Bayern Munich won UEFA Champions League 2020

Bayern Munich won the UEFA Champions League for the sixth time after beating first-time finalists Paris-Saint-Germain 1-0 in a spectacular-less final at the Estadio da Luz, Lisbon. 

In front of just a few hundred people, including the coronavirus-checked players and officials, it was the Paris-born Kingsley Coman who scored the only goal of the match as the Bavarians won the premier competition after seven years.

After a feisty first half involving shots off the woodwork for Robert Lewandowski and two saves from Manuel Neuer against Neymar and Kylian Mbappe, Coman scored the only goal of the game when he glanced home a cross from Joshua Kimmich in the 59th minute.

PSG substitute Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting missed two late opportunities to level for the French side, who are still waiting to win their first Champions League title after billions of euros of investment from the Qatar royal family.

 

With this win, Bayern Munich is the first side in European Cup/Champions League history to win 100 percent of their games in a single campaign en route to lifting the trophy (11 wins). Bayern joins deposed champion Liverpool as six-time champions of Europe, only behind AC Milan (7) and Real Madrid (13).

MotoGP 2020: Miguel Oliveira wins Styria Grand Prix

Oliveira and Tech3 KTM take a shock victory in a 12-lap Styrian MotoGP sprint at the Red Bull Ring, Oliveira sweeping past both the Ducati of Miller and KTM of Espargaro as they fought at the final corner.

Miller held Espargaro at bay for a second, with Mir fourth at the chequered flag ahead of Andrea Dovizioso - the Ducati rider dropping out of podium contention after running wide on the last lap.

Alex Rins was sixth on the Suzuki, while Nakagami's podium hopes faded in the second race and he was seventh in the end, with Brad Binder (KTM), Valentino Rossi on the Yamaha and Tech3's Iker Lecuona completing the top 10.

Danilo Petrucci grabbed 11th on the works team Ducati ahead of Aprilia's Aleix Espargaro, while a struggling Fabio Quartararo on the Petronas SRT Yamaha maintains a slender three-point lead over Dovizioso after finishing 13th.

Johann Zarco came from the pitlane in the first race to score two points with 14th on the Avintia Ducati, with Franco Morbidelli completing the top 15 on the SRT Yamaha.

MotoGP 2020: Andrea Dovizioso wins Austrian Grand Prix

Andrea Dovizioso won an eventful Austrian MotoGP for Ducati just 24 hours after revealing he would leave the Italian team at the end of the season. Spain’s Joan Mir on a Suzuki robbed Ducati of a one-two by clinching the second spot from Australian Jack Miller with a single corner to spare. 

In a two way tangle on lap eight at the empty Spielberg circuit, Yamaha's Morbidelli and Zarco hit the deck at high speed. Zarco's Ducati carried on without him, cut a corner and narrowly missed the veteran Valentino Rossi, who was clearly shaken by the close shave and who went on to take fifth. The riderless bike exploded into pieces at a safety barrier scattering debris through the air as the race was red-flagged.

This was Ducati's fifth consecutive MotoGP success at Spielberg and their 50th in the elite division. The MotoGP standings continue to be led by Fabio Quartararo, Yamaha's satellite SRT team rider and winner of the coronavirus-curtailed season's first two races in Jerez. The Frenchman finished eighth in this fourth leg of the campaign.

 

The day's big loser was Maverick Vinales, who had started from pole on his Yamaha only to trail in 10th and lose his second position in the championship to Dovizioso. South African Brad Binder, who celebrated his breakthrough MotoGP win last weekend in Brno, took fourth for home team KTM. Defending champion Marc Marquez was missing for the third race in a row following surgery on a broken arm sustained in a crash in the season-opening Spanish Grand Prix.

F1 2020: Lewis Hamilton wins Spanish Grand Prix

Mercedes Lewis Hamilton executed a near-perfect race at the Spanish Grand Prix, leading every lap from pole to record his fifth Spanish Grand Prix win, his fourth victory of the season, with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen coming home ahead of the sister Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas.

