phelps

today the Spengler Cup 2019 started in Davos... the opening match between Ocelari Trinec and Metallurg Magnitogorsk was a really close one, it looked more like a true championship match rather than the exhibition that the Spengler Cup actually is... finally, the Russians did take the victory home after the penalty shootout, since regulation and OT ended with a 1-1 tie... to be noticed, Trinec's backup goalie Peter Kvaca didn't play a single second in regulation and OT, but was chosen to play the PS...unfortunately, he got an apparently really bad (surely very painful) injury on the second Metallurg penalty...it definitely wasn't his day...

c'mon, man! example #1 is not even a penalty! never!!! example #2 to me is also a no penalty, but I could accept a 2-min minor if the charging player comes really from behind (not from the front or the side of the opponent getting hit)... example #3...2-min minor, not more than that (5-min major -and no game misconduct...I'll never understand why a 5-min penalty must go together with a game-penalty - only if the hit comes from the blind side, which is not the case of that example)...the match penalty must be given only if the hit comes from behind and smashes a player with his face against the boards (because that's really dangerous)... basically, with rules like this one, someone like the great Scott Stevens would have never had a chance to start a hockey career, instead of being one of the best defencemen ever (and one of the dirtiest players ever, I must admit)... bye-bye ice hockey...welcome "field hockey on the ice" (or women's hockey played by men, if you prefer)...

good questions...but, at least for now, still without an answer... I think they will let us know those details in the next months, after looking carefully at the outcome of the new system in the first K1PL and Serie A events of the 2019... p.s. if I have to guess, in Tokyo they could go for a preliminary round with 2 groups of 5 and the top 4 advancing to the main round...then 2 groups of 4 with the groups' winners making the Gold medal match and the 2nd and 3rd of each group making the Bronze medal bouts (crossover between the 2 groups of course), so to have at least 2 kata before the finals (only 1 would be really a shame)... but it's only my personal guess...

I hope so... but I don't know if they were really thinking about that or something else with more "glamour" (it's Rome, it's Piazza di Siena, after all)... on the other hand, as I wrote, I'm pretty sure that they will bid to host the NC finals, even if it could be elsewhere...

New rules for Karate towards the Olympic debut in Tokyo... https://totallympics.com/index.php?/topic/791-karate-2018-discussion-thread/&do=findComment&comment=186422 2019 K-1 Premier League and Serie A Calendar of events: https://totallympics.com/index.php?/topic/791-karate-2018-discussion-thread/&do=findComment&comment=186423

and after the news related to the new competition formats, here we have also the calendar of the main 2019 events, the Karate 1 Premier League and the second-tier league, Serie A: 2019 Karate 1 Premier League Calendar January 25-27: Karate 1 Premier League Paris (France) February 15-17: Karate 1 Premier League Dubai (UAE) April 19-21: Karate 1 Premier League Rabat (Morocco) June 7-9: Karate 1 Premier League Shanghai (China) September 6-8: Karate 1 Premier League Tokyo (Japan) October 4-6: Karate 1 Premier League Moscow (Russia) November 29-December 1: Karate 1 Premier League Madrid (Spain) 2019 Karate 1 Serie A Calendar March 1-3: Karate 1 Serie A Salzburg (Austria) May 17-19: Karate 1 Serie A Istanbul (Turkey) June 21-23: Karate 1 Serie A Montreal (Canada) September 20-22: Karate 1 Serie A Santiago (Chile)

