phelps

and I don't think McIntosh will focus too much on the 200m free, also... imho, she's way better in the 400m free/200m fly/200m IM in perspective... she might be another girl using the 200m free more as a prep event and for relay purposes rather than really focusing on that race...

yeah, but I think Ledecky is thinking about the next Olympics already (and they will face each other at the Pan-Pacs in any case)... we all know that the Americans are used to underestimate the world champs, they only care about the relays when it's an olympic qualifier... I guess KL has already started to focus on what will be her main program in Paris...

by the way, Slaf's season in Finland is over... Tappara Tampere in fact won game #5 of the Liiga Finals by a score of 1-0 against TPS Turku (game winner scored after only 35 seconds of play in the opening period ) and won the 2021/2022 title. The score of the final series is 4-1. More infos and a full season's recap tomorrow... on the Russian side, instead, CSKA Moscow scored twice early in the first period and the lone goal by Metallurg in the second stint wasn't enough to catch them. Therefore the Gagarin Cup will go to an always amazing game #7 (Saturday in Magnitogorsk, puck drop @ 5 p.m. local, 2 p.m. CET)

best moment of the whole game, I'd say... it reminded me some good old style hockey, when getting close to the cage was really a painful and risky move by every player 'cause the goalies were basically free to hit them hard without the refs saying absolutely nothing...

I think she has recognized Titmus and Haughey's superiority on this distance and she focused more on the middle and longer distances, where she has more chances to beat Ariarne (Siobhan not being a factor in the races longer than 200m). I guess she only wanted to get a place in the 4*200m relay, rather than challenging the Australian and the woman from HKG... however, it was another interesting night with a few very close competitions (200m breast and back, especially)... here's the full recap of last night's action: https://swimswam.com/2022-u-s-world-championship-trials-day-2-finals-live-recap/

quick news from last night... HK Nitra equalled the Extraliga final series at 2 apiece against slovan Bratislava with a clear 4-1 win. They took the lead early in the game and they never looked back. Not the most exciting match of the post-season, for sure... Game #5 is scheduled for Friday (April 29th) in Bratislava (puck drop @ 6.30 p.m. local/CET) some kind of deja-vù in the 5th game of the Swiss NLA Finals... Denis Malgin gave Zürich the lead in the 31st minute and then EV Zug came back (5th time in 5 matches that the team scoring first goes on losing the game at the end) thanks to the monster-effort by Dario Simion, who scored a hat-trick and basically decided the final outcome of yesterday's match. The final score is 4-1 in favor of EV Zug, meanwhile ZSC Lions still lead the series 3-2 and tomorrow they have another chance to clinch the title at home in game #6 (puck drop @ 8 p.m. local/CET). p.s and God save me from today's busy day ( all in action in possibly decisive games)...

maybe the men are less superstitious than women... men's Individual Skeet Gold: Luigi Lodde Silver: Vincent Hancock Bronze: Gabriele Rossetti Full Results page: https://www.issf-sports.org/competitions/venue/csevent.ashx?cseventid=16107

once again, being perfect (125/125) in quali proved to be a real curse in the medal stages of the competition... this time it was Francisca Crovetto Chadid to shoot the perfect score in the preliminary round and then missing out on the medal match... now let's see if Vinnie Hancock and/or Luigi Lodde, who were both perfect in the men's qualification round, can overturn that curse...

women's Individual Skeet Gold: Caitlin Connor Silver: Amber Hill Bronze: Nadine Messerschmidt Full Results page: https://www.issf-sports.org/competitions/venue/csevent.ashx?cseventid=16104

a few interesting results in the US Trials for the upcoming World Champs... above all, Katie Ledecky swimming her fastest 800m free race since 2018 (8.09.27) and Caeleb Dressel swimming the fastest time of the season (even if just a few hundreds of a second faster than Burras and Miressi), 47.79... Full recap of day #1, here: https://swimswam.com/2022-u-s-world-championship-trials-day-1-finals-live-recap/

yesterday's mayhem part 1 might not have been up to the expectations (except for the KHL game #5), but last night...oh, boy! The Adler Mannheim and the Eisbären Berlin played a wonderful match, one of the best of the whole European post-season so far and the home team won by a score of 4-3 and tied the series at 2-2. The decisive game #5 is scheduled for tomorrow in Berlin (puck drop @ 7.30 p.m. local/CET). Game #4 highlights https://www.penny-del.org/event/adler-mannheim-eisbaeren-berlin/9328 in the semifinals of the SHL, instead, Färjestad BK and Rögle BK went to double OT Färjestad did dominate the action, but Rögle did find themselves 4-3 ahead with less than 3 mins to play after an amazing 1-2 punch in a few seconds. The home team, however, was able to dig deep into their physical and mental reserves and like a phoenix, they resurrected from their own ashes and a very short while after going down, they found the way to score the game-tying goal (also thanks to a capital mistake by the Rögle defence). In the OTs, both teams tried to play defensive hockey as much as they could, but an individual effort by Linus Johansson at 10.56 of the second OT gave the home team a 5-4 win, which gives them also the win in the whole series by a score of 4 games to 2. Therefore, the SHL Finals will be played by Luleå HF and Färjestad BK. Luleå have the home ice advantage by virtue of the better placing in the regular season. The first game of the Finals is scheduled for Saturday, April 30th @ 15.15 p.m. local/CET. yesterday's game highlights https://www.shl.se/play/video/167632?provider=staylive&autoplay=1

