BACK-TO-BACK BOTSWANA!
Those Motswana are sure catching on quickly in the good ol' hockey game! Beating hometown Calvinia 5-1 in today's final, they are now back-to-back Challenge Cup of Africa champions, and hockey pundits are getting excited as to how they will do in Division XII next month! Sethunya Tshireletso had two goals and an assist in the winning cause.
"We're ready to go outside of Africa," says captain Nkosilathi Kgasa. "We look forward to the challenge of playing in the main ladder, and we are keeping our eyes on our five rivals-to-be."
The rivals he refers to are Argentina, Asturias, Chukotka, Crimea, and the Inca Republic, the latter of whom are hosting the division and are favoured to win, albeit marginally over Chukotka. But the Ice-Miners are confident that they can give all five of their opponents trouble, and the pundits tend to agree.
Yesterday, Fangland made up for missing the final with a masterclass of a game against the Egyptians, winning 4-1, with Marcel Tayot finishing the tournament third in overall scoring and second in assists.
MVP: Sethunya Tshireletso (BOT)
Scoring leader: Tshireletso (23 points)
Goalscoring leader: Tshireletso (15 goals)
Best Defenceman: Jakob Molefi (BOT)
Best Goalie: Jakob Kakanyo Machemko (BOT)
All-Star Team:
GK Machemko
DF Molefi
DF Nkosilathi Kgasa (BOT)
LW Koffi Adebayor (CVN)
RW Tshireletso
C Marcel Tayot (FNG)
UPSETS-A-PLENTY IN BIZARRE CHALLENGE CUP QUARTERFINAL DAY
While Africa was wrapping up its Challenge Cup tournament, the other three zones were only just starting their playoffs. But today was, for lack of a better word, weird.
Starting in Asia-Pacific, where two of the four games ended in upsets.
Chukotka had no problem with Qatar, handing them a 10-0 humiliation. The ease with which they won this game is merely indicative of just how dominant they've been this year. Sergey Kosygin led the way with four goals and two assists.
The first upset was a small one, but it was a kick in the pants for Tyva nonetheless, as they lost 4-3 in overtime to Libnan. Mohammed al-Kadin scored just sixteen seconds into the extra frame to give the Cedarmen the victory. Tyvin head coach Martyn Rebrov simply said, "We didn't make that many mistakes. They were just the better team. They've come a long way in the last couple of years with their management and staff having done so much work. We can't hate them for it."
Punjab had trouble with Nepal but ended up winning 5-3, but Punjabi head coach Robin Bawa was quite critical of his team afterwards, saying that they underestimated their opponent and could well have lost because of it. "We can't be going easy like that. Ever."
The biggest upset saw hosts Persia crash out rather unceremoniously at the hands of Jordan by a scoreline of 3-0. The star of this game was 19-year-old goalie Muqtada Muhammad al-Qadir, who made several brilliant saves to keep the home team off the scoreboard, as Persia had a 31-24 advantage in shots on goal. Left-winger Daniel Garoussi expressed frustration at not being able to beat the teenager, while at the same time praising the same for just how hard he worked. "There were a lot of sticks broken in frustration. We could not beat him. He played what was easily the best game of his career, international or otherwise. I mean, I've played against him before in the Canadian university system, and he was good, but he wasn't quite this good. He's put in a lot of work to get to where he is now."
As such, the semifinals are:
Chukotka vs. Jordan
Punjab vs. Libnan
And the repechage round:
Persia vs. Qatar
Tyva vs. Nepal
To the Americas now where neither second-place team made it past the quarterfinals, losing in heartbreaking overtime losses. And let me ask you something. What is it with Brazil and not being able to beat Trinidad and Tobago? They lost to them last year in the round robin in overtime, and they lost again this year! Kenndal McArdle was back up to his old tricks again - although getting on in the years, his superior hockey experience has had him amongst the top players in this tournament two years running. The final score was 3-2 for the Black-Belters.
If there's any solace for them, it's that their archrivals Argentina - whom they will now play for 5th place - lost as well. Even without starting goalie Roberto Pujols, who has been injured since January, they have managed to develop enough to be able to scrape out a 5-4 overtime win after being down 4-2. But their manager had a few choice words for his defence... ones we dare not repeat!
Even with these surprise results, the Jamaicans and the Incans are waiting in the wings...
Jamaica vs. Puerto Rico
Inca Republic vs. Trinidad and Tobago
The relegated teams played for seventh place as well, with Colombia beating the Antillean Union 4-3 in a shootout for a final score of 3-2.
Finally, we have Europe.
Although Portugal had no problem running riot on Galicia, winning 8-1, Armenia showed the world yet again that you NEVER underestimate the Asturians, as too many teams have done at this level. The Iberian side brought their trademark grit and determination to the ice today, forced a few dumb penalties from the Armenians, and ended up winning 4-2, in a payback win from last year's bronze-medal game, which the Armenians won in overtime. Still, the Armenians are expected to beat Galicia for fifth.
Alania beat the Faeroe Islands for the second year in a row in the 7th-place match, winning 3-2... in regulation this time!
Semis:
Crimea vs. Portugal
Nokhchynya vs. Asturias
Those Motswana are sure catching on quickly in the good ol' hockey game! Beating hometown Calvinia 5-1 in today's final, they are now back-to-back Challenge Cup of Africa champions, and hockey pundits are getting excited as to how they will do in Division XII next month! Sethunya Tshireletso had two goals and an assist in the winning cause.
