Five things to know from what happened in the world of sport. October 27-November 2, 2020.
- Almond Eye. There is a new horse with the record of most Group I race wins in Japan, and that is Almond Eye (JAP), who ridden by Christophe Lemaire (FRA) won the Tenno Shō (Autumn Stakes), her eight Group I. In Venezuela, Raffsttar (VEN) became the ninth Triple Crown winner ridden by Jean Carlos Rodríguez (VEN). And in Australia the tragic Melbourne Cup was won by Twilight Payment (IRL), ridden by Jye McNeil (AUS) but Anthony van Dyck (IRL) was fatally injured, pouring backlash within Australia (Herald Sun).
- Lucky loser. Lorenzo Sonego (ITA) stunned Novak Djokovic (SRB) 6-2, 6-1 in the VIenna Erste Bank Open (ATP 500). Sonego had lost in the qualifying tournament but was put in the main draw as a “Lucky Loser” and made it all the way to the final, where he dropped to Andrey Rublev (RUS), who had defeated #2 seed, Dominic Thiem (AUT). Djokovic said he fulfilled his goal of ending the season as #1 and the tournament Director was unimpressed. He also pointed at the death of a Serbian Orthodox Bishop as a reason why he was not enthusiastic about playing (Tennisworldusa).
- Korean eSports Champions. The League of Legends World Championship was won by a South Korean team, Damwon Gaming, who defeated Suning Gaming 3-1. Their jungler, Kim “Canyon” Geon-bu (KOR), was named the MVP and Suning’s Chen “Bin” Zebin (CHN), got the first “Pentakill” in World final history. In StarCraft 2, former commentator, Jun “TY” Tae Yang (KOR) won his second Global Starcraft League of the year (out of three), by defeating Cho “Maru” Seong-ju (KOR), in a tactical battle. In a very different form of eSport, simracing, eNASCAR crowned Nick Ottinger (USA), by passing Bobby Zalenski (USA) with fresher tyres on a restart. Zalenski had controversially taken fellow title rival Ryan Luza (USA) out in what could have been a racing incident – you decide (NASCAR).
- The Monster. Naoya “Monster” Inoue (JAP) continues to show why he is one of the best Pound for Pound boxers in the world, by defeating Jason Moloney (AUS) to retain the WBA (Super), IBF and The Ring bantamweight World titles in a 7th round KO. In England, Savannah Marshall (ENG) defeated Hannah Rankin (SCO) to take the vacant World Boxing Organisation World Female Middle Title. In a Masterclass, she used her reach and a series of combinations that made Rankin take a knee and the referee to stop the fight in 8. Later, Oleksandr Usyk (UKR) made his professional Heavyweight with a KO against Derek Chisora (ENG) and announced he wants to sweep the division. In México, Mariana Juárez (MEX) -potentially the best female bantamweight ever- displayed an embarrassing defeat as she was battered by Yulihan Luna (MEX) and then called for her gloves to be inspected. The gloves were clean. In a bizarre 8-Round World Title fight, Yesenia Gómez (MEX) defended her WBC Female Light Flyweight title against Mirna Sánchez (MEX) (Vavel).
- NHRA. Erica Enders continues to extend her legacy as the best female driver in NHRA history. At the season finale in Las Vegas she won her fourth NHRA Pro Stock World Championship, having previously won the 2014, 2015 and 2019 editions. She finished the Championship by taking her fourth win this year in the season Finale, which is her 29th NHRA Pro Stock win. She is now tied 10th in the list of drivers with most NHRA World Championships, and 4th in the Pro Stock division. This weekend also saw Steve Torrence (USA) take his third straight Top Fuel Championship, Matt Hagan (USA, also won the Finale) win his second Funny Car Championship and Matt Smith (USA) win his fourth Pro Stock Motorcycle Championship. Watch the moment she wins the Championship (NHRA)
