LISTEN: Full script of Episode 157 of Spodcast where we discuss Manchester United's historic victory, PV Sindhu's ouster from All England and more

Welcome to Spodcast, the sports update on Firstpost. We begin with Champions League news today. Manchester United reached the Champions League quarter-finals with an historic 3-1 win over Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday. In the process, United became the first team in European Cup history to recover from losing the first leg of a knockout round tie 2-0 at home. [caption id=“attachment_4901281” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of India’s PV Sindhu. AP[/caption] Romelu Lukaku scored two goals, and later Marcus Rashford converted a controversial stoppage time VAR-awarded penalty to make it three goals for United while Juan Bernat scored one for the French club. Those three goals saw United go through on away goals. The win was all the more special because United were without the services of suspended star player Paul Pogba as well as nine other injured stars including Anthony Martial, Jesse Lingard and Ander Herrera. Manchester United’s interim manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer insisted he never doubted his players could do the unthinkable, including a first goal just two minutes into the match. He said, “The belief in the boys was just what we hoped for. It was fantastic… It was a great start. We started with a plan to get the first goal, but we didn’t expect it to come so soon. We wanted an open game with many goals and that’s what happened. There is always some mental doubt because they (PSG) have had those experiences. Our boys are young and fresh which gave us more energy when we needed that goal.” Solskjaer explained that once his team took an early lead, he felt the French champions were haunted by the ghosts of their previous failures from winning positions in the Champions League, including infamously losing a 4-0 lead against Barcelona two years ago. During stoppage time, United had a huge slice of luck. VAR ruled that PSG defender Presnel Kimpembe, turning his back as he jumped, had handled a Diogo Dalot shot as it struck him on the arm in the penalty area. Solskjaer claimed it was the right decision, saying, “The referee had a big, big call to make. My staff said the player made himself big, so it’s a clear penalty.” In other Champions League news, Alex Telles converted a VAR-awarded penalty during extra time as Porto defeated Roma 3-1 to reach the quarter-finals following a tense 4-3 win on aggregate. An additional half-hour was required to settle a contest that looked to be heading for a shootout before Telles tucked home from the spot on 117 minutes after a tug on Fernando by Alessandro Florenzi was spotted upon review. Badminton news now. PV Sindhu was knocked out of the All England Championship by Sung Ji Hyun of Korea in the women’s singles opening round yesterday. Fifth-seed Sindhu went into the opener with an overall record of 8-6 against but Sung Ji has beaten Sindhu twice in the last three meetings. The Korean once again troubled the Indian in a thrilling 81-minute clash that went down to the wire. However, Sindhu was playing catch-up for most of the match as the Korean found ways to constantly stay ahead. Despite saving as many as eight match points in the second and third game, she struggled with her timing and eventually lost 16-21, 22-20, 18-21 on account of too many unforced errors. The Indian shuttler saved three match points at 17-20 in the second game to take the match to the decider, during which she saved five match points before suffering her fourth first-round loss at the USD 1 million event. In the men’s singles draw, 2017 Singapore Open champion B Sai Praneeth defeated fellow Indian shuttler HS Prannoy 21-19, 21-19 in a pulsating contest. We spoke about the BCCI ombudsman for the Hardik Pandya and KL Rahul case yesterday. The ombudsman, DK Jain, who had been appointed by the Supreme Court to resolve disputes, had said he had not yet been referred the case by the Committee of Administrators. Following that, a PTI report stated that the CoA would refer the investigation into Hardik Pandya and KL Rahul’s loose talk on women to Mr Jain at a meeting in New Delhi today. Rahul and Pandya were provisionally suspended for their sexist remarks on a popular TV show but their suspension was eventually revoked pending an inquiry. Thursday’s meeting will also be the first time that the latest member to join the CoA, Lt General Ravi Thodge, will be attending a meeting in person. Thodge, who was appointed last month, attended the previous meeting over phone. Chairman Vinod Rai and Diana Edulji are the other two COA members. Another matter that will likely be discussed at the CoA meeting is the snub from the ICC to the BCCI regarding the Indian board’s letter to the governing body urging member nations to sever ties with countries that harbour terror. The ICC had turned down BCCI’s request saying it has no role to play in such matters. PTI reported that financial and scheduling matters regarding the IPL would also be discussed at the meeting. The International Cricket Council yesterday banned former Zimbabwe Cricket director Enock Ikope from the game for 10 years on charges of corruption linked to the 2017 West Indies tour fix attempt. Ikope was found guilty of breaching three counts of the ICC’s Anti-Corruption Code. The ICC’s statement said Ikope had failed to cooperate with, and even obstructed, its investigation, including _“_deletion of data from his mobile phone before handing it over to the ICC’s anti-corruption tribunal.” ICC general manager Alex Marshall said, “Non-cooperation and obstruction of our investigations by participants to the Code are simply not acceptable and I hope this and other recent sanctions sends out a clear message to anyone involved in the sport.” He added, “…we must thank an international captain, Graeme Cremer, for his absolute professionalism in recognizing the initial approach by Mr Nayer, rejecting and then reporting it. We are thankful to him and to Zimbabwe Cricket for all the help during the investigations.” Marshall was referring to a ban that ICC had handed in March 2018 — a 20-year ban to Rajan Nayer, a former senior Zimbabwe cricket official. Nayer, the treasurer and marketing director of the Harare Metropolitan Cricket Association, admitted to offering Zimbabwe captain Graeme Cremer $30,000 to fix the result of the Test series with the West Indies, which the visitors won. Cremer informed then-coach Heath Streak of the approach and the matter was referred to the ICC.