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2022 World Swimming Championships: Kaylee McKeown collects just the silver for Australia in the 200m IM on Day 2; all eyes now on Elijah Winnington towards another gold tomorrow in the Men’s 200m Freestyle

by Sports Benches

The Dolphins may have taken just the one silver after Day 2 of the 2022 World Swimming Championships but they’re still in 2nd in the medal tally right now with two gold and two silver, even though they’re a few medals behind Team USA – who picked up three more gold & four bronze today.

Yes, it was hard to watch when Kaylee McKeown pulled out out the 100m backstroke which is one of her best races that helped her secure both Olympic gold medals last year in Tokyo. She could’ve also taken the risk to try & take home two gold medals – the 100m backstroke & 200m individual medley – all on the one day for Australia that would’ve put them just ahead of Team USA in the number of golds accrued on this medal tally.

However, it’s not something she‘s prepared for at this stage as McKeown wants to test out a variety of different formats on the road to the Paris 2024 Olympics, and then look to win as many gold medals as she can.

Nonetheless, she swam really well in the Women’s 200m individual medley final where it was a more challenging race than just the usual backstroke, as McKeown finished 2nd at 2:08:57 behind Alex Walsh (2:07:13).

We also saw some of our Dolphins in action who just couldn’t keep up the rest of the field either in the heats and/or finals; Zac Stubblety-Cook (P7 in Men’s 100m breastroke Final); Issac Alan Cooper (P6 in the Men’s 100m backstroke Semi-Final 1); Mitch Larkin (P7 in Men’s 100m backstroke Semi-Final 2); Brianna Throssell (P6 in the Women’s 100m Butterfly Final); And Jenna Stauch fell just short of the Top 3 bubble in P4 during semi final 1 of the Women’s 100m breaststroke – despite a brilliant start from the heats earlier in the day at P2.

There’s always the bright side though when it comes to 22-year-old Elijah Winnington after his heroics from Day 1 of the Men’s 400m freestyle final; he’s on the hunt towards another gold for the Men’s 200m Freestyle Final tomorrow on Day 3, having finished 3rd in Semi-Final 1 just a few hours ago.

#FINABudapest2022 #DolphinsSwimTeam #Australia #KayleeMcKeown #ElijahWinnington #SwimmingAustralia #JennaStauch #Swimming #DunaArena #Budapest

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Aussie Dolphins Swim Team off to a great start with two gold medals from the 4 x 100 freestyle women’s relay team & Elijah Winnington on Day 1 of the 2022 FINA Swimming World Championship

by Sports Benches

It’s been a great start for our Australian Dolphins Swim Team in 2nd right now behind Team USA following the opening day of this year’s FINA World Championships with the swimming at Duna Arena in Budapest, Hungary.

The women’s 4 x 100 freestyle relay team’s performance was simply outstanding throughout today in both heats (3:33:74) and finals (3:30:95) where they dominated the entire pool, even though they well just short of world record time (3:29: 69). They all did it without the Campbell sisters in Bronte and Kate – currently both taking time away from the pool, as well as Emma McKeon – who chose to focus solely on next month’s Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England.

But again they have an amazing line-up of swimmers to assemble that can do the job without them, especially to Shayna Jack back in action after she recently finished serving her two-year doping ban. Brianna Throsell and Leah Neale also both filled in during the heats earlier on before the Dolphins threw in two amazing youngsters who smashed it in the final – Meg Harris & Mollie O’Callaghan. And Madison Wilson knows all about relay experience too well as any team-mate got the best out of her presence every time Wilson is competing poolside, having just picked up her 4th world championship gold medal that all comes from team finals swims.

Then we look at the men’s team where Eijah Winnington took out his first world championship gold medal in the 400 m freestyle final. What a breakthrough it has been by the 22-year-old who hails from the Gold Coast, with many more moments like this to come.

Speaking of 400m, how good was Kyle Chalmers in the freestyle relay – especially when his team-mates were out of the Top 3 for the majority until he jumped in & made a huge difference that helped them secure the silver in 2nd at 3:10:80 – just over a second behind the comfortable victors from USA (3:09:34).

We’re tied with them at two gold now in the medal tally going into Day 2 later tonight if you exclude the silver and bronze.

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An outlook of Nine’s Wide World of Sports’ return to swimming with the 2022 World Aquatics Championships beginning this Saturday in Budapest, Hungary

by Sports Benches

Swimming has returned to Nine’s Wide World of Sports for the first time since 2008 ahead of this year’s World Aquatics Championships beginning on Saturday night our time in Budapest, Hungary.

