phelps

women's Individual Skeet, shooters qualified to the Final Caitlin Connor* and 5 of these 6 girls, going to the shoot-off... Francisca Crovetto Chadid* Kimberly Rhode* Aleksandra Jarmolinska Zhang Donglian* Amber English* Andri Eleftheriou * = NOT eligible for an Olimpic Quota, which means that Jarmolinska and Eleftheriou are already earned their Olympic spot from Today's competition (even if 1 of the 2 should miss the Final)...

another disaster for Italy, still with no quota in women's skeet (where in Rio we got Gold & Silver)... it really looks that 1 of our 2 traditional medal tanks will be more than half empty even before the Games start...

well, Winnipeg could end their season very soon...maybe there's a chance Daňo will be "free" in a few days... and also Carolina is not supposed to go further than rd #1 in the NHL PO...

Austrian EBEL the semifinals are over...and the Final Series is going to be played by Vienna Capitals and KAC Klagenfurt... Klagenfurt confirmed themselves on fire in this playoff run so far and after eliminating the defending champions HC Bolzano/Bozen Foxies in the quarterfinals by a score of 4-1 in the series, they did even better in the semifinals, where they didn't left anything to their rivals, the Moser Medicals Graz 99ers, who were swept 4-0 in the series... on the other side, if Klagenfurt didn't make their series interesting at all for neutral fans, the match up between Vienna Capitals and Red Bull Salzburg was really tight and exciting, with the men from the Austrian Capitals winning only after a tough battle that lasted until the 7th and decisive match, when in the 3rd period, down 1-0, they came back from hell and finally won the game by a score of 3-1 and the series 4-3... Semifinals Recap KAC Klagenfurt b. Graz 99ers 4-0 (1-0OT2; 3-2OT; 3-0; 4-2) Vienna Capitals b. Red Bull Salzburg 4-3 (4-2; 2-1OT2; 3-4OT; 3-5; 2-1OT; 2-3OT; 3-1) the Finals (best-of-7 series) is scheduled to start later Today, Sunday April 14th, in Wien (game #1 puck drop @ 2 p.m. CET)...

Swiss NLA game #2 of the final series of the Swiss NLA started in a very sleepy way...nothing happened in the first period... but in the second stint, things got a lot more interesting...SC Bern, after losing the series opener at home, had to try and get back in route and therefore start putting EC Zug under some pressure, which led the team from the Swiss Capital to earn the lead early in the period...but EC Zug didn't panic and soon tied the game... SC Bern then put in place another offensive storm and scored their second goal... the 3rd period was only about EV Zug charging, looking for another game-tying goal, which came at about half the final stint... then things got quiet once again, with both teams more afraid of givin'up scoring chances to the opponent rather then building some by themselves... the logical consequence was that the game went to OT, where SC Bern started fast and furious and quickly scored a goal, which was then denied after the video replay... but the Bears didn't lose their composure and it didn't took long for them to score once again...and this time it was a good goal, the game winning goal (scored by Gregory Sciaroni in the 65th minute)... so, the final score was EV Zug, 2 vs SC Bern, 3 (OT)...and the series is now tied 1-1... Game #3 is scheduled for Tuesday, Saturday April 16th in Bern (8 p.m. CET)... game #2 scoresheet and highlights, here: https://www.sihf.ch/de/game-center/game/#/20191105000374

KHL, Gagarin Cup Finals there was much hype before game #1 of the Gagarin Cup finals... but a very strong start by CSKA Moscow shut down early any chance to watch a close and interesting game...Andrei Svetlakov and Alexei Marchenko scored 2 goals in the first 8 minutes of the game and basically it was already all over... there was also a shy attempt to try and come back by Avangard, but it was really too little...and when Mikhail Grigorenko scored the 2nd of his daily 3 goals at the beginning of the 3rd period, also the men from Siberia raised the white flag... the remainder of the game was just a boring appendix, useful just to Grigorenko to complete his personal hat trick... CSKA finally won game #1 by a score of 5-2 and therefore they also lead the series 1-0... game #2 is scheduled for Tomorrow, Monday April 15th once again in Moscow (7.30 p.m. local time, 6.30 p.m. CET)... game #1 full stats https://en.khl.ru/game/674/81665/protocol/ game #1 highlights

men's greco-roman wrestling, Tomorrow's Gold Medal matches -60kg: Victor Ciobanu vs Sergey Emelin -67kg: Gevorg Sahakyan vs Atakan Yuksel -72kg: Cengiz Arslan vs Abuiazid Mantsigov -82kg: Lasha Gobadze vs Rajbek Bisultanov -97kg: Musa Evloev vs Kiril Milenov Milov

