I Dig Sports
Exciting times on the horizon for Mauritius and Egypt
From 20th to 24th June, Mauritius welcomed French Expert Julien Girard who, on his very first mission as an ITTF expert, conducted an ITTF-PTT Level 1 coaching course with 15 participants. These aspiring coaches were mostly based in schools and governmental colleges around the island, with two of them based at institutions for people with reduced mobility, working on a Para Table Tennis project.
The coaching course was followed by a training camp for the national team of Mauritius in preparation of the Indian Ocean Island Games to be held on home soil from 19th to 28th July. Mauritius has been working towards raising the standard of their top players by hosting major events, such as the 2018 Continental Hopes Week and Challenge and the 2018 African Championships.
Their determination to raise the level of the sport within their country is also evident in the appointment of a new National Technical Director. With these high-profile events and more development activities such as last month’s coaching course, Mauritius is aiming to raise the profile to aid the development of table tennis at the grassroots level by empowering schools and community leaders further afield than the current hub of Beau Bassin.
These efforts are underlined with the opening of a new sports complex, the “Cote de Or”. Supported by the Ministry of Youth and Sports, this high profile complex comprises a medical center, a meeting room and the offices of the Mauritius Table Tennis Federation. As such, Mauritius is opening its doors to international competitions and training camps in excellent conditions. The first test of the new complex will be the 10th edition of the Indian Ocean Island Games, kicking off on 19th July with Madagascar, Mayotte, Reunion Island, Maldives, Comoros and Seychelles in attendance, competing against each other in seven table tennis events.
Towards the north of the continent, Egypt focused on bringing the number of Para Table Tennis classifiers up. As the African country with the largest Para table Tennis community, Egypt is eager to bring more classifiers to the table. The national Para Table Tennis Championships features around 200 players, many of whom are not classified internationally or under an outdated classification.
Fortunately, enthusiasm for proper training of classifiers in order to help the national development is high. Therefore, from 23rd to 27th June, the city of Alexandria welcomed nine participants from Egypt, Jordan, Germany and Slovenia. Under the guidance of Dr. Juraj Stefak and Lisa Lundell the participants worked through five intense days of theoretical presentations, classification and observation. In addition to the on-site training, participants worked through online learning material complementing the topics presented by their course conductors.
Participants came from a variety of backgrounds: coaches, physiotherapists, administrators, players and physical educators joined in their effort to learn the skills of a classifier. During the African Para Championships that followed the seminar, the need for trained classifiers was evident. Besides their regular duties of international classification, they classified 20 more players who were unable to participate in the Championships, bringing the total number of classified players to an incredible 58!
“It is always a pleasure to train young and enthusiastic classifiers. Classification is constantly becoming a more important part of Para sport and we must reinforce our training procedures so the standards keep rising”. Juraj Stefak, Senior Classifier
“I am very happy that we got to attract participants from Egypt so we can count on classifiers in the African region, but that is not enough. We must keep spreading the classification education across the rest of the continent.” Pablo Perez, Head of Para Table Tennis
Sam Todd will be leading the England boys
Todd and Lazarus spearhead England challenge in KL
By DONNA HELMER – Squash Mad Correspondent
National Coach David Campion has named the England squad which will head to the 2019 WSF Men’s and Women’s World Junior Squash Championships in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, from July 30 to August 9.
Among the nine selected, four represented England at last year’s World Championships which saw Team England’s men capture silver and Lucy Turmel claim individual bronze.
Two-time British Junior Open champion Sam Todd, who goes into the event as 5/8 seed, headlines the boys’ challenge and he will be joined by Max Forster, Jared Carter, Lewis Anderson and Ben Smith.
Meanwhile, Elise Lazarus, seeded 5/8, spearheads the girls’ individual and team challenge alongside Alice Green, Evie Coxon and Katie Wells.
Elise Lazarus leads England in the individual and team competitions
David Campion said: “The World Junior Championships are steeped in history and our players are all incredibly excited to be representing England at this event. The girls’ team will be without European finalist Katie Malliff which is a shame, but she has a bright future and her time will come. Led by Elise Lazarus, who is seeded to reach the last eight of the individual event, we have enough strength to fight for medals.
“We are well represented throughout the squad of boys who will compete in the individual event. It’s a young group where the top three are all eligible for the boys’ team event in Brisbane next year, and these championships will provide valuable experience for them.”
The individual championships take place at the National Squash Centre from July 30 to August 4, followed by the biennial WSF Women’s World Junior Team Championships from August 5-9.
