phelps

I'd really like her to make the podium, but as of the latest results, I think Pamela Rosa is the girl with the highest hopes for Brazil in the women's Street Skateboarding... I agree on Barros and I think Hoefler has really good chances in the men's Street event... however, 3 medals for Brazil in Skateboarding should be the minimum to be satisfied with...you can get even more...

Australia men win FIH Pro League and reclaim top spot in world rankings A sell-out crowd at Amsterdam’s Wagener Stadium was on hand to watch Australia become the first ever men’s winners of the FIH Pro League, defeating world champions Belgium 3-2 in a breathtaking final on Sunday (30 June 2019) First half goals from Trent Mitton, Flynn Ogilvie and Blake Govers proved to be just enough for the Kookaburras, with late strikes from Loick Luypaert and Alexander Hendrickx setting up a thrilling finish but not quite enough for the brilliant Belgians. It was a fitting finish to a wonderful FIH Pro League Grand Final event in Amsterdam, bringing the curtain down on six months of top class international hockey played across the globe. As well as winning the FIH Pro League, Australia have reclaimed their place at the top of the FIH World Rankings, which have been updated and can be found here. The next rankings update will take place on 8 September 2019, following the completion of the Continental Championships. The Kookaburras also took a trio of individual awards, with midfielder Aran Zalewski was named Best Player of the FIH Pro League, striker Blake Govers finishing as the Hero Top Scorer (12 goals) and Tyler Lovell taking the Volvo Best Goalkeeper of the FIH Pro Grand Final award. Belgium’s Tom Boon won the Deloitte Best Goal of the FIH Pro League Grand Final event thanks to his stunning solo effort against the Netherlands in the semi-finals on Friday (28 June). Australia were exceptional in the first two quarters of the title match, dominating a Belgium team that lost talismanic defender Arthur Van Doren early in the contest through injury. It was a significant blow for the Red Lions, already missing injured team captain Thomas Briels, who now had to face the regular FIH Pro League table toppers without two of their most influential players. The Kookaburras deservedly took the lead in the ninth minute of the match when Trent Mitton fired home on the turn after Jake Whetton had brilliantly stolen possession from Belgium midfielder Victor Wegnez, a lead that was doubled just before the quarter-time break thanks to Flynn Ogilvie’s backhand rocket-shot. The Red Lions improved in the second quarter and forced two fine saves from Tyler Lovell, but it was the Australians who extended their advantage as Blake Govers scored from the penalty spot after Mitton was fouled by Arthur de Sloover. The world champions came out fighting in the third quarter, winning a succession of penalty corners before finally getting the breakthrough just before the end of the period. Loick Luypaert’s penalty corner drag-flick gave Belgium hope, with Alexander Hendrickx making it 3-2 with a strike three minutes from the end setting up a dramatic finale. However, it was the Australians who prevailed, winning the title and moving back to the top of the FIH Hero World Rankings in the process. “We’ve played plenty of good teams and it’s great to finish on top”, said Australia goalscorer Flynn Ogilvie. “We started off red hot by scoring three goals, which was great, but didn’t finish off too well and they showed their class towards the end. It’s been exciting, every game has been interesting. It’s been a quality competition, as shown by this weekend, which has been top class.” Belgium’s John-John Dohmen said: “I think it was a great second half. We didn’t start really well, Australia were really good tactically and physically in the first half and it was really hard for us. We changed our tactics [in the second half] and started to dominate, but too late at 3-0, it was a bit difficult.” Earlier in the day, home favourites the Netherlands ended their FIH Pro League campaign on a positive note with a 5-3 triumph over Great Britain in a hugely entertaining 3-4 play-off game. The crowd were treated to a thrilling match, with Jeroen Hertzberger putting the Netherlands ahead with a diving deflection in the first quarter before GB’s Zach Wallace restored parity in the second period when he forced home from a goal-mouth scramble. In a remarkable three minute passage of play, the two teams traded four goals with Henry Weir and Phil Roper twice edging the Brits ahead while Hertzberger and Mink van der Weerden pulling the Dutch level on each occasion to send the teams into half time at 3-3. Both sides had chances in the third quarter, but it was the Dutch who moved into a 5-3 lead thanks to a double from striker Mirco Pruijser, who produced superb first time finishes from crosses from the right as the Netherlands took charge charge. Pruijser’s second goal was a cracker, with Mink van der Weerden tearing down the right hand side of the field to receive a huge cross field overhead pass from defence before finding Pruijser who guided a wonderful first time slap into the the bottom left corner. It proved to be an unassailable lead, with the Oranje delighting the home crowd with their success. “I’m pretty happy we got the bronze”, said Netherlands double goal-scorer Jeroen Hertzberger. “At the end of the day it’s not the match we wanted to play, but overall giving this crowd a victory was the only thing we could do. I think we played a fun game, and that was our objective, to have fun today. I did, and I think most of the boys did and we showed some good hockey.” Great Britain goal-scorer Phil Roper said: “We’ve got to go away from this competition with our heads held high. Playing in Holland against Holland, it was a great game. It’s a real shame we couldn’t come away with a medal, but we can look back as know that we have grown so much as a team. We’ve got to push and really start challenging those guys for a medal.” Ahead of the match, Netherlands captain Billy Bakker received a huge cheer from the fans in recognition of his 200th senior international appearance. Keep up to date with all the latest news on the FIH Pro League via the event website and through FIH social media channels - Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. FIH Pro League Grand Final - 30 June 2019 

