Senuran Muthusamy's mother may be "over the moon" with her son's Test debut, but it is his grandmother who can take credit for his success. After all, she used to give a young Muthusamy throwdowns in the back garden, something he described to Durban's Tabloid Newspaper as his "fondest childhood memory". Those sessions were also the early stages of Muthusamy's career development. It's where he discovered he wanted to play sport for a living.
Muthusamy followed a fairly straightforward route through school and age group structures. He represented the Kwa-Zulu Natal province from Under-11 to Under-19 level, but remained hesitant to believe he could become a professional cricketer. On leaving Clifton College, Muthusamy completed a Bachelor's degree in Social Science from the University of Kwa-Zulu Natal, specialising in media and marketing. All the while, he continued playing provincial cricket. Eventually, his grandmother's efforts paid off and he made it into the Dolphins team in the 2015-16 season as a top-order batsman.
"He had the ability to bowl but his batting was always the main thing," Imraan Khan, the current coach of Dolphins and a former team-mate of Muthusamy's, told ESPNcricinfo.
Muthusamy provided proof of that ability by opening the batting and scoring a career-best 181 against the Knights in January 2017, but it was a short-lived stint at the top. That same season, Muthusamy's left-arm spin took over.
"His batting just dropped off a bit but his bowling went to another level."
Muthusamy finished second on the franchise's first-class bowling charts in the 2017-18 season, with 33 wickets in 10 matches at 26.54. He scooped four prizes at the Dolphins' annual awards, including Player of the Year, and was firmly on his way to bigger things. Imraan was particularly impressed with Muthusamy's discipline and believed it would not be long before the national team came calling.
"He has a super work ethic. He is very focused, he knows what he wants to achieve and how to achieve it."
South Africa's tour to India, which would require more spin resources than usual, presented the ideal opportunity for Muthusamy to get a look-in. Imraan was surprised neither by Muthusamy's selection, nor the fact that he made his debut as early as the first Test: "The potential was always there."
Though Muthusamy only bowled five overs on the opening day, Imraan believes he has plenty to offer as the match and the series unfolds.
"He is more of an attacking spinner and bowls it slower trough the air than Keshav (Maharaj). And he is very clever, he plays around with his angles."
Maharaj did most of the leg work on day one and has already become a mentor of sorts to Muthusamy. Whenever availability and conditions allowed, Imraan played the two of them together at the Dolphins since they "feed off each other", forming a formidable duo. And that's not all they have in common.
Like Maharaj, and at least another 1.3 million other South Africans, Muthusamy traces his ancestry back to India, and still has family in Nagapattinam, a town 300 kilometres south of Chennai. On the same coast, albeit a further 800 kilometres away in Visakhapatnam, Muthusamy made his Test debut and acknowledged there is some significance in the sense of place.
"My forefathers are from the south of India in Tamil Nadu, so it's been really special," Muthusamy said.
He described his family culture as "very much Indian," professing to a love of yoga and being a frequent temple-goer. However, he said his roots do not run deep enough to divide his national loyalties.
"I am firmly South African. I am quite a few generations down the line. I unfortunately don't speak Tamil so I am a thoroughbred South African but there's no getting away from that - our origins are in India".
More pressingly, there is no getting away from the situation South Africa find themselves in, with India's openers having piled on a stand of 202 and little sign that either Rohit Sharma or Mayank Agarwal will be removed easily. South Africa's attack has toiled hard, and bowled relatively well, with no reward, which has taught Muthusamy how tough Test cricket is.
"You've got to be competing every ball. You've just got to hang in there, you've just got to plug away and just try gain control from that"," he said.
Muthusamy is sure the surface, which he described as a "good cricket wicket," will take turn as the match progresses, allowing the spinners to come into play.
"This wicket has been under cover for quite a few days but we know that it's been dry, really really dry, even though its been under covers and it's been dusty. It will deteriorate through the game."
That could give him a chance to come into the game but may not bode well for South Africa's line-up, which only features six specialist batsmen.
Unless, of course, Muthusamy can call on some of those childhood training sessions and show off what Imraan believes he really is - a genuine all-rounder.
ON THE DAY Aaron Boone received the phone call that would change his life, he was preparing to accept a new job. Boone already had lived a gratifying professional life: third-generation ballplayer, author of a famous home run, beloved teammate, prominent TV analyst. This job -- an all-purpose front-office role with the Minnesota Twins -- was a logical next step.
Then his phone rang. It was New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman. Just days earlier, Cashman had fired Joe Girardi, the team's manager for a decade. The Yankees had a job opening.
"You interested in interviewing for this?" Cashman asked.
Boone had awakened that morning with nothing more on his agenda than to watch his son Sergot's football game. Now he was fielding a question he hadn't even considered. His answer came easily:
"Hell yeah."
