Happy Gohar hits the Heights to win Casino final in straight games
By LINDA ELRIANI – Squash Mad Correspondent

Nouran Gohar lived up to her top seed billing by overpowering the reigning champion and fellow Egyptian Nour El Tayeb in straight games to win the final of the Carol Weymuller Open.

Heights Casino was rammed for the first all-Egyptian final in the tournament’s long history. The bleachers were packed with eager members, anticipating the outcome of a contest between the two of the best players to emerge from Egypt’s high-quality production line. El Tayeb, world No.4 and last year’s Carol Weymuller Champion, playing Gohar, who is world No.3 and the current British and US Open Champion.

Both players looked bouncy and eager to go on, knowing this was their last huge effort after a very successful and tiring week at the Weymuller.

Before the match the head to head between the two players was 7-7, so this just added to the anticipation that surrounds this match. Can Nour win two consecutive finals or will Nouran step in and take the crown?

Nouran and Nour have a very busy time coming up with tournaments in Cleveland and Chicago and also maybe their Egyptian Nationals too.

This match was going to be particularly interesting as both players, while very much on-form, play with quite different styles. Nouran plays a precise, hard-hitting, attacking game, stepping forward on the court. Nour varies the pace and goes short whenever possible with colorful creative shots whenever she feels there is a space open on the court.

Nour is well known for diving for balls (though she hasn’t done that this tournament yet) and she tries to twist and turn her opponent and take away their rhythm. Who was going to manage to force their game plan over the other? We’d soon find out!

The match started evenly with both players settling into the first few rallies. There were was a mixture of amazing winners and sprinkled with a few unforced errors which can happen at the beginning of a big match while both players find their feet.

One thing that Nouran did right out of the gate was use her fantastic crisp drives to try and put the pressure on Nour and take away her chances to use her delicate short shorts. Nouran got the first lead at 6-3, but Nour pushed back to 6-6, it was then that Nouran seemed to take it up another gear. Her pace went to another notch and it was so hard for Nour to tally up any more points.

Nouran had her first game ball at 10-6, but some of Nouran’s drives started to catch the side wall a little and give Nour the chance to step forward and take advantage. With a couple of no lets and precise drops from Nour she was 9-10 and knocking on the door again. But Nouran wasn’t having any of it and she hit the perfect backhand drive down the wall to clinch the first game 11-9.

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The second game started pretty evenly again and Nour was able to use some hold and her wonderful drops to gain some points. Both players covered the court so amazingly and made it look so easy to get from the front corner to the back and back up again! There were some long rallies in the middle of the game and it was then that Nour started to look a little tired and some errors started to creep in.

Nouran’s boasts were so aggressive and low and really pulled Nour up the court and made her work so hard. Nouran eased away from 5-4 and onto 10-5 taking the second game on a stroke 11-5.

The third game was all Nouran. She totally dominated and Nour seemed to lose her focus and a little bit of her fight as Nouran kept on bulldozing through the match. Nouran’s drive were crisp, hard and accurate and she totally dominated the T. Nour was out of ideas and Nouran stormed through to take the match and her first Carol Weymuller Open title 11-9, 11-5, 11-2.

The interesting thing about having a tournament in a club like the Heights Casino is that you get to know the players as they are around the club all week. Even though Nouran totally lives up to her Squash TV nickname ‘The Terminator’ on the court, she is a sweet, humble and grateful person off the court. It has been so fun to see her playing for the first time in person and to also see what a quiet and lovely human being she is too. I am definitely a Nouran Gohar fan now!

Watching both players display world class, hard-fought squash with such tremendous sportsmanship and respect for each other was really heartwarming and inspiring. We were all very privileged to witness this match this evening and to have been entertained in such style and all week, and it definitely makes us already feel excited to have them all back for the next Carol Weymuller Open.

After the final I interviewed the overjoyed Nouran. She said: “I’m extremely happy. I can’t describe it, I’m over the moon right now. I was just taking it match by match and didn’t quite imagine having this trophy in my hands at the end of this week.

“The mental part is really important. First, I like playing on this court. The family I stayed with make it feel like home and the club and members and everyone are very welcoming. So I definitely think this helps to play well. Thank you to the sponsors and everyone that made this tournament possible for so many years. Hopefully I’ll see you next year.” 

