Lionel Messi kept his nerve from the penalty spot to give Barcelona a 1-0 win over Real Sociedad in La Liga on Saturday and return his side to the top of the table. The victory took Barca back to the top of the standings on 58 points after 27.
5 Indian boxers qualify
Five Indian boxers — Vikas Krishan (69kg), Pooja Rani (75kg), Satish Kumar (+91kg), Lovlina Borgohain (69kg) and Ashish Kumar (75kg) — secured Tokyo Olympic berths on Sunday by advancing to the semi-finals of the Asian Qualifiers.
SSP slips
SSP Chowrasia gave it away after three superb rounds on the last day for a three-over 74, which saw him exit the top-10 and finish tied 28th in the 2020 Commercial Bank Qatar Masters. Jorge Campillo defeated David Drysdale in a play-off after the duo was tied at 13-under to win the title.
Captain Tamim
Bangladesh on Sunday named opening batsman Tamim Iqbal as captain of the national one-day side, replacing Mashrafe Mortaza, who stepped down as ODI captain this week.
Limpele resigns
With little over four months to go for the Tokyo Olympics, Indonesia’s Flandy Limpele has stepped down as India’s badminton’s doubles coach, citing family reasons. Limpele has played a crucial role in the Indian men’s pair Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy’s rise.
Bayern victory
Bayern Munich never really needed to hit top form in their 2-0 victory at home to Augsburg on Sunday as they moved four points clear at the top of the Bundesliga. The Bavarians have now won 10 of their last 11 league games.
Ankita shines
The Indian Fed cup team created history by progressing to the play-offs for the first time ever with Ankita Raina leading the side to a 2-1 win over Indonesia. Ankita won her singles contest before combining with Sania Mirza to beat the Indonesians in the doubles too.
Archer’s recovery
England’s Jofra Archer is likely to miss the Indian Premier League (IPL) as national team coach Chris Silverwood wants the fast bowler to play cricket with Sussex to get up to speed before the home Test series against West Indies in June. Archer, who has a contract with the Rajasthan Royals franchise in the IPL, has been out of action since January with an elbow injury.
Hatton in lead
Britain’s Tyrrell Hatton fired a one-over par 73 in a brutal third round at windy Bay Hill to seize a two-stroke lead Saturday at the US PGA Arnold Palmer Invitational. Top-ranked Rory McIlroy was hot on his heels as he shot 73 to share second spot on 212 with Australian Marc Leishman.
Hockey awards
National team captains Manpreet Singh and Rani Rampal on Sunday won the Dhruv Batra Player of the Year Award 2019 in the men’s and women’s categories respectively at the third Hockey India Annual Awards here.
