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India's Deepika Kumari has achieved the number one ranking in women's recurve again, meaning she is the world number one at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

Deepika got to the mark in style, having won all three gold medals on offer at the third stage of the 2021 Archery World Cup.

Deepika Kumari reclaimed the world number one ranking in the recurve women section of archery by winning her second individual gold of the season. Deepika had won gold in the first stage of the 2021 Archery World Cup held in Guatemala City, Guatemala in April and moved to the top with another gold in the third stage at Paris, France.

Apart from the individual gold that helped her back to the number one spot in the rankings, Deepika was instrumental in India grabbing gold medals in the recurve team events at the third stage of the 2021 Archery World Cup. India finished first in the women's team and mixed team events.

Deepika was previously ranked world number one in 2012, ahead of her first Olympics Games in London, England. Before reclaiming the number one spot in June 2021, the last time she held the position was eight years back in June 2013.

In the mixed team event, Deepika partnered with her husand Atanu Das. Deepika and Atanu defeated Sjef Van Den Berg and Gaby Schloesser of the Netherlands, winners of the previous leg in Laussane, Switzerland, 5-3.

The women's team of Deepika, Ankita Bhakat and Bari Komalika defeated top-seeded Mexico 5-1 in the final for their second recurve women's team gold medal this season after Guatemala.

In both the mixed and women's team events, Deepika shot the decisive last arrows in the competition.

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The 2016 NBA Finals was played between defending champions Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers, who had also topped the Western and Eastern Conferences respectively in the 2015-16 regular season. A rematch of the 2015 NBA Finals, it is often referred to as the greatest comeback in NBA Finals history owing to the manner in which the Cavs won the title.

NBA Finals are a best-of-seven-match series, meaning the first team to four victories wins the title. Four games into the series, the Cavs were staring down at the inevitable as the Warriors, who earned the home-court advantage after setting the NBA regular season wins record (73-9), jumped to a 3-1 lead.

The Cavs, however, won the fifth game away from home 112-97, evened the series at home in the sixth game 115-101 and then completed the unthinkable by beating the Warriors away from home again. They claimed the series 4-3 with a 93-89 victory to lift their first NBA title.

DID YOU KNOW?

The Cleveland Cavaliers were the first team in NBA Finals history to overturn a 3-1 deficit and win the NBA title. LeBron James was instrumental in the Cavs victory and it was no surprise that he was awarded the NBA Finals MVP award.

James, in fact, led all players in the Finals in points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks - the first player in NBA history to ever do so in any play-off series. James averaged 29.7 points. 11.3 rebounds, 8.9 assists, 2.3 blocks and 2.6 steals in the series.

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On this day in 2016, PV Sindhu bettered Saina's bronze and secured silver in women's singles after a hard-fought match against Spain's Carolina Marin.

While Sindhu may not have won the gold, her spirited performance in the match and the exhilarating contest captivated the entire world.

On her return to her hometown Hyderabad, Sindhu and coach Pullela Gopichand were given a hero's welcome and were feted with a parade over an open deck double-decker bus to celebrate the grand achievement.

In the semi-final, Sindhu defeated second seed Nozomi Okuhara 21-19, 21-10 to become the first Indian shuttler to reach the Olympics final.

Sindhu began the match strongly and won the first game 19-21. However, from then on, the momentum shifted in the favour of Marin. Sindhu continued to fight hard but the Spaniard clinched the match and gold medal by winning the last two games 21-12, 21-15.

It was the day when Sindhu showed the world that her era was about to start. In 2019, she became the world champion by winning the BWF World Championships, becoming the first Indian to do so.

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Saina Nehwal etched her name in India's sporting history winning the country's maiden medal from badminton and becoming the second Indian woman to stand on the podium after China's Xin Wang retired hurt from the bronze medal play-off in the women's singles event at the London Games.

At the London Olympics, Nehwal was seeded 4th in the Draw. In the Group stage she defeated Swiss Sabrina Jaquet (2–0) & Belgian Lianne Tan both in straight games. She reached the knockout phase where she defeated Dutch Yao Jie with scores 21–14, 21–16. She then faced Tine Baun, the no. 5 seed whom she defeated with 21–15, 22–20 scoreline. She afterwards advanced to semifinals where she lost to top seed Wang Yihan in two straight games 13–21, 13–21. On 4 August 2012, she won the bronze medal when Wang Xin retired from the match after an injury at 18–21, 0–1.

