I Dig Sports
Destination unchanged but massive entry increase
by Ian Marshall, Editor
Furthermore, there is another common factor; five champions return, all seeking for repeat success.
In 2009, in the men’s singles events, Norway’s Tommy Urhaug won class 5 and the open wheelchair class, the Slovak Republic’s Peter Mihalik emerged victorious in class 4, Romania’s Bobi Simion secured class 6 gold. Likewise the host nation’s Piotr Grudzien emerged the class 8 champion; all appear on this year’s entry list.
Similarly, in the women’s singles events, the names of Sweden’s Ingela Lundbäck and Poland’s Malgorzata Jankowska compete. In 2009, Ingela Lundbäck secured the class 4-5 and open wheelchair titles, Malgorzata Jankowska succeeded in class 9-10.
Names to note and for the host nation there are three names in particular, not present a decade ago that catch the eye.
Notably, in the men’s singles events, winner earlier this year at the Lignano Masters in northern Italy, a class 2 athlete, Rafal Czuper is on duty, as in class 10 is Patryk Chojnowski, the London 2012 Paralympic Games gold medallist and the current World champion. Meanwhile, for women, in class 9, the name of Karolina Pek appears, gold medallist alongside colleague Natalia Partyka in the class 6-10 team event in Rio de Janeiro.
“The entry in Wladyslawowo is sensational. I’m doubly motivated to win my homeland. In 2009, I was not in the national para team, so I did not have the opportunity to play.” Rafal Czuper
Positive but Rafal Czuper faces a most difficult task if he is to claim gold, in the same class appears the name of Frenchman, Fabien Lamirault, gold medallist at the Rio Paralympic Games and the reigning World champion.
“We played a dozen or so times, unfortunately, he was always on top. I believe that I can win against him in Wladyslawowo. I will direct all my efforts to the men’s singles and not play in team event.” Rafal Czuper.
A severe test ahead for Rafal Czuper, for Patryk Chojnowski, on duty in April at the Liebherr 2019 World Championships, he is the clear favourite.
“I won at the Paralympic Games in London, I won at the World and European Championships, if nothing bad happens to my health, I think I can handle Para Polish Open ” Patryk Chojnowski
Add Karolina Pek, gold medallist at the Lignano Masters earlier this year, under the guidance of Andrzej Ochal, the head coach, Poland is very much in line for honours.
“Our team consists of almost 30 players; we have a very strong team. Looking objectively, over half of our players and competitors can stand on the podium.” Andrzej Ochal
Titles for Poland, it may well happen; one fact is certain, nine classes in the women’s singles, class 1-2 and class 7-8 being combined, all 11 for the men, three days of intense competition await.
2019 Para Polish Open: Latest results and main draws
Update day one: Seamaster 2019 ITTF World Tour Platinum China Open
Quick understanding
A first appearance on the international stage, Japan’s Koki Niwa and Mima Ito have clearly established a good understanding; in the opening round of the mixed doubles event they beat Slovakia’s Lubomir Pistej and Barbora Balazova, the no.2 seeds (11-6, 7-11, 13-11, 13-11).
Problems for the second seeds, not for the top seeds; Hong Kong’s Wong Chun Ting and Doo Hoi Kem accounted for Laurens Tromer and Britt Eerland of the Netherlands in straight games (11-9, 11-5, 11-7).
Seamaster 2019 ITTF World Tour Platinum China Open: Schedule of Play Thursday 30th June to Sunday 2nd June
OCALA, Fla. – Big Frog Motorsports has announced Tanner English as the full-time driver of the team’s M&W Transport No. 58 Dave’s Towing/XR1 Rocket Chassis/Clements Racing Engine dirt late model.
“We decided back in April to run a few races together to see if it would be a good fit for both of us. Seven races later, and we are both pleased about where we are at, so Tanner [English], and I have agreed to make him the full-time driver for our team,” said team owner Augie Burttram. “We’ve taken Tanner to several places new to him in the past month, and he’s shown a ton of potential. As we get more time to gel, and as he gets more experience at some of these tracks, I have no doubt that we’re going to win some races.”
For the 25-year-old English, he’s found the partnership with Big Frog Motorsports to be a natural fit.
“Augie [Burttram] and Mike [Rey] have been just awesome to deal with,” English said. “Even though we’ve had some bad luck on a few nights, we’ve already had some good runs, and I think there’s clearly a potential there for us to be a contender every time that we hit the track.”
English will also continue to pilot the Tommy Pope-owned No. 22 Super Late Model in select races, as well as his personal No. 96 car.
In fact, Big Frog Motorsports is going to take the month of June off to prepare for a run at the Schaeffer’s Oil Southern Nationals title with English in July.