Wagener Stadium, Amsterdam (NED) 
 Men’s 3-4 Place Play-Off 
Great Britain 3, Netherlands 5 
Player of the Match: Bjorn Kellerman (NED) Umpires: Christian Blasch (GER), Simon Taylor (NZL) and Michelle Meister (GER - video umpire) Final 
Australia 3, Belgium 2 
 Player of the Match: Jake Whetton (AUS) Umpires: Marcin Grochal (POL), Coen van Bunge (NED) and Sarah Wilson (SCO - video umpire) 

Awards 
Deloitte Best Goal of the Grand Final: Tom Boon (BEL) in the semi-final against Netherlands Volvo Goalkeeper of the Grand Final: Tyler Lovell (AUS) Hero Top Scorer: Blake Govers (AUS) Best Player of the FIH Pro League: Aran Zalewski (AUS)

Full Schedule of the WRG19, here: http://www.worldskate.org/wrg2019/schedule.html

Full Results from the WRG19, here: http://www.worldskate.org/wrg2019/results-wrg2019.html

World Roller Games 2019 set to turn Barcelona into world roller sports capital Catalan capital hosts World Championships of 11 roller and skateboarding disciplines starting from 29 June to 14 July More than 4,000 athletes from 81 countries to compete in 128 sports events to be held in 13 venues spread across Barcelona and 4 other cities. The World Roller Games 2019 have been officially presented in the Barcelona City Council just a few days before the competition kicks off. The world’s most important roller and skateboarding event is set to be held in the Catalan capital from 29 June to 14 July, with Barcelona hosting the world championships of 11 disciplines: Alpine, Artistic, Roller Freestyle, Downhill, Inline Freestyle, Inline Hockey, Rink Hockey, Roller Derby, Scooter, Speed and Skateboarding. A total of 4,120 athletes from 81 countries will meet in Barcelona to compete in 128 sports events over a period of 11 competition days in the senior category plus another 5 in the junior category. The 750 volunteers all set to collaborate in the organisation similarly give an idea of the magnitude of this major sports event. For all these reasons, Barcelona will once again be converted into the world sports capital for a few days as it hosts the 11 disciplines of the World Roller Games 2019 across nine venues located across the city. But the Catalan capital is not alone in this organisational challenge, because the event will also have four subvenues: Vilanova i la Geltrú, Terrassa and Sant Cugat, set to host part of the Rink Hockey competition, and Mollet del Vallès, which will host the Roller Derby World Championship. Those participating in the WRG 2019 presentation included: Laura Pérez, Third Deputy Mayor of Barcelona; Marta Carranza, Sports Commissioner for the Barcelona City Council; Maite Fandos, Sports Councillor for the Barcelona Provincial Council; Carmelo Paniagua, President of the WRG Organising Committee and RFEP; Ramon Basiana, president of the WRG Executive Committee and FCP, and Gerard Figueras, General Secretary of Sport and Physical Activity for the Government of Catalonia. During the presentation, Laura Pérez, Third Deputy Mayor of Barcelona, stressed: “Barcelona is an international benchmark in action sport and will continue to feature in the world sports calendar thanks to the World Roller Games. One must also highlight the fact that almost half of the participants will be women, a feat that is always difficult in sport, but the WRG also aim to shatter many stereotypes.” For her part, Marta Carranza, Sports Commissioner for the Barcelona City Council stated: “Barcelona will be the world small wheel hub, a source of both responsibility and pride. We are constantly working towards leaving a sports legacy behind in the city, as we have done so far with events such as Roda BCN or Extreme and are now