Although, they did show some swimming when Nine broadcasted the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, Great Britain, a decade ago.

We first heard that rights capture back in January this year when Nine previewed their wide range of sports coverage content for 2022 while we watched the Summer of Tennis during the Australian Open warm-up tournaments.

This upcoming event was slated to take place late last month in Fukofuka, Japan, at the time; the place where Australia topped the medal charts during the 2001 World Championships just over two decades ago.

However, FINA postponed the Fukafoka hosting rights to next year a few weeks later before they called in Budapest as this year’s replacement host.

Nonetheless, Nine will still be covering it where they will put the swimming live on their free digital channels via 9Gem & 9Go that can be streamable on 9Now – while the other aquatic categories such as Open Water Swimming, Synchronised Swimming, Diving and Water Polo will also be a live & free streaming exclusive to 9Now.

We’ve gotta say that this is the perfect time right now to cheer them on when the Australian Dolphins Swim Team was simply outstanding at the Tokyo Olympics last year in 2nd behind the US with 9 gold, 3 silver & 9 bronze at a total of 21 medals.

They also bounced back also in 2nd just behind the all-dominant US champions three years ago when the last World Swimming Championships were held in Gwangju, South Korea; 5 gold, 9 silver and 5 bronze.

It will be interesting to see if the Dolphins can end Team USA’s long-running stranglehold up top over the next week, before the rest of the aquatic sports decide the overall result.

And shoutout to Ray Warren aka Rabs who just retired recently following a decorated 55-year career behind the mic.

He used to call some memorable moments there when Nine first covered swimming back in the 1990s to mid 2000s alongside his usual rugby league commentary up until his final game at the NRL Grand Final last year – including Susie O’Neill’s world record in the 200m butterfly at the 2000 Olympic trials.

It just won’t be the same without him as we will see a couple of new faces for studio coverage over the first week, as well as either using their own voices or just taking the world feed commentary.

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2022 French Open Day 15: Rafa Nadal pulled off way comfortably against Casper Ruud en route to his 22nd grand slam title here at Court Philippe Chatrier

by Sports Benches

What a way to close out after 15 days of top-standard grand slam tennis with the men’s singles’ final in this year’s French Open. World No.8 from Norway Casper Ruud did his best to hold out Rafa earlier on between the 1st and 2nd sets. But it’s Rafa who was outstanding for the whole time that blew Ruud away so easily with the championship win at Court Philippe Chatrier; 6-3, 6-3, 6-0.

It’s not the ending Casper Ruud hoped for after he finished runner-up in his first ever grand slam singles’ final at age 23. He showed some fight when trying to catch up to Nadal earlier on, as well as the 2nd set restart where Ruud got the better momentum there. However, a poor opening set start and a lack of 2nd half pull robbed him the chance to shut down Rafa, before he was comfortably beaten without any game registered by the 3rd & final set. What he can learn from his first-ever grand slam final is for Ruud to take out these positives that helped him work his way through this men’s singles draw, and try go go one better later this year at Wimbledon and/or US Open. There’s still plenty of time left to make history of world tennis throughout this 2020s decade.

And once again this is grand slam title No.22, as well as his 14th French Open Championship for Rafa Nadal aka The King of Clay. He fired off comfortably with a decent early lead against Ruud where the Norwegian may have held Rafa back a bit when he was being tested. But he was simply too good where he had the better experience, patience, fightback & execution to pull off from start to finish in three straight sets. It will be interesting to see if Rafa can complete the clean sweep with all four grand slam titles in the one year going into Wimbledon in a few weeks, as well as the US Open in late August-early September. He also just turned 36 a few days ago where this will be his next and last golden target before Rafa retires.

Two grand slams done, two to go. We now turn our attention to The Championships at Wimbledon in London, England, from Monday June 27 to Sunday July 10.

#Tennis #RafaNadal #CasperRuud #FrenchOpen #GrandSlam #RolandGarros #Spain #Norway #CourtPhilippeChatrier #ATPTour

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2022 French Open Day 14: Iga Swiatek too good from start to finish v Coco Gauff that clinched her 2nd grand slam championship since the 2020 edition on clay

by Sports Benches

It’s been a quick and easy finish to the women’s singles’ final on Day 14 of this year’s French Open where Iga Swiatek just won her 2nd grand slam title since 2020 here on clay at Court Philippe Chatrier. She had no problem getting the job done fair and square against Coco Gauff in straight sets; 6-1, 6-2.

