phelps

oh, c'mon! that's an epic mess... it was so easy until last time with continental champs (and runner-up if the hosts won the continental title) + 2/3 global qualification tournaments (name it like you want...OQT, world league, pro league...whatever you wake up with)... by the way, I'm done...I refuse to lose my mind behind a bunch od idiots with perverted minds...

Final Medal Table RUS, 6 / 5 / 2 USA, 3 / 0 / 1 KAZ, 2 / 6 / 3 IND, 2 / 2 / 6 THA, 2 / 1 / 4 ENG, 2 / 1 / 3 UZB, 1 / 0 / 2 CUB, 1 / 0 / 1 CAN, 1 / 0 / 0 UKR, 0 / 1 / 3 HUN, 0 / 1 / 1 CRO, 0 / 1 / 0 FRA, 0 / 1 / 0 PUR, 0 / 1 / 0 BRA, 0 / 0 / 2 EGY, 0 / 0 / 2 JPN, 0 / 0 / 2 ALG, 0 / 0 / 1 BLR, 0 / 0 / 1 GER, 0 / 0 / 1 JOR, 0 / 0 / 1 IRL, 0 / 0 / 1 PHI, 0 / 0 / 1 TUR, 0 / 0 / 1 N.B. the total number of Bronze Medals is "only" 39 (instead of the usual 40) because in the Women's +81kg class just 3 fighters were at the start of the competition

looking at that a bit closer, I think you're right...basically, Japan is the Asian qualifier (as if the host Nation wasn't granted a spot)...then we have the remaining 4 Continental champs (3 if RSA win and then refuse the African spot) and 7 (8 if Africa don't use their spot) play-off matches... I guess now we've figured it out... thanks...

I don't agree at all...fighting is exciting, kata is soooo boring (and the biased judging is a problem for all the events in Karate, even worse than in Boxing)...

The 2018 edition of the AIBA Youth World Championships come to a close after crowning the last 10 World Champions Men’s Fly (52kg) One of the biggest surprises of the event came on today’s first bout with USA’s Asa Stevens defeating Ivan Hope, one of the most talented English Youth boxers. After three thrilling rounds, it was the tactic from the United States team which got more credit granting the World Champion title to Asa Stevens. Asa STEVENS b. Ivan PRICE by PTS (5-0) Men’s Light (60kg) Atichai Phoemsap is the new Light Youth World Champion, the Thailand‘s hand raised after three breathtaking rounds against Hungary’s hope Adrian Orban in Budapest. It was a typically flamboyant display by Phoemsap with a lightning-fast start from two brilliant boxers using the whole of the ring to deliver their craft. Ultimately, it was Phoemsap’s nimble attacks that saw the Thai clinching the second gold medal for his country. Atichai PHOEMSAP b. Adrián Krisztofer ORBÁN by PTS (3-2) Men’s Welter (69kg) Russia’s EUBC European Youth Champion Dzhambulat Bizhamov and Kazakhstan’s ASBC Asian Youth Champion Yermakhan Zhakpekov faced each other in a dreamed final at the men’s welterweight (69kg). The 18-year-old Russian boxer used his longer reach to took early advantage on the first round. The Kazakh reaction wasn’t enough to get the score board back on his favor, and Bizhamov was awarded with a split decision to become World Champion. Dzhambulat BIZHAMOV b. Yermakhan ZHAKPEKOV by PTS (4-1) Men’s Light Heavy (81kg) The second final between Kazakhstan and Russia was held at the men’s light heavyweight (81kg) where two-time EUBC European Youth Champion Ruslan Kolesnikov and ASBC Asian Youth Champion Sagyndyk Togambay stepped on the ring on pursuit of the Youth glory. And it was Russia’s Ruslan Kolesnikov who produced the best performance of the bout to clinch the gold medal. Ruslan KOLESNIKOV b. Sagyndyk TOGAMBAY by PTS (4-1) Men’s Super Heavy (91+kg) Russia’s Aleksei Dronov and Kazakhstan’s Damir Toibay then took to the ring for the Super Heavyweight Final. The Russian boxer stamina completely surprised Toibay who received a strong punishment on the first moments of the bout. The power of Dronov was too much for the referee who stopped the bout to protect the Kazakh boxer after being counted twice in round one. Aleksei DRONOV b. Damir TOIBAY RSC R.1 (1:06) Women’s Fly (51kg) USA’s Heaven Garcia and India’s Anamika produced one of the moments to remember at the Duna Arena. The performance of the two young boxers was excellent making the final decision very difficult for the judges. But it was the experience of the AMBC American Youth Continental Championships champion the one which prevailed, and Heaven Garcia became World Champion. Heaven Destiny GARCIA b. ANAMIKA by PTS (4-1) Women’s Feather (57kg) Sakshi Ghanghas list of achievements is as impressive as her way of boxing. The Youth Indian added a third gold medal at her World Championships collection by defeating the talented Nikolina Cacic from Croatia at the Duna Arena. Ghanghas is now two-times Youth World Champion and Junior Champion. SAKSHI b. Nikolina CACIC RSC R.3 (1:00) Women’s Light Welter (64kg) A brilliant Women’s Light Welterweight Final unravelled between India’s Manisha and England’s Gemma Richardson, two technically excellent boxers who clearly thrived on the big stage as they delivered three rounds of pure entertainment. Richardson has truly found her space, and despite Manisha’s incredible evasive manoeuvres, it was the English who found the perfect range and rhythm to deliver herself a richly deserved gold. Gemma Paige RICHARDSON b. MANISHA by PTS (5-0) Women’s Middle (75kg) France’s Tallya Brillaux and Russia’s Anstasiia Shamanova then put on a Women’s Middleweight (75kg) masterclass for the crowds, the Russian’s relentless attacks gradually taking their toll on Brillaux. With the French never allowed to settle into a groove long enough to mount a challenge, it was Shamanova’s hand that was raised as World Champion. Anastasiia SHAMONOVA b. Tallya BRILLAUX by PTS (5-0) Women’s Heavy (+81kg) The Kazakh and Ukraine teams then returned to their respective corners for the last bout of the event in Budapest as Dina Islambekova of Kazakhstan and Ukraine’s Mariia Lovchynska came into the ring to box for the Women’s Heavyweight World title. Islambekova looked to dominate the centre of the ring and control the bout, with Lovchynska content to launch rapid counters when the rare opportunity presented itself. The openings became fewer as the Kazakh seized the initiative, and it was a win on points decision that eventually took Islambekova to gold. Dina ISLAMBEKOVA b. Mariia LOVCHYNSKA by PTS (4-1)

