Monday, 5th December
The Story So Far
We are deep in the heart of the Round of 16 knock out matches of the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar. Four quarter finalists have already been decided, with four more matches over the next two days to determine the full lineup for Friday and Saturday. So far the evening matches of next week will be Netherlands against Argentina on Friday, and England against France on Saturday. Apart from big names who did not make it to the big occasion, the tournament will be equally known for the big names who did not qualify for the Round of 16. Most notably Belgium and Germany, two teams where so much were expected of, have gone home early. Japan, Croatia, Brazil, South Korea, Morocco, Spain, Portugal, and Switzerland will fight it out for the remaining four places, and we cannot wait. A milestone was also reached with the first all-female on-field referee team that officiated the group match between Costa Rica against Germany.
The International Wheelchair & Amputee Sports Federation (IWAS) hosted the IWAS Games 2022 in Vila Real de Santo Antonio, Portugal. The event featured three days of action in athletics, swimming, and powerlifting. First awarded in 1888, the Rackets Amateur Championship bowl has been won by Rory Giddins who beat Alex Titchener-Barrett 12/15 11/15 18/15 15/4 15/10 last Tuesday night at the Queen's Club in London.
At the International Dance Organization (IDO) World Ballet Championships in Podčetrtek, Slovenia, Duos were won by Italy's Alessia Tacchini and Giovanni Liverani. Canada won gold in Groups, while Alessia Tacchini again claimed Ballet Repertoire. The male solo gold went to compatriot Christian Riga. It was Italy's day as the Ballet Open Classical gold belonged to Angela Piotto and Giovanni Liverani. The same city also hosted the IDO World Jazz Championships. Focusing again on adult results, the Solo Jazz Dance titles went to Slovenia's Lara Slibar and Poland's Karol Mental. Slovenia won Groups, Poland took Formations, while local stars Tian Cehic and Petra Ravbar won Duos.
Park City in Utah was the next stop of the International Bobsleigh & Skeleton Federation World Cup. Canada's Mirela Rahneva and Germany's Christopher Grotheer won gold in Skeleton. Germany's Kim Kalicki and Francesco Friedrich steered their 2-woman and 2-man Bobsleigh to gold, while Friedrich did it again in the 4-man Bobsleigh.
Lillehammer in Norway hosted three International Ski & Snowboard Federation World Cup events. Nordic Combined had local stars Gyda Westvold Hansen claim Gundersen Normal Hill HS100/5.0 km, while the Gundersen Normal Hill HS100/10.0 km went to Jarl Magnus Riiber. Norway continued to reign in the Women's Ski Jump with gold going to Silje Opseth. In Cross Country, Sweden's Emma Ribom and Norway's Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo won the Sprint Final Free. Sweden's Frida Karlsson and Norway's Paal Goldberg won the Mass Start 20km. Over to France where Les Deux Alpes hosted Snowboard Cross. Gold medals went to Australia's Josie Baff and Germany's Martin Noerl. Ruka in Finland hosted Freestyle with Moguls titles going to Australia's Jakara Anthony and Canada's Mikael Kingsbury. The Aerials titles were claimed by Australia's Danielle Scott and Switzerland's Pirmin Werner. Lake Louise in Canada and Beaver Creek in the States hosted Alpine events. France's Sofia Goggia won Downhill, while Super G gold went to Switzerland's Corinne Suter in Lake Louise. In the men's event in Colorado, Norway's Aleksander Aamodt Kilde reigned in Downhill and Super G.
Kontiolahti in Finland opened the International Biathlon Union World Cup season. Norway's Johannes Thingnes Boe opened proceedings with the Men's 10 km Sprint win, while Austria's Lisa Theresa Hauser won the Women's 7.5 km Sprint. The Pursuit victories went to France's Julia Simon, with Johannes Thingnes Boe collecting his second title of the weekend. The first International Luge Federation World Cup was hosted at Innsbruck, Austria. Local stars Madeleine Egle and Nico Gleirscher won the singles' titles, with Austria also reigning in doubles. At the UIAA Ice Climbing European Cup in Brno, Virgile Devin (FRA) and Franziska Schönbächer (SUI) won the Lead titles.
Egypt won both the FIBA 3x3 U17 Africa Basketball Cup titles hosted in Cairo. The same venue also hosted the FIBA 3x3 Africa Cup 2022, won by Egypt's women and Madagascar's men. In other basketball news and on this occasion in the NBA, LeBron James has become the new record holder in all-time assists. In golf news, Sweden's Linn Grant ended her first season in the Ladies European Tour on a high by clinching the 2022 Race to Costa del Sol title.
The hosts won a thrilling final against Ireland in the inaugural FIH Hockey Men’s Nations Cup South Africa 2022. Italy's men and women won both the Eurohockey Indoor Championship III 2022 titles played in Cyprus and Slovakia. The Netherland's Fem van Empel and Mathieu van der Poel won the next stage of the UCI Cyclo-Cross World Cup in Antwerp. UCI, cycling's governing body, has also announced that one venue will be chosen in future for all cycling world cup events to feature at the same time. At the World Rugby Sevens Series in Dubai, Australia's women and South Africa's men have clinched the titles. All teams now move to Cape Town for the weekend's final round of the season.
Team Europe have emphatically won the 2022 Mosconi Cup in Las Vegas by 11-7. The competition is an annual pool-billiards event between the best players of Europe and USA. Australia are the WBSC Softball World Champions 2022 beating four-time winners Canada in the final. The USA claimed bronze. Montréal hosted the FINA World Junior Diving Championships 2022. Ukraine topped the medals table, followed by Canada and Italy.
In professional boxing, Tyson Fury has successfully retained his WBC World Heavyweight title after defeating Derek Chisora at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London. Finally, South Korea has been awarded the 2023 FAI World Drone Racing Championship, making it one of the biggest events of its kind.
Until next time, have a great week in sport.