doing so with the WRG, after which the installation of a speed track at Front Marítim will be left behind. “Barcelona is the perfect city to stage this event. We hope to see about 100,000 spectators coming to visit us from around the world, people who can enjoy both the sport and the city. I also want to thank all the institutions that have promoted this event and worked together to make this dream come true,” said Carmelo Paniagua, President of the WRG Organising Committee and RFEP. Ramon Basiana, President of the WRG Executive Committee and FCP also agreed: “Dialogue, teamwork and excitement have made this great sports event a reality and we hope it will be a success and serve to promote roller sports both within our country and worldwide.” For her part, Maite Fandos, Sports Councillor for the Barcelona Provincial Council claimed: "It was important for us at the Provincial Council that the WRG 2019 had an impact not only in Barcelona, but also in other cities, and this is the case of the subvenues of Vilanova i la Geltrú, Terrassa, Sant Cugat and Mollet del Vallès, all of which will make this event even greater.” “Catalonia is committed to sport in general and skating in particular. The WRG are also an opportunity to win, given that we like to compete here, but they are also an opportunity to show the world that we are good at staging things. Finally, I would like to underline the legacy the WRG will leave behind, because sports events are important for what happens not only during the time they last, but also after,” stated Gerard Figueras, General Secretary of Sport and Physical Activity for the Government of Catalonia.

WRG2019: Live Streaming and Television coverage The World Roller Games will be broadcasted through television and web so that fans of roller sports who cannot attend the event in Barcelona won’t miss the best competitions. Televisió de Catalunya and La Xarxa are the official broadcasters of the WRG2019, and the games will be live streamed on the dedicated World Skate WebTv at www.rollergames.tv and on Olympic Channel. All the detailed and updated information can be found at www.rollergames.tv - check the live streaming schedule starting from July 3. Daily photos, results and highlights are available here: MEDIA ASSETS Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram and live with us the WRG 2019

Men's Team Foil Final Results Gold: United States Silver: Canada Bronze: Brazil Semifinals: USA b. Chile 45-25 Canada b. Brazil 45-41 Bronze Medal Match: Brazil b. Chile 45-28 Gold Medal Match: USA b. Canada 45-27  Here is the Full Final Ranking (and Results) from Today's competition: https://fie.org/competitions/2019/806

Women's Team Epee Final Results Gold: United States Silver: Brazil Bronze: Canada Semifinals: USA b. Argentina 45-17 Brazil b. Canada 45-38 Bronze Medal Match: Canada b. Argentina 45-40 Gold Medal Match: USA b. Brazil 44-33  Here is the Full Final Ranking (and Results) from Today's competition: https://fie.org/competitions/2019/803

if they qualify (which isn't an easy task, but not impossible), maybe you have some chances in Karate (men's -67, Mario Hodzic; men's +75kg, Nikola Malovic & women's +61kg, Marina Rakovic)... they are outside/remote chances, but especially Hodzic on a given day could be a threat for all the competitors (look at his very good performance at the recent European Games)... Gojkovic is very, very good, but I fear she'll be another victim of the (in)famous Boxing spoil system...it will be very hard for her even to qualify (given also the very few spots available)...

a shitload of ignorants! definitely not to be admired and/or rewarded for that...

