Sports World, April 16, Highlights: Rafael Nadal Wins Round 1 At Barcelona Open

The fantastic day was filled with marvels! In the sport of Tennis, the entire fandom smiled, when they witnessed the return of the legendary Rafael Nadal as he had a stunning victory in the first round at the Barcelona Open. In the IPL 2024, the Kolkata Knight Riders ended their winning streak against the undefeated Rajasthan Royals, who secured their 6th victory of the season at Eden Gardens in Kolkata. Greece's Ancient Olympia hosted the flame ceremony for the upcoming Paris Olympics grabbing the world attention. Here are all the important headlines from the sports world on April 16, 2024

Sisay Lemma scorched the first half of the Boston Marathon course on Monday, setting a record pace to build a lead of more than half of a mile.

Then the weather heated up, and the 34-year-old Ethiopian slowed down.

After running alone for most of the morning, Lemma held on down Boylston Street to finish in 2 hours, 6 minutes, 17 seconds — the 10th fastest time in the race's 128-year history. Hellen Obiri defended her title, becoming the first woman to win back-to-back Boston Marathons since 2005. (AP)

Nat Sciver-Brunt has become the first English woman to be honoured as Wisden’s leading cricketer in the world, heading an awards list that also includes Harry Brook and Mark Wood among the almanack’s five cricketers of the year.

Paula Badosa battled past Diana Shnaider 6-3, 6-4 to set up a match with friend and world No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka at the Porsche Grand Prix. (AP)

“It was a pretty easy decision. I went to Faf and the coaches after the last game (vs Mumbai Indians) and said it was probably time we tried someone else (in his place). It’s actually a good time to give myself a bit of a mental and physical break, get my body right,” Glenn Maxwell said in the post-match press meet.

Aston Villa were relegated from the Premier League following a 1-0 defeat away to Manchester United on this day in 2016.

Indian Grandmaster D Gukesh held on to the joint top spot with Russian Ian Nepomniachtchi after they played out an easy draw in the 10th round of the Candidates chess tournament.

The all-Indian duel between R Praggnanandhaa and Vidit Gujrathi also ended in a draw while Fabiano Caruana and Hikaru Nakamura defeated Firouza Alireza and Nijat Abasov respectively to come back within striking distance of the two leaders.

With just four rounds to come in the biggest event of the year, Gukesh and Nepomniachtchi have an identical six points each with Praggnanandhaa, Caruana and Nakamura close on their heels half a point behind.

Gujrathi, on six points, is sole sixth while for all practical purposes, Alireza and Abasov are out of the race with 3.5 and two points respectively. (PTI)

Both the teams are battling it out in the 15th Match, 2024 ACC Men's Premier Cup at Al Amerat in Oman.

Bernd Hölzenbein, who won a crucial penalty in West Germany's victory over the Netherlands in the 1974 World Cup final, has died. He was 78.

Hölzenbein's former club Eintracht Frankfurt said in a statement Tuesday that he died Monday while with his family, without giving further details. (AP)

The Sun reports that Chelsea are seeking contract extensions for midfielder Enzo Fernandez and winger Mykhailo Mudryk. The two 23-year-olds’ previous long-term deals would be extended by another year.

The flame for this summer's Paris Olympics will be lit at the birthplace of the ancient Olympic Games in southern Greece in a meticulously choreographed ceremony.

It will then be carried through Greece for more than 5,000 kilometers (3,100 miles) before being handed over to French organizers at the Athens venue used for the first modern Olympics in 1896. (AP)

"Australia's hard press can be countered, high level of coordination is required for that, defender-to-defender ball transfer, quick passes from defenders to the mid-field, overhead passes would be useful in countering such a style of play," the 33-year-old Rupinder Pal Singh suggested.

He sees no fault in India's reliance on penalty corners for scoring.

"...all international teams, all are dependent on penalty corners -- the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Australia. Defences have become stronger, here PC conversion is such an important tool that in every match about 1-2 goals have to be scored from them," he pointed out. (PTI)

Even without the help of Apollo, the flame that is to burn at the Paris Olympics was kindled Tuesday at the site of the ancient games in southern Greece.

Cloudy skies prevented the traditional lighting, when an actress dressed as an ancient Greek priestess uses the sun to ignite a silver torch — after offering up a symbolic prayer to Apollo, the ancient Greek sun god.

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“It is obviously knockout time and every game is like a semifinal for us now. But we will have to think that we will come back stronger,” Flower said on RCB Game Day.

RCB conceded the highest-ever IPL total – 287 for three – as the Hyderabad batters went on a merry ride against their directionless bowlers.

"It was never going to be a game where you talk about batsmanship. It's a game where you talk about who hit the most sixes and that was the difference," Aaron Finch said on Star Sports.

"They (RCB) had to start at 14 (runs per over). And if you have one bad over it goes to 16."

