From Parthiv Patel announcing retirement from all forms to cricket to the 2020 Formula One season coming to an end with Max Verstappen’s win at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, here’s a wrap of all the major sports news from the week (December 7-13) gone by:
CRICKET
An 18-year-long illustrious career came to an end, on Wednesday, as wicketkeeper-batsman Parthiv Patel announced his retirement from all forms of the game. (REPORT)
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is set to start the domestic season with Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy from January 10. (REPORT)
The Pakistan team had discussed with the Pakistan Cricket Board the option of pulling out of New Zealand while it was in managed isolation but players and officials decided to complete the tour, head coach Misbah-ul-Haq said on Friday. (REPORT)
The day-night warm-up game between Australia ‘A’ and India at the Sydney Cricket Ground ended in a draw on Sunday. (REPORT)
Fast bowler Mitchell Starc will rejoin Australia’s squad in Adelaide on Monday (14-12-20) to prepare for the first Test against India after he withdrew from the Twenty20 series due to a family illness. (REPORT)
The Melbourne Cricket Ground will be permitted 30,000 fans per day during the Boxing Day test between Australia and India after authorities eased crowd restrictions on Thursday. (REPORT)
Australian bowlers held their nerves to come up trumps against the genius of Virat Kohli, stalling an Indian clean-sweep with a 12-run victory in the third and final T20 International in Sydney on Tuesday. (REPORT)
FOOTBALL
Manchester United and Manchester City played out a goalless draw at Old Trafford and failed to move into the top-four in the Premier League standings on Saturday. (REPORT)
Real Madrid defeated league leader Atletico Madrid, which has a match in hand, in a 2020-21 La Liga encounter on Saturday to move just three points off the top. (REPORT)
Bundesliga club Borussia Dortmund has sacked manager Lucien Favre following Saturday’s 5-1 loss at home to promoted VfB Stuttgart, the club confirmed on Sunday. (REPORT)
Peeved with the dismal standard of refereeing in the ongoing Indian Super League (ISL), Robbie Fowler-coached SC East Bengal on Friday lodged a complaint with the All India Football Federation (AIFF). (REPORT)
Inter Milan was knocked out of the Champions League in the group stage for the third season in a row after draw against Shakhtar Donetsk. (REPORT)
Paolo Rossi, the hero of Italy’s 1982 World Cup-winning campaign, has died at the age of 64. (REPORT)
RB Leipzig scored twice in the opening 13 minutes but had to survive a late comeback from Manchester United to cling on to a 3-2 win on Tuesday that sent the side into the Champions League knockouts and eliminated the English side. (REPORT)
All eyes were on Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo on Tuesday, and it was the Portuguese who emphatically came out on top, scoring two penalties as Juventus triumphed 3-0 against Barcelona to claim top spot in Group G. (REPORT)
MOTORSPORT
Max Verstappen won the season-ending Abu Dhabi Formula One Grand Prix from pole position for Red Bull on Sunday. (REPORT)
Dark Don Racing’s Ashwin Datta and Msport’s Amir Sayed signed off with a double win each in the 23rd JK Tyre – FMSCI National Racing Championship at the Kari Motor Speedway here on Sunday. (REPORT)
Juan Pablo Montoya will join Arrow McLaren for next year’s Indianapolis 500, the team said on Wednesday, as the Colombian chases a third win at the Brickyard. (REPORT)
The all-female W Series will start its eight race 2021 season at France’s Le Castellet circuit in June and end in Mexico City in October as part of its new role supporting Formula One, organisers said on Tuesday. (REPORT)
The Monaco-based Venturi Formula E team co-founded by Hollywood actor Leonardo DiCaprio has been sold to a group of investors led by the Spanish brother-in-law of series chairman Alejandro Agag. (REPORT)
Silverstone will rename its International Pits Straight after seven-time Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton, the home of the British Grand Prix announced on Saturday. (REPORT)
Ferrari has signed 14-year-old Australian James Wharton to its young driver academy with a drive in Formula Four on offer. He will have to wait until he turns 15 however, the minimum age for the category. (REPORT)
Formula One champion Mercedes has fixed a radio problem that caused pitstop confusion in Bahrain last weekend and wrecked its race, team boss Toto Wolff said on Wednesday.(REPORT)
TENNIS
American Sofia Kenin has been named WTA Player of the Year after winning her maiden Grand Slam singles title at the Australian Open. (REPORT)
Top Indian tennis player Ankita Raina won her third doubles title of the pandemic-hit 2020 season, clinching the Al Habtoor challenge with Ekaterine Gorgodze. (REPORT)
Rohan Bopanna is a man on a mission. At 40, he does not think much about his tennis career these days. With his personal goals taking a back seat, the 2017 French Open mixed doubles champion is focused on his academy at the Sports School in Bengaluru. (REPORT)
Leander Paes is looking forward to featuring in his eighth Olympics. The Indian tennis ace, who turns 48 next year, is hoping that the Tokyo Olympics goes ahead as planned and gives him another opportunity to make the country proud by “winning a medal.” (REPORT)
Alex Olmedo, who won the Wimbledon and Australian Championships singles titles in 1959 and was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1987, has died. He was 84. (REPORT)
Dennis Ralston, a five-time Grand Slam doubles champion who was one of the initial players signed to the professional World Championship Tennis tour in the 1960s and a member of the sport’s Hall of Fame has passed away. He was 78. (REPORT)
TABLE TENNIS
The 42-day Senior National Table Tennis camp came to an end at Delhi Public School in Sonepat on Tuesday. (REPORT)
SHOOTING
The National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) has announced a set of two selection trials for the rifle and pistol shooters at the Dr Karni Singh shooting range, Tughlakabad, from January 6 to 18. (REPORT)
BOXING
World heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua produced a devastating finish to knock out Bulgarian Kubrat Pulev near the end of the ninth round to retain his IBF, WBO and WBA belts at Wembley Arena on Saturday. (REPORT)
Russia’s Umar Kremlev was elected president of the International Boxing Association (AIBA) at a virtual congress on Saturday, amateur boxing’s governing body said. (REPORT)
The Boxing Federation of India has announced the postponement of its elections in Gurugram on December 18 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. (REPORT)
Floyd Mayweather will return to the boxing ring in February for an exhibition bout against YouTube personality Logan Paul, the undefeated former world champion announced on Instagram. (REPORT)
ATHLETICS
The track and field indoor world championships in China have been postponed for the second straight year. (Report)
World Athletics President Sebastian Coe said he wants suspended Russia to return as an “accountable and responsible” member federation but he is not sure of resolving the country’s doping-related issue in the near future. (REPORT)
HOCKEY
Indian women’s hockey head coach Sjoerd Marijne was happy with his team’s progress in the national camp at SAI, Bengaluru, which concluded on Saturday. (REPORT)
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