FRIDAY, JANUARY 1, 2021 FRIDAY, JANUARY 1, 2021 14 15 Title challenger Leonardo Mafra: Pain, Sport’s tempestuous 2020 agony, and overcome at BRAVE CF In 2020, the sporting world came to an abrupt halt before re-emerging in spectatorless ‘bio bubbles’ n a world now that is gripped by to hog the limelight in Tokyo and Euro leagues. minute-by-minute fast-paced de- 2020 to spark across 12 European cities, For the first time since World War II Leonardo Mafra will face Super Lightweight Champion Eldar Eldarov for the title at BRAVE CF 46 in Russia Ivelopments, 2020 has been the year promising football fans some high-oc- there was no Wimbledon tennis cham- that slowed down everything and even tane action. pionships. The revamped Fed Cup and ically and mentally, in order to get back paused quite a few things. Instead, both fell to that mighty yet Davis Cup finals both bit the dust as did One by one, the lights started going miniscule conqueror called the coro- city marathons from London to Boston. Leonardo Mafra’s win to the cage. The battle wasn’t easy, • though. Despite the severity of the knee out of sports from March. Since then, navirus. The year has been, without any dis- over Djamil Chan in his home injury, the anxiety for a quick comeback it was mostly sorrow and tears for ath- Other big events became victims too, pute, a dark year for sports. Despite country of Brazil put him in didn’t help throughout the process. letes and sports enthusiasts around like the Premier League, Formula One, that, sports never ceased to surprise. But Leonardo Mafra was able to over- the world. the world championships of various Here are some big moments during the spotlight for the title shot KNOW WHAT Cardboard cut-outs with portraits of fans are General view of staff wearing personal come the most challenging moments of It was supposed to have been a great other sports, tennis and golf tours, and an extraordinary, coronavirus-disrupt- seen in a stadium year, with the Olympic Games expected the basketball, table tennis and football ed 2020. protective equipment (PPE) inside a stadium TDT | Manama his life as a Mixed Martial Artist and did so in style. He decided to move to Leonardo Mafra the newly inaugurated Super Light- RAVE CF Super Lightweight world suffered the worst weight division and got a huge win over Hamilton joins the F1 legends Liverpool end 30-year wait DQ for Djoko title challenger Leonardo “Macar- Djamil Chan in his home country of injury of his entire When Michael Schumacher bowed out of Formula World number one Novak Djokovic went into the rão” Mafra arrived at BRAVE Com- Brazil, which put him in the spotlight B professional career One, few thought his record of 91 Grand Prix US Open looking for an 18th major triumph in the bat Federation back in 2017 surrounded for a title shot. It didn’t hurt that he im- by expectation, being a very familiar during his bout against mediately called out for Eldar Eldarov wins and seven world championships would knowledge that Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal were ever be matched. In 2020, Lewis Hamilton did absent. Going into his fourth round match against face to the international MMA commu- Gadzhimusa Gaziev at after beating Chan. nity and regarded as one of the most BRAVE CF 12. He tore It is fair to say that Mafra already left just that, winning 11 of the 17 races to take his 20th seed Pablo Carreno Busta, the Serb had not lost talented names fighting out of Southern his ACL while setting the dark days behind but his first world tally beyond Schumacher’s record to 95, and a singles match in 2020. Brazil. After dealing with last-minute up strikes and had to title, against arguably the toughest chal- equalling the German’s seven titles. It all went wrong though when the 33-year-old cancellations, he would go on to fight lenge available out there in that weight The 35-year-old Briton certainly benefit- vented his frustration after dropping his service immediately go into ted from the outstanding Mercedes car at by hitting a ball behind him, striking a fe - for the fastest-growing MMA organiza- surgery class globally, would be the icing of the tion in the next year. cake, and what a beautiful shining icing his disposal but there is little doubt he has male line judge in the throat. Djokovic But all of this anticipation quickly is this, of a fantastic saga. etched his name firmly among the greatest immediately apologised but after turned into desperation. As he stepped their fight, a contest that was close He finally faces