Paris Paralympics opening ceremony, Zheng Qinwen marches on, goals galore in Cardiff
The curtain was raised on the final act of a summer of sport in the French capital, while three China players are into the US Open third round
There are journalists, athletes, coaches, support staff and countless others still waking up in a cold sweat thinking about the Paris Olympics, about the pressure to succeed, to meet deadlines, to ensure everything was perfect - and some are about to do it all again.
While large parts of the world was asleep, the Paris Paralympics got under way, signalling the start of another 11 days of startlingly impressive athletic endeavour.
With the US Open and the nightly dose of football we are destined to be fed from now until two weeks in July next year, here is what happened while you were sleeping.
Welcome to Paris, Take 2
The French can, it turns out, put on an opening ceremony that everyone enjoys when the fancy takes them, and it’s only fair we give credit where it’s due, given the less-than-polite things said about previous efforts.
And while it would have been hard to make a hash of an opening ceremony that turned the Place de la Concord and the Champs-Élysées into one huge outdoor stadium, artistic director Thomas Jolly had previously used a blue Dionysius and various sexual innuendos to welcome the world to the Olympic Games, so anything was possible.
As it was, responsibility for the Paralympics kick-off party was handed over to Alexander Ekman, who weaved in the challenges the athletes face in their day-to-day lives with a celebration of what they have achieved and will do so this week and next.
The flame went up in the same manner as it had done before, but the songs, speeches and theatrical performances meant the three-plus hours mercifully passed far quicker than in the earlier version.
Jerry, Jerry, Jerry
So many choices for the heading on this one. We could have gone with ‘Long live the Queen-wen’, or ‘Thrust, Parry, Riposte’, although the former was a bit contrived and latter would have been a stretch and required people to make the connection between a Frenchwoman, fencing, and a Chinese opponent, which even for this column is asking a lot.
Anyway, Jerry Shang Juncheng spared me, or rather you, from that particular horror with a 6-2, 6-3, 7-6 victory over Spain’s Roberto Carballés to reach the third round of the US Open. Still, there was no getting away from the way-too-early Jerry Springer reference, so sorry about that.
And a lesson for the rest watching, making Zheng Qinwen angry with you, or herself doesn’t appear to be a great idea. Having recovered from losing the first two games of her women’s singles match against Erika Andreeva, she then lost the first-set tiebreak, before winning 6-7, 6-1, 6-2.
Last, but by no means least, Wang Yafan breezed past Diane Parry 6-0, 6-4.
Defence is not a crime
Defence coaches, managers of a nervous disposition and Cardiff City fans should probably look away now, as we discuss the eight-goal thriller from the second round of the EFL Cup.
There aren’t many times a team will score three at home and still lose, but the Bluebirds contrived to concede five to Southampton, with Mateus Fernandes getting the first for the visitors after 10 minutes, and Cameron Archer rounding things off four minutes into time added on with his second of the evening.
Newcastle, meanwhile, managed the “massive” result of beating Nottingham Forest 4-3 on penalties. Midfielder Sean Longstaff used the word three times afterwards, to describe the win, the importance of a good cup run, and the return of Sandro Tonali to the team, after his ban for betting on matches ended.
Goodness knows what he would have said about AFC Wimbledon taking down Premier League, erm, giants, Ipswich Town 4-2 on spot kicks.