England’s Men (Individuals):
Sam Todd
Max Forster
Jared Carter
Lewis Anderson
Ben Smith
England’s Women (Individuals and Team):
Elise Lazarus
Alice Green
Evie Coxon
Katie Wells
Article by DONNA HELMER (England Squash). Edited by ALAN THATCHER.
Pictures courtesy of England Squash
Courtesy of our friends at Legends Nation, in February, every NASCAR fan came to know Corey LaJoie as the giant face on the Go Fas Racing No. 32 in the Daytona 500. This weekend, he returns to his roots at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, running a U.S. Legend Cars International and INEX machine on the new Flat Track at NHMS.
FOOTHILL RANCH, Calif. – Following a successful FIM Superbike World Championship weekend for the Kawasaki Racing Team at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, the team took an extra day to have a little fun.
On Monday seven-time Monster Energy AMA Supercross champion and Kawasaki brand ambassador Jeremy McGrath arrived to test his road racing skills aboard Jonathan Rea’s WorldSBK Ninja ZX-10RR.
“Riding this bike is like a dream for me. I am such a big fan of all of these guys and Jonathan and I have been friends for a while,” said McGrath. “We’ve been thinking of doing a bike swap for a couple of years now, as he rode motocross with me a couple of years ago. Trying to learn the track and the bike was a steep learning curve, and I wish I could’ve stayed out all day. This track is another one I can check off the bucket list. After riding the Corkscrew, it was like a motocross berm, so it was really fun. I wanted to stay out and go faster but I’ve had a great day, I played it smart and I loved it.”
McGrath first hit the famous U.S. circuit aboard a production Ninja ZX-10R to acclimate himself to the track layout and conditions before hopping onto Rea’s winning race machine. McGrath made the most of this bucket list opportunity, utilizing each session on the track to get tips from the four-time champion and current WorldSBK points leader Rea.
“It’s always great to see Jeremy, especially letting loose on our Ninja ZX-10RR,” said Rea. “I was impressed at how fast he was able to get the hang of things. The “King” is even fast on the tarmac. It just goes to show the natural talent he has on anything with two wheels. It was such a special day and fun to be the one watching from the sidelines instead of riding this time. It was fun to coach him along on an unfamiliar track and show him the differences between the dirt and tarmac.”
Rea and the Kawasaki Racing Team are now on their summer break and will return to action on Sept. 6 in Portugal.
MORRISON, Colo. – Matt Hagan’s 11,000-horsepower NHRA Funny Car will get a makeover just in time for the Dodge Mile-High NHRA Nationals Presented by Pennzoil.
Hagan will debut a new 2020 Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Widebody graphics package with a flared-out feel at the Denver-area event, scheduled to take place July 19-21.
Dodge//SRT and Mopar took the wraps off Hagan’s new Mopar-powered 2020 Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Widebody NHRA Funny Car today during a pre-race press conference at iconic Bandimere Speedway in Morrison, Colorado. His special Funny Car graphics uniquely recreate the look of the production Charger SRT Hellcat Widebody vehicle’s new, wider integrated fender flares, which add 3.5 inches of body width to the production vehicle, creating an even more aggressive, planted stance. Hagan will carry the Widebody Package “flare” graphics on his Funny Car for the remainder of the 2019 season.
The Widebody Package, first announced by Dodge//SRT in late June, is standard on the Charger SRT Hellcat and also available on the Dodge Charger Scat Pack. Powered by the 6.2-liter HEMI® Hellcat V-8 engine, the production version of the 2020 Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Widebody boasts a best-in-class 707 horsepower and 650 lb.-ft. of torque and delivers a top speed of 196 miles per hour (mph), maintaining its reign as the most powerful and fastest mass-produced sedan in the world.
Dealers will be able to order 2020 Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Widebody and Scat Pack Widebody models this fall, and new Charger Widebody models will start arriving in Dodge//SRT dealerships in early 2020.
“NHRA fans are passionate about power and performance, so we decided to transform Matt Hagan’s Funny Car into a HEMI-powered showcase for our new Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Widebody,” said Tim Kuniskis, Global Head of Alfa Romeo and Head of Passenger Cars – Dodge, SRT, Chrysler and FIAT, FCA – North America. “At Dodge, we push the envelope, but even we couldn’t get this one approved, so, for now Matt Hagan has the only Charger SRT Hellcat Widebody that has more than 707 horsepower.”
“Last year, I had the honor of debuting the Mopar Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Funny Car body at Denver, and it’s cool to be able to follow that up this year by revealing new Charger SRT Hellcat Widebody graphics,” said Hagan, a two-time NHRA Funny Car champion, who has raced in a Dodge Funny Car for his entire 10-year-plus career. “The graphics really mimic the flared appearance of the Charger Widebody, and I think fans are going to dig the look. It’s great having a sponsor like Dodge//SRT, a brand that is really committed to using NHRA to outreach to the performance enthusiasts who fuel our sport.”
