Weekly digest (Jan 20-27): Farewell Kobe, 40 years of Sportstar and Padma Awards

A round-up of all that happened in the world of sport during the last week.

Rest in peace, Kobe Bryant.

KOBE BRYANT DEAD

NBA legend Kobe Bryant died on Sunday in a helicopter crash in suburban Los Angeles, celebrity website TMZ reported, saying five people are confirmed dead in the incident. A helicopter crash in the hills near Calabasas was also confirmed by the Los Angeles Times .

Here's what we know #KobeBryant's passing

Details https://t.co/Zxnk5aFgcX#RIPKobepic.twitter.com/cQSP2DyLOE

— Sportstar (@sportstarweb) January 26, 2020

40 YEARS OF SPORTSTAR, 40

Badminton world champion P.V. Sindhu launched Sportstar's special book - 40 Years of Sportstar, 40 Superstars on Tuesday. 

Featuring essays by Vijay Amritraj, Shashi Tharoor, Michael Holding, Brian Glanville, and Rajdeep Sardesai among others, the book was commissioned to commemorate  Sportstar  completing 40 years and features a champion for each year  - from Bjorn Borg, Kapil Dev, Mike Tyson and Imran Khan to Rahul Dravid, Michael Schumacher, M.S.Dhoni, Mary Kom, and more. Each piece seeks to reflect on the importance of the year on the career of the chosen sportsperson and how it has revolutionised the history of the sport in question.

The book is priced at Rs.999. You can pre-book your copy online by visiting THE HINDU Group Publications website   https://publications.thehindugroup.com/bookstore/  and avail a special 20 per cent discount.

P.V.Sindhu launched Sportstar's special book, 40 Years of Sportstar, 40 Superstars.

PADMA AWARDS

Padma Vibhushan done, Mary Kom now harbours ambitions to win the Bharat Ratna ( READ )

Former India pacer Zaheer Khan is set to be conferred with the Padma Shri honour by the Indian Government ( READ )

Indian women’s hockey captain Rani Rampal said she was humbled and honoured to be named for the prestigious Padma Shri, the country’s fourth highest civilian award, by the government ( READ )

Sindhu, our Sportstar of the Year, said her Padma Bhushan honour shows the importance and the recognition given to sports by the Government of India ( READ )

Vinesh Phogat raised questions about the manner in which Padma awards are given to sportspersons, terming the process as an “unfair one” ( READ )


CRICKET

Four days after series decider against Australia in India, Virat Kohli’s men flew to the other corner of the earth to kick-start a T20 series against New Zealand four days later. No jetlag in this Indian team as it beat the host twice to take a 2-0 lead in the 5-match series. Kohli wasn’t too pleased with the scheduling though ( READ )
 

Ajit Agarkar, Venkatesh Prasad, Chetan Sharma and Abey Kuruvilla have applied for the two vacant slots in the senior national selection committee  ( READ )

India all-rounder Hardik Pandya, who had recently failed a fitness test, has not been considered for India’s tour of New Zealand ( READ )

Sarfaraz Khan’s unbeaten 301 helped Mumbai go past Uttar Pradesh's first-innings total of 625 for eight declared and secure three points from the drawn match. ( READ ) what he had to say after the knock.

Ishant Sharma looks doubtful for India’s Test series against New Zealand - which begins next month - after the pace ace sustained an ankle tear during Delhi’s Ranji Trophy fixture  ( READ )

FOOTBALL

Premier League

Arsenal twice came from behind to draw with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge with strikes from Gabriel Martinelli and Hector Bellerin canceling out Jorginho’s penalty and Cesar Azpilicueta’s goal late in the second half ( REPORT )

Manchester United suffered a 2-0 home loss to Burnley with goals from Chris Wood and Jay Rodriguez, with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side remaining fifth on the table ( REPORT )

A late Sergio Aguero strike helped Manchester City secure a 1-0 win over Sheffield United at Bramall Lane on Tuesday. Gabriel Jesus’ missed penalty in the first half had threatened to deny Pep Guardiola’s men three points but Aguero secured the three points as a second-half substitute ( REPORT )

Tottenham Hotspur registered its first Premier League since Boxing Day as it secured a 2-1 home win over Norwich City with goals from Dele Alli and Son Heung-Min  ( REPORT )

FA Cup

Chelsea secured its place in the fifth round of the FA Cup with a 2-1 win over Hull City with Michy Batshuayi and Fikayo Tomori scoring for the west London club ( REPORT )

Tottenham Hotspur conceded a late equaliser against Southampton in its FA Cup fourth-round match and will now play a replay to secure its place in the fifth round. Son Heung-Min had put Spurs ahead in the 58th minute but Sofiane Boufal equalised for the Saints in the 87th minute to force a replay  ( REPORT )

