Weekly Digest (February 7-13): From the mega IPL auction to Senegal's AFCON triumph

From the Indian Premier League auctions to Senegal's African Cup of Nations triumph, here are the top sporting headlines from the week gone by.

Ishan Kishan became the most expensive signing of IPL 2022 auction after Mumbai Indians bought him for INR 15.25 crore, while Sadio Mane led Senegal to the AFCON title.

CRICKET

India wicketkeeper-batter Ishan Kishan became the most expensive signing of IPL 2022 auction after Mumbai Indians bought him for INR 15.25 crore in its first acquisition on Saturday. ( REPORT )

Ishan Kishan became Rohit Sharma-led Mumbai Indians' most expensive signing at the IPL 2022 Auction.

 

India fast bowler Deepak Chahar has been signed by Chennai Super Kings for INR 14 crore at the IPL 2022 auction in Bengaluru on Saturday. ( REPORT )

Mithali Raj's well-crafted half-century went in vain as India's batting flopped once again. The visiting team lost the first ODI against New Zealand by 62 runs in Queenstown on Saturday. ( REPORT )

Sri Lanka opener Pathum Nissanka's brilliant 73 from 53 balls went in vain as Australia won the second T20 International in a Super Over. ( REPORT )

Vice-captain K.L. Rahul and all-rounder Axar Patel have been ruled out of the upcoming three-match T20I series against the West Indies in Kolkata starting February 16. ( REPORT )

New Zealand defeated India by 18 runs in the one-off T20 International in Queenstown, New Zealand, on Wednesday. ( REPORT )

New Zealand’s Lea Tahuhu with the player of the match award.

 

New Zealand’s three-match Twenty20 international cricket series next month against world champion Australia has been cancelled because of COVID-19 border regulations. ( REPORT )

Senior wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha has opted out of Bengal's Ranji Trophy campaign after being categorically told that he will not be picked for India's two-match Test series against Sri Lanka, starting in Mohali on March 4. ( REPORT )

FOOTBALL

Sadio Mane scored the winning spot-kick as Senegal claimed a first ever Africa Cup of Nations title with a 4-2 penalty shootout victory over seven-times winner Egypt following a 0-0 draw in the decider in Yaounde on February 6. ( REPORT )

Sadio Mane won the Africa Cup of Nations with Senegal last week.

 

Chelsea was crowned as the FIFA Club World Cup champion for the first time as Kai Havertz struck home a penalty deep into extra time to break the hearts of Brazilian club Palmeiras. ( REPORT )

Chelsea's Cesar Azpilicueta lifts the trophy as the team celebrates winning the Club World Cup at the Mohammed Bin Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi.

 

West Ham United fined defender Kurt Zouma two weeks' wages and the player relinquished custody of his two cats as part of an animal-abuse investigation. ( REPORT )

Bundesliga leader Bayern Munich slipped to a shock 4-2 defeat at VfL Bochum on Saturday, conceding all four goals in the first half. ( REPORT )

Manchester United's frustrating season continued when it was held to a disappointing 1-1 draw at home to Southampton in the Premier League on Saturday. ( REPORT )

La Liga table-topper Real Madrid was held by Villarreal to 0-0 on Saturday in a match that featured Gareth Bale playing his first minutes in more than five months. ( REPORT )

AC Milan climbed to the top of the Serie A table with a 1-0 win over Sampdoria on Sunday, as an early strike from in-form winger Rafael Leao proved decisive at San Siro. ( REPORT )

AC Milan's Rafael Leao celebrates scoring the winner against Sampdoria on Sunday.

 

A study published by Switzerland-based independent research group CIES Football Observatory revealed that Manchester United had topped the list for clubs with highest transfer losses, with United’s net spend at 1.075 billion euros since 2012. ( REPORT )

Britain and Ireland dropped plans on Monday for a joint bid to host the 2030 World Cup, opting instead to try to stage the 2028 European Championship. ( REPORT )

Ajax director of football affairs Marc Overmars has left his role with immediate effect over a series of inappropriate messages sent to several female colleagues. ( REPORT )

Chelsea forward Hakim Ziyech said that he had no plans to return to the Morocco national team even if it qualified for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, suggesting he had quit international football for good after a fallout with coach Vahid Halilhodzic. ( REPORT )

Barcelona CEO Ferran Reverter has informed president Joan Laporta of his intention to resign for personal reasons, the LaLiga club said on Tuesday. ( REPORT )

Chennaiyin FC has parted ways with Bozidar Bandovic after the club's 5-0 defeat to FC Goa on February 9, in the Indian Super League. ( REPORT ) ( READ ISL NEWS )

TENNIS

Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai has denied she ever accused anyone of sexual assault, adding that she herself had deleted her social media post in November that had appeared to make such a claim. In an interview with French newspaper L'Equipe at a hotel in Beijing, Peng said: "I never said anyone had sexually assaulted me in any way." ( REPORT )

