Sports Zone 27-05-2024

Enjoy the crew banter and discuss different stories around the world;

- A number of Nigerian athletes who have qualified for the track events of the Paris 2024 Olympics which will be held from July 26 to August 11 keeps growing with the addition of sprinters, Rosemary Chukwuma and Tima Godbless punched their tickets at the National Collegiate Athletics Association regional finals on Saturday.

- Following the completion of phase one of the Ardova Handball Premier League 2024 in Benin City, Edo State, Tojemarine Academy and Safety Babes have shown their dominance as they ended as the league’s first-half leaders in the male and women categories respectively.

- Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc held his nerve to convert pole position at his home Monaco Grand Prix into a controlled victory after a huge first-lap pile-up.

- Four-time major winner Naomi Osaka said her first-round win over Italy's Lucia Bronzetti at the French Open was "like a rollercoaster".

- Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving scored 33 points apiece and the Dallas Mavericks made all the big plays late again, beating the Minnesota Timberwolves 116-107 on Sunday night for a 3-0 lead in the Western Conference finals.

- Table toppers Enugu Rangers started the final stretch of the ongoing Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) season, with 3-0 drubbing of visiting Bayelsa United in yesterday’s MatchDay 33 to tighten their grip on the top spot with 60 points.

- Edo Queens emerged Champions of the 2024 Nigeria Women Football League (NWFL) Super 6 Championship Playoff after they played out a 1-1 draw in their last match with the host side, Bayelsa Queens on Sunday to finish top of the table with 10 points in four matches.

- The Amputee national team of Morocco on Saturday night defeated Nigeria Amputee national team in the semi final of the Amputee African Cup of Nations going on in Egypt.

- Coach Nana Agyeman is expected to be in the dugout in Tuesday’s WAFU B U-17 Championship third-place playoff clash against arch-rivals Nigeria’s Golden Eaglets as head coach Laryea Kingston remains missing in action following the Black Starlets' 2-1 upset to Burkina Faso in the WAFU B U-17 Championship semi-finals.

- George Finidi has named a 23-man squad for his first set of competitive games as the head coach of the Super Eagles.

- In preparation for the next phase of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, former Super Eagles coach, Gernot Rohr, has named his Benin Republic team to face Super Eagles.

- Bundesliga champions Bayer Leverkusen battled past second division Kaiserslautern 1-0 on Saturday to win the German Cup and secure the club’s first ever domestic double.

- The Ligue 1 and French Super Cup champions dominated the first half at Lille’s Stade Pierre-Mauroy to secure their record-extending 15th Cup title and first since 2021.

- Xavi's time as Barcelona boss came to an end with a 2-1 win at Sevilla in the final La Liga game of the season.

- Bayern Munich have agreed a three-year deal with Vincent Kompany to take over as head coach.

- Wayne Rooney has said accepting the Plymouth job is the “perfect next step” in his management career, with the former England captain thought to have signed a three-year contract as head coach of the Championship club.