phelps

he doesn't know the troubles he's going to find on his new job...I hope he's gonna get a good, very good salary to absorb all the liver's pain he's gonna get with those Kings...

pool 1 final is between the expected Horne (GER) and Andjelo Kvesic (CRO) meanwhile pool 2 final is between Babacar Seck Sakho (ESP) and the surprising Yousef Mohammad (KUW)...

and Nishevci won... so, another guy with strong reputation like the Algerian has gone...pool 3 is a question between ITA and the winner of RUS vs KOS (and I didn't really expect Marino to go this far...even if I must admit he's got the easiest draw among all the Italians)... in pool 4 Yamanoglu (TUR) is now waiting for Ganjzadeh or Brian Irr (USA...wow! a USA vs Iran match is awaiting us also in karate, after all the battles we saw at the Wrestling Worlds)...

you can stop worrying...Marino won with a comfortable 2-0 against the Israeli guy...now he's waiting the winner of Pshenitsyn (RUS) vs Nishevci (KOS) / Daikhi (ALG)...and the Kosovian is leading 4-3 with only a few seconds left...

and Simone Marino (ITA) is through to the round of 16 after beating MNE and INA...now he's going to face ISR to make the pool semifinal...

but expected (see my preview)... p.s. Dominican Rep. = Maria Dimitrova...not exactly your typical Spanish speaking Caribbean Contry name...

meanwhile in the men's Kumite the first big upsets are coming...the replacement from Turkey Alparslan Yamanoglu threw the Japanese Hideyoshi Kagawa out in rd of 32!

Today's action so far... Men's Individual Kata Gold Medal Match: Damian Hugo Quintero Capdevila vs Ryo Kiyuna Bronze Medal Match #1: Antonio Diaz vs Alì Sofuoglu Bronze Medal Match #2: Ilja Smorguner vs Mattia Busato Women's Individual Kata Gold Medal Match: Sandra Sanchez Jaime vs Kiyou Shimizu Bronze Medal Match #1: Grace Lau Mo Sheung vs Maria Dimitrova Bronze Medal Match #2: Viviana Bottaro vs Alexandra Feracci

naaaa...if we talk of Tokyo 2020 Kata events we can say that it's gonna be Japan's double Gold and Spain's double Silver, unless an epic earthquake (metaphorical one, of course..better say that when speaking of JPN ) happens... I don't think there are many events with this high degree of predictability...

I agree...Kata is very predictable (with very few exceptions, mostly among the girls, who aren't always so reliable despite the established values)... p.s. and it's also soooo boring (even more than Artistic Swimming)...

wow! Grace Lau Mo Sheung of Hong Kong won pool 2 by sweeping (5-0) the Egyptian Sayed in the final... not the biggest surprise in the world, but still...I didn't expect that...

and this is gone (easier than expected, actually)... a good 5-0 for Viviana... now the pool final against Veronika Miskova (CZE), before the super-clash against the supposed unstoppable Shimizu... and KW TV has gone off air...basically, they are useless...just to make them some compliments... edit: now they're back (on a different mat)... meh...

and now one of the most important moments of the day for Italy...the most difficult match of the pool for Viviana Bottaro against Sakura Kokumai (USA), most likely the pool decider (even if it's the pool final yet)...

yeah, check out the draw links... live results (live blog activity) is only about the bouts running in that specific moment...

there's always 1 class underway at a time... this morning it was men's kata the opening class...now women's kata is underway... men's kumite will start at 2.30 p.m. CET with the first weight class (men's +84kg)... full timetable is here: https://www.sportdata.org/wkf/dtm_timetables/188.html

yeah, I agree...IJF and FIE (when they are on YT) have definitely the best services... I must admit that I'm really disappointed with this KW TV offer...I expected a lot more than this "nothing"...

first surprise of the day, Dilara Eltemur (TUR) has been beaten by Nguyen Thi Phuong (VIE) in the women's kata (and the Vietnamese girl now has to face Sarah Sayed of Egypt in the next round...it doesn't look good for the Turkish girl now)...

not that this one was the most difficult of them all... but it looks that I got all of my men's kata preview right...

