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After 50 years, Milwaukee Bucks won the NBA title by defeating the Phoenix Suns 4-2 in the best of seven NBA Finals. While it was surely a team effort, their star player Giannis Antetokounmpo performed big when it mattered most, taking the NBA Finals MVP (Most Valuable Player) award in the process. Antetokounmpo created a number of records and joined some elite company with his stellar performance in the NBA Finals.

Antetokounmpo's record-breaking performance in the NBA finals

Milwaukee Bucks Giannis Antetokounmpo recorded 50 points, 14 rebounds and 5 blocks in the 105-98 closeout Game 6 win over the Phoenix Suns in the NBA Finals. That made him the first person ever in NBA history with 50 points, 10 rebounds, and five blocks in a Finals game.

Antetokounmpo is just the seventh player in NBA history to notch up 50 points in a Finals game. Bob Pettit, Elgin Baylor, Rick Barry, Jerry West, Michael Jordan, and LeBron James are the others who have achieved the feat.

33 of Antetokounmpo's 50 points in Game 6 of the NBA Finals came in the second half of the match. This makes him just the second player in the last 50 years, after Michael Jordan, to score 33 points in a Finals half. He is also the first player ever to record multiple 30+ points halves in a single NBA Finals series.

Antetokounmpo finished with an average of 35.2 points, 13.2 rebounds and 5.0 assists per game in the NBA Finals. He is only the second player after Shaquille O'Neal to average over 30 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists for players with at least 60% shooting in a NBA Finals series.

By winning the NBA Finals MVP (Most Valuable Player), Antetokounmpo joined Michael Jordan as the only players in NBA history to win multiple MVPS, DPOY (Defensive Player of the Year) and Finals MVP honours.

As Antetokounmpo also won the Most Improved Player (MIP) of the Year award in 2017, he is the first player in NBA history to win the MIP, MVP, DPOY and Finals MVP awards.

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The 2017-2018 Champions League was the 63rd season of Europe's premier club football tournament. The final was played between Real Madrid and Liverpool, with Real winning it 3-1.

Spanish club Real were placed in a tough Group H along with Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur, Bundesliga club Borussia Dortmund and Cyprus APOEL. Real finished runners-up in their group, three points behind Spurs in the points table.

That meant a Round of 16 clash with France's Paris Saint Germain and they eased through it with a 5-2 aggregate victory over two legs. The quarter-final against Italian side Juventus was more hard fought, and Real managed to scrape through, 4-3 on aggregate.

The semi-final against Germany's Bayern Munich also went on similar lines, and Real once again progressed with a 4-3 aggregate.

In the final against Liverpool, Real Madrid's Karim Benzema put them ahead in the 51st minute, only for Liverpool's Sadio Mane to equalise just four minutes later. Real's Gareth Bale, who came on as a substitute in the 61st minute, turned out to be the hero as his two goals in the 64th and 83rd minutes proved to be the difference between the two sides in the end.

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Real Madrid became the first club in the Champions League era (1992 onwards) to win a hat-trick of CL titles. By winning the tournament in 2016, 2017 and 2018, they won three back-to-back titles, becoming the first team since Bayern Munich in 1976 (European Cup Final) to achieve the feat in Europe's premier club football tournament.

The 2018 Champions League victory allowed Real to claim a record 13th European Cup overall, having won the tournament in 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1966, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2014, 2016 and 2017 as well.

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On July 17, 2021, England all-rounder Liam Livingstone scored a 42-ball century on his way to 103. While that innings wasn't enough for England to win the first T201 against Pakistan, they went on to win the next two to win the series.

Livingstone, who was named as the player of the series, scored England's fastest T201 fifty and hundred in that innings, even though it came in a losing cause.

Liam Livingstone reached his fifty in just 17 balls and completed his hundred in just 42 deliveries. That makes it both the fastest fifty and fastest hundred by an England batsman in T20 internationals. He scored nine sixes in the innings, another record for an English batsman in T20Is, going past the previous record of seven held by Eoin Morgan (on four occasions), Ravi Bopara and Jason Roy. While Livingstone's century is the seventh fastest in the history of T20Is, it is the third fastest (behind David Miller and Rohit Sharma, who both share the first place) T201 hundred in matches that were played between full-member cricketing nations.

When South Africa's David Miller hit a T201 century (101 not out) against Bangladesh from just 35 balls, he shaved off 10 deliveries from the fastest T20 international hundred record. The record was previously held by his compatriot Richard Levi, who had scored a century in 45 balls against New Zealand in 2012.

