Coverage: TNT
- Philadelphia, PA
- Line: EVEN
- Over/Under: 229
Capacity: 20,155
Kane Fitzgerald, Ben Taylor, JB DeRosa
The win in the Moroccan city was a major boost to their bank of confidence; the realisation dawned that they could compete with the best the continent has to offer.
Memorably at the semi-final stage they beat Nigeria’s Olajide Omotayo and Segun Toriola (9-11, 11-8, 11-7, 11-7), followed by success in opposition to Egypt’s Mohamed El-Beiali and Ahmed Ali Saleh (13-15, 11-7, 2-11, 11-6, 11-8) to arrest the title.
Now can Sami Kherouf, the no.7 seed in Tunis, repeat the feat when alone, repeat the feat when there is no Mohamed Sofiène Boudjadja
“I am preparing for the ITTF Africa Top 16 Cup like every African competition with the ambition to do better than the last edition. My main goal in Tunisia is to win a medal at Africa Top 16 Cup.” Sami Kherouf
It is his third appearance the tournament, the goal to make an impact, to dent the established order.
“I don’t set a specific goal as the dream of every player is to win the tournament; this is my ambition, the will is to go further. I am not bothered about the seeding list as seeding can be altered on table. I don’t care about the rating as I am aiming to win every match I play. I believe the ranking will change after the tournament.” Sami Kherouf
He is one of two Algerians competing in Tunis, the other is Larbi Bouriah
Furthermore, potentially there could be a repeat of the 2019 final; Croatia’s Ivor Ban, the player Samuel Kulczycki beat to secure the title, is the no.2 seed.
Success last year in Hodonin; later in the year both made their presence felt. On the ITTF World Junior Circuit, Samuel Kulczycki won in Slovakia, having earlier in the year been a semi-finalist on home soil in Poland. Additionally, at the 2019 ITTF Challenge Polish Open, he reached the under 21 men’s singles semi-finals.
Likewise, Ivor Ban excelled. He was the runner up in Slovenia, before at the end of the year winning in Portugal.
Noteworthy performances on the 2019 ITTF World Junior Circuit, amongst the leading names on duty in Hodonin, Slovakia’s Adam Klajber, the no.6 seed, won in Slovenia; listed one place higher, colleague Felip Delincak was the runner up in Morocco.
Similarly, the Czech Republic’s Tomas Martinko, the no.4 seed, reached the semi-final round in Serbia, as did Italy’s John Oyebode in Poland and Belgium’s Nicolas Degros in Slovenia. In Hodonin, in the junior boys’ singles event, John Oyebode is the no.7 seed, Nicolas Degros next on the list. Impressive performances last year, it was the same from Poland’s Maciej Kubik, the no.3 seed; he was a quarter-finalist in Croatia.
Candidates for honours, for Maciej Kubik, undoubtedly that is the situation in the junior boys’ doubles event; he partners Samuel Kulczycki, they occupy the top seeded spot ahead of Filip Delincak and Adam Klajber.
Titles last year for leading names in the junior boys’ singles event; in the counterpart junior girls’ singles competition the player to enjoy success was Serbia’s Radmila Tominjak. In North Macedonia, she reserved the top step of the podium at the expense of colleague, Reka Bezeg; in Hodonin, Radmila Tominjak is the no.7 seed, Reka Bezeg, the no.8 seed.
Runners up spot for Reka Bezeg, for Romania’s Elena Zaharia, it was the same finish in Poland as it was for Russia’s Natalia Malinina in Serbia. At the Czech Junior and Cadet Open, Elena Zaharia is the no.4 seed, followed immediately by Natalia Malinina.
Impressive performances, in a similar vein Isa Cok of France, the no.2 seed, reached the semi-final stage in both Thailand and Serbia; a feat equalled by the Czech Republic’s Linda Zaderova, the no.6 seed, in Slovenia.
Noteworthy efforts, Italy’s Jamila Laurenti, the top seed in Hodonin and Darya Kisel, the no.3 seed, also attracted the attention. In Hungary Jamila Laurenti advanced to the quarter-finals, as in both Sweden and Croatia did Darya Kisel.
