Indian chess players shines, Chicago wins maiden WNBA titles, and more!5 min read
Reading Time: 4 minutesAdithya G
The Big 2!
Chicago wins first WNBA title
Chicago Sky beat the Phoenix Mercury 80-74 in Game 4 to win their first-ever WNBA championship win in franchise history.
After spending 13 seasons with the Los Angeles Sparks, Candace Parker returned to her hometown and delivered on her promise. This Parker’s her second WNBA title and she had a stellar Game 4 with 16 points, 13 rebounds, five assists and four steals. Allie Quigley led the Sky with 26 points, scoring five 3-pointers. Kahleah Copper went on to be named WNBA Finals MVP.
Watch the highlights of Game 4 below:
Praggnanandhaa wins Challengers Chess Tour
R Praggnanandhaa beat American chess player Christopher Yoo 3-0 to win the $40,000 Julius Baer Challengers Chess Tour.
The Indian prodigy won with a game to spare in the best-of-four-game rapid encounters. In all, Praggnanandhaa scored a stunning 8.5 from nine games.
With this victory, Praggnanandhaa has gained the right to play in the million-dollar Meltwater Champions Tour in 2022.
Chess
15-Year-Old becomes India’s latest Grand Master
Divya Deshmukh became India’s latest Woman Grand Master (WGM) at the First Saturday Grandmaster chess tournament in Budapest, Hungary.
The 15-year-old from Maharashtra scored five points from nine rounds and came up with a rating performance of 2452 to secure her third and final WGM-norm. She also secured her second IM-norm and is now a norm away from becoming an International Master.
Football
EPL
The title race for this season is set to be a tight three-horse race as Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City claimed wins in their respective games.
The Blues secured a vital win against newly-promoted Brentford (0-1), the Reds smashed Watford (0-5) while the Citizens eased to a good home win over Burnley (2-0).
Manchester United’s unbeaten run of 29 away games came to an end at the King Power Stadium as Leicester City beat the Red Devils 4-2. Harry Kane scored his first premier league goal of the season in Tottenham’s comfortable win (2-3) win at Newcastle United.
It was a weekend of some spectacular goals. Here are the best of the lot:
Mo Salah waltzed past a few more helpless defenders and slammed home with his left foot.
Mason Greenwood’s howitzer to open the scoring at Leicester.
Ben Chilwell’s rocket in Chelsea’s win
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IinThi4xNOw
La Liga
Real Sociedad top the table after nine games with 20 points. Defending champions Atletico Madrid and La Liga giants Real Madrid occupy the subsequent spots three points behind the leaders, albeit with a game in hand. Sociedad, who have been unbeaten since the start of the season, went down to ten men in the second half but held on to secure a last gasp win against Mallorca.
Barcelona climbed to seventh place in the league table with a 3-1 win over Villareal. Jose Gaya gave the visitors a lead before Ansu Fati equalized for Barcelona in the 13th minute. Memphis Depay’s spot-kick gave the hosts the lead before a late goal from Phillipe Coutinho sealed the win for Ronald Koeman’s team.
Bundesliga
Robert Lewandowski and Serge Gnabry scored two goals apiece as Bayern Munich demolished Bayer Leverkusen 5-1 to return to the top of the Bundesliga table Borussia Dortmund climbed to the second spot after a 3-1 win over Mainz FC. Erling Haaland scored a brace while Marco Reus scored the opener in the game.
Check out the best goals of the matchday here:
Cricket
IPL
MS Dhoni’s CSK are champions again
Chennai Super Kings 192/3 (du Plessis 86, Moeen 37*, Narine 2-26)
Kolkata Knight Riders 165 for 9 (Gill 51, Iyer 50, Thakur 3-38, Hazlewood 2-29)
CSK won by 27 runs
Chennai Super Kings defeated Kolkata Knight Riders to clinch their third Indian Premier League title.
Batting first, CSK rode on a spectacular half-century from Faf du Plessis and cameos from Moeen Ali and Robin Uthappa to post a formidable total of 192 for 3. Kolkata began their chase brightly with openers Venkatesh Iyer and Shubman Gill stitching together a brisk opening partnership of 91 in 10 overs. Shardhul Thakur brought Chennai back into the game with two wickets in the 11th over. The team in yellow made their way back into the game and ensured that they kept the asking rate high. In the end, it was a fairly comfortable win for the team from Chennai.
Here is the list of the end of the season honours:
Most Valuable Player of the season – Harshal Patel
Emerging Player of the season – Ruturaj Gaikwad
Orange Cap (Most Runs) – Ruturaj Gaikwad, 635 runs.
Purple Cap (Most Wickets) – Harshal Patel, 32 wickets.
Gamechanger of the Season – Harshal Patel
Best catch of the season – Ravi Bishnoi
Fair Play award – Rajasthan Royals
Out-Actioned is a weekly sports bulletin.
Author’s note: Adithya G is a freelance writer and sports enthusiast.