Novak Djokovic, who was deported from Australia over his COVID-19 vaccination status ahead of the Australian Open, is on the entry list for next month’s Indian Wells ATP event in California, tournament organisers said on Wednesday. ( REPORT )

Andy Murray marked his return to the top 100 for the first time since 2018 with a 7-6 (8/6), 6-4 win over Kazakhstan's Alexander Bublik at the Rotterdam tournament on Wednesday. ( REPORT )

Former U.S. Open champion Juan Martin del Potro has withdrawn from next week's Rio Open, tournament organisers said on Friday, likely bringing down the curtain on a once-promising career that has been blighted by a number of serious injuries. ( REPORT )

Ramkumar Ramanathan continued his dream run in doubles, winning his third title of the year, as he and Saketh Myneni beat the French pair of Hugo Grenier and Alexandre Muller 6-3, 6-2 to clinch the Bengaluru Open ATP Challenger. ( REPORT )

The Bengaluru Open ATP Challenger title was Ramkumar Ramanathan's seventh in doubles on the Challenger Tour – second in Bengaluru – and Saketh Myneni's ninth.

 

HOCKEY

Olympic bronze medallist India dished out a shoddy performance to lose 2-5 against lower-ranked France in the third match of the FIH Hockey Pro League two-leg tie after intial wins over South Africa and France in the tournament. ( REPORT )

The Dutch women's hockey team has pulled out of its back-to-back FIH Pro League matches against India to be played in Bhubaneswar on February 19 and 20 due to the rise in COVID-19 cases in the Netherlands. ( REPORT )

Hockey India on Saturday named 65 players for the upcoming junior men’s national camp to be held from February 14 to 25 at the Sports Authority of India (SAI) centre in Bengaluru. ( REPORT )

BADMINTON

India received decent draws at the Badminton Asia Team Championships with the men's and women's teams clubbed with defending champion Indonesia and Japan, respectively, at the continental event scheduled in Shah Alam, Malaysia from February 15 to 20. ( REPORT )

Junior World No 1 Indian shuttler Tasnim Mir on Friday notched a three-game win over Yulia Yosephine Susanto of Indonesia in the final to claim the women's singles title at the Iran Fajr International Challenge. ( REPORT )

Tasnim Mir won the women's singles title at the Iran Fajr International Challenge. PHOTO: Sudharkara Jain

 

SHOOTING

The National Rife Association of India (NRAI) will conduct competitions at every level for shooters with hearing impairment as part of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between NRAI and the All India Sports Council of the Deaf. ( REPORT )

TABLE TENNIS

The Delhi High Court has suspended the Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI). The order by Justice Rekha Palli came after a three-member enquiry committee submitted its report. ( REPORT )

India’s G. Sathiyan has signed up to play for top tier French Pro A league club, Jura Morez Tennis de Table, for the 2022-23 season. ( REPORT )

The Table Tennis Senior Nationals will be held from March 20 to 27 in Shillong while the Junior and Youth Nationals will be held in Alappuzha from March 28 to April 3. ( REPORT )

ATHLETICS

Sweden’s Armand Duplantis dominated an indoor pole-vault competition on Wednesday, winning with an effort of 6.04m but failed to improve on his own world record of 6.18m. ( REPORT )

As well as trying to beat the world record, Armand Duplantis is targeting the world title in Eugene in the United States later this year.

 

CHESS

Indian chess ace Dronavalli Harika was among the several players who were allegedly sent sexually abusive mail during an event in Latvia in November last year. ( REPORT )

MOTORSPORTS

Formula One will no longer set time aside for drivers to take the knee ahead of races as it looks to introduce more concrete actions to combat racism. ( REPORT )

Formula One team McLaren signed rising star Lando Norris to a four-year contract extension that locks the young British driver in through the 2025 season. ( REPORT )

McLaren on Friday took the wraps off its MCL36 Formula One challenger that will be raced by Briton Lando Norris and Australian Daniel Ricciardo in 2022. ( REPORT )

BOXING

Pooja Rani is all set for her first competitive outing of the season - the prestigious Strandja Memorial Tournament in Sofia, Bulgaria. ( REPORT )

VOLLEYBALL

Kerala defeated Railways 25-21, 17-25, 25-21, 25-17 in the women's final to win its fourth successive National senior volleyball championship on Sunday. ( REPORT )

Kerala's players mainly came from the KSEB and Kerala Police and had K.P. Anusree as the captain and K.S. Jini as the setter.

 

Captain Ashwal Rai led from the front to fashion Kolkata Thunderbolts’ third win 15-13, 15-8, 9-15, 15-12, 15-10 over Bengaluru Torpedoes in the Rupay Prime Volleyball League at GMC Balayogi Stadium on Saturday. (REPORT )