Novak Djokovic Vaccine Exemption Outrage – Sports News For The Week

Sports involves not only games but also the organization. It is all about managing excellence and developing some great strategies. India has got a wide interest in sports, especially Cricket. This week comes with a mixture of both great and heartbreaking sports news. With admirable sportspeople like Virat Kohli and Sania Mirza sending shock waves to their fans, this week is a disaster. The week also adds excitement with PV Sindhu qualifying for finals in Syed Modi International 2022 and with the discussions regarding the venue of IPL. Let’s have a look at the sports of the week.

Sania Mirza to Retire by this Year

2022 is bringing an end to the sensational career of one of India’s greatest tennis players. After losing in the first round of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, Indian Tennis Superstar Sania Mirza has announced her retirement in the press meet. She has told the media, “I feel my recovery is taking longer and I’m putting my 3-year-old son at risk by traveling so much with him”, and she added that pandemic is making everyone take certain decisions for the well-being of themselves and their family. 

“My body is wearing down. My knee was really hurting today and I’m not saying that it’s the reason we lost but I do think that it is taking time to recover as I’m getting older”, she added. 

Sania has won three Grand Slam titles with Swiss icon Martina Hingis. The Hyderabad-based Tennis star is the first Indian woman to win a WTA title. With all her inspiring achievements and awards, Sania’s retirement now is saddening her admirers a lot.  

PV Sindhu enters the Final at Syed Modi International 2022

The two-time Olympic Champion PV Sindhu stormed into the women’s finals in the ongoing Syed Modi International 2022 in Lucknow. The Indian Shuttler defeated Russia’s Evgeniya Kosetskaya in the semi-final clash in minutes at the Babu Banarasi Indoor Stadium. The former World champion, PV Sindhu won the first set comprehensively after the Russian opponent retired in the second game. The champion will face compatriot Malvika Bansod in the summit clash on Sunday. 

IPL 2022 in India

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) wants to host the tournament in India. The board is also ready with plan B if the Covid-19 situation does not improve. The last two years of IPL haven’t got their essence as they were hosted outside India. In 2020, the match was first postponed by six months giving fear of cancellation. But later, the match was shifted to the United Arab Emirates. In 2021, the BCCI decided to host the match in six different cities in India but which had to be shifted midway due to the outbreak of the second wave of COVID–19. Later, the second half of the tournament took place in UAE during the months of September and October. 

Now, after the discovery of the Omicron variant and the country being hit by the third wave, questions are arising over the venue of the IPL. According to the report by TOI, BCCI is planning to host the tournament in India. They also have plans to schedule the match in Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, and Pune to avoid air travel.

However, BCCI also has Plan B to consider South Africa as an alternate venue if the COVID-19 worsens in India. UAE is reasonably ruled out this time as the board is looking for a cheaper option and also some freshness in the wind.

Novak Djokovic to Miss the Australian open

Novak Djokovic, the leading sports star ended up in mess for actually not taking drugs. Yes, you read that right. Mr. Djokovic failed to meet the entry requirements to Australia and his Visa is subsequently canceled. The medical issue is regarding his COVID-19 vaccine exemption. Djokovic says that he received a medical exemption from vaccinating to participate in The Australian Open due to his recent recovery from Covid. Despite carrying an exemption he was refused entry into this biggest event. Novak Djokovic was deported from Australia on Sunday after he failed in a bid to have the Visa cancellation overturned. Though the world’s number one male tennis player got his Visa canceled as he breached the entry rules at the border, there seem to be some political issues between the State and Federal governments that made the situation worse. 

Virat Kohli Steps Down as India’s Captain after 7 Years

Virat Kohli has brought an end to the seven-year-long journey of his captaincy for the Indian Test Team on Saturday (January 15). The most successful captain with 40 wins from 68 matches announced his retirement on Twitter, the day India suffered a consecutive seven-wicket defeat to surrender the three-test series to South Africa by a 2-1 margin. By leading the team more successfully with 40 wins, 17 losses and 11 draws, Virat becomes the fourth most successful Captain. Kohli gave a lot more big triumphs to the men in blue and has now left the fans with shocking waves of his retirement. He had already stepped down as T20 captain following the ICC T20 World cup. He will not be seen leading Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in IPL too as he stepped down from its captaincy last year after leading the team into playoffs. Read his retirement announcement on Insta here:

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