stoffel Vandoorne was eighth to equal his best performance of the year. But despite a crushing win for Verstappen to put Red Bull on top for the first time since Austria, the plaudits today have to go equally to Hamilton, the British driver now forming part of an exceptionally rare group of Formula 1 drivers.

Australian MotoGP 2018: Maverick Vinales wins

Yamaha Maverick Vinales produced an exceptional ride to win the Australian MotoGP Grand Prix. Vinales was the strongest rider in the second half of the race and did enough to hold off Suzuki's Andrea Iannone to take Yamaha's first win for 25 races. Ducati's Andrea Dovizioso came home in third.

Recently crowned world champion Marc Marquez started on pole on Sunday but pulled out of the race after a high-speed incident with Johann Zarco. Vinales' Yamaha team-mate Valentino Rossi had to settle for sixth. Following a frantic start, Jack Miller led the way at the end of the first lap, although Marquez remained in close proximity and was quick to restore his lead.

However, just as the world champion appeared to be finding his groove, his chances were dashed after a crash with Zarco. The latter's front tyre and Marquez's rear tyre came into contact, prompting Zarco to be thrown from his bike. The Honda man somehow stayed upright but had to retire in the pits not long afterwards.

Iannone and Dovizioso did emerge from that group to put pressure on Vinales late on, the battling they had done for second meant that life had been taken from their tyres. As such, they were never seriously in a position to challenge for the victory. In the end, the Yamaha man was able to hold off a fast-finishing Iannone with relative ease to clinch his first win since Le Mans in 2017. Victory for Vinales cements his spot in fourth in the world championship standings. He is now just 30 and 15 points behind Dovizioso and Rossi, respectively.

F1 2018: Kimi Raikkonen wins USA Grand Prix

It was set up as the day when Lewis Hamilton would seal a fifth world title. Instead, the United States Grand Prix will be remembered for another piece of history as the day when Ferrari Kimi Raikkonen brilliantly broke a 112 race winless streak.

The Finn, whose last victory came all the way back in Australia 2013, 2044 days earlier, came out on top of a titanic three-way battle with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Mercedes driver Hamilton at Austin’s Circuit of The Americas to claim his 21st career victory and become, at 39, F1’s oldest race winner since Nigel Mansell in 1994.

Behind Raikkonen, Verstappen put his qualifying woes behind him as he crossed the line 1.2s back to cap a superb drive through the field from 18th on the grid, while Hamilton – who started from pole and led during the middle phase of the race – was forced to settle for third after needing to make one more pit stop than his rivals. Hamilton will now look to Mexico next weekend as his chance to clinch the 2018 drivers’ crown, with his gap to rival Sebastian Vettel stretched to 70 points by virtue of another scruffy race for the Ferrari star.

Vettel started fifth but was 15th at the end of lap one after another first-lap spin, this time following contact with Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo while battling for fourth. The German recovered to finish fourth, passing the second Silver Arrow of Valtteri Bottas late on, but even if he wins in Mexico next weekend he will be powerless to stop Hamilton from beating him to becoming just the third man in history to secure five titles if the Briton scores five or more points there.

Japan MotoGP 2018: Marc Marquez crowned World Champion

Repsol Honda Marc Marquez has been crowned as the 2018 MotoGP World Champion after a nail biting finish in the Japanese Grand Prix. The Honda rider won the fourth last race of the season fighting against Ducati Andrea Dovizioso. The last lap though is where Marquez managed to lead the race as Dovizioso crashed while in second place.

With the Japanese GP under his belt, the Honda rider takes his seventh world championship title at the manufacturer's home turf and his fifth world title in the premier class series. Marquez now equals Mike Doohan's world titles but is still behind Valentino Rossi's seven and Giacomo Agostini's eight titles.

The 24 lap race started with Dovizioso on pole while Marquez started only sixth at the Twin Ring Motegi circuit. A brilliant start allowed Marquez to move up to second on the opening lap as he closes in on the race leader. Behind him were Danilo Petrucci and Jack Miller at P3 and P4 respectively, while Yamaha's Valentino Rossi jumped to sixth having started at ninth on the grid.

Dovi and Iannone crash promoted Rossi to fourth, down by five seconds over the race leader, while Alvaro Bautista on the Nieto Ducati took a career best fifth, having started 11th on the grid. Tech3 Yamaha's Johann Zarco finished sixth after a bad start, but recovered to the position after dropping to outside the top 10 in the race.

Vijay Hazare Trophy 2018

The Mumbai-Delhi final had its share of drama, for most parts, an exciting swing here, swing there contest where bowlers dictated terms, only for Mumbai to emerge victorious and win their first Vijay Hazare title since 2007 at the back of a 105 run partnership by two of their least utilized players in tournament.

There were times in the game when Delhi threatened to wrestle the control from Mumbai. Himmat Singh threatened with a 65-ball 41 before Tare's lightening quick work behind the stumps ended his stay. Suboth Bhati did too after he was caught off a no-ball. It was bizarre that Tushar Deshpande went on a celebration and extended a send-off to the batsman who had mistimed a swat to mid-off.

