Lionel Messi of Argentina has won the FIFA Ballon d’Or (Golden Ball) prize for the best player of 2011, becoming only the fourth player in history to win the trophy three times. It was the third-straight year, the Argentina and Barcelona star has won the award, putting him in select company alongside some of the game’s all-time greats. It should be noted that Messi had previously won the Ballon D’Or in 2009 and 2010 and was named the man of the match in Barca’s 2011 Champions League final victory over Manchester United

World No.16 Donna Urquhart of Australia lived up to her billing as she defeated Indian champion Joshna Chinappa 7-11, 11-6, 11-6, 11-4 in 37 minutes in the final of the WISPA Squash Championship at the Indian Squash Academy Courts in Chennai. Joshna, ranked 36, raised hopes of an upset win when she took the first game, but thereafter, the Aussie took charge to win in a canter.

McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton emerged victorious in the Chinese Grand Prix. His victory prevented Formula One world champion Sebastian Vettel achieving his fifth win in a row. Germany’s Vettel finished runner-up and 5.1 seconds behind Britain’s Lewis Hamilton. Vettel’s Australian Red Bull team mate Mark Webber took third after starting 18th.

TillakaratneDilshan has been appointed as Sri Lanka’s captain for all three formats for the tour of England in the month of May, following Kumar Sangakkara’s resignation after the World Cup. With exactly 500 runs under his belt, Dilshan was also the highest run-scorer in the 2011 World Cup, surpassing the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, player-of-the-tournament Yuvraj Singh and Sangakkara. Dilshan has till date represented Sri Lanka in 66 Tests and scored 3990 runs at an average of 42.44 with 11 centuries and 16 half fifties to his credit.In 203 ODIs, Dilshan has accumulated 5456 runs at an average of 36.61 with 160 being his highest score. He has also played 32 Twenty20 Internationals for Sri Lanka.