and finally Japan won 5-0 against TPE and joined KOR in the (men's) Baseball Gold Medal match (tomorrow @ 4 p.m. local time)...

meh... it would have been better not to have Kata at all and have all the 5 individual Kumite weight classes (and with a lot more than just 10 starters...imho, 32 per class would have been the right choice...but, as the IOC doesn't care about the level of their Olympic competitions, 16 could also have been a good number...10 is definitely a farce)...

vii) If Japan is the winner of the 18th Asian Games (Women’s Hockey competition) 2018, their place will be taken by the next highest ranked team in the FIH World Ranking at the end of the 2019 Continental Championships. In this case there will be seven (7) qualifying events and the additional place will be allocated to the next highest ranked team in the FIH World Rankings as at the end of the 2019 Continental Championships not qualified. viii) In the event that paragraph vii) above happens, the 14 teams that have qualified will be drawn to play another of the teams over two (2) matches. The overall winners of the two (2) matches will qualify for the Olympic Games. I think it's well clear...the best Asian team in the WR after the 2019 Continental Champs will be directly qualified to the Olympic Games and we're gonna have "only" 7 play-offs pairings... to answer why RSA always try to keep the number of their Olympic participants as low as they can, it's just above money...$$$ their NOC has limited funding and they don't want to waste big money in athletes going to the Games just to make the not-paying tourists (which is always the case for most of the African qualification winners in many sports, especially the team sports)...

Taipei's on theverge of losing the chance to play for Gold even if they beat KOR earlier (they pay the prize of not having thrashed CHN and Koreas's half-surprising win over JPN)... the game's not over, but they are down 3-0 and in a difficult situation in the 7th inning against JPN... because of the strange tie-breaking criteria in international round robin baseball, their only chance is getting a W today, which isn't likely to happen at the moment...

since there was no medal race (normally the final ranking of the medal race is the tie-breaker), in cases like this the best position goes to the highest number of wins in the single races (and then the highest number of second places and so on)... in this case (Men's Laser), MAS has 4 wins in the 12 races and SGP only 3...therefore, MAS earned the Olympic spot...

the Kunlun Red Star...they play their matches half in Beijing and half in Shanghai...and in both sites they don't have more than 1,000 spectators per game (and in Beijing they normally play in the big hall used for Gymnastics at the 2008 Games)... of course I didn't mean they literally play in the desert, but that it's like if they did it (since they always play in those big empty arenas)... p.s. last year they also played a warm-up match in Ulan Baatar (MGL), which is not so different than playing in the desert (even if they had more spectators in that match than in their actual home games)...