off against Eldar El- of his sport. a lengthy discussion, he was disqualified, leaving the field into the BRAVE CF arena for the very but seemed to be going well for the darov at BRAVE CF 46, on January 16th, open for Dominic Thiem. first time, back in May, 2018, Mafra Brazilian. in Sochi, Russia. Their much-anticipate Grosjean survives deadly crash wasn’t able to complete a single round But it wasn’t a punch or a kick that title fight will be the main attraction of and suffered the worst injury of his made Leonardo wince in pain. He tore BRAVE Combat Federation’s first-ever Liverpool players celebrate with the Premier League trophy Lucky 13 for Nadal entire professional career. his ACL while setting up strikes and had visit to Russia. Other huge names are While trading blows with Gadzhimu- to immediately go into surgery. set to do battle with the likes of Roman Under Jurgen Klopp, the Reds had threatened for two years Rafael Nadal skipped the US Open but there was to finally land their first domestic title since 1990. Strengthened no way the Spaniard was going to miss his signature sa Gaziev at BRAVE CF 12, he screamed With the support of BRAVE CF, he Bogatov, Konstantin Erokhin, and Ali in pain and forced the referee to stop started a long process of recovery, phys- Bagautinov all confirmed for action. by the addition of goalkeeper Alisson and centre-back Virgil event, the French Open which took place at a blus- Leonardo Mafra in action during a bout van Dijk, in 2019-20 they galloped to an almost unassailable tery Roland Garros in a rearranged late September/ lead, only for the pandemic to halt football. When the season early October slot. resumed, they didn’t miss a Mersey beat and lifted the trophy on Inevitably, and without dropping a set on the way, an empty Kop as their supporters defied coronavirus warnings Nadal bulldozed his way to the final where he met Ali Bagautinov searches for maximum glory at BRAVE CF KHK Heroes Photography competition in to gather in a haze of red flares outside. Djokovic who was keen to atone for his mishap at AFP | London Flushing Meadows. It was barely a contest with Nadal association with IOC Bahrain is now accepting votes! winning 6-0, 6-2, 7-5 to claim a 13th French Open title Bayern sweep to Champions League title li Bagautinov was among AFP | London and match Federer’s record of 20 major wins. the top Flyweights in the When the pandemic forced UEFA to transform the final A stages of the Champions League into a mini-tournament in world when the division first HK Heroes, founded by His Romain Grosjean emerges from the flames after a horrific crash Swiatek takes Pole position at Roland Garros came to the spotlight. But fall- KHighness Shaikh Khaled Lisbon, Bayern looked the best team from the start. ing short on the world title bin Hamad Al Khalifa, is pro- Formula One racer Romain Grosjean escaped the hallows of Hansi Flick’s accomplished side won their sixth Europe- Iga Swiatek was ranked 54th in the world meant that he would have to moting a creative way for every- death in November this year at the Bahrain Grand Prix after an crown thanks to Kingsley Coman’s header against Paris when she travelled to Roland Gar- go back to the drawing board one connected with the King- he survived a deadly crash. The French driver was trapped in Saint-Germain. ros. Two weeks later, after see- and reset his trajectory. dom of Bahrain to express their a burning car when it sliced in half after penetrating a metal ing off Sofia Kenin in the final, the While he has yet to replicate admiration and love for the na- crash barrier and then exploded into a fireball. Grosjean was 19-year-old had risen to number 17 inside the cockpit of the Haas car for nearly 30 seconds before and had become the first Pole to win a Grand in MMA what he accomplished tion on National Day. A pho - The match that never should have been played in several other combat sports, tography competition aimed at scrambling out. Fortunately, he suffered only minor burns to Slam singles title. Bagautinov’s legacy is there for celebrating the uniqueness of the back of his hands and a sprained left ankle and was soon Liverpool’s defeat to Atletico Madrid in the Champions League It was a breathtaking fortnight for Swiatek who all to see: a two-time sambo the Kingdom has found hun- discharged from a military hospital in Bahrain. last 16 on March 11 was notable less for the result than for the fact capitalised on the absence of world number one world champion, with relevant dreds of entries.