Big surprise in the TdF yesterday when Geraint Thomas didn’t eat into the lead of the yellow jersey wearer in yesterday’s time trial. It’s going to be a lung busting weak to narrow that gap in the mountains.
Sometimes in sport special things happen, things that warm the heart. Today in Nagoya, one of those occurred. A gent named Enho pulled off a win that captured the empathy of the gathered patrons. In sumo, to lose more bouts than win in a 15 day tournament is a huge deal .... it's a pride thing. The pocket rocket Enho, participating in only his second top flight tournament, blasted out of the blocks and won 5 of his first 6 bouts, he then won 2 of his next 4, leaving him with 7 wins from his first 10 fights. Then the wheels fell off. Enho lost the next 4. Being massively underweight against all other contestants seemed to have taken a toll on the little bloke. He's needed just 1 more win, but couldn't find it. With just today and tomorrow left, things were looking desperate. Listen for the crowd's response.
15 days Ste, and it's freakin' hard work. I've only been following the sport for a few years and have never seem a man so small in the game. I can't see how he can weather a career of 10-15 years with so much weight to give away. Some days he has to spot nearly 300 pounds. How he can do it 15 days in a row is amazing. Then there's the man many consider the greatest of all time, Hakuho. One day I might post a full 15 days of one of his tournaments. He's an eye opener.
Wow. The final day of the Nagoya basho sees the only two Yokozuna in the sport, clashing for the Emperor's Cup. Kakuryu has the edge as he goes into the final bout of this tournament with a 13-1 record, with Hakuho on 12-2. Hakuho needs to win to force a a play off. This of course means that Kakuryu has two shots at it. If he wins, he gets the Cup. If he fails and is forced into the second bout, he gets the second chance. Hakuho has to beat the other Grand Master twice to win the Emperors Cup. Grand Master v Grand Master.
The final bout of the final day. As it should be, the only two Grand Masters in the sport face off each other, and only one will stand alone. Will Hakuho move to 42 titles or will Kakuryu win title number 6?
Saturday was no better for Thomas but today, at last, we saw Thomas get 26 seconds back as Alaphilippe fell away at the business end. My surprise is that Thomas's team (INEOS) is not bossing it over Alaphilippe's much weaker outfit, but they haven't been. Not clear that they did it today because the key element could have been the breakaway of Simon Yates (UK) who won today's stage. Compared with Golf and Tennis these boys really earn their money. The winning purse is about half a million euro. Win a stage and it's only a few thou.
Building into a real classic this one Busty. I think my money might just be on Landa but it’s going to be a dramatic week. Well deserved rest day tomorrow.
Well done England in the Netball. Thrashed RSA to win Bronze. The Goal Attacker (Joanne Harten) was brilliant and the Goal Shooter (Helen Housby) was exceptional and did not miss one shot. Between them they hardly missed a shot. They all played well but the ones who kept putting the ball in the net to amass a commanding lead after going 2-0 down simply caught my eye more. Well done the girls
Great atmosphere in Liverpool, host of the World Netball Championship. New Zealand, having beaten England by 2 goals in the semi, beat Australia by one goal in the final. Exciting stuff
Great tournament. Apparently the Americans rubbished the BBC best sporting moment of 2018 Award (the goal winning the Commonwealth Games) last year, comparing it with the superiority of Basketball. Always thought Basketball was a great game but have always felt that the rules are too much shaded. You are only allowed one carry, but I felt when watching it and playing it that that rule was very dodgy. Then I had the opportunity to play Netball and realised it was a tough game to play but that there was not this shading. So I'm a great supporter of Netball which I think is much undervalued as a sport opposite Basketball. If it's so easy the USA should show us. Well done NZ, and well done to Netball.