first results... Men's Individual Kata Gold Medal Match: Damian Hugo Quintero Capdevila vs Ryo Kiyuna Bronze Medal Match #1: Antonio Diaz vs Alì Sofuoglu Bronze Medal Match #2: Ilja Smorguner vs Mattia Busato

by the way, here are my 2 cents over the remaining Kumite classes (I'm not gonna write anything on the team events, which do not have the same appeal to me and are not so important as the individual ones in Olympic perspective)... Women's Kumite, -50kg pool 1...Bettina Plank (AUT) is the clear favourite, Nurana Aliyeva (AZE) the main contender...some surprising results might come from East Asian Countries (INA and THA in particular)... pool 2...Japan (Miho Miyahara) vs Croatia (Jelena Pehar) first and, above all, Germany (Shara Hubrich) then are the key matches in this pool...the US girl Shannon Nishi is also a possible outsider... pool 3...Radwa Sayed (EGY) is the top seeded woman in the pool, chances also for Gema Morales Ozuna (ESP) and Alexandra Pop (ROU), who are scheduled to face each other in the 1st round of the competition... pool 4...Serap Ozcelik Arapoglu (TUR) is the pre-competition favourite in this class, but she has to face the multiple (and defending) world champion Alexandra Recchia (FRA) even before making the pool final...it won't be easy for her...China and Iran are also in this pool and could be dangerous, too... my pick for the Gold Medal match: Miyahara vs Ozcelik Arapoglu Women's Kumite, -55kg pool 1...here we quite some talent...Wen Tzu-Yun (TPE) is the seeded woman, but there are a lot of really dangerous players, like Zakharova (KAZ), Bitsch (GER), Fernandez Osorio (ESP), Lirisman (EST) and maybe also Chalaki (IRI, but it's a recognition to the Iranian school, since I've never seen this girl fighting before today)... pool 2...Alesandra Hasani (CRO) vs Valeria Kumizaki (BRA)...I don't see anybody else coming off this pool, with the Brazilian as the favourite to reach the tournament semifinals... pool 3...also in this pool I think it's gonna be a 2-way duel between Sara Yamada (JPN) and Salni Jefry Krishnan Syakilla (MAS), with maybe a slim chance for Carla Burkitt (ENG) if she's gonna have the day of her life... pool 4...this one is quite a mess...Anzhelika Terliuga (UKR) and Sara Cardin (ITA) are the logical takes, but Yassmin Attia (EGY, who has to go against Cardin already in rd #1...and that's a pity) and Tuba Yakan (TUR) may have something to say...and frankly it wouldn't be a huge surprise if one of those 2 (or even both) takes the scalp of the said favorites from ITA and UKR... my pick for the Gold Medal match: Wen Tzu-Yun vs Terliuga Women's Kumite, -61kg pool 1...shame on the WKF! here we have the anticipated final already taking place in the pool final (on paper, of course): Alexandra Grande (PER) is the woman in the best shape in these last months, meanwhile Yin Xiaoyan (CHN) has to be considered the best and most complete fighter in this class (always on paper, remember)...no place for others, here... pool 2...Alisa Buchinger (AUT) could be the winner here, but she has a very strong field of opponents to face since the early rounds, as Moriguchi (JPN) and Junaa (CAN) are also in the same part of the draw as the Austrian...Bettina Alstadsaether could be named as the main outsider in the bottom part of the draw in this pool... pool 3...the top 3 girls in this pool should be Ana Lenard (CRO), Anita Serogina (UKR) and Merve Coban (TUR), with the last one possibly as the slight favourite...so, unlucky draw for the Slovak Veronika Semanikova (and one of the few hopes of a good result in fighting sports for our friend @hckosice -it should go better with Tatarova in the +68kg, but she also has a very, very tough draw, as posted yesterday)... pool 4...Gwendoline Philippe (FRA) vs Giana Lofty (EGY) in rd #1 is an absolute shocker..and the winner of this one still has to face Jovana Prekovic (SRB) to win this pool...no chance for any other, I fear... my pick for the Gold Medal match: winner of Grande vs Yin to face winner of Philippe vs Lofty (too close to call)...but since it's just a game without anything to lose, let's say Yin vs Lofty Men's Kumite, -60kg pool 