Olympics, Euros football, Wimbledon and The Open golf
In 2020, the Corona pandemic hit the world with an enormous bang. Who would have thought that eighteen months ago the COVID-19 virus would have had such an impact on us? The truth of the matter is that only a miniscule percentage of the population could have ever have predicted what lay ahead of us.
This time last year pretty well all meetings and socialising were either banned or limited to indoors with a tiny gathering. Sport fell under this pandemic umbrella too. The earth became a scarey place. When eventually a few sporting events did go ahead, it was with zero public. Even though the new Delta variant of COVID-19 is now spreading at quite a pace in the last few weeks, thankfully there are some welcome uplifting of Corona regulations which means that hospitals are admitting fewer patients. And fewer patients in hospital must surely pave the way for a fitter future for us all. Well, let’s hope so!
Last year saw a host of sporting events either cancel or reschedule to later in the year. Four that were cancelled in 2020 spring to mind: Olympic Games Tokyo, Euro football, Wimbledon tennis and, naturally, The Open Golf Championship at Royal St. George’s in Kent. These four delightful events are busy, busy, busy in July 2021 with important preparations for an impressive start or tee-off. Wimbledon tennis and the Euro football championships are both about to crown the new champion. Let’s look at them in more detail.
UEFA Euro 2020 Football Championship: Tonight is an enormously important night for England as they face Denmark in the semi-finals of the Euro 2020 football championship. Yes, it is 2021 but the organisers have elected to call it “Euro 2020”. If England are lucky tonight under the leadership of their dedicated team manager Gareth Southgate, they will compete again in the final on Sunday against Italy. Good luck guys – this could be your year!
Wimbledon Tennis: The second week of Wimbledon is flying! Today (7 July) is the men’s quarter-finals when we see the defending champion from Serbia, Novac Djokovic, up against Marton Fucsovics from Hungary. Eight times champion, Roger Federer, aged 39 takes the stage with Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz and looks in fighting form to meet Djokovic in the final. But there are also two other matches to keep an eye on: Khachanov v Shapovalor and Berrettini v Auger-Aliassime. Perhaps there will be an unexpected new Wimbledon Champion this year!
The ladies are one round ahead of the guys. Tomorrow (8 July) is the semi-finals when Ashleigh Barty (Australia) plays former Champion Angelique Kerber from Germany and Ons Jabeur is up against Karolina Pliskova. Just as in the men’s game, the girls have seen many an upset on court this year. Who will be crowned champion at the weekend? It is anyone’s guess!
Read more about the Olympics Games Tokyo and the Open Championship at Royal St. George’s in our next blog. Until then, enjoy the fun and excitement of all these sporting events!
Wendy Hoad
MAIN PHOTOGRAPH: Face masks are becoming a thing of the past at sporting events. © Photography by Golfing Inspirations.