15th - 16th April
Ski Mountaineering at Tromsø
One of the remaining snow sports completed their season over the weekend with the International Ski Mountaineering World Cup Finals Radonee at Tromsø in Norway. Spain's Ana Alonso Rodriguez and Oriol Cardona Coll won the Mixed Relay Race. Emily Harrop (FRA) and Remi Bonnet (SUI) are the Senior winners of the Vertical Race and Individual Race, while the U23 titles went to Lisa Moreschini (ITA) and Paul Verbnjak (AUT). The finals closed on Saturday with the Sprint Race. Senior gold medal victories belong to Switzerland's Marianne Fatton and Arno Lietha, with Katia Mascherona (ITA) and Matteo Favre (SUI) winning the U23 titles.
Tokyo staged the International Skating Union World Team Trophy and for the fifth occasion Team USA produced a dominant performance to claim gold. Uzbekistan's capital city Tashkent hosted the FIG Rhythmic Gymnastics World Cup. Both the Ball and Hoop finals were won by Sofia Raffaeli (ITA), while China won the technically difficult Group 3 Ribbons/2 Balls. Over to Table Tennis and China's Sun Yingsha and Fan Zhendong have won the women's and men's singles titles at the World Table Tennis Champions Xinxiang 2023. In the process Yingsha has extended her winning streak to 21 international matches.
The Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Georgia, hosted Round 13 of the AMA Supercross Championship. With only four race weekends remaining, the 450SX and 250SX victories went to Chase Sexton (USA) and Hunter Lawrence (AUS). The FIM Trial World Championship opened the season in Arteixo, Spain, with home heroes Toni Bou and Berta Abellan Marsinach claiming maximum points. The TSR Honda France team of Mike Di Meglio, Josh Hook and Alan Techer combined to win the first race of the FIM Endurance World Championship at the Circuit Bugatti in Le Mans, France. Jorge Prado (ESP) and Jeffrey Herlings (NED) won Race 1 and 2 respectively at the next round of the FIM Motocross World Championship in Pietramurata, Italy. Alex Rins (ESP) has become the first rider to win a race on a Honda in 2023 as he took victory in the Red Bull Grand Prix of The Americas, the next round of the FIM MotoGP World Championship, hosted in Texas.
Over to motor racing where Portimão in Portugal was the location for the next stage of the FIA World Endurance Championship. The Toyota Gazoo Racing team of Sébastien Buemi, Brendan Hartley, and Ryo Hirakawa claimed the overall win. Kyle Kirkwood (USA) has earned his first NTT IndyCar Series career victory at Long Beach, California. Kyle Larson has won his second 2023 NASCAR Cup Series race of the season with victory at the Martinsville Speedway on Sunday. Larson joins Joey Lagano and William Byron with two wins each so far this year.
Ieva Serapinaite (LTU) and Mohanad Shaban (EGY) reigned in Ankara, Turkey, at the UIPM Modern Pentathlon World Cup. Bashir Abdi (BEL), World and Olympic bronze medallist, regained the Rotterdam Marathon title on Sunday. In cycling news, Tadej Pogačar (SLO) and Demi Vollering (NED) are the elite winners of the Amstel Gold Race held in Netherlands. The prestigious annual road race forms part of the UCI WorldTour and UCI Women's WorldTour. Cyclists Maria Fernanda Sanchez Vargas (CRC) and Christopher Jurado Lopez (PAN) are the champions of the Elite Road Central American Championships.
While the women were involved in the Billie Jean King Cup Qualifiers, the top men's tennis players were in Monte Carlo for an ATP1000 tournament. Andrey Rublev clinched his first ATP Masters Title after beating Holger Rune 5-7, 6-2, 7-5. Ivan Dodig and Austin Kraijek won the Doubles title.
It was Egyptian dominance as Nour El Sherbini won her fourth British Open title, part of the Professional Squash Association World Tour. In the men's match, Ali Farag beat World No.1 Diego Elias (PER). Ari Sánchez and Paula Josemaría Martín won the women's title at the Granada Open, the next stage of the World Padel Tour. The men's winners are Arturo Coello and Agustin Tapia. The city of X'ian hosted the first meeting of the World Aquatics Diving World Cup 2023. Nine titles were contested with the full results shown here:
A number of IIHF Ice Hockey World Championships in various categories and divisions are currently underway. Croatia overwhelmed Serbia 6-1 in the final of the Men's U18 Division II, Group A competition. They now progress to Division I. In the ultimate match on Sunday in Brampton, Canada, USA's Hilary Knight scored three goals in victory over Canada by 6-3 to win the IIHF Women's World Championship. Canada’s Sarah Fillier was named MVP of the tournament. The Czech Republic defeated Switzerland to win back-to-back bronze medals.
At a packed Miami Beach, Katrin Eckerman’s (GER) Longines Global Champions Tour Grand Prix career has now had a 50% win rate after her third victory, including back-to-back wins. A month after qualifying for the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup, Colombia continued their run of form by winning the Acapulco Beach Soccer Cup 2023, beating hosts Mexico in the final. In Real Tennis news, Claire Fahey (ENG) has won the Ladies World Championship 2023. Cesca Sweet (ENG) has also become champion of the inaugural U19's Girls World Championship. Gabriele Goffredo and Anna Matus, both from Moldova, have won the World DanceSport Federation PD World Championship in Adult Latin held in Chisnau, Moldova.
Until next time, have a great week in sport.