The seeds of Hamilton’s victory were sown by a strong start for him, as Bottas dropped from P2 to P4 off the line, before eventually recovering to third, while Verstappen jumped to second at the getaway, but ultimately wasn’t able to make any in-roads into Hamilton’s lead, as he finished 24s adrift.

Racing Point’s Sergio Perez crossed the line in fourth but dropped to fifth thanks to a five-second penalty for ignoring blue flags, allowing Lance Stroll to claim P4. Perez eventually slotted into fifth, ahead of the McLaren of Carlos Sainz – who maintained his 100% record of finishing in the points at his home race – and the Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel, who benefitted from a late decision to switch him onto a one-stop strategy to come home in seventh.

 

He finished ahead of the second Red Bull of Alex Albon, the Thai driver hurt by having had to switch early to a set of hards, while the AlphaTauri of Pierre Gasly and the second McLaren of Lando Norris rounded out the top 10 – the expected strong race pace from Renault having failed to materialize on race day, as Daniel Ricciardo wound up 11th, with Esteban Ocon 13^th.

MotoGP 2020: Brad Binder wins Czech Republic Grand Prix

Brad Binder dominated the Czech Republic Grand Prix at claim a maiden win for him and KTM in MotoGP, while points leaders Fabio Quartararo, Maverick Vinales, and Andrea Dovizioso struggled.

Binder, the 2016 Moto3 champion, was promoted to the factory KTM team for 2020 after Johann Zarco's exit from the squad and eased to the chequered flag for a historic victory in just his third race in the premier class. Poleman Zarco (Avintia Ducati) botched his launch off the line at the start and dropped to sixth, while Franco Morbidelli put his Petronas SRT Yamaha into the lead having been tipped by many pre-races as the favorite for victory.

Morbidelli began to drop pace in the latter stages but held on to claim a maiden MotoGP podium in second. Zarco held third after expertly taking the long lap penalty, keeping the fading Quartararo at bay, but came under massive attack from the charging Suzuki of Alex Rins he began to struggle with rear grip issues.

 

Rins couldn't find a way through, as Zarco pinched his first podium since Malaysia 2018 and the first for Avintia. Rins' fourth came as he continues to recover from a fractured arm suffered at Jerez last month, with Valentino Rossi rising to fifth from 10th as the top factory Yamaha runner.

 

Miguel Oliveira took his best MotoGP result in sixth on the Tech3 KTM, heading Quartararo, Takaaki Nakagami (LCR), Pramac's Jack Miller, and Aprilia's Espargaro. In a woeful day for the factory Ducati team, Dovizioso was 15s from the win in 11th ahead of Danilo Petrucci, while Maverick Vinales plummeted to a mystifying 14th on the second factory Yamaha.

 

Alex Marquez took the last point on the works Honda. Vinales' miserable afternoon means Quartararo extends his championship lead to 17 points over his Yamaha stablemate, with Morbidelli now third after ending Sunday's race as top Yamaha runner.

F1 2020: Max Verstappen wins 70th Anniversary Grand Prix

Max Verstappen has become the first non-Mercedes driver to win a race in 2020, the Red Bull racer winning out in the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix from the Mercedes pairing of Lewis Hamilton and polesitter Valtteri Bottas after an incredible display at Silverstone.

 

Verstappen had been the only driver in the top 10 to begin the race on the hard tyres. And after starting P4 – which became P3 by Turn 1, after he quickly passed the Racing Point of Nico Hulkenberg – he managed his pace brilliantly throughout the race, pressuring the Mercedes early on before taking the lead from Bottas with a brilliant move around Luffield, before racing to the finish for his first victory since Brazil last year – and Red Bull’s first at Silverstone since 2012.

Hamilton enjoyed a late-race surge, passing his teammate with two laps to go into Brooklands to claim second place – equalling the number of podium finishes of Michael Schumacher in the process – while it was the second time in three years that Bottas has failed to convert a Silverstone pole into a win, as he came home third.

 

Charles Leclerc was another driver to manage his tyres well, making a one-stop work to claim a fine P4, while teammate Sebastian Vettel could only manage P12, having spun on his own at the first corner of the race. Alex Albon took fifth for the second Red Bull, passing the Racing Point of Lance Stroll with a lap to go, Stroll ending up P6 ahead of stand-in teammate Nico Hulkenberg, who stopped late on for soft tyres.