However, Jamila Laurenti does have a special liking for the Czech Republic; last year in Ostrava she was the runner up in the junior girls’ singles event at the European Youth Championships.
Prominent in the junior girls’ singles event, Darya Kisel and Jamila Laurenti are also prominent in the junior girls’ doubles; they occupy the top seeded position ahead of Isa Cok and French colleague, Helga Daria.
Play commences with the group stage of the junior boys’ singles and junior girls’ singles events; the top 16 players in each discipline receive a direct entry to the main draw.
She heads a strong Japanese entry; notably Hitomi Sato, Miyu Kato, Saki Shibata and Honoka Hashimoto, also appear prominently on the women’s list, as for the men do the names of Masataka Morizono and Yukiya Uda.
Like Kasumi Ishikawa, Hitomi Sato has enjoyed ITTF World Tour women’s singles success, she won in 2016 in Croatia. Similarly, both prevailed last year at ITTF Challenge Series tournaments; Hitomi Sato won her career fourth by succeeding in Thailand, later in the year, Kasumi Ishikawa secured her first when competing in Canada.
Similarly, Miyu Kato succeeded last year, winning in Spain, having the previous year won in Slovenia. However, in terms of numbers, of those competing in Granada, Saki Shibata is ahead of the field. Commencing in 2017 in Belgium she has emerged the winner five times.
In Granada, Kasumi Ishikawa is the top seed, ahead of Hitomi Sato; Puerto Rico’s Adriana Diaz, winner at the recent Universal 2020 Pan America Cup is the next in line, followed by Chinese Taipei’s Chen Szu-Yu and Thailand’s Suthasini Sawettabut. Saki Shibata and the venerable Ni Xia Lian complete the top eight names.
Prominent in the women’s singles, it is the same in the women’s doubles in what could well be a competition between Japanese pairs to determine the most successful ever at ITTF Challenge Series tournaments.
Satsuki Odo and Saki Shibata, who by winning last week in Spain, secured their sixth women’s doubles title. Thus they equalled the record of Honoka Hashimoto and Hitomi Sato.
In Lisbon, Honoka Hashimoto and Hitomi Sato occupy the no.2 seeded spot; Satsuki Odo and Saki Shibata appear one place below. Chinese Taipei’s Chen Szu-Yu and Cheng Hsien-Tzu, semi-finalists at the Agricultural Bank of China 2019 ITTF World Tour Grand Finals, top the list.
Japan to the fore in the women’s events, to a lesser extent it is the same in the men’s competition.
Masataka Morizono, winner at the 2019 ITTF Challenge Series Paraguay Open, is the no.5 seed, Yukiya Uda, yet to win but the runner up in 2018 in Belgium and last year in Belarus, is the no.7 seed. Moreover, he is a player in form, earlier this year he won the men’s singles title at the Japanese National Championships.
Top of the list is Egypt’s Omar Assar followed by Austria’s Robert Gardos, Frenchman Emmanuel Lebesson and Wang Yang; the name to note being Robert Gardos, at the recent CCB 2020 ITTF Europe Top 16 tournament in Montreux he finished in third place. Masataka Morizono is the no.5 seed with Chinese Taipei’s Chen Chien-An, the next on the list ahead of Yukiya Uda. Portugal’s Tiago Apolonia is the no.8 seed.
A notable Japanese presence, it is the same in the men’s doubles but not in the mixed.
Winners last year in Croatia, Shunsuke Togami and Yukiya Uda head the men’s doubles order, Slovakia’s Lubomir Pistej and Barbora Balazova, triumphant in December in Canada, occupy the mixed doubles top spot.
Meanwhile, the leading names in the under 21 men’s singles event are India’s Manav Vikash Thakkar and Frenchman Bastien Rembert; in the under 21 women’s singles, Japan’s Maki Shiomi, the winner last week in Spain, heads the list, Romania’s Andreea Dragoman is the no.2 seed.
