India ended their white-ball leg of South Africa with a 2-1 series win whereas football club Manchester United saw Sir Jim Ratcliffe arrive to earn a 25% stake at the English Premier League side. Let us review the sporting week that went by
The week that went by - Monday, December 18, 2023 to Sunday, December 24, 2023 - saw Indian sports reach the pinnacle of glory especially cricket. Indian women's cricket team defeated Australia in a one-off Test match. Here are a list of sporting events that went by from Dec 18-24, 2023. (Cricket News | Football News | Badminton News)
Cricket
In Cricket, the men's senior team lost the 2nd ODI to South Africa in Gqeberha by eight wickets. A dissapointing batting performance saw them lose to the Proteas as Tony de Zorzi scored an unbeaten century. However, the Men In Blue bounced back in style as they won the third and final ODI by 78 runs to clinch the series 2-1.
In women's cricket, Harmanpreet Kaur-led India defeated the mighty Australia by eight wickets in a one-off Test match at Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium.
West Indies claimed the T20I series to go with the ODIs as they defeated England 3-2 in the series decider. Elsewhere, New Zealand also defeated Bangladesh to claim the ODI series however the visitors did fightback in the final ODI.
Football
In football, Arsenal drew with Liverpool 1-1 as the Gunners topped the League table at Christmas. Manchester United's worries grew as they were beaten by West Ham 2-0. However, there was some good news for the Red Devils as British Billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe decided to take part takeover of the club.
Elsewhere, in FIFA Club World Cup 2023, Manchester City defeated Fluminense 4-0 to claim the title and complete a quadruple of trophies. Luis Suarez joined Lionel Messi at MLS club, Inter Miami.
FIFA and UEFA's attempts to block the European Super League, a self-governing competition consisting of several of the continent's biggest clubs, received a significant blow following the latest European Court of Justice ruling. As per the ECJ, neither FIFA nor UEFA have the right to block the formation of any such competition, nor impose a ban on players choosing to play in the same, two key threats that football's organising bodies had levied on the competition.
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Tennis
In tennis, India announced it's six-member squad for the Davis Cup tie Against Pakistan. Bengaluru SG Mavericks were crowned champions of season 5 after defeating Bengal Wizards in the final.
Wrestling
In wrestling, Wrestling Federation Of India (WFI) held it's polls as Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh's closest aide, Sanjay Singh won the elections that led to wrestler Sakshi Malik to tearfully, quit the sport. However, the Union Sports Ministry decided to dissolve the WFI and it's associate holders.
Badminton
Indian shuttler PV Sindhu was her country's sole representative on this year's Forbes World's Highest-Paid Female Athletes list. Sindhu came in at number 16, jointly with the United States of America Gymnastics star Simone Biles, with her off-filed partnerships carrying the brunt of her 2023 earnings.