Weekly Digest (Feb 3-9): From Bangladesh's first World Cup title to Duplantis' world record

Here's a round-up of all the major sporting happenings from last week, from Bangladesh's U19 World Cup triumph to Mondo Duplantis' Pole Vault world record.

Bangladesh beat India in the U19 World Cup final to win its first-ever ICC trophy, while 20-year-old Mondo Duplantis broke the Pole Vault world record.

Here are all the major happenings in the week of sport (February 3 to 9).

CRICKET

A sprightly bunch of Bangladesh boys created history by winning their country’s first global cricket title, shocking defending champion India by three wickets in the summit clash of the ICC U-19 World Cup here on Sunday. ( REPORT )

After a whitewash in the T20I series, New Zealand now has a One-Day International series win under its belt. It defeated India by 22 runs in Auckland on Saturday to take an unassailable lead in the three-match series. Debutant Kyle Jamieson shone with bat and ball to win the Player of the Match award, and batsmen Ross Taylor and Martin Guptill struck half-centuries. ( REPORT )

Work to demolish the gymnasium at the Madras Cricket Club (MCC) has begun, and it will pave the way for the sealed ‘I’, ‘J’ and ‘K’ stands at the M. A. Chidambaram stadium in Chennai to be reopened ahead of the upcoming IPL. ( REPORT )

Brian Lara showed he still has what it takes with a stylish 30 not out as cricketing royalty helped raise money to aid Australian bushfire relief in a charity match Sunday. The West Indian legend stroked a series of lofted cover drives and straight drives, including two sixes, before retiring to give another batsman a chance in a star-studded Bushfire Bash at Melbourne’s Junction Oval. Ponting XI defeated Gilchrist XI by one run. ( REPORT )

Sachin Tendulkar, Brian Lara, Yuvraj Singh, Wasim Akram and Courtney Walsh took part in the Australian bushfire relief fundraiser.

 

South African fast bowler Vernon Philander has said that “chaos” in the country’s cricket administration hastened his decision to retire from international cricket. ( REPORT )

Smriti Mandhana slammed a superb half-century as India women notched up a seven-wicket win over Australia in the fifth T20. ( REPORT )

Former Pakistan batsman Nasir Jamshed was jailed for 17 months on Friday after pleading guilty to conspiracy to bribe fellow cricketers as part of a Twenty20 spot-fixing scheme. Jamshed, 30, was arrested alongside two other men — Yousef Anwar, 36, and Mohammed Ijaz, 34 — last February as part of a National Crime Agency probe into alleged spot-fixing. ( REPORT )

FOOTBALL

Premier League

Everton beat Crystal Palace to propel itself to within five points off fourth-placed Chelsea with a 3-1 win, with Bernard, Richarlison and Dominic Calvert-Lewin scoring the goals. ( REPORT )

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola said his contract situation would not alter the club’s transfer plans in the off-season. ( REPORT )

Bundesliga

Borussia Dortmund’s Marco Reus suffered a muscle injury that could keep him out of action for up to a month, it was learnt. ( REPORT )

La Liga

Angel Correa scored the winner for Atletico Madrid as it snapped its five-match winless streak with a 1-0 win over Granada, lifting itself up to fourth place. ( REPORT )

Barcelona forward Lionel Messi was engaged in a public bust-up with his club's sporting director and former player Eric Abidal.

 

Lionel Messi was engaged in a public bust-up with Barcelona sporting director Eric Abidal, who suggested manager Ernesto Valverde was sacked because the players didn’t work hard enough. ( REPORT )

Indian football

FC Goa beat Hyderabad FC 4-1 to secure its place in the ISL semifinals with Hugo Boumous and Ferran Corominas scoring a brace each. ( REPORT )

Bidyananda Singh scored a late winner for Mumbai City FC, helping it secure a 2-1 come-from-behind home win against Jamshedpur FC. ( REPORT )

Roy Krishna scored a hat-trick to help ATK beat Odisha 3-1 at the Salt Lake Stadium on Saturday. Manuel Onwu scored a consolation in the 67th minute. ( REPORT )

 

Others

Cristiano Ronaldo created yet another record by becoming the first Juventus player to score in 10 consecutive league fixtures, achieving it in the match against Hellas Verona. ( REPORT )

Juventus lost to Hellas Verona away from home, with Leonardo Bonucci’s defensive mistake in his own box conceding a penalty that was converted by Giampaolo Pazzini 12 minutes from time. ( REPORT)

HOCKEY

Harmanpreet Singh’s error cost India dear as it slumped to its first defeat in the FIH Hockey Pro League, losing 2-3 to world champion Belgium in the second leg at the Kalinga Stadium. ( REPORT )

Haryana clinched the Senior Women’s National Championship (A Division) title with a 6-0 thrashing of SAI in the final. ( REPORT )

Indian goalkeepers Krishan Bahadur Pathak and P.R. Sreejesh starred as the men’s hockey team beat world champion Belgium 2-1 in the first leg of the FIH Pro League at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar. ( REPORT )

India has eight points from its four matches in the FIH Pro League so far.

 

The outbreak of the Coronavirus forced the Indian women’s hockey team to cancel its tour of China. ( REPORT )

Sports Authority of India (SAI) and Hockey India announced the establishment of the High Performance Centres in seven places across the country to provide state-of-the-art facilities to junior and sub-Junior players. ( REPORT )

Striker Navneet Kaur scored a brace to guide the Indian women’s hockey team to a convincing 3-0 win over New Zealand. ( REPORT )

Skipper Rani Rampal struck the solitary goal as the Indian women’s hockey team recorded a 1-0 win over Great Britain in its fourth match of the tour of New Zealand. ( REPORT )

TABLE TENNIS

G. Sathiyan has become the first Indian paddler to sign with a Japanese T-League as, on Saturday, he announced that he will be representing Okayama Rivets for the 2020-21 season ( REPORT )

BADMINTON

The Bengaluru Raptors won back-to-back Premier Badminton League (PBL) titles after beating the North Eastern Warriors 4-2 in the fifth edition’s final in Hyderabad on Sunday. ( REPORT )

Indian women's team has withdrawn from the upcoming Badminton Asian championship starting from February 11 to 16 in Manila (Philippines) following coronavirus concerns expressed by the parents, according to a BAI media release. ( REPORT )

Injured Japanese badminton World No. 1 Kento Momota had surgery on a bone near his eye on Saturday, dashing hopes of an early recovery, local media reported. ( REPORT )

WRESTLING

The Wrestling Federation of India is confident of the government allowing the Chinese delegation for the upcoming Asian Championships despite the coronavirus outbreak. ( REPORT )

ATHLETICS

Mondo Duplantis broke the pole vault world record by soaring 6.17 meters on his second attempt at a World Athletics Indoor Tour meeting in Torun in Poland. ( REPORT )