India's Rohan Bopanna and his Hungarian partner Timea Babos entered the quarter-finals of the Australian Open mixed doubles event with a comfortable victory in Melbourne.

Leander Paes and Purav Raja were no match for Colombia's Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah in the pre-quarter-finals of the men's doubles at the Australian Open on Sunday. The unseeded Indians were beaten 1-6, 2-6 by their 11th seeded opponents in 69 minutes.

Atletico Madrid's faint hopes of chasing down runaway Liga leaders Barcelona suffered a fresh blow on Saturday as they were held to a 1-1 draw at home to Girona, meaning they could fall 11 points behind the Catalans by the end of the weekend.

The apex court referred to a larger bench a plea seeking decriminalisation of gay sex between two consenting adults.

Looking back, the Indians had rubbed their hands in delight at the variety of marquee events at home the sporting calendar of 2017 offered, and they now look forward, with optimism and anticipation, to a challenging 2018.

Laggards in international rankings, India finally made their presence felt by pulling off an impressive under-17 World Cup that drew all-round praise even though the country was eliminated in the very first round.

Political risk culminating from elections in the US and Latin America, and evolving right-wing populism in Europe could lead to substantial volatility, say Abheek Barua & Tushar Arora.

Virat Kohli batted continuously for over a day in Delhi and showed no signs of fatigue caused by the pollution, marvels Dhruv Munjal.

A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Thursday

President Trump's daughter Ivanka had led the US delegation at the three-day event.

Analysis of the eight groups for the 2018 FIFA World Cup to be held in Russia.

Chanu, who is employed with the Indian Railways, lifted 85kg in snatch and 109kg in clean and jerk to total an impressive 194kg in the women's 48kg, setting a new national record in the process.

After 4 years, South Africa won the Miss Universe title. They had last won the title in 1978.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi met the India Under-17 football team in New Delhi on Friday as he encouraged the youngsters to stick together and represent the country at the highest level in the years to come.

Lionel Messi has identified Spain as the one country he hopes to avoid in the group stages of the World Cup finals next year.

Which one is *your* favourite?

The world's most-talented young players gave India a memorable show of high quality football on the field as the country showcased its organizational skills in a near-flawless and record-breaking FIFA Under-17 World Cup across six cities, which culminated with England clinching the title in Kolkata on Saturday.

Sports Minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore hopes the stupendous success of FIFA Under-17 World Cup would motivate the country's budding footballers to improve their game and eye a World Cup qualification in near future.

FIFA U-17 WC becomes highest scoring in tournament history

World football governing body chief Gianni Infantino, on Friday, described the FIFA U-17 World Cup as a "resounding success" but refrained from giving any commitment on the country's bid to host the U-20 World Cup in 2019.

Under-17 WC final preview

India's golfer Gaganjeet Bhullar romped home to a three-shot victory at the Macao Open to bag his eighth Asian Tour title in Macau on Sunday.

Everton have been handed the dubious distinction of being the 'dirtiest' Premier League team after a study on the all-time cards and fouls by www.dirtyteams.co.uk.

News of all that's transpired on and off the football field

In the earlier match on the night, Ghana beat debutants Niger 2-0, face Mali in quarters

A summary of Tuesday's group matches in the UEFA Champions League.

Having won all their three group matches with ease, South American giants Brazil will start clear favourites when they take on the unfancied Honduras in a pre-quarterfinal match of the FIFA U-17 World Cup, in Honduras.

Captain and star striker Jann-Fiete Arp (7th and 65th) struck twice while Yann Bisseck (39th) and John Yeboah (49th) scored a goal each to help Germany reach the quarters.

News of all that's transpired on and off the football field

Jan-Fiete Arp (8th minute), Nicolas Kuehn (62nd) and Sahverdi Cetin (90+2) netted for the winners, while Ibrahima Soumah got the lone goal for Guinea in the 26th minute in the final Group C match at the Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium.

The hosts crashed out of the tournament at the group stage, losing all their three matches. They gave a tough fight to Colombia in their 1-2 defeat but suffered drubbings against the USA (0-3) and Ghana (0-4).

Paraguay continued to shine and recorded their third win on the trot when they thrashed a struggling Turkey 3-1 in a Group B match of the FIFA Under-17 World Cup in Navi Mumbai.

Rank outsiders India ended their maiden FIFA Under-17 World Cup campaign in a cry of pain and agony as they were handed a 0-4 thrashing by two-time champions Ghana in their final group match in New Delhi on Thursday.

the countries assured of places in the 32-team field for next year's World Cup finals in Russia after Tuesday's qualifiers.

Anwar Ali, at the heart of India's defence, will once again play a pivotal role in the match

After defeating Mali 3-2 and New Zealand 4-2, the South American team, one of the favourites to lift the title, will be looking to dominate Turkey.

History-maker Jeakson Singh, who will be remembered as the one who scored India's first goal in any FIFA World Cup, says the team is "ready to fight it out" in its final group game of the U-17 World Cup against Ghana, in New Delhi on Wednesday.

A summary of Tuesday's qualification matches next year's FIFA World Cup.

'I am very proud of these Indian players. They have shown that India can compete against the best in the world. They have a fantastic future'

'They defended very well and they were very organised'