AUSTIN, Texas – Tuesday’s inclement weather at Circuit of the Americas didn’t allow for proper NTT IndyCar Series testing, but Team Penske’s Will Power got to experience driving in the water spray of another car using the sport’s latest safety innovation, the cockpit-protecting Aeroscreen.
Power said the Aeroscreen performed as designed, in particular no fogging or visibility issues during a rainy day with temperatures in the low 40s. His run was limited with just two laps under full-course caution conditions behind Scott McLaughlin, the two-time defending winner of the Virgin Australia Supercars Championship testing Team Penske’s No. 2 Chevrolet this week on the 20-turn, 3.41-mile road course.
“It was (helpful),” Power said of the Aeroscreen. “The windscreen is great; it just clears. Obviously, we didn’t have a long run.”
Power was one of 11 NTT IndyCar Series drivers to turn a lap as just 17 controlled laps were completed, including three by McLaughlin. He will make his NTT IndyCar Series debut Saturday, May 9 in the GMR Grand Prix at Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s road course.
The final day of the two-day test will be held Wednesday with a revised schedule due to the limited number of laps completed. The cars will be on track from 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Central Time (local) with a 30-minute lunch break at noon.
Arrow McLaren SP driver Pato O’Ward only turned a portion of a lap, enough only to get heat in the brakes. He was pleased with the Aeroscreen at his Nov. 5 test at Sebring (Fla.) Int’l Raceway.
“There are going to be some things we’re going to have to work through, but as a first try it was pretty remarkable,” O’Ward said.
With the limited on-track action, much of Tuesday’s attention was given to seven-time NASCAR Cup champion Jimmie Johnson, who visited as a guest and spent time with drivers of Arrow McLaren SP. Johnson attended the morning drivers’ meeting and met with several of his friends in the paddock.
Johnson admitted a possible interest in racing an Indy car in 2021 after his NASCAR contract expires. He said the addition of the Aeroscreen “certainly elevates safety on all forms of courses IndyCar competes on.”
“I’m definitely learning,” Johnson said. “This is a totally different world than what I’ve been used to, but it’s a world I dreamed of racing in when I was a kid growing up in San Diego. My heroes were the guys that raced in the Indy 500. I’d go to the Long Beach Grand Prix and watch, hang out and wanted to be in a car going by.
“For me, this is a learning experience and (IndyCar) has always been a bucket list category for me to come see these cars, be around these cars. (Next year) is open for me and who knows what opportunity might come along in IndyCar, sports cars or back to my off-road roots. I’m just taking it all in and see what comes of it.”
Power, who often sees Johnson while karting in Charlotte, N.C., is excited about the prospect of racing against stock car racing’s active legend.
“I think that would be pretty cool to have him,” he said.
NEW YORK -- The New York Knicks issued a statement after the team's branding consultant, Steve Stoute, went on ESPN's First Take and discussed the team's coaching decisions.
"Any decisions regarding the operations of the team will be made by the new President of the New York Knicks," the team said in a statement.
An additional statement from Stoute released by the team said that "in my excitement to defend the Knicks on live TV today, I inadvertently insinuated about Knicks personnel."
On Tuesday morning, Stoute told ESPN's First Take that "there had to be a change" in firing former president Steve Mills. He also implied that replacing Mills with Scott Perry means that the franchise will hire a new coach.
The Knicks fired former coach David Fizdale in early December and replaced him with interim coach Mike Miller.
Before Tuesday, no Knicks representative had made any comments about Miller's future with the franchise.
"They got some young players -- you see RJ Barrett, Mitch Robinson," Stoute said. "They got something to work with. And getting a coach in there and ultimately getting a coach and a coaching staff that's going to help develop a team. That's what I expect to happen so that we can actually get what you expect from a New York team.
"... Having a coach like that who has the magnitude and gravitas so that the media would love to talk to him and believe him, I think that's super important."
Stoute, who founded the agency Translation and worked with musicians such as Mary J. Blige, was hired by the Knicks in January. The Knicks currently have a 17-37 record and are 13th in the Eastern Conference.