 

Rounding out the top 10, Esteban Ocon was P8, ahead of the McLaren of Lando Norris and the AlphaTauri of Daniil Kvyat, who despite his lower starting position, finished one spot ahead of teammate Pierre Gasly to take his second point of the season.

F1 2020: Lewis Hamilton wins British Grand Prix

An incredible final few laps of the 2020 British Grand Prix Lewis Hamilton claim the seventh and possibly most dramatic Silverstone win of his career, despite his left-front tyre letting go with half a lap still to go.

 

Hamilton and teammate Valtteri Bottas had been formation flying for 50 of the 52 laps at Silverstone until tyre drama struck. Second-placed man Bottas was the first to suffer as his tyre deflated on Lap 50, costing him second place, before, on the very last lap, Hamilton suffered his own issue.

However, with Max Verstappen having opted to pit a few laps from the end to try and claim the fastest lap, Hamilton had enough time in hand to just cross the line first, five seconds ahead of Verstappen and the third-placed Ferrari of Charles Leclerc. McLaren’s Carlos Sainz had been set to finish fourth, but his own last lap tyre issue saw him eventually come home P13, allowing Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo to claim fourth, following a late pass on the sister McLaren of Lando Norris.

 

Renault’s Esteban Ocon finished sixth, having enjoyed a race-long battle with the Racing Point of Lance Stroll, with Pierre Gasly having enjoyed a fine race to finish seventh for AlphaTauri. Alex Albon finished eighth for Red Bull, having recovered from a Lap 1 tussle with the Haas of Kevin Magnussen that saw him fall to last, while Lance Stroll and Sebastian Vettel rounded out the top 10, Vettel holding off a late charge form the recovering Mercedes of Bottas.

MotoGP 2020: Fabio Quartararo wins Andalusia Grand Prix

Fabio Quartararo earned a dominant pole-to-flag victory to make it two wins from two to start the MotoGP World Championship season. A week on from securing a maiden premier class win, Quartararo doubled up in Jerez to earn maximum points at a swelteringly hot Andalusia Grand Prix, in a race where the action all took place behind the runaway leader.

 

With world champion Marc Marquez unable to race despite attempting to qualify a week on from sustaining a broken arm, the brilliant Francesco Bagnaia appeared on course for a maiden podium. However, the Pramac Racing rider's bike smoked up with six laps to go, leaving Bagnaia visibly frustrated at the trackside.

Maverick Vinales ultimately took a scarcely deserved second-place finish for the second week running in an error-strewn display, with the great Valentino Rossi completing the podium.

 

Vinales would have started the day with hopes of victory but paid the price for being too aggressive at the final turn of the opening lap when chasing Quartararo, going wide and allowing Monster Energy Yamaha team-mate Rossi to pass. The Spaniard was frustrated in his bid to pass Rossi and another mistake when going wide at Turn 6 with 16 laps to go allowed Bagnaia to slip by.

MotoGP 2020: Fabio Quartararo wins Spanish Grand Prix

Fabio Quartararo finally turned pole into victory as Marc Marquez was injured in the process of making a couple of uncharacteristic errors at MotoGP delayed season opener in Jerez. Frenchman Quartararo was named rookie of the year in 2019 but failed to register a victory despite qualifying first on six occasions.

 

But the Petronas Yamaha rider finally earned a maiden premier class triumph at the Spanish Grand Prix on Sunday, the first race of 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. It looked like being a familiar tale when Marquez passed race leader Maverick Vinales with 23 laps remaining after the duo thrillingly jostled for position.

However, the defending champion, racing on the brink as MotoGP fans have become accustomed to witnessing in his career, went far too wide at Turn 4 a couple of laps later and into the dirt - impressively holding the bike to continue in the race. The Spaniard valiantly fought back through the field and appeared on course to brilliantly finish second until losing the bike with a huge high side with four laps to go when chasing Vinales – his Repsol Honda smashing painfully into his arm. Images showed him on a stretcher later in the race.