Less than two months after Miller set his record, he was joined at the top by India's Rohit Sharma. Opening the innings against Sri Lanka, Rohit finished with a 43-ball 118. While Miller's knock allowed the Proteas to win the match against Bangladesh by 83 runs. Rohit's ton paved the way for an 88-run victory.

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Novak Djokovic defeated Andy Murray in the final, 3–6, 6–1, 6–2, 6–4 to capture his first French Open Men's Singles tennis title at the 2016 French Open. Djokovic also became the first man since Jim Courier in 1992 to win both the Australian and French Opens in the same calendar year.

 Additionally, he spent his 200th week at number one in the ATP rankings during the first week of the tournament and his 100th week in a row at number one in the ATP rankings during the second week of the tournament. Djokovic also improved his record for the most ranking points ever held by any player to 16,950.

Stan Wawrinka was the defending champion, but was defeated in the semifinals by Andy Murray. Murray became the first British man since Bunny Austin in 1937 to reach the final. Murray's run meant he had now also reached the final of each of the four Grand Slam tournaments at least once in his career.

This tournament marked the first time in the 21st century that Roger Federer did not play at a main draw Grand Slam singles event, withdrawing prior to the beginning of the tournament to avoid "unnecessary risk" since he was "still not 100%".Thus, he ended a record of 65 consecutive Grand Slam appearances, the last Grand Slam he missed having been the 1999 US Open.

Nine-time champion Rafael Nadal withdrew for the first time since his appearance in 2005, prior to his third-round match due to a wrist injury.

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Djokovic's clay court achievements include 17 titles on the surface, including two French Open titles and 10 Masters titles. Djokovic is the second player after Robin Söderling to defeat Nadal at the French Open, the only player to do so twice, and the only player to beat Nadal in straight sets at the tournament. He is also the only player to defeat Nadal in all three clay court Masters events, which he first achieved in the finals of Madrid and Rome in 2011 and in Monte Carlo in 2013. 

Djokovic is the second male player to win three consecutive Grand Slam tournaments on three different surfaces in the same year (hard, clay and grass), doing so in 2021, and which Nadal did in 2010.

Djokovic has won an all-time record of nine Australian Open men's singles titles, surpassing the previous record of 6 by Roy Emerson. Djokovic is the only male player to win 3 consecutive Australian Open titles during the Open Era, which he did twice (2011–13 and 2019–21). Djokovic is the second of only two male players in history to win a Grand Slam singles title nine or more times, the other being Nadal (13 French Opens). He is 9–0 in Australian Open finals as well as 9–0 in Australian Open semifinals.

Djokovic is the only player to defeat Nadal in straight sets in a Grand Slam final (Australian Open 2019) as well as the first player to defeat Nadal in straight sets at the French Open (2015 quarterfinal). Only Djokovic has defeated Nadal in a French Open semifinal (2021) ending Nadal Streak of 13–0 in FO SemiFinal as well as the only male player to defeat Nadal twice in FO (2015 QF and 2021 SemiFinal). Only Djokovic has won FO after defeating Nadal in earlier rounds, which he did in 2021 FO. Djokovic is the only player in history to win 3 or more consecutive slams 4 times in his career.

Djokovic has spent a record 334 weeks (as of Monday 16 August 2021, equivalent to more than 6 years) as ATP world No. 1, surpassing Federer's previous record of 310 weeks. In 2020 he became the second male player in the Open Era to be Year-end No. 1 for six years, joining Pete Sampras. At age 33, he is also the oldest year-end No. 1 in ATP rankings history, for the 2020 season.

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At the 12th time of trying, Novak Djokovic finally tasted success at the French Open. This after a string of near misses at the event. But when the agonising wait finally ended, it was much sweeter for Djokovic as he found himself holding all four major singles titles at the same time.

Entering the 2016 French Open as the top seed, Djokovic had it easy in his first three matches as he won them all without dropping a single set. He dropped the first set in his fourth round clash against Spain's Bautista Agut, but claimed the next three to progress to the quarter-finals.

The quarters against Czech Republic's Tomas Berdych and the semis against Austria's Dominic Thiem proved to be straightforward affairs, as he got rid of both players in three sets.

He played second seeded Andy Murray in the final. The Brit, playing his first final at the event, was able to take the first set off Djokovic, but nothing more. Djokovic won the match 3-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-4 to claim his first French Open title.

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While Djokovic had it easy at the other major Grand Slam tournaments, he had to struggle at the French Open. The 2016 triumph was the first time he won at the event. He had made it to the finals and lost on three occasions before 2016, twice to Rafael Nadal and once to Stan Wawrinka.

