Scout’s Overview
📡 🚨 Weekly Sports Radar: Bandy

Bandy is often called “the cousin of ice hockey”. It’s played on a massive ice field which is the size of a football (soccer) pitch. Each team has 11 players, and instead of a puck, they use a small ball and play with curved sticks. Originating in England in the 19th century, bandy quickly grew in popularity in Scandinavia and Russia, where it remains a winter staple.

It’s governed by the Federation of International Bandy and even has its own World Championship, with Sweden, Russia, and Finland as top contenders. Matches are split into two 45-minute halves, just like football. While still relatively niche globally, bandy boasts serious fan bases in northern Europe and Siberia.

🏋 Athlete of the week: Vaibhav Suryavanshi

JUST 14 YEARS OLD. Vaibhav made history this week, debuting as the youngest ever player in to play in the Indian Premier League (one of the biggest Cricket tournaments). You’d think he’d be in a lot of pressure playing against some of the greatest cricketers in the world, but he hit 6 runs (the maximum runs one can hit ~ almost like a homerun) on the very first ball.

🏟️ Venue of the week: Mauka Disc Golf Course

Mauka Disc Golf Course in Kauai, Hawaii, started as a 9-hole layout alongside the world-renowned Princeville Makai Golf Club, once ranked among Golf Digest’s top 100 public courses. It’s now a stunning 18-hole disc golf course, ranked #3 in the world by UDisc.

🧤 Fit Check: Oval Invincibles 2024

Oval Invincibles is a South London-based franchise in the 100-ball cricket format, called The Hundred. This format is the latest tweak to Cricket with an attempt to make it modern, and the jersey certainly help the cause. I personally love the hand gestures at the bottom supporting the simple and unique logo, accompanied by stunning non-traditional colours.

From the bench
🗞️ In case you were injured:

• 800-year-old sport (royal tennis) sees its 50th venue open this week in Sydney

• Simone Biles and Mondo Duplantis have been awarded the Laureus award, nicknamed the Oscars of Sports (the article has a full list of awards, like breakthrough of the year, Lamine Yamal)

• Kenya’s Sharon Lokedi smashed the Women's course record by more than 2 minutes, beating the previous 11-year strong record  

🎯 In overtime:

• An Everton fan was given a lifetime ban from their NEW stadium after filming himself stealing some food. Imagine getting banned from a stadium that is yet to be built

• Check out this insane catch where the outfielder scales a wall to stop a home run

• As much as we like sportsmanship, we love a good old sports fight. NASCAR provides us with an insane car crash and fight between drivers this week

📊 Analyst’s Corner: All-time Winter Olympics Gold Medals by Country

The top 3 are: 

1. Norway - 148 gold medals

2. United States - 114 gold medals

3. Germany - 104 gold medals

But if we were to include precursors for countries (like East & West Germany for Germany):

1. Germany - 162 gold medals

2. Norway - 148 gold medals

3. Russia 140 gold medals

🏆 Sports Calendar

Here’s a look at the ongoing and upcoming sports events this week: