Ten things to know from last week: October 12-18, 2021. Chicago Basketball again, India's Super Kings, the largest esports prize...
Ten things to know from last week
  1. After the Last Dance. Chicago Sky became the 2021 WNBA Champion after defeating Phoenix Mercury. None of these two teams had been among the top four in the regular season. this is the first WNBA or NBA title for the city of Chicago since the famed 1998 Chicago Bulls NBA season.
  2. Super Kings. The Indian Premier League (Cricket) was won by the Chennai Super Kings for the fourth time, after beating Kolkata Knight Riders. The later part of the season was held in the United Arab Emirates due to the covid pandemic.
  3. Motorcycling Champions. Several Motorcycling World Championships were awarded this weekend. Notably, Laia Sanz (ESP) won her 6th EnduroGP World Title, in her comeback season to the sport. Brad Freeman (ENG) took the overall men’s title. Sidecarcross had a great title definition, with the two leading teams tied in points until the very last race. In the end, Etienne Bax (NED) won his fourth title, alongside Nicolas Musset (FRA), now a two.time World Champion. They edged out Marvin Vanluchene (BEL) and Robbie Bax (NED), Etienne’s brother. In an exhilarating final, the three teams that were fighting for the title collided, with Julian Veldman (BEL) and Ondrej Cermak (CZE) almost being left out of contention. Koen Hermans (NED) and Glenn Janssens (BEL) won the Finale, ahead of the World Champions. In SuperMoto, Marc-Reiner Schmidt (DEU) won his first World Title. In the Speedway of Nations, locals Great Britain beat Poland even though star Tai Woffinden (ENG) had to be replaced after crashing on day 1.
  4. Largest esport prize. Russia’s Team Spirit -which also includes Ukrainian players- beat Chinese team Paris Saint German.LGD to win DOTA’s The International 2021, which had a record-breaking pool prize of $40 million Dollars, of which $18 Million were at stake in the Finals.
  5. Stand-in MVP. Ellerstina and La Dolfina have been the Tortugas Open -Argentina’s Triple Crown of Polo- Finalists since 2011. Ellerstina won its 13th title, with new horses and one stand-in player, MVP Matías Torres Zavaleta (ARG), who joined the Pieres brothers (ARG). La Dolfina has made some lineups changes in 2021 vis-à-vis their historic team from the last decade.
  6. Historic at 20. Daniela Moroz (USA) became the most successful kiteboarder at the World Championships by taking her fifth consecutive Formula Kite World Championship. She is only 20. Théo de Ramecourt (FRA) won the men’s competition.
  7. Rampage. Brandon Semenuk (CAN) made history by becoming the first four-time Champion of the Red Bull Rampage, arguably the most most competitive Freeride Mountain Bike competition in the world. He previously won in 2008, 2016, and 2019.
  8. Historic jumper. Jacinta Carroll (AUS) became the first person to win five consecutive Water Skiing World Championships, as she won the Jump World Championship in Florida. She jumped a World Championship Record of 59.4 meters. Aliaksandra Danisheuskaya (BLR) won the overall title, while Joel Poland (ENG) won the men’s overall title. Ryan Dodd (CAN) won his fourth consecutive title in the men’s jump division.
  9. Generations meet. This year’s World Surfing Champions in Longboard won their third world title, albeit they are from very different generations. Joel Tudor (USA) won at age 43, having previously won the 1998 and 2004 World Championships! Meanwhile, Honolua Blomfield (HAW) is 22.
  10. Finally Indonesia, again. Indonesia won Badminton’s Thomas Cup (for men’s teams) in Denmark, after beating hosts Denmark and then China. They won 13 editions of the tournament until 2002 but had not won since. China did win the women’s team Uber Cup.