I read it carefully...and I quote @MHSN 's post as an answer...

doping in weightlifting is just an opinion? corruption in Boxing is "my fantasy"? considering having 12/13 years young kids together with adults and under the spotlight of any sort of media operator immoral is only "an opinion"? yes, maybe this is just an opinion...but I do really believe that this is the only acceptable one... on this question I'm more than a Nazi... and as I wrote many times in the past, I don't consider AS, RG and so on "true sports" only because their results are determined only on the basis of personal taste of biased (when not fully corrupted) people named "judges", without any objective parameter, not because I don't like them (which is not even completely true for some of them)... and frankly, I'm pretty tired to repeat myself every once in a while on that...

ok, if you don't know and/or don't like Karate, it's your taste...it's OK and should not be commented... but denigrating it with false interpretation is not elegant at all and shouldn't be an option...

well, that's your more than respectable opinion... but still, it's only an opinion... and decisions about being part of the Olympic program or not should be taken on the basis of facts and numbers, not opinions... p.s. and if we consider breakdancing (and any other similar activity), they just have nothing to do with sport and with the Olympic Games for objective reasons... moreover, putting 12 years young kids together with adult people and letting them competing one against the others is simply DISGUSTING and IMMORAL!!!!!! those who just thought about such a shame should spend the rest of their lives in jail!

actually, I find it the most stupid decision ever... Karate is one of the most universal sport in the world, usually at the world champs we have all the 5 Continents (6 sub-Continents, if you want to keep North and South America as 2 separate entities), 4 of them making the podium... many weight classes have more than 100 starters (with the usual limitation to 1 per NOC! )... but they decided to give them just 10 spots per class and they didn't even allowed all 6 classes per gender to be in Tokyo...and then...bang! they killed the sport and its athletes for what? breakdancing! a non-sport activity played by a bunch of babies with street (often criminal) culture as their main background... the same for skateboarding, BMX freestyle...and all the other sports where you have always the usual 5/6 participating Countries and only the usual 3 Nations winning (almost) all the medals... and let's not talk about corrupted or doping inflated sports (do you know Boxing and Weightlifting?), always under threat to be dropped and actually never really in danger... or what about sports where only the 2nd/3rd tier athletes are participating to the Games (any reference to men's Football and Baseball is purely intentional)... moreover...they threatened to drop many sports because they're male-only oriented (causing abominable monsters like women's boxing to be included in the Olympic schedule), but they keep Artistic Swimming and Rhythmic Gymnastics well stuck into the program (and they even forbid those few men practicing Artistic Swimming to dream about an Olympic medal keeping the Mixed Duo -now an established event at the world champs- far away from the Olympics)... dropping that sh*t would be an excellent decision...not dropping one of the most wide spread sport in the world...

