he takes on a longtime friend in Sabre | Forum
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Feb 4 '18
The Illawarra Hawks have stunned the Perth Wildcats with an 89-85 win at the Perth Arena. Authentic Lions Jerseys .The Hawks took some time to settle into the contest, but Rotnei Clarke and Tim Coenraad got going in offence to lead their side to victory.Clarke finished with a game-high 20 points, while Coenraad, who has averaged less than five points a game this season, finished with 18, including four from long-range.The Hawks did have to withstand a late comeback from the Cats.Having trailed by 13 they got the margin back to four points with five minutes to play.The Hawks gave the home side every chance to pinch the win with some clumsy play in offence but they were unable to make the most of those opportunities.While the Wildcats are known as the best rebounding side in the NBL, the Hawks are not usually as efficient in that area of the game.But the visitors controlled the boards for the most of the contest, finishing with a 30-20 advantage.Andrew Ogilvy led the way with eight defensive boards.A win would have returned Perth to the top of the NBL ladder, but instead they recorded their second loss at home in three outings at the Arena.The Hawks have now claimed victories over both grand finalists from last season, after beating New Zealand last weekend and have won five of their past seven games.The win also broke a 25-game losing streak for the Hawks in Perth, which for coach Rob Beveridge, a former Wildcats coach, said was extra special.Every time we come here, we get reminded of the drought - 11 years or whatever, he said.Its super special because I have been in this building so many times coaching the Wildcats. I have an emotional attachment to the club.Particularly for Rhys Martin, who has been in the League for nine years now, he has never won in Perth.Wildcats coach Trevor Gleeson said he was disappointed not to make the most of their good start.Our teamwork was pretty poor, he said. We didnt play Wildcats basketball.The second quarter was one of the worst quarters Ive seen.I reckon we could pick up five guys from the local gym and theyd play better than what we did in that second quarter. Cheap Lions Jerseys . John Tavares, Thomas Vanek and Kyle Okposo were also being counted on to slow down sizzling Rangers forward Rick Nash. That plan didnt go so well early. Lions Youth Jerseys . Andrew Luck lost his favourite target and the Indianapolis locker room lost one of its most revered leaders when Reggie Wayne was diagnosed Monday with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee that will cost him the rest of the season. http://www.authenticlionsshopnfl.com/ .In my heart and mind Im competing for India, luge competitor Shiva Keshavan told The Associated Press in an email interview. Every day Im flooded with messages from Indians all over the world telling me they are supporting me. There was a tremendous buzz among wrestling fans when the WWE announced the Cruiserweight Classic, a 32-man competition pitting wrestlers from around the world -- most of whom had no prior relationship or contract with the WWE -- against one another in a single-elimination tournament until only one wrestler was left standing.When the field for this tournament was revealed, the excitement grew as some of the brightest stars of the independent wrestling world elected to compete, setting a high bar as far as expectations are concerned once things officially kicked off.From the pre-launch Bracketology special to the very first episode, it was immediately clear that the presentation for this event, both visually and stylistically, was going to be very different from anything else that the WWE had produced before. The setup at Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida, where NXTs weekly episodes are typically filmed, was completely transformed in terms of lighting and presentation, and, as a final touch to give the CWC broadcast true gravitas and substance, paired Daniel Bryan and Mauro Ranallo as the commentary team.s Click to enlarge (Courtesy of WWE.com)With 75 percent of the field already on the sideline, the picture of how this tournament is playing out is getting clearer. There have been surprises galore in the first two rounds of the tournament; Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa, who went quite the journey in August as they faced each other in one of the standout matches of the first round and then vied for the NXT tag team championships together in Brooklyn, are both out despite being among the early favorites.There are two weeks of quarterfinal action to come, followed by a two-hour live finale encompassing the semifinals and finals on Sept. 14. Even when this contest is over, it wont be the last well see of many of the CWCs competitors -- theyll soon find themselves on Raw, which is launching a cruiserweight division. Gargano, Ciampa and Cedric Alexander have already been announced to compete in that division, with the rumored inclusions of quarterfinalists Rich Swann, Noam Dar, Brian Kendrick and T.J. Perkins, with more sure to follow.Before we get too far ahead of ourselves, lets take a look back at how each of the final eight wrestlers arrived in the quarterfinals -- and a look forward to what we can expect over the next three weeks.Brian Kendrick vs. Kota IbushiBrian Kendrick (USA)Rd. of 32: Defeated Raul Mendoza (Mexico) by submission (Bully choke) Rd. of 16: Defeated Tony Nese (USA) by submission (Bully choke)Kota Ibushi (Japan)Rd. of 32: Defeated Sean Maluta (American Samoa) by pinfall (Golden Star powerbomb) Rd. of 16: Defeated Cedric Alexander (USA) by pinfall (Golden Star powerbomb)Brian Kendrick, along with Tajiri, were the only two previously established WWE-level competitors entered into the Cruiserweight Classic. At 37-years-old, Kendrick was also one of the oldest competitors in the field. And despite his previous experience and a lengthy list of accomplishments, like being half of the longest reigning WWE world tag team champions in SmackDown history, it appeared as though Kendrick was simply a convenient bracket-filler. It seemed especially convenient and fortuitous as he was already working at the WWEs Performance Center in Orlando as a trainer.Opinions started to shift after Kendrick won his first round match, with elements of his new persona -- the bearded, grizzled-looking Post-Apocalyptic