Sports news: The teen talents hogging the headlines and why Barcelona’s star boy defies belief
The UEFA Champions League, Cricket’s IPL and the Darts Premier League all have one thing in common this week - unbelievable youth talent that was displayed on the world’s stage.
Here, Sports News Blitz’s Gabriel Mills takes us through each breathtaking moment.
Yamal’s sunny Catalunya
We start in Catalonia where a perfect advert for the Champions League took place in a semi-final first leg as Barcelona hosted Inter Milan.
Following on from a somewhat underwhelming match between Arsenal and PSG the night before, football fans were rewarded with a 6-goal thriller at the Camp Nou as Barca had to strike back from 2-0 down and again at 3-2 down to leave the tie on level terms.
The first half was a dazzling, glowing 45 minutes of football. The brightest star of all being 17-year-old Lamine Yamal who scored a crucial and equally beautiful first goal of the game for Barcelona.
This was after Inter raced into a two goal advantage; Marcus Thuram after a minute and Denzel Dumfries after 20, with both goals being brilliant pieces of flair and technique.
It was at this stage of the half where Yamal would take full control of the tie with a stunning solo dribble and finish to half the deficit.
Two minutes later he would come inches away from scoring an arguably better solo goal which ignited memories of Lionel Messi as his effort was denied by a combination of Yann Sommer and the woodwork.
It really did feel like the world was witnessing someone truly special.
The half finished 2-2.
The showing after the break was also a treat to watch as Inter’s marauding wing-back, Dumfries, grabbed his second before a thunderous Raphinha strike crashed down from the bar and in off Sommer to settle the draw.
The contribution added to Yamal’s unbelievable season, sitting on 15 goals and 20 assists in all competitions for Barcelona this campaign.
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Age is just a number
Football was rocked by the 17-year-old Spaniard and Cricket faced a similar story with two sides to its tale.
2011-born Vaibhav Suryavanshi became comfortably the youngest player to hit a century in the Indian Premier League at 14 years old, four years younger than the previous holder.
What made this even more impressive was reaching his hundred in a ridiculous 35 balls - the second quickest in IPL history only behind Chris Gayle which is not bad company at all.
The Rajasthan Royals batter shot to fame as his record-breaking century eased them past Gujurat Titans, winning by eight wickets for their third victory of the season.
The second half of this story was a monumental return to reality the following game for Suryavanshi as he suffered a 2-ball duck in a loss against league leaders Mumbai Indians.
It would seem inappropriate to file this under a ‘hero to zero’ situation but all eyes will be on the 14-year-old Indian to bounce back on Sunday, May 4 against Kolkata Knight Riders.
Littler strikes again
From one record-breaking teen to another, the Darts Premier League is nearing its conclusion as Luke Littler continues to perform to a near-flawless level.
The two-time World Series winner became a record-breaker again by winning a fifth night in one season.
Littler beat Michael Van Gerwen 6-4 in the final of the night in Birmingham, stretching his lead at the top of the table to nine points.
He will be confident in staying there for the remaining three nights before the Premier League Play-Offs on May 29 which will feature the top 4 in the table.
Littler, now 18 years of age, will be striving to defend his Premier League title for a second year.
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