Other Sports....

D1511 said:

I don't know if anyone else heard about this young Egyptian tennis player, Haja Abdelkadar, who was granted a wildcard for a ATP/ITF sanctioned tennis tournament in Kenya.

In some video footage which has now gone viral, she is seen to be utterly hopeless, and clearly can't play tennis for toffee.

During the match, she served 20 double faults in her 6-0, 6-0 defeat, and won a total of 3 points, which were two double faults and an unforced error by her bemused opponent. Most rallies amounted to one or two shots.

She also appeared to be required to be advised where to stand to serve and receive by the umpire during the match.

From the BBC Sports website:




Both players are now receiving support from the ITF because of the attention this has got worldwide.

I wonder what on earth the spectators made of it all!

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Yeah.

The question i haven’t seen answered is who she is, how she ended up there and why on earth she participated.

There have been some very bad players in futures before, some who have played a few games for fun, but this doesn’t look anything like that. I would be confident of beating her.

Route details announced for the three UK-based stages of the 2027 Tour de France.

Edinburgh to Carlisle; Keswick to Liverpool; Welshpool to Cardiff over 2/3/4 July 2027.

Disappointingly flat through the Lake District, but nice to see the Cote de Trough of Bowland on the route map

(Link to the official Le Tour website)

There doesn't seem to have been a "winter Olympics" thread, so I'll tuck this one in here.

The BBC website is reporting that the GB four man bobsleigh team are struggling:

Team GB face an uphill task to win an Olympic medal in the four-man bobsleigh as they sit seventh at the halfway point in a race where three teams crashed.

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If they're tackling the bobsleigh uphill then I think I might have spotted why they're not winning?

From a very disappointing start the GB performance at the Winter Olympics definitely improved with Gold, Silver & Bronze medals awarded.

JD2168 said:

From a very disappointing start the GB performance at the Winter Olympics definitely improved with Gold, Silver & Bronze medals awarded.

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I believe it was the Brits best ever show. 3 Golds, 1 Silver & 1 Bronze.

75A said:

I believe it was the Brits best ever show. 3 Golds, 1 Silver & 1 Bronze.

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Indeed. They’ve previously won 5 medals, but this is the first time getting more than one gold at a games. The target before the games was 4-8 medals, so that was achieved. I imagine there will be a lot of focus on how to turn those five 4th places into medals next time.

JamesT said:

Indeed. They’ve previously won 5 medals, but this is the first time getting more than one gold at a games. The target before the games was 4-8 medals, so that was achieved. I imagine there will be a lot of focus on how to turn those five 4th places into medals next time.

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Expect they'll all get MBE's or the like.

Then they'll retire afraid of future failure, the men's curling team weren't sure they will be back when questioned on TV.

Knicks win first NBA championship in 53 years to cap playoff run for the ages

Finally! Knicks win first NBA championship in 53 years to cap playoff run for the ages​

This will really still be there when Knicks fans wake up. This is actually reality. This is forever.

For multiple generations, this was only something Knicks fans could see when they closed their eyes and let their minds wander. It was a ghost of the past — 53 years to be exact. It was a hypothetical.

No longer. Jalen Brunson and Co. brought it all to life.
Brunson had a look in his eye that was visible even from the stands. It was noticeable everywhere in the arena.

He was in the middle of one of the great Finals performances in NBA history. He knew it. His teammates knew it. The Spurs knew it.
Everyone knew it. And there was nothing anyone could do to stop it until it was over. Until the final score read Knicks 94, Spurs 90 and the celebrations began Saturday night at the Frost Bank Center.

Until the Knicks were officially champions.

“It’s everything I dreamed of,” Brunson said. “This is why I came to New York.”
Move over Willis Reed’s Game 3 in 1970. Move over Walt Frazier’s Game 7 that same year. This was the best performance in Knicks history. This was the stuff of legend.

This was a legacy in the making.

A title was within reach and Brunson would not be denied. He erupted for 45 points and cemented his place in basketball lore.
As the final whistle blew, Brunson embraced his father, Rick, tightly near the sideline. It was the first time he allowed himself to release any sort of emotion. His job was done.

Brunson scored eight straight Knicks points in the second quarter as the Knicks shaved a 16-point deficit to five by halftime. He scored 14 in the third quarter as the Knicks clawed back from a 15-point deficit.

