Smo News

Forward Lionel Messi became the first player in El Clásico history to score 25 goals as Barcelona defeated 10-man Real Madrid 3-0 in the La Liga on Saturday. This was Barcelona's third consecutive win against Real Madrid in the La Liga at the Santiago Bernabéu. With this win, Barcelona extended lead over their rivals to 14 points.

Indian professional boxer Vijender Singh defeated Ghana's Ernest Amuzu at the Rajasthan Rumble to defend his WBO Oriental and Asia Pacific Super middleweight titles on Saturday. With his 10th successive victory, the 2008 Olympic medal winner maintained his 100% win record in professional boxing. Out of his 10 victories, four have come in India while remaining six took place abroad.

Premier League leaders Manchester City extended the record run of consecutive top-flight wins to 17 matches by thrashing Bournemouth 4-0 on Saturday. With 101 goals in 2017, City became the first English team since Liverpool (106) in 1982 to score 100-plus goals in the top flight in a calendar year. Meanwhile, Chelsea were held to a goalless draw by Everton.

India lost to Bangladesh 0-1 in the final to finish as the runners-up of the SAFF Under-15 Women's Championship in Dhaka on Sunday. India had earlier lost to the Bangladeshi side 0-3 in the group stage of the competition. In the tournament, India had earlier thrashed Nepal's football team 10-0 in the group stages.

The Indian boxing contingent claimed three gold, a silver, and a bronze medal at the Galym Zharylgapov Boxing Tournament in Karaganda, Kazakhstan. Three-time King's Cup gold-medallist and a reigning national champion from the Railways K Shyam Kumar (49kg), world youth championships' bronze-medallist Naman Tanwar (91kg) and Asian Games bronze-medallist Satish Kumar (+91kg) claimed gold medals.

Premier League-leaders Manchester City defeated Newcastle United 1-0 on Wednesday to register their record 18th consecutive win in the league. With the win, City are now 15 points clear of second-placed Manchester United. If City win their next two Premier League matches, they will break German club Bayern Munich's record of 19 consecutive top-flight wins in Europe's top five leagues.

Former world champion Viswanathan Anand defeated world number one Magnus Carlsen in their ninth round match at the World Rapid Chess Championship in Riyadh on Thursday. Anand won the match in 34 moves, remaining unbeaten in the competition with five wins and four draws from nine encounters. Anand is currently sitting joint second in the table with 7.5 points.

Haryana shooter Anisa Sayyed won the women's 25m pistol gold with a new finals national record at the 61st National Shooting Championship Competitions on Wednesday. The 37-year-old shot a score of 33 in the final to erase previous national record of 28 set by Annu Singh. Shital Shivaji Thorat came second with 30, while Rani finished third with 28 points.

Viswanathan Anand beat Russia's Vladimir Fedoseev in a three-way tie-break to win the World Rapid Chess Championship in Riyadh on Thursday. Anand remained unbeaten in the championship with six wins and nine draws. In the ninth round of the tournament, Anand outclassed world number one Magnus Carlsen and was placed joint second at the start of the final five rounds.

Australian captain Steve Smith scored his 23rd Test ton to help his side secure a draw against England in the fourth Test at Melbourne on Saturday. Both the captains agreed to settle the match as drawn shortly after Smith completed his ton on the final day. Former England captain Alastair Cook carried his bat to score a record unbeaten 244.

Defending Premier League champions Chelsea defeated Stoke City 5-0 in the Premier League on Saturday, extending their unbeaten run in the league to five matches. Elsewhere, Mohamed Salah scored a second-half brace to help Liverpool register a comeback 2-1 win over Leicester City, while Manchester United drew their third straight match after going goalless against Southampton.

The only Indian woman wrestler to win an Olympic medal, Sakshi Malik, has passed the selection trials to qualify for next year's Commonwealth Games. The Rio Olympic bronze medallist will represent India in the 62kg weight category. Other women wrestlers to have qualified are Vinesh Phogat (50kg), Pooja Dhanda (57kg), Babita Kumari (54kg), Divya Karan (68kg), and Kiran (76kg).

Twenty-three-time Grand Slam winner Serena Williams lost in her first match after giving birth to her first child in September. Williams was beaten by French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko in an exhibition match in Abu Dhabi. "I don't know if I'm totally ready yet or not. When I come back, I definitely want to be competing for championships," Serena said.

Indian chess champion Viswanathan Anand clinched a bronze medal at the World Blitz Chess Championship in Riyadh on Saturday. The bronze medal follows Anand's gold-winning performance in the World Rapid Chess Championship a couple of days back. Classical World Champion Magnus Carlsen won the tournament, while Russian grandmaster Sergey Karjakin finished second in the tournament.

Manchester City's record-setting 18-match win streak came to an end with a 0-0 draw against Crystal Palace on Sunday. City were two wins away from breaking Bayern Munich's record of 19 consecutive top-flight wins in Europe's top five leagues. Elsewhere, Arsenal were pegged back by a late penalty to end the year with a 1-1 draw against West Bromwich.

Indian golfer Shiv Kapur won his third Asian Tour title of 2017 by lifting the Royal Cup in Thailand on Sunday. The 35-year-old golfer, who had just one Asian Tour win till April 2017, has now won three Asian Tour titles in the last eight months. Kapur first won on Asian Tour in his debut season in December 2005.

Manchester United on Monday defeated Everton 2-0 to register their first victory after three successive draws in the Premier League. With the win, United moved back into second place in the league and are 12 points behind city rivals Manchester City, who host 10th-placed Watford on Tuesday. Elsewhere, defender Ragnar Klavan's injury-time goal helped Liverpool beat Burnley 2-1.

Forward Raheem Sterling scored the fastest goal of the Premier League season after just 38 seconds as Manchester City defeated Watford 3-1 on Tuesday. With the win, Manchester City restored their 15-point lead over second-placed Manchester United at the top of the Premier League. Out of their 22 matches this season, the league leaders have won 20 and drawn two.

Defender Héctor Bellerín scored in the injury time to help Arsenal clinch a 2-2 draw against London rivals Chelsea in the Premier League on Wednesday. Midfielder Jack Wilshere netted his first Premier League goal since May 2015 to give Gunners a lead in the 63rd minute before Chelsea scored two. Arsenal remain sixth on points table while Chelsea are third.

Nineteen-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer partnered with compatriot Belinda Bencic to beat USA's Jack Sock and CoCo Vandeweghe to help Switzerland score a 3-0 victory and enter into the final of the Hopman Cup. Switzerland will face the winner of Group A in Saturday's final, with Germany, Belgium, and Australia all capable of sealing the top spot.