The Sacramento Kings were sold to a group led by software billionaire Vivek Ranadive, who will become the first Indian-born owner in National Basketball Association history. A Sacramento-based group led by Ranadive signed an agreement to purchase the team from the Maloof family, Mayor Kevin Johnson said May 17 in a news conference. The group paid $347 million for a 65 percent stake in the team, according to the Sacramento Bee. The deal, which includes a plan for a new downtown arena, values the Kings at $535 million, the most expensive in league history, and ends a five- month battle over the team's future. Johnson, a former NBA All-Star, took the podium at the news conference as Stevie Wonder's "Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours," played over the speakers. He opened by asking those in attendance to repeat after him: "We did it." "This is something that will define Sacramento," he said. "It is transformative.

Former world number one Vijay Singh sued the PGA Tour for “reckless administration and implementation” of its anti-doping program on May 8, a week after golf’s premier tour dropped a doping case against the Fijian. Three-times major winner Singh was initially found by the PGA Tour to have breached the sport’s doping rules after using a spray, which contains a banned substance, to treat an injury but he was later cleared of any wrongdoing after winning an appeal. He filed a lawsuit in the Supreme Court of the State of New York on May 8, and issued a statement saying the PGA Tour had damaged his reputation. “I am proud of my achievement, my work ethic and the way I live my life,” Singh said in the statement. “The PGA Tour not only treated me unfairly, but displayed a lack of professionalism that should concern every professional golfer and fan of the game.

Explosive West Indies opener Chris Gayle smashed a century off 30 balls in an Indian Premier League match on Tuesday and finished on 175 not out, the highest ever Twenty20 innings. Playing for the Bangalore franchise, Gayle blasted 17 sixes and 13 fours off just 66 deliveries to take his team to a mammoth total of 263 for five wickets. Pune captain Aaron Finch watched helplessly as the 33-year-old Jamaican swatted the bowlers to all parts of the ground and some of the sixes flew out of the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium. Gayle's 30-ball century eclipsed the 34-ball hundred scored by Australian Andrew Symonds for Kent against Middlesex in 2004. The left-hander also posted the highest individual score in a Twenty20 game, going past New Zealander Brendon McCullum's 158.

A grand opening ceremony heralded the start of the sixth season of the Indian Premier League at Kolkata’s Salt Lake Stadium, April 2. The venue resembled a star-studded galaxy with embellished lightings, the world’s cricket stars and performing entertainers. Renowned artists including international rapper Pitbull and Bollywood actor and co-owner of the Kolkata Knight Riders, Shah Rukh Khan, along with Katrina Kaif and Deepika Padukone performed to a packed audience. Besides the celebrities performing, the stage was also set on fire by flying drummers, Chinese percussionists and breathtaking fireworks. Amid all the glitz and glamour, captains of the nine participating teams took center stage when they joined hands to pledge adherence to the belief, ‘Play hard, Play fair’ by signing on the MCC Spirit of Cricket board. Former India cricketer and current commentator, Ravi Shastri administered the oath, the Press Trust of India reported.

India has welcomed the IOC's invitation to attend a meeting at its headquarters in Switzerland and sees it as a positive step towards its return to the Olympic fold, a top government official told Reuters on Friday. The IOC banned the country after refusing to recognise the results of Indian Olympic Association (IOA) elections held on December 5, which led to a tainted official being named as its new secretary general, because of government interference. P.K. Deb, the secretary of India's sports ministry, was optimistic that the request for talks with the sports minister might lead to a quick end to the impasse. "It's definitely a very positive development. We believe it's not going to be just one single meeting but the first in a series of meetings with the IOC," he told Reuters by telephone. "I am not sure if the minister will be able to make it since the parliament is in session but I will be definitely going to Lausanne to meet the IOC.

The International Olympic Committee issued a surprise decision on Tuesday to exclude wrestling from the 2020 Olympic Games.  For a number of years, the committee has drawn fire for its lack of transparency. With its secret vote to remove one of the original Olympic sports — one that dates back 21 / 2 millennia to the first games in ancient Greece — it has added another decision that deserves scrutiny. Let me suggest that when advocates of wrestling make their case for readmission, the committee pay special attention to the case for this proud sport, which once was a favorite of Abraham Lincoln’s. I am not without bias when it comes to the sport. I was a wrestler for 10 years — in high school, at Princeton University and as an officer in the Navy, where I competed for a spot in the 1956 Olympics (unsuccessfully, as it turned out). Wrestling’s Olympic legacy is unmatched.

Twice major winner Mark O'Meara believes former world number one Vijay Singh should be suspended by the PGA Tour after the Fijian admitted to using a spray to treat an injury which contains a banned substance. The three-times major winner said he was unaware the deer-antler spray, which he has been using for a couple of months, contained an insulin-like growth factor that is banned by the U.S. circuit. O'Meara, competing at the Dubai Desert Classic where the 56-year-old opened with a five-under-par 67 on Thursday, said he had a lot of respect for his friend Singh but that his situation should be no different to those who have been banned before. "Probably he should be suspended for a couple of months, and I don't know what the PGA Tour Commissioner is thinking, but people have had to pay the price before and he should be no different," O'Meara told reporters. "I was a bit surprised to hear what Vijay said.