This week Gary Lemke has a look at all the possible twists and turns in an action-packed Premier League title race as Arsenal and Manchester City battle it out, and it is all to play for in the IPL.
FAT LADY NOT YET SINGING IN EPL
English Premier League leaders Arsenal can go four points clear of Man City with two of their games remaining if they see off Bournemouth in Saturday’s lunchtime kick-off. However, City will know exactly what they have to do in the evening kick-off against Wolves. Should the Gunners not earn all three points at lunchtime, City can take a giant leap towards the title again. Should the Gunners win and City don’t get three points of their own, that would mean Arsenal would “only” have to beat Man United and Everton in their last two games to win the league. There’s still time for more twists and turns.
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) May 1, 2024
STINGERS LIV GOLFERS CASHING IN
The value of the rand against the US dollar is of little significance these days for the likes of Louis Oosthuizen, Dean Burmester, Charl Schwartzel and Branden Grace who are cashing in on the LIV Golf Series. Burmester and Oosthuizen have each won more than R100-million in the first six events on the Saudi-backed circuit so far in 2024. They will all add to that total in Singapore this weekend, having made the trip up from Australia during the week. We’re at about the halfway stage of the season for them, and ignoring the individual riches, there’s also the team event where all four South Africans are part of the Stingers.
Elite mentality 🫡
— LIV Golf (@livgolf_league) May 3, 2024
A solid first round from @BKoepka 👏#LIVGolf @SmashGC pic.twitter.com/TjiJwGuL4B
SA SEVENS AIM TO SIGN OFF IN STYLE
Singapore seems the place to be this weekend as there’s also the World Sevens rugby being played there. 11th-ranked South Africa’s women opened up with an upset last-move winning try against the USA, while the men (7th on the log) were untroubled against 10th-placed Spain in their opener. It’s the final stop on the season calendar and both South African teams will be looking to bow out on a high, because there’s still plenty at stake for both, apart from pride. The men, in particular, will be using the event to gather more momentum ahead of the final Olympic qualifiers.
A winning return to the #Blitzboks for Dylan Sage 👏#PoweredByUnity #HSBCSVNS pic.twitter.com/mbG8coMAkt
— Springbok Sevens (@Blitzboks) May 3, 2024
FERRARI FANS BOOSTED BY DEVELOPMENTS
Max Verstappen has started all five grands prix this season from pole and has won four of them. Few will argue against him winning again as the sixth event on the 24-race season heads to Miami. An even bigger talking point this week though has been the resignation of Red Bull’s designer/chief technical officer, Adrian Newey. The rumour mill is working overtime as Ferrari’s name has been bandied about as a possible next destination. With Lewis Hamilton also headed to Ferrari next season, there will be those, even Verstappen, looking in the rearview mirror as to whether the most famous brand in F1 is about to become a force again.
"how much would you like to see him (newey) join you at ferrari?"
— clara (fan acc) (@leclercsletters) May 2, 2024
lewis: very much.
PLEASE NEWEYYY, we all want you!!! pic.twitter.com/qnak2991Fz
QUALITY START TO KZN RACING SEASON
And they’re off, Saturday’s race meeting at Hollywoodbets Greyville officially starts the KwaZulu-Natal season – with the Hollywoodbets Durban July being the jewel in the crown – and there are 10 races carded. These include three Grade 2 features, the Drill Hall Stakes, and both the fillies and colts’ respective Guineas. All three races are packed with class and while many of them have bigger fish to fry in the KZN season, there should be a number of pointers to come from the meeting. Main Defender, Double Grand Slam and Sandringham Summit all go into the respective feature events as strong favourites, with a win all to come at around 4/1
20240501 (isiZulu) Hollywoodbets Greyville Race 6 won by CHARA SANDS#RaceReplays #KZNRacing #HollywoodbetsGreyvillehttps://t.co/HqspjsFMhkhttps://t.co/YvziCFVgh0
— Gold Circle Racing (@GoldCircleRSA) May 2, 2024
STILL ALL TO PLAY FOR IN IPL
By the time Monday morning comes around we will have had 54 of 72 Indian Premier League matches and we’re still not that much closer in terms of nailing our colours to the mast in terms of the winner, when the final is played on the 26th May. While Rajasthan Royals lead the table, all of the Kolkata Knight Riders, Lucknow Super Giants, Chennai Super Kings, Sunrisers Hyderabad and even Delhi Capitals they still have enough time to make the playoffs and go on to win the title. The only certainty at this stage is the uncertainty.
Jumps of Joy in Hyderabad 🥳
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 2, 2024
Terrific turn of events from @SunRisers' bowlers as they pull off a nail-biting win 🧡
Scorecard ▶️ https://t.co/zRmPoMjvsd #TATAIPL | #SRHvRR pic.twitter.com/qMDgjkJ4tc
UFC ACTION HEADS TO RIO
It was always going to be hard to beat UFC 300 in terms of star cast, and UFC 301 comes around this weekend with considerably fewer big names. The headliner is a flyweight contest where Alexandre Pantoja is favourite to beat Steve Erceg. The action takes place in Rio, which explains why there’s a strong Brazilian presence on the programme. In the co-main event, home hero Jose Aldo is actually the underdog against Jonathan Martinez in a bantamweight contest.
The vibes and views in Rio are IMMACULATE ✨🇧🇷#UFC301 pic.twitter.com/ohVgUOh2Dq
— UFC (@ufc) May 1, 2024
