Weekly Digest (Dec 10-16): From Belgium's maiden Hockey World title to Sindhu's badminton gold

A round-up of major events in the world of sport in the week gone by.

Belgium players celebrate after clinching their maiden Hockey World Cup title.

CRICKET

Kohli’s sixth century in Australia placed him equal with Tendulkar as the only Indian batsmen to reach that tally, and gave him the honour of becoming the first Test centurion at the new Perth Stadium.

 

Chasing 323, Australia was bowled out for 291 in its second innings. India won by 31 runs and leads the four-match series 1-0. [ Report ]

Virat Kohli  became the second fastest to score 25 Test centuries with his sixth ton in Australia, behind Don Bradman and ahead of his boyhood hero  Sachin Tendulkar.[Report]

A decade on from the 'monkeygate' controversy in the 2008 Sydney Test, Andrew Symonds says Harbhajan Singh 'broke down' in apology and they called truce. Harbhajan tweets, 'when did that happen?'. [ Report ]

In a major development, former South Africa batsman and India's 2011 World Cup winning coach,  Gary Kirsten,  has applied for India's women's team head coach role. [REPORT]

Pace ace Lasith Malinga returned as the captain of Sri Lanka's ODI and T20 squads for the New Zealand tour, replacing Dinesh Chandimal. [REPORT]

Kerala  extended its formidable home record by inflicting a humiliating innings and 27 runs defeat on  Delhi  in a Group B Ranji Trophy match here on Sunday. [REPORT]

FOOTBALL

Real Madrid has come under the scanner for its poor form this season.

 

Xherdan Shaqiri  scored twice to bail out  Alisson  following a first-half howler to secure  Liverpool  a 3-1 win over bitter rival  Manchester United  at Anfield on Sunday, lifting the Reds back to the Premier League summit. [REPORT]

CSKA Moscow  completed a shock double over  Real Madrid  by winning 3-0 at the Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday, but it was not enough to earn it a place in the  Europa League.[REPORT]

Leroy Sane  bagged a brace as  Manchester City  beat  Hoffenheim  2-1 at the Etihad Stadium to ensure it made it through to the last 16 of the Champions League as Group F winner. [REPORT]

Manchester United  failed to snatch top spot in its Champions League group as it slumped to a 2-1 defeat to  Valencia  on Wednesday. [REPORT]

Eden Hazard  starred for  Chelsea  as he scored one and set up another in a hard-fought 2-1 Premier League victory over  Brighton and Hove Albion.[REPORT]

Charlie Austin  gave  Ralph Hasenhuttl  his first victory in charge of Southampton and ruined Arsenal's 22-game unbeaten run with an 85th-minute winner in a 3-2 triumph on Sunday. [REPORT]

East Bengal  banked on Laldanmawia Ralte's brace and a spectacular overhead volley from  Jobby Justin  to cruise to a 3-2 win over arch-rival  Mohun Bagan  in an absorbing  I-League  clash at the Salt Lake Stadium here on Sunday. [REPORT]

BADMINTON

P.V. Sindhu defeated Nozomi Okuhara in straight sets in the final of the BWF World Tour Finals.

 

India’s P.V. Sindhu let out tears of joy and relief when she finally laid her hands on a gold medal by claiming the World Tour Finals with a win over 2017 world champion  Nozomi Okuhara  on Sunday. [REPORT]

"It is a great feeling to end the year on a high. Winning the BWF World Tour Finals and being the first Indian to do so is a very special feeling", said a delighted P.V. Sindhu. [REPORT]

Badminton Association Of India  (BAI) announced a cash reward of Rs 10 lakh for P.V. Sindhu, who became the first Indian to win the season-ending World Tour Finals in Guangzhou, China on Sunday. [REPORT]

HOCKEY:

 

Belgium defeated Netherlands in a shootout to be crowned champion, while Australia defeated England in the third place play-off of the 2018 Hockey World Cup at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar. [REPORT]

India bowed out with a 1-2 loss to Netherlands in the quarterfinal at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar. [ Report ]

The International Hockey Federation has officially reprimanded India’s chief coach Harendra Singh for his outburst against onfield referees after the home team’s quarterfinal loss to the Netherlands at the Hockey World Cup. [ Report ]

MORE SPORTS:

Joshna Chinappa won her record 16th National squash title while Mahesh Mangaonkar pipped Vikram Malhotra in a thriller. [ Report ]

The National Anti-Doping appeals panel has set aside a disciplinary panel order which handed a four-year suspension to former Asian champion and 2014 Asian Games bronze medallist shot putter Inderjeet Singh. [ Report ]

The Wrestling Federation of India hopes Narsingh Yadav makes a personal appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, seeking a reduction of his four-year ban after testing positive ahead of the Rio Olympics. [ Report ]