But all this while, Delhi was only threatening to seize control, nothing much. It was Navdeep Saini's first spell which completely turned the course of the contest. On a lively wicket, he bowled seven uninterrupted overs with the new ball - picking the wickets of Prithvi Shaw, Ajinkya Rahane and Suryakumar Yadav, the last of which was controversial.

Mumbai's much-famed top order had lost the battle to Delhi's in-form new ball duo, and left their middle order constants to pull them out of quicksand. Neither Tare nor Lad had spent enough time in the middle all through the series, with the top order doing the bulk of the job. However, when the occasion arrived, they stood up to the challenge.

Together, they took sucked away 105 runs from the target with their fifth wicket alliance, and more or less sealed the fate of the game. Dubey hit some lusty blows towards the end and took the team over the line with four wickets in hand and 91 balls to spare, to help Mumbai's to their third Vijay Hazare Trophy.

F1 2018: Lewis Hamilton wins Japanese Grand Prix

It was a dramatic Japanese Grand Prix for most of the F1 field – but for lights-to-flag victor Lewis Hamilton, it looked to be a serene afternoon, as he swept to his fifth victory in Japan and his fourth at Suzuka while his title rival Sebastian Vettel ended up sixth.

It was Hamilton’s 71st career victory and his 50th for Mercedes, and sees him extend his title lead over Vettel to 67 points, with the German claiming just eight for P6 after a tough race that saw him spin early on following contact with Red Bull's Max Verstappen.

Valtteri Bottas backed up his team mate to make it a Mercedes one-two, while Verstappen survived the Vettel contact and another run-in with the other Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen to complete the podium - his third rostrum appearance in Suzuka in as many years. A fantastic recovery drive from Daniel Ricciardo saw the Australian go from P15 on the grid to fourth at the race end, ahead of Raikkonen and Vettel, while Sergio Perez claimed P7 for Force India.

So post-Suzuka, Hamilton now sits 67 points clear of Vettel in the drivers’ standings, meaning that if he outscores Vettel by just eight points at the next race in Austin, he’ll be crowned world champion for the fifth time. And considering that Hamilton has won every race at the Circuit of The Americas since 2014, things aren’t looking too rosy right now for Sebastian Vettel.

Thailand MotoGP 2018: Marquez wins inaugural season

Marc Marquez won a thrilling inaugural Thailand MotoGP to extend his lead in the championship in pursuit of a fifth title. MotoGP champion Marc Marquez snatched the lead from Andrea Dovizioso at the death to win the inaugural Thailand Grand Prix and take a huge stride toward a third successive title.

After fierce wheel-to-wheel racing in the closing laps at Buriram, the Honda-riding Spaniard nosed in front at the last corner and edged the Italian by 0.115 seconds to prevail in a thrilling duel. The win extended the four-times champion's lead to 77 points over Ducati's Dovizioso with four races left, and Marquez can wrap up the series in Japan in two weeks with a win at Motegi.

Marquez now has 271 points, 77 ahead of Dovizioso with a maximum of 100 available in the final four races of season, making him a strong favourite to retain his title. Marquez also made history over the weekend as he became the first rider to climb out of Q1 to claim pole position, the 50th of his stunning career. Thailand's first MotoGP is being held in the rural town of Buri Ram in the northeast, about a five-hour drive from the capital Bangkok.

Buri Ram has seen explosive growth through investment in football and racing sports, and expectations for the event were high. Thousands of hotel rooms and jobs have been created through a football stadium and the 2014 Chang International Circuit, the only Formula One grade track in the country. The town has a population of about 30,000 but more than double that have turned out to see the debut spectacle, which attracted fans from all over the country and abroad.

Women’s Basketball World Cup: USA secures 10th Title

A World Championship three-peat has landed the US women’s basketball team a spot at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020. Team USA defeated Australia 73-56 in the Championship game of the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup in Spain. In doing so, six-time defending Olympic champ Americans also became the first to qualify for Tokyo Olympic Games.

Brittney Griner, a 2016 Olympic gold medalist, scored a game-high 15 points for the U.S. Four-time Olympic gold medalist Diana Taurasi added 13 points and 2016 Olympic gold medalist Breanna Stewart had 10 points and a team-high 8 rebounds. Should the U.S. win Olympic gold in Tokyo it would tie the U.S. men’s record of seven straight from 1936-1968.

The win over Australia finished a six-game unbeaten run through the tournament for Team USA, which now has 10 World Cup titles and three in a row. Since 1996, Team USA has won 100 of 101 games and is now 18-0 against Australia in World Cup and Olympic matches. This was the first time these two teams had met since the 2014 World Cup semifinals where the U.S. 82-70. The U.S. has also won six of the last seven World Cup tournaments (the event was previously called the FIBA World Championship for Women).

Team USA featured a balanced squad, led by veterans and four-time Olympic gold medalists Sue Bird and Taurasi. Bird is the first U.S. player to appear in five World Cups and is now the only person in history with five FIBA World Cup medals. Bird, who had a game-high five assists, celebrated with her teammates on the bench in the closing minutes of Sunday’s game. The team huddled on the court after the game and applauded in the direction of the U.S. fans who were in Santiago Martin Arena.