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Weekly sports round-up, July 3 to 9: From Dhoni's extended birthday bash to Federer's record win at Wimbledon

From MS Dhoni's birthday to Lionel Messi's contract extension, here's our sports round-up for the week July 3 to 9.

Weekly sports round-up, July 3 to 9: From Dhoni's extended birthday bash to Federer's record win at Wimbledon Courtesy: Twitter (@BCCI)

New Delhi: It was indeed an eventful week with lot of sporting action taking place on and off the field. India engaged the West Indies in a limited-overs' series, even as the BCCI continued with the process of selecting a new coach. In football, the U-17 FIFA World Cup draw was held with much fanfare in Mumbai. In other sports, the 2017 edition of Wimbledon got off to a resounding start.

Here's our weekly recap of major events, other notable moments from sporting world:

Cricket: India wrapped the five-match ODI series against the Windies with a resounding win the fifth and final match at Kingston. Skipper Virat Kohli hit a magnificent hundred to silence his critics. The Indian team, which is without a head coach after the resignation of Anil Kumble, suffered an unlikely defeat in the fourth match. But it was a more or less an easy outing for the Indians, who won the series 3-1, after the first match was washed off.

Indian eves finally ended their winning run at the ICC Women's World Cup, losing their fifth match to a dominant South African side. But Mithali Raj & Co can still make the last-four of the tournament with a win from their remaining two matches, against New Zealand and Australia.

South Africa continued their campaign in England, this time in Test series. The Proteas arrived in England well in advance of the ICC Champions Trophy, the stayed back for a bilateral series.

Then, there was the suspension of Kagiso Rabada for his sending off the England all-rounder Ben Stokes during the Lord's Test.

Meanwhile, ephemeral minnows Zimbabwe produced stunning performances to win two ODIs in Sri Lanka.

The bitter pay dispute continues to dominate the sport in Australia with players boycotting their A tour of South Africa.

In India, the BCCI continued to engage in the process of finding a new head coach after the acrimonious exit of Anil Kumble, for reasons we have come to terms with by now.

We also witnessed an extended celebration of Mahendra Singh Dhoni's birthday, which falls on July 7. Another former India captain, Sourav Ganguly also celebrated his birthday with fans performing pujas on July 8.

Football: The official draw of the FIFA U-17 World Cup was held on Friday in Mumbai in presence sports luminaries. Hosts India have been clubbed with the United States, Ghana and Colombia in the Group A.

Wayne Rooney's troubled stay at Old Trafford finally ended with the former England captain turning up for a medical at his childhood club Everton. Interestingly, Romelu Lukaku was making a way out of Goodison Park to United in a reverse deal.

Meanwhile, Chelsea legend John Terry moved to Aston Villa in a bid to stay relevant. The 36-year-old is expected to play much more than a playing role in Villa Park.

For a change, Arsenal broke the bank to sign Alexandre Lazazette from Lyon on a club-record five-year deal. The 26-year-old joined the Gunners for a fee worth up to £52million.

Then, days after his marriage to childhood sweetheart Antonella Roccuzzo in a glittering ceremony which many hailed as the "wedding of the century", Lionel Messi renewed his Barcelona contract, which included a $340-million termination clause. The new deal will keep the 30-year-old at Camp Nou until his reaches the age of 34.

Tennis: The 2017 edition of world's most famous tennis tournament started at SW19. The big four in men's section has safely negotiated the first week, but in women's section, there were lots of upheaval in absence of any favourite, especially without Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova. Yes, there were some upsets in the men's section, those of Stan Wawrinka and Kei Nishikori.

Also, Swiss maestro Roger Federer became the player with most wins in Grand Slam tournaments. He defeated Mischa Zverev in the third round to notch up 317 Grand Slam singles match wins, and thus overtook Serena's 316.

Athletics: India started brilliantly in the 22nd Asian Athletics Championships, winning seven medals on the opening day at Bhubaneswar. The capital city was given the hosting rights, after Ranchi pulled out at the last minute. It will be a huge achievement for India if they can improve upon last edition's third place.

In other sports, the 104th edition Tour of France continued with "very decisive" ninth stage taking place on Sunday in the punishing trek in the Jura mountains. However, this edition will be remembered for the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) rejecting Slovak cyclist Peter Sagan`s appeal of his ejection stemming from a sprint collision that knocked rival rider Mark Cavendish out of the race with a broken shoulder blade.

In motor sports, four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel increased his championship lead to 20 points over closest rival Lewis Hamilton after finishing second at the Austrian GP. Hamilton, a three-time champion, finished fourth in the ninth round of the season. There is bad blood between the two following the German's side bump into the Briton's Silver Arrow in Baku.

Twitter post of the week

Photo of the week

India's Ajay Kumar Saroj celebrates after winning men's 1500m race at the 22nd Asian Athletics Championships at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar.


Match of the week

Zimbabwe chased down Sri Lanka's 316 at Galle with 14 balls remaining to start the five-match ODI series on a right note.