Weekly Digest (Mar 9-15): ATK wins third ISL title; Coronavirus brings world of sport to screeching halt

Sport across the world has been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic as tournaments such as the Premier League and IPL were suspended inadvertently.

ATK players celebrate winning their third Indian Super League (ISL) title after beating Chennaiyin FC in the final on Saturday.

CRICKET

BCCI President Sourav Ganguly refused to set a deadline for the restart of IPL 2020.

 

BCCI president Sourav Ganguly admitted that the IPL 2020 could be a truncated affair after the tournament was suspended for two weeks due to the fears of the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. ( REPORT )

Saurashtra clinched its maiden Ranji Trophy title by registering a first-innings lead in a drawn final against Bengal at the SCA stadium in Rajkot. ( REPORT )

The two remaining games of the Chappell-Hadlee ODI series between Australia and New Zealand were on Saturday cancelled as the visiting team will have to hurry back home to avoid a new set of travel restrictions owing to the novel coronavirus pandemic. ( REPORT )

List of all cricket events affected by coronavirus. ( REPORT )

A spectator who attended the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup final between India and Australia on March 8 has tested positive for novel coronavirus, the Melbourne Cricket Ground said, but insisted that the risk of him infecting others was low. ( REPORT )

FOOTBALL

Indian football

To tackle the coronavirus pandemic, the AIFF announced that all footballing activities under the ages of the All India Football Federation stay suspended till March 31, 2020. ( REPORT )
 

ISL

ATK players, flanked by coach Antonio Habas (in white) and owner Sanjiv Goenka (R), celebrate their ISL title win in Kolkata on Sunday.

 

Javier Hernandez scored a brace to seal a record third title for ATK as it beat Chennaiyin FC 3-1 in Indian Super League 2019-20 final played behind closed doors in Goa. ( REPORT )

Chennaiyin FC striker Nerijus Valskis bagged the Golden Boot award for the Indian Super League 2019-20 season while Bengaluru FC’s custodian Gurpreet Singh Sandhu won the Golden Glove. ( REPORT )

 

I-League

The AIFF announced this week the I-League matches will be played behind closed doors keeping with the government directives to tackle the coronavirus pandemic. ( REPORT )
 

Premier League

Arsenal head coach Mikel Arteta was quarantined after he was tested positive for coronavirus.

 

Professional football in England has been suspended until April 3 amid the threat of coronavirus pandemic. ( REPORT )

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta tested positive for coronavirus on Thursday, leading to the entire playing squad going into self-isolation. ( REPORT )

LaLiga

LaLiga matches were this week suspended until after the scheduled international break after a member of the Real Madrid basketball team tested positive for covid-19. ( REPORT )

Bundesliga

The German Bundesliga was suspended this week until April 2 due to the threat of coronavirus pandemic. ( REPORT )

SHOOTING

The International Shooting Sport Federation has assured all member associations that it would try to ensure the conduct of all competitions scheduled to be held before the Olympics in Tokyo, to maintain “fairness of opportunities to all athletes to win quota places’’, according to the established regulations. ( REPORT )

TENNIS

The Indian Wells is one among the biggest events to be cancelled due to coronavirus outbreak.

 

The ATP has announced a six-week suspension of the men’s professional tennis tour due to escalating health and safety issues arising from the coronavirus pandemic. ( REPORT )

Rohan Bopanna has been appointed the vice-president of the Karnataka State Lawn Tennis Association. ( REPORT ) 

India has been pitted against Finland for its Davis Cup World Group I tie in September. ( REPORT )
 

TABLE TENNIS

The Indian doubles pair of Achanta Sharath Kamal and Gnanasekaran Sathiyan entered top-20 in the latest ITTF men’s doubles world ranking. ( REPORT )

MOTORSPORT

File Photo: The Albert Park Circuit in Melbourne, the venue of the Australian Grand Prix.

 

Australian GP, Formula One’s opening race of the season, was cancelled in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak. ( REPORT )

Before the cancellation of Australian GP was announced, McLaren pulled out of the race after a member of its team staff tested positive for COVID-19. ( REPORT )

Two more races -- Vietnam GP and Bahrain GP -- were postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

( REPORT )

MotoGP, too, was hit by the virus, as the season’s commencement was pushed to May. The first race of the campaign is now scheduled for May 3 after the Argentinian GP was rescheduled for November. ( REPORT )

OLYMPICS

The IOC “will take stock of the actions taken” to respond to the coronavirus crisis.

 

The International Olympic Committee will follow the WHO recommendation on whether to cancel or postpone this year’s Tokyo Olympics over the coronavirus pandemic, IOC chief Thomas Bach said. ( REPORT )

World Athletics fined Russia's track and field federation $10 million for breaching anti-doping rules and capped at 10 the number of Russians allowed to compete as neutrals at the Tokyo Olympics. ( REPORT )

Postponing or cancelling the Tokyo Olympics is “inconceivable”, Japan’s Olympic minister said, as the coronavirus outbreak raised fears the event could be scrapped.  ( REPORT )

HOCKEY

The International Hockey Federation on Saturday suspended the ongoing FIH Pro League, which also involves India, till April 15 citing the dreaded COVID-19 pandemic. ( REPORT )
 

BADMINTON

 

The Badminton World Federation on Friday suspended events until March 16 due to the coronavirus pandemic. ( REPORT )

P.V. Sindhu lost 21-12, 15-21, 13-21 to Nozomi Okuhara in the quarterfinals of the 2020 All England Badminton Championships. ( REPORT )

Indian women’s doubles pair of Ashwini Ponnappa and N Sikki Reddy bowed out of the All England Championship after suffering a straight-game loss in the second round of the competition. ( REPORT )

Saina Nehwal’s chances of qualifying for the Olympics took a hit after she made a first-round exit from the All England Championships, following a loss to Japanese nemesis Akane Yamaguchi. ( REPORT )

Kidambi Srikanth bowed out with a first round defeat to reigning Olympic champion Chen Long at the 2020 All England Championships in Birmingham on Wednesday. ( REPORT )
 

BOXING

Mary Kom has qualified for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

 

Tyson Fury’s reign as world heavyweight champion will not be ended by new claims over an alleged drug-testing scam, according to WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman. ( REPORT )

Indian boxers M.C. Mary Kom (51kg), Lovlina Borgohain (69kg), Pooja Rani (75kg), Amit Panghal (52kg), Ashish Kumar (75kg), Manish Kaushik (63kg)  and Satish Kumar (+91kg) qualified for Tokyo 2020 Olympics. ( REPORT )

ATHLETICS

Two-time 800m Olympic champion Caster Semenya is aiming to run in the 200m at Toky, competing over a distance that would allow her to avoid World Athletics regulations limiting her testosterone levels. ( REPORT )