Month: December 2023

IMAGE: Back on court following a long injury lay-off, Rafael Nadal fell to a loss in his doubles encounter in Brisbane. Photograph: Hannah Mckay/Reuters
Rafa Nadal returned to action for the first time since January at the Brisbane International on Sunday, losing his doubles match but overall showing no obvious after-effects of the hip injury that ruined his year.
The 22-time Grand Slam champion, who is gearing up for the Jan. 14-28 Australian Open, sustained the hip problem in his second round loss at Melbourne Park at the start of 2023 and ended his season early after having surgery in June.
Nadal rekindled his partnership with retired veteran Marc Lopez, with whom he won an Olympic gold medal in 2016, for his comeback but the duo lost 6-4 6-4 to Australians Max Purcell and Jordan Thompson at a packed Pat Rafter Arena.
The 37-year-old was warmly welcomed by fans who held up Spanish flags and supportive messages while the loudest cheers were reserved for his trademark whipped shots and a powerful crosscourt backhand winner in the opening set.
Nadal is likely to get a similar reception in his singles opener on Tuesday against qualifier Dominic Thiem, whom he defeated in the 2018 and 2019 French Open finals and holds a 9-6 win-loss record against.

Barcelona have confirmed that Marcos Alonso is set to undergo surgery on a back injury that has kept him out of action.
Alonso will go under the knife next week and Barcelona will then offer an update on his condition.
Heres the clubs statement:
Next week, Marcos Alonso is to undergo surgery on the problems in the lumbar region of his back that have kept him sidelined in recent weeks. The club will be making an announcement immediately after to report on how the operation has gone.
Alonso is the second Barca player to undergo back surgery this season. Goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen has also had an operation on his back and is not expected to return until February.
It remains to be seen how much time Alonso will miss. The versatile veteran has only made seven appearances this season in what could be his last campaign with the club.
Alonsos current contract expires at the end of the season and theres already been speculation the club are willing to let him leave in the summer.

IMAGE: The former England skipper said the former Indian skipper is in a good mental space and will enjoy a strong run in 2024. Photograph: Esa Alexander/Reuters
Former England captain Nasser Hussain picked an Indian superstar and former Pakistan skipper as the ones who will have a great 2024.
In a video posted by the International Cricket Council (ICC), Nasser revealed his picks to be Virat Kohli and Babar Azam.
“My first one is a megastar and there is no doubt about it. Virat Kohli. Obviously, he had a fantastic 2023 and World Cup. Amid all the records he broke and the attention, we did not focus on how well he was batting.
“Technically, I have never seen Virat bat as well like that. The sound of the bat, that innings against Sri Lanka in Mumbai, I can name about five innings where he was getting in a good position. That is a good sign for Virat, India and Virat fans. It means that he is in a good mental space and his game is in good order,” said Hussain in the video.
Overall in eight Tests this year, Virat scored 671 runs at an average of 55.61, with two centuries and two fifties in 12 innings. His best score was 186.
In 27 ODIs this year, Virat scored 1,377 runs at an average of 72.47 and a strike rate of 99.13, with six centuries and eight fifties in just 24 innings. His best score was 166.
Finally, in all 35 international matches and 36 innings this year, Virat scored 2,048 runs at an average of 66.06, with eight centuries and 10 fifties in 36 innings.
IMAGE: Nasser Hussain believes that Babar Azam will perform better having shed the load of captaincy. Photograph: Samuel Rajkumar/Reuters
Talking about Babar, Nasser said that the Pakistan side needs their former skipper to score big in the year which will also see the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 being held in the West Indies and the USA in June.
Pakistan reached the finals last time in 2022 but lost to England.
“Another one, they are often compared. Babar Azam. I think it is a massive year for him and Pakistan. He has given up captaincy, that may be the weight off his shoulders. The biggest thing he can do for Pakistan cricket is get load of runs. They need him to get runs. There will be a T20 World Cup in the Caribbean.
“They got to the finals last time. They will need their ex-skipper to put in a real performance,” said Nasser.
In five Tests this year, Babar scored 204 runs at an average of 22.66, with no fifties to his name. His best score was 41.
In 25 ODIs this year, Babar scored 1,065 runs at an average of 46.30, with two centuries and 10 fifties to his name. His best score was 151.
In five T20Is this year, Babar scored 130 runs in four innings at an average of 43.33, with the best score of 101n.o.
In 35 matches this year, Babar scored 1,399 runs at an average of 39.97, with three centuries and 10 fifties. His best score is 151.

