rafalgorka

One place left for a lucky loser in a main draw but I doubt it will be him 😐

GB and US war vs Houthi in Yemen? Rishi Sunak calls the government meet later today , they say

Yes. I have noticed that 😂

But he plays against AUS WC guy O Jasika so it may be difficult match but I would really love to see Jordan player in Grand Slam main draw i am not sure here but I think it would be first Jordan player in main draw in singles event grand slams

Go Jordan 💪😎💪💪

Aaand Wengen delivers! Odermatt… just wow! You may like him or not but… just wow Sarrazin brilliant . Proved he wasn’t just one-race lucky rider … hope he won’t get injured soon because he is riding like 120% percent Kilde only 3rd… and he had the lucky train on the way… so it might have been his best chance this weekend lol nice to see innerhofer back after this nasty Bormio fall

Anyway, Iga Świątek route 1. Sofia Kenin USA - it may be much harder match than many expect 2. Diane Collins USA - this one may be tough as well, but in the end Collins may be very tired because her 1st round match vs Kerber may be long and close 3. Linda Noskova CZE - hopefully a bit easier win in 2 sets 4. Elena Svitolina UKR - here i expect 3 sets QF Victoria Azarenka BLRUS - 2 sets win i hope, but defenitely Azarenka will show her behaviour on court SF Elena Rybakina KAZ - I'm afraid Iga may lose this one But if not - F Aryna Sabalenka BLRUS - and she can lose this one, but if she is in the final indeed... anything can happen She can obviously lose against Kenin in Rd 1 as well, that's life Hubert Hurkacz route 1. Q/LL - ??? but i hope a win in 3 sets, from all the possible names i would like to see him play vs Flavio Cobolli ITA - it could be really interesting game, i hope he draws an easier opponent though 2. Denis Shapovalov CAN - this one can turn into 5 sets battle 3. Zhang Zhizhen CHN - i still feel Chinese will make breakthrough this season. But Hurkacz in four 4. Arthur Fils FRA - Hurkacz in three, Fils will be extremely tired after 3 early matches QF Daniil Medvedev BLRUS - that's probably the end of the story, I'm afraid Hubert may even have a matchball in thid match but as usual he blows the deciding points but if he wins somehow SF - Carlos Alcaraz ESP - I don't see a win for Hubert here, not yet. Only chance is if Carloz has some health issues And if Hubert is in the final somehow - Novak Djokovic SRB - Novak wins but Hubert shows some strength and wins one set Let's see...

Draws are out!!! My predictions How it's gonna be: M N Djkokovic SRB - S Tsitsipas GRE J Sinner ITA - A de Minaur AUS H Hurkacz POL - D Medvedev BLRUS A Zverev GER - C Alcaraz ESP N Djokovic SRB - J Sinner ITA D Medvedev BLRUS - C Alcaraz ESP N Djokovic SRB - D Medvedev BLRUS N Djokovic SRB W I Świątek POL - V Azarenka BLRUS E Rybakina KAZ - J Pegula USA M Sakkari GRE - C Gauff USA M Andreeva BLRUS - A Sabalenka BLRUS I Świątek POL - E Rybakina KAZ C Gauff USA - A Sabalenka BLRUS E Rybakina KAZ - A Sabalenka BLRUS A Sabalenka BLRUS How i'd like it to happen: M N Djokovic SRB - S Tsitsipas GRE J Sinner ITA - A de Minaur AUS H Hurkacz POL - D Medvedev BLRUS A Zverev GER - C Alcaraz ESP N Djokovic SRB - J Sinner ITA H Hurkacz POL - C Alcaraz ESP J Sinner ITA - C Alcaraz ESP C Alcaraz ESP W I Świątek POL - M Vondrousova CZE E Rybakina KAZ - J Pegula USA C Wozniacki DEN - C Gauff USA M Andreeva BLRUS - A Sabalenka BLRUS I Świątek POL - E Rybakina KAZ C Gauff USA - M Andreeva BLRUS I Świątek POL - M Andreeva BLRUS I Świątek POL

And i am even more disappointed that our W handball team won't be there in Paris because i really thought there was real chance for that And W handball POL team in Paris would be much more entertaining to me than W rugby 7s (and they still have a chance to get in)

The worst part is that we both think POL is not even close to Olympic qualification this time. And we were 4th in Rio, beating CRO in QF, losing to DEN AET in SF and losing to GER in a bronze medal game... Ehhh... the superfast decline of M handball team is one of the worst things that happened to Polish sport in the last years...

