A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Sunday
Miku, Sunil on target as Bengaluru FC beat Blasters 3-1
Skipper Sunil Chettri was on target from the spot while the prolific Miku struck twice as Bengaluru FC thrashed Kerala Blasters 3-1 in an Indian Super League match, in Kochi on Sunday.
Courage Pekuson pulled one back for the Blasters.
The win took Bengaluru to third position on the table and in touching distance of league leaders Chennaiyin FC.
The Blues could have easily scored more goals if not for some heroic goalkeeping by Subhasish Roy.
He was called into action a number of times on either side of the break, and he kept his team in the contest. Albert Roca's side were in complete control of the game from the start.
In the 35th minute of the game, Roy was put to test by Chhetri but he did enough to palm the strikers fierce shot away. At the other end, Kerala didn't have much going forward.
The second half began much like the first. Roy was again called into action to save another Chhetri effort in the 50th minute.
But 10 minutes later, a hand-ball by Sandesh Jhingan gave Bengaluru a chance to take the lead from the spot. Chettri took the responsibility and this time Roy had no answers.
Then, later on, Miku got himself a double. The Spanish import's first goal came after a magnificent solo run from the midfield before putting it past Roy.
Marin breezes past Hyun to keep Hunters alive against Dashers
In a clash of Titans, Olympic Champion Carolina Marin pulled off a stunning victory over World No.6 Sung Ji Hyun of Korea to help Hyderabad Hunters stay alive in the last tie of the Vodafone Premier Badminton League in New Delhi.
Hyun, who had beaten Marin on both the occasions in the last season, could not continue her winning streak against the Spaniard as she went down 10-15,12-15.
A win for Delhi in this match would have given them a great opportunity to tighten their noose on Hyderabad but Hyun failed to build on the momentum keeping the tie open for an exciting finish. With three matches over, Delhi Dashers are leading 2-0 on points with a chance of sealing the deal in the next match when Delhi's trump player Tian Houwei takes on Sai Praneeth of Hyderabad.
Earlier in the day, Vincent Wong Wing Ki of Hong Kong pulled off a major coup over Hunters' trump player Lee Hyun Il of Korea in a pulsating contest.
In the third match of the tie, Current Olympic champion registered a stunning straight games victory over World No 6 Sung Ji Hyun to help Hunters pull one back and keep them alive in this riveting contest.
The Dashers started off the tie with a bang as their Russian men’s doubles pair of Ivan Sozonov and Vladimir Ivanov breezed past Indonesia-Korean combination of Markis Kido and Yoo Yeon Seong 15-9, 15-11.
Tearful Garcia succumbs to back injury
Fourth seed Caroline Garcia left the court in tears after a lower back injury forced the Frenchwoman to retire from her first round match against Alize Cornet at the Brisbane International on Sunday.
The 24-year-old, who struggled with a back injury last season, claimed the first set 6-3 before Cornet prevailed by the same score in the second to force the decider in the all-French encounter.
Garcia appeared to be suffering from some discomfort and took a medical timeout before the final set. She tried to hit a couple of serves before deciding she could not continue and retired in tears.
"I've always had some issues with my back," Garcia told reporters.
"At the beginning of the match I felt a pain in my lower back and it was different than it is normally. It was getting worse and worse and in the end I couldn't really move. There was no point to keep going."
She was hopeful the injury would not affect her Australian Open prospects next month.
"I mean, it's in two weeks, so it's a long time... with the back it's always complicated," she added. "Especially mine, it's really something I take care of, so it's kind of surprising for it to show up like this. But we'll do the best that we can."
Cornet will met Mirjana Lucic-Baroni in the second round after the Croatian, who travels full-time with her daughter, overcame Germany's Tatjana Maria 6-4, 4-6, 6-0.
"I'm very sorry for Caroline. I know what it's like to have back pain," Cornet, who went down to Karolina Pliskova in last year's final, said in a courtside interview.
"I hope she recovers for the next tournament in the Australian Open. I cannot say I'm glad to be through this way, but the adventure continues for me.
"Last year, I had a super run to the final and I have very good memories. I hope to go as far as possible."
Elsewhere, seventh seed Anastasija Sevastova beat local favourite Sam Stosur 6-1, 6-3, while Ana Konjuh tamed Kiki Bertens 6-1, 6-2.
In the men's section, Ukraine's Alexandr Dolgopolov caused a minor upset with a hard fought victory over sixth seed Diego Schwartzman of Argentina 6-4, 7-6(3).
Australia ease past Canada in Hopman Cup opener
Daria Gavrilova beat Eugenie Bouchard in straight sets but Thanasi Kokkinakis was made to work harder to edge out Vasek Pospisil and give Australia a winning start to their Hopman Cup campaign against Canada on Sunday.
Gavrilova gave the hosts a flying start in the round robin stage of the eight-nation mixed team event, beating former world number five Bouchard 6-1, 6-4 at the Perth Arena.
The nimble-footed Australian raced to a 5-0 lead in the opener but faced more of a challenge in the next, despite claiming the first three games of the second set against the Canadian.
Gavrilova held firm as Bouchard mounted a comeback attempt, saving three break points at 3-2 before sealing the straight-sets victory.
"The first set was great but I definitely felt some nerves at the end. I was going for it all too much. It bodes well and it was nice to win again," the world number 25 told reporters.
"I was very happy with the start. I was very physical from the beginning, made it tough for her out there from the very first point."
Kokkinakis needed to take a longer route for his 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 triumph.
After dropping the opener, Pospisil dug deep to force a decider and went toe-to-toe with the Australian until the sixth game when he staved off three break points before Kokkinakis capitalised on the fourth to make the vital breakthrough.
The Canadians went on to win the dead rubber doubles.
