Why the Toronto Raptors' title is a victory for the NBA, Canada ... and the US Kareem Abdul-Jabbar As basketball expands around the world it helps educate those abroad and at home that other cultures are not to be feared @KAJ33 'It means the world': Toronto Raptors win first NBA title after beating Warriors – video Folklore tells us that if you can see your initials in a spider’s web, you have good fortune ahead. Maybe the NBA saw their initials in the hoop net last Thursday because the Toronto Raptors’ championship victory that night could be an early prognosticator of a brighter future for professional basketball worldwide. At the very least, it could encourage the expansion of NBA teams to include other countries from south of the border and elsewhere, leading to the league evolving into a more international competition. Toronto Raptors' victory parade marred by shooting and stampede – video report As the Borg would say, “Resistance is futile.” The winds of change are already upon us. Despite California’s Golden State Warriors being the “hometown” favorites, it was Canada’s “visitor” team that most Americans were rooting for in the finals. According to a recent poll, the majority of Americans in every state except California, Nevada, and Hawaii were cheering for the Raptors to win. This is not a slight against the excellent Warriors, who may just be victims of their own deserved success in that people prefer rooting for the underdog. When it comes to sports, Americans don’t seem to share the xenophobia and nationalist fervor of the current White House administrați. Continue on https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2019/jun/17/toronto-raptors-basketball-nba-title-championship?utm_term=RWRpdG9yaWFsX1RoZVJlY2FwLTE5MDYyMQ%3D%3D&utm_source=esp&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=TheRecap&CMP=recap_emaili

Water polo players of Serbia declare Canada, in semi-finals with Australia! Serbia's national water polo at the Tašmajdan pool won Canada at 20: 5 and was placed in the semi-finals of the World Cup final. SOURCE: B92 Serbia - Canada 20: 5 SRC Tašmajdan. Gledalaca : 2,500. Judges : Aleksandresku, Sato. SERBIA : Pijetlović, Mandić 3, Rašović 2, Ranđelović 2, Cak 2, D. Pijetlović 2, Vico, Aleksić 2, Jakšić 2, Filipović 3, Prlainović 2, Drašković, Mitrović. CANADA : Aleksić, Paterson, Đerković, Konstantin 1, Haladžijan, Torakis, Spuner, Kout, Gardijan, Soleimenipak, Blanšard, D'Souza 4, Radenović. Selection of selector Dejan Savić has a point-to-point effect on the tournament, this being the fourth victory and as opposed to Kazakhstan on Friday, he is very keen. Serbia was the first in the group to win Australia with 12: 8, then Croatia at 11:10 and finally Kazahstan from the winning 20: 6, in the first match elimination "torpedovali" ship Canada. This is how the "Dolphins" in the semifinals of the final tournament will meet with Australia on a Saturday of 15 o'clock, which had surprised the favored Hungarians earlier this day by winning the 16:15 victory after the performance of the five. In the second semi-final from 16.45 Croatia and Spain are playing. What to say is that this is for Dejan Savic's choice and the best team in the world is an easier training match. Apart from the beginning, when they managed to equalize twice, Canadians of no moment were not a threat to our team. There was a question just what would be the end result, who would be the most effective, most casual ... That Serbia could easily win was clear after the initial eight minutes when it was 5: 2, so that the half-time would only increase and reach 11: 4. The Canadians were no better either below, as if they had flagged the flag, their defense was very weak, and our guys were in the mood. At the end of the big 15 goals the surplus and 20: 5. The most effective in our team were Mandic and Filipovic with three goals, while Canadian D'Souza finished the match with four goals. The winner of the tournament will receive a visa for the Tokyo Olympics in 2020 and get a $ 350,000 check, and all the details of the match you could follow with our LIVE Blog. Continue on https://www.b92.net/sport/vaterpolo/vesti.php?yyyy=2019&mm=06&dd=21&nav_id=1557552

End in Endesa League, Real Break in Barcelona to new title! Real Madrid's basketball team beat Barcelona 74:68 in the fourth game of the final series of the playoffs of the League League. SOURCE: B92 Photo: EPA-EFE / Luca Piergiovanni So the club from Madrid with 3-1 in the series managed to reach the new championship title of Spain, more precisely to defend the title won last season. This is the 35th champion of the state champion for the Royal Club and certainly the bitter pill for Barcelona and its coach Svetislav Pesic, who according to all indications, could soon be split with "blaugrana". Continue on https://www.b92.net/sport/kosarka/vesti.php?yyyy=2019&mm=06&dd=21&nav_id=1557624

