In the US andCanada: NBA playoffs: 16 Basketball teams enter this season's NBAplayoffs this weekend with the return of some clear favorites. The TorontoRaptors look to have great hopes of making this year's finals with the GoldenState Warriors also favorites. Each of the playoffs is a best of sevenseries. The first game of this season's seriespits Indiana against. The ClevelandCavaliers are also favourites this year, but have been lackluster in recentgames. Ready to pounce are the typicallystrong San Antonio Spurs and a pair of point guards in James Harden and RussellWestbrook who have torn up the record books all year. A Cavs-Warriors Finals isindeed the most expected ending, but paths are open to all the teams whichstart the playoff journey today.
In England: In Soccer: Tottenham have closed the gap tofive points in the overall standings as Manchester United host Chelsea thisweekend. As the Premier League season enters its final few weeks, there is stillplenty to play for. The question remains whether Tottenham Hotspur can closethe gap on leaders Chelsea. They playBournemouth this weekend and are in superb form right now, with a six win streakas they continue to keep the pressure on leaders Chelsea. Harry Kane returnedfrom injury as a substitute in the 4-0 thrashing of Watford last Saturday, andconsidering the Spurs have won every league game at White Hart Lane sinceOctober 29, all indications are for an advance in the standings. The contest between Southamptonand Manchester City should be close, as Man City continues as anattacking force, with Sergio Aguero on a run of five goals in his past sixgames. In the back, though, they areweak. Southampton can exploit that, withNathan Redmond continuing to impress in the forward line. The contest between Manchester United and Chelsea should be close. Man U have lost twice to Chelsea this season,despite their other successes. JoseMourinho has struggled to make United into the attacking force of the sidesaround them, but they excel more in defense. In fact, United’s last league defeat was at Stamford Bridge in October,21 games ago. Chelsea, with a seven-point lead at the top of the standings, donot really have to win here so may be happy with a win or a draw. Longsuffering Arsenal fans hope for, and haveevery expectation for, a win over Middlesbrough. Gunners fans are hoping for finish in the topfour, but they have disappointed this season. They lost to Crystal Palace last Monday but have reason to hope: 19th placed Middlesbrough have not won since December 17. In Italian Soccer, Saturday sees a historiccity derby, with AC Milan contesting a match with Inter Milan. They are sixth and seventh in the Serie A standingsand Saturday's contest may determine which of them will take the last remainingEuropa League place for the Italian league for next season. JesúsJoaquín Fernández Sáenz de la Torre, a Spaniard known professionally as Suso,plays as an attacking midfielder for Milan, and they rest great hope upon himfor Saturday's game. InSpain, La Liga has heated up in the last week, with Real Madrid taking theadvantage in the standings. Perennialpowerhouse Barcelona lost last week to Malaga, 2-0. This startling loss has revealed a crack inBarcelona's normally polished front, with an open feud being revealed betweentop players Lionel Messi and Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior, commonly known asNeymar. Neymar was penalized with a redcard in last week's game, which also put Barcelona's title hopes injeopardy. In addition to penalties fortreating the officials with disrespect, Neymar has also been penalized forconstantly fiddling with his soccer cleats during games, including ploppinghimself down on the sidelines during the action, leaving his side with only 10men on the field, while he changes colors of boots. Next Sunday's Barcelona-Real Madrid contestshould solidify the lead in the standings for the regals. Neymar will be absent from the game, in thelast few hours it has been rumored that he will leave Barca for Man U thisSummer. He is serving an extended ban,perhaps he will finally get those boots fixed before setting sail forEngland. In Hong Kong: The World Track Cycling Championships continueat the Hong Kong Velodrome. TrackCycling World championships were first held in 1893 for amateur cyclists. Aseparate amateur and professional competition has been held starting in 1895.In that age before motorcars, the speed of track cyclist fascinated people, whowatched them in so many various events, including 24 hour events. Amateurs and professionals competed inseparate events until 1993, after which they have competed together in"open" races. Events include:time trial, keirin, individual pursuit, team pursuit, points race, scratchrace, sprint, team sprint, omnium and the madison. Australia has so far taken this year'scompetition in Asia by storm, with 8 medals so far. In second place, with three medals each, areGermany, Italy, Great Britain and New Zealand. This is the first track cycling championship held in Asia since 1990,racing continues through Easter Sunday. The madison was a six day race, originally contestedat Madison Square Garden in New York City in the late 1800s. Each cyclist competing 24/7 for six days was considered cruel, and so wasoutlawed in the state of New York. Theowner of the Garden added this relay race, with two partners, who could eachrace 12 hours, meaning 24 hour racing could continue. While the relay aspect of the race hassurvived, the multiday aspect has not, so the concentration is on going as fastas possible to rack up more laps than competing teams. Australia: Aspart of the finale of the Sydney Carnival, the champions of the racing worldwill face off for one last day of thrilling racing at the Schweppes All AgedStakes Day at Royal Randwick Racecourse. Featured races are the $600,000 Group One Schweppes All Aged Stakes, andthe $500,000 Group One Moët and Chandon Stakes, with the juveniles stepping upfor the final leg of the two-year-old Australian Triple Crown. All kinds of other festival events are beingheld for race day, as well as other Carnival events throughout the Sydney. -- Posted By Rex to Speed o Rex at 4/15/2017 04:10:00 AM -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "omnisport" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/omnisport. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