Before his interview, Boone reached out to Houston Astros manager AJ Hinch, Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, Milwaukee Brewers manager Craig Counsell, all of whom share the qualities that he embodies: personability, open-mindedness, charm, principle, conviction. He talked with Pete Carroll, the Super Bowl-winning Seattle Seahawks coach. Boone didn't want to know whether he could do the job -- serve as the public face of the most storied organization in American sports, placate the 25 idiosyncratic alpha males that populate a clubhouse, translate the analytical data that dominates front-office philosophies into player-friendly, game-usable product. He knew he could.
Boone needed to understand what managing would do to him.
"One of the things about baseball, even going back as a player, that I've tried was to enjoy the crappy part of it too," Boone says. "If you're going to be in this life, I think it helps that you enjoy it all to some degree.
"So when there's difficult days, maybe it's a tough loss or a tough decision to make or a tough conversation to have, I try to -- I don't know if enjoy is the right word, but embracing those things too."
His first two years in management have given him plenty to embrace. Boone won 100 games in his first season and followed with a bravura performance this year, weathering a record 39 injured-list stints to fashion a 103-win follow-up -- the first manager in baseball history to win 100-plus games in his first two seasons.
There have been sacrifices along the way. For years, Boone took pains not to curse. A return to the dugout ended that (and a hot mic illuminated it in glorious, profane fashion for the world to hear). His days of falling asleep unaided have vanished. Every night he relies on an iPad, AirPods and the catalog of "Friends," streaming on Netflix. This is what it takes to weather the tumult.
And now, on the eve of New York hosting Game 1 of the American League Division Series against the Twins, Boone faces the start of the only true test for any Yankees manager: guiding the team toward its next championship, what would be the 28th in franchise history. Daunting as it is, Boone shrugs. If he has learned anything in the past two years, it's that he was made for this moment.
THE WORLD, TO Aaron Boone, is a million-piece puzzle, and he gathers the pieces one at a time. His mind naturally banks everything he sees, no matter how tiny the detail. This skill has led to his signature party trick: His imitations of Joe Torre walking to the mound and Alex Rodriguez's distinctive habits at the plate -- and the physical tics of dozens of other baseball players -- are too good to be parody. He can become whomever he pleases.
And it doesn't end with impressions. Watching Boone canvass the Yankees' clubhouse is like watching a politician work a room. Boone processes everything while looking at nothing in particular. Each pat on the back comes with a motive. No question asked is benign. During batting practice, Boone lobs compliments at players around the cage -- "I like the moves that you're making," he'll say -- asks about their approach, filters and notates changes. He is processing information, collating it, filing it away for when he'll need it next.
"He's always watching," Yankees star Aaron Judge says. "He's not just sitting in his office, writing the lineup, coming out to give a couple signs. He's involved with all of us. The pitchers, the hitters. He's got perfect timing with all of that."
This, as much as anything, is the quality that convinced the Yankees he could succeed despite his inexperience -- this sixth sense that baseball people call feel. Those who have feel get it -- the interpersonal relationships, the gravity of situations, the how and the why. Feel is walking into a room, taking its temperature and understanding what matters to every person.
The Yankees' 2019 roster, with its MLB-record 30 different players spending time on the injured list, presented plenty of challenges for Boone's people skills. He needed to assimilate fill-in players and make them feel like regulars. "He told me I belonged," said third baseman Gio Urshela, who joined the Yankees in New York after Miguel Andujar tore his shoulder in April. While that seems like a simple thing, Urshela had spent 2018 bouncing around the Triple-A homes of the Cleveland Indians, Toronto Blue Jays and Yankees, fearful that at 26 years old he might forever find himself pigeonholed in the minor leagues. Instead, he wound up one of a handful of Yankees breakouts this year.
At the same time, Boone had to nurture the egos of a record number of injured players, whose mental fragility is often as acute as the physical. Injuries cause doubt, and doubt festers, and the entire ecosystem of a clubhouse can rot amid the disease. These players -- some of the Yankees' biggest stars, including Giancarlo Stanton and Gary Sanchez -- needed to understand they were still an important part of the team, regardless of its success in their absence. Boone took great care in this balance -- in back-patting, in question-asking, in temperature-taking, in understanding.
"He's always been a great people person and knows how to communicate with people," says pitcher CC Sabathia, at 39 the most wizened Yankee. "That's the biggest thing in the game today."
THE MOST REMARKABLE thing about Aaron Boone? For a guy who grew up baseball royalty, played in the major leagues for a dozen years, married a model, was broadcast into millions of homes weekly, he still manages to come off like a perfectly average guy.
