India weightlifter wins gold in Qatar
Doha: Former world champion weightlifter Saikhom Mirabai Chanu notched up the women’s 49kg category gold medal to open India’s account at the 6th Qatar International Cup here on Friday. The 25-year-old Chanu won gold with an effort of 194kg in the Olympic qualifying silver level event, the points from which will come in handy when the final rankings for 2020 Tokyo Olympics cut are done. To qualify for Tokyo, a weightlifter must compete in at least one event in each of the three periods of six months (spread over November 2018 to April 2020), at least six events overall and in at least one gold and another silver level event. Chanu’s performance on Friday was, however, way below her personal best of 201kg which she lifted during this year’s World Championships in Thailand. The 2018 Commonwealth Games gold-medallist Indian managed to register only one clean lift in both the snatch and clean and jerk categories. She manged to lift 83kg in her second attempt in snatch event but then failed to clear 87kg in her final try. (PTI)
Rafi wins ATP Sportsmanship Award
London: World No. 1 Rafael Nadal has been voted the winner of ATP’s Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award for a second straight year and third time overall. Nadal was honoured with the 2019 ATP Tour No. 1 trophy during the ATP Finals. Andy Murray, who underwent hip surgery in January, was selected as the Comeback Player of the Year after successfully returning to win the Fever-Tree Championships doubles title at The Queen’s Club and the singles title at the European Open in Antwerp. Swiss master Roger Federer won the Fans’ Favourite Award for a record-extending 17th straight year, along with American brothers Bob and Mike Bryan, who won for the 14th time. Italy’s Matteo Berrettini took home Most Improved Player of the Year after climbing to a career-high No. 8 and qualifying for the ATP Finals. His 18-year-old compatriot Jannik Sinner climbed from outside the top 700 to a career-high No. 78 and took the Next Gen ATP Finals title, earning him the Newcomer of the Year award. Frenchman Gilles Cervara, who guided Russia’s Daniil Medvedev to an ATP Tour-best 59 match wins and nine finals in 2019, was named ATP Coach of the Year. Tony Roche was selected as the winner of the inaugural Tim Gullikson Career Coach award, which recognises coaches who have had a significant impact on tennis on and off the court. (IANS)
Belgium FIFA Team of the Year
Geneva: Belgium have been crowned FIFA ‘Team of the Year’ for the second successive time after a record-breaking year for the global ladder. The team, known as the Red Devils, had held on to top spot in a December table barely impacted by just 19 friendlies toward the end of a year in which 1,082 international “A” matches have been played – an all-time high since the ranking’s 1993 inception. World champions France remains in the second place ahead of Brazil in third, the positions they held in December 2018, but the make-up of the year-end top five has changed, said FIFA in a statement. England climbed one place in 2019 to end the year in fourth, and Uruguay moved up to fifth on the back of a two-spot rise. Argentina (9th) and Colombia (10th) are also in the top 10 at the expense of Switzerland (12th) and Denmark (16th), who have slipped four and six places respectively over the year. China dropped one place to 76th. The ranking’s Mover of the Year, meanwhile, was Qatar. (IANS)