It has been a tremendous week of squash and the PSA players have definitely left everyone inspired and motivated. The tournament is obviously named after Carol Weymuller herself. Carol started the junior squash program here at The Heights Casino many years back with her late husband Fred, and it has obviously grown and expanded along with the sport.

We always like to thank Carol for all her hard work and dedication back at the start, as we wouldn’t be where we are today with our program if she had not been forward thinking enough to develop squash in this area.

PSA $51,250 Women’s Carol Weymuller Open 2020, Heights Casino, Brooklyn, New York, USA.

Final:
[1] Nouran Gohar (EGY) beat [2] Nour El Tayeb (EGY) 3-0: 11-9, 11-5, 11-2.

Pictures courtesy of JEAN ERVASTI 

Season in nutshell

The Renegades' title defence was a disaster from the start. They lost their coach Andrew McDonald and overseas signings Usman Shinwari and Faheem Ashraf on the eve of the season. Michael Klinger was appointed just a month from the start but the Renegades blueprint from last year couldn't be repeated. They lost two tight games to start the season against Sydney Thunder and Perth Scorchers and that started a slide of nine straight defeats. They finally won their first game late in the season but only managed to claim three victories overall, two against the Brisbane Heat and one against the Sydney Thunder.

What went right?

Their batting was far better than last season. They scored in excess of 170 in six games and had five players score 12 half-centuries and a century between them. Last season they scored just three individual fifties for the entire tournament. Shaun Marsh and Beau Webster both made more than 400 runs for the tournament and Aaron Finch posted more than 300 despite missing five games due to international duty. Six players averaged 25 or more with four of them striking at better than 140. Last season they had just two players average more than 25 and Cameron Boyce and Sam Harper were the only players to strike at better than 124.

What went wrong?

The bowling was very poor. They could not take wickets and opponents were able to chase down whatever the Renegades set with ease. Boyce and Kane Richardson were the only two bowlers to take more than 10 wickets, with Boyce taking 14, compared to four bowlers last season with Richardson taking 24. Last season, nine of the Renegades 10 bowlers used for the tournament had economy rates under eight runs per over and four conceded less seven. This time only Richardson went at 6.99 and 10 of the 15 bowlers used conceded more than eight, including experienced duo Dan Christian and Mohammad Nabi and overseas signings Richard Gleeson and Harry Gurney who both went at more than 10 runs per over.

Performance of the season

The Renegades best night came against the Brisbane Heat at the Gabba. The Heat were 0 for 84 after 5.5 overs chasing just 165. The Renegades then took 10 for 36 as the Heat suffered a record collapse. Boyce produced a stunning spell taking 4 for 15 from four overs and was on a hat-trick in the seventh over. It all took place while the Renegades two most important players, Finch and Richardson, were away on Australia duty.

Player of the season

Webster was the surprise package of the season batting in the difficult middle-order role. He made 429 runs at 42.50 striking at 131.98, including three half-centuries. He also played a significant part in the win over the Heat top-scoring with 36 off 26 after the Renegades were in trouble. He was particularly savage against pace bowling in the middle and death overs but will need to improve against spin, falling seven times in the tournament and striking at under 100 against the slow bowlers.

Key Stat (Gaurav Sundararaman)

Last year they were the best bowling unit and this year they are the worst. The leading wicket-taker has just 14 wickets and is 15th on the leaderboard. As a bowling unit, they averaged 32.59 conceding 8.55 runs per over - the worst in the league. You don't win competitions with these numbers.

For the first time, a one-off all-star fixture, comprising players from all the eight franchises, will precede the IPL. The match will be played three days before the tournament's opening match, which, as reported in December, is will be played on March 29. Both the opening match and the IPL final will be played in Mumbai, the home base of defending champions Mumbai Indians.

ESPNcricinfo understands that the two teams for the all-star match are likely to be formed with players from the four franchises in the north and east of India - Kings XI Punjab, Delhi Capitals, Rajasthan Royals and Kolkata Knight Riders - and the four teams in the south and west - Chennai Super Kings, Royal Challengers Bangalore, Sunrisers Hyderabad and Mumbai. No venue has been finalised for the match yet.