 

Quartararo himself had made an inauspicious start, slipping from first to fifth in the opening laps as Vinales took ownership of top spot. Vinales had already made an error shortly prior to locking up at Turn 13 with 17 laps to go, though, and he ultimately had to settle for winning the battle for second.

 

Jack Miller of Pramac Racing had held a podium spot for much of the race but eventually slipped behind Andrea Dovizioso, who only underwent surgery on a broken collarbone last month. Valentino Rossi was among the retirees along with Joan Mir, whose team-mate Alex Rins did not race after sustaining a serious shoulder injury on Saturday. Cal Crutchlow was also inactive following a bad crash in Sunday's warm-up that left him with a concussion.

F1 2020: Lewis Hamilton wins Hungary Grand Prix

Mercedes Lewis Hamilton enjoyed a peerless run to his eighth Hungarian Grand Prix victory, winning out over the Red Bull of Max Verstappen, as he tied with Michael Schumacher’s record for the most number of wins at a single venue.

 

Starting from pole, Hamilton quickly surged into a comfortable lead in the early laps, before managing his pace over his rivals in the encounter at the Hungaroring, eventually taking the flag 8.7s ahead of Verstappen to seal his third win in a row at this race.

 

Verstappen himself overcame a poor qualifying that saw him start P7, and then an embarrassing crash into the Turn 12 wall on his lap to the grid that required some urgent repairs, to claim P2, the Dutchman holding off an attack by third-place Valtteri Bottas in the final stages of the race.

Racing Point’s Lance Stroll couldn’t convert his P3 grid position into the team’s first podium of the year as he came home a distant fourth. A late pass from Red Bull’s Alex Albon on the Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel gave Albon – who started 13th – P5, although Red Bull was summoned to the stewards after the race for allegedly drying Albon’s grid spot ahead of the race start. Vettel held off the second Racing Point of Sergio Perez in the final laps of the race, as the Mexican finished seventh, having started fourth, while Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo made a monster 42-lap stint on mediums work to take eighth.

 

With the track greasy ahead of the race start but the rain had stopped falling, an inspired strategy from Haas helped Kevin Magnussen take the team’s first points of the year, with Magnussen and Romain Grosjean pitting for slicks at the end of the formation lap as their rivals started on intermediates on the drying track, with the Dane eventually taking P9 after a fine race. McLaren’s Carlos Sainz rounded out the top 10, thanks to a late-race pass on the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc, who ended up 11th.

F1 2020: Lewis Hamilton wins Styrian Grand Prix

Following his sensational wet weather pole position on Saturday, Lewis Hamilton secured a comfortable victory in the Styrian Grand Prix, winning out over his Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas and the Red Bull of Max Verstappen – while Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc collided on Lap 1, causing race-ending damage for both.

 

Having been classified a disappointing P4 at last weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix, Hamilton was strong away from the start line, before spending the race managing the gap, first to Red Bull’s Verstappen then to Bottas, to secure his 85th Grand Prix win. Despite a stern defence from Verstappen, Bottas claimed second place from the Dutchman four laps from the end, last week’s Austrian Grand Prix winner limiting the damage in the drivers’ championship, which the Finn still heads.

Perez was classified sixth, ahead of teammate Lance Stroll in seventh, with Stroll having performed a late-race pass on the Renault of Daniel Ricciardo, who finished eighth. After a frustrating day, P3 starter Carlos Sainz was ninth, taking an extra point for fastest lap, while Alpha Tauri’s Daniil Kvyat rounded out the top 10.

 

Ferrari’s 2020 difficulties continued, meanwhile, with Charles Leclerc losing control of his SF1000 on the run up to Turn 3 on Lap 1 and slewing wildly into his teammate Vettel. Their contact wiped off Vettel’s rear wing, with both cars forced into retirement – the second time a Leclerc/Vettel collision has caused the team a double DNF.

F1 2020: Valtteri Bottas wins Austrian Grand Prix

Valtteri Bottas has struck the first blow in the 2020 season, winning the Austrian Grand Prix from Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, as Lewis Hamilton was demoted from a second-place finish on the road to P4 after a five-second penalty for contact with Alex Albon handing McLaren’s Lando Norris his first F1 Podium for finishing P3.

