Tennis
Former Wimbledon doubles champion Sania Mirza, one of India’s most celebrated sports stars, announced on January 20 she will retire from tennis after 2022. Mirza’s comments came after her first-round loss in the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, reports said. “I’ve decided that this will be my last season. I’m taking it week by week. Not sure if I can last the season, but I want to,” she told reporters.
Mirza, 35, became the first Indian to win a WTA singles title in 2005. But injury soon forced her to concentrate on doubles – in 2015 she won at Wimbledon with Swiss player Martina Hingis, then went on to win the US and Australian Opens.
She came close to securing an Olympics medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics when she and Rohan Bopanna played the semi-finals against Venus Williams and Rajeev Ram but eventually lost. She has also won two Grand Slam titles with partner Mahesh Bhupathi – the 2009 Australian Open mixed doubles title and the French Open 2012 mixed doubles.
Squash
Former world number one Mohamed ElShorbagy is set to make his return to the PSA World Tour – four months after playing in his last PSA match – following the release of the draw for the 2022 Squash On Fire Open, which will be played in Washington, D.C between February 16-20.
The world number three, who last played in the second round of the Qatar QTerminals Classic in October 2021, was expected to return from an extended break at the Houston Open earlier this month but was denied at the last minute due to a positive COVID-19 result prior to the event beginning.
Instead, the 31-year-old will return to the competitive scene in the US.capital, where he is seeded first for the PSA World Tour Bronze tournament.
Basketball
Brooklyn Nets guard Kyrie Irving was fined $25,000 by the NBA for cursing at a fan in Cleveland, the league announced on January 20. Irving’s comments to the fan during the second quarter of Brooklyn’s 114-107 loss on January 10 were captured on video.
Irving used profanity to remind the fan that he helped the Cavaliers win the NBA championship in 2016. “Got y’all a championship and m***rs still ungrateful,” Irving could be heard saying in a clip that has since gone viral.
Cricket
A major age fraud scandal has rocked Pakistani cricket, prompting the Board to suspend national Under-13 and Under-16 tournaments.
Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has decided to conduct bone age verification tests to ensure “only deserving cricketers feature in the relevant age-group competitions”.
These tournaments, which began on January 11 in Karachi and Multan, are part of the PCB Pathways Programme.
Mixed Martial Arts
Khabib Nurmagomedov has been ranked just fifth on Dana White’s ‘best fighters’ list, while Conor McGregor was left out altogether.
The UFC president picked the likes of Kamaru Usman and Jon Jones ahead of the Russian, who went undefeated during his time in the UFC’s lightweight division. The 33-year-old retired in 2020 after defeating the likes of Justin Gaethje and bitter rival McGregor – and goes down among many fans as the greatest fighter ever within the company.
But White has gone against the opinion of many fans’ as he named four better fighters than Khabib, who retired as UFC’s pound-for-pound king. “I picked Jon Jones, Kamaru Usman, Georges St-Pierre and Anderson Silva,” White told Yahoo Sports.
Olympics
The French Senate has voted in favour of banning the wearing of hijabs in sports competitions, arguing that neutrality is a requirement on the field of play.
The French upper legislative house voted late on January 11 in favour of amending a proposed law stipulating that the wearing “of conspicuous religious symbols is prohibited” to take part in events and competitions organised by sports federations.
It is unclear whether the ban would be implemented for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Football
Paris Saint-Germain are in talks to sign Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba and Tottenham target Franck Kessie on pre-contract agreements, according to reports.
The French giants are looking to capitalise on a number of cost-effective opportunities at the end of the season for the second successive summer after previously landing Gianluigi Donnarumma, Lionel Messi, Sergio Ramos and Georginio Wijnaldum on free transfers in 2021.
It is looking increasingly likely that Zinedine Zidane could be heading to Paris Saint-Germain in the near future, with many within the club certain that he’ll be in charge for next season. The Ligue 1 leaders are plotting a major restructure, as well as preparing for Kylian Mbappe’s possible departure, and it seems they believe the former Real Madrid head coach is the right man to lead them into a new era and instil order on a disjointed squad.
January Transfer
Aboubacar Keita, 21 (defender) – USA transferred from Columbus Crew in the Major League Soccer to Colorado Rapids in the Major League Soccer
Ahmed Hamdi, 23 (midfielder) – EGY transferred from El Gouna in the Major League Soccer to CF Montréal in the Major League Soccer
Anwar El Ghazi, 26 (midfielder) – NED transferred from Aston Villa in the English Premier League to Everton in the English Premier League
Gassan Ahadme Yahyai, 21 (forward) – MOR transferred from Norwich City in the English Premier League to Burton Albion in the English Premier League
Hassane Kamara, 27 (defender) – CIV transferred from Nice in the French Ligue 1 to Watford in the English Premier League
Hatem Ben Arfa, 34 (midfielder) – FRA transferred from (No team) to Lille in the French Ligue 1
Ibrahim Amadou, 28 (midfielder) – FRA transferred from Sevilla in the Spanish LaLiga to Metz in the Spanish LaLiga
Kubilay Kanatsızkuş, 24 (forward) – TUR transferred from Yeni Malatyaspor in the Turkish Süper Lig to Caykur Rizespor in the Turkish Süper Lig
Nabil El Zhar, 35 (midfielder) – MOR (No team) to Muaither SC in the Qatari Second Division
Oussama Idrissi, 25 (forward) – MOR transferred from Sevilla in the Spanish LaLiga to Cádiz in the Spanish LaLiga
Samir, 27 (defender) – BRA transferred from Udinese in the Italian Serie A to Watford in the English Premier League
Sead Kolašinac, 23 (defender) – BIH transferred from Arsenal in the English Premier League to Marseille in the English Premier League
Yusuf Barasi, 18 (forward) – TUR transferred from AZ Alkmaar U21 in the Dutch Eerste Division to AZ Alkmaar in the Dutch Eredivisie League
Yusuf Yazici, 24 (midfielder) – TUR transferred from LOSC Lille in the French Ligue 1 to CSKA Moscow in the Russian Premier Liga
Photo: Indian trailblazer Sania Mirza to quit tennis this year (Credit: Keith Allison/WikiCommons)