Kia ora, Talofa, Ma’lelei, Bula and Welcome to Season 08 Episode 11 of Breakfast Bites, by TeivovoSports.com – a wrap of Pasifika people’s sports news, on a sunny and bright Thursday morning 11 January 2024.Coming to you with tons of hanisi from the 180th meridian in the middle of the Blue Continent. In rugby union: The opening round of the World Rugby HSBC Sevens Challenger 2024, takes place at The Sevens Stadium in Dubai from tomorrow over three days.There is more to play for than ever before in this year’s Challenger with the competition expanded to three rounds and the top four placed men’s and women’s teams qualifying for the new promotion and relegation play-off competition at the HSBC SVNS 2024 Grand Final in Madrid.The 12-team men’s and women’s competition format replicates the Olympic Games with three pools of four teams each.The Challenger runs from January to May with men’s and women’s combined events in Dubai, UAE and Montevideo, Uruguay before standalone events in Germany and Poland.Three teams in the Men’s competition – Uruguay, Japan and Kenya – have already booked their places at the Olympic Games Paris 2024 and they headline Pools A, B and C respectively.All teams qualified for the Challenger 2024 through regional competitions.Men’s pools:Pool A: Uruguay, Hong Kong China, Papua New Guinea, GeorgiaPool B: Japan, Tonga, Chile, PortugalPool C: Kenya, Germany, Uganda, MexicoWomen’s pools:Pool A: Belgium, Thailand, Papua New Guinea, UgandaPool B: China, Czechia, Mexico, KenyaPool C: Poland, Hong Kong China, Paraguay, ArgentinaHSBC World Rugby Sevens Challenger 2024 dates:Dubai, UAE – 12-14 JanuaryMontevideo, Uruguay – 8-10 MarchKrakow, Poland - 18-19 May Munich, Germany –18-19 MayIn football: Chelsea have work to do to avoid slumping to a shock League Cup semi-final exit to Middlesbrough after losing the first leg 1-0 at the Riverside on Tuesday.Hayden Hackney scored the only goal on 38 minutes as the Championship side held out against Mauricio Pochettino’s expensively assembled array of underperforming stars.A fifth defeat in six away games heaps more pressure on Pochettino, with Chelsea languishing in 10th spot in the Premier League.In SportsBiz: US$35Million is the amount in cash bonus that Mark Cuban is distributing to Dallas Mavericks employees after selling his majority interest in the NBA team, according to ESPN. “To calculate your bonus, we used a framework that took into consideration how long you have worked for the Mavs,” Cuban emailed staff.In combat sports: Cameroonian warrior Francis Ngannou made over US$10Million against Tyson Fury, with a report from the Sports Business Journal claiming he is expected to earn around US$20M this time around against AJ.As for Joshua, he's expected to make 'double that figure' so he could bank around US$40M.In the NBA: Toronto Raptors coach Darko Rajakovic delivered one of the angriest rants in recent NBA history after the LA Lakers were given 23 last-quarter free throws in a 132-131 win.The Lakers escaped by the skin of their teeth at home after hitting 10 free throws in the last 34 seconds of the game alone.In total the Raptors went eight of 13 on free throws, while the Lakers shot 28 of 36.“That’s outrageous. What happened tonight, is complete BS,” Rajakovic declared post-game.“Shame on the referees, shame on the NBA for allowing this: 23 free throws for them and we get two free throws in the fourth quarter.“If that’s the case, just let us know so we don’t show up for the game, give them the win.He concluded: “It’s complete crap.”He’s right too – in football it’s a fixed match! That’s what it is.And that’s a wrap!For TeivovoSports.com I’m Culden Kamea – please hit the like and subscribe buttons below if you want to receive more Pasifika sports highlights on Breakfast Bites.Mahalo, Kakite and tank you all too mas for all your love and support.#TEIVOVORugby #TEIVOVODigital #TeivovoRugby #TeivovoDigital #rugby #rugby7s #FijiRugby #rugbyunion #rugbyleague #Raka #team #r