Mirabai sets world record, Steph Curry is unstoppable, and more…7 min read
Reading Time: 6 minutesAdithya G
The Top Story
Mirabai Chanu Sets Clean and Jerk World Record
Mirabai Chanu set a new World Record in the women’s 49kg Clean and Jerk with a massive 119kg lift at the Asian Weightlifting Championship in Tashkent. She recorded a new personal best of 205kg (86+119) to clinch the bronze medal.
The 26-year-old Indian got off to a shaky start as he failed her first two attempts in Snatch before lifting 86kg in her final attempt.
Mirabai, who is ranked fourth in the world, is the first Indian to set a world record in the sport of weightlifting.
The IPL Update
RCB Make It Three in a Row
Royal Challengers Bangalore had spent big bucks to get Glenn ‘Big Show’ Maxwell into their team and it has proven to be a wise move thus far. The Aussie has notched three 30+ scores including two half-centuries and has been instrumental in maintaining his team’s 100% record in the league.
AB de Villiers has been in fine form as well, providing much needed batting impetus in the middle order.
Chasing in Chennai? MI!
Chasing a total against Mumbai Indians at Chennai is proving to be an impossible mission. Twice the defending champions have managed to defend totals of 150 by strangling the opposition in the middle overs on a slow playing surface.
After Andre Russell’s terrific spell of 5 for 15, KKR were well placed at 84 for 2 chasing 152. However, wickets started to tumble and MI sealed the win by ten runs.
A couple of nights later, Sunrisers Hyderabad were 71 for 1 with skipper David Warner scoring a half-century whilst chasing a target of 151. However, the Mumbai bowlers pulled the rabbit out of the hat once again and bundled Hyderabad out for 137.
CSK & the others
Chennai Super Kings, the team with no tail, has bounced back with consecutive wins after their loss against Delhi in their first game. Their batting has been strengthened with the likes of Moeen Ali & Suresh Raina in the top order. Deepak Chahar bowled a magnificent spell in the power play in their game against Punjab Kings, finishing with figures of 4-17.
Sunrisers are yet to register a win and find themselves at the bottom of the table.
Take a look at the table below: https://twitter.com/thecriccircle/status/1384221422281584640
Cricket
Pakistan Claim T20I Honours
4th T20I
Pakistan 149/ 7 (Zaman 60, Nawaz 25*, Magala 2-33) beat South Africa 144 (van der Dussen 52, Ashraf 3-17, Ali 3-40) by three wickets
Pakistan Win Series 3-1.
Pakistan pulled off back-to-back T20I series wins over South Africa with a strong bowling performance in the final T20I of the four-match series. Chasing 145, the visitors were coasting on 92 for 1 before they lost 6 for 37 to lift the hopes of an unlikely comeback for the opposition. They needed 25 runs off the final 18 balls and six off the last over and got there with a ball to spare.
Football
The European Super League Rocks the Football World
The big six of England namely, Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester City, Chelsea and Tottenham, alongside La Liga heavyweights Real Madrid, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid and Serie A’s Inter Milan, AC Milan and Juventus announced the formation of a breakaway Super League this past week.
The founding members would share 3.5 billion euros with this proposed new tournament.
This caused a huge furore among fans, pundits UEFA and FIFA as these teams and players could no longer be allowed to participate in their local leagues or international tournaments.
As things stand, the above mentioned clubs are no longer eligible to participate in the Champions League and the Europa League.
U.S. investment bank JP Morgan is financing the new super league. The league will have 20 teams, with 15 founding members to be joined by five clubs who qualify annually based on their domestic achievements. The 15 founding members would have their participation guaranteed.
The main criticism of the ESL is that the league is set up in such a way that the founding members do not face any issues regarding qualification or relegation.
Barcelona win Copa del Rey 2021
Barcelona secured their first trophy of the 2020/21 season thanks to an emphatic 4-0 Copa del Rey final win over Athletic Bilbao. The Catalan giants scored four second half goals to seal the first piece of silverware for Ronald Koeman as La Blaugrana boss.
Antoine Griezmann, Frenkie De Jong and Lionel Messi were the scorers with the Argentine great scoring a brace. Lionel Messi has now scored nine goals in Copa del Rey 10 finals, becoming the player with the most goals in the finals of the competition’s history.
Tottenham Sacks Jose Mourinho
Manager Jose Mourinho has been sacked by Tottenham after just 17 months in charge.
The three-time Premier League winner replaced Mauricio Pochettino at Spurs in November 2019. He guided the club to sixth in the previous season of the Premier League.
They are currently seventh, having picked up two points from their past three league games, and were knocked out of the Europa League in March. Spurs face Manchester City in the Carabao Cup final on 25 April.
NBA
Aldridge retires at 35 due to irregular heartbeat
LaMarcus Aldridge retired from the NBA after saying he experienced an irregular heartbeat during his final game with Brooklyn Nets. Aldridge was diagnosed with Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome — an abnormality that can cause a rapid heartbeat — as a rookie in 2007.
“For 15 years I’ve put basketball first, and now, it is time to put my health and my family first,” Aldridge wrote on social media.
The seven-time All-Star signed with the Nets on March 28 and he had become their starting center. He missed the last two games with what the team had called a non-COVID-19 illness.
Stephen Curry, Julius Randle named NBA Players of the Week
For week 17, there was a little surprise that Golden State Warriors’ Steph Curry and New York Knicks’ Julius Randle were named players of the week for their respective conferences. Curry notched up point tallies of 53, 42, 33 and 47 in four games while Randle helped himself to 34, 32, 44 and 33 this week.
The Warriors’ star has been in terrific form as he completed his 11th straight 30-point game and fifth 40-point game since the start of April, during the win against 76ers. He is the first player in NBA history age 33 or older with 11 straight 30+ point games.
Chris Paul Surpasses Magic Johnson in NBA’s All-Time Assist List
Suns point guard Chris Paul leapfrogged Lakers legend Magic Johnson on the NBA’s all-time assists list during a game against the Milwaukee Bucks. Over 16 seasons, Paul currently has 10,145 assists, trailing only John Stockton (15,806), Jason Kidd (12,091), Steve Nash (10,335) and Mark Jackson (10,334).