It appears that the idea of the all-star match came from BCCI president Sourav Ganguly and IPL governing council chairman Brijesh Patel. Both were present at the governing council meeting on Monday in New Delhi where the decision was made.

Timings of evening matches unchanged

One of the key points discussed at the meeting concerned the start timings for the evening matches, an issue both the IPL and host broadcaster Star India have been discussing over the past few years. It is understood that Star wanted an earlier start than 8pm IST, because many matches stretch past midnight. However, several teams pointed out that starting early could hand the advantage to one team because of dew.

Consequently, the IPL decided to leave the timing for the evening matches unchanged. Ganguly also said that there would just four double-headers [days with both an afternoon and an evening match] in the 2020 IPL, continuing with the trend established over the past few years to reduce the number of day matches with the tournament being played in summer.

The IPL did not announce the main tournament schedule even though the tournament is starting in two months' time. BCCI officials did not reveal the reason for the delay, but it is learnt that the schedule is likely to be out later this week. One plausible reason could be to the late arrival of the Australia, England and New Zealand players. As per the availability periods listed pre-IPL auction, players from these three countries will arrive after March 31, as they would be busy with various bilateral series as well as the Sheffield Shield final.

Four teams for women's T20 exhibition matches

Taking another step forward towards a women's IPL, the BCCI has decided to add another team to the women's T20 exhibition matches it has been conducting over the last two IPL seasons. In 2018, two teams - Supernovas and Trailblazers - contested a one-off exhibition match, which finished in a last-ball thriller. Last year, a third team - Velocity - was added with four matches hosted in Jaipur, which ran parallel to the main IPL playoffs.

For the 2020 season, a fourth team, not named yet, has been added to the mix. It is understood there will be seven matches, including the final, that are likely to be scheduled once again around the IPL playoffs.

No-ball umpires get the nod

The IPL has also decided to let an off-field match official to supervise no-balls. The move is bound to be welcomed by the players considering the errors by on-field umpires over the years that have left many captains fuming.

Last IPL, Virat Kohli, leading the Royal Challengers in a crucial match against Mumbai, called the umpiring standards "ridiculous" and club standard. Incidentally, the no-ball delivered by Lasith Malinga went undetected by S Ravi, one of the on-field umpires who was removed from the ICC's Elite Panel last year.

Taking cognizance of the players' complaints, the IPL had discussed the issue last year, with Patel saying that an exclusive match official, separate to the TV and fourth umpire, would be in charge of supervising no-balls. Late last year, the ICC opted to reintroduce the no-ball umpire on a trial basis. The ICC, however, had entrusted the job to the regular TV umpire.

Concussion substitutes to be introduced

The IPL governing council also approved the move to allow concussion substitutes from the 2020 edition. The match referee will be the final authority on who could come in as a substitute with the option of disallowing replacements if they are deemed not to be like-for-like.

Season in a nutshell

A lot of hype, a lot of money spent and ultimately an even more acute case of the same old Brisbane Heat problems. When the Heat unveiled AB de Villiers after last year's Ashes series, much to the delight of their new coach Darren Lehmann, many installed them as tournament favourites without a second thought. But in this case, some second thoughts would have been useful, as the high profile signing simply added more to the club's "crash through or crash" approach, as championed by their captain Chris Lynn and Brendon McCullum before him. Undoubtedly it helps bring in the crowds at the Gabba, but a poor record on their home ground has been key to repeated failures to contend for the BBL title. Add this campaign, sluggish at the start and fidgety at the finish, to the list.

What went right?

On the few occasions the Heat did get things right, they were undoubtedly a bewitching combination. Victories over the Sydney Sixers at the SCG and Hobart Hurricanes at Bellerive Oval reaped tallies of more than 200, while de Villiers' arrival was greeted by a summary thrashing of the Adelaide Strikers in Brisbane. However...

What went wrong?