Then he saved his best magic for the fourth quarter, when he scored 13 straight Knicks points to turn another double-digit deficit into Knicks glory. The Knicks trailed by 10-plus points all five games of this series. They are the Comeback Kings and finished off this magical season in the most fitting way possible.
The Knicks led for just 23.6 percent of the series — by far the lowest time spent leading by a champion since the 1971 Finals, according to Elias Sports Bureau. But the Knicks kept rising like champions in crunch time. The young Spurs kept crumbling.

“We absolutely dominated for most of the series,” Victor Wembanyama said. “But our errors, our mistakes, are punished so hard that we can’t have ups and downs like this.”

Brunson is just the second player in history to score 45 points on the road in a title-clinching victory. The other? Michael Jordan.

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As a Knicks fan since the early 1990s (I used to spend most of my paper round money on basketball magazines to keep up to date!), it's amazing to see the Knicks finally win a championship after all these years. I was fortunate enough to get tickets to two of the playoff games against Philly last month, and now the Knicks have beaten a young and very talented Spurs team 4-1 to win their first title since 1973.

I won't miss the 5am bedtimes these past two weeks though!



[Image of the Knicks lifting the Larry O'Brien Championship Trophy.]

Mayo today finally broke a 75-year hoodoo in winning the senior men's All-Ireland football final, beating defending champions Kerry by 1-20 to 1-17 (23 points to 20) at Croke Park in Dublin. The 1951 winners were said to have been cursed by a priest after crossing a funeral procession on their journey home; according to the curse they were never to win another championship until all that team had died. Well, 11 losing finals later, the last man died in 2023... and today they won. The curse was broken with a final for the ages. Hon Mayo!

THC

So that’s what the Isle of Man’s anthem sounds like.
Matthew Bostock has won the men’s points race at the commonwealth games, their fourth gold ever and the first since Mark Cavendish in 2006.
There’s been some really good racing. The Australians are top of the medal table, but I think if you put together the home nations they would be ahead which bodes well for the next Olympics.

I watched that and much of the racing live in person, wow didn’t he do well! He’s become a new favourite (someone had to fill the space left by all-time favourite Katie Archibald’s retirement) along with Sophie Capewell and Anna Morris Of course I also have long-time favourite Emma Finucane who’s as amazing as ever!

I did 5 of the 8 sessions at the velodrome, the Saturday evening session was £150! Did I enjoy the time at the velodrome? You’d better believe it, worth every penny! It was all over far too quickly, I need to watch some more track cycling, I’m well hooked!

*goes hunting on HBO Max*

Buxton Bulls 51 Oxford Chargers 38

Buxton Bulls is the only speedway team competing solely in the National Development League, the third tier of British speedway. With the sport now down to 16 tracks, this was one I needed to cop having just been resurrected after a 7-year hiatus. The track is located in a glorious setting high on the Derbyshire Moors next door to a stock car track, but it is a s*d to find. Misled by my satnav and signs to a go-kart track, I ended up in an industrial estate nearby as the crow flies, but miles away by road. Eventually my OS Map app pointed me to the right turn off the A53 where I drove for a mile or two down a narrow lane to the site.

Spectator facilities are minimal with just a couple of small uncovered temporary standing only stands - but spectators are allowed to park on the opposite side of and facing the track which would be a godsend on wet and windy days. This must be England's highest sporting venue. Admission was £15 with an excellent programme on sale for £3. Programmes are essential when attending speedway if you want to keep track.

Both teams had to make changes. Buxton's captain was riding a division higher for Berwick, but they were allowed a guest replacement. Oxford Chargers, the second team of Oxford Cheetahs from the division above, were a man short but were allowed to use rider replacement. Nevertheless they were 2025 NDL champions and brought a few supporters with them, which was good to see.

The teams were enthusiastic but inexperienced and this led to multiple crashes. One race had to be started three times with one of Oxford's better riders falling each time before retiring for the day. The event was thus punctuated by multiple stoppages for reruns, rider and bike repairs, paramedic checks, track watering and track raking. Not to mention a scheduled interval after heat 12. It thus took 135 minutes to complete the 15-heat match. Buxton triumphed by 51-38 to gain their first win of the season.

Several further races were scheduled after the main event. These included a 6-heat Midlands Development League battle between two teams named after two defunct clubs Stoke Potters and Wolverhampton Wolves. But I did not stay.

Like any rail enthusiast, I couldn't visit Buxton without having a ride (or two) on the miniature railway in the picturesque Pavillion Gardens. While there, I discovered the Pirates of Penzance was on that night as part of the Gilbert & Sullivan festival at the Buxton Opera House, so of course I bought tickets. So come 5.15, I needed to return to town to grab something eat before the performance, probably inadvertently picking up a parking fine in the process. Thus ended the most eclectic of days.