The Gfinity Elite Series will be Australia's first national esports league with city-based clubs. Sydney and Melbourne were chosen as the first two city teams, "adding fuel to the fire of a long-standing rivalry between the two cities." Avant Gaming will represent Melbourne, while Sydney will be represented by Sydney Chiefs. Later this year, "they will join four currently unannounced clubs in a seven-week competition," fighting for a $450,000 prize pool (THE ESPORTS OBSERVERS, 2/21).
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British Cycling Performance Dir Stephen Park indirectly criticized Int'l Cycling Union (UCI) President David Lappartient for "going public with his views on Chris Froome's salbutamol case." Park, however, added that while the "current state of limbo" was “regrettable,” he did not see the controversy "casting a shadow" over next week’s track World Championships in Apeldoorn, the Netherlands. Park suggested that Lappartient should "respect the rules in place or else work to change them" (London TELEGRAPH, 2/20).
Ireland’s Cheltenham fortunes are "at an all-time high but a grim picture has been painted" of the difficulties facing the majority of this country’s racehorse trainers. The power of Willie Mullins and Gordon Elliott, in particular, has "propelled success levels at Cheltenham to last year’s record haul of 19 Irish-trained winners at the National Hunt festival." However, with three weeks until the start of Cheltenham 2018, the Irish Racehorse Trainers Association claimed on Tuesday that "big trainers are getting bigger but middle-ranking colleagues are being squeezed out of business" (IRISH TIMES, 2/20).