mayhem, part #1 is over... and tbh, I expected a bit more from that... first of all, no titles were clinched today, despite the chance to have 2...which means that we're gonna have a lot of hockey left in the next couple of days... Klas Dahlbeck's goal in the first OT decided game #5 of the Gagarin Cup Finals, keeping CSKA Moscow alive after winning today's match 3-2 on the road. Now Metallurg lead 3-2 in the series, but the next game is scheduled in Moscow on Thursday (puck drop @ 7 p.m. local time, 6 p.m. CET). game #5 highlights TPS Turku just saved themselves from a bitter sweep thanks to a pretty boring 1-0 win on home ice in game #4 of the Liiga final series. Now Tappara lead the contest by 3 games to 1 and could clinch the title at home on Thursday (puck drop @ 6.30 p.m. local time, 5.30 p.m. CET) HC Oceláři Třinec won big on home soil against Sparta Prague in game #5 of the Extraliga Finals. 7-3 the final score of today's match, thanks mainly to a very strong effort in the middle period. Now they lead the series 3-2, with game #6 scheduled in Prague next Thursday (puck drop @ 7 p.m. local/CET) also in the Slovak Extraliga tonight we didn't have a close and exciting games, as Slovan Bratislava dominated the match against Nitra by a score of 6-2. Now they lead the series 2 games to 1. The 4th chapter of the Slovak Finals is scheduled for tomorrow (puck drop @ 6 p.m. local/CET)

last game from yesterday night... in game #4 of the NLA Finals, once again scoring first proved useless... this time it was Zürich taking the advantage in the first period of the game, but then EV Zug finally did find some pride and came back strong... they scored 4 unanswered goals (a remarkable empty netter from behind their own goal line included towards the end of the match) and with a clear 4-1 win in game #4 they gave themselves a chance to play at least another match at home (wednesday night, puck drop @ 8 p.m. local/CET)... now the ZSC Lions still lead the series 3-1 and could clinch the title with 1 more win... p.s. today it's pure mayhem... in order of play: KHL, Finals, game #5: Metallurg Magnitogorsk vs CSKA Moscow (MMG lead series 3-1, puck drop at 4 p.m. CET) Czech Extraliga, Finals, game #5: HC Oceláři Třinec vs Sparta Prague (series tied 2-2, puck drop @ 5 p.m. CET) Liiga, Finals, game #4: TPS Turku vs Tappara Tampere (Tappara lead series 3-0, puck drop @ 5.30 p.m. CET) Slovak Extraliga, Finals, game #3: HK Nitra vs Slovan Bratislava (series tied 1-1, puck drop @ 6.00 p.m. CET) SHL, semifinals, game #6: Färjestad BK vs Rögle BK (FBK lead series 3-2, puck drop @ 7.30 p.m. CET) DEL, semifinals, game 4 (best-of-5 series): Adler Mannheim vs Eisbären Berlin (Berlin lead series 2-1, puck drop @ 7.30 p.m. CET)

more Hockey news from all around Europe... HK Zemgale Jelgava won for the very first time the Latvian Optibet Hokeja Liga sweeping the title holder HK Olimp Riga by a score of 4 games to none (5-0; 3-2; 3-2; 3-1 the score of the single matches). Here's the official website of the Latvian League, very well done and full of useful infos (including standings, games and scoresheets): https://www.optibethokejaliga.com/ Valk 494 Tartu won the National Title for the 4th time in a row after sweeping in the final series Kurbads Riga (the Coolbet Hokiiliiga is an open tournament with teams from the whole Baltic Region) by a score of 3 games to none (4-2; 4-2 and 3-1 the score of the single matches). Metallurg Magnitogorsk won 1-0 in Moscow the 4th game of the Gagarin Cup Finals and now they lead the series 3 games to 1. Tomorrow they could clinch the title at home in game #5 (puck drop @ 7 p.m. local time, 4 p.m. CET). Red Bull Munich are the first team qualified to the DEL Finals after sweeping the Wolfsburg Grizzlys by a score of 3 games to none (5-1; 3-2 and 2-0 the score of the single matches). In the other semifinal's matchup, the Eisbären Berlin are leading 2-1 against Mannheim. The 4th match is scheduled for tomorrow (puck drop @ 7.30 p.m. CET). In the SHL, Rögle BK shortened the distance against Färjestad BK after winning game #5 of the series by a score of 5-1. Now the team from Karlstad leads the series 3-2 and tomorrow they could clinch the spot in the finals at home in game #6 (puck drop @ 7 p.m. CET). Luleå are still waiting for their opponent in this season's Finals. @hckošice bad news for Slaf & co. Tappara Tampere earlier tonight won also game #3 of the finals of the Finnish Liiga and now they lead the series 3-0. The final score of tonight's game against TPS Turku is 3-1 (0-0; 2-0; 1-1). The 4th game of the series is scheduled for tomorrow in Turku (puck drop at 6.30 p.m. local time, 5.30 p.m. CET), when Tappara could clinch the title with 1 more win.