1...I think Douglas Brose (BRA) would eventually come up as the pool winner, but the Asian Games champion Arrosyiid (INA), the Japanese Naoto Sago (never seen him before, tbh) and the Latvian Kalvis Kalnins (former European Champion and reigning European Bronze Medallist) are definitely not to be underestimated... pool 2...very open pool with no big names..."anything can happen" here is not a sentes for the circumstances...if I have to pick a couple of names, i'd take Darkhan Assadilov (KAZ) and Johan Lopes (FRA), but I sevretely hope in a Saudi exploit by Emad Al Malki... pool 3...this one is not going to be easy...just another really balanced draw, but this time with a couple more well known fighters, like Evgeny Plakhutin (RUS), Sadriddin Saymatov (UZB), Firdovsi Farzaliyev (AZE) and, above all, Angelo Crescenzo (ITA), reigning European Silver medallist...I hope our man can do it, but I think for him is going to be really difficult facing especially Saymatov, who already beat him more than once... pool 4...Dominik Imrich (SVK) has a real chance to make the pool final in the top half of the draw in this pool (for the joy of our mate @hckosice ), but then he will find his route closed by people like Emil Pavlov (MKD, reigning European Champion) or, above all, the dynamic duo Eray Samdan (TUR) and Amir Mehdizadeh (IRI), who unfortunately will have to face each other in rd #3 (which in this class is rd of 32, tbn)... my pick for the Gold Medal match: Douglas Brose vs Saymatov (that's an unconventional one, I must admit) Men's Kumite, -67kg pool 1...this one would eventually end up in an Asian clash, I guess...Hiroto Shinoara (JPN) will have to get the best of many athletes coming from the Gulf States, the Kazakh guy (who's not the same one who competed in the Asian Games) and also a couple of Europeans that can't be forgotten, like Joksic (SRB) and Pokorny (AUT)... pool 2...a pure mess...Vinicius Figueira (BRA), Luca Maresca (ITA), Yves Martial Tadissi (HUN), Abdel Rahamn Al-Masatfa (JOR) and Ikboljon Uzakov (UZB) all in the same pool...basically, all the medallists of the last K1PL stages are here...we can easily call it a lottery (where all the named guys have the capability of coming up as the pool -and not only the pool- winner)... pool 3...the exact opposite of the previous pool...here the only big name is Steven Dacosta (FRA)...Mario Hodzic (MNE) and Ayoub Zakaria (MAR) are just average outsiders... pool 4...Burak Uygur (TUR) and Jordan Thomas (ENG) are the top 2 names here, but the jokes of the draw have put them one against the other already in the round of 64...however the Turkish guy is the clear favorite...another guy who could raise for the occasion is Hamood Deraf (IRI), evn if also in this case it's more because of the Iranian reputation (never seen this guy before, as it often happens with Countries that do not take part in most of the K1PL stages throughout the season)... my pick for the Gold Medal match: Shinoara (but I really hope Maresca can bring some magic to our team this time) vs Uygur Men's Kumite, -75kg pool 1...Ken Nishimura (JPN) vs Bahman Asgari (IRI)...no way it could go down to anybody else... pool 2...Thomas Scott (USA) should easily win this pool...Hsu Wei-Chun (TPE) and Raef Al-Turkistani (KSA) are just outsiders... pool 3...Dastonbek Otbolaev (UZB) vs Mamduh Abdelaziz (EGY) is the duel to watch for in the top part of the draw of this pool, meanwhile the bottom half has Logan Dacosta (FRA) as the main contender of the great Luigi Busà (ITA), who's still the tournament favourite after literally destroying all of his opponents in the recent K1PL final stage in Tokyo... pool 4...quite a crowded pool...Erman Eltemur (TUR), Stanislav Horuna (UKR) and Noah Bitsch (GER) are the top names in the top half, meanwhile in the bottom part of the draw in this pool the man to beat his the living legend of Karate himself, Rafael Aghayev (AZE)... my pick for the Gold Medal match: Scott vs Busà / Aghayev (this one is really too close to call..and I'm sure it would eventually go down to some controversial calls by the judges, as it always happens when those legendary 2 guys meet)...