Yes, it’s hard to look back on what it’s like to settle second best from 18-year-old American Coco Gauff. She had a brilliant restart into the second set in a bid to stay in this fight, having fired off poorly where Gauff fell way behind. However, she lacks the response & finishing needed to put the pressure back on Swiatek where Gauff was easily blown away by the World No.1 in the end. It’s her first grand slam final appearance, as there will be many more chances to savour if Gauff vows to come stronger for the next tournament at Wimbledon in a few weeks’ time.

And congratulations to Iga Swiatek with her 2nd grand slam championship since the 2020 French Open here. She just proved to be the top-ranked player out on-court today, who can deliver silverware, as she was too good for Gauff unchallenged from start to finish. It’s been another big moment for the 21-year-old from Poland today, having fell short in the semis by Danielle Collins at the Australian Open back in January before she took the World No.1 WTA ranking following Ash Barty’s retirement two months ago, and now won another grand slam with the No.1 on her side. Let’s see if she can dominate the next two Grand Slams at Wimbledon & US Open soon enough later this year.

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2022 French Open Day 13: Marin Cilic’s brilliant opening set spell was cancelled by Casper Ruud’s comeback that decided the 2nd and final spot for Sunday’s Final

by Sports Benches

It was a fast and easy start from the 20th seed in Croatian Marin Cilic with the opening set lead. However, his momentum quickly went downhill when Casper Ruud from Norway fought back at 1-1 apiece after the break before Ruud pulled off further away from Cilic comfortably that secured his French Open final spot towards the finish line. The final score is 3-6, 6-4, 6-2, 6-2.

Marin Cilic’s fairytale run has just came to an end. He got the ball rolling for a start with the early lead but then fell off a cliff ever since when he just couldn’t find the consistency to stay in this fight. Not only he was gutted to be held short while making some lost time during the next set, but he was blown away so easily through the 3rd & 4th sets that marked his exit out of the Final 4. It’s good to see him being back to his best though at age 33, having last made the grand slam finals back in the 2018 Australian Open where he was runner-up to Roger Federer.

And on Casper Ruud, take a bow as he will gear up for his first ever grand slam final appearance tomorrow v Rafa Nadal. He never looked out of place even though Ruud couldn’t bridge that gap to Cilic earlier in the first set. But it’s all about the finish where Ruud stood out as the better player from last night. The patience & response he saw right into Cilic’s game helped the Norwegian deny him a 2-0 lead, as well as tie at 1-1 before Ruud proved too good to wrap this up just under the three-hour mark.

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2022 French Open Day 13: Rafa Nadal v Alexander Zverev semi-final tie came to an heartbreaking end over Zverev’s ankle injury

by Sports Benches

It wasn’t the ending we wanted to see when Alexander Zverev injured his ankle & retired hurt while trying to stop Rafa Nadal from winning the 2nd set. But this semi-final tie had to be wrapped up immediately as Nadal will advance to Sunday’s main event v Norwegian Casper Ruud at Court Philippe Chatrier. The final score was done just over three overs of play via walkover; 7-6 via 10-8 tiebreaker, 6-6.

Zverev fired off with the early headstart that helped him took advantage earlier in both sets ahead of Rafa. He also showed plenty of fight every time he tries go past set point but just couldn’t find the response & finishing needed to hold off his opponent, especially when after he chased the ball so hard but then lightning struck that sent him a huge blow to his ankle. We’re all gutted not to see Zverev continue playing where we send him best wishes with his recovery, before he hopes to come back sooner rather than later by going one better towards another grand slam final since the 2020 US Open.

And Nadal proved to be the better fighter with a brilliant response and execution that helped him pass Zverev through each set. He’s got so much patience with a close lens in Zverev’s natural game where not only Rafa cancelled his Zverev’s fast start, but he also held him back through the very end through another lifeline to close it out and he came out unscathed on top. Although it wasn’t a happy ending when his opponent injured his ankle, all Rafa did was to shake hands with respect before he moves onto the next challenge towards another possible grand slam title of 2022 tomorrow.

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2022 French Open Day 11: Daria Kasatkina defeated Veronika Kudermetova ahead of her huge semi-final test tonight v World No.1 Iga Swiatek

by Sports Benches

Looking back earlier yesterday on Day 11 of the 2022 French Open, we also saw another brilliant Quarter-Final over in the women’s singles tie between Veronika Kudermetova & Daria Kasatkina. Both of them played really well when they were on the same page but it’s Kasatkina who came out on top in straight sets; 4-6, 6-7 via 5-7 tiebreaker.