and since I haven't anything more exciting to do this afternoon here's a quick recap of the newest WKF Olympic Qualification Ranking (updated at June 1st, 2019)... Important Notes: 1. Japan have 1 spot already sure in each class as the Host Nation of the Olympic Games 2. In the Olympic Categories where 2 of the "WKF Kumite regular weight classes" are combined together, only the top 2 athletes in each of said WKF Kumite regular weights can qualify 3. Only 1 spot per NOC is available in each (weight) class men's Kata (1. Ryo Kiyuna, 6630 Pts)* 2. Damian Hugo Quintero Capdevila, 5977.5 Pts 3. Alì Sofuoglu, 3742.5 Pts 4. Antonio Diaz, 3015 Pts 5. Mattia Busato, 3000 Pts ---First OUT--- (6. & 7. Kazumasa Moto & Issei Shimbaba)* 8. Ilja Smorguner, 1980 Pts men's Kumite, -67kg (-67kg when not indicated) 1. Darkhan Assadilov (-60kg), 5287.5 Pts 2. Steven Dacosta, 5250 Pts 3. Angelo Crescenzo (-60kg), 5160 Pts 4. Alì Elsawy, 4072.5 Pts ---First OUT--- 5. Eray Samdan (-60kg), 3922.5 Pts 6. Vinicius Figueira, 3652.5 Pts men's Kumite, -75kg 1. Bahman Askari, 4537.5 Pts 2. Luigi Busà, 4350 Pts (3. Ken Nishimura, 3922.5 Pts)* 4. Rafael Aghayev, 3825 Pts 5. Thomas Scott, 3547.5 Pts ---First OUT--- 6. Stanislav Horuna, 3187.5 Pts (currently 1st in line to get a Continental spot after the European Games in Minsk) 7. Dastonbek Otabolaev, 2310 Pts men's Kumite, +75kg (+84kg when not indicated) 1. Ugur Aktas (-84kg), 6712.5 Pts 2. Jonathan Horne, 5137.5 Pts 3. Sajad Ganjzadeh, 4942.5 Pts 4. Ivan Kvesic (-84kg), 4507.5 Pts ---First OUT--- (5. Alparslan Yamanoglu, 3682.5 Pts)** (6. Zabiollah Poorshab, -84kg, 3495 Pts)** (7. Saleh Abazari, 3427.5 Pts)** 8. Valerii Chobotar (-84kg), 3225 Pts (9. Anton Isakau, -84kg, 2955 Pts) (10. Ryutaro Araga, -84kg, 2850 Pts)* 11. Gogita Arkania, 2745 Pts women's Kata 1. Sandra Sanchez Jaime, 7282.5 Pts (2. Kiyou Shimizu, 6382.5 Pts)* 3. Viviana Bottaro, 4395 Pts 4. Grace Lau Mo Sheung, 3825 Pts 5. Sakura Kokumai, 2797.5 Pts ---First OUT--- (6. Hikaru Ono, 2752.5 Pts)* 7. Maria Dimitrova, 2175 Pts women's Kumite, -55kg (-55kg when not indicated) 1. Serap Ozcelik Arapoglu (-50kg), 6802.5 Pts 2. Anzhelika Terliuga, 4732.5 Pts 3. Wen Tzu-Yun, 4425 Pts (4. Miho Miyahara, -50kg, 3945 Pts)* 5. Bettina Plank (-50kg), 3727.5 Pts ---First OUT--- 6. Dorota Banaszczyk, 3292.5 Pts (7. Tuba Yakan, 3187.5 Pts)** (8. Jana Bitsch, 3067.5 Pts) 9. Shara Hubrich (-50kg), 2767.5 Pts women's Kumite, -61kg 1. Yin Xiaoyan, 5655 Pts 2. Giana Lofty, 4380 Pts 3. Jovana Prekovic, 3832.5 Pts 4. Merve Coban, 3817.5 Pts ---First OUT--- 5. Gwendoline Philippe, 3000 Pts women's Kumite, +61kg (+68kg when not indicated) 1. Elena Quirici (-68kg), 4470 Pts (2. Ayumi Uekusa, 3900 Pts)* 3. Irina Zaretska (-68kg), 3727.5 Pts (4. Kayo Someya, -68kg, 3697.5 Pts)* 5. Eleni Chatziliadou, 3450 Pts 6. Alizèe Agier, -68kg, 3330 Pts 7. Hamideh Abbasali, 3172.5 Pts (8. Silvia Semeraro, -68kg, 2940 Pts - currently 1st in line to get a Continental spot after the European Games in Minsk) (9. Halyna Melnyk, -68kg, 2917.5 Pts) 10. Meltem Hocaoglu, 2797.5 Pts in BOLD the athletes currently qualified to the Olympic Games through the Olympic Qualification Ranking (OQR) * NOT to be considered because of the "Japan rule" (note #1) ** NOT to be considered because there's at least 1 teammate in the same Olympic Class ahead of him in the OQR (note #2 and/or #3)

Semeraro and Horuna (especially the Ukranin guy), however, now are still very close to qualify through the OQR...so, the fight is still well underway and anything can still happen...

