Sania Mirza shines, Anthony Joshua loses and more!7 min read
Reading Time: 5 minutesAdithya G
The Big 2
Sania shines!
Sania Mirza won her first doubles title of the season. Alongside her Chinese partner Shuai Zhang, the six-time Major champion claimed the Ostrava Open.
The second-seeded duo beat the third-seeded pair of Kaitlyn Christian and Erin Routliffe 6-3 6-2 in the final. This Mirza’s 43rd career doubles title win
and her first WTA 500 title after becoming a mother.
Oleksandr Usyk Crowned Heavyweight Champion
Oleksandr Usyk became the new unified heavyweight world champion by beating Anthony Joshua in London.
Photo: Justin Setterfield/Getty Images
The Ukrainian put on a masterclass in front of 65,000 fans inside Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, outclassing Joshua over 12 rounds, and hurting the defending champion on numerous occasions.
The scorecards – 117-112, 116-112, 115-113 – were all in favour of Usyk. This was only Anthony Joshua’s second defeat in his professional career.
Cricket
Chennai on top in IPL
Chennai Super Kings occupy the top spot, courtesy of three consecutive wins after the restart. The men in yellow beat Mumbai Indians, Kolkata Knight Riders and Royal Challengers Bangalore. They have 16 points with four games left to play in the group stages.
Delhi Capitals and Royal Challengers occupy second and third spots in the table 16 and 12 points respectively.
The fight for the final playoff spot will be a tight one as three of the four teams in contention are tied at eight points.
The highlight of the past week’s action was a hattrick by RCB pacer and leading wicket-taker in this edition of the IPL, Harshal Patel. Against the defending champions MI, Patel’s picked up consecutive wickets with three well-directed slower deliveries. He had Hardik Pandya caught at cover, castled Keiron Pollard and trapped Rahul Chahar LBW to help his team to a handsome 54-run victory.
Australia Women win ODI series against India Women
Australia claimed a 2-1 ODI series win over India in a closely contested tournament. Australia took a 2-0 lead before India got a consolation win and ended Australia’s 26-game winning streak in the format.
India had to produce their greatest ever run chase in the history of women’s ODI cricket and also achieved the second-highest run chase by any team against Australia in the final match.
India Women will play their first-ever day-night Test against Australia this week. This will also be only the second Test in women’s cricket to be played under lights. The tour will conclude with three T20Is at North Sydney Oval after the Test match.
Football
EPL
Goals from Emile Smith Rowe, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Bukayo Saka helped Arsenal cruise to a 3-1 win over Tottenham Hotspur in the London derby.
After three consecutive losses to start the season, Arsenal have finally found some momentum with three wins in a row.
Manchester City secured a crucial 0-1 win over title rivals, Chelsea, at Stamford Bridge. Gabriel Jesus scored the winner. Ole Gunnar Solksjaer’s Manchester
United suffered a home defeat at the hands of Aston Villa. The visitors took the lead through a superb header from Kortney Hause. The Red Devils had an opportunity late in the game
to salvage a point when they were awarded a penalty. However, Bruno Fernandes missed his spot-kick and Villa held on for the win.
Liverpool were held to a 3-3 draw away at Brentford. Mohammad Salah scored his 100th league goal for the club in the game. The Reds climbed to the top of the table with a lead of a solitary point over Manchester City.
Serie A
Lazio defeated Roma 3-2 in an entertaining Derby Della Capitale. Sergej Milinkovic-Savic and Pedro Rodriguez scored after just 19 minutes to give the Biancocelesti a 2-0 lead.
Roger Ibanez was able to pull one back for the Giallorossi just before halftime.
Felipe Anderson re-established Lazio’s two-goal lead in the 63rd minute before Jordan Veretout converted a penalty.
Daniel Maldini became the third generation of his family to score for AC Milan as Stefano Pioli’s side beat Spezia in Serie A.
The 19-year-old, son of Paolo Maldini and grandson of Cesare Maldini, headed the visitors in front three minutes into the second half.
Daniele Verde drew the hosts level with ten minutes remaining. However, Brahim Diaz clinched the win for Milan six minutes later with a close-range finish.
Napoli maintained their flawless start to the season with their sixth win in a row. They beat Cagliari 2-0.
F1
Lewis Hamilton won his 100th Formula 1 race in the Russian Grand Prix. A heavy downpour dashed Lando Norris’ hopes of a maiden victory from pole position, but
helped Max Verstappen move ahead from seventh to second in his Red Bull after timing his change to wet tyres perfectly.
Hamilton’s win puts him two points ahead of Verstappen. Hamilton already held the record for most F1 wins with Michael Schumacher next in the all-time list with 91 victories.
Fastest man on hands
A 23-year-old differently-abled American athlete named Zion Clark set a unique world record by walking the fastest 20 metres using his hands alone.
Born with no legs, Clark set a new Guinness World Record by finishing it in just 4.78 seconds.
Watch his feat here:
Out-Actioned is a weekly sports bulletin.
Author’s note: Adithya G is a freelance writer and sports enthusiast.
