Weekly Digest (Aug 05-11): Of infamous rivalries, comebacks and fresh starts

The Premier League is back, India's hunt for its new head coach is nearing its climax, Nadal and Murray have exciting news while Indian archers don't share the sentiment. Here's a quick recap of the week gone by.

Roundup of all the sporting action from the week gone by

CRICKET

Kapil Dev-led Cricket Advisory Committee will conduct interviews for India’s head coach at the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) headquarters on August 16. ( Read more )

BCCI is finally under the NADA ambit, after stalling the sports ministry efforts to do so for over a decade. ( Read more )

While it was understood that former Indian captain Rahul Dravid had resolved a potential conflict of interest due to his association with India Cements before taking up the reins of the National Cricket Academy, he has been sent a notice again from the BCCI Ethics Officer. ( Read more )

Mohammad Shahzad has been suspended by the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) for an indefinite period due to a breach of Code of Conduct. During CWC19, the Afghan keeper-batsman had slammed captain Gulbadin Naib and other board officials for sending him home despite being fit to play. ( Read more )

The Zimbabwe cricket board has been reinstated by a government body but the country remains suspended by the International Cricket Council because of outside interference. ZC’s leadership under chairman Tavengwa Mukuhlani will be allowed to return to their jobs after a court settlement was reached with the government-appointed Sports and Recreation Commission. ( Read more )

South African batting mainstay Hashim Amla has announced his retirement from all formats of the game. ( Read more )

South African great Dale Steyn announced his retirement from Test cricket. Steyn played 93 Tests for the Proteas, taking 439 wickets at an average of 22.95 to become his country's most potent bowler of all-time in cricket's longest format. ( Read more ) [ In pictures ]

With its win in the first Ashes test, Australia has opened its account in the World Test Championship. Wondering what this is? We have all the answers - from the format and points system to a guide to handling all the what-ifs.  ( Read more ) 

Suresh Raina underwent a knee surgery in Amsterdam this week. The 32-year-old left-hander had a niggling knee problem since the last domestic season. He will require at least six weeks of intense rehabilitation for recovery. ( Read more )

FOOTBALL

Premier League champion Manchester City got off to a stellar start in its opening match with a 5-0 win at West Ham United thanks to a Raheem Sterling hat-trick. ( Report )

VAR has made its Premier League debut and, as expected, some fans are not happy. Man City striker Gabriel Jesus’ attempt to open the scoring was denied for being fractionally offside. ( Read more )

LaLiga officially begins on August 16. Barcelona will take on Athletic Bilbao in the league opener. The league will be allowed to schedule matches on Fridays but on Mondays.  ( Read more )

£1.41 billion - that’s how much Premier League clubs have spent in the summer transfer window this year. Harry Maguire, Romelu Lukaku and Eden Hazard were among the most expensive transfers of the season. ( Read more )

 

Jose Mourinho is back to the Premier League. There’s been a slight change in location, with the ‘special one’ swapping the touchline for the Sky Sports studio. He will participate in the coverage of the league as a pundit for the media house. ( Read more )

Mourinho is a brutal critic but Manchester City will not complain. The former United and Chelsea manager says City's B team could win the Premier League, but not United, Chelsea or Arsenal. ( Read more )

Mesut Ozil and Sead Kolasinac sat out of Arsenal’s PL opener following security incidents. Two men have been charged in connection to an incident outside the former’s home. The duo were victims of an attempted carjacking in July. ( Read more )

Wayne Rooney is all set to return to English football with Derby County at the end of the ongoing Major League soccer season. He joins the Rams as a player-coach.  ( Report )

In a bid to combat age fraud in the sub-junior and junior tournaments, the AIFF has fixed a Bone Age Determination Programme for its youth leagues in the next four seasons. ( Read more )

KABADDI

Patna Pirates finally managed a win in the final match of the home leg as it beat UP Yoddha 41-20 in the ProKabaddi League. ( Report )

Patna’s Pardeep Narwal reached a record 900 raid points in his PKL career.  ( Read more )

Tamil Thalaivas skipper Ajay Thakur got back in form to lead his side to a 34-28 win over home side Gujarat Fortunegiants in the opener of the Ahmedabad leg of PKL season 7. ( Report )

TENNIS

Rafael Nadal surpassed Roger Federer for most ATP Masters 1000 finals after Gael Monfils withdrew from their Rogers Cup semifinal. ( Read more )

Former world number one Andy Murray is all set to make his singles comeback in the Cincinnati Masters this week. ( Read more )