2018 season has just gone, but 2019 is already knocking at the door... ready for a "new" Karate? well, even if the Olympic qualification pathway is already underway, the upcoming year will give us a completely new, revolutionary world of Karate competitions... 2 are the major changes that will surely impact big time the future of the sport: first, the women's Kumite bouts from now will last 3 minutes like the men's (alleluja! it was time! ); second, Kata competitions will have a totally new electronic scoring system, clearly inspired by figure skating, gymnastics and that kind of disciplines...system based only on the individual performance and not anymore on direct match-ups between the participating athletes... not sure what to think about it...if we get a bit less unfair judging, it's more than welcome, but I don't trust sports judges in any case (it doesn't matter if they are 5 with blue and red flags in their hands or if they are 14, writing their opinion with a small number on a PC )...so, let's wait and see what's coming with this new thing... p.s. and the competition format will also change accordingly to the new system, of course... more details in the WKF press release, which I'm posting just below these lines... 'WKF competition rules amended ahead of crucial year for Karate As Karate is getting closer and closer to making its anticipated debut in the sports programme of the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, the competition rules for both Kata and Kumite will see significant amendments being introduced next season. The duration of bouts in female Kumite and a modernised judging system for Kata will be among the main updates to be applied by the World Karate Federation. The new year will not only bring an event-filled season of first-class Karate; Starting January 1st, the regulations of top Karate competitions will be updated to further strengthen the appeal and relevance of Karate's main events in the build-up of the introduction of the sport in the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020. Following a long-time request from competitors and major stakeholders alike, the duration of Kumite bouts will be adjusted so both Male and Female encounters will have the same length. Therefore, from January 1st, both Male and Female Kumite bouts will last three (3) minutes, thus increasing the duration of clashes of Female Kumite from two to three minutes. ELECTRONIC JUDGING SYSTEM INTRODUCED IN KATA Aiming to streamline Kata competitions, the WKF will introduce a modernised judging system for the category of choreographed movements. Accordingly, the decision-taking protocol by flags will now be replaced by a point-allocation system. With the new procedure, technical and athletic performances will be examined. A panel formed by seven judges will evaluate the performances, and scores will be given according to the technical and athletic presentation of the Katas. The system will automatically eliminate the two highest and two lowest scores for both criteria; the total amount of points will be calculated following a breakdown of 70% for technical performance and 30% for athletic performance. The evaluation for technical performance includes aspects such as stances, transitional movements, timing, “Kime” and conformance, while the athletic performance will be reviewed according to strength, speed and balance. All the competitors participating in a Kata event will be divided into pools of eight karatekas, with the four competitors getting the highest scores moving into the next round. Athletes with lesser points will be eliminated until only two groups of eight competitors remain. At this stage, the top three competitors from both pools will qualify for the final bouts, with the second and third-ranked karatekas from each group competing for bronze and the two top athletes clashing for gold. In the event that competitors obtain the same number of points, the tie should be resolved by executing an additional kata to determine which competitor goes into the next round. The amended judging system will be applied to both individual and team Kata competitions. In the case of the team kata events, the duration of the medal bouts will also be modified. The time limit of katas in the team categories for medal bouts will be reduced to five minutes thus aiming to further increase the dynamism and excitement of the tremendously popular category of choreographed movements by teams.'

the same here in Italy... Christmas is pretty much a Family festivity with religious and goodwill Spirit all around... New Year's Eve is definitely a friends and fun festivity...no difference if you stay at home or if you go out for dinner and the following activities (open air concerts and fireworks in the main square of each city rather than to the "Eighties' fashion" trip to a discoteque)... p.s my Christmas lunch "entry" dish http://www.vissanasalumi.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/img.jpg tortellini (stuffed with ham) with Pachino tomatoes sausage https://ips.plug.it/cips/buonissimo.org/cms/2012/02/tortellini-al-sugo.jpg?w=713&a=c&h=407 some fruit (fresh mango and mixed dried fruit) https://www.greenme.it/immagini/mangiare/alimentazione-salute/mango.jpg http://www.teatronaturale.it/media/img/cibo/2017/mix_frutta_secca.jpg and finally, Panettone and Spumante (the Italian kind of Champagne, but better, imho ) http://www.marraweb.it/mw/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/panettone_tradizionale.jpg http://cantinedelcerro.it/web/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/spumante.jpg p.p.s. now I just can't get through my house's doors anymore...

well, I think it's too difficult to answer those questions...there's really too much to choose from (maybe Ledecka as the sportswoman of the year is a slightly easier choice than the other categories)... but the last one...well, this is the best category ever proposed... so, I try to choose a name at least for this one... and actually, also here we have a lot of people where to choose from...but I'd go with that former Argentinian boxer with diabetis who died because he took part into a croissant eating contest... I just can't imagine anybody more idiot than that...

p.s. how do you come to know how's my typical Christmas day?

Merry Christmas to the forum and all of his users!

no, all the participating teams had a chance to bid for hosting the tournaments (bidding time expired on Dec., 14th)... obviously FIVB will take some time before announcing who's gonna have the honor to host the OQTs...

to be more precise, it will be a super-tiebreaker @ 10 points... so, we have 4 different 5th set deciders in the 4 grand slam tournaments (10-pt tiebreaker at 6-6 in AUS, no tiebreaker at all at the Roland Garros, "classic" 7-pt tiebreaker at 12-12 games score in Wimbledon and the usual "classic" 7-pt tiebreaker at the "classic" 6-6 score at Flushing Meadows)... I guess soon tennis fans will need a users' guide before every season starts...

shame on them!!!!! they just took away an easy win from Pittin...

