Water Polo: Hungary's Viktor Nagy

 Happy Birthday to Hungary's Goalie, Viktor Nagy!

Viktor Nagy is a Hungarian water polo goalkeeper. 

He took up the sport at the age of 10 at the BVSC Sport Club in Budapest, and made his first appearance for the Hungarian national team in 2006. 

He won the world title in 2013 and competed at the 2012 and 2016 Olympics. 

He is currently competing in Hungary's Bid for the FINA World Championships in South Korea.  

Born: July 24, 1984 (age 34 years), Budapest, Hungary
Height: 6′ 6″
Weight: 207 lbs

Saturday Sport

China currently leads the medal count at the 18th FINA World Championships, currently taking place in Gwangju, Korea.  China has currently won 20 medals, 12 of them gold. Russia is in second place with 11 total medals, 7 Gold, with Germany in third place with 5 total medals so far.  USA is in ninth place with 7 total medals, but no gold so far. 

1	China CHN	12	7	1	20
2	Russia RUS	7	4	0	11
3	Germany GER	2	1	2	5
4	Brasil BRA	2	0	0	2
5	France FRA	1	3	1	5
6	Ukraine UKR	1	0	4	5
7	Hungary HUN	1	0	0	1
8	Italy ITA	0	3	2	5
9	United States USA	0	2	5	7
10	Spain ESP	0	2	1	3

Men's group play is coming to an end in Water Polo, with the quarterfinals to commence in a few days.  Twelve teams, have advanced from group play into the eliminatory phase, include the USA, and the usual suspects. That round begins on Monday. 

The British Open of Golf is ongoing this weekend.  This year's British Open is being held at the Dunluce Course at Royal Portrush Golf Club.  The Royal Portrush Golf Club is a private golf club in County Antrim, Northern Ireland, in the Ulster Province. The 36-hole club has two links courses, the Dunluce Links and the Valley Links. The former is one of the courses on the rota of The Open Championship and is currently hosting the tournament in 2019.  It is considered one of the most spectacular courses in the world. 

Locals call this great golf tournament "The Open," no need to call it anything else in Britain.  USA media sites have been using the same term, without qualifying "British." 

Currently Ireland's Shane Lowry has the low score, and leads the tournament.  He is closely followed by American J.B. Holmes. 

Sunday Sport: The World in Speedos

In South Korea, the World Championships of swimming and diving are opening this weekend.  This festival of water sport does not come around often enough.  The 2019 World Aquatics Championships are the 18th FINA World Aquatics Championships, held in Gwangju, South Korea from 12 to 28 July 2019.

From now through the 28th of July, those who consider chlorine their scent of choice, can watch to their hearts content. Here is a rough schedule of the sports covered: 

All sports: Friday, July 12 – Sunday, July 28, 2019

Diving: Friday, July 12 – Saturday, July 20, 2019

Artistic Swimming: Friday, July 12 – Saturday, July 20, 2019

Beach water polo: Saturday, July 13 – Friday, July 19, 2019 (non-medal event)

Open water swimming: Saturday, July 13 – Friday, July 19, 2019

Water polo: Sunday, July 14 – Saturday, July 27, 2019

Pool swimming: Sunday, July 21 – Sunday, July 28, 2019

High diving: Monday, July 22 – Wednesday, July 24, 2019

On tap for today are men's one meter dives.  Monday features group play in men's water polo, as well as three meter synchronized diving and mixed synchronized swimming. 

Sport Sunday: Croatia, Swimming, Roma-Juventus

After two weeks, the FINA Aquatics Worlds competition wraps up today in Budapest, Hungary, with a day which promises lots of exciting action.  Today, the following competitions will be held:  Men’s 400m IM Final, Men’s 50m Backstroke Final, Men’s 1500m Freestyle Final, and the Men’s 4x100m Medley Relay Final, as well as the men's high dive competition.  A surprising duo at this Budapest Worlds have been the Italian "twins" Gabriele Detti and Gabriele Paltrinieri.  They have both been swimming strong during this week of intense competitive swimming, taking gold and bronze in the 800 m.  They will both compete in the 1500 m today.   The two are not, of course, twins, but the Italian press have dubbed them so, given their shared first name, and striking model like resemblance to each other. 

In startling news, in the men's water polo finals last night, Croatia edged host nation Hungary to win men's water polo world title.  Croatia ended host nation Hungary's hopes of a fourth world title in men's water polo with an 8-6 victory in the final on Saturday.  Captain Sandro Sukno, already known to readers of this space,  scored a hat trick for Croatia, which raced into a 4-0 lead as it kept the Hungarians scoreless for a whole quarter for the first time in the tournament.  The stands, packed with fans of the home team, fell into stunned silence until Hungary pulled two goals back through Bela Tarok and Marton Vamos in the second quarter, and more from Balazs Erdelyi and Krisztian Peter Manhercz to tie the match in the third period. 

However, Javier Garcia Gadea replied with two quick-fire goals for Croatia, and Sukno added another.  Martin Vamos, who has appeared in this space frequently,  scored another two for an exciting finale to the world championships, but Sukno sealed it with his third goal of the game.  Croatia had, earlier in the tournament, already taken a shock win over archrivals Serbia, and now reigns as world champions.  Maybe their win earlier should not have been considered a shock.  All Hail Croatia! 

International Soccer fans look towards Foxboro, Massachusetts, today, for the final game of the International Champions Cup.  The ICC is a series of exhibition matches in three countries played in large stadiums. It began on July 18 and ends today, getting everyone back in Europe by the start of August as the competitive campaign looms.  Yesterday, and extra Iberian El Clasico took place in Miami, with Barcelona beating Real Madrid 3-2.  

