Five things to know from what happened in the world of sport. April 20-26, 2021.
- F1 adds qualifying sprints. Formula 1 announced that this season will see the introduction of “sprint qualifying” sessions during three rounds. These “sprint qualifyings” will be 100 kilometer races that determine the Sunday Grand Prix order and that will give points to the first three drivers. Qualifying sessions will be pushed back to Fridays. It looks like they would not be official “race wins”, which would be a good thing to not demerit a Grand Prix race win.
- Learn the name: “Nepomniachtchi”. Ian Nepomniachtchi (RUS) won the FIDE Candidates Tournament and now has the right to challenge Magnus Carlsen (NOR) for the World Chess Champion title. Their date will take place in November.
- The Crucible. The World Snooker Championship is held yearly at the Crucible Theatre (ENG) and the so-called “Crucible curse” refers to the fact that no first-time winner has repeated. This time the Champion had already won six times but he will not repeat: Ronnie O’Sullivan (ENG) was defeated by Anthony McGill (SCO) in the Round of 16.
- SailGP. The first points-scoring round of the 2021-22 SailGP season took place in Bermuda. Great Britain, commanded by Ben Ainslie (ENG), took the first round by defeating Australia in the final regatta. The team skipped by Tom Slingsby (AUS) has been dominant throughout the round.
- Motorsport drama. The ABB FIA Formula E World Championship held two races in the race circuit of Valencia (ESP). The first one was dramatic as most drivers ran out of power during the very last lap, allowing Nyck De Vries (NED, Mercedes) to take the win. Jake Dennis (ENG) won the second one. The World ally Champion saw Champions Sébstien Ogier and Julien Ingrassis (FRA, Toyota) take the win off their teammates Elfyn Evans and Scott Martin (ENG) in the very last kilometers of Rally Croatia, to win by .6 seconds, the third closest margin in WRC history.
