It has been an eventful week in the sporting world. The Indian Super League, the Ashes and the India-Sri Lanka series kicked off, while the UEFA Champions League had some interesting results. The ATP Tour Finals and the BWF China Super Series Premier came to an end. Here we give you a roundup of the week's action and what to expect in the weekend to come.
Football
The penultimate fixtures of the Champions League group stage ensured that Manchester United, Paris St. Germain, Chelsea, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Manchester City, Besiktas, Tottenham and Real Madrid are through. The biggest upset is that of Borussia Dortmund, which crashed out of the group stage and could be joined by Atletico Madrid in the Europa League.
The Indian Super League got off to a rather subdued start with two goalless draws, but the next three games made up for that with 12 goals altogether. The tournament, which will run for four months until March, has newcomers Bengaluru FC and Jamshedpur FC joining the previous eight teams.
The I-League, India's official top division football league, will begin on November 25 and will, for the first and (probably) last time, run simultaneously with the ISL. Three teams from three different northeast states will feature in this edition, with the future of the I-League likely to be a merger with the cash-rich ISL from the next season.
In the English Premier League, Manchester City continue to run riot, but the big clash this weekend will be between Chelsea and Liverpool on Saturday. Should Liverpool arrest Chelsea's recent run of victories, it will deal a huge blow to the holding champions' title challenge, now that City are 9 points ahead.
Cricket
The first Test of the India-Sri Lanka series ended in a pulsating draw that went all the way down to the wire on the fifth day. Though the rain played spoilsport in the first two days, Sri Lanka, who had taken the lead in their first innings, had to withstand an Indian onslaught in the second innings. The Lankans lost 7 wickets on the last day and managed to hold on until the end of play. The second Test begins on Friday.
Down under, the Ashes series has both England and Australia fighting for lost pride. A relatively inexperienced England squad take on the Aussies, amid the usual hostility and war of words between the two. England have 7 players who have never played in Australia before, while the hosts are over reliant on its pace attack to make up for their unsteady batting lineup.
Tennis
The year-ending ATP Tour Finals was deprived of biggies like Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray, who have battled injuries throughout the year, while Rafael Nadal had to pull out of the tournament early. It looked like it would be a cakewalk for Roger Federer, but the youngsters grabbed the golden opportunity. David Goffin dumped Federer out in the semifinal, before losing to Grigor Dmitrov in the final.
Badminton
At the 2017 China Open Super Series Premier, China's Chen Long defeated top seed Denmark's Viktor Axelsen in the men's final, and Akane Yamaguchi overcame unseeded Gao Fangjie in the women's final. P.V. Sindhu had lost in the quarterfinal to Fangjie, while Saina Nehwal was defeated by Yamaguchi in the second round. H.S. Prannoy crashed out in the second round and Kidambi Srikanth had withdrawn from the event. The Hong Kong Super Series began on November 21 and the finals will take place on November 26.
