Speedway is a tough sport, and the 3 times Speedway World Champion Tai Woofinden (Britain) didn’t take part, as he is recovering from a serious elbow injury. Ouch writes Maggie Heginbothom. British hopes now rested on the shoulders of young Dan Bewley and Robert Lambert, both outsiders in a top class field.
At the end of the 5th round of racing 4 riders were joint 5th with 9 points! It was an agonizing wait for the 2 British riders to hear if they had qualified for the semi-final. One unlucky rider would have to lose out. Unable to separate the riders on their position in the rounds, the referee had to take world championship standings into account. Dan and Robert survived the cut.
Semi Final 1 comprised 1. Mikelsen (Denmark) 2. Lindgren (Sweden) 3. Vaculik (Slovakia) 4. Lambert (Britain).
Semi Final 2: Kubera ( Poland) 2. Holder (Australia) 3. Lebedevs (Latvia) 4. Bewley (Britain).
Despite not having the best gate picks, to the utter joy of the British crowd, YES, not just one but two young British riders made it to the final. The two British riders would face the Swede Lindgren and the Pole, Kubera.
Dan Bewley made a blistering start, Robert Lambert tucked in behind him, the two Brits rode brilliantly and finished first and second. The crowd went wild!!
Congratulations Dan Bewley British Speedway Champion 2024! 🏆
The Solheim and Ryder Cups always look like a mismatch. The Americans overall have by far the higher ranked players. So it’s a triumph of the underdog when Europe win the Solheim Cup, as they had the last three times.(OK, the last one was a draw but Europe kept the Cup.)The 2024 version was played in Virginia in front of a crowd who might have been waiting for a Trump rally. Perhaps this raucous atmosphere was why the Americans finished the first day four points ahead. The Europeans had a better second day. Still the gap stayed at four points so Europe needed to win eight of the twelve singles. Surely impossible, but for a couple of nervous hours the leader board went blue and Europe were on the verge of a mighty comeback.
NO, it was not to be and NO, there was no European player undefeated over the three days. For Union Jack wavers, fearful of the EU flag, the two big stars of the fightback were English pair, Charley Hull and Georgia Hall.
Early August is now my favourite part of the cricket season, a competition featuring Test cricketers mixing with talented teenagers.100 overs in the day so plenty of time for plot twists. It kicks off with 18 professional sides taking on their amateur neighbours; David and Goliath. Just ask Notts, thrashed this year by Lincolnshire. For obscure reasons eight of the biggest cricket stadia are occupied with tomfoolery so the competition often visits beautiful outgrounds such as Sedbergh and Kidworth near Leicester. It’s called the Metro Bank Cup,
Surely you didn’t think I meant the Hundred, soon to become a branch office of the Indian Premier League; its main selling point is less cricket, more actual fireworks. Quiz HQ ignores this circus till the Women’s Final. Plainly the Hundred has brought benefit to the women’s game; more domestic professionals, starrier overseas stars than the men’s version.
London Spirit won the toss and asked Welsh Fire to bat first; both team were making their first appearance on Finals Day.(Yes, even the team names are a feeble parody.)Plainly the London captain thought quizzers who’d chosen SECOND would get the points.
London’s array of spinners kept the Welsh to a manageable 114 despite a fifty from Oz star, Johannsen. Harder chase than it seemed for London needed a six off the 98th ball to win. An Indian bat, a West Indian bowler, a South African fielder clutching vainly to prevent the six, galacticas all. Exciting certainly.
I made my excuses and left to listen to Somerset and Glamorgan reach the final of the Metro Bank in September. I’ll be there; can’t wait.
For many years the big boss at Quiz HQ and his chief cub reporter have arranged meet-ups at Edgbaston for the annual T20 Finals Day. We’ve seen a variety of counties win the trophy, always dreaming that one day we would be there to see our team GLOUCESTERSHIRE emerge victorious. We came close in 2007 when losing out to Kent in a dramatic and close final that left us both heartbroken. Since then their only Finals Day appearance was behind closed-doors in 2020.For many seasons, we have languished near the bottom of the South group and looked on enviously at all the counties tasting success in front of a packed house. 2024 was the year we finally got to turn those dreams into reality, writes Neil Southwood.
Gloucestershire’s triumph represented a huge turnaround in fortunes. Beset by financial difficulties, rock bottom of the second division last year in the longer form of the game and unable to reach the knockout stages in T20 since the Covid year, you would have got long odds on the side breaking their duck in 2024 last autumn; only a quixotic few quizzers had thought of Glos. A change in coach early this year saw the return of Mark Alleyne who had been captain during the glory years for the club between 1999 and 2004. Almost instantly the mood around the place changed. The squad already had a nice blend of youth and experience. Now it had a leader who knew exactly how to get the most out of them, taking on the more star-studded teams as a close-knit unit and seemingly thriving on being the unfancied outsiders.
The early stages of the T20 competition though did not bring instant success. Two consecutive defeats at ‘Fortress Cheltenham’ in the group stage left the side with a lot of work to do to qualify for the knockouts. Two wins over defending champions Somerset suddenly brought renewed belief.These were followed by thumping victories over Glamorgan and Middlesex to revive hopes of qualification. Essex then lost to Hampshire in their final group game which enabled Gloucestershire to sneak through to the knockouts in fourth place. They never looked back after this stroke of luck.
The quarter-finals were dominated by the southern teams, who all knocked out northern opponents for the second consecutive year. Surrey, Somerset and Sussex were all comfortable winners but Gloucestershire again took the difficult route and were well behind in their match away at Birmingham having only posted 138 all out. Against all the odds they defended this score brilliantly, evoking the spirit of the side around the turn of the millennium with a wonderful display in the field to ensure a return to Edgbaston a week later.
In the semi against Sussex, Glos were on top from ball one and never gave the south coast side a chance in coasting home by 8 wickets.
The final saw them meet their West Country rivals Somerset for the third time this year. Dubbed a ‘Cider Final’, Edgbaston’s alcohol supplies were tested to the limit! Somerset had earlier eliminated Surrey for the second year in succession and just 48 hours on from a titanic battle in the County Championship. It looked like the toss would prove crucial as setting a target had seemed a tricky task in both semis on a slightly slow pitch. Gloucestershire’s Jack Taylor called correctly and didn’t hesitate to put Somerset in to bat. Aside from a brief flurry from the Somerset openers in the first three overs, Gloucestershire soon settled back into their stride. Their pair of left-arm quicks David Payne and Matt Taylor continued their impressive performances throughout the tournament, sharing six wickets between them as Somerset folded to 124 all out.
Any thoughts that Gloucestershire would nervously chase this target were soon eliminated by a century opening partnership between openers Miles Hammond and Cameron Bancroft that took the pressure off completely. The ease of both 8 wicket victories on the day had us rubbing our eyes in disbelief. Gloucestershire had saved their best performances of the season for when it really mattered and the travelling supporters partied long into the night to mark such an unexpected triumph.
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