Bruised India claims a draw, an American is the new hope for German club, and more…4 min read
Reading Time: 3 minutesAdithya G
Here is a round-up of all the action from the world of sports last week.
Cricket:
Sloppy Aussies and gritty Indians settle for a draw
India managed to draw the third Test match at Sydney, with a resilient performance on Day 5, keeping the series alive into the fourth Test at Brisbane.
Trailing by 309 runs at the beginning of Day 5, the visitors lost Ajinkya Rahane early. However, Cheteshwar Pujara and Rishabh Pant added 148 runs for the fourth wicket and denied the hosts in contrasting styles for 44 overs. Pujara registered 77 runs off 205 balls while Pant slammed 97 from 118 deliveries. When Pujara and Pant fell in quick succession in the third session, India’s hopes faded again. Then, it was the duo of Hanuma Vihari and Ravichandran Ashwin who stepped up and shut shop after three hours. Vihari remained unbeaten after scoring 23 runs off 161 balls while Ashwin showed his experience with an un[beaten 39 to take India to a memorable draw.
Australian captain and wicketkeeper Tim Paine was guilty of dropping three catches on the final day as his bowlers toiled hard on a fairly docile pitch at the SCG.
The fourth and final Test of this hard-fought series will be played on January 15.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4j4dp-Pj0o{/embed]
Football:
The American Hope
Schalke 04’s teenager Matthew Hoppe became the first American to score a Bundesliga hat-trick as he starred in his team’s first win after 30 games. Hoppe, who made his Bundesliga debut in November and scored three goals in only his fifth league match. The California-born Hoppe joined Schalke in 2019 from the Barca Residency Academy in Arizona.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=477FwpUUTYU{/embed]
NBA
GSW register thrilling wins this week
On Friday, the Warriors overcame a massive second-half deficit to triumph 115-105 over the Los Angeles Clippers. Curry dropped 19 points in the third period to erase the team’s 21-point deficit. They ended up outscoring the Clippers in the fourth quarter.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHJS9fKOdVY{/embed]
A couple of days later, they beat the Raptors in a humdinger of a game. Damion Lee dropped in two free throws with 4.3 seconds remaining as
they overcame a tough Raptors’ challenge.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AaG7zJCVfRc{/embed]
Gymnastics
Oldest living Olympic champion turns 100
Agnes Keleti, a Holocaust survivor and winner of 10 Olympic medals in gymnastics celebrated her 100th birthday this week.
She was forced off her gymnastics team in 1941 because of her Jewish ancestry and went into hiding in the Hungarian countryside where she assumed a false identity and worked as a maid.
Resuming her career after the war, Keleti was set to compete at the 1948 London Olympics but a last-minute ankle injury dashed her hopes.
She finally made her Olympic debut at the 1952 Helsinki Games at the age of 31, winning a gold medal in the floor exercise as well as a silver and two bronzes.
Well, that’s all for this week, folks. Let the games continue, until next week!
Author’s Note: Adithya G is a freelance writer who is passionate about sports.
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