Finch said the Hyderabad side used the Powerplay segment well.

"They (SRH) were getting lucky in the first powerplay and they needed those sixes and Travis Head was the difference there."

Aston Villa were relegated from the Premier League following a 1-0 defeat away to Manchester United on this day in 2016. Marcus Rashford’s 32nd-minute goal condemned Villa to the second tier of English football for the first time in 28 years.

The talk before the opening ceremony of the Paris Games ideally should be about its grandiose backdrop: a summer sun setting on the Seine River as athletes drift by in boats and wave to cheering crowds.

But behind the romantic veneer that Paris has long curated, mounting security concerns already have had an impact on the unprecedented open-air event. In January, the number of spectators allowed to attend the ceremony was slashed from around 600,000 to around 320,000. (AP)

Werder Bremen have suspended Naby Keita for the rest of the season and imposed a “substantial” fine after accusing him of walking out of Sunday’s Bundesliga clash with Bayer Leverkusen.

The 29-year-old former Liverpool midfielder did not feature in a 5-0 defeat at the Bay Arena, with his club claiming he had chosen “not to travel to the ground with the team and decided to go home instead” after discovering he was not in the starting line-up. (Stats Perform)

Harry Kane admits the season will be a failure if Bayern Munich do not win the Champions League.

Bayern host Arsenal on Wednesday in the second leg of their Champions League quarter-final, with the first match last week ending in a 2-2 draw.

Bayer Leverkusen romped to the Bundesliga title at the weekend, ending Bayern’s run of 11 straight league trophies and leaving them with only Europe’s highest honour to play for. (Stats Perform)

Dortmund vs Atletico Madrid (12:30 am IST) - Streaming details

Barcelona vs Paris Saint Germain (12:30 am IST) - Streaming details

Wrestler Rohit Dahiya lost his bronze medal bout to a top-ranked Uzbek grappler as India finished their Greco-Roman campaign at the Asian Championships without a single podium finish in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan on Tuesday.

On a day when all other Indian Greco-Roman wrestlers continued to struggle, Dahiya (82kg) was the only one to enter the bronze medal round, but he lost to Mukhammadkodir Rasulov, ranked No.1 here, on points. (PTI)

A clutch of top talents from the state such as Venkatesh Iyer, Rajat Patidar and Avesh Khan are set to be seen in action during the inaugural Madhya Pradesh League (MPL) in Gwalior in June.

The tournament, to be organised by the Gwalior Division Cricket Association (GDCA), will feature five teams: Rewa Jaguars, Jabalpur Lions, Bhopal Leopards, Malwa Panthers and Gwalior Cheetahs.

The GDCA also aims to give exposure to budding talents from the state in the lines of popular T20 leagues like Tamil Nadu Premier League and KSCA Maharaja T20, in the event to be played at the newly-constructed Gwalior International Cricket Stadium at Shankarpur. (PTI)

Rafael Nadal, who has won 12 titles at the Barcelona Open in the past has cruised to the second round, marking his comeback on clay after two years. He defeated Flavio Cobolli in the round of 64 and made the Tennis world rise to their feet.

Haryana's Mani Ram dominated round one with a scorching nine-under 63 to lead by two shots at Rs 1 crore Gurgaon Open being played at the Classic Golf & Country Club in Nuh, Haryana on Tuesday.

The Bengaluru-based C Muniyappa fired a seven-under 65 to be placed second on a windy day with the sun and clouds playing hide and seek.

M Dharma, another Bengaluru golfer and Chandigarh's Rajiv Kumar Jatiwal, were a further shot back in tied third place. (PTI)

Jos Buttler snatched victory for Rajasthan Royals from the jaws of defeat against Kolkata Knight Riders in the 31st match of the Indian Premier League. In chasing the target of 224 runs posted by KKR, the hard-hitting batsman was at the most crucial point having left just 1 ball, and 1 run to turn the fortunes, and he did it, with a four. Buttler's unbeaten 107 off 60 balls clinched the victory by 2 wickets. The match also witnessed first IPL career century (109 off 56 balls) registered by KKR's Sunil Narine.

Mikel Arteta believes Champions League quarter-final success against Bayern Munich will take Arsenal to the next level as he told his players to “write a different story” at the Allianz Arena.

The Gunners head into Wednesday’s second leg locked at 2-2 with Thomas Tuchel’s Bayern after a thrilling draw at the Emirates Stadium last week.

Defeat to Aston Villa on Sunday has since dented Arsenal’s Premier League title bid as attention now turns to Europe once again. (Stats Perform)

A day full of wonders it was with cricket witnessing Rajasthan Royals securing victory from the brink of a loss in the IPL, Rafael Nadal returning on clay court as the king in tennis, and the Ancient Olympia coming alive with the Paris Olympics flames ceremony, among other highlights. Now let's mark the end of the day here, and come back tomorrow. Have a good night!