Latest news with #JuniorTeam
Otago Daily Times
08-08-2025
- Sport
- Otago Daily Times
Ready to compete against the best
Seventeen year-old Catlins motorcyclist Blake Affleck is off to represent New Zealand in Italy. Leaving today, he will join the four-man Junior Team for the 2025 FIM International Six Days of Enduro (ISDE) — often called the Olympics of off-road motorcycling — from August 24-29 in Bergamo. They will be the only New Zealanders competing in the world's premier off-road motorcycle race, which features long days riding hundreds of kilometres over every kind of terrain, followed by a motocross showdown, all in the neighbourhood of nearby Milan. The team will be up against 600 riders from more than 30 nations competing at the event. A working rural professional and New Zealand 2024 Enduro Junior Champion, Affleck has been around motorbikes all his life, and first raced as a 12-year-old. In New Zealand, fields of about 30 enduro riders race for hours over 10-16km off-road circuits, where lapping slower competitors becomes a major challenge as riders manage speeds well over 100kmh, along with technical water crossings and picking lines through rugged forest. "For me it's the middle of the race that's the hardest because you're buggered physically and thinking about how much more time there is," Mr Affleck said, "You've got to keep pushing, keep consistent ... stay 100% focused. "It's fun to ride, race and push yourself." The former Catlins Area School head student has been following an intensive daily riding and weight-training programme provided by an online specialist. He and team-mates Jonty Richards, 19 (Cromwell), Dylan Huddleston, 17 (Cheviot) and Thomas Easton, 17 (Ashburton) will rent and tune-in motorcycles in Italy with the help of a support crew that includes Affleck's mother Jen. The team will be managed by Tapanui enduro athlete and mother of two, Kylie Dorr. "At a competition in Mosgiel a couple of weeks ago Blake lapped the entire field, which is just unheard of," she said. "Physically and competitively all the guys have given it everything, and have the potential to do extremely well. "We know that mental aspect — young Kiwis from small towns dropped into a massive event in the heart of Europe — that will be one of the major challenges to take on." Also a lifelong rider, Dorr helped bring New Zealand's women's team in fifth at last year's ISDE in Spain, backing team-mate Rachael Archer to second place and herself finishing 129th out of 570 riders. "Its going to be hot, rocky and dry," Affleck said of mountainous northern Italy, and drawing on similar experiences added, "I have been to Australia, on holiday once." — Allied Media
Metro
27-05-2025
- Sport
- Metro
Q School becomes last chance saloon after four survive first event
The final Q School event begins on Monday as the remaining players enter the last chance saloon to join the World Snooker Tour for next season. Four survived the nerve-shredding tension of the first event on Monday, with the quartet of Liam Pullen, Alexander Ursenbacher, Mateusz Baranowski and Oliver Brown winning two-year tour cards in Leicester. Poland's Baranowski is the only first-time professional of the four and caps off an impressive season on the amateur circuit with a move up to the elite level. The 27-year-old credits his role as a coach with junior players in Poland for his improved temperament at the table. Speaking to WST after securing professional status for the first time, he said: 'It is a crazy feeling. I didn't play my best game, but I was fighting and I was a lot more confident than last year. This is the first time I've come here and believed that I could do it. 'I've always wanted to play with professionals. This was my dream 20 years ago, when I started playing. To be honest I lost hope and I stopped playing in a lot of tournaments. It was always the same. I was going to tournaments and playing 10 percent of my game. 'In the past sometimes I have given up, but when I started coaching I knew they would be watching me. I needed to always play my best, even if I play badly. I tell them to focus and just give everything. I decided that I have to do the same. That has worked and I have been more focussed. I always say to my students, don't give up and fight. Make sure you do your best.' "I have to do what I tell them… don't give up, fight!" ❤️Mateusz Baranowski coaches Poland's Junior Team — and it's their inspiration that helped secure a maiden pro tour card! 💪🇵🇱Watch interviews with all four #QSchool winners on WST Play. — WST (@WeAreWST) May 27, 2025 Switzerland's Ursenbacher has long been seen as a player who can do damage in the game, reaching a ranking semi-final as long ago as 2017, reaching number 41 in the world rankings and beating Ronnie O'Sullivan on tour three times. However, this is now the third time the 29-year-old has come through Q School and he hopes that a change in mindset and discipline will mean he will not be back scrapping for professional status again. 'I've changed my mindset a bit. I just can't keep doing this for much longer. I don't know how I keep doing it, my record in Q School is quite good. I'm just really proud and I want to make the next step now,' he said. 'I want to do what I dreamed of as a kid. I'm getting older and I see all these youngsters achieving stuff. You see the likes of Xintong winning the World Championship. At some time you have to stop kidding yourself. 'You can talk all you want, but actions count and words mean nothing. I've always said what I think and what I feel, but discipline was a big problem for me. I know if I put the work in I will get results.' 30-year-old Brown is the oldest of a young set of winners in Q School Event 1, returning for a second stint on tour after dropping off in 2024. Pullen, still just 19 years old, comes through Q School for a second time, immediately returning to the pro ranks after losing his place at the end of the 2024/25 season. Both Asia-Oceania Q School events have now been completed as well, with Thailand's Chatchapong Nasa, 27, and the Chinese trio of Liu Wenwei, 21, Xu Yichen, 38, and Zhao Hanyang, 25, winning their places on tour. All four will be making their debuts on the professional tour in the coming season. Q School Event Two now runs from May 27 to June 1 in Leicester, with four more two-year tour cards available for the hopefuls. Picking a quartet of survivors will be extremely difficult, with a number of hugely experienced former professionals still in the field. The likes of Anthony Hamilton, David Grace, Alfie Burden, Barry Pinches, Hammad Miah, Stuart Carrington and Ian Burns all have a wealth of experience on the World Snooker Tour and are fighting to return there. There are also plenty of players looking to join the professional circuit for the first time who are more than capable of doing so, with three of them losing in the final round of Event One. More Trending Germany's Umut Dikme was beaten by Pullen, Ryan Davies lost to Ursenbacher and Patrick Whelan was downed by Baranowski. The wide range of remaining contenders – from 14-year-old Shaun Liu to 69-year-old Tony Knowles – will be whittled down to just four survivors on Sunday. After Q School is wrapped up, just one more place on the 2025/26 professional tour is still up for grabs, with the All Africa Championship played later in June and the winner offered a two-year tour card. Table One of Q School is available to watch on WST's YouTube, while two tables are available to stream on WST Play. MORE: Barry Pinches names career highlight, biggest regret and 'crying shame' in snooker MORE: Alfie Burden talks World Seniors redemption, online abuse and Q School bloodbath MORE: The 10 greatest graduates from snooker's Q School as latest hopefuls attend class