By winning the French Open in 2016, Djokovic held all four Grand Slam titles at the same time, having already won the Wimbledon and US Open in 2015 and the 2016 Australian Open.

Djokovic thus became just the third man after Don Budge in 1938 and Rod Laver in 1962 and 1969 to hold all four of the major singles titles at the same time.

By winning the French Open in 2021, Djokovic became the first male player in the Open Era (1968 onwards) to win all the four Grand Slam titles on two or more occasions.

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On July 11, 2021, Novak Djokovic defeated Matteo Berrettini in the men's singles final of the Wimbledon. With that, he not only won the Wimbledon for the sixth time in his career, but also took his Grand Slam singles victories tally to 20.

Djokovic is now part of a trio, along with Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, as the only ones to have won 20 Grand Slam men's singles titles.

Telling numbers

20-10 The 2021 Wimbledon men's singles final was the 30th Grand Slam final that Novak Djokovic competed. By winning it, Djokovic now has a 20-10 win-loss record in Grand Slam finals.

8 out of 12- If we are to look at men's singles winners at Grand Slams since the 2018 Wimbledon, then eight out of the 12 titles have been won by Djokovic. If we include Nadal's victories, then the duo have claimed 12 out of the last 13 Grand Slam titles.

55 out of 64 - The Big Three of Roger Federer, Nadal and Djokovic have, in fact, won 55 of the last 64 major singles titles.

Twenty all

Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and now Novak Djokovic are the only tennis players to have won 20 Grand Slam titles in men's singles. They got there in that order with Federer reaching the milestone first in 2018, Nadal joining him in 2020 and Djokovic getting there in 2021.

Federer has won the Australian Open on six occasions, French Open once, Wimbledon an Open Era (1968 onwards) record eight times and the US Open five times. Nadal has one the Australian Open once, French Open a record 13 times, Wimbledon twice and US Open on four occasions.

Novak Djokovic has won the Australian Open a record nine times, French Open twice, Wimbledon on six occasions and US Open thrice. Djokovic, in fact, became the first man in the Open Era to win each of the Grand Slam titles at least twice when he won the French Open.

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India captain MS Dhoni, promoting himself up the order, joined Gambhir and they both added 109 runs, an Indian record in a World Cup final. Gambhir got out for 97 runs in the 42nd over. India chased down the total and won the match by six wickets in the 49th over. Dhoni was declared the "man of the match" for scoring 91 runs, while his compatriot Yuvraj Singh was awarded the "man of the tournament".

The match was the tenth World Cup final and was hosted at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai. It was the first time the city has hosted a World Cup final, and was the second final to be hosted by India, after the 1987 final held at Eden Gardens, Kolkata. The 2011 final was the first to feature two teams from the same continent, and the first time that two co-hosts contested the final.

India were making their 3rd appearance in a World Cup final. Previously, they won the final in 1983, and lost in 2003. Sri Lanka was appearing in their third World Cup final; breakthrough winners against Australia in 1996 they finished as runners up (also to Australia) in the previous World Cup in 2007. Prior to this match, India and Sri Lanka had met each other seven times in World Cup history with Sri Lanka ahead with four wins and two defeats and one game ending in a no-result. In One Day Internationals, India led Sri Lanka with 75 victories against 52 victories for Sri Lanka, while 11 matches had ended with no result.

The final generated huge interest. The President of Sri Lanka Mahinda Rajapaksa, a known cricket enthusiast, announced he would attend the match along with his sons. Following this, the Indian President Pratibha Patil also announced her decision to attend the match.

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Yuvraj Singh, who performed brilliantly with the bat and ball, was adjudged the 2011 World Cup Player of the Tournament while Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni was named Man of the Match of the final against Sri Lanka.

Yuvraj was the unanimous choice of a select group of experts following his sensational form that helped guide his side to the title. The 29-year-old scored a total of 362 runs at an average of 86.19 in eight innings. Along the way, he also won four Man of the Match awards.

He also took 15 wickets at an average of 25.13 and an economy-rate of 5.02 with his more-than-useful slow left-arm bowling.

Sri Lanka's inspirational captain Kumar Sangakkara, joint-top wicket-takers Shahid Afridi of Pakistan and Zaheer Khan of India, as well as leading run-scorer Tillakaratne M. Dilshan and Muttiah Muralitharan of Sri Lanka, and AB de Villiers of South Africa were in also in contention for the award.