Italy's chances in Show Jumping have gone down dramatically in the last few hours... Alberto Zorzi, in fact, was forced to withdraw from the world competitions because of an injury to his horse Fair Light Van t Heike... as a consequence, this is the Italian squad for Tryon: Lorenzo De Luca (right now he still has 3 horses available: Ensor de Litrange, Ironice Horta & Halifax vh Kluizebos) Luca Marziani (Tokyo du Soleil) Emanuele Gaudiano (Chalou) Piergiorgio Bucci ( Diesel GP du Bois Madame) 5th man: Bruno Chimirri (Tower Mouche) reserve at home until the entries are stopped: Giulia Martinengo-Marquet (Verdine Sz)

2018 Individual European Championships Men's Semifinals (later Today @ 6 & 7 p.m. CET) Raphael Kandra vs George Parker Borja Golàn vs Lucas Serme Women's Semifinals (later Today @ 4 & 5 p.m. CET) Millie Tomlinson vs Tinne Gilis Coline Aumard vs Nele Gilis

well, those 2 destinations at least would be a lot more logical than Dubai...

but if they already play in the desert lands of China (they don't even release the official audience of those games, since they would get ashamed by that), nothing's gonna surprise me anymore by them...

Noah Hanifin signs 6-year deal (29.7 million US $) with Calgary... https://www.nhl.com/news/noah-hanifin-signs-contract-extension-with-calgary-flames/c-299304542?tid=281072352 Gary Bettman to be inducted (also) in the Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame... https://www.nhl.com/news/gary-bettman-to-be-inducted-into-sports-broadcasting-hall-of-fame/c-299900142 2019 Winter Classic tickets on sale to public... https://www.nhl.com/news/2019-winter-classic-tickets-on-sale-to-public/c-299875754?tid=283985238

only if we talk of Women's Baseball... they already have a couple of Silver medals (and quite a few Bronze medals) in their bag in the men's game (actually, it's 1 silver in the old world cup in 1984 and 1 at the Olympic Games in Barcelona, always losing to Cuba in the decisive match)...

yes, she's Daniel's younger sister

First Ten Youth World champions crowned after an exciting first day of finals in Budapest Men’s Light Fly (49kg) The first final of the day saw Thailand’s Thitisan Panmod taking on Puerto Rico’s 17-year-old Jan Paul Rivera with the Light Fly gold medal at stake. Panmod, who joined the National Team in 2014, took the control of the distance from the first ring of the bell delivering a performance to remember getting an unanimous victory to be crowned as AIBA Youth World Champion. Thitisan PANMOD b. Jan Paul RIVERA PIZARRO by PTS (5-0) Men’s Bantam (56kg) Uzbekistan’s boxing powerhouse walked out of the last edition of the Youth World Championships without any gold medal, but this trend was broken today by Abdumalik Khalokov. The Uzbek met with Russia’s Vsevolod Shumkov and used his tricky style and world class footwork to defeat his opponent and clinch the gold at the Duna Arena. Abdumalik KHALOKOV b. Vsevolod SHUMKOV by PTS (5-0) Men’s Light Welter (64kg) Russia’s EUBC European Youth Champion Ilia Popov had put together an excellent run to reach the Light Welterweight final in Budapest, but Cuba’s Idalberto Umara proved to be a tricky target as his footwork repeatedly got him out of trouble. As Popov committed more energy to his attacks, Umara was able to counter effectively, and at the end of the three rounds, it was Cuba who was able to celebrate their first gold in Budapest. Idalberto UMARA IRIBAR b. Ilia POPOV by PTS (3-2) Men’s Middle (75kg) Kazakh Nurbek Oralbay went into the Middleweight final against Russia’s Daniil Teterev and exuded confidence against the tough and talented Russian boxer. After a slow start for the Kazakh that saw Teterev taking early advantage, Oralbay increased the rhythm of the action in the second round and turned back the Final to conquer his first Youth World Championships gold medal. Nurbek ORALBAY b. Daniil TETEREV by PTS (4-1) Men’s Heavy (91kg) After three negative results on the Finals Day 1, the Russian team was able to turn the tide at Heavyweight, with Igor Fedorov over-powering Kazakhstan’s Aibek Oralbay to record a stylish victory. Fedorov delivered an inspired first three-minute period to take the contest away from his opponent and had enough left in the tank to keep the Kazakh at bay as the bout drew to a close and earn the Russians their first gold in Budapest. Igor FEDOROV b. Aibek ORALBAY by PTS (3-2) Women’s Light Fly Defending Women’s Youth World Champion Nitu Ghanghas met Thailand’s Nillada Meekoon in the women’s light flyweight category for a re-match of the ASBC Women’s Youth Championships. The talented Thai boxer surprised India’s Nitu on the first round, but the Indian star improved her performance to take over the bout and become two-times AIBA Youth World Champion. NITU b. Nillada MEEKOON by PTS (4-1) Women’s Bantam (54kg) Iyana Verduzco proved to be one of the outstanding performers in Budapest despite being the youngest member of the USA team. The USA boxer added the Bantamweight Youth title to her CV in impressive fashion with a victory over Kazakhstan’s Aizada Yeslyamgali. The two boxers spent much of the first-round probing for weaknesses in the other’s defences, Yeslyamgali looking well organised and efficient with her jabs, but it was Verduzco who raised the tempo most effectively as the bout wore on, crowning an excellent tournament with a hard-earned gold medal. Iyana VERDUZCO b. Aizada YESLYAMGALI by PTS (4-1) Women’s Light (60kg) If there is an English women boxer with potential to emulate the impressive record of Nicola Adams, this boxer is Caroline Dubois. The 17-year-old English boxer met with Russia’s Nune Asatrian and dominated the first two rounds of the Final by using her fantastic footwork. Dubois’ accurate counter-punches during the third round made her improve the distance with her opponent to earn a well-deserved gold medal. Dubois will now add a Youth World title to the 3 European gold medals to complete her impressive record. Caroline Sara DUBOIS b. Nune ASATRIAN by PTS (5-0) Women’s Welter (69kg) Charlie Cavanagh wrote a new page on Canada’s boxing story by becoming the first Youth Women World Champion from her country. The 18-year-old New Brunswick-based boxer stepped on the ring after completing an impressive road to the Finals, and Cavanagh didn’t disappoint delivering a well-rounded performance to defeat Russia’s Angelina Kabakova at the Duna Arena. Charlie CAVANAGH b. Angelina KABAKOVA by PTS (5-0) Women’s Light Heavy (81kg) Russia’s Anastasiia Rybak avenged her defeat at the 2017 Youth World Championships in Guwahati after defeating the ASBC Asian Women’s Youth Champion Guzal Sadykova from Kazakhstan. In one the closest bouts of the day, the Russian boxer was able to overcome Sadykova’s impressive start to clinch the last gold medal at stake today at Budapest’s Duna Arena. Anastasiia RYBAK b. Guzal SADYKOVA by PTS (3-2)