Unlucky from Kudermetova after she was eliminated in the Final 8 with the loss there. She got the build-up base going that helped her stay ahead in this fight throughout the whole time. However, she lacked the finishing needed to shut down Kasatkina where she fell short twice before her opponent stood out as the better player in the end. It’s her first grand slam quarter-finals appearance after a series of 3rd round finishes before in 2021-22 at the Australian Open, as well as the 2019 French Open. Although she can’t play at Wimbledon this year including Kasatkina due to the organisers’ ban on Russian & Belarusian players, but she hopes to build on that breakthrough and enter Top 10-15 if it means regular grand slam Final 8 appearances.

And speaking of Kasatkina, she responded to Kudermetova’s brilliant start with the patience & fightback that helped

close in and eventually deny her opponent with the opening set lead. The way Kasatkina shown her persistence when continuing her battles against a tough opponent summed up her incredible comeback, as the executions got the best of her towards the finish line first via the tiebreak. She has all the skills and tools needed to prepare ahead of her first ever grand slam semi-final tonight, having tried failed to move past Final 8 twice before in 2018 here at the French Open and Wimbledon. Let’s see if she can upset World No.1 Iga Swiatek & secure another breakthrough for Saturday’s Women’s singles’ final against either Coco Gauff or Martina Trevisian.

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2022 French Open Day 11: Holger Rune’s sensational run has come to an end as Casper Ruud books semi-final place tomorrow v Marin Cilic

by Sports Benches

The Final Four is all set for Day 13 tomorrow at the French Open; Rafa Nadal v Alexander Zverev and Casper Ruud v Marin Cilic. Casper Ruud proved too good to pull off at the start while youngster Holger Rune isn’t an easy opponent to face when he made up some lost time from the opening set down. But it’s Ruud who responded well to Rune’s competitiveness when he denied him a 3rd set closer at the tiebreak followed by a win that sent the Dane out of the Quarter-Finals here at Court Philippe Chatrier. The final score is 6-1, 4-6, 7-6 via 7-2 tiebreaker. 6-3.

Well, it’s been a great run but it all has to come to an end from 19-year-old Dane Holger Rune. He responded really well from the opening set down where Rune showed lots of fight to try and keep his French Open campaign alive. However, the poor starts really let him down after he was easily blown away while he just couldn’t kick on when Rune fell short in the 3rd set before he was over and done by Ruud. It’s his first grand slam knockout appearance which is quite a remarkable achievement just under 20 years old. He’s sure to create many more moments including the moment when Rune gets to win his first grand slam title.

And job well done to World No.8 Casper Ruud from Norway with the win. He never looked out of place having fired off to a fast start; he also didn’t hesitate on the young Dane when Ruud lost the 2nd set before he held back Rune at the tiebreak & pulled off his way further towards the finish line. This tie was his first grand slam Quarter-Finals appearance as his brilliant run at the French Open continues into the Final Four tomorrow. It will be interesting to see if he can knock off Marin Cilic for a spot in the final this Sunday with either Rafa Nadal or Alexander Zverev.

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2022 French Open Day 10: Coco Gauff too good against Sloane Stephens ahead of her semi-final tie tomorrow v Martina Trevisian

by Sports Benches

Looking back on Day 10 yesterday of this year’s French Open is the 2nd women’s quarter-Final tie also at Court Philippe-Chatrier in an All-American contest between youngster Coco Gauff v 2017 US Open champion Sloane Stephens. These two players played really well that went all the way in the opening set spell. However, it was Gauff who shut down Stephens’s 1st set resurgence before she proved too good to pull off in the end; 7-5, 6-2.

It’s not the exit Stephens wanted where she made up some lost time that helped close the gap towards a late chance to steal the opening set lead. Unfortunately, Stephens just couldn’t have the firepower needed to get past her QF opponent where poor starts gave her a lot of catch-up work before she fell way behind with no other way back ever since. This was her first grand slam Quarter-Final appearance since 2019 and her 3rd French Open finals spell here where she had a great run in the lead up beforehand on the clay surface. But she will need to continue building on that consistency if Stephens wants a fourth semi-finals grand slam appearance for the first time in four years at Wimbledon in a few weeks’ time.

And congratulations to 18-year-old Gauff with the win where she will face Italian Martina Trevisian in the semi-final tomorrow on Day 12. She was just outstanding against a player who has more experience alongside a US Open title in Sloane Stephens. The resilience and patience shown was there when Gauff fired off, responded and executed well with the opening set lead; she then went full on and extended her winning margin that sums up her easy afternoon in the office. It’s her first grand slam semi-final appearance as she will keep an eye on the other Quarter-Final matches today before her next big test tomorrow, especially when looking at potential final opponent in World No.1 Iga Swiatek from Poland.

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