NaBUru38

In basketball, the men's national team again missed the World Cup. They totally choked versus United States. I cannot describe their match against Mexico because it aired exclusively on DirecTV and I have cable TV (the USA match aired on public TV because of an anti-siphoning law). Moreover, not a single radio station in Montevideo aired the game. Esteban Batista retired from the national team. He has been overweight, slow and erratic for years, but so what? He was our only NBA player ever, he never quit despite the team's chronically bad results. and he never ever refused to play for the national team.

Uruguay again missed the World Cup. They totally choked versus United States. I cannot describe their match against Mexico because it aired exclusively on DirecTV and I have cable TV (the USA match aired on public TV because of an anti-siphoning law). Moreover, not a single radio station in Montevideo aired the game. Esteban Batista retired from the national team. He has been overweight, slow and erratic for years, but so what? He was our only NBA player ever, he never quit despite the team's chronically bad results. and he never ever refused to play for the national team.

In football, Ignacio Alonso was re-elected president of the Uruguayan football association. He and his rival Pablo Ferrari had nasty words against each other. They are related to different clubs (Nacional and Peñarol) and different political parties (nacional and Colorado). Ferrari is the undersecretary for sports, and he went on licence during his run. The South American Football Confederation however did not approve his candidacy, and demanded him to resign from the secretary before the election. This is chaos as usual, so whatever.

Also in cycling, the Rutas de America stage road race is underway. The route is 1,500 km over 11 days. There's 29 Uruguayan teams and a single Brazilian team (Apuana), totalling 17 cyclists. https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rutas_de_América_2023

In sailing, this weekend it's the Central-South American Championship in Buenos Aires, with 9 Uruguayans including Lola Moreira. In cycling, Eric Fagúndez won the time trial race and Leonel Rodríguez won the peloton race at the Uruguayan Men's Road Championships. https://www.futbol.com.uy/Deportes/Ciclismo-Leonel-Rodriguez-y-Eric-Fagundez-campeones-del-Nacional-realizado-en-Paysandu-uc845806

In motorsport, Patricia Pita completed the Dakar Rally in a T3 buggy, however she skipped a few stages due to mechanical issues and did not receive the finishers medal. In basketball, Biguá did not advance out of the basketball Champions League Americas group stage after a single win in five matches. Peñarol plays the two group stage matches this week.

In athletics, Déborah Rodríguez signed as a Peñarol representatitve. In tennis, the men's national team got an away win at the Davis Cup, and will play the World Group 2 in September. In surfing, Santiago Giovannini competed at the Eddie Aikau Big Wave Invitational. https://www.surf.com.uy/Deportes/Santiago-Giovannini-el-uruguayo-que-sonaba-pararse-en-una-tabla-y-surfeo-una-ola-gigante-uc844648 https://dukesurf.com/la-odisea-de-santiago-giovannini-el-uruguayo-que-se-bajo-una-de-las-mas-grandes-de-esta-temporada-hawaiana/

In handball, the men's national team lost their final match and ranked last at the Men's World Championship. I'm surprised they played so bad. In rugby sevens, the Teros finished 13th at the Sydney Sevens. They remain 11th in the overall standings, just 3 points above the repechage zone.

In athletics, Santigo Catrofe won the Catalonia 10km Cross Country Championship with 29'05, and qualified to the Spanish Championship. In rugby sevens, the Teros lost all matches at the Hamilton round of the Sevens World Series. At least, they had no lopsided results. In handball, the men's national team has had an awful performance at the Men's World Championship , with losses against Cabo Verde, Brazil, Chile, South Korea and Saudi Arabia. They will play on Wednesday for the wooden spoon.

Uruguayan squad:

In athletics, the Corrida de San Fernando 10 km was held in Maldonado near Punta del Este. The Argentine runner Federico Bruno won the men's race for Peñarol with 29'07. Andrés Zamora was runner-up with 30'55 and Waldemar González was third. Florencia Borelli, also an Argentine that ran for Peñarol, won the women's with 33'23. Her sister Mariana Borelli was runner-up with 34'48, and third was María Pía Fernández.