On 21 October 2012, she won the Denmark Open after defeating Germany's Juliane Schenk. Nehwal successfully entered the finals of French Open, but she lost against Minatsu Mitani in straight sets. She participated at the season ending Superseries Finals. In the group stage, she lost to Tine Baun (1–2), won against Juliane Schenk (2–0) & lost the 3rd match to Ratchanok Intanon (0–2). She reached the semifinals but lost a well contested match to Li Xuerui of 3 games, 20–22, 21–7, 13–21.

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Pusarla Venkata Sindhu is an Indian professional badminton player. Over the course of her career, Pusarla has won medals at multiple tournaments including Olympics and on the BWF circuit including a gold at the 2019 World Championships. She is the first Indian to become the Badminton World Champion and the first Indian woman to earn an Olympic silver medal. She rose to a career high World ranking of no. 2 in April 2017.

Pusarla won her first superseries title at the 2016 China Open and followed it up with four more finals in 2017, winning the titles in South Korea and India. In addition to that, she has won a silver medal each at the 2018 Commonwealth Games and 2018 Asian Games, and two bronze medals at the Uber Cup.

In April 2017, she achieved a career-high world ranking of number 2. In the 2017 World Championships held in Scotland, Pusarla was seeded 4th. In the round of 32, she defeated Korean Kim Hyo-min in straight games. She survived a difficult challenge from Hongkonger Cheung Ngan Yi in the next round, beating her in 3 tight games 19–21, 23–21, 21–17. She thereafter eased past Sun Yu in quarterfinal & another Chinese Chen Yufei in semi-final both in straight games. She had to settle for silver after losing to Nozomi Okuhara in the finals with scores (19–21, 22–20, 20–22), In a match lasting 110 Minutes thus making it the 2nd longest Women's Singles match in History of Badminton. Her final against Okuhara is widely regarded as one of the best ever women's singles final.

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The French Open that took place in June was special for Barbora Krejcikova. She not only won the women's singles title, but also won the women's doubles title with Katerina Siniakova.

This meant that she became the first woman to sweep both women's titles at a Grand Slam since Serena Williams achieved the feat at Wimbledon in 2016.

While Krejcikova is the first woman since Serena Williams at Wimbledon 2016 to sweep the singles and doubles title at a Grand Slam event, we have to go much farther back if we are looking at the French Open alone, France's Mary Pierce (right) was the last woman to have achieved the feat at French Open, having managed it in 2000.

By defeating Russia's Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the final of the 2021 French Open women's singles event, Krejcikova won her maiden Grand Slam singles title.

This title, in fact, is only her second singles title ever. She achieved her first singles title at Strasbourg in May 2021 only.

After winning her women's singles title, Krejcikova then teamed up with her long-time partner Katerina Siniakova to win the women's doubles event as well. This is the duo's third Grand Slam title, having already won the French Open and Wimbledon in 2018.

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A symbol used in the Olympic movement. The Olympic flame denotes continuity between ancient and modern games. Several months before the Olympic Games, the Olympic flame is lit at Olympia, Greece. The Olympic torch then goes through a journey, before being used to declare the games open during the opening ceremony by lighting the Olympic cauldron.

The Tokyo Olympics torch relay got off to a low-key start this time around after a year's coronavirus delay, with fans kept away as it embarked on a four-month journey across Japan that will end at the opening ceremony on July 23.

Organisers hope the 121-day relay, which will criss-cross Japan and involve 10,000 runners, will build excitement and enthusiasm as doubts persist about holding the Games safely. (with inputs from AFP)

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You might know India as a force to reckon with in badminton now, but it wasn't always the case. We've had top players before, but we had to wait until 2012 to get our first medal in the competition at the Olympics. The credit for that goes to Saina Nehwal.

Ranked fifth back then, Saina qualified for the 2012 London Olympics and sailed through to the knock-out stages with straight games victories over Switzerland's Sabrina Jaquet and Belgium's Lianne Tan.

Wins against Chinese-born Dutch Yao Jie and Denmark's Tine Baun put Saina within a victory of the summit clash. Saina, however, lost her semi-finals against top seed Wing Yihan of China, who finished with a silver medal

In the bronze medal play-off against China's Wang Xin, Saina Nehwal was trailing after she lost the opening game 18-21. Luck, however, was on her side as Wang Xin was forced to retire after twisting her knee while going for an acrobatic smash in the second game. Saina thus finished with a bronze medal.

DID YOU KNOW?

Even though India had top quality players to boast about earlier as well, Saina Nehwal's bronze was the country's first badminton medal at the Olympics.

India has won two medals in badminton at the Olympics so far, one bronze and one silver. Both these medals were won by women.