ST. AUGUSTA, Minn. – WISSOTA Auto Racing has confirmed that WISSOTA Pure Stock and WISSOTA Hornet drivers will be racing during the Speedway Motors WISSOTA 100 on Sept. 10.
The Speedway Motors WISSOTA 100 is gearing up for the second event at the famed I-94 Speedway in Fergus Falls, Minn. The four-day event has grown to five days with the addition of a complete race program for the WISSOTA Pure Stocks and WISSOTA Hornets on Tuesday, Sept. 10 on a trial basis. Tuesday is normally reserved for practice starting at 7 p.m., and this will continue with the only change being the start time for practice will tentatively be 6 p.m.
“We are excited to give these two divisions and the drivers a chance to be crowned Speedway Motors WISSOTA 100 champion,” stated Carson Gramm, WISSOTA executive director. “The growth that these two divisions have seen over the past two seasons has been fantastic and we want to reward the drivers for their commitment to WISSOTA.”
Each division will receive draw for starting position in the heat race. The features will be lined up using passing points from the heat race. WISSOTA officials will then ask the top eight drivers in passing points to redraw to determine their starting spot in the top eight for the feature. Other race format and daily pass information will become available in the next couple weeks.
WASHINGTON -- Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin will go to China as part of the NHL's continued outreach in that country.
Ovechkin will visit Beijing in early August as a league ambassador. He's expected to take part in youth hockey clinics, interviews and business development meetings.
The Russian star said it's "very important to spend time to help make people all over the world see how great a game hockey is."
Ovechkin was outspoken before the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, at one point saying he'd like to go even if the NHL doesn't because of how much he values representing his country. The NHL decided not to send players, but Ovechkin did not leave the Capitals to participate.
The NHL has not committed to the Beijing Games in 2022. The league staged exhibition games in China each of the past two seasons, and the Boston Bruins are making their fifth trip this summer.
EDMONTON, Alberta -- A man has been charged with forging the signature of Edmonton Oilers star Connor McDavid on team jerseys and then selling them for big profits.
Edmonton police say the 23-year-old man in April 2018 contacted several people on Facebook, claiming he was employed by either the Edmonton Oilers Entertainment Group or Pro Am Sports and was selling autographed McDavid jerseys.
Chandra Vinesh Singh has been charged with fraud, forging documents and false pretense.
Investigators believe he sold two items bearing bogus signatures to someone for $1,400, then defrauded another person of $23,000.
Oilers Entertainment Group executive Tim Shipton thanked fans for their support but stressed that this case is a "good reminder for our fans to always go to trusted sources."
PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland – David Duval had relatively high expectations for this week’s Open Championship, at least for a TV-analyst-turned-part-time-professional, and through four holes those expectations were well founded.
The 2001 Open champion birdied his first two holes at Royal Portrush and was 2 under through four when disaster struck with a quadruple-bogey 8 at the fifth.
Things got much worse two holes later.
Duval lost his first two shots off the tee at the seventh. When he found, or at least thought he found, his third attempt in the deep rough he played it just short of the green. That's when a caddie in the group noticed that Duval was playing the wrong golf ball. Duval was instructed to go back to where the wrong ball was played, but he could not find the correct one.
“A couple of bad tee shots and then we thought the marshal had my ball, asked if it was a Titleist 2. I glanced and saw a 2 and went and played almost the entirety of the hole – and turns out – with the wrong ball,” Duval said.
Duval had to go back to the tee at the par-5 seventh lying eight strokes (first tee shot lost; penalty; second tee shot lost; penalty; third tee shot lost; penalty; two-stroke penalty for playing wrong ball). He teed off again – for a fourth time – and took six strokes to finish the hole from there, adding up to a nonuple-bogey 14.
Duval called the episode a “god-awful nightmare” and things didn’t get any better with five more bogeys and a triple-bogey 7 at the last that added up to a 20-over 91.
“I have an obligation, and I don’t know if it’s more or less here. Maybe it is more because I have won. But you have an obligation that if you play, you post your score,” he said. “Am I happy about that? Is there some hint of embarrassment to it? I don’t know. I teed off in The Open and shot [91] so put it on the board.”
Duval said he’s been slowed this week by tendinitis in his left arm but plans to play the second round regardless of his score on Thursday or his injury.
“Obviously I'll be in last place,” he said, “but maybe if I am feeling good I can try not to be in last place after the end of the week.”
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