Another epic month of Sport has gone by and we have loved every bit of the action that has come our way from the Paralympics, the world of Football on & off the field and of course plenty of Cricketing action! If you missed any of it, don’t worry at all as we are here to bring you upto speed with those that were flaming HOT and those that blew ice COLD in the month of August from the wide world of Sports.
HOT
▶ The Indian Paralympic Team
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The Indian Paralympians make it to the top of our HOT list for the month of August as they made history in Tokyo by winning 19 medals at the 2020 Paralympics. Avani Lekhara made history when she became the first Indian to bag gold in shooting at the Paralympics for India and backed it up with a 2nd medal too. Bhavina Patil secured silver after losing to Y.Zhou in the Table Tennis finals. India continued to win medals in Athletics, thanks to Nishad Kumar and Devendra Jhaharia who won silver in High Jump and Javelin throw respectively. It was a 2/3 podium finish in Javelin’s throw for India as Sundar Singh Gujar secured bronze. Vinod Kumar, who had won the bronze medal in the discus throw event at the Paralympics was declared void following a re-assessment by the classification panel but still, it showed a sign of greater things to come for India.
▶ Paris Saint Germain
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After the disappointment of losing Ligue 1 last season, Paris Saint Germain has reinforced heavily this summer and has arguably enjoyed the greatest transfer window in the history of football. The Parisian club signed right-wing back Achraf Hakimi for £54 million from Inter and followed that up with free transfers for Sergio Ramos, Gini Wijnaldum, Gianluigi Donnarumma, and the greatest player of all time, Lionel Messi.
▶ Chelsea
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Chelsea began August with a victory over Villareal in the UEFA Super Cup on penalties and the European Champions have also strengthened significantly in the transfer market with the addition of Romelu Lukaku for €115 million at striker. The Blues have also looked the strongest team in the league so far and are one of the major favourites to win the title after smashing Arsenal 2-0 and securing a 1-1 draw away to Liverpool despite playing with 10-men.
▶ Joe Root
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Joe Root is currently in the form of his life in 2021 and has been nigh on impossible to stop this summer with his 1398 runs so far this calendar year. The English captain has become the only person to score three consecutive centuries twice in a calendar year and with England’s victory at Headingley, Root has also overtaken Michael Vaughan to become the most successful English captain in history.
▶ Liam Livingstone
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28-year-old Englishman, Liam Livingstone has quickly become one of the most sought after T20 freelancers in world cricket today, with big powerhitting displays in the Big Bash League and the PSL and he back that up by absolutely starring in The Hundred, finishing with the most runs, most sixes, highest score, highest strike rate and the most fifties. He’s since been picked in Engalnd’s T20 World Cup squad and will also re-join the Rajasthan Royals after pulling out of the first leg of the IPL citing bio-bubble fatigue after just 4 games.
NOT HOT
▶ Tyron Woodley
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A former UFC Champion losing to a 24-year-old youtube star has to be named on our not hot lost for the month of August. In one of the most hyped PPV’s in boxing, Jake Paul was awarded a split-decision victory over Tyron Woodley with scores 78-74, 77-75, and 75-77. Woodley’s only moment in the fight came when his hard right in round four put Pual into the ropes, but the Cleveland native did well and composed himself to hold off Woodley.
A bet was made before the fight where the loser would have to get the winner’s name tattooed on his body. As Woodley lost, Paul suggested for a rematch ‘could’ take place as long as Woodley gets the Tattoo which says ‘I LOVE JAKE PAUL’
▶ Arsenal
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Arsenal continued to pile on the misery in 2021 as the North London club suffered their worst league start since 1955 after losing all 3 of their opening league games of the season. The Gunners are currently dead last in the Premier League with 9 goals conceded and 0 goals scored and the pressure is firmly on manager Mikel Arteta to turn things around to save his job.
▶ Barcelona
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The one club that can compete with Arsenal on our NOT list in August, is Barcelona. Barcelona’s financial mismanagement throughout recent times culminated with club legend and the greatest player who ever lived – Lionel Messi – forced out of the club after Barcelona was unable to register any new players due to their crippling debt and extraordinary wage bill. They have a lot of in-house talent but face an uphill battle in reviving their reputation in the Footballing world.
▶ Ajinkya Rahane
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It was just a little over 6 months ago that the then Indian skipper, Ajinkya Rahane returned from Australia to a roaring reception in Mumbai but the reception this time might be a lot more muted. Things have gone quite pear-shaped for the Vice-Captain of Team India since then as he averages less than 20 in his last 19 Test innings with just two fifties in that period. In the recent series vs England – it got even worse as Rahane averaged just over 15 with one fifty to his name and now finds himself on the brink of being dropped from the side unless something drastic changes, especially with the likes of Hanuma Vihari and Suryakumar Yadav waiting in the wings.
[Image Credit: Sports Authority of India]
Suhail Chandhok
Vertical Head - Sports