After Saina's bronze in 2012, PV Sindhu went one better at the 2016 Rio Olympics, finishing with a silver medal.

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By winning the 2021 French Open men's singles title, Serbia's Novak Djokovic created history. Having already won the French Open in 2016, this was the second time that he emerged as the clay-court champion.

This means that Djokovic is the first man in the Open era (1968 onwards) to have won all four Grand Slams - Australian Open. French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open-twice or more.

The combination picture shows Novak Djokovic kissing and celebrating with the trophy won after his first (top row) and most recent (bottom row) victories at the Australian Open, Wimbledon, US Open and the French Open.

DJOKOVIC'S GRAND SLAM VICTORIES:

Australian Open - 2008, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2019, 2020, 2021

French Open - 2016, 2021 Wimbledon-2011, 2014, 2015, 2018, 2019

US Open - 2011, 2015, and 2018

With nine Australian Open titles, two French Open titles, five Wimbledon triumphs and three US Open victories. Novak Djokovic has 19 Grand Slam men's singles titles so far. This puts him just one behind the all-time men's record of 20, held jointly by Swiss Roger Federer and Spaniard Rafael Nadal.

JOINS EMERSON, LAVER

While Novak Djokovic is the first man in Open era history to win all the Grand Slam titles twice or more, he is the third man in tennis history to do so.

The first two - Roy Emerson and Rod Laver - completed this record either fully or partially before the Open era began.

MOST FIVE-SET MATCHES WON IN GRAND SLAMS

Novak Djokovic has now won 32 five-set matches in Grand Slam men's singles event, the most by anyone. He is ahead of Roger Federer, who has 30 such wins, and Pete Sampras, with 29.

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At an age when most players were several years into retirement or at the very least at the tail end of their careers, Ken Rosewall was still winning major singles titles.

On a sweltering 100-plus degree day in Melbourne, one better suited for the pool or beach,  Rosewall became the oldest major tournament winner in the Open Era when, at age 37 years, 2 months and 1 day, he defeated fellow Aussie Mal Anderson, 7-6, 6-3, 7-5, to win the 1972 Australian Open at the Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club.

Rosewall’s career transcended through the amateur, professional, and Open eras, and he was was immensely successful at every stage of his career. He was like the Energizer Bunny – he never slowed down and his game was timeless, proficient and effective until he decided it was time to end his remarkable run. He won 18 majors (eight singles, nine doubles, one mixed), which is sixth-highest male totals, and an additional 15 titles in 19 opportunities in professional tournaments.

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Federer has won a record of 20 Grand Slam singles titles (tied with Nadal). Federer broke the previous all-time record held by Pete Sampras (14) in 2009 and is the first, and one of only three male players (other being Nadal and Djokovic) to win 15+ Grand Slam singles titles in tennis history.

Federer has been ranked world No. 1 for 310 total weeks in the Open Era. In 2012, Federer broke the previous ATP record of 286 weeks as No. 1, held by Sampras. Federer has held the record of weeks as No. 1 until 8 March 2021, when Djokovic broke his record. Additionally, from 2004 through 2008, Federer held the top singles ranking for 237 consecutive weeks, breaking Jimmy Connors' 31-year-old record of 160 consecutive weeks.

Federer is the only player in tennis history who has won 6+ titles in 7 different tournaments. Federer has won 10 titles at the Halle Open (ATP 500), 10 titles at the Swiss Indoors (ATP 500), 8 titles at Wimbledon (Grand Slam), 8 titles at the Dubai Tennis Championships (ATP 500), 7 titles at the Cincinnati Masters (Masters 1000), 6 titles at the Australian Open (Grand Slam), and 6 titles at the World Tour Finals.

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Rafael Nadal has won 20 Grand Slam men's singles titles, an all-time record shared with Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic, and 36 Masters 1000 men's singles titles, an all-time record shared with Novak Djokovic. His 13 French Open titles in particular are a record at any tournament. 

From childhood through most of his professional career, Nadal was coached by his uncle Toni. He was one of the most successful teenagers in ATP Tour history, reaching No. 2 in the world at age 19 and winning 16 titles, including his first French Open and six Masters events. Nadal became No. 1 for the first time in 2008 after his first major victory off clay against the longtime top-ranked Federer, his main rival through 2010, in a historic Wimbledon final. He also won an Olympic gold medal in singles that year in Beijing, and then completed the career Grand Slam at the 2010 US Open in the only year where he won three majors. With his Olympic gold medal, he is also one of only two male players to complete the career Golden Slam.