unfortunately (or fortunately?) they've become very strict about those waste of time in the final seconds of a bout... to be honest, earlier today I'd have given the 3rd shido to Mollaei with still 14 secs to go, when he clearly threw a fake attack on his back...technically, it would have been even more justified than the last second shido, which is within the new interpretation of the rules, but at the same time it's also very harsh to him and tough to be accepted (also by the neutral fans)... but nowadays with 2 shido you must pay a lot of attention...it's a lot easier than in the past to get DSQ because of stupid and meaningless mistakes (at last year's world champs, Fabio Basile was DSQ in the extra time in his re-match of the Olympic final against An-Baul for a lot less than what Mollaei did today)... however, he's in good company...I remember I saw a semifinal bout in a grand prix tournament last year (or was it just before Rio 2016? I'm sure of the episode, but I might be wrong on the date in which it happened), when it was the Brazilian Olympic medallist Erika Miranda to be penalized after the end of the match against an Italian girl (I think she was Giuffrida, our Rio silver medallist in the women's -52kg class)... and I'm pretty sure it happened quite a few times in the last couple of years...

and once again Italy, after having great results in the team events, totally failed in the individual competitions (I only care about recurve bow)... I'm really tired of those "young and promising talents" (definitely not my definition) that never perform individually when it really matters... not to mention the boiled good old 2004 Olympic Champion Galiazzo, who shouldn't even be part of the team anymore, but I don't know why? he's always there at the global champs...

2018 Individual European Championships started yesterday in Graz (AUT)... all infos, schedules, results (and link to youtube live broadcast) here: https://www.europeansquash.com/sport/tournament.aspx?id=8017FB04-0282-4A97-BCBC-C8CA95EF0E2B unfortunately, some of the best European players like Gregory Gaultier, James Willstrop among the men and Camille Serme among the women are not at the start of this event...

finally, some real stuff... I couldn't resist anymore just with friendlies and "classic" games from the past... I do really need some new, fresh action...

It's finally here! The 2018/19 Champions Hockey League season has arrived! 12 teams take to the ice tonight in six matches across Europe. Watch live Check here for details of live TV broadcasts: https://www.championshockeyleague.com/en/fans/chl-games-on-tv All games are also live on our website for free, subject to geo-blocking restrictions in certain countries due to TV rights. Make your predictions Take part in the CHL Fan Challenge and predict who'll win each of today's games. https://www.chl-fan-challenge.com/ Do it before 12:00 CET to be counted!

I knew I was going to hurt some "sensitive souls"... just joking...