If you are right, OQTs would be like that (assuming that EGY qualifes via African tournament): ESP SLO BRN BRA SWE CRO Afr2-TUN? NED GER HUN POR Afr3-ALG? Then i think q for: ESP SLO SWE CRO GER HUN

Wengen Time!!! Today is first downhill. I must say Wengen is my favourite World Cup Stage for the whole season. I am definitely Team Wengen / not Team Kitzbuehel... :-) C'mon guys, entertain us!!!

It is a pity Adrian Moryto got injured. Without him POL chances do sth good in this tournament are very slim

5. NOR 6. ESP

My predictions: advancing to phase 2 FRA GER ESP CRO HUN ISL NOR SLO SWE NED DEN CZE Sf FRA-SWE DEN-GER finals 1. DEN 2. FRA 3. GER 4. SWE olympic quota GER

Summary of our January choices so far: Who will win 2024 M Handball ECH: canadafan24, heywoodu, Gianlu33, rafalgorka, Wumo, Ogreman, OlympicsFan, hckosice Josh phelps

I am not convinced whether POL will have "many" medals in Paris lol Anyway, all the hype on Iga Świątek (and Hubert Hurkacz playing mixed doubles with her) will be enormous, i hope they can live with it. No wonder POL Olymp. Committee chose to do their house near Roland Garros... PS1. It is a pity Pilsner Urquell withdrew but i understand very well what they stand for here. I say it is a pity because this is by far my fav Czech beer if we talk about this big companies' beers... PS2. Going through the Olympic houses in Paris will be great way to spend your time between sessions you have tickets for. It's like visiting EXPO pavillons. When you are there you just want to see them all and compare... Btw, my wife said Czech EXPO pavillon in Dubai was one of the best, and obviously everyone was having a glass of beer there... :-) so it looks like you just know how to do these pavillons/houses heh.

Summary of our January choices so far: Who will win 2024 M Handball ECH: canadafan24, heywoodu, Gianlu33, rafalgorka, Wumo, Ogreman, OlympicsFan Josh phelps Hopefully i haven't forgotten anyone here. And you can still join us obviously. This is a small thing, nothing close to great prediction contests Wumo does here, but still... We need to find sth to do in this waiting for Paris olympics, i just can't wait for the games to get started...

Quick question: do you want me to add 12 more questions to our 2024 contest (that would be 2 questions per month, not 1 question per month), maybe that would be more interesting this way but i am not sure. Or we leave it as it is...

And what are you waiting for in a non-olympic year of 2025??? A series of WCH of course: Athletics, Aquatics, Cycling, Alpine Skiing, Nordic Skiing... Annual events like Tour de France, Tennis Grand Slams, NBA play-offs, F1 season... But what else? The things is - as for now - I don't plan to go to Paris olympics this year, I have plans to go to Milan for 2026 olympics but i am also looking for an event or two to go in 2025 and i want to go swh close to me, swh in Europe. First idea is a F1 race, probably in Hungary. This is the least expensive choice for me and it's a few hours drive from where i live. But maybe i find sth else to go, sth even better... For 2027 i plan to go to swimming wch in Budapest. But i am sure the tickets will be much more expensive than 2023 athletics wch there, much kess seats un the stands... And the final sessions will be quickly sold out. But maybe we go for 2-3 days.

Fun fact: Polish Olympic Commitee said that they look at Czech Olympic Houses as a good example and a model, they want to do sth similar because they find Czech Houses very successful. I think they mentioned Pyeongchang. So POL wants to do at least sth as good in Paris as a Czech House. But we need to find some other ways to promote ourselves than selling out a good beer, there's no way we'll beat the Czechs in a beer competition... :-)

For the first time in history, there will be a Polish House in the olympics. It will be situated swh close to Roland Garros. I let you know all the details as soon as i find it. Enjoy your trip to Paris.

Yeah, I forgot it I like m basketball a lot but I actually never watched NCAA march madness I am not sure it is available to watch in Poland actually

My flu/covid turned out to be sth else but i am at home for another week so i will write here again in the usual working hours... Anyway, first i want to check my boxing predictions again using Ogreman stats as a really really good advice... stay tuned

This is not a problem at all. Handball ECH hasn't started yet so we will cast your votes, no problem. Maybe someone else wants to join us as well??? Handball starts on Jan 10 Btw, i am really interested how do you find chances for German Men's Handball Team in ECH and then in Paris? Also other German teams in teams sports (basketball, volleyball, hockey...).