Not even the bottom-placed Melbourne Renegades could boast as many catastrophic defeats, starting with a limp opening loss to the Thunder on the tournament's opening night. Elsewhere, the Heat were crushed in Adelaide and Perth, and only two home wins out of seven matches made for a damaging ledger. But the Heat's imbalanced squad and muddled approach was best exemplified by the fact that they lost twice to the Renegades, at home and away, after de Villiers joined them. For Lehmann it was a humbling return to coaching after the cultural malaise of the Australian team on his watch. Lynn, who ended the tournament all but calling for a show of hands to make bowling changes in the closing defeat at Docklands, looks unlikely to remain captain.

Performance of the season

It is difficult to separate two displays, at the SCG and Bellerive, where Lynn went off with scores of 94 and 88 - 182 runs from 90 balls in all - to pile-drive his team to victories. But these were the exceptions that proved the rule, as he tallied just 205 more runs from his remaining 12 innings at an average of 18.64 and a far more modest strike rate.

Player of the season

Tom Banton's impact was plain in his brief early stay, topping the Heat's averages and strike rates. However, in a difficult season, the continued improvement of Mitchell Swepson was perhaps the most positive element of the campaign, after he had made similar strides for Queensland in the Sheffield Shield. In fact, an economy rate of 7.32 opened up questions about why he only played 10 matches, and in those only bowled 31 of his allocated 40 overs.

Key stat (Gaurav Sundararaman)

One of their biggest pain points was their inability to play spin. The Heat lost 46 wickets to spin (48.4%) and averaged just 20.78, the lowest in the league. That's 16 more wickets lost to spin than any other BBL side this season.

MIAMI -- About an hour into the San Francisco 49ers' flight to Miami for Super Bowl LIV on Sunday, general manager John Lynch approached sleeping cornerback Richard Sherman, tapped him on the shoulder and broke the devastating news.

In what was supposed to be a happy time for Sherman and his teammates, Lynch leaned in and informed Sherman that Kobe Bryant, legendary basketball player and close friend, had died in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, California.

"It is really sad," Sherman said at Super Bowl Opening Night on Monday. "He was a friend of mine. He was a mentor. He meant a lot to this world. He made a positive impact and there is nothing that I can say to really quantify his impact on myself and on others."

Sherman and Bryant's bond dates to a Nike photo shoot that took place just after Sherman's former team, the Seattle Seahawks, won Super Bowl XLVIII. But Sherman had actually admired Bryant long before that.

Growing up in Compton, California, Sherman, who was 8 years old when Bryant entered the NBA, became a huge Los Angeles Lakers fan from watching games with his grandmother.

While the pair remained in contact after the shoot, the Achilles injury Sherman suffered in 2017 brought them closer together. Bryant had the same injury in 2013, and he served as a sounding board for Sherman when he was going through the grueling rehabilitation.

Sherman even made sure to walk off the field on a torn Achilles, much like Bryant had shot free throws and walked off with his injury. When Bryant first called Sherman after the injury, the first thing Bryant told him was he wanted to be sure Sherman "wasn't being a baby."

As Sherman attempted to process the loss of Bryant and his daughter Gianna on Sunday and into Monday morning, he thought back to that moment.

"I was really sad yesterday and sad this morning. I was really down," Sherman said. "I was in the dumps and then I thought about what he would tell me. He would tell me to stop being a baby, and to man up and play, and do it in his honor and win this game for him. And that is what we are trying to do. We're gonna go out there and try to play some dominating ball, just like he wanted. The Mamba Mentality still lives on."

Asked what was the last thing Bryant left him with, Sherman said Bryant told him to go win a championship and that there would be hard times in his comeback that he would have to navigate.

Bryant offered a similar message when asked what he thought Sherman's comeback would look like in a 2018 interview with ESPN for a story on how he helped Sherman during the Achilles injury and recovery. Long before Sherman's return to form this season -- with a Pro Bowl berth and a second-team All-Pro nod -- Bryant had predicted it would happen.

"His mentality is what separates him," Bryant said then. "From being overlooked, from being kind of thought of as someone who won't be able to maximize his potential, I think he uses that as fuel to drive him and propel him. I'm excited for him to come back and show the world what he's got, man. It's going to be awesome."

Bryant's death cast a pall over Monday night's proceedings as many members of the 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs spoke glowingly of Bryant. Many of them had idolized Bryant and said they had his posters on their walls and/or his shoes on their feet.

