The Weekend that was

With the weather being unpredictable as usual,there has been some surprises over the weekend. But I can say for some, it has been a long time coming and yes, they finally came to happen.
Soccer:
Local scene had Harambee Stars tackle Rwanda in a friendly and won 2-0. This is a good omen for the team which jets out today for the African Cup of Nations qualifier tie with Eritrea on June 16th.
On the international scene, the Spanish League had the race for the title go down to the wire with both top teams tied for points , though Real Madrid leads Barcelona with more home wins. In an interesting play of the weekend, Lionel Messi scored his 'hand of god' goal helping Barca to a 2-2 draw against Espanyol. Sevilla also had a 0-0 draw to almost surely blow their chances away too.
This kid is becoming too addicted to his idol's antics that he's trying to replicate each and every move that this guy had. Remember the 1986 World Cup goal a month ago ? But will they win the title ? Better still will he remain inspirational enough to lead his country to a World Cup victory? Only time can tell....

Rugby:
Tusker Safari Sevens -touted as Kenya's premiere sporting event did excite crowds at the RFUEA grounds on the outskirts of Nairobi. Last year's winners Emerging Springboks won the Main Trophy after beating Zimbabwe 27-19 in a repeat of last year's Final. Kenya were beaten in the semi-finals by Zimbabwe 12-5 in a low score game. This showed that Kenya still has some way to go to be able to secure a permanent place in the top IRB Sevens series teams.


But I would also like to think that the intended strike by the players before the tournament on Friday may have contributed to some extent, with players playing a demoralised game. I found it hard to believe that they were not paid bonuses entitled to them way back from 2005. For that I throw a barb onto the KRFU officials. What happens every time a sport starts to grow and there is some money trickling in here in Kenya ? Do we just hate our sportspeople that much to exploit them and not appreciate them ?
It is also on the same breadth that I would like to add that even with the Safari Sevens growing in terms of participants and crowds, the organisational and media development has not been correspondent. This has led to serious questions being raised on the side of the organisers. Some positive news though is that the tourney has been included in an elite three-leg sevens continental series with Tangiers Sevens of Morocco and Castle Sevens of Zambia. This was announced by Confederation of Africa Rugby president, Abdelaziz Bougja.

Tennis:
Rafael Nadal continued his clay court dominance with a 6-3 4-6 6-3 6-4 victory over world number 1, Roger Federer. This ended the latter's hope of winning all the four Grand Slam titles ( US, Wimbledon, Australia and French Opens.
. Photo courtesy of BBC.
Nadal though became the first man since Bjorn Borg-Sweden to win the French Open three times in a row. This continues the rivalry between the two players who have dominated the game in the last three years with each winning on his speciality grounds ( Nadal with the clay and Federer with the grass. The next major is the US Open coming up in July.

Basketball:
In the NBA Play-offs, San Antonio Spurs won Game 2 of the best of seven series with a 103-92 victory of the Cleveland Cavaliers.
courtesy of NBA
For the second time in the series, Lebron James was locked out of the game and made to play more carefully after running into foul trouble in the first quarter. Tony Parker led the Spurs with 30 points, Ginobili 25 with Tim Duncan contributing 23. The three showed the Play-offs prowess to hold off the Cavs as they head for Game 3 today at Cleveland. This ought to be decisive if Cavaliers are to avoid a sweep in what some might consider a mismatch.

Motorsport:
courtesy of BBC
After having to wait for six races of the Grand Prix series, Lewis Hamilton finally wore the winner's crown for the Canadian Grand Prix on Sunday beating Nick Heidfeld & Alexander Wurz to second and third positions. Team-mate Fernando Alonso could only afford a dismal 7th position while Felipe Massa and Giancarlo Fisichella were disqualified for leaving their pit-stops while the lights were red. The race was also interrupted 4 times by the safety vehicle. This extends his lead at the top by 8 points and increases his chances of becoming the first F1 driver to win the overall crown only in his first season. I told you guys ! Better watch this kid, he's full of fire and desire ! Keep waiting and you may never know what hit ya !