“We’re going to go through our car and make sure it’s all good to go for the Southern Nationals. While we are doing that, we are going to help Tanner at some of the UMP Summernationals events that he plans to run in his own equipment,” Burttram revealed.
English is the two-time defending Schaeffer’s Oil Mid America Racing Series champion.
CONCORD, N.C. – It’s been well documented over the past five years that Martin Truex Jr. and Cole Pearn make a formidable driver and crew chief combination.
However, questions were raised following the pair’s move from Furniture Row Racing to Joe Gibbs Racing during the offseason whether they would be able to continue their recent magic together.
Sunday night’s Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway made one thing very clear: the pairing hasn’t missed a beat.
Truex and Pearn captured their third Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series win of the season with a come-from-behind effort, rallying back after Truex bounced off the wall in the first quarter of the race to take the lead in the second half before powering away with a four-wide pass for the lead down the stretch.
It tied Truex with Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch for the series wins lead at the midpoint of the regular season, as well as proved the point that it doesn’t matter what organization Truex and Pearn are working for, their chemistry is going to take them to the top of the scoreboard all the same.
Asked whether the transition from the now-shuttered Furniture Row Racing team over to Joe Gibbs Racing has been as seamless as it appears to have been, Truex was quick to offer an affirmative.
“The move to JGR this season has been really good for us,” said Truex. “Obviously, to be sitting here halfway through the regular season with three wins is a big deal, and I feel at home at Gibbs. I feel like I’m part of the team, and I know the way things work and I know what they expect of me, and I’m really comfortable just being myself and having a lot of fun.
“It’s a lot of work,” Truex added of racing at the Cup Series level. “It’s a big challenge to win races at this level, but I’ve definitely really enjoyed it. I look forward to hopefully just continuing to do what they brought me here to do, and that’s win a lot of races.”
Since linking up together at the start of the 2015 season with Furniture Row, Truex and Pearn have collected 20 Cup Series victories together. Many of those came with the No. 78 car, which for most of its tenure was a single-car unit that overpowered many of the multi-car juggernauts of the sport.
The last three wins have come as one piece of one of those juggernauts, which took more to get used to than many outsiders might realize, Pearn said.
“The transition and looking at it now, it’s going well, but it’s come with a lot of hard work,” noted Pearn. “It’s been a lot of adjustment. But when you land in a company like we did, you’ve just got to count your blessings and realize how fortunate you are, because we could easily have been out of a job, and yet here we are with a great organization and we’re winning races. I’m incredibly thankful for that.”
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INDIANAPOLIS – Red Bull Air Race World Championship officials confirmed Wednesday that the high-speed airplane series will cease operations later this year.
The final race for the organization will be held Sept. 7-8 in Chiba, Japan. As such, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway round planned for Oct. 19-20 has been officially cancelled.
“We were informed this morning by management of the Red Bull Air Race organization that the 2019 championship will be suspended after September and that this year’s round at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, scheduled for Oct. 19-20, is canceled,” said track president J. Douglas Boles. “We are disappointed that we will not host another Red Bull Air Race event, and I know many of our fans will be disappointed, as well. We enjoyed watching the pilots navigate the unique course over the Indianapolis Motor Speedway grounds, and we were especially excited to see American pilot Michael Goulian celebrate a well-earned victory last year.
“Customers who already purchased tickets to this year’s event will receive refunds,” Boles added. “They will receive an email with information on that process.”
More than 90 races have been held since the series began in 2003, which have given pilots the opportunity to compete in high-speed flying at low altitude with extreme maneuvers.
“The Red Bull Air Race provided sports entertainment of highest quality, but did not attract the level of outside interest as many other Red Bull events across the world,” series organizers said in a statement. “Red Bull thanks the pilots, their teams, partners, the host cities and the Red Bull employees for all they have done to make these enjoyable and memorable events.”
SAN JOSE, Calif. -- The Sharks are bringing back former Florida Panthers coach Bob Boughner as an assistant, the team announced Wednesday.
Boughner will replace Rob Zettler on coach Peter DeBoer's staff. He oversaw the defense on the Sharks when they went to the Stanley Cup Final in 2016 and then the following year when Brent Burns won the Norris Trophy as the league's top defenseman.
Boughner then was hired as head coach in Florida in 2017 and had an 80-62-22 record in two seasons. The Panthers didn't make the playoffs either year, and Boughner was fired.
BOSTON -- Boston Bruins fans had a steadily building roar every time another biographical clue appeared on the Jumbotron before Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final against the St. Louis Blues on Wednesday night, from the career coaching record to the Super Bowl championships.
