By Nengi Ernest
The past two weeks in sports have been truly remarkable. Every so often, the world of sports provides us with weeks filled with excitement and significant moments on the courts, in the stadiums, and under the bright lights. These events not only entertain but also inspire and showcase the resilience and determination of athletes.
So, let’s recount the tales together.
At the Parc de Princes, under the eyes of millions, Paris Saint-German became winners of the UEFA Champions League for the first time in their history and completed a historic treble. What many predicted to be a tough final between PSG and Inter Milan turned out to be one-way traffic as PSG trashed Milan 5-0, producing the biggest margin of victory in the final of the competition. Desire Doue scored twice, with Achraf Hakimi, Kvicha Kvaratskhelia, and Senny Mayulu also getting goals.
Meanwhile, in Spain, it was a one-two for McLaren in the Spanish Grand Prix. Oscar Piastri claimed his fifth victory in nine races this season, re-extending his championship lead over his teammate Lando Norris. This didn’t go down without the controversial collision drama with Max Verstappen and George Russell, which resulted in a 10-second time penalty, taking him from fifth to tenth in the final classification. The stewards also gave three further penalties on his super licence, and one more penalty will be an automatic race ban.
Back home, the Super Falcons, after missing out on two international windows, finally had a friendly game with the Lionesses of Cameroon. It was initially to be a two-header game, but the drama started when Cameroon didn’t arrive early; it was postponed to Monday, June 2nd, and when Cameron finally arrived, the game was then moved to Tuesday, June 3rd. The Super Falcons ended up winning Cameroon 2-0 courtesy of Captain Rasheedat Ajibades’s brace.
To the men’s national team, the Super Eagles, who recently won the Unity Cup after edging out Jamaica via penalties following a 2-2 draw, took up a friendly game against Russia in the Luzhniki Stadium, where they played a 1-1 draw. Russia took the lead via an own goal from Semi Ajayi, and Tolu Arokodare scored the equalizer for Nigeria after replacing Victor Boniface.
Still on the field, the Female Yellow Greens of Nigeria started the Kwibuka Women’s T20I tournament in Kigali. They came so close in their first game against Zimbabwe but fell short by just 6 runs. The same thing happened with game two. Brazil won by 6 runs. The team secured their first win against Tanzania, defeating them by 2 wickets. Game four saw Rwanda women win Nigeria by 40 runs, but they bounced back with a 38-run win against Cameroon. Their latest win was against Sierra Leone by 36 runs, and with two games left, the team is hopeful to make the top four and play in the semi-finals.
Switching over to the courts, the NBA finals kicked off with the Indiana Pacers pulling off a late comeback in game 1; Halliburton, with 0.3 seconds left, restored the Pacers’ lead to stun the Oklahoma City Thunders 111-110. Halliburton has had these big-shot moments in every series the Pacers have played in this playoff. In game two, Oklahoma City Thunders opened a big lead to top Pacers 123-107, to even the series at 1-1.
In the Basketball African League, the Rivers Hoopers lost their seeding game 88-89 by 8 points to US Monastir and would face APR of Rwanda in the quarter-finals.
In Roland Garros, the red clay brought the very best of players and records in tennis. In the women’s competition, Coco Gauff fought from a set down to win 6-7 6-2 6-4 against Aryna Sabalaneka in her second Roland Garros finals and her second Grand Slam title with her first in the US Open in 2023. She became the first American to win Roland Garros since Serena Williams in 2015.
On the men’s side, Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz’s final became the longest in Roland Garro’s history, 5 hours 29 minutes. Carlos Alcaraz saved three championship points to retain the French Open title by defeating world no.1 Jannik Sinner 4-6 6-7 6-4 7-6 7-6 and claiming his 5th major crown at exactly the same age as Rafal Nadal did aged 22 years, one month and three days.
To crown it all, Portugal became two-time Nations League Champions. In what was an epic match, Portugal got the victory over defending champion Spain via penalties, which they won 5-3 after a 2-2 draw.