Today's Medallists Recap men's greco-roman wrestling, -55kg Gold: Vitalii Kabaloev Silver: Florin Tita Bronze: Eldaniz Azizli & Fabian Bernhard Schmitt men's greco-roman wrestling, -63kg Gold: Stepan Maryanyan Silver: Stig-Andre Berge Bronze: Slavik Galstyan & Michal Jacek Tracz men's greco-roman wrestling, -77kg Gold: Roman Vlasov Silver: Roland Schwarz Bronze: Viktor Nemes & Arsen Julfalakyan men's greco-roman wrestling, -87kg Gold: Zhan Beleniuk Silver: Islam Abbasov Bronze: Denis Maksymilian Kudla & Erik Szilvassy men's greco-roman wrestling, -130kg Gold: Riza Kayaalp Silver: Iakobi Kajaia Bronze: Alin Alexuc Ciurariu & Sergey Semenov

I just can't believe to see "grandaddy" Timoncini in the Bronze Medal match of the -97kg class... he already announced his retirement after Rio...he was already coaching our youngsters and suddenly decided to comeback (after we already found his replacement in the former Junior World Champion originally from Georgia, Nikoloz Kakelashvili) and now he's in a place where he has only been once in his prime days... surely, the lucky draw did most of the job...but he only lost 3-1 after being 1-0 ahead after the end of the 1st round vs Evloev in the semis and after beating a world medallist like Baldauf in the early rounds...so, maybe it's not only about luck... if he wins the bronze medal tomorrow, we will end the Europeans with a medal in each of the 3 styles...I don't remember when it was the last time it happened (if it ever happened before)...

wow! what a domination also in the epee cadet class... basically, it looks like we've lost the touch in our traditional weapon (foil) to gain an unexpected and amazing superiority where we weren't use to be so successful...

Men's Cadet Individual Epee Final Results Gold: Enrico Piatti Silver: Dario Remondini Bronze: Kirill Gurov & Akseli Heinamaa Semifinals: Piatti b. Gurov 15-9 Remondini b. Heinamaa 15-10 Gold Medal Match: Piatti b. Remondini 15-6 Here is the Full Final Ranking (and Results) from Today's competition: http://fie.org/competitions/2019/236/results/rank

Women's Cadet Individual Epee Final Results Gold: Eszter Muhari Silver: Gaia Caforio Bronze: Lili Buki & Zofia Janelli Semifinals: Muhari b. Buki 15-10 Caforio b. Janelli 15-12 Gold Medal Match: Muhari b. Caforio 15-14 Here is the Full Final Ranking (and Results) from Today's competition: http://fie.org/competitions/2019/235/results/rank

but remember, Washington also lost the first 2 games at home against Columbus in the 1st round of last year's playoffs...and we all know how the season finished... meanwhile, St.Louis won twice in Winnipeg and the Isles beat those damn Pens twice at home... overall, a lot of surprising results in these first games of the 2019 NHL playoffs...

finally, some great showing by the Italian team...but Di Veroli beaten once again in the final act, hurts...it hurts a lot...

Men's Junior Individual Epee Final Results Gold: Arthur Philippe Silver: Davide Di Veroli Bronze: Gianpaolo Buzacchino & Ruslan Hasanov Semifinals: Philippe b. Hasanov 15-7 Di Veroli b. Buzacchino 15-10 Gold Medal Match: Philippe b. Di Veroli 15-13 Here is the Full Final Ranking (and Results) from Today's competition: http://fie.org/competitions/2019/224/results/rank

Women's Junior Individual Epee Final Results Gold: Federica Isola Silver: Gaia Traditi Bronze: Greta Candreva & Kim Si Eun Semifinals: Isola b. Kim 15-14 Traditi b. Candreva 15-10 Gold Medal Match: Isola b. Traditi 15-12 Here is the Full Final Ranking (and Results) from Today's competition: http://fie.org/competitions/2019/223/results/rank

men's greco-roman wrestling, Tomorrow's Gold Medal matches -55kg: Florin Tita vs Vitalii Kabaloev -63kg: Stepan Maryanyan vs Stig-Andre Berge -77kg: Roman Vlasov vs Roland Schwarz -87kg: Zhan Beleniuk vs Islam Abbasov -130kg: Iakobi Kajaia vs Riza Kayaalp