During India's World Cup title victory at Lord's 28 years ago, Mohinder Amarnath won the Man of the Match in the final against West Indies. He scored a crucial 26 in the low-scoring match and then took 3-12.

Credit : Hindustan Times

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One of the best moments of the last decade for Indians in cricket would definitely be Mahendra Singh Dhoni hitting a six to win the 2011 ODI Cricket World Cup and then twirling his bat in style.

India emerged champions of the format for the first time since 1983 and it was only the second time, after Sri Lanka - who were the 2011 losing finalists - in 1996, that one of the host countries won the event.

India didn't manage to win just two games through the tournament as they were held to a tie against England and lost to South Africa.

With a win against West Indies (champions of the event in 1975 and 1979) in the last group game, and victories against Australia (champions in 1987, 1999, 2003 and 2007), Pakistan (champions in 1992) and Sri Lanka (1996) in the knock-out stages, India defeated each of the four other previous champions on their way to the title.

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Yuvraj Singh, who amassed 362 runs and picked up 15 wickets through the tournament, was named the player of the series.

By winning the final at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, India became the first country to win the ODI Cricket World Cup final on home soil. Australia (Melbourne in 2015) and England (London in 2019) have also accomplished the feat since then.

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Underwater hockey (UWH) or Octopush is a globally-played, no contact sport in which two teams of six players each, manoeuvre a puck across the bottom of a swimming pool into the opposing team's goal. There are no goalies - each side uses teamwork and formations to defend and score. Players wear a diving mask, snorkel and fins, and carry in one hand a stick or pusher to propel the 1.3 kg lead puck into the goal. A key challenge of the game is that players are not able to use breathing devices such as scuba gear; they must hold their breath. The game was invented in Great Britain in 1954 to help train divers and British commandos. It is recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and is governed by the World Underwater Federation (CMAS).

There are a number of penalties described in the official underwater hockey rules, ranging from the use of the stick against something (or someone) other than the puck, playing or stopping the puck with something other than the stick, and "blocking" (interposing one's self between a teammate who possesses the puck and an opponent; one is allowed to play the puck but not merely block opponents with one's body). If the penalty is minor, referees award an advantage puck: the team that committed the foul is pushed back 3 metres (9.8 ft) from the puck, while the other team gets free possession. For major penalties such as a dangerous pass (e.g. striking an opponent's head) or intentional or repeated fouls, the referees may eject players for a specified period of time or for the remainder of the game, or even - in the case of very serious or deliberate fouls - for the remainder of a tournament. A defender committing a serious foul sufficiently close to his own goal may be penalised by the award of a penalty shot or even a penalty goal awarded to the fouled player's team.

Often players who are most successful in this game are strong swimmers, have a great ability to hold and recover their breath, and are able to produce great speed underwater while demonstrating learned skills in puck control. It is also important that they are able to work well with their team members and take full advantage of their individual skills.

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On July 3, 2021, Indian women's ODI skipper Mithali Raj scored an unbeaten 75 to guide her side to victory in the third ODI against England at Worcester. Along the way, the 38-year-old became the highest run-scorer in women's international cricket, having gone past former England captain Charlotte Edwards tally of 10,273 runs.

In the 24th over of India's innings during their successful chase in the third ODI against England in Worcester, Mithali Raj reached the milestone of becoming the highest international run-scorer in women's cricket. She did it in style. going past Charlotte Edwards tally of 10,273 runs with a boundary down the ground off England fast bowler Nat Sciver. As she finished unbeaten on 75 and also helped India overhaul England's total and reach the target of 220. Mithali Raj couldn't have asked for a better way to celebrate the achievement.

Leading from the front

India's victory in the third ODI against England was Mithali Raj's 84th victory as a captain in the format. With that, she went past the record held by Belinda Clark (83) of Australia for having won most matches as captain in women's ODIS.

In 179 matches as captain in women's international cricket, Mithali Raj has scored 6015 runs so far. This puts her second only to former England captain Charlotte Edwards, who scored 6,728 runs in 220 games when leading her side.

Records galore

With 10,337 runs across the three formats of women's international cricket, India's Mithali Raj is the leading run-scorer in the game. Mithali Raj and England's Charlotte Edwards, in fact, are the only women to have crossed the 10,000-run mark in women's international cricket with New Zealand's Suzie Bates currently a distant third with less than 8,000 runs.

While no other women cricketer has breached the 6,000-run mark in ODI cricket, Mithali Raj has amassed a staggering 7,304 runs so far.

With eight hundreds and 79 fifties in her international career, Mithali Raj has more scores of 50 or more than anyone else in women's international cricket.

