Weekly sports roundup, October 17-23: A week to remember for India

India's third successive Kabaddi World Cup win was the highlight of the week.

New Delhi: The festive season in India started with a brilliant sporting week with kabaddi, hockey and cricket teams registering emphatic wins. Here's our weekly roundup for the week.

India won an unprecedented third successive Kabaddi World Cup title defeating Iran in the final at Ahmedabad on Saturday. The Anup Kumar-led team suffered a shocking defeat to South Korea in the tournament opener, but produced stunning displays to remain the Kings of Kabaddi.

The very next day, Indian men's hockey team came from behind to beat arch-rivals and defending champions Pakistan 3-2 in a preliminary match of the 2016 Asian Champions Trophy tournament in Malaysia.

The day ended with MS Dhoni & Co defeating New Zealand in Mohali to lead the five-match ODI series 2-1. Dhoni himself and chase master Virat Kohli starred for the team, with the skipper setting new records in the process.

On Thursday, Virender Sehwag celebrated his 38th birthday with the cricket world wishing the former India opener on his big day.

The India cricket board's legal wrangle with Supreme Court constituted Justice Lodha panel continued with the apex court clipping BCCI wings, and ruling to appoint an independent auditor to track their financial transactions.

Elsewhere, veteran Pakistan batsman Younis Khan defied age and West Indies attack to register his 33rd Test century.

Indian star shuttlers Saina Nehwal and PV Sidhu made return announcements. The Rio Olympics medallist's return was, however, ended in an early exit at Denmark Open. Nehwal will play her first tournament after surgery at China Open.

In football, Champions League action continued with Lionel Messi destroying Manchester City, a club now managed by former Barcelona boss Pep Guardiola. For Indian football, Sunil Chhetri's Bengaluru FC created history by reaching final of AFC Cup, Asia's equivalent of UEFA Europa League.

In a surprise, Barcelona star Luis Suarez beat Cristiano Ronaldo to win the prestigious Golden Shoe award, even as the Portuguese superstar rocked social media with an insensitive photo post.

On Tuesday, Indian tennis ace Sania Mirza completed 80 consecutive weeks as World No. 1 doubles player even as the male circuit was left stunned an delinquent Nick Kyrgios​.

Off the court, Rio Olympics medallist Sakshi Malik got engaged to her wrestler boyfriend Satyawart Kadian.

Twitter post of the week

India invented Kabaddi & r World Champs for 8th time.Elsewhere some country invented Cricket & r yet only good in correcting typos.#INDvIRN pic.twitter.com/IG9fucAMMo — Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) October 22, 2016

Photo of the week

Match of the week: India beat Iran 38-29 in the final of 2016 Kabaddi World Cup