Here's the full winners: https://www.infobae.com/deportes-2/2022/12/22/messi-suma-premios-gano-el-olimpia-de-oro-2022/ I'm surprised that I know very few of them, unlike a decade ago.

Uruguay has just 10 Olympic medals, so there's not much to choose. The top two are the 1924 and 1928 gold medals in football, of course. The latest medal was a silver by cyclist Milton Wynants in 2000.

Argentina's Premios Olimpia will be given tonight. Here's the nominees: https://cpd.com.ar/2022/12/12/conoce-a-todos-los-nominados-de-los-premios-olimpia-2022/

South Africa defeated Ireland at the Men's Hockey Nations Cup final, and will play the 2023-24 Men's Pro League. India defeated Spain at the Women's Hockey Nations Cup final, and will play the 2023-24 Women's Pro League.

In football, the men's national team did not advance to the Fiffa World Cup round of 16. They drew South Korea 0-0, lost to Portugal 2-0, and defeated Ghana 2-0. Scoring just two goals in three matches is far from enough. The head coach put veterans as starters, rather than as substitutes. He was too conservative, and it didn't pay off.

In surf, Julián Schweizer won the Las Flores longboard event of the ALAS Tour. In judo, Henry Borges was bronze at the IBSA Judo World Championship in the 60 kg class. In athletics, the San Felipe y Santiago 10 km was won by Federico Bruno (28'37) and Mariana Borrelli (34'57). Meanwhile, Santiago Catrofe won the Granollers 10 km Cross in Spain with 29'49. In swimming, Nicole Frank got a new national short course record in 200 m breaststroke with 2'26.44 at the Melbourne World Cup. In futsal, the Peñarol won both the men's and women's national championship. it's the fourth and fifth consecutive title (so the latter is a Quinquenio).

In rugby XV, the Teros defeated Romania 21-16 and lost to Tonga 43-19. In rugby 7s, the Teros finished 10th at the Dubai Sevens (with wins over Spain and Great britain), and 7th at the Cape Town Sevens (with wins over Ireland and Japan). In basketball, the men's national team had two away losses to Mexico 80-60 and Puerto Rico 76-68. They have little changes of qualifying to the 2023 World Cup.

With no United States or Canada, I wouldn't be surprised if they expend it to 24 teams for 2027.

Not in field hockey

Men's world rankings: https://dataride.uci.ch/iframe/RankingDetails/1?disciplineId=10&groupId=1&momentId=153437&disciplineSeasonId=159&rankingTypeId=1&categoryId=22&raceTypeId=0 Women's world ranking: https://dataride.uci.ch/iframe/RankingDetails/32?disciplineId=10&groupId=2&momentId=153443&disciplineSeasonId=159&rankingTypeId=1&categoryId=23&raceTypeId=0

I think that the T20 format is still not easy enough to understand. Here's my T4x4 proposal: Each team bowls 4 sets of 4 overs each. After a team bowls a set, they change roles (like in baseball). A set ends prematurely if the bowling team has two outs.

This weekend: Scotland vs Argentina England vs New Zealand Ireland vs Australia Italy vs South Africa France vs Japan Wales vs Georgia French Barbarians vs Fiji Tonga vs Uruguay Romania vs Samoa Canada vs Namibia Hong Kong vs Kenya United States vs Portugal (winner qualifies to the 2023 World Cup)

The Uruguay Open (ATP Challenger) tennis tournament is underway. The Teros lost to Georgia 34-18. On Sunday they play Romania. The Teros 7s finished 13th at the Hong Kong Sevens, with wins over Great Britain (!), Kenya and Japan. The men's basketball national team will visit Mexico for the FIBA World Cup qualifiers. The match starts at 00:30 Uruguayan time... The Uruguayan Rugby Championship final is today between Trébol de Paysandú and Montevideo Cricket. The Uruguayan Superturismo has its final round at El Pinar. Meanwhile, the press is discussing that the Argentine football team chose to carry a Uruguayan yerba mate brand...

Uruguay visits Mexico tonight. The match starts at 00:30 Uruguayan time...