Chiefs defensive end Frank Clark said Bryant represented hope for him when he was a young man growing up without a father in South Central Los Angeles.

"There, you don't got a lot to lean on, you don't got a lot to look forward to," Clark said. "There's gangs and drugs and that's really it. And the one person, if anything, I looked to for inspiration and all my strength growing up when I was going through the things I was going through was Kobe Bryant. He was a successful guy and that's the one thing you look to. You look at the gangs and you look at the drug dealers and then you look at the guys who are successful."

Across the country, 49ers right tackle Mike McGlinchey had hoop dreams of his own growing up in Philadelphia. He was two years from being born when Bryant graduated from a high school not far from where McGlinchey lived.

"All you ever heard about was this guy Kobe Bryant, who came from Lower Merion High School," McGlinchey said. "Everybody in Philly always had an eye on him. The competitor that he was, the leader that he was and the coolest thing about this week has been the reports and the pictures and the memories of him being a dad. That's what's really the message there was: That no matter what it was with Kobe, he always did it as hard as he could and put everything he had into it."

On Monday morning, Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo did what he always does and started the defensive meeting with an inspirational quote. About a month ago, he had actually dug through old Bryant quotes and used some of those. This time, it was something from Michael Jordan. When Spagnuolo put it on the screen, he stopped for a moment and the Chiefs spent a little time reminiscing about Bryant.

"When I popped it up there, I just had to stop and say, 'Guys, isn't it unbelievable that we lost Kobe?'" Spagnuolo said. "So, for a second, we talked about Kobe in our meeting just recognizing that we lost him. Athletes are athletes and there's a common bond there, especially with elite athletes. And I think a lot of our guys felt that."

Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes was among the many who fall into that category. Throughout Monday's hourlong media session, he received many questions about Bryant and each time he took a few moments to point out that Bryant had been a key part in his journey to the NFL.

"I wasn't lucky enough to get to meet Kobe, but the impact that he made on my life was huge," Mahomes said. "I still watch videos on YouTube on days before games and just listen to him talk and how he puts everything into perspective about being great, on and off the field, with his kids and his business ventures, and obviously his play. It's a tragic thing."

Boston Celtics forward Gordon Hayward disputes that he tried to commit a free throw lane violation to ensure that Kobe Bryant would score 60 points in the final game of his career.

Hayward took to Twitter on Monday after NBC commentator Mike Tirico, who was calling the game for ESPN at the time, pointed out the movement during an appearance on The Ringer's "Ryen Russillo Podcast."

He got 60 on me and I didn't give him anything free all night. What happened on the free throw line was not intentional. Kobe would have lost respect for me if I gave him something free. That's what made him so very special!

— Gordon Hayward (@gordonhayward) January 28, 2020

Hayward, who was playing for the Utah Jazz at the time, could be seen stepping into the lane as Bryant took his second free throw attempt with 14.8 seconds left in the game. If the violation had been called and Bryant -- who had 59 points at the time -- had missed, he would have been given another chance to hit the free throw.

Hayward said many people were applauding him for the gesture, but he wanted to make it clear that the lane violation was not intentional. He said his goal that night was to compete as hard as he could because that's what Bryant "was all about."

"He got 60 on me and I didn't give him anything free all night," Hayward wrote. "What happened on the free throw line was not intentional. Kobe would have lost respect for me if I gave him something free. That's what made him so very special!"

HARTFORD, Conn. -- Chicago Sky guard Katie Lou Samuelson couldn't hold back her emotions Monday.

Having grown up in Huntington Beach, California, when Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers' dominated in the NBA, she understood what Bryant means to the City of Angels. In getting to know the basketball star and his second-oldest daughter, Gianna, Samuelson once helped with Bryant's Mamba Sports Academy girls' basketball program.

So, as she stood in a quiet XL Center, with the U.S. national team set to face her alma mater, UConn, that same night in an exhibition game, her eyes filled with tears.

"Kobe let me coach one of their practices. So I saw them going into my senior year [in 2018-19]," she said. "They were all kind of goofy, a little bit. But fast-forward to see them [again], and the growth they had made just in that year. They were beautiful girls, beautiful people. It's just so hard."

