Weekly Digest (December 30-January 5): From Pathan's retirement to Arsenal's first win under Arteta

From Irfan Pathan announcing his retirement from all formats of cricket to Mikel Arteta sealing his first win as Arsenal's boss, here's a wrap from the week gone by.

Irfan Pathan has called time on his international career.

Here's a list of the most important news and events from the world of sport between December 30, 2019 and January 5, 2020.

 

CRICKET

The opening match of the India-Sri Lanka three-match T20 international series in Guwahati was abandoned without a ball being bowled due to wet patches on the pitch. ( Report )

Prithvi Shaw’s hopes of making an India comeback suffered a major dent as it was confirmed that the Mumbai opener has a labral tear on his left shoulder, after injuring himself in the field against Karnataka. ( Report )

Jasprit Bumrah who is back in action from a lengthy injury layoff, spoke about his recovery and how he is raring to get back to bowling. ( Report )

India skipper Kohli points to the wet patch on the pitch after the covers had come off. The match was abandoned due to bad weather.

 

Heading into retirement from all forms of cricket, Irfan Pathan spoke about his career, the experience of playing under different captains and more. ( Report )

India skipper Virat Kohli has rejected the idea of having four-day Test matches, saying the five-day format should not be altered. ( Report )

The National Cricket Academy (NCA), which has often been criticised for its handling of players’ injuries, is set to get the help of a BCCI medical panel and a dedicated social media department as part of its overall revamp plan. ( Report )

 

FOOTBALL

Premier League

It was the first win of the Mikel Arteta era as Arsenal dominated Manchester United in a 2-0 win. The Emirates was rocking on the night. ( Report )

But sad news followed soon for the Gunners as defender Callum Chambers was ruled out of action for nine months due to an ACL injury. ( Report )

Tottenham Hotspur’s woes were compounded after the New Year’s day defeat to Bournemouth with the hamstring injury to forward Harry Kane. ( Report )

FA Cup

Liverpool emerged the victor in the Merseyside Derby in the third-round FA Cup face-off with Everton as youngster Curtis Jones scored the winning goal. ( Report )

Oleksandr Zinchenko, Sergio Aguero, Taylor Harwood-Bellis and Phil Foden were on target for FA Cup holder Manchester City but Tom Pope had a moment to savour in the third round fixture. ( Report )

Arsenal defeated Manchester United 2-0 to seal its first win under new boss Mikel Arteta, who replaced Unai Emery.

 

Chelsea too progressed to the next round as Callum Hudson-Odoi and Ross Barkley scored to lead The Blues to a 2-0 win over Nottingham Forrest. ( Report )

Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur will have to play a replay after the two sides shared spoils with Wolverhampton Wanderers and Middlesbrough respesctively. (Reports: Manchester United 0-0 Wolves ; Middlesbrough 1-1 Tottenham )

La Liga

The Catalan Derby was settled in an eventful 2-2 draw between Espanyol and Barcelona. Barca midfielder Frankie de Jong was sent off. ( Report )

No trouble for Real Madrid in its derby against Getafe as it ran out 3-0 winner. The win took the Los Blancos level on points with Barca in the La Liga. ( Report )

Bundesliga

After courting from several high-profile clubs, teenager Erling Haaland signed for Borussia Dortmund from RB Salzburg at the end of December. ( Report )

ATK won 2-0 against Mumbai City, moving to the top of the points table.

 

ISL

It wasn’t David Williams or Roy Krishna who got on the scoresheet but ATK continued its good form with a 2-0 win away to Mumbai City FC. The three points took ATK to the top of the table for the first time since gameweek 5. ( Report )

I-League

Mohun Bagan capitalised on rival East Bengal’s slip up to move top of the I-League table. The Mariners travelled to Srinagar to beat Real Kashmir 2-0. ( Report )

 

HOCKEY

Indian women’s hockey team defender Sunita Lakra announced international retirement due to a knee injury that would require another surgery. The 28-year-old said the nagging injury had come in the way of her dream to be a part of India’s Tokyo Olympics campaign this year. ( Report )

 

BOXING

In the 69kg category, Vikas Krishan claimed a slot in the Indian men’s boxing squad for Olympic qualifiers. The former world championships and Asian Games medal-winner, who competed in the middleweight 75kg category for a long time, is back to the 69kg division after recovering from a back injury sustained during his short undefeated stint in the professional circuit. ( Report )

 

SHOOTING

63rd National Shooting Championship: World No.1, Youth Olympics champion and Asian Games gold medallist, 17-year-old Saurabh Chaudhary asserted his class yet again as he won the men’s gold in 10-metre air pistol. ( Report )

Meanwhile, Olympian Gurpreet Singh shot 587 and won the gold in men’s 25-metre centre fire pistol on Wednesday. ( Report )

The Indian government approved “in principle” the Indian Olympic Association’s (IOA) proposal to host the Commonwealth Shooting Championships and archery events — which are not part of the 2022 Commonwealth Games roster — in March 2022. ( Report )

Men's air pistol medallists in the National shooting championship in Bhopal. From left: Sarabjot Singh, champion Saurabh Chaudhary and Abhishek Verma.

 

Earlier this week, the IOA had withdrawn its threat to boycott the Birmingham Commonwealth Games (CWG) over shooting’s omission and decided to submit a formal proposal to host a shooting championships, where the medals won will be counted in the tally of the 2022 edition. Additionally, it was also announced that the country will bid to host either the 2026 or the 2030 edition of the CWG. ( Report )

Junior World Cup silver medallist Esha Singh, on Friday, said that her father retired from rally driving in order to support her shooting career. ( Report )

 

TENNIS

Novak Djokovic wants Australian Open organisers to consider delaying the first Grand Slam of the year if haze from the bushfires threatens players' health. ( Report )

Nick Kyrgios and Ashleigh Barty are some of the players who have decided to help the victims of the Australian bushfires by donating prize money. (Reports of the same here and here .)

Kei Nishikori has withdrawn from next month's Australian Open as he continues to recover from elbow surgery. ( Report )

Greece's Stefanos Tsitsipas lost his opening match against Canadian Denis Shapovalov but bounced back on Sunday with a win over Germany's Alexander Zverev.

 

ATP Cup: Alexander Zverev and Stefanos Tsitsipas crashed to defeat on the first day, while Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal got off to a winning start on day two. However, Tsitsipas bounced back with a win on day three, while Zverev lost yet again. (Reports of day one , day two , day three ).

 

WRESTLING

Two-time World Cadet champion Sonam Malik stunned Rio Olympic bronze medallist Sakshi Malik while Anshu Malik knocked out World Championship medallist Pooja Dhanda to seal their places in the Indian team for the Asian Championship. ( Report )

Much-improved Jitender Kumar prevailed in an intense 74kg trial bout to qualify for the season-opener in Italy and the Asian Championship but now needs to win a medal to shut out celebrated Sushil Kumar’s shot at the Olympic qualification. ( Report )

The Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) will go ahead with the trials in the men’s freestyle 74kg category despite a postponement request from injured Sushil Kumar. ( Report )