Here is Sportzwiki’s daily news round-up, featuring top sports news from around the world, on 31st December 2017. Here’s all the news from sporting events like cricket, football, chess and wrestling which took over the attention of all the sports enthusiasts.
Vidarbha takes command of Ranji Trophy final:
Riding on a brisk 90-run stand between wicketkeeper Akshay Wadkar and all-rounder Aditya Sarwate, Vidarbha surpassed Delhi’s first innings total in the ongoing Ranji Trophy final in Indore. At lunch on day three of the match, Vidarbha were 336 for 6, 41 runs ahead of Delhi.
Vidarbha were in a precarious position after Navdeep Saini took two wickets in quick succession, dismissing the overnight duo of Akshay Wakhare and Wasim Jaffer to reduce them to 246 for 6 before Wadkar and Sarwate steadied the ship.
Sakshi Malik books Commonwealth Games 2018 berth:
Rio Olympics bronze-medallist Sakshi Malik was named in the Indian women’s wrestling team for next year’s Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia after a selection trial held in Lucknow on Saturday.
Apart from Sakshi (62kg), other women wrestlers who booked their berths for the 2018 Commonwealth Games are Vinesh Phogat (50kg), Babita Kumari (54kg), Pooja Dhanda (57kg), Divya Karan (68 kg) and Kiran (76kg).
Viswanathan Anand clinches bronze in World Blitz Chess Championship:
A couple of days after bagging the top position in the Rapid section, Viswanathan Anand added another feather to his already illustrious cap by winning a bronze in the World Blitz Chess Championship.
Anand had a forgettable first day of the Blitz category, losing to Ian Nepomniachtchi of Russia but bounced back in style on the final day to claim bronze. The India ace began the 12th round with a victory over Etienne Bacrot of France before defeating Vladimir Fedoseev of Russia, Baadur Jobava of Georgia, Tigran Petrosian of Armenia and Vachier Lagrave.
World Classical champion Magnus Carlsen bagged the top prize by scoring 16 points out of the maximum possible 21 points while Sergey Karjakin came in second with 14.5 points.
Red hot Mohammad Salah fires Liverpool to win, Manchester United held by Southampton:
In-form Mohammad Salah took his tally of Premier League goals for the season to 17 with a double as Liverpool came from behind to beat Leicester City, who had taken the lead at Anfield after Riyad Mahrez capitalised on a mistake from Joel Matip and set up Jamie Vardy to slot past goalkeeper Loris Karius in the third minute.
Defending champions moved up to second in the table with a convincing 5-0 win over Stoke City, displacing Manchester United who were held to a 0-0 home draw by Southampton.
Goals from Antonio Rudiger, Danny Drinkwater and Pedro gave Chelsea complete control within 23 minutes at Stamford Bridge, with Willian and Davide Zappacosta adding further goals in the second half to fire the Blues to a big over the Potters.
Dheeraj Singh quits Arrows:
In a bid to pursue his foreign dream, Indian Arrows goalkeeper Dheeraj Singh has parted ways with the team after the All India Football Federation (AIFF) insisted he signs a three-year contract extension like all other players.
The highly-rated U-17 goalkeeper’s contract with the AIFF ends on December 31, 2017, and even though he was keen on extending the deal till end of season, he decided against it after being told by the board to sign a three-year contract extension.
One of India’s best performers in this year’s Fifa U-17 World Cup, Dheeraj will reportedly explore other options which includes Motherwell FC (Scottish Premiership), Charlton Athletic Club (League One in England) and Toronto FC (MLS champions). He is also in talks with English Premier League side West Ham United.