Well, g'day guys, & welcome to our readers here in New Zealand, & around the world, I'm Whetu Ngapo & you're tuning in to my KiwiAvenger blog here on blogger, but first that Aunty Tan & Rejean have left Whanganui in which they gladly enjoy that when our family such as Pops, Dad, Raewyn, Bryan & Viv bid farewell to them when we were at Whanganui airport (It was the day after we enjoyed our whanau meal at Rutland Arms Inn with Dad, Raewyn, Raewyn's daughter, me, Pops, Nigel, Isaac, Nathan (Nazza who is Isaac's friend, but he's very similar to my Dad in terms of or regardless of his height), Aunty Tan, Rejean, Bryan & Viv, same day we had a fish & chip dinner meal altogether for an ideal start to 2026) on the same day we saw both Andy & Kelsey briefly, but I went to the Vinyl Room to resurface the dreaded SWBF2 2005 PlayStation 2 disc that is still not working which costs 5 bucks, but unfortunately Techno Fix has been closed until January 5th so me & Pops will have to go there for disc cleaning (We tried going there, but they hardly have one, while EB Games (Who I heard rumors that the gaming retailer that I always go since it opened in 2010 here in Whanganui which is by far one of my fave shops in town is closing down all of its 38 stores & it's distribution centre due to declining sales as well as a retail climate meaning that I have to go to either the Warehouse or JB Hi-fi to buy games & stuff as I heard a comment from one of my old friends of Jay at BNZ, & what is my reaction of EB closing? Well I'm stunned, I am absolutely devastated that its finally shutting down as EB Games had to go when the employees were asked by a letter being sent, & I mean this is absolute ludicrous that the shenanigans told to close it for good according to that decision which marked a turning point) does not, so we went to the library to find out, but unfortunately that they can't do that anymore because the disc cleaner had been broken), but if it doesn't, I'll have to trade it in for money just like I did not want that EA Sports Rugby game for that is completely not working, & I'm worried about Pops buying too much food so that Dad can declutter the food every time he comes to our place at 15A Kells Avenue on Sunday if Pops is not around here (And I should not tell Pops about it so that I can keep a secret from him).
And secondly in one of 3 the newspaper articles I saw on Whanganui Chronicle on the 3rd of January that I remember such as the tennis that our own Kiwi player Lulu Sun who had to pull out of the ASB Classic Women through injury after she revealed that Sun (Who reached the quarterfinals at Wimbledon the year before, & would have been a positive frame in mind following a tough season last year during the Asian swing, with 4 eye-catching weeks in China) could not recover in time & is not prepared to take on the rigours of the ATP event, but her withdrawal has been a double blow, but the latest in the tennis in Auckland at the ASB Classic women where Ukraine's Elina Svitolina triumphs against China's Wang Xin Yu in the final in which Svitolina was able to redeem herself 2 years after falling short against the American Coco Gauff (Who was in deep trouble after losing to Elina Svitolina in the Australian Open women's singles quarterfinals where TV cameras spotted Gauff at a dressing room smashing a racquet in defeat (And I mean, what the hell's wrong with it? But tournament organisers are scrambling the support staff of a tennis player of asking to cut the cameras off so they can give them space, just like an incident involving Aryna Sabalenka who smashed a racquet during the US Tennis Open last year that I saw footage from the Pardon the Interruption programme (And this is an infringement for several codes buddy!) in a newspaper headline that I saw on the Whanganui Chronicle on the 29th of January dubbed as: APPETITE FOR DESTRUCTION) in 2024, but isn't Elina's husband Gael Monfils the Frenchman who triumphed last year delighted to witness his wife's title victory at Stanley Street (And the late Carole who was always been a tennis follower would've known that result if she was alive, but unfortunately that she is no longer with us when Carole passed away last year in November for well, that was a bit of a shock (That was both sad & emotional about the loss for which I am heartbroken about it, so too is Pops (Who thought that he was a tennis follower, but he doesn't now), & her bros of Marty & Zaki), especially both the Ngapo & Webb whanau altogether (And they still have her son Andy up in the North Shore in Orewa with his wife for about presumably 7 years of Kelsey).
And thirdly that Aussie cricketer Usman Khawaja (The one who immigrated to Australia from Islamabad (Pakistan's capital city) as a child, battling the odds of to become the country's first Pakistan-born national player as he had been affected by racial stereotypes throughout his international cricket career, therefore forcing him to quit hence the reason why) is set to retire by calling time on international cricket following the 5th & final Ashes test (AKA the New Year's test) against England in Sydney at 39 who is set to pad up one last time when they take to the field for the 88th time (Where the classy left-hander returns to where it all began, back in 2011 at the Sydney Cricket Ground, also against the English) if available which begins on January 4th, therefore ending months of speculation about his future (And by the way, happy retirement Uzzie, the Aussies have done proud, so, good on him), but there has been an update as Australia win the Ashes series 4 - 1 after a most commanding but overwhelmingly dominant victory by 5 wickets over England thanks to centuries from both Travis Head (Who was the most standout player of the game) & Steve Smith in the 1st innings, while the English responded with centuries to Joe Root (His second on Aussie soil (And first since the Brisbane test) in the 1st innings, then Jacob 'Beth' Bethell (His first century ever in test cricket) in the 2nd innings, but it wasn't decent enough to overpower the Aussies in Usman Khawaja's farewell test as he signs off international cricket in style, as well as the last time that the Australians see Smith as well as Mitchell Starc (Who received the 2025-26 Ashes series MVP (Most valuable player) for being the top wicket taker of the entire campaign at 31 (That is 9 ahead of the Englishman Brydon Carse who bagged in 22 wickets for the English), Pat Cummins (Whose only involvement in the Ashes series was the 3rd test in Adelaide where Steve Smith was unavailable through sickness allowing Cummins to take over as captain, before Smith himself was available for selection in Melbourne for the Boxing Day test where he returned as the skipper after Cummins succumbed to an injury meaning that his Ashes series is over), Josh Hazlewood (Who just wasn't involved at all where he was ruled out of the series through injury) & Nathan Lyon (Who played in the 1st test in Brisbane but was left out of the 2nd test in Brisbane before returning in the 3rd test where he picked up an hamstring tear on the 5th & final day with his Ashes campaign had ended) on Aussie soil against England who won't have both Root & Ben Stokes (Who had a groin issue that tore his adductor on the fourth morning of the 5th Ashes test to become yet another casualty of England's dreadful Ashes tour as the captain bowled 10 deliveries from the beginning of play on Wednesday, then pulled up in his follow-through holding his right groin) around in 2029.
And finally that the British boxer of Anthony Joshua (The one who beat Jake Paul to retain the title in the US), has managed to survive in his ancestral homeland in Nigeria with minor injuries along with the driver who is expected to face charges for a vehicular accident causing death twice, after being discharged from hospital then being held in law enforcement custody that claimed the life of both Latif Ayodele & Sina Ghami in Lagos in which Joshua paid respects to the fallen victims at the funeral home where the bodies of his friends were being ready for repatriation.
So that is my 669th blog of the year 2026 (MMXXVI) & my 21st of this year, viva Ukraine.
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