Samuelson and her fellow WNBA players are grieving many losses. In the aftermath of the deaths of Bryant, Gianna (Gigi) and seven others, including two of Gigi's fellow young basketball players, Alyssa Altobelli and Payton Chester, in a helicopter accident Sunday in Los Angeles, these current women's basketball stars couldn't let go of this: what those young girls with big dreams won't get to do.

Gigi Bryant had become something of a celebrity as a young player, thanks to the adoration and devotion of her famous father. Gigi was just 13, and we'll never know if she would have developed into a top-level Division I player, or gone on to the WNBA. But she was on the right track.

In 2018, Kobe spoke about his daughter, Gianna, wanting to carry on his legacy.

(via @JimmyKimmelLive) pic.twitter.com/hCJgnrDoX5

— ESPN (@espn) January 27, 2020

"Gigi started to show a tremendous interest in the game," UConn coach Geno Auriemma told ESPN's Holly Rowe before Monday's game. Auriemma recalled when Bryant and his daughter attended a UConn-UCLA game in Los Angeles, sitting behind the Huskies' bench. "Our kids were fascinated by her, and obviously for a little girl to be in the company of those players, I can't put myself in her shoes, but it must have been an unbelievable thrill. ... This little girl who's looking up to these players like they're superhuman, and you've got my players looking to her dad like, 'Oh my god.' ...

"He's a basketball savant, and he's been like that since he was 16 years old. I'm just really gonna miss him."

In interviews with the likes of Jimmy Kimmel and in social media posts, Bryant regularly commented on his daughter's competitive nature, love for basketball and mind for the game. He was especially proud of how Gigi would ask specific, detailed questions about strategy, and how her skills kept improving.

"We lost a legend in Kobe," said Breanna Stewart, an Olympic gold medalist, four-time NCAA champion at UConn and 2018 WNBA MVP. "But you can't help but think about those kids that were on that helicopter. Obviously, Gigi -- everybody saw how she was kind of taking after Kobe with her play."

Gigi Bryant already has @kobebryant's fadeaway jumper ?

(via @SLAM_HS) pic.twitter.com/NL8ZIrFuPM

— espnW (@espnW) January 7, 2020

Los Angeles Sparks forward Nneka Ogwumike, the 2016 MVP and WNBA champion, said Gigi was "symbolic of his legacy, and also the future of women's basketball."

Gigi had become a big fan of 11-time national champion UConn, and she went to Huskies games with her father, including UConn's senior day in 2019 for Samuelson and Napheesa Collier. Samuelson said Bryant sent her a text after that game.

"He recorded me walking out with my dad," Samuelson said. "He said he had to get that moment, because he knew he'd be a wreck if it was him."

Now Bryant and Gigi won't have that opportunity. That weighed on Samuelson, who recalled how committed he was to his daughter's future.

"He took it upon himself to make a difference," she said, "and show Gigi and those other girls what they could do as basketball players."

Seattle Storm guard Sue Bird sat next to Bryant and Gigi at the WNBA All-Star Game last July in Las Vegas. The four-time Olympic gold medalist -- at the game with girlfriend and U.S. soccer star Megan Rapinoe -- was sidelined with a knee injury. They got a chance to chat with Bryant and Gigi while watching many of the best women's basketball players in the world.

"He just really wanted to expose Gigi to as much greatness as he could," Bird said. "He wanted her to meet Megan, to meet me. I know he's taken his whole family to Megan's soccer games. He's been very present in the WNBA. He was going on this journey with his daughter, and I think we could all feel that it was going somewhere special. For him as a father, for her as a future basketball player, for them in that father-daughter relationship."

For guard Diana Taurasi -- who won two NCAA titles at UConn, three WNBA championships with the Phoenix Mercury and four Olympic gold medals -- Bryant was a longtime inspiration. She grew up in Chino, California, as a die-hard Lakers fan.

"He meant so much to a city. ... That fighting spirit that he had, I think everyone had that in them, and he found a way to make it OK for everyone to be that way," Taurasi said. "As an athlete, when you see someone you share so many things with ... there was this common thread that we had. We found comfort in that unapologetic way of playing basketball.