Today's Medallists Recap women's wrestling, -53kg Gold: Stalvira Orshush Silver: Lilya Horishna Bronze: Vanesa Kaladzinskaya & Jessica Cornelia Blaszka women's wrestling, -57kg Gold: Emese Barka Silver: Tetyana Kit Bronze: Anastasia Nichita & Alyona Kolesnik women's wrestling, -62kg Gold: Taybe Mustafa Yusein Silver: Aurora Campagna Bronze: Marianna Sastin & Tetiana Omelchenko women's wrestling, -65kg Gold: Elis Manolova Silver: Kriszta Tunde Incze Bronze: Petra Maarit Olli & Mariia Kuznetsova women's wrestling, -72kg Gold: Alina Berezhna Stadnik Makhynia Silver: Anna Carmen Schell Bronze: Tatiana Kolesnikova Morozova

Australian Swimming Championships, Day #6 (Final) men's 50m free Kyle Chalmers, 22.07 William Stockwell, 22.29 women's 200m IM Calypso Sheridan, 2.11.53 Abbey Harkin, 2.12.26 men's 200m backstroke Mitchell Larkin, 1.56.22 Tristan Hollard, 1.57.17 women's 100m backstroke Minna Atherton, 59.71 Kaylee McKeown, 59.88 men's 200m fly Nicholas Brown, 1.56.50 Bowen Gough, 1.56.73 women's 50m fly Holly Barratt, 25.91 Cate Campbell, 26.03 men's 1500m free Joshua Parris, 15.15.53 Ben Roberts, 15.15.66 overall, very disappointing champs, with only a few names (C.Campbell, Chalmers, Larkin, Wilson and, above all, Titmus) and races (basically, those where the previously named swimmers performed at their best) that's worth watching... in particular, without Horton at the start, apart the flashy 400m free from the young Winnington (nomen omen?), it's really sad to see how bad is the men's freestyle middle and long distance swimming of the Country that made it great in the past decades...

Swiss NLA game #1 of the final series of the Swiss NLA was played yesterday night... the hosts from SC Bern had a good start, pushed also by the amazing 16,557 shouting fans of the PostFinance Arena (formerly known as the "Allmend Halle"), but after Jan Mursak's opening goal of the night, which gave the home crown the illusion of a triumphant night, EV Zug began playing their hockey and slowly but steadily turned momentum and score around... from the start of the second period on, it looked like there was only one team on the ice (and it was not the home team) and when Garrett Roe scored the 3-1 goal at the beginning of the 3rd stint, it was all over... the final 15 minutes were just cosmetic...it was only a chance for EV Zug to widen the margin of their victory...the final score of the game says: SC Bern, 1 vs EV Zug, 4... therefore EV Zug now lead the series 1-0 and have stolen the home ice advantage... Game #2 is scheduled for Tomorrow, Saturday April 13th in Zug (8 p.m. CET)... game #1 scoresheet and highlights, here: https://www.sihf.ch/de/game-center/game/#/20191105000373

well, she's very young (and improving, for what I see)... as her best result so far, she won the bronze medal at last year's Junior Worlds (beaten only by a Japanese girl)... but I think she's not ready to face someone like Yusein yet...I think that tomorrow your girl will win by superiority...but still, this is a very good and unexpected result for our team (our only real hope for a medal was Chamizo)...

thanks!

the Italian girls...that was humiliating beyond any imagination... and the guys were disappointing once again...that small bronze is definitely not enough to save the day...

Men's (Cadet &) Junior Team Foil Final Results Gold: Russia Silver: France Bronze: Italy Semifinals: Russia b. USA 45-32 France b. Italy 40-36 Bronze Medal Match: Italy b. USA 45-40 Gold Medal Match: Russia b. France 45-38 Here is the Full Final Ranking (and Results) from Today's competition: http://fie.org/competitions/2019/232/results/rank

Women's (Cadet &) Junior Team Foil Final Results Gold: Russia Silver: Japan Bronze: South Korea Semifinals: Russia b. South Korea 45-33 Japan b. France 44-32 Bronze Medal Match: South Korea b. France 45-42 Gold Medal Match: Russia b. Japan 39-32 Here is the Full Final Ranking (and Results) from Today's competition: http://fie.org/competitions/2019/231/results/rank