Nadal is the only left-handed member of the Big Three. One of his main strengths is his forehand, which he routinely hits with extremely heavy topspin at difficult angles to return. He is one of the best at breaking serve, regularly appearing among the tour leaders in percentage of return games, return points, and break points won. Nadal has won the Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award four times, and was the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year in 2011 and 2021. Representing Spain, he has an Olympic gold medal in both singles and doubles. He has also led the Spain Davis Cup team to five titles while playing alongside fellow top 10 players including David Ferrer and his future coach Carlos Moyá. Outside of competing, Nadal opened a tennis academy in his hometown of Mallorca, and is also an active philanthropist.

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A street circuit is composed of temporarily closed-off public roads of a place, be it a village, town or city, that is used in motor sports for racing purposes. Essentially, a street circuit is a collection of roads used by the public in general, but cordoned off during race days for the purpose.

Street circuit is a type of circuit used in Formula 1 these days, along with proper circuits (designed and built for racing) and hybrid tracks (have elements of both proper circuits and street circuits). Saudi Arabia's first ever Formula One Grand Prix in December will feature the fastest street circuit in the sport, with average speeds of around 250 kmph.

Street circuits generally produce some thrilling races, as was evident in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix that took place early in June.

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Roger Federer continued to prove that age is just a number as he notched up another men's singles Grand Slam title - his 20th at the 2018 Australian Open. Entering the tournament as the defending champion, Federer won it in style.

He did not drop a single set on the way to the final, winning all the encounters in three sets or fewer. He saw off Aljaz Bedene, Jan-Lennard Struff. Richard Gasquet, Marton Fucsovics and Tomas Berdych in straight sets, while Chung Hyeon retired during the second set in the semi-final.

The final against Marin Cilic, however, went all the way, first four sets were a see-saw The battle as Federer and Cilic won each of them alternatingly. Federer, though, eased through the final set to win the match 6-2 6-7 (5-7) 6-3 3-6 6-1 and claim his sixth Australian Open title.

Did you know?

Roger Federer is the first male player to have won 20 Grand Slam singles titles. Rafael Nadal is the only other player so far to achieve the feat.

Federer was 36 years and 173 days old when he won the 2018 Australian Open. That makes him the second-oldest man to ever win a Grand Slam singles title in the Open era (1968 onwards), behind Australian Ken Rosewall, who was 37 years and 2 months when winning the 1972 Australian Open.

The 2018 win was Federer's sixth Australian Open title. Only Novak Djokovic, who now has nine, has won more Australian Open men's singles titles in the Open era.

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Of the four Grand Slam tournaments that are played currently, the Australian Open and the US Open are played on hard courts. The French Open is played on clay, while the Wimbledon is played on grass. Of the four tournaments, the Wimbledon is the only tournament that has always been played on the same surface, grass, throughout its history.

Clay courts are made of crushed shale, stone or brick. The French Open is the only Grand Slam tournament to use clay courts.

Clay courts slow down the ball and produce a high bounce in comparison to grass or hard courts. For this reason, the clay court takes away many of the advantages of big serves, which makes it hard for serve-based players to dominate on the surface. Clay courts are cheaper to construct than other types of tennis courts, but a clay surface costs more to maintain. Clay courts need to be rolled to preserve flatness. The clay's water content must be balanced; green clay courts generally require the courts to be sloped to allow water run-off.

Grass courts are the fastest type of courts in common use. They consist of grass grown on very hard-packed soil, which adds additional variables: bounces depend on how healthy the grass is, how recently it has been mowed, and the wear and tear of recent play. Points are usually very quick where fast, low bounces keep rallies short, and the serve plays a more important role than on other surfaces. Grass courts tend to favour serve-and-volley tennis players.

Grass courts were once among the most common tennis surfaces, but are now rare due to high maintenance costs, as they must be watered and mown often, and take a longer time to dry after rain than hard courts.

Hard courts are made of uniform rigid material, often covered with an acrylic surface layer to offer greater consistency of bounce than other outdoor surfaces. Hard courts can vary in speed, though they are faster than clay but not as fast as grass courts. The quantity of sand added to the paint can greatly affect the rate at which the ball slows down.

The US Open is played on Laykold while the Australian Open is played on GreenSet, both acrylic-topped hard court surfaces.

"Carpet" in tennis means any removable court covering. Indoor arenas store rolls of rubber-backed court surfacing and install it temporarily for tennis events, but they are not in use any more for professional events. A short piled form of artificial turf infilled with sand is used for some outdoor courts, particularly in Asia. Carpet is generally a fast surface, faster than hardcourt, with low bounce.

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