WEEK IN

Carnival Round II

The French took early leave, the Italians were shown the door and England puffed their way into the next round of the World Cup. It doesn't look too good for the Europeans as South American flair and passion looks like running precision and tactics into the ground. It's time to narrow down your favourites and clear those vocal chords because there's no sitting on the fence anymore.

Race for the flag

The revving of engines can be heard across the harbour at Valencia. Flights of fantasy have taken a backseat as the mid-season stock-taking arrives. If Red Bull looked like running away with the championship then McLaren have made a mighty comeback. It's not yet over and a lot of action is still yet to unfold over the next few weeks.

WEEK OUT

An epic Wimbledon battle

They played more games in one set than most manage to work up in five sets. We're talking about the match between John Isner and Nicolas Mahut. It was heartbreaking to wait for a winner in this match that lasted for over 11 hours, spread over three days. But as the rules of the game dictate, someone had to win and Isner won what many people are calling the greatest tennis match ever played. How's this for number crunching? 40 bottles of water, 12 energy bars, seven racquets, three bananas and eight hours 18 minutes of play constituted that fifth set.

Asian champs

They finally did it. Team India won the Asia Cup after 15 years and they did it without Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid or even Anil Kumble in their ranks. MS Dhoni's young brigade finally jumped over the little obstacle that's the Emerald Isle after convincingly beating Sri Lanka in the final on Friday. An ego-boosting win over arch-rivals Pakistan would also have assuaged hurt pride after India were made to blush recently by Zimbabwe.