[theo_luddite]

More points this weekend. After themaclad picked up a point for predicting Florida would win the Stanley Cup, Oklahoma thumped Indiana in the NBA final play-off match last night, adding a point to my total.





That tightened things up a little in our own points race, with jjamez still out in front.







The shale shifters were in Poland over the weekend for Round 6. Brady Kurtz won the main event with Dan Beweley winning the Sprint race. Zmarzlik stays on top of the pile with a 3rd in the Sprint and 2nd place behind Kurtz on Saturday night to remain 11 points clear of Kurtz. We had a family get together so I've not seen any of this meeting yet. The highlights will pop up somewhere.





England and India got underway at Headingley. After an innings-a-piece there was only 6 runs in it. By the end of the 3rd day India are 90-2 in conditions that are now much more Yorkshire like than India like.

The Lions lost their warm-up match against Argentina 24-28 in Dublin on Friday and are now Darn Unda preparing for next weekend's first match v Western Force. This will be played at the impressive Optus Stadium in Perth, where they not only have a rooftop tour but you can actually watch some of the game from up there too. https://theozone.com.au/experiences/west...xperience/

In the competitions we're not predicting, Alcaraz beat Lehecka at Queens. The latter had beaten Brit Jack Draper on Saturday. Draper took out his frustration on one of the electronic advertising panels. Will he get the bill or a fine for the repair? Nothing announced yet.
McCartney Kessler claimed a 6-4 7-5 win over Dayana Yastremska in a rain-affected Nottingham Open final.

[theo_luddite]

Well England really paid the price for putting India into bat on Friday I must say.

Don't do it again Stokesey, it upsets the native keyboard warriors on Faceache who know exactly how to pick a team, choose the tactics, which bowlers to bowl when, what to have for lunch and tea ....... need I go on?

Otley Run tonight then chaps?

[theo_luddite]

So waazzzuuuup ths weekend?

The Lions get a claw out but it's not a test so, erm, yeah, get up at silly o'clock (11:00am, on Sky, I mean, who's up at that time on Saturday in Summer?) if you wish to watch it live. The F1 boys will "Be Coming Round The Mountain When They Come" in Austria on Sunday, Moto GP which I completely ignored, is in the Netherlands, (sorry bike fans). I should probably do a RL update on Monday morning just before a bunch of folk start hitting little green fuzzy balls all over the place and annoy those adorable recycling Wombles of Wimbledon.

Glasto's on the tellybox so who needs sport this weekend?

[theo_luddite]

The Lions ran in 8 tries to make it look like they battered the Westies, but most of them were in the last 20 minutes. Norris and his Aussie mate Piastri dominated the F1 from pretty much start to finish though Piastri nearly did what Norris did last time out in Montreal. A skid mark or two from taking himself and possiblty his team mate out of the race. Crash found out what it's like when someone behind you forgets where the brake pedal is, getting taken out only a few corners into lap 1.

In the RL, about 3/4 of the way through, give or take, Hull KR are still out front with Wigan just about having a realistic chance of catching them (maybe) and Leeds (hmm) third place maybe have a chance of catching Wigan. Darn t'other end, Huddersfield and an apparently skint Salford are battling for the wooden spoon.



No points week on offer this weekend but two weeks of whack, grunt, whack, scream starts at 1pm today. Pass the strawberries please.

Glasto? Well, Rod the Mod went all Benny Hill (as usual) on the old fart's Sunday slot and the only songs I recognised from Olivia Rodrigo's closing set, try as I might, were when Robert Smith of The Cure came on to sing Friday I’m In Love and Just Like Heaven. I must be listening to the wrong radio stations these days and yes, I'm an old fart too.

[theo_luddite]

Zverev's early exit ends SHEP and my involvement in the Mens Wombledons.

[theo_luddite]

As England v India at Edgbaston goes into Day 2, good luck finding a hotel room anywhere near Brum if you're planning a weekend visit. In addition to the cricket, Black Sabbath play their final gig and ELO start their final tour, both in Brum this weekend. Of course, it might only be final until someone makes them an offer they can't refuse. I've seen Quo and The Stones more than a slack handful of times since they announced their first final tours.

AmChaff finds herself out of The Women's at Wombledon. 4th seed Paolini lost in R2 to Rakhimova as the seeds continue to wither on the Wombledon vines ivy. The Lions had a short 6 hour flight across Aus from Perth to Brisbane to run in another 50+points in their warm up games. I think the longest individual treks they have now are between Adelaide and Brisbane and back to Melbourne (both around 2 hrs 30 mins). Next up NSW in Sydney on Saturday.

The F1 boys (and girls) come home to Silverstone this weekend with points up for grabs by naming the winning driver. Not too late to change your mind for this race if you want to.