scavenger -- Kendrick scrapped for every inch and eventually lured Mendoza in with a feigned injury and locked on the Bully choke for the submission victory.?He similarly won his second match against Tony Nese via an any means necessary approach, though it took the briefest of lulls in which Nese went for a 450° splash and missed for Kendrick to get the victory. The win over Nese was of particular surprise for some, including myself, because Nese had one of the most prototypical WWE-ready looks of anyone in this field; dont be surprised if you Nese in the mix once the cruiserweights debut on Raw.Kota Ibushi was one of the favorites coming into this tournament, and he stole many of the headlines when the full roster of 32 for this tournament was announced. Hes one of the most high-profile independent stars to never had any interaction with the WWE throughout his career, and fans and prognosticators alike wondered if his appearance in the crowd at NXT TakeOver: Dallas and subsequent inclusion in this tournament meant he would join the likes of an ever-growing wave of Japanese talent to sign a WWE contract.To this point, hes publicly denied signing a WWE contract, but regardless of his status at this moment hes already showed plenty of reasons why he should be a WWE superstar with two of the best matches in the CWC so far. His opening round matchup with Sean Maluta, which closed out the very first episode of the CWC, has since been overshadowed by his own and other performances in the tournament -- but it was certainly a tone-setter for the way things played out going forward. It was just as much about it being a standout performance by Maluta, but Ibushi gave a taste of why hes been a superstar in promotions like DDT and New Japan Pro Wrestling for so long.Ibushis second-round matchup with Alexander has been the standard-bearer thus far, going far beyond the scope of just the CWC in getting tabbed as one of the best matches of the year, anywhere. There were crisp aerial maneuvers to both the inside and outside, and killer-looking strikes from both men, to say nothing of the multitude of counters and escalating series of near-falls -- and that only begins to tell the story. While a 20-minute time limit could have restricted the creativity as far as a match of this profile is concerned, the pacing and storytelling in the ring stretched that time to its limits, and the commentary by Bryan and Ranallo really brought it home. While theyve enhanced the presentation throughout, nowhere was their storytelling on commentary more valuable than in narrating this particular classic. If you havent watched any of this tournament, I implore you to seek out this match in the fifth episode of the series and, once its done, watch all of the aftermath with Alexander and the crowd.Quarterfinals matchup:?Despite tours of Japan with several different companies, Kendrick has never previously been in the ring with Ibushi. While Kendricks road to redemption has been one of the more compelling stories throughout this tournament, Ibushi was one of the favorites when this tournament began and continues to be one at this late stage. This is far and away the highest-profile contest that Kendrick has been involved in since leaving the WWE, and if Ibushis résumé is any indication, this could be one of the highlights of the round.Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Noam DarZack Sabre Jr. (England)Rd. of 32: Defeated Tyson Dux (Canada) by submission (Omoplata) Rd. of 16: Defeated Drew Gulak (USA) by pinfall (Prawn hold roll-up)Noam Dar (Scotland)Rd. of 32: Defeated Gurv Sihra (India) by submission (Kneebar) Rd. of 16: Defeated Ho Ho Lun (Hong Kong, China) by submission (Kneebar)Many of the competitors in the CWC base their offense around high-flying aerial maneuvers, but thats absolutely not the case when youre talking about the two men from the United Kingdom who are set to square off in the quarterfinals.?Zack Sabre Jr. is recognized worldwide to have assumed the mantle of the greatest technical wrestler in the world from Bryan, with the ability to pull off some of the most mind-blowing reversals with ease and versions of high-difficulty submission maneuvers unlike anyone else in the business. Most of his early career was been spent in the biggest independent companies in the UK, but trips to the United States have become more frequent, especially of late. Hes held titles in a number of companies and is the current world champion in cult indy favorite Pro Wrestling Guerilla.On his path to the final eight, Sabre Jr. faced a pair of similar wrestlers. First up was veteran Canadian Tyson Dux, who had a competitive match with the Brit as they traded strikes and submissions. Sabre Jr. locked on a painful looking Omoplata submission and cranked Duxs fingers back until he submitted. In the round of 16, Sabre Jr. took on a man hes quite familiar with in Drew Gulak. The pair have both spent significant time in Evolve, an independent organization thats established a relationship with the WWE, and this match was the fifth time the pair was in the ring together. Aftter Gulaks side won the first three showdowns, Sabre Jr. Lions Womens Jerseys. has won the most recent two showdowns, including a technical masterpiece here in the CWC. This time it wasnt a submission, but rather a crafty roll-up pinfall that fueled Sabre Jr. to victory.EXCLUSIVE: As the #CWC rolls on, @zacksabrejr is prepared to fight his closest friends the hardest! @WWE_CWC https://t.co/ft6tQcWHb8- WWE (@WWE) August 25, 2016Noam Dar was one of the youngest entrants into the CWC, and traveled quite a road to get to this point. The Israeli-born, Scottish-raised 23-year-old has wrestled the vast majority of his career within the friendly confines of the UK, but hes gained quite the reputation in taking on and keeping up with some of the best the industry has to offer.He took out half of the Bollywood Boyz in defeating Gurv Sihra with a kneebar, then turned around and saddled Hong Kong upstart Ho Ho Lun with the same fate in the second round. Now he takes on a longtime friend in Sabre Jr. who can match him shot-for-shot on the mat in a showdown that should be the most compelling, as it has history. It follows the Gargano-Ciampa matchup in terms of recent history, but is likely the second-most compelling matchup thus far in terms of history outside of this t
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