IMAGE: Cristiano Ronaldo ended the year as the top goal scorer in the world. Photograph: Ahmed Yosri/Reuters
Legendary footballer Cristiano Ronaldo had a stupendous 2023 as he ended the year as the world’s top goal-scorer.
Following the landmark, the Portuguese superstar said that he will try to achieve it again next year.
In 2023, the five-time Ballon d’Or winner scored 54 goals for his country and his current club, Al Nassr. English striker Harry Kane stood in second place with 52 for his country and newly joined club Bayern Munich. PSG and French attacker Kylian Mbappe scored 52 goals. Meanwhile, City and Norwegian striker Erling Halaand scored 50 goals.
While speaking to the Saudi media outlet SSC Sports, Ronaldo said that he was very happy to achieve the milestone and help his club and country.
“I’m very happy, it was a good year for me as an individual and as a collective. I scored so many goals, I helped the team a lot at Al-Nassr and for the national team. I feel good, I feel happy and next year I will try to do it again,” Ronaldo was quoted by Goal.com as saying.
Ronaldo is considered one of the best footballers in the world, and he has set a few records which are hard to be broken.
The five-time Ballon d’Or winner Ronaldo recently joined the Saudi club Al Nassr in January 2023, and he has played 50 matches for his new team and scored 44 goals.
In the ongoing season of the Saudi Pro League, the Portuguese has appeared in 18 matches for the Riyadh-based club and scored 20 goals. Ronaldo also made nine assists in the 2023-24 season for Al Nassr.

Srinagar Dec 3: Real Kashmir Football Club, (RKFC) owner Sandeep Chatoo died on Sunday due to a cardiac arrest in New Delhi.
Sandeep, a Kashmiri Pandit, was in New Delhi for work when he suffered a massive heart attack. He was promptly rushed to the hospital but, unfortunately, could not survive.
Manager of RKFC Senior team, Umer while confirming the death told the news agencyKashmir News Observer (KNO), his body will be brought to Jammu for the final rites.
Sandeep, survived by his wife, son, and daughter, also owned CH2 Hotel, located in India Nagar.
Formed in 2016 by Sandeep, RKFC has transcended its role as just a football club, becoming a significant platform for valley youth.
It is worth mentioning that RKFC is the only club from J&K participating in the I League.

The year 2023 is coming to a close and everyone is reflecting on the last 12 months of their lives. In the cricketing fraternity, several players also looked back at 2023 and shared their thoughts about it with their fans. One such cricketer who had a phenomenal year was star India batter Shubman Gill who scored hundreds across all three formats in 2023.
Reflecting on a brilliant year with the bat, Gill shared a list of goals he had prepared ahead of the year with his fans. The list contains plans such as scoring the most hundreds for India and winning the Orange Cap among others. Notably, the star batter managed to achieve most of the goals apart from winning the World Cup.
Sharing the goals with his fans, he wrote that the end of the year may not have gone as per the plan however he wished to get even closer to achieving all his goals in 2024.
Gill shared the list of his wishes in 2023 with his fans and captioned the post Exactly a year ago, I put it out into the universe. With 2023 coming to an end, the year has been full of experiences, some great fun and other great learnings. The end of the year didnt go as planned, but I can proudly say we came ever so close to our goals, giving everything we had. The coming year brings its own challenges and opportunities. Hopefully, well get closer to our goals in 2024. I hope all of you find love, joy, and strength in everything you do
Notably, Gill began the year in style as he became just the eighth male player to score a double hundred in ODIs scoring 208 (149) during the first ODI in Hyderabad on January 18. A couple of weeks later, the 24-year-old registered the highest individual score by an Indian batter in T20Is with his knock of 126* (63) against the Kiwis during the third T20I in Ahmedabad.
Gill finished as the leading run scorer of IPL 2023
He followed it up with his second Test ton on Day 3 of the fourth Test against Australia in Ahmedabadin March. In May, he scored the second most number of runs in a single edition of the IPL amassing 890 runs from 17 innings at an average of 59.33 with three hundreds and four fifties to his name. Courtesy of his sensational batting display for Gujarat Titans, he was awarded the Orange Cap for finishing the highest run scorer of the season.
The Punjab-born batter also finished as the highest run scorer in ODIs in 2023 having scored 1584 runs from 29 innings at an average of 63.36 with five hundreds and nine fifties to his name. Overall, the young batting sensation finished as the highest run scorer across all three formats with 2154 runs to his name from 52 innings scoring seven hundreds (second most) and ten fifties.