The Ladies Euro's has kicked off in Switzerland, with the homies losing 1-2 to Norway last night and Le Tour (Hommes) has it's Grand Depart this weekend. Both finish on the 27th July.

The shale shifters are in Sweden for the "Thrilla in Målilla" (as locally advertised) on Saturday evening. Tapes up at 7pm. Qualifying takes place earlier in the day but there's no Sprint Race this weekend. To say this place is "out in the sticks" is an undertatement.
Map

[theo_luddite]

themaclad does a far better round up of Le Tour than I ever will, so expect links to his threads rather that bog standard updates from me. https://www.sportsbabble.co.uk/showthread.php?tid=13370

[theo_luddite]

India comprehensively thrashed England to level up the Tests.
Rybakina and ritchie didn't make the Ladies 4th Round, Taylor Fritz only needed 3 games of the 2nd set before his opponent Jordan Thomson hobbled off with a pulled hammy.
Group 1 of Euro 2025 after two games has Norway already through and Iceland already out. Finland and Switzerland play each other for the other qualifying place on Thursday.
The Lions had a bit more of a challenge against NSW but still had a comfortable 21-10 win. Two more games in Canberra and Adelaide this week.
Le Tour riders got on their bikes this weekend.

Jasper Phillipson wins first stage in a frenetic sprint

https://www.sportsbabble.co.uk/showthrea...#pid284706
Mathieu van der Poel won stage two.

The F1 at Silverstone was a bit wet and dry to say the least. A very disconchantled Piastri got a 10 second time penalty for slamming on his breaks when behind the safety car, Crash spun his in the wet, though he caught it and continued to finish 5th. That penalty also allowed his team mate Norris to take the lead and the win. Points for AmChaff, SCO and SHEP.



Well done Nico Hulkenberg for finally getting a podium finish at his 259th attempt and after starting 19th on the grid.

The shale shifters were, literally in the woods, in Sweden, with the top 3 this week being the same 3 as last time out in Poland. That brings Kurtz a little closer to Zmarzlik. The next round is in Riga, 2nd August.




Elsewhere, big shout out to Scott Dixon who won (again) in the Mid-Ohio Indycar race on a proper race track. Not the ovals or street tracks that are frequently used in this series. He was helped by his team mate doing a bit of rally cross a few laps from the end, which is never a good idea when you've got slick boots on your car. He has won at least one INDYCAR Series race in 21 consecutive seasons and 23 seasons overall, both Series records.








SHEP is now level with jjamez at the top of the pile with plenty of points still up for grabs.

[theo_luddite]

England v India has started again at Lords, with England managing to bat a whole day to grind out 251-4. √66 was 99 not out at close of play.
We now know The Ladies Finalists at Wombledon after Anisimova beat Sabalenka (1st seed) and Swiatec (8th seed) beat Bencic in the semi's. That leaves just me and Snoots in with a shout there as Sabalenka's defeat took out themaclad, SCO, jjamez & SHEP.
Collectively 3 of the 4 Mens semi-finalists have been predicted with Fritz (AmChaff) v Alcaraz (SCO, jjamez, ritchie) and Sinner (Snoots, themaclad) v Djokovic (nobody) looking to grab a place in Sunday's final today.
Group 1 of The Euro's has now completed with Finland just 4 or 5 minutes from tipping Switzerland out, only to concede 3 minutes into added time and it all ending in a tearful trip home. Norway won the group at a canter, collecting a full house.
Group B concludes tonight with Italy v Spain for top place in that Group. A draw would put both through. Portugal (GD -5) need to batter Belgium and hope Italy (GD +1) lose by enough goals to turn a 6 goal deficite around.
Group C play Saturday with Sweden and German already through. They play each other for top spot.
Group D on Sunday has the home interest. France have 6 points and you'd expect them to beat Netherlands on 3 points. England are also on 3 points and you'd expect them to beat Wales. However, all the teams can still qualify from this Group in theory, but Wales (GD -6) need to batter England (GD +3) and hope France also put a few passed Netherlands (GD -1) for their particular little micracle to work.
Le Tour is well underway with Stage 7 coming up today. Le Maillot Jaune has passed (mostly) between Pogaçar and Van der Poel this week with the Dutchman currently 1 second in front of his rival after taking amost 90 seconds out of his rival's lead yesterday. themaclads thread - https://www.sportsbabble.co.uk/showthrea...#pid284891

The F1 boys hop over The Channel to Belgium in a couple of weeks time but ....
Christian Horner's been sat in a corner,
They've taken his job away.
Handed his P45,
Hoping Red Bull with thrive,
and also that Crash will now stay.

(I already gave up my day job)

The Lions continue to be unbeaten, but were given their stiffest test to date when The Brumbies pushed them to 24-36 in Canberra in midweek. The final warm up game is against an Aussie/New Zealand Invitational side tomorrow in Melbourne before they head back up to Brisbane for the 1st Test next weekend.