Fjordkraft-ligaen 6th Norwegian Title for the Stavanger Oilers (all of them in the last 10 years) after beating the Storhamar Elite by a score of 4 games to none in the final series of the 2021/2022 season... LEAGUE SUMMARY Regular Season Final Standings https://www.hockey.no/live/Standings?date=11.03.2022&tournamentid=403446&teamid=0 Playoffs Recap Quarterfinals Stavanger Oilers (1) b. Ringerike (8) 4-0 Stjernen (2) b. Lillehammer (7) 4-3 Sparta Sarpsborg (3) b. Frisk Asker (5) 4-2 Storhamar (6) b. Valerenga (4) 4-2 Semifinals Stavanger Oilers (1) b. Sparta Sarpsborg (3) 4-3 Storhamar (6) b. Stjernen (2) 4-1 Final Series Game #1: Stavanger Oilers - Storhamar 6-0 (2-0; 2-0; 2-0) Game #2: Storhamar - Stavanger Oilers 1-2 (0-0; 0-1; 1-1) Game #3: Stavanger Oilers - Storhamar 3-2 (0-1; 3-0; 0-1) Game #4: Storhamar - Stavanger Oilers 2-5 (1-1; 0-2; 1-2) Unfortunately, no highlights available for free

Metal Ligaen The Aalborg Pirates won the 2021/2022 Danish league after beating the surprising Rungsted Seier Capitals by a score of 4 games to 1 in the final series... LEAGUE SUMMARY Regular Season Final Standings http://stats.sportsadmin.dk/leaguestandings.aspx?tournamentID=1783 Playoffs Recap Quarterfinals Aalborg Pirates (1) b. Herlev Eagles (8) 4-0 Odense Bulldogs (7) b. SønderjyskE (2) 4-3 Rungsted Seier Capital (6) b. Herning Blue Fox (3) 4-1 Esbjerg Energy (5) b. Frederikshavn White Hawks (4) 4-1 Semifinals Aalborg Pirates (1) b. Odense Bulldogs (7) 4-0 Rungsted Seier Capital (6) b. Esbjerg Energy (5) 4-3 Final Series Game #1: Aalborg - Rungsted 4-3 (2-1; 1-2; 1-0) Game Highlights Game #2: Rungsted - Aalborg 3-1 (2-0; 0-0; 1-1) Game Highlights Game #3: Aalborg - Rungsted 8-1 (2-1; 5-0; 1-0) Game Highlights Game #4: Rungsted - Aalborg 2-4 (0-1; 2-1; 0-2) Game Highlights Game #5: Aalborg - Rungsted 5-1 (2-1; 0-0; 3-0) Game Highlights

by the way, yesterday's top bout was for sure the men's -67kg gold medal match between Dacosta and Almasatfa... if you have 10 mins left, it's really worth watching...

well, I don't know what kind of problems exist right now in the Iranian federation, but I think that those guys who signed for the Karate Combat organization could be out for a while from the Olympic Karate, as they have to train properly for the full contact version and they're also likely have an exclusive with the new job (for Askari it's also a chance to take himself in good shape while he's DSQ at IOC level)...

still, the Timmermans brothers are full "white" Dutch guys (they are from Heerlen, and they have a third brother also playing Karate)... I don't know why Rob is competing for Curacao, meanwhile his brother Brian is competing for their "regular" Home Nation, the Netherlands...