So when New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick appeared, waving the Bruins "fan banner" high above his head, TD Garden was positively thunderous.
Standing with Special Olympian James Coffey, Belichick uncharacteristically grinned as he waved the flag, part of a pregame tradition in Boston. While a giant Bruins banner is passed around the lower bowl of the arena by the fans, Boston luminaries wave a smaller flag, from local sports icons to Boston natives to inspirational figures such as survivors of the Boston Marathon bombing.
Among the Patriots who previously waved the fan banner were former tight end Rob Gronkowski, wide receiver Julian Edelman and center David Andrews.
Boston sports teams have traditionally shared support during playoff runs, from wearing each other's gear in interviews to public expressions of good luck. Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy reached out to his fellow coaches before the Stanley Cup Final for advice, including Belichick.
"Terrific, terrific guy. Very insightful. He was great," Cassidy told 98.5 The Sports Hub last week. "They've been very good to share whatever they can, very supportive. We practice different than football. There's the mental side of it that's important: how to keep players on their toes and don't let their mind drift and get their focus back. I think that was more the discussion than anything."
Watch: Woods nearly makes ace in front of Manning at Memorial
After going 20 years between his last two holes-in-one, Tiger Woods came within inches of adding a second one in the past six months.
During the Memorial pro-am on Wednesday, Woods nearly aced the par-3 fourth hole at Muirfield Village ... and in front of fellow sports icon Peyton Manning, no less.
In a video from GOLFTV, Woods hits a dart at the pin and nearly aces it. He calmly walks up and taps in for his birdie, while Manning, the two-time Super Bowl winning quaterback, watches from the greenside bunker, where his tee shot ended up.
Despite 15 major championships to his name, Woods surprisingly only has three holes-in-one in competition - at the 1996 Greater Milwaukee Open, 1997 Phoenix Open, and 1998 Sprint International.
Cauley returns to Memorial Tournament one year after car accident
DUBLIN, Ohio – Bud Cauley finished an extended practice session on Muirfield Village’s practice putting green Wednesday and made his way to the locker room. Just a normal week on the PGA Tour.
“It’s nice. What happened last year wasn’t very much fun. Leading up to [the Memorial] I was a little bit more anxious than I’ve been since I’ve gotten here,” Cauley said. “Just go out and play golf and a normal week.”
Last year was anything but normal for Cauley. Following a second-round 76 at the Memorial, he was one of four people involved in a car accident. He broke six ribs, fractured his left leg and suffered a collapsed lung.
“That was probably one of the hardest nights I've ever had in my life,” said Justin Thomas, a friend of Cauley’s. “We're all very happy to see him back. He's one of my boys. I'm excited for the time that he does win and just hope I'm there when he does.”
Cauley returned to the Tour in October and has been making steady progress with top-25 finishes in the Farmers Insurance Open, Honda Classic and Wells Fargo Championship. He’s playing this week’s Memorial on a sponsor exemption.
DeChambeau in midst of 'lowest of lows' after three straight MCs
DUBLIN, Ohio – Having gone nearly two months without making a cut, Bryson DeChambeau isn’t exactly feeling all the warm, fuzzy vibes that usually come with defending a title on the PGA Tour.
DeChambeau won a three-man playoff at last year’s Memorial Tournament, capturing the first of what would be four titles in a torrid 12-start span. But recently his world-class game has failed to produce results, as last week’s missed cut at the Charles Schwab Challenge was his third in a row. He also made early exits at the PGA Championship and RBC Heritage before that, and he hasn’t broken 70 since an opening-round 66 at the Masters.
It’s all led DeChambeau to make a frank assessment of where he stands heading into his title defense.
“Everybody is susceptible to lows. Mine hopefully aren’t as low as some others. And this, to me, is my lowest of lows,” DeChambeau said. “I really don’t feel like I can play much worse.”
DeChambeau hadn’t missed a cut prior to Harbour Town since last year’s PGA, a stretch of 16 starts that included four worldwide victories. He hadn’t missed more than two cuts in a row since the summer of 2017, when he missed seven in a row ending with the U.S. Open at Erin Hills.
DeChambeau earned his first PGA Tour victory a month later at the 2017 John Deere Classic, and back on a course where he has had prior success he’s again optimistic that a turnaround in results is closer than it might otherwise feel.
“Personally for me I feel like this is as low as it’s going to go. I just have to keep running, I have to keep just scratching at the door, keep going with trying to understand why does this dispersion happen? Why do I have this range of possibility of shots?” DeChambeau said. “You have to go back through your checklist, things that you do understand and kind of branch off of that. When you go down a rabbit hole and it doesn’t work, you pull yourself out and find ways that work better.”
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