A week after D Gukesh entered Indian chess folklore with his record-breaking win at FIDE Candidates 2024, it was the turn of the country's archers to script history. Their golden showing at the Shanghai World Cup was the highlight for Indian sports lovers, in a week that saw various incredible feats being achieved across the globe and disciplines. (More Sports News)
Let us recap all that went down across arenas from April 22 to 28, 2024.
Cricket
The merciless assault on bowlers continued in Indian Premier League, as the 250-run mark was breached thrice, and the 200-run mark surpassed 12 times over nine games in the past week. Batters threw caution to the wind in their pursuit of quick runs, and six-hitting turned almost alarmingly regular.
By the end of the week, Rajasthan Royals strengthened their hold on the top spot in the points table, and are virtually assured of a play-offs spot with 16 points from nine matches. All other teams are still in contention, including the bottom-placed Royal Challengers Bengaluru (6 points from 10 games).
In neighbouring Nepal, West Indies 'A' embarked on a five-T20 tour (the first-ever to Nepal from the Caribbean). The hosts pulled off a narrow four-wicket win in the first game, but the visitors responded with a 10-run victory of their own to level the series 1-1. The remaining three matches will be played out over the coming week.
Also in the sub-continent, the Indian women's team kick-started its tour of Bangladesh for a five-match T20I series in Sylhet. The Harmanpreet Kaur-led side fired the opening salvo with a convincing 44-run win, powered by pacer Renuka Singh's three-fer at the cost of just 18 runs.
Meanwhile, Pakistan named Gary Kirsten as their white-ball coach and Jason Gillespie for Tests, and New Zealand announced their 15-member squad for the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup. The deadline for squad declaration is May 1, which means the Indian team announcement is imminent too. Virat Kohli's selection and role, and the wicketkeeper choice are the two burning issues in front of the Ajit Agarkar-led selection panel.
Football
In the English Premier League, Arsenal dented Chelsea's title hopes with a 5-0 thrashing at a jubilant Emirates Stadium. Later in the week, the Gunners withstood a late surge from North London rivals Tottenham Hotspur for a 3-2 away win, but Manchester City then beat relegation-battling Nottingham Forest 2-0 to move within one point of Arsenal (80 points), who are at the top of the table.
One of the biggest developments in league football was that of Leicester City earning a promotion from EFL Championship, back to the English Premier League. The result marks another turnaround for the Foxes, who had incredibly lifted the EPL trophy in 2015.
Elsewhere, in the UEFA Women's Champions League semi-finals, defending champions Barcelona overturned a 0-1 first-leg deficit to storm into their fourth consecutive final, defeating 10-player Chelsea 2-0 at Stamford Bridge. In the other last-four clash, Lyon surmounted compatriots Paris Saint-Germain's challenge to advance to their 11th Women's Champions League title round.
Meanwhile, the men's PSG team sealed a record-extending 12th Ligue 1 title in star forward Kylian Mbappe's likely last season with the club. In Serie A, Inter Milan similarly confirmed their 20th Italian league title and followed it up with a 2-0 home win over Torino amid wild celebrations from supporters.
Back home, in the Indian Super League, Mohun Bagan Super Giants stayed in reckoning of a historic double in the league, advancing to the final with a 3-2 aggregate win over Odisha FC in Kolkata. They will meet the victor of the other semi-final between FC Goa and Mumbai City, whose second leg is slated for Monday (April 29) evening.
Other Sports
India's archers had a field day at the Shanghai World Cup (Stage 1). First, the compound archers rained gold medals, claiming four of the five gold on offer in the category. Then, the men's recurve team stunned South Korea to clinch a historic gold that ended a 14-year drought at the event. The Indian contingent finished with eight medals, including a recurve silver for Deepika Kumari, who is on a comeback trail.
In Chengdu, China, the Indian men's and women's badminton teams crossed the opening hurdle with ease at the Thomas-Uber Cup, both qualifying for their respective quarter-finals. News later also trickled in that seven Indian shuttlers qualified for the Paris Olympics - PV Sindhu (women's singles), HS Prannoy and Lakshya Sen (men's singles), Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty (men's doubles) and Ashwini Ponnappa-Tanisha Crasto (women's doubles).
In tennis, the Madrid Open kicked off, with everyone tracking the progress of Rafael Nadal, especially considering his likely retirement at the end of the year. The Spanish all-time great entered the round of 32, while his young compatriot Carlos Alcaraz advanced to the round of 16.