Mixed Team Trap Gold: Spain 1 (Fatima Galvez & Alberto Fernandez) Silver: Spain 2 (Mar Molne Magrina & Adrià Martinez Torres) Bronze: Slovakia (Zuzana Rehak Stefecekova & Adrian Drobny) and Australia 2 (Catherine Skinner & James Willett) Full Results page: https://www.issf-sports.org/competitions/venue/csevent.ashx?cseventid=16086

Karate 1 Premier League Stage #2 ( Matosinhos) Medalllists Recap Women's Individual Kata Gold: Kiyou Shimizu Silver: Grace Lau Mo Sheung Bronze: Maho Ono & Hikaru Ono Men's Individual Kata Gold: Kakeru Nishiyama Silver: Alì Sofuoglu Bronze: Damian Hugo Quintero Capdevila & Enes Ozdemir Women's Individual Kumite, -50kg Gold: Yorgelis Salazar Silver: Serap Ozcelik Arapoglu Bronze: Sara Leal & Seden Bugur Women's Individual Kumite, -55kg Gold: Anzhelika Terliuga Silver: Tuba Yakan Bronze: Veronica Brunori & Maria Stoli Women's Individual Kumite, -61kg Gold: Anita Serogina Silver: Assel Kanay Bronze: Haya Jumaa & Diana Shostak Women's Individual Kumite, -68kg Gold: Silvia Semeraro Silver: Irina Zaretska Bronze: Elena Quirici & Halyna Melnyk Women's Individual Kumite, +68kg Gold: Lucija Lesiak Silver: Meltem Hocaoglu Akyol Bronze: Ayaka Saito & Ingrid Creemers Men's Individual Kumite, -60kg Gold: Christos-Stefanos Xenos Silver: Angelo Crescenzo Bronze: Eray Samdan & Danilo Greco Men's Individual Kumite, -67kg Gold: Steven Dacosta Silver: Abdel Rahman Almasatfa Bronze: Noah Pisino & Soichiro Nakano Men's Individual Kumite, -75kg Gold: Daniele De Vivo Silver: Farid Aghayev Bronze: Thomas Scott & Andrii Zaplitnyi Men's Individual Kumite, -84kg Gold: Brian Timmermans Silver: Michele Martina Bronze: Mohamed Ramadan & Faraj Alnashri Men's Individual Kumite, +84kg Gold: Babacar Seck Sakho Silver: Rob Timmermans Bronze: Andjelo Kvesic & Luca Costa

something I didn't know from the varied and complec world of Karate... the relatively new organization Karate Combat (which includes basically all the styles of Karate and promotes full contact fights) has signed a lot of "Olympic Karate" (which actually is not a proper style) stars for their upcoming 4th season... @MHSN and to my big surprise, there are also the 3 Iranian superstars, Bahman Askari, Zabiollah Poorshab and Sajjad Ganjzadeh... p.s. I didn't even know that Poorshab comes from a different school than the usual Shotokan, where almost all the Olympic fighters normally come from... here is the Karate Combat website with many info, including their roster (quite poor among the women so far, we must admit) and TV/Streaming partners... https://www.karate.com/

also about last night... dramatic finish for game #2 of the Slovak Extraliga Finals, where Slovan Bratislava did find an improbable equalizer with only 13 seconds still to be played, but HK Nitra finally recovered from that shock and scored the game winner about halfway through the first OT... now the series is tied 1-1... very tough and exciting game #4 in the Czech Extraliga Finals... in the end, Sparta Prague, pushed by their 17,220 fans (Extraliga playoffs all time record), won 5-2 and equalled the series at 2 apiece... so far, it's one of the most entertaining playoff series around Europe in this season... third straight win for ZSC Lions Zurich against EV Zug in the Swiss NLA Finals... once again they stole a 2-1 win coming from behind in the 3rd period for the 3rd straight match and therefore they now lead 3-0 in the series... on Monday night they could clinch the Title with another win on their home ice...

not a good day for Slaf and his TPS... he didn't play that well and, above all, his team lost once again 2-1 against Tappara Tampere in the Liiga Finals (this time at home, even if the game went to OT)... now the men from Turku are down 2-0 in the best-of-7 series... meanwhile, in Sweden Luleå HF are the first finalist of the SHL, after they won 4-1 at home in game #5 and 4-1 in the whole series against Frölunda Indians Gothemburg... in the other semifinal, Färjestad BK are leading 3-1 in the series against Rögle BK and tomorrow they could also clinch a spot in the finals with a win on the road... finally, yesterday Metallurg Magnitogorsk won 4-0 in Moscow in game #3 of the Gagarin Cup finals and now they lead 2-1 in the series... tomorrow game #4 is on stage, once again in the Russian Capital (puck drop @ 4.30 p.m. Moscow time, 3.30 p.m. CET)...

men's Team Trap Gold: Croatia Silver: India Bronze: Italy Full Results page: https://www.issf-sports.org/competitions/venue/csevent.ashx?cseventid=16093 women's TeamTrap Gold: Australia Silver: Italy Bronze: Spain Full Results page: https://www.issf-sports.org/competitions/venue/csevent.ashx?cseventid=16091