no, I fear it's not like in Judo or Wrestling or Fencing... it's the first time they show the preliminaries and I think we have to be satisfied with this poor service (it's not even in HD, just a miserable 540p)... let's hope in the next future they can take those other sports as an example and improve their service...

UCI BMX Freestyle Park (and Flatland) World Cup: overall winners crowned in Chengdu The fourth and final round of the UCI BMX Freestyle Park and Flatland World Cup saw the overall winners crowned in the Chinese city of Chengdu. The action came just days before the start of the UCI Urban Cycling World Championships which will be held in the same city, and where the BMX Freestyle Park specialists will battle for the rainbow jersey. BMX Freestyle Park Top performer in the semi-finals, American Dennis Enarson looked set to win the Chengdu World Cup round after an impressive first run in the finals. However, that was without counting on Australian Jake Wallwork who put in an unbeatable second run to take the victory. Declan Brooks (Great Britain) came third. The overall winner of the 2018 UCI BMX Freestyle Park World Cup is Croatia’s Marin Rantes, who finishes the season in front of Venezuelan Daniel Dhers. Nick Bruce completes the overall podium despite a crash in the qualifications in Chengdu preventing him from going any further in the Chinese round of the series. For the third consecutive year, Hannah Roberts is the overall winner of the women’s UCI BMX Freestyle Park World Cup. The American finished second in the Chengdu round which saw victory go to Germany’s Lara Lessman, 18, who recently won gold at the Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Lessman finishes the World Cup season in second place overall. Switzerland’s Nikita Duccarroz was third in Chengdu and third in the overall World Cup ranking. BMX Freestyle Park qualifications at the UCI Urban Cycling World Championships get under way on Friday, November 10th.