Today fierce Italian rivals Roma and Juventus face each other in Boston.  The crowning match of the ICC will be held today, the final day of the Cup, at the Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Massachusetts.  The Cup is a pre-season tournament that has been held every summer since 2013. For the past two years, the ICC has been split into three different regions; the United States, China and Australia. In the two years prior to that, it was held exclusively in the USA.  This year, Australia was replaced by Singapore. China and Singapore hosted seven games in total, while the USA has 12 games on the schedule.    Technically, the tournament is a "friendly" tournament, including this last game between Roma and Juventus, but when was a game between these two teams friendly?  Even Patriots fans may sit up and take notice. 

Aussie Rules Footy fans have any of three matches to follow today, none of which this space cares to comment. 

Saturday Sport: Water Polo! Swimming! Cricket! Canadian Football!

The FINA Aquatics World Championships are held each two years, and are too quickly done.  Two weeks ago, the competition kicked off with the Diving and Water Polo contests, last Sunday saw the swimming competition come into full swing.  

Today, the men's water polo competition comes to an end, with the championship game, and the consolation games, all being held.  In the finals, perennial powerhouses, and strong rivals,  Hungary and Croatia will play each other, in what promises to be a hard fought match.  Croatia beat Serbia in a close come-from-behind win to reach the finals.  Serbia will play Greece in today's third place game. 

In swimming, competition also promises to be fierce today.  The following final events will be contested this evening: 

• Women’s 50m Butterfly Final
• Men’s 50m Freestyle Final
• Women’s 200m Backstroke Final
• Men’s 100m Butterfly Final
• Women’s 800m Freestyle Final
• Mixed 4x100m Freestyle Relay Final

In Canada, today in CFL Football: the BC  Lions will meet the Edmonton Eskimos at The Brick Field at Commonwealth Stadium.  B.C. Lions head coach and general manager Wally Buono told his players to treat the  game against the Edmonton Eskimos like any other.  The first place in the CFL’s West Division is on the line, not to mention the season series and a potential playoff tiebreaker after the Eskimos (4-0) defeated the Lions (4-1) to open the schedule.  “The league is as balanced as it’s been in many years,” said Buono. “Edmonton’s got a very good football team. They’ve played hard. They’ve had their ups and downs in games, but they’ve always found a way to win.

 “It’s not the Grey Cup, even though it might feel like it,” said Lions defensive back Ronnie Yell. “It’s not the second round of the playoffs. It’s another game. We’ve got to stay calm.” (The Grey Cup is the CFL "Super Bowl" held each November)

In Cricket, England and South Africa continue their Test series, as do India and Sri Lanka.   In the United Kingdom, Alastair Cook came  to England's rescue at The Oval cricket Test against South Africa.  Although they have some hot new players, they relied on Cook to bail them out, so far this series.  Saturday's competition promises to be fierce.  

India, number one in the world, is fighting hard in Sri Lanka, meeting everyone's expectations.  India's bowlers tore through the Sri Lankan top order to put the visitors firmly on top on the second day of the first Test in Galle on Thursday.  Indian batsman Cheteshwar Pujara, said he was pleased that India had lived up to its billing as the No 1 Test side in the world.  "We would like to maintain that standard. We have scored enough runs, and we've got five wickets today. We are very well poised at this stage."  

Sport Saturday: Aquatic Worlds! Tours de France, Sri Lanka, England

Budapest, Hungary:  Last night the 17th FINA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS 2017 were opened, and will continue until July 30th in Budapest.  The Aquatics Worlds take place every two years, and are a festival of all things related to swimming and diving.

The two main competition venues are located in Budapest: Danube Arena, a brand-new indoor swimming pool complex for swimming and diving on the eastern bank of the Danube, just north of Margaret Island, and the existing Alfréd Hajós National Swimming Stadium, on Margaret Island itself, for water polo.  Open water swimming events will be held at Lake Balaton.   High diving and synchronized swimming will be held at temporary venues in Budapest.  

The Hungarians are beasts in Water Polo, so expect some exciting competition in the men's tournament, which starts on Monday with a round robin format in small group competition for the 16 countries who have made it thus far.  Today's action features men's one meter diving. 

France:  Friday's stage of the Tour de France, Stage 13,  was won by a Frenchman,  appropriate for Bastille Day.  Winner Warren Barguil outlasted all challengers on a chaotic, action filled day, with three category one climbs, and lots of curves and turns near the finish.   Italian cyclist Fabio Aru is the race leader.  

Today's action, in Stage 14,  features  a 181.5 km slog across southwest France, from Blagnac to Rodez.  The stage will feature three Category 3 climbs, and an almost continuous incline, the finish being at a much higher altitude than the start city. 

Silvis, Illinois:  In a run up to the British Open, Professional Golf's PGA Tour this week features the John Deere Classic at TPC Deere Run, in Hampton Township, near Silvis, Illinois.   Known for many decades as the Quad Cities Open, with various title sponsorships, the Tournament has been title sponsored by John Deere since the late 1990s.  Young golfers, including Tiger Woods and Jordan Spieth, often have seen their early successes noticed by others at the this tournament.   At the end of Friday's Round two, 25 year old Patrick Rodgers let at 13 under par, Bryson DeChambeau was in second place at 11 under par. 

In international Cricket, Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka are meeting, beginning today, in their sole test at Colombo.  South Africa continues their tour of England with their 2nd Test continuing  today  at Nottingham.  

Water Polo

Recent International Water Polo action...