Fifty four of those 87 fifty-plus scores have come when Mithali Raj has captained the side, another record among captains in women's international cricket. Mithali Raj has scored five hundreds and 49 fifties as India's captain.

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Williams defeated Sharapova for the seventeenth consecutive time for the loss of six games to advance to her eighth Wimbledon final. In the final she faced major final debutant Garbiñe Muguruza, the young Spaniard who had handed Williams her heaviest defeat at a major, just a year before. Though Williams' opening service game was broken, she recovered and won the opening set. Williams raced ahead to a double break lead and would serve for the match twice, but the young Spaniard broke the world No. 1 both times. Although Muguruza got the match back on serve, she would still have to serve to stay in the match. Williams broke the Spaniard's serve to win her sixth Wimbledon title and complete the "Serena Slam 2.0". The final lasted 83 minutes, with Williams serving 12 aces to 8 double faults, hitting 29 winners to 15 unforced errors, and getting in 37 of 68 first serves. With this victory Serena Williams became the oldest female in the Open Era to win a major singles title, passing the former mark of Martina Navratilova. This win was her twenty-first major singles title, putting her one behind Steffi Graf's Open Era record, and three behind the all-time mark set by Margaret Court.

Williams broke Muguruza again on her following serve and held again to go up 4-1. It wasn't even a contest from that point on, with Williams breaking Muguruza without allowing her to even get a point in the next game, setting up a service game for the match. Muguruza showed some signs of life though, and broke Williams to make it 5-2. She then kept herself in it with her next service game. Miraculously, she kept herself in again by fighting off Williams' serve to get another break and get back on serve.

At that point, Williams was finally able to shut down the comeback, dominating Muguruza to score a break for the match win.

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At the 2002 Wimbledon Championships, Williams won tennis's oldest championship for the first time in her life, defeating Venus to win a Grand Slam singles title without dropping a set for the first time in her career. This victory earned Williams the world No. 1 ranking for the first time, dethroning her sister and becoming only the third African American woman to hold that ranking.

At the 2003 Australian Open, Williams reached the tournament's semifinals for the first time, where she recovered from 5–1 down in the third set and saved two match points before defeating Clijsters. In the final, Serena faced Venus for the fourth consecutive Grand Slam tournament final, defeating her older sister to become the sixth woman in the Open Era to complete a career Grand Slam, alongside Margaret Court, Billie Jean King, Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova, and Steffi Graf. She also became the fifth woman to hold all Grand Slam singles titles simultaneously, joining Maureen Connolly Brinker, Court, Graf, and Navratilova. This feat was dubbed the "Serena Slam" by the press. The Williams sisters won their sixth Grand Slam doubles title together at this event.

During the spring of 2003, Williams captured the singles titles at the Open Gaz de France and the Sony Ericsson Open. Williams's winning streak came to an end when she lost the final of the Family Circle Cup to Henin, her first loss of the year after 21 wins. She also lost to Mauresmo in the semifinals of the Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome. Despite these losses, Williams was the top seed at the French Open, where she lost in the semifinals to eventual champion Henin, marking Williams's first loss in a Grand Slam tournament since 2001. The match was controversial, as Williams questioned Henin's sportsmanship, and spectators applauded Williams's errors. Williams rebounded from the French Open loss a couple weeks later at the 2003 Wimbledon Championships, defeating Henin in the semifinals and Venus in the final. This was Williams's second consecutive Wimbledon title and her sixth Grand Slam singles title overall. Wimbledon was Williams's last tournament of 2003; she pulled out of three events in the US and then underwent surgery on the quadriceps tendon in her knee in early August. Williams was initially expected to be out for six to eight weeks.

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Serena Williams 2015 Wimbledon triumph was a special one-not just for her. She entered the tournament after having won the US Open in 2014 and followed it up with victories at the Australian Open and French Open in 2015.

In short, she was going after the so-called Serena Slam of holding all four Grand Slam titles at the same time for the second time in her career, having done it once already over 2002 and 2003.

Following wins over qualifier Margarita Gasparyan and Timea Babos in the first two rounds, Serena had to dig deep to defeat Heather Watson in the third round.

After seeing off sister Venus Williams in the fourth round, she registered victories against Victoria Azarenka, Maria Sharapova and Garbine Muguruza to lift the title.

By completing Serena Slam 2.0 with her Wimbledon title in 2015, she became only the third player-after Rod Laver and Steffi Graf- to achieve the feat of holding all four majors at the same time for the second time during a playing career.

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