Serena Williams and Naomi Osaka will go head-to-head for the first time since their controversial 2018 US Open decider after the pair reached the Rogers Cup quarterfinals. ( Read more )

The Indian tennis federation (AITA) confirmed that it will approach world governing body ITF, seeking a neutral venue for the Davis Cup tie against Pakistan in light of tension between the two nations. ( Read more )

MORE SPORTS

Table Tennis:
Sharath Kamal-led Chennai Lions defeated Sathiyan-led Dabang Delhi 8-1 in the final to lift the Ultimate Table Tennis Season 3 trophy. ( Read more )

Badminton:
P.V. Sindhu is the only Indian in the Forbes list of highest-paid women athletes. ( Read more )

Compatriots Sindhu and Saina Nehwal could face off in the semis of the Badminton World Championship after an error in the entry list called for a redraw. ( Read more )

Boxing:
The date for Anthony Joshua’s rematch against Andy Ruiz Jr has been revealed, with Diriyah in Saudi Arabia hosting the bout on December 7. ( Read more )

The Boxing Federation of India (BFI) on Thursday announced a 10-member squad for the World women’s boxing championships to be held in Russia from October 3 to 13. India Open gold medalists Sarita Devi (60kg), Neeraj (57kg) and Jamuna Boro (54kg) are among the 10 women boxers selected to represent India. ( Read more )

Archery:
World Archery (WA) has suspended the faction-ridden Archery Association of India after it failed to resolve its disputes internally. This jeopardises the participation of Indian Archers in international events under the National flag. ( report )

All hope is not lost though as the WA has promised to lift the suspension by the end of the month if a clear roadmap to handle affairs and a plan for an election is put in place by the AAI. ( Read more )

Hockey:
Indian men’s and women’s hockey teams have left for the Olympic test event which begins on August 17. The men will face Malaysia while the women will take on host Japan. ( Read more )

Thirty-three players were named for the 20-day camp at the Sports Authority of India in Bengaluru with three goalkeepers, 10 defenders, midfielders and forwards each getting the call-up.  ( Report )

Athletics:
Dutee Chand has been granted a visa to travel to Europe to participate in races in a bid to qualify for the World Athletics Championships. ( Read more )

Olympic gold-medallist and two-time world champion in the 100m hurdles, Sally Pearson has announced her retirement ahead of the Tokyo Olympics. ( Read more )

Volleyball:
Blocking and receiving errors helped Chinese Taipei beat India at the Asian Men’s Under-23 Volleyball Championship. This was India’s first final appearance.  ( Report )

Motorsport:
Andrea Dovizioso secured a dramatic MotoGP victory in Austria, passing Marc Marquez on the final corner at the end of a thrilling battle at Spielberg. It means Marquez is still without a win in Austria. ( Read more )

After Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas failed to bag a podium finish in the Hungarian GP, speculation has risen again about his future. Team Principal Toto Wolff insists that one bad race won’t determine Bottas’ future though. ( Read more )

Mexico City has signed a deal with the FIA to continue hosting a F1 race through 2022.  The private investments and new financing models will be put to use on the 2020 and 2022 edition of the race, which will be known as the Mexico City Grand Prix. ( Read more )

In a bid to host night races, the Madras Motor Sports Club (MMSC), on August 7, conducted a four-hour floodlit test session — the first of its kind in India — which attracted a huge number of participants, and was hailed by professionals in the motorsport circuit. ( Report )

Shooting:
Apurvi Chandela said her focus is on performing consistently and maintaining the momentum as she prepares to return to Rio after the Olympics in 2016 when she had shot 411.6 for the 34th spot. ( Read more )

The Indian Olympic Association will take a final decision on the proposed boycott of the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham in September. ( Read more ) 

Wrestling:
Bajrang Punia and Vinesh Phogat continued their impressive run this season with a title defense at the Tbilisi Grand Prix and a fourth gold medal at Medved event respectively. Bajrang beat Iran’s Peiman Bibyani 2-0 in the 65kg final of the men’s free style competition to earn his fourth gold of the season. At the Medved event, Vinesh got the better of local wrestler Yafremenka 11-0 in the 53kg semifinals to be in line for her fourth consecutive gold.  (Report)

Fortune wasn’t as kind to Sushil Kumar. Making a much-anticipated comeback after a year, his run at Medved event was ruined by World no.5 Bekzod Abdurakhmonov in the 75 kg quarterfinals in Minsk. (Report)