U21 EP: Romanians and English "packed" four goals Romanian footballers won in Cesena's selection of England 4-2, in the second round of Group C European Championship for players up to 21 years old. SOURCE: B92 EPA-EFE / ALESSIO TARPINI Romania, after two matches, has a maximum of six points and is very close to passing to semifinals and placing the Olympic Games in Tokyo. England has no points and almost no prospect of going further, young players of Gordon Albion are one of the biggest disappointments in the tournament. Continue on https://www.b92.net/sport/fudbal/vesti.php?yyyy=2019&mm=06&dd=21&nav_id=1557595

Rebecca/Ana Patricia & Mol/Sorum tabbed as FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championship favourites Five of the six teams that placed on the Ostrava Open podium rank as the favourites for the 2019 FIVB World Championships medal winners. Lausanne, Switzerland, June 21, 2019 - With the 2019 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships scheduled to start in seven days, the teams of Rebecca Cavalcanti/Ana Patricia Silva from Brazil and Anders Mol/Christian Sorum from Norway were listed as the favourites to win medals at the biennial event to be held this season in Germany. The US$1-million FIVB World Championships will be played June 28 through July 7 at Am Rothenbaum Stadium in Hamburg with Mol and Sorum being the top-seeded pair in the 48-team men's field with Rebecca and Ana Patricia seeded fourth in the women's 48-team women's competition. In the balloting, 10 men's teams from nine countries and nine women's pairs from five nations gathered votes from the 21 coaches returning completed ballots the past two weeks. Teams were awarded three points for being listed as the gold medal winner on the ballot, two points for being named to place second and one point for being listed to finish third. The 21-year-old Mol and 23-year-old Sorum were named on 20 of the 21 ballots to net 49 points. The Norwegians collected 13 votes to win the World Championship gold medal while being named three times to place second and mentioned four times to finish third. Winners of 23 of their last 24 international beach volleyball matches en route to collecting seven gold medals in their last 10 World Tour appearances, Mol and Sorum will be seeking their second-straight title in Hamburg after winning the 2018 FIVB World Tour Finals last August at the Am Rothenbaum Stadium centre court by defeating Poland's Michal Bryl/Grzegorz Fijalek in the finals. In the midst of their second season together on the FIVB World Tour, Rebecca and Ana Patricia were named on 16 of the 21 women's ballots received from the coaches to amass 35 points. The Brazilians were selected five times to win the gold medal and were mentioned nine times to place second and twice to finish third. In nine World Tour appearances this season, the 26-year-old Rebecca and 20-year-old Ana Patricia have appeared in seven final fours with three gold medals, two seconds, one third and one fourth. The Brazilians have won 87 percent of their matches this season and top the World Tour for both women and men with 46 wins. The teams of Viacheslav Krasilnikov/Oleg Stoyanovskiy of Russia and Bryl/Fijalek finished second and third in the men's poll by gathering 24 and 15 points, respectively. The third-seeded Russians were named on 14 of the 21 ballots with the second-seeded Poles mentioned eight times. Krasilnikov and Stoyanovskiy, who are tied with Mol and Sorum with 35 match wins this season with two gold medals, were named as the gold medal winners on one ballot with eight votes to place second and five votes to finish third. Bryl and Fijalek, who have dropped four gold medal matches to Mol and Sorum the last 11 months at events in Austria, Germany, Brazil and China, gathered two gold medal votes, three second-place mentions and three votes to finish third. On an FIVB podium (left to right) in Ostrava are Michal Bryl, Christian Sorum, Anders Mol, Viacheslav Krasilnikov and Oleg Stoyanovskiy. Americans Phil Dalhausser/Nick Lucena were named on two ballots to win the men's gold medal with Daniele Lupo/Paolo Nicolai of Italy, Julius Thole/Clemens Wickler of Germany and Alison Cerutti/Alvaro Filho of Brazil recognized on one ballot each to win the World Championship trophy. Brazil also captured the second spot in the women’s voting as sixth-seeded Agatha Bednarczuk and Eduarda "Duda" Lisboa finished behind compatriots Rebecca and Ana Patricia with 22 points by being named six times by the coaches as the gold medal winners with two second-place mentions. Agatha and Duda, who have captured one gold medal in five World Tour events this season, joined Mol and Sorum as winners last August at the FIVB World Tour Finals as the Brazilians defeated Barbora Hermannova/Marketa Slukova of the Czech Republic in the 2018 finale. Brazilian favourites Ana Patricia, Rebecca, Duda and Agatha with Dutch European champions Madelein Meppelink and Sanne Keizer. With 20 points in the voting, third-seeded Heather Bansley and Brandie Wilkerson also received four gold medal votes along with three mentions for second and two votes for a third-place finish. The Canadians have won two events this season with back-to-back gold medal finishes last October at stops in the United States and Mexico. Barbora Hermannova/Marketa Slukova of the Czech Republic were named on three ballots to win the women's World Championship title with two voters naming Melissa Humana-Paredes/Sarah Pavan of Canada as the Hamburg trophy recipients. Americans Alix Klineman/April Ross were named on one ballot as the gold medal winners. The US$1-million FIVB World Championships feature 48-team fields per gender as action begins on June 28 with pool play followed by the bracket play where 32 teams advance to the elimination rounds. The women's medal matches will be played on July 6 with the men's podium placement contests set for July 7 as the winning teams share the $60,000 first-place Prizes. Continue on http://www.fivb.org/en/BeachVolleyball/viewPressRelease.asp?No=83802&Language=en