PHILADELPHIA -- Brett Brown has plenty of experience dealing with Joel Embiid's social media posts.
After the All-Star center's latest foray into that space on Monday, the Philadelphia 76ers coach did his best to downplay any significance in Embiid's resurfacing of his beef with the fans.
"Is it ideal? Maybe not," Brown said before Tuesday's game against the LA Clippers at Wells Fargo Center. "Is it Joel? Yes.
"Is there a maverick in a lot of really good players? Yes. And there's this sort of side of Jo that has always been there. It's a ... playful is probably not the word that best suits this. But it's that, some phrasing of that.
"We move on. I don't really have much more to add to that."
Instead, Brown added fuel to the fires surrounding his team by opting to move Al Horford to the bench Tuesday and slide Furkan Korkmaz into the starting lineup in his place. It marked the first time Horford had come off the bench since November 2007, his rookie season in the NBA.
Horford, who was Philadelphia's prized free-agent signing this summer, has struggled to acclimate to his new surroundings after spending the previous three seasons with the Boston Celtics, and he had his own run-in with the fans Friday, when he shushed them during Philadelphia's blowout win over the Memphis Grizzlies.
Embiid, however, took things to another level during Sunday's win over the Chicago Bulls, getting caught on camera twice during the game telling the fans to "shut up." The second time he did so, in the game's final minute after he hit a 3-pointer, came with an expletive thrown.
After that game, Embiid attempted to downplay the moment, saying, "I mean, I don't care how it looks. I'm just playing basketball. Just getting back to myself, just being a good a--hole. Just playing basketball and just trying to dominate."
Then came Monday, when Embiid posted this to Twitter and Instagram:
On his Instagram post, former teammate Jimmy Butler chimed in with, "I know a place where villains are welcome."
Embiid then replied, "Damn right my brother."
For his part, Brown simply sounded exasperated about the whole thing before Tuesday's game, Philadelphia's final one before the All-Star break.
"I've got so much more that I'm thinking about than that," Brown said. "I'll go back to my original comment: Is it ideal? No. Am I reading too much into it, will I overreact? Absolutely not. The people who have been around Jo for all of our time should get what motivates him, and I think we'd all be quite surprised if there isn't a level that we see from Jo tonight. The Philly fans, they bring out the best of him, of us, they keep it very much at a real level. I look forward to seeing him play tonight."
When Embiid came onto the court for pregame warm-ups, he signed a couple of autographs and then was cheered by the few fans already in the building.
During pregame introductions, the loudest ovation went to Korkmaz, whom fans have been clamoring to have start in place of Horford. Embiid, meanwhile, was met with a heavy mix of cheers and boos -- far from the usual thunderous ovation he receives as the last player introduced before games at Wells Fargo Center.
On Philadelphia's opening offensive possession, Embiid cleaned up a miss by Ben Simmons and scored, drawing a foul in the process. The crowd reacted with a loud cheer for Embiid, who responded by spreading his arms wide and asking for more as a wide smile crossed his face.
Brown insisted that Embiid continues to be the leader behind the scenes that his team needs.
"If you were the security camera at our practice facility, you're going to see him there at 12 at night, 12:30 at night repetitively," Brown said. "Not so long ago, we see his finger swinging on national TV, and a few weeks later he comes back and has that thing. All of us would be quite naive and maybe never played a lot of basketball to think that doesn't affect his game.
"Does he step out of bounds with this instance? It's not ideal, I concede that. Could he be better? We all could. I feel like there's a little bit of fairness that needs to be extended to him, the ones who know really what has gone on behind closed doors at 12 midnight, team meetings where things are spoken and said that nobody really is aware of.
"I always want more from myself, from Ben, from Jo, it's not something that when you asked the question the way you have asked it, that I would answer it any other way than the way I just did. I feel confident and comfortable saying what I just said."