no, he didn't compete at the world champs...at least this year... by the way, this is a quick recap of climbers from Oceania and Africa showin'up at both the senior and youth worlds this year men's senior worlds (participants and results) RSA Calrin Curtis (101st in Lead, 99th in Boulder, 73rd in Speed, which means 72nd -out of 87 starters- in Combined) RSA Joseph Rosendorff (104th in Speed) AUS Campbell Harrison (83rd in Lead, 132nd in Boulder) NZL George Sanders (107th in Lead, 99th in Boulder, 82nd in Speed, which means 75th -out of 87 starters- in Combined) AUS Josef Sundakov-Krumins (87th in Boulder) women's senior worlds (participants and results) AUS Oceania MacKenzie (35th in Lead, 27th in Boulder, 39th in Speed, which means 26th -out of 67 starters- in Combined) AUS Tiffany Melius (63rd in Lead, 57th in Boulder, 62nd in Speed, which means 47th -out of 67 starters- in Combined) AUS Lucinda Ann Stirling (69th in Lead, 83rd in Boulder) NZL Erica Gatland (89th in Lead, =92nd in Boulder, 85th in Speed, which means 64th -out of 67 starters- in Combined) AUS Roxy Perry (91st in Lead, =92nd in Boulder) AUS Emma Horan (95th in Lead, 63rd in Boulder) NZL Lucy Whitehead (99th in Lead, =92nd in Boulder, 80th in Speed, which means 63rd -out of 67 starters- in Combined) AUS Leah Jeffries (=92nd in Boulder) women's youth worlds (only the number of participants) youth A Boulder: 2x NZL youth B Boulder: 2x AUS, 2x NZL, 3x RSA junior Boulder: 1x AUS, 2x NZL youth A Lead: 2x AUS, 2x NZL youth B Lead: 2x AUS, 2x NZL, 2x RSA junior Lead: 1x AUS, 2x NZL youth A Speed: 2x AUS, 2x NZL youth B Speed: 1x AUS, 2x NZL junior Speed: 2x NZL men's youth worlds (only the number of participants) youth A Boulder: 3x AUS, 1x NZL, 3x RSA youth B Boulder: 4x AUS, 2x NZL, 4x RSA junior Boulder: 4x AUS, 2x NZL, 3x RSA youth A Lead: 3x AUS, 2x RSA youth B Lead: 4x AUS, 2x NZL, 4x RSA junior Lead: 3x AUS, 2x NZL, 3x RSA youth A Speed: 2x AUS, 1x NZL, 2x RSA youth B Speed: 2x AUS, 2x NZL, 1x RSA junior Speed: 2x AUS, 2x NZL, 1x RSA

I'm just asking myself...but Moioli wasn't injured at her knee? because watching her crazy mistake, it looks that she rather had a severe concussion...

maybe someone at the IFSC should go back to school and study some geography... p.s. to be honest, i didn't notice that epic fail when I posted the link...I must have enjoyed too much (South African*) wine at lunch... *p.s. and trust me, they have a lot of very good wine in SAF...

South Africa is actually the only African Nation with a proper Sport Climbing Federation (even if their athletes never show up at world cup events nor got in the past any relevant result)... this is the current situation: https://www.ifsc-climbing.org/index.php/about-ifsc/ifsc-structure/members-federations which means that the African and Oceanian qualification events are basically a farce... unless...unless some French climber with African heritage (and there are some more than decent, if not really good) decides to opt for plan B and get a safe spot for the Olympics through his/her family ties...

I think you are a bit too optimistic... waterpolo M 80% waterpolo W 50% volley M 20% volley F 30% football M 2% football W 1% basket M 1% basket w 30% basket 3x3 M 0% basket 3x3 W 10% baseball M 20% softball F 55% hockey F 3% with the current situation of the Italian sport (on the verge of being dismantled once an forever) and with the unlucky draw in volleyball (almost the worst we could get), I'd be very, very happy to see the waterpolo teams and and the softball girls in Tokyo... if any other team does actually qualify, it must be seen as a huge surprise (in some cases, a true miracle)...

I don't know if in the past it was not allowed, but surely it's quite a long time (I mean, it's many years) that you can use a longer distance to try and get an official clocking over a shorter race. The only rule as far as I know is that you must complete the full "original" distance to have your time over the shorter one to be recognized (it also happened at the Glasgow Europeans last Summer...Pernille Blume did try to get a fast time over the 50m free during the semifinals of the 100m and then did slow down badly in the second half of the same heat and finished outside the qualifying places -and she could even get a medal in those 100m free )... p.s. and when you try this kind of things you should alert the other swimmers of the same heat before, otherwise it's considered an act of disrespect...

meanwhile the European qualification tournament will be played in September almost certainly in Italy (historical baseball cities Bologna and Parma are the proposed venues)... that time period would eventually hurt Italy and the Netherlands (ITA more than NED) a lot (as it means that they won't be able to start their MLB players), even if I think that there's no chance any other European Nation can upset both of them (maybe 1, but definitely not 2)...

Czech Tv is also broadcasting a lot of show jumping events (in very favourable time slots, often live) in the past couple of seasons, so I guess they have quite a good interest and power in supporting their local organizers, if they want to host any kind of tournament... and I think Italy would eventually ask for hosting next year's Nations Cup Finals...

Missy Franklin retires