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Sport Current Affairs Jan 2nd Week 2018
Category : Sport Current Affairs
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1. Elina Svitolina Wins Brisbane International. 

World number one Simona Halep and number six Elina Svitolina continued their preparations for the Australian Open with contrasting tournament wins.

Halep recovered from losing the second set at the Shenzhen Open in China to beat reigning champion Katerina Siniakova 6-1 2-6 6-0.

Earlier, Svitolina claimed the first WTA title of the year at the Brisbane International.

The Ukrainian beat surprise finalist Aliaksandra Sasnovich 6-2 6-1.

Sasnovich, the world number 88, had come through qualifying. She came up against a determined Svitolina, who controlled the match throughout.

The 23-year-old sent down 10 aces and never faced a break point on the way to a 10th career title.

Halep`s match against Siniakova was moved indoors because of rain, and the Romanian started strongly, winning the first set without facing a break point.

She appeared to lose focus in the second set but regained her composure in the decider to break her Czech opponent`s serve three times and seal her first tournament win since May`s Madrid Open.

Meanwhile, top seed Caroline Wozniacki won two matches in just over four hours to set up a final against second seed Julia Goerges at the Auckland Classic.

The schedule had been affected by rain, forcing organisers to play the quarter-finals and both semi-finals on Saturday and move the final to Sunday.

Denmark`s Wozniacki got the better of 19-year-old American wildcard Sofia Kenin 4-6 6-2 6-4 before defeating US qualifier Sachia Vickery 6-4 6-4.

Vickery had earlier upset third seed Agnieszka Radwanska.

Goerges, who had lost to American Sloane Stephens in the 2016 Auckland final, was far more comfortable in both of her matches.

She beat Slovenia`s Polona Hercog 6-4 6-4 in the quarter-finals before moving into the final with a 6-1 6-4 win over Taiwan`s Hsieh Su-wei.

Elsewhere, Britain`s Heather Watson made a winning start in qualifying for the Hobart International, beating Australia`s Kimberly Birrell 6-3 6-2.

Watson will next face Japan`s Nao Hibino, who at 97 is ranked 22 places below her.

 

2. Philippe Coutinho Joins Barcelona Becomes 2nd Most Expensive Transfer in World Soccer History.

Philippe Coutinho’s move to Barcelona from Liverpool for a staggering 160 million Euros has helped him spiral as the second most expensive transfer in the world. The Brazilian’s move to La Liga toppers comes in the middle of the season with the player signing a five and a half year contract. As per reports, the transfer fee is believed to be 120 million Euros and 40 million Euros in add-ons.

The 25-year-old’s transfer from Liverpool to Barcelona places him as the second most expensive signing but still far behind what Neymar cost Paris Saint Germain from Barcelona in 2017. The Ligue 1 club forked out 222 million Euros for the Brazilian to bring him to Paris. Incidentally, the third most expensive signing also involves Barcelona with the Catalan club spending 105 million Euros on Frenchman Ousmane Dembele with the cash that the club generated from the Neymar sale.

TOP 10 MOST EXPENSIVE TRANSFERS (in Euros):

Neymar – Barcelona to PSG – 2017 – 222 million Euros

Coutinho – Liverpool to Barcelona – 2018 – 160 million Euros

Ousmane Dembele – Borussia Dortmund to Barcelona – 2017 – 105 million Euros

Paul Pogba – Juventus to Manchester United – 2016 – 105 million Euros

Gareth Bale – Tottenham Hotspur to Real Madrid – 100 million Euros

Cristiano Ronaldo – Manchester United to Real Madrid – 2009 – 94 million Euros

Gonzalo Higuain – Napoli to Juventus – 2016 – 90 million Euros

Neymar – Santos to Barcelona – 2013 – 88.2 million Euros

Romelu Lukaku – Everton to Manchester United – 2017 – 85 million Euros

Virgil van Dijk – Southampton to Liverpool – 2018 – 84.5 million Euros

3. Rabada, 22-yr-old, is the youngest No. 1 Test bowler since the 19th century.

Cape Town - He`s just 22, but he`s already on top of the world! SA cricket`s golden boy, Kagiso Rabada, is back at the No 1 bowling spot in the ICC Test rankings.

The speedster bowled his way to the top after helping the Proteas secure a 72-run victory over India in the first Test at Newlands on Monday.

"It`s special to be ranked as the number-one Test bowler in the world. It is a surreal feeling. It`s what you dream of achieving when you start playing the game," Rabada said in an ICC statement on Tuesday.

"Cricket is ultimately a team sport and I`m thankful for the support from my team-mates. It`s a great start to the year, personally and for us as a team. Hopefully we can continue putting in winning performances."

Social media users couldn`t wait to praise the fast bowler, even former sports minister Fikile Mbalula tweeted his delight.