Coverage: TNT
Capacity: 20,155
Kane Fitzgerald, Ben Taylor, JB DeRosa
Win %:50.2
0.0 - 2nd
End of the 2nd Quarter
End of the 2nd Quarter
Paul George defensive rebound
Ben Simmons misses two point shot
Kawhi Leonard makes 9-foot pullup jump shot
TNT | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Clippers | 22 | 32 | 54 | ||
76ers | 30 | 24 | 54 |
Data is currently unavailable.
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- New Mets manager Luis Rojas set his standards right away.
"We expect to be a contender," he said Tuesday during his first spring training news conference. "We know how all the teams are. We're going to be in a tough division and play some tough teams on our schedule. We have a great roster, great position players with versatility, great starting rotation or pitchers that have a history of Cy Youngs and World Series winners. And our bullpen has a history of saving games and being closers."
The New York Mets went 46-26 in the latter part of the 2019 season, finishing three games back of Milwaukee for the second wild card.
Jacob deGrom won his second straight National League Cy Young Award, Pete Alonso claimed the NL Rookie of the Year after hitting a major league-leading 53 home runs and Jeff McNeil was fourth in the NL batting race with a .318 average.
Manager Mickey Callaway was fired after an 86-76 finish in his second season and replaced by Carlos Beltran, who was let go for his role as a player in the Houston Astros' electronic sign stealing in 2017.
Pitchers and catchers will have their first full workouts Wednesday, and the 38-year-old Rojas said he isn't worried about any conflict between No. 2 starter Noah Syndergaard and catcher Wilson Ramos. The New York Post reported in September that Syndergaard and his agents lobbied to let the right-hander pitch to backups Tomas Nido or Rene Rivera.
"They get along so great," Rojas said. "They're going to work together. In talking to Wilson about his commitment to the pitching staff and his relationship to the pitching staff, he's got the homework for himself to keep developing the relationship."
There will be attention on outfielder Yoenis Cespedes, who hasn't played since July 20, 2018. While returning from surgery on his heels last season, Cespedes fractured his right ankle in May at his ranch just west of the Mets' training complex. Cespedes and the Mets agreed to an amended contract that cut his base salary from $29 million to $6 million. The 34-year-old outfielder would raise his pay to $11 million if he has one active day on the major league roster and to $20 million if he has 650 plate appearances.
"We don't have a timeline," Rojas said. He's running, he's hitting and I've had conversations with him. But we don't have the timeline yet. The performance staff is working on his progression, and we're going from there."
British number three Kyle Edmund reached the last 16 of the New York Open with 7-5 6-4 win over Japan's Yasutaka Uchiyama.
Edmund claimed the opening set when he broke the world number 97's serve in the 12th game.
The players exchanged breaks in the next set before Edmund broke Uchiyama again to seal victory.
Edmund will now play either Canadian qualifier Brayden Schnur or German Dominik Koepfer.
Briton Cameron Norrie faces American qualifier Brian Shi later on Tuesday.
Saracens boss Mark McCall is thankful an independent disciplinary committee have not ended the embattled club's European Champions Cup title defence.
Sarries, already relegated from the Premiership for salary cap breaches, were at risk of being removed from European competition for fielding ineligible player Titi Lamositele.
The club, who were fined, argued "an administrative oversight" was to blame.
Sarries will "look forward to" their quarter-final at Leinster, said McCall.
USA international prop Lamositele's work permit expired the day before he featured in Saracens' final European Champions Cup pool match against Racing 92 in January.
Instead of a possible points deduction which could have seen them fail to qualify from the pool phase, Saracens were fined 50,000 euros (about £42,000), half of which is suspended until the end of the 2020-21 season.
McCall added: "Titi has been at the club since he was 18 and has played however many games for Saracens so there was a difference between this case and other ineligible player cases in Europe.
"And thankfully I think the committee agreed with that and thought the fine was what was appropriate.
"Everyone knows Titi has been part of the club for a long time and played in five pool matches as well.
"In other cases the player wasn't even in the European Cup squad. Titi was in our European Cup squad."
Saracens' quarter-final at Aviva Stadium on Saturday, 4 April will be a repeat of last season's Champions Cup final, which Sarries won 20-10 in Newcastle.
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