Sports & This'n'That

Following what has been a hugely engrossing football championship, the number of teams partaking in the AFCON Finals has now been whittled down to just two - Nigeria and the hosts Ivory Coast, who will battle it out in the final, the day after tomorrow .

The famous HAKA of the All Blacks. Photo by Stefan Lehner on Unsplash

In the ever-scintillating realm of women’s tennis, excitement is presently mounting over the fact that the WTA’s (Women’s Tennis Association) season-ending championship is slated to begin tomorrow in the Mexican city of Cancun, which is a popular holiday destination for tourists and sightseers. Indeed, the top eight singles players in women’s tennis, who are of course the sport’s leading lights, will converge on Cancun tomorrow and battle it out against one another in an earnest bid to claim the last prestigious trophy of the year. The championship is definitely set to offer boundless thrills and spills as the likes of Aryna Sabalenka, the Pole Iga Swiatek, the American teen phenomenon Coco Gauff and the affable Tunisian Ons Jabeur among others will all be in contention to secure the intensely coveted WTA Finals trophy. With everything now all set for the competition to begin, it is dearly hoped that the pre-eminent tennis personages in women’s tennis will serve up a real peach of a to

Heading into their English Premier League (EPL) duel against high-fliers Arsenal earlier today, lowly Bournemouth must have known that it was always going to be a big ask for them to defeat the Gunners.

Now that the 2023/24 English Premier League season is in full swing, all eyes will be trained on the North London derby tomorrow between those two age-old foes Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspurs. Both sides have made a flying start to the season and they are both in fine fettle ahead of their much-awaited renewal of their fierce rivalry tomorrow at the majestic Emirates Stadium. It should be noted that after taking over the reins of Tottenham, Spurs’ new coach Ange Postecoglou has sought to make his charges play an entertaining brand of football to the sheer delight of the Spurs’ faithful. As for Arsenal, the Gunners have outstandingly picked up where they left off last season, which was clearly evident in their 4-0 rout of Dutch premier league table-toppers PSV Eindhoven. Thus, with both teams raring to go, it will be enormously fascinating to see which team ends up rubbing their hands with glee once the unfailingly engrossing duel has finished.        

Following an action-packed US Open final in front of a highly partisan crowd, the darling of the home fans, Coco Gauff brilliantly overcame her big-hitting Belarussian opponent Aryna Sabalenka to be crowned the deserving champion of the last grand slam of the year.