Manchester City beat Fulham 4-0 at home to secure its place in the fifth round. Ilkay Gundogan’s eighth-minute penalty gave the FA Cup holder the lead before Bernardo Silva doubled the lead in the first half. Gabriel Jesus made it a more emphatic win with a late brace  ( REPORT )

A full-strength Manchester United beat Tranmere Rovers 6-0 to progress to the fifth round of the FA Cup. Harry Maguire, Diogo Dalot, Jesse Lingard, Phil Jones, Anthony Martial and Mason Greenwood got on the scoresheet for the visitor  ( REPORT )

LaLiga

Maxi Gomez scored one and assisted another as Valencia secured a 2-0 home win against Barcelona on Saturday. The result left the defending LaLiga champion vulnerable to Real Madrid replacing it at the summit when it plays Valladolid late on Sunday ( REPORT )

Bundesliga

Bayern Munich thumped Schalke 5-0 with goals from Robert Lewandowski, Thomas Muller, Leon Goretzka, Thiago Alcantara and Serge Gnabry ( REPORT )

Borussia Dortmund completed a 5-1 rout of Cologne with new signing Erling Haaland scoring a brace coming off the bench. Raphael Guerreiro, Marco Reus and Jadon Sancho also got on the scoresheet ( REPORT )

Indian football

Hugo Boumous scored a late winner for FC Goa against Kerala Blasters, helping it move back to the summit of the ISL table after 14 matches. Kerala Blasters had fought back to take parity from two goals down, but Boumous’s 83rd-minute goal secured the three points for Sergio Lobera’s side  ( REPORT )

Two-time ISL champion Chennaiyin FC secured a thumping win over Jamshedpur FC with Nerijus Valskis scoring a brace either side of an Andre Schembri strike. Lallianzuala Chhangte added a fourth late in the second half, in which Sergio Castel scored the consolation ( REPORT )

Hyderabad FC’s Adil Khan signed a three-year contract extension, keeping him at the club until 2023. Speaking afterwards, Adil said: “I’m happy to make Hyderabad my home for the next 3 years. I have faith in this club and its management and believe we will have better luck and achieve greater success in the next few seasons.” ( REPORT )

TENNIS

Rafael Nadal and Nick Kyrgios will go head-to-head in the Australian Open fourth round in Melbourne on Monday. Here's a timeline of their fierce and very public rivalry.

Unseeded 15-year-old Coco Gauff beat reigning champion Naomi Osaka in straight sets in a major upset at the Australian Open but she fell to fellow American Sofia Kenin. The soon-to-be 16-year-old now has her sights set on Tokyo.

Roger Federer is through to this 15th Australian Open quarterfinal, defeating Marton Fucsovics 4-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-2.  Federer also notched up 100 wins in the Australian Open this week, beating John Millman. Here's a look of some of the best of those 100.

Meet Ons Jabeur - the first Arab woman to reach a Grand Slam quarterfinal

 

Roger Federer in action against Marton Fucsovics in the fourth round match of the Australian Open on January 26.

BADMINTON

Battling injury and poor form, Srikanth has slipped to 26th in the BWF Race to Tokyo rankings, with B. Sai Praneeth (11), Sourabh Verma (21) and P. Kashyap (22) ahead of him ( READ )

Hong Kong shuttler Ng Ka-long snatched the men’s Thailand Masters title Sunday after a shaky start against Japan’s Kenta Nishimoto. World number nine Ng clinched victory after Nishimoto took the first game in a 16-21, 21-13, 21-12 duel ( READ )

Chennai Superstarz ended its home leg unbeaten as it edged past Bengaluru Raptors 4-3 in a Premier Badminton League (PBL) season five contest in Chennai ( READ )

TABLE TENNIS

India’s dream of qualifying for the men’s team event in Tokyo Olympics ended when Czech Republic inflicted a 3-1 defeat in the first playoff match of the World Team Qualification Tournament ( READ )

SHOOTING

It was another golden performance by  Apurvi Chandela  as she beat Xu Hong of China by 1.8 point in the women’s air rifle final of the H&N Cup in Munich, Germany ( READ )

SKIING

In a first for Indian sports, Indian ice skater Vishwaraj Jadeja won four medals at the Winter World Masters Games in Innsbruck, Austria. His tally included three silver and one bronze ( READ )

BOXING

The Boxing Task Force (BTF) and the Chinese Olympic Committee (COC) jointly decided to cancel the Asia/Oceania Olympic boxing qualifying event, which was scheduled to be held in Wuhan from February 3 to 14, due to coronavirus outbreak ( READ )