it's plot! the entire world is against me! by the way, this is the updated provisional situation... women's EG champions Kata: Sandra Sanchez Jaime* (WKF Rank in "Olympic" Kata: 1st, 7282.5 Pts) Kumite, -50kg: Bettina Plank* (WKF Rank in "Olympic" -55kg: 5th, 3727.5 Pts) Kumite, -55kg: Ivet Goranova (WKF Rank in "Olympic" -55kg: 11th, 2580 Pts) Kumite, -61kg: Anita Serogina (WKF Rank in "Olympic" -61kg: 15th, 1432.5 Pts) Kumite, -68kg: Silvia Semeraro (WKF Rank in "Olympic" +61kg: 8th, 2940 Pts) Kumite, +68kg: Laura Palacio Gonzalez (WKF Rank in "Olympic" +61kg: 19th, 2017.5 Pts) * Currently already qualified through OQR men's EG champions Kata: Damian Hugo Quintero Capdevila* (WKF Rank in "Olympic" Kata: 2nd, 5977.5 Pts) Kumite, -60kg: Kalvis Kalnins (WKF Rank in "Olympic" -67kg: 36th, 1395 Pts) Kumite, -67kg: Luca Maresca** (WKF Rank in "Olympic" -67kg: 17th, 2145 Pts) Kumite, -75kg: Stanislav Horuna (WKF Rank in "Olympic" -75kg: 6th, 3187.5 Pts) Kumite, -84kg: Ivan Kvesic* (WKF Rank in "Olympic" +75kg: 4th, 4507.5 Pts) Kumite, +84kg: Asiman Gurbanli (WKF Rank in "Olympic" +75kg: 29th, 1387.5 Pts) * Currently already qualified through OQR ** Basically NOT Eligible to qualify, as another Italian Athlete is currently already qualified through OQR in his class based on these results and rankings (still very provisional, as people might imagine), Silvia Semeraro (women) and Stanislav Horuna (men) would be the 2 lucky Europeans getting a Continental spot for the Olympic Games in Tokyo...

hopefully... but still, we have always less "expected" medal contenders and always more risky "outsiders"... so, with a bit of luck we can still performas usual, but we just can't really expect it will happen for sure... our motto should be: "living dangerously" or "living on the edge"...

for sure you know cricket and IND vs PAK relationships way better than me... and I trust you when you explain all those things... but still, in the back of my mind there's always a little voice telling me that IND maybe didn't lose on purpose in a blatant way, but at least they didn't give it all on the court as if it was a semifinal/final match... that said, I don't really want to put on a case for this thing...time will tell if this loss will hurt India / Pakistan / both of them or if it won't change anything towards the expected IND vs AUS final showdown... my only expectation is to watch some exciting games in the tournament's Final Four...

Men's Team Sabre Final Results Gold: United States Silver: Canada Bronze: Argentina Semifinals: USA b. Argentina 45-21 Canada b. Colombia 45-29 Bronze Medal Match: Argentina b. Colombia 45-35 Gold Medal Match: USA b. Canada 45-37  Here is the Full Final Ranking (and Results) from Today's competition: https://fie.org/competitions/2019/808

Women's Team Foil Final Results Gold: United States Silver: Canada Bronze: Chile Semifinals: USA b. Chile 45-19 Canada b. Brazil 45-18 Bronze Medal Match: Chile b. Brazil 45-37 Gold Medal Match: USA b. Canada 45-42  Here is the Full Final Ranking (and Results) from Today's competition: https://fie.org/competitions/2019/805

the more the Olympics get closer, less and less medals, I expect from Italy!

yeah, with Klosterhalfen right behind her (and she too, below the old ER by Gabi Szabo)... ah, those Salazar magics!

ah! ah! I expected some reaction against what I wrote... c'mon, guys! there's nothing wrong in losing a match on purpose (and I'm more than convinced that India yesterday had all the interest in doing that), if it takes you to reach 2 goals instead of only 1... and please, don't tell me that nobody thought about it in your Country, as you would look really naive (and I know you are not)... p.s. England were struggling lately and I'm pretty sure they would have been relegated to 5th place if they couldn't win all of their remaining matches, that one vs IND included...