"We're ready to go outside of Africa," says captain Nkosilathi Kgasa. "We look forward to the challenge of playing in the main ladder, and we are keeping our eyes on our five rivals-to-be."
The rivals he refers to are Argentina, Asturias, Chukotka, Crimea, and the Inca Republic, the latter of whom are hosting the division and are favoured to win, albeit marginally over Chukotka. But the Ice-Miners are confident that they can give all five of their opponents trouble, and the pundits tend to agree.
Yesterday, Fangland made up for missing the final with a masterclass of a game against the Egyptians, winning 4-1, with Marcel Tayot finishing the tournament third in overall scoring and second in assists.
MVP: Sethunya Tshireletso (BOT)
Scoring leader: Tshireletso (23 points)
Goalscoring leader: Tshireletso (15 goals)
Best Defenceman: Jakob Molefi (BOT)
Best Goalie: Jakob Kakanyo Machemko (BOT)
All-Star Team:
GK Machemko
DF Molefi
DF Nkosilathi Kgasa (BOT)
LW Koffi Adebayor (CVN)
RW Tshireletso
C Marcel Tayot (FNG)
UPSETS-A-PLENTY IN BIZARRE CHALLENGE CUP QUARTERFINAL DAY
While Africa was wrapping up its Challenge Cup tournament, the other three zones were only just starting their playoffs. But today was, for lack of a better word, weird.
Starting in Asia-Pacific, where two of the four games ended in upsets.
Chukotka had no problem with Qatar, handing them a 10-0 humiliation. The ease with which they won this game is merely indicative of just how dominant they've been this year. Sergey Kosygin led the way with four goals and two assists.
The first upset was a small one, but it was a kick in the pants for Tyva nonetheless, as they lost 4-3 in overtime to Libnan. Mohammed al-Kadin scored just sixteen seconds into the extra frame to give the Cedarmen the victory. Tyvin head coach Martyn Rebrov simply said, "We didn't make that many mistakes. They were just the better team. They've come a long way in the last couple of years with their management and staff having done so much work. We can't hate them for it."
Punjab had trouble with Nepal but ended up winning 5-3, but Punjabi head coach Robin Bawa was quite critical of his team afterwards, saying that they underestimated their opponent and could well have lost because of it. "We can't be going easy like that. Ever."
The biggest upset saw hosts Persia crash out rather unceremoniously at the hands of Jordan by a scoreline of 3-0. The star of this game was 19-year-old goalie Muqtada Muhammad al-Qadir, who made several brilliant saves to keep the home team off the scoreboard, as Persia had a 31-24 advantage in shots on goal. Left-winger Daniel Garoussi expressed frustration at not being able to beat the teenager, while at the same time praising the same for just how hard he worked. "There were a lot of sticks broken in frustration. We could not beat him. He played what was easily the best game of his career, international or otherwise. I mean, I've played against him before in the Canadian university system, and he was good, but he wasn't quite this good. He's put in a lot of work to get to where he is now."
As such, the semifinals are:
Chukotka vs. Jordan
Punjab vs. Libnan
And the repechage round:
Persia vs. Qatar
Tyva vs. Nepal
To the Americas now where neither second-place team made it past the quarterfinals, losing in heartbreaking overtime losses. And let me ask you something. What is it with Brazil and not being able to beat Trinidad and Tobago? They lost to them last year in the round robin in overtime, and they lost again this year! Kenndal McArdle was back up to his old tricks again - although getting on in the years, his superior hockey experience has had him amongst the top players in this tournament two years running. The final score was 3-2 for the Black-Belters.
If there's any solace for them, it's that their archrivals Argentina - whom they will now play for 5th place - lost as well. Even without starting goalie Roberto Pujols, who has been injured since January, they have managed to develop enough to be able to scrape out a 5-4 overtime win after being down 4-2. But their manager had a few choice words for his defence... ones we dare not repeat!
Even with these surprise results, the Jamaicans and the Incans are waiting in the wings...
Jamaica vs. Puerto Rico
Inca Republic vs. Trinidad and Tobago
The relegated teams played for seventh place as well, with Colombia beating the Antillean Union 4-3 in a shootout for a final score of 3-2.
Finally, we have Europe.
Although Portugal had no problem running riot on Galicia, winning 8-1, Armenia showed the world yet again that you NEVER underestimate the Asturians, as too many teams have done at this level. The Iberian side brought their trademark grit and determination to the ice today, forced a few dumb penalties from the Armenians, and ended up winning 4-2, in a payback win from last year's bronze-medal game, which the Armenians won in overtime. Still, the Armenians are expected to beat Galicia for fifth.
Alania beat the Faeroe Islands for the second year in a row in the 7th-place match, winning 3-2... in regulation this time!
Semis:
Crimea vs. Portugal
Nokhchynya vs. Asturias
Spammers Beware! I will destroy you by the POWAH of the JARK SIDE! ALL SPAMMERS WILL BE EXTERMINATED ON SIGHT.
Spammers EXTERMINATED: 120
(06-11-2022, 10:13 PM)Kyng Wrote: I love how [Abacab] has a track with a section named "Lurker", when the album title itself looks like Lurker's attempt to spell "Abacus" or something .
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