Five things to know from what happened in the world of sport. January 12-18, 2021.
- European Cups upsets. PSG defeated Olympique Marseille for the French Trophée des Champions and Athletic Club Bilbao beat FC Barcelona for the Súpercopa de España. Other Cups have had big surprises. in Spain, Liga leader Atlético de Madrid was eliminated by third-tier UE Cornellà last week. This week Bayern Munich was eliminated by second-tier KSV Holstein in penalties. (The Sportspedia)
- Master at 20. Debutant Yan Bingtao (CHN) won the Snooker Masters by defeating John Higgins (SCO) at the age of 20. Yan had a great tournament. Before this final he defeated Champion Stuart Bingham (ENG, seeded # 1) in the Semifinal. Stuart for his part had started the tournament with a “maximum break” in his victory against Shaun Murphy (ENG) in the quarterfinals. (The Sportspedia)
- Ice Hockey World Championship moved from Belarus. The International ice Hockey Federation announced that the 2021 IIHF World Championship will be moved from Belarus. This follows the Human Rights violations that the current regime in Belarus has committed, particularly during demonstrations in 2020. (IIHF statement)
- Skiing three-peats. Maxim Burov (RUS) won three golds (two individually and one team) at the FIS Freestyle Ski World Cup in Russia and remains undefeated this season. In Alpine Skiing, Marta Bassino (ITA) won three Giant Slalom World Cup races this week. Mikaela Shiffrin (USA) won the other one, scoring her record 100th World up podium. (Watch one of Burov’s winning runs in Yaroslavl – FIS)
- Seventh in a tow. Felix Loch (DEU) won his 47th Luge World Cup gold, in Oberhof (DEU) and he has now won 7 World Cup Olympic-length races in a row, a record. In Natural Track, Evelin Lanthaler (ITA) won 3 golds out of 3 for a 30th World Cup win at the World Cup in Italy. Watch the runs from Oberhof (FIL)
