From the extreme to the sophisticated – X Games and World Snooker Championship action ahead!

World Snooker Championship 2022

The most coveted and historic tournament in snooker will grace The Crucible in Sheffield once more this week as the 2022 World Snooker Championship begins. It is always a star-studded affair on the felt, with so many top competitors willing to battle it out for the glory and fame of being the greatest player on the planet. The wide array of talent always guarantees the viewers drama, and the statistics show that it is always difficult to pick a winner: in the last 4 years, there have been 4 separate champions. In a tournament of this prestige, form doesn’t count for much. Anything can happen!

With no guaranteed favourite, who are the players most likely to battle it out all the way? Perhaps the first player to think of is the Australian, Neil Robertson, who is having a fine snooker season so far with four titles to his name this year. Of the 43 games that he has played this season, he has remarkably only lost 8 matches; fine form to arrive at this year’s World Championship. What’s more, Robertson will have further motivation given that he hasn’t lifted this famous trophy since 2010. Can he put an end to his drought at The Crucible?

If we consider past winners, then what about Mark Selby? He is the current World Champion having won here in 2021, and he has won 4 of the last 8 editions of this competition, and this experience will certainly put him in contention for what would be his 5th World Championship title. Someone else that will certainly want to add another Worlds to their tally is arguably the greatest snooker player of all time, Ronnie O’Sullivan. The 6-time champion is once again ranked World Number 1 and winning one more championship here will tie him level with another legend of the game, Stephen Hendry (7 titles), which is the current modern-day record. Rocket’s one criticism could be his inconsistent performances, so he will certainly need to be at the top of his game if he wants to make it his 7th World Championship title.

What about the rest? Welshman Mark Williams is a 3-time winner of this tournament, but at the age of 47 now, is he able to perform at his best level? The two previous runners-up (2020 and 2021), Kyren Wilson and Shaun Murphy, will certainly aim to go one better this time, particularly Wilson, who has yet to lift the greatest trophy in snooker. How about a Chinese winner this year? Over the seasons, there have been plenty of talented players coming from China and yet none have ever become World Champion. Currently in the World Rankings there are two talented players within the Top 16, Zhao Xintong and Yan Bingtao, and both players have their own unique traits that could see them go all the way to the final.

Like every year, anyone is capable of winning the World Championship, and that’s what makes it so exciting! One thing is for certain, we are guaranteed a dramatic tournament throughout! Don’t miss it!

X Games 2022

Need another fix of heart pumping, adrenaline filled action? Look no further than the summer X Games, which are twisting, flipping and jumping into Japan for the first time ever! The extreme sports athletes will be competing over 3 days in Skateboarding, BMX, and Moto X at the ZOZO Marine Stadium in Chiba City, Japan, from 22-24 April.

The X Games is an extreme sporting event which has been satisfying our need for speed for over 25 years and have been watched by an impressive 6 million spectators to date. Not only will spectators get to see top athletes perform, because the X Games provides a whole cultural experience based on its host city. The event will also feature musical performances, art, food and a festival experience. If music is your thing, on the Saturday, the rock band MAN WITH A MISSION will be taking to the stage. The band, whose costumes include wolf heads and human bodies, regularly perform at Japanese music festivals and have a huge fan base. It won’t be one to miss! But that’s not all, the entire event will have a Japanese atmosphere to it; their landscape, city and culture will be embodied in the tracks and medal designs, and the sporting prowess of Japan will be displayed throughout the event.

Circling back to sports, each of the three disciplines has a number of different sub disciplines that the athletes will showcase. For example, there will be park and street skateboarding, the former involves mainly riding bowls, and in the latter you may find rails, benches, stairs and curbs. Similarly for BMX, athletes may ride park, street or flatland, both provoking different challenges. Finally we have Moto X Best Whip, where you will find riders kicking their bikes around and using their wrists to “whip” themselves around in mid-air before landing safely.

In 2021, which was held behind closed doors, Tom Parsons took home the gold. He’s back competing in the 2022 Games and hopes to reclaim his title. Japan’s Olympic skateboarder Sakura Yosozumi is also dreaming of medals, and hopes to grab gold as the games take place in her home city this year. She said “I have participated in the X Games twice before, but I have yet to win a gold medal…I will do my best to win my dream gold medal.”. Yet another shining star from home soil is the young Sky Brown. Sky is the youngest pro skateboarder in the world, turning pro at just 10 years old, and made history by becoming the first female to land a frontside 540. To present, Sky won her first gold medal at the X Games 2021, a mere 9 days after her 13th birthday, and also competed in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Sky is certainly one to watch!

If you love extreme sports and want to live vicariously through these young athletes, be sure to tune into the X Games!