draws are out... some thoughts about tomorrow's action... in the Women's Kata, local hero Sandra Sanchez Jaime is the only favourite in pool 1, her toughest opponent should be Maria Dimitrova (DOM), but frankly I just can't imagine her beating the Spaniard at home... pool 2 is the most interesting, with Sarah Sayed (EGY), Dilara Eltemur (TUR) and Grace Lau Mo Sheung (HKG) all in the same quarter... pool 3 should be a question between Viviana Bottaro (ITA) and Sakura Kokumai (USA)... pool 4 is a one-woman show...Kiyou Shimizu is just unstoppable...so, condoleances to all the other girls in this pool, the best of whom should be Alexandra Feracci (FRA)... my pick for the Gold Medal match: Sanchez Jaime vs Shimizu Men's Kata Antonio Diaz (VEN) is the clear favourite in pool 1... Roman Heydarov (AZE), Alì Sofuoglu (TUR) and Damian Hugo Quintero Capdevila (ESP) all in pool 2...this look like a joke...still, I pick the home guy (despite I like Sofuoglu a lot)...in a judged competition I don't think they would eventually screw one of the 2 best hopes for the local team... pool 3 is definitely the least qualified one...Ilja Smorguner (GER) should be the favourite, but I wouldn't be shocked if someone else comes up as the pool winner...Russia, Morocco and maybe Iran (I don't know that guy at all) could be good outsiders... in pool 4, Ryo Kiyuna (JPN) won't have any trouble...Ahmed Shawky (EGY) should be his toughest opponent, meanwhile Mattia Busato (ITA) has had a lucky enough draw to earn his chance to reach the pool final against Kiyuna...I hope he won't waste this really big chance to get some good OQR points, even if he has had an awful season so far... my pick for the Gold Medal match: Quintero Capdevila vs Kiyuna Kumite, Women's +68kg pool 1 is very difficult to judge...no one of the usual K1PL stars is there...I think Hamideh Abbasli (IRI) or Shymaa Abouel Yazed (EGY) -they are set to face each other already in round #2- could even win the pool... pool 2 has 3 clear favourites (as long as people can talk of favourites in Karate), Titta Keinainen (FIN), Eleni Chatziliadou (GRE) and above all Laura Palacio Gonzalez (ESP)...season's results say FIN, home soil says ESP... pool 3...Anne Laure Florentin (FRA) could be the finalist in the top half, but Clio Ferracuti (ITA) has shown in the last couple of K1PL stages that she has also good chances, unfortunately the ITA vs FRA match-up, if it's gonna happen, is scheduled too early (rd #3), meanwhile the winner of the rd #2 match between Anamarija Celan Bujas (CRO) and Dominika Tatarova (SVK) should give the other pool finalist...however Florentin can be named the pool favorite... pool 4...the road is open for Ayumi Uekusa (JPN)...I don't see anybody putting her pool win at risk... my pick for the Gold Medal match: Uekusa vs Abouel Yazed Kumite, Women's -68kg pool 1...very balanced pool with many names capable of ending up on top...just to pick 2, I'd choose Alizee Agier (FRA) and Eda Eltemur (TUR), but, as said, there are many outsiders that could well surprise the big names... pool 2...Katrine Pedersen (DEN) has the biggest chance of her life...she's the only "name" in the pool... pool 3...Irina Zaretska (AZE) vs Feryal Abdelaziz (EGY) in rd #1 is a shocker...the winner of this bout then has to face Elena Quirici (SUI) in rd #4...I really think that the pool winner will come from those 3 names, even if there are also in this case quite a few dangerous outsiders (Ivona Cavar from BIH above all)... pool 4...pool winner will be known already after round #2, where Silvia Semeraro (ITA) and Someya Kayo (JPN), 2 of the top 3 fighters this season in this class, should face each other...Melnykh (UKR) and Debatty (BEL) are good outsiders, but I don't think they have chances against ITA or JPN... my pick for the Gold Medal match: Agier vs Kayo (but I secretely hope it's Semeraro) Kumite, Men's +84kg pool 1...a lot of very good fighters, but I think Jonathan Horne (GER) has to be named the favourite...main outsiders should be Slobodan Bitevic (SRB), Andjelo Kvesic (CRO) and above all Gogita Arkania (GEO)... pool 2...no big names here...I'd pick Tyron-Darnell Lardy (NED) as the top guy in this pool... pool 3...also here, not many established specialists...maybe Hocine Daikhi (ALG) is the most dangerous player of the pool, meanwhile Herolind Nishevci (KOS) could be his main contender...in this pool there's also Simone Marino (ITA), last year's European champion, but this season hasn't gone well at all for him...so, I don't expect anything from him... pool 4...Sajad Ganizadeh (IRI) is the main favourite here (of the entire tournament, not only of this pool)...his main opponents should be Yaroslav Horuna (UKR, brother of the most famous Stanislav, who normally fight in the lower weight) in the early rounds and one between Shahin Atamov (AZE), Ivan Klepic (BIH), the Turkish surprise Alparslan Yamanoglu (he's not the man supposed to start for them in this class) and Hideyoshi Kagawa (JPN), who are all in the top half of the draw of this pool... my pick for the Gold Medal match: Horne vs Ganizadeh Kumite, Men's -84kg pool 1...I think it's gonna be a question between Valerii Chobotar (UKR) and Zabiollah Poorshab (IRI)...no place for the other guys here... pool 2...very balanced (and poor) lineup here...Aykhan Mamayev (AZE) and Georgis Tzanos (GRE) should be the top men, with Berat Jakupi (MKD) and Daniyar Yuldashev (KAZ) as the main outsiders... pool 3...Ugur Aktas (TUR) is the main favourite, with Mohamed El Kotby (EGY) as the main contender...European Champion Michele Martina (ITA), European Bronze Medallist Helio Hernandez (POR) and Kenji Grillon (FRA) are also in this pool, so some surprise is always possible...here more than in any other pool... pool 4...not seeing Ryutaro Araga (JPN) winning this pool would be a huge upset...Ivan Kvesic (CRO) and Anton Isakau (BLR) are the only 2 guys who could make this upset come true... my pick for the Gold Medal match: Aktas vs Poorshab I'm gonna write about the other Kumite classes tomorrow, before they go on stage in the following days...

I still hope that things will change thanks to the boxing being thrown out of the Games after Rakhimov has been confirmed as their World Federation's president... my dream is to have all 10 kumite weight classes (improbable, but still) and 16 players in each class, so to have the classic 16-(wo)man direct elimination (with repechage) table draws (more likely, if boxing is really kicked out)...

and Suharevs has a Jr. WR in the Snatch before the A group starts... by the way, the 2 Slovaks Richard Tkach and Karol Samko had a total of 320 and 319 respectively in the C group, which means that they are already in 18th and 19th position before the whole A group... but at least they didn't bomb out and get a final ranking (and a few OQR points)... just to let our friend @hckosice know about his compatriots...