VIDEO Bulut knocked out the French by a random basket, Serbia in the semi-final SP VIDEO The Serbian basketball players placed themselves in the semifinals of the 3x3 World Cup in Amsterdam. A. KOVAČEVIĆ SOURCE: B92 Photo: fiba.basketball Medal winners at SP 3x3 will participate in the qualifying tournament for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo In the quarter-finals, Serbia won the selection of France 20:12, despite the poor opening of the match with Dusan Bulut, Dejan Majstorovic, Marko Savic and Mihailo Vasic. "Eagles" will play in the semifinals with the selection of Latvia, on Sunday from 16.05. Latvia defeated Ukraine 21: 7 in the quarter-finals. At this stage, the Latvians beat Japan 14:11, Australia 20:16 and Brazil 22:20, while losing to Poland 15:13. They average 18 points. Quarterfinals of the World Cup 3x3: Ukraine - Latvia 7:21 Poland - Puerto Rico 21:14 USA - Slovenia 21:14 France - Serbia 12:20 Serbia badly opened a quarter-final match, the French quickly took 4-0, but this series break Majstorović by a two-point shot. Gradually Serbia reinforces the defense, while Majstorović with the support of Bulut brings the equalization (5: 5) to six and a half minutes before the end. Continue on https://www.b92.net/sport/kosarka/vesti.php?yyyy=2019&mm=06&dd=22&nav_id=1557905

Grand Prix of France In Hamilton's sixth victory: Vettel has the last word Five-time Formula One World Champion Lewis Hamilton clinched his sixth win of the season in France's eighth race of the season. The Mercedes driver clearly dominated the competition on the Le Castellet track and did not leave his team-mate Valtteri Bottas with the slightest chance. Ferrari could not stand up to the Silver Arrows on the Circuit Paul Ricard, but Sebastian Vettel had the last word. Lewis Hamilton Right from the start, and the winner in Le Castellet: Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton. imago images "It was a good weekend, I'm always very proud to be a part of this team," commented Hamilton, who finished the Grand Prix with a lead of over 18 seconds: "It was not easy, it was very warm, we had to monitor the temperature of the tires, the track is uneven, then I had a problem with my seat. In the end, we are very happy. " Continue on https://www.kicker.de/gp-von-frankreich-2019-1119/751799/formel1-rennbericht

NBA: In the footsteps of Giannis Antetokounmpo (Milwaukee), favorite for the MVP title of the season Son of migrants, long-time undocumented, the Milwaukee athletic phenomenon, Giannis Antetokounmpo, favorite for the MVP title of the NBA season awarded on the night of Monday to Tuesday, grew up in the streets of Athens. "The Team" came back in his footsteps. By Arnaud Lecomte/l'Equipe After a few steps in the small street Kidonion, Spiros Velliniatis paused. At the sight of the two open-air basketball courts that occupy a spot in this peaceful central part of Athens, his gaze has become as luminous as the Cyclades. " It's from this particular place that I saw it. He was thirteen and playing with his brothers on the sidewalk that borders the playground. It's as if God had appointed me the chosen one. As if I had been hit by an electric shock. I had found my Maradona. " Continue on https://www.lequipe.fr/