"The sad thing about it is, for as great as he was at playing basketball, the greatest was coming. And you could see it. The last three years, you saw a different human being. You saw this person at peace. ... He found happiness in the little things, like coaching his daughter. Showing his daughters that they could be more than anything they could have ever thought of being. I think we have a responsibility to make sure that message and mindset is carried on."

How Bryant's involvement with women's basketball would have continued to grow with Gigi's career has been very much on players' minds. The WNBA and the players' union agreed earlier this month to a new eight-year collective-bargaining agreement. Ogwumike, who was heavily involved in the negotiations as president of the Women's National Basketball Players Association's executive committee, said the Sparks talked to Bryant about possibly practicing at his Mamba Sports Academy facility.

View this post on Instagram

Coming into today with more emotions than I anticipated. Kobe, you were the pioneer. You were who I mimicked my mindset, preparations and work ethic after, having that "Kobe syndrome" as @ceee_o would say. You were one of the first people to reach out to me after my Achilles injury and supported me throughout the process. Now today, on my first game back I'll be representing you, wearing #10 playing for USA and at my home, UCONN. The game misses you but we will continue to lift you up and represent you like no other. May you and GiGi Rest In Peace. Your Legacy lives on... ??

A post shared by Breanna Stewart (@breannastewart30) on Jan 27, 2020 at 10:32am PST

Ogwumike added that when the U.S. women's soccer team had its post-World Cup victory tour game in Los Angeles last year, the Sparks were there in one box, and Bryant, Gigi and the rest of their family in another. Bryant invited the WNBA players into his box and shared amusing stories, including a few about his former teammate and Sparks coach, Derek Fisher.

"In the past year, we had developed even more of a relationship with Kobe," Ogwumike said. "That spoke to his commitment to his daughter and the league. I believe he saw where the league is going and had that vision. It was reflected in his actions."

Gigi and her father's last moments together were spent traveling to a basketball game, something each player on the U.S. squad had done so many times with their own parents while growing up.

"Every tournament my sister [fellow Sparks player Chiney Ogwumike] and I went to as kids, our dad drove us," Ogwumike said. "I understood that shared love for the game with a family member that is supporting you.

"Especially with signing this new CBA, we were really looking forward to the future of the league. And Gigi was symbolic of that future. To think how she could have lived on and maybe impacted things ... there's a lot of things we'll never know and questions we can't answer. But I do know she was meaningful to women in basketball. It's a loss for a lot of people that she is gone."

BARTLETT, Tenn. – Winged sprint car veteran Shane Stewart is joining Sides Motorsports next week for the DIRTcar Nationals presented by Bozard.

Stewart and team owner Jason Sides will both compete during all three nights of World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series competition at Volusia Speedway Park in Barberville, Fla.

“We’re excited to have Shane with the team and hope we can have both cars running up front throughout the weekend,” Sides said. “Shane has proven himself as a winner and we’re confident he can be competitive from the start.”

Stewart captured his first career win at the half-mile track during the DIRTcar Nationals opener last year. He enters the trio of Outlaws races with 34 career victories with the series.

The 2005 World of Outlaws Rookie of the Year, Stewart placed a career-best second in the Outlaws championship standings in 2015.

Sides has also been victorious at Volusia Speedway Park, where he scored a triumph in 2011. He has earned at least one top 10 during the DIRTcar Nationals in 12 of the last 13 years.

“Volusia is a big, wide and fast track,” he said. “It’s key to qualify well so that you put yourself in a good position for the heat race, which can then line you up for success during the rest of the night. I’m confident that both Shane and I can be fast out of the box.”

The DIRTcar Nationals represents the only current races this season with Stewart behind the wheel of a Sides Motorsports entry.

Tim Kaeding is slated to return to part-time action with the team for the third straight year once the World of Outlaws hit the West Coast in March.

BOURNEMOUTH, England -- This was one youthful team selection that could not be accused of devaluing the FA Cup.

At a time when Premier League clubs face charges of debasing the game's oldest cup competition by sending out second-string teams in the tournament's early rounds, Arsenal fielded a side packed with youngsters who still provided excellent value in their 2-1 win at Bournemouth.