 

The Mercedes duo of Bottas and Hamilton enjoyed a comfortable performance advantage throughout the 71-lap encounter. But with 10 laps to go, the race exploded into life, with Hamilton handed his penalty after nerfing Albon into a spin on a Safety Car restart on Lap 61.

A late surge for Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc after a difficult weekend for Ferrari saw him climb to third by the flag, meaning he inherited second after the Hamilton penalty, while a late pass on the Racing Point of Sergio Perez was enough to give Norris the net P3, meaning McLaren begin a season with a podium for the first time since 2014.

 

Behind Norris, Hamilton took fourth, ahead of the second McLaren of Carlos Sainz and Perez. Then came the AlphaTauri of Pierre Gasly in seventh, ahead of F1 returnee Esteban Ocon in eighth, with Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi P9 and Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel – who spun early on in the race after contact with Sainz – in P10, just one place ahead of the final finisher, Williams’ Nicholas Latifi.

 

It was a nightmare race for Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, meanwhile, who experienced a loss of power after just 11 of the 71 laps, costing him a chance of shooting for a third straight win at the Red Bull Ring – while teammate Albon appeared to suffer a similar problem just two laps from the end.

Bengaluru Raptors wins Premier Badminton League

Bengaluru Raptors became the first team in the Premier Badminton League to win back-to-back titles when it scored a 4-2 win over the first-time finalist North Eastern Warriors, in the fifth Edition final.

Once again, with scores tied two-all, it was a doubles match which decided the fate of the winner. And this time the mixed doubles pair of Chan Peng Soon and Eom Hye Won, playing the Trump match for Raptors lived up to the expectations of the huge number of Bengaluru fans in attendance to get the better of Krishna Prasad Garaga and Kim Ha Na and win the trophy for their team.

Earlier, in the first men's singles match, Sai Praneeth, World Championships bronze medallist and captain of Raptors, came back strongly after losing the first game to outplay world No.18, Lee Cheuk Yiu. It was a performance which should have pleased even World No. 2 and Praneeth’s teammate Tai Tzu Ying. Though he was erratic in the first game, the crowd favorite stepped into a different zone in the next two games, especially after winning a 39-stroke rally point at the start of the second game.

Then in the men’s doubles, Warriors pair of Bodin Isara and Lee Yong Dae, playing their Trump match, had to put their best foot forward to ward off a spirited challenge from Arun George and Rian Agung Saputro to keep their team in the hunt.

In the decider with scores 13-all, Saputro, who was just brilliant right through, faltered with a service error and then messed up a simple net point to hand over the match and a 2-1 overall lead to his opponents on the night. For Raptors, world No. 2 Tai Tzu Ying remained unbeaten in this edition with another dominant display to outsmart world No. 10 Michelle Li. This made the tie's score two-all.

Bangladesh won Under-19 Cricket World Cup

In a big victory for Bangladesh cricket, the country’s under-19 squad pulled off an upset against India to win the under-19 Cricket World Cup. India were the defending champions in this format and the most successful team at this level. But the Bangladeshi boys had impressed throughout the tournament this time and showed their mettle in the final against the favorites.

It was a low scoring match where the disciplined Bangla bowlers bundled India out for just 177. And when it was India’s turn to bowl, they gave away far too many extras — 33 to be exact — that cost them dearly. Plus, India’s performance in the field was sub-par with some crucial catches dropped, especially that of Bangla captain Akbar Ali who would eventually go on to steer his side to victory with a steely 43 not out.

The positives for India included the performance of Yashasvi Jaiswal who was brilliant throughout the tournament, scored an 88 in the final and was adjudged the player of the series. Then Ravi Bishnoi too had the Bangla batsmen bamboozled for a while, picking up four wickets. But it would be all in vain.

For Bangladesh, this is their first-ever global cricket title, showing that they have truly arrived. Plus, they also say that sporting success is a good indicator of the development of a country. The under-19 World Cup victory confirms Bangladesh’s economic growth story of recent years and contradicts the narrative of a poor, desperate nation.