● Top-seeded badminton player Wang Shixian (in picture) of China beat Eriko Hirose of Japan 24-22, 21-18 to win the All England Open women’s singles title in Birmingham, UK. But Hirose too had many admirers rooting for her. Unseeded Hirose, who beat fifth-seeded Indian Saina Nehwal in the quarter-finals, won many fans as she progressed to the finals — becoming the first Japanese women’s singles finalist in 32 years at the All England Open. Shixian clinched the title for the first time. After she won at the Malaysian Open recently and reached the finals of the Korean Open, she has a lot to feel confident about. All the best to both the ladies!

Winning stroke

● Californian golfer Nick Watney walked away with a well-deserved win at the $8.5 million Cadillac Championship in the US recently. This was his first World Golf Championship title. The 29-year-old, who finished a close second at this tournament two years ago, has in his kitty four consecutive top-10 finishes this year. But he was waiting for the big win. Finally, his two-stroke victory over compatriot Dustin Johnson — his third win on the US PGA Tour — gave him one of his biggest wins so far.

Best gymnasts

●Ashish Kumar of Railways and Deepa Karmakar of Tripura — both Commonwealth and Asian Games medalists — were declared the best gymnasts in the men’s and women’s categories at the 51st senior Gymnastic Championship in Jaipur recently. For Kumar, this is his fourth consecutive title at the event and he dominated all the disciplines at the event. He came first with 85.30 points and Karmakar topped with a tally of 51.10 points.

For the country

● The Egypt team lived up to popular expectation and beat defending champions England 2-0 to take home the Squash World Cup title held recently in Chennai. Ramy Ashour, world No.2, from Egypt, spectacularly routed No. 4 James Willstrop of England in straight games. Raneem el Weleily beat world No. 2 Jenny Duncalf in four games. Any win is special, but this win was all the more so for the Egyptian players as their country is going through political turmoil. The players dedicated the win to their country.

You can’t get through this week without…

●…catching up with the excitement of the final stages of the cricket World Cup. For the past few weeks most of you have been part of the rollercoaster ride with all the surprises and disappointments happening in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and India. So, don’t miss out on the final blast!