Their success at a chilly Vitality Stadium was built around a quartet of players aged 20 or under -- Joe Willock, Gabriel Martinelli, Eddie Nketiah and man-of-the-match Bukayo Saka, who rewarded Mikel Arteta's faith in him with a goal and an assist in the first away win of Arteta's eight-game tenure as head coach. The immediate prize will be another trip to England's south coast in the fifth round to face third-tier Portsmouth, but Arsenal could find themselves reaping the benefits of nights such as this for many years to come.

The visitors scored both their goals in the first 26 minutes and each were examples of the kind of sweeping, incisive football that was seen as Arsenal's trademark in the not-so-distant past.

Five minutes in, Willock expertly rolled his man in midfield, surged toward Bournemouth's retreating back four and found Martinelli, whose lay-off allowed the overlapping Saka to take a touch and slam a shot past home goalkeeper Mark Travers via the underside of the crossbar. It was a move that contained 22 passes and the second goal, while less intricate, was every bit as slick. Striker Nketiah, making his first appearance since being recalled from a loan spell at Leeds United, was involved at the start and the conclusion -- first laying the ball off to Willock, then charging into the box to convert Saka's low cross with an assured left-foot finish.

Having been thoroughly second best for the first 35 minutes, Bournemouth started coming back into the game and had most of the play in the second half. But in a continuation of the spirit shown in last week's back-to-the-wall 2-2 draw at Chelsea, Arsenal toughed it out. Substitute Sam Surridge's goal for Bournemouth, deep into second-half stoppage time, came during a period when the visitors were on the ropes, but in such moments -- as at Stamford Bridge -- is the character of callow footballers forged.

The exuberance of Arsenal's young players even seemed to rub off on some of their older teammates. Calamity-prone centre-back Shkodran Mustafi pinged passes around the pitch with scarcely seen authority and even had the rare pleasure of hearing the away fans sing his name, before a collision with Arsenal goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez brought his night to a premature end midway through the second half.

Whereas some of the other teams in the Premier League have used FA Cup matches to hand playing time to promising fringe players, the victory at Bournemouth revealed the extent to which Arsenal's kids have been successfully integrated into the first-team squad. While Nketiah, 20, was making his first start for the club in a year, both 18-year-old Saka and 20-year-old Willock have made 15 starts this season and Martinelli, another 18-year-old, a dozen. Alongside them, Matteo Guendouzi cut the figure of an elder statesmen despite still being three months shy of his 21st birthday himself.

As is always the way with young players, Arsenal's starlets have learned to make a friend of serendipity. Saka was blooded on the wing by Unai Emery, Arteta's predecessor, before being repurposed as a left-back by interim manager Freddie Ljungberg following injuries to Kieran Tierney and Sead Kolasinac. Willock was an early beneficiary of Emery's mistrust of Mesut Ozil, starting each of Arsenal's first three league games but then dropping back down the pecking order. Brazilian summer signing Martinelli seized opportunities to shine in the Europa League and Carabao Cup, before proving himself a capable understudy for the suspended Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. Absent in Bournemouth due to a hamstring injury, 20-year-old winger Reiss Nelson is another young player who has impressed this term. The upshot is that when Arsenal's long list of absentees begins to diminish, Arteta will find himself with genuine competition for places in almost every area of the pitch.

The Arsenal manager said Nketiah had been "terrific," while he felt Willock had shown his potential to become an "outstanding player" in the No. 10 role. When Arteta spoke about the "courage to play" that Arsenal's youngsters had shown, he thumped his fist on the table in front of him for emphasis.

"In the first half, we were really, really good," the Spaniard said in his postmatch news conference. "They executed everything that we planned in a really good way. They have courage to play; they have courage to make big decisions. They are important in this side. They are not the icing on the cake; they are probably a quarter of the team at the moment."

Arteta started his tenure as Arsenal head coach with a 1-1 draw at Bournemouth on Boxing Day. A month on, his side are now unbeaten in six games in all competitions. And while nobody is going to get carried away with Arsenal languishing in 10th place in the Premier League table, the future looks very promising indeed.