That has always been the case. In a family of overachievers, a teenaged Aaron stood out for how normal he was. His grandfather, Ray, was a two-time All-Star infielder. His father, Bob, won seven Gold Gloves as a catcher. His older brother, Bret, finished third in 2001 MVP voting, made three All-Star teams and won four Gold Gloves at second base. Because of his last name, Aaron couldn't avoid baseball, but he never struggled to find an identity outside of the sport.
"Everybody loves Aaron," Bob says. "They always have. At school, he would befriend the outcast, take everybody under his wing. He was so nice it was kind of sickening actually."
Boone was a good player -- he played at the University of Southern California, like his brother Bret, got drafted in the third round by the Cincinnati Reds and debuted in the major leagues three years later. He made his only All-Star team in 2003 and was traded two weeks later to the Yankees, whose gaping hole at third base was their lone vulnerability. Boone filled it ably until the postseason, when he fell into a deep slump. It got so bad that Torre benched Boone for Game 7 of the AL Championship Series against the Boston Red Sox.
Then came a pinch-running appearance in the eighth inning, an at-bat in the 11th, a first-pitch knuckleball from Tim Wakefield and a pennant-clinching home run. As the Yankees celebrated that night, Bret, in town broadcasting the game for Fox, crashed their party. Bret stood on a table, raised a glass in the air and said: "Ladies and gentlemen: For one night and one night only, I'm proud to be known as Aaron Boone's brother."
Three months to the day later, Boone was playing pickup basketball with his brother-in-law when an exuberant opponent bulldozed him. The ACL in his left knee tore. The Yankees had signed him to a $5.75 million contract over the winter -- a deal that prohibited him from playing basketball. Had he lied about the cause of the injury, he could have received his whole salary. Instead, he told his agents to tell Cashman the truth, even though he would forfeit nearly $5 million when the Yankees later released him.
"It feels very simple to me," Boone says. "That's what happened, I needed to let my team know, and I needed to get it fixed. That's just how I live my life."
This is where Boone's career takes on a bit of a butterfly effect quality: That injury forced the team to scramble for a third baseman. With all the best free agents signed, New York instead engineered one of the biggest trades in the sport's history, dealing for Rodriguez and his then-record $252 million contract. At a recent Sunday Night Baseball game, Rodriguez introduced his daughters to Boone. This guy, Rodriguez said, is the reason your father was a Yankee.
Boone bounced around the next five years, playing for the Indians, Florida Marlins and Washington Nationals and signing with the Astros prior to the 2009 season. Before spring training, he underwent a routine checkup in which a doctor found that a congenital heart defect that Boone had known about since college had worsened. At 36, he needed open-heart surgery.
On the night before the procedure, he had dinner with his best friend, Ryan Stromsborg, and his agent, Adam Katz. A few minutes after they returned to their hotel rooms, Stromsborg heard a knock on his door. It was Boone. He was holding three envelopes.
"If anything goes wrong tomorrow," Boone said, "can you make sure to take care of this?"
One letter was to Boone's wife -- who was pregnant with their second child -- and son. Another was to his parents and brothers. The third was to his friends. Though the procedure was a success -- Boone even made it back for 10 games in September before retiring -- he said having to consider his mortality so young compelled him to do more with his life.
In 2012, Boone's wife, Laura, joined a mission trip with their church in Haiti. As they prepared to build a clinic, boys from a nearby orphanage helped dig the ground for the foundation. One of them, named Jeanel, forged an immediate bond with Laura. She returned home and asked Aaron what he thought about adopting Jeanel. When Laura visited Haiti again, she learned Jeanel had a younger brother, Sergot. Over the next two years, the Boones went through an intensive process -- trips to Haiti, meetings with psychologists, evaluations of their home -- before the adoptions were finalized. In 2014, Jeanel and Sergot moved in with Boone, Laura and their two biological children, Brandon and Bella.
"Look, everyone is a little bit different and has different gifts and things to give," Boone says. "Some things you may do are overwhelming to me and no chance. This was something that was a no-brainer and easy for my wife and I. That's a gift."
The kids are getting older now, and that gave Boone pause before he took the Yankees job. He knew what it entailed. They would need to uproot the family from the Phoenix area to Connecticut. Half the season he would be gone; the other half he would see them only in the mornings. Baseball is an infernal grind, the sort that can wear down a man and expose something entirely uncharacteristic. The thing is, Boone's family knew he couldn't say no. Because deep down, that element of the game -- that grind, the daily attempt to enjoy the hard part -- might have been what he missed the most.
STRIP AWAY THE vulgarity, the rhetorical questions and the righteous anger, and all that is left from Aaron Boone's now-legendary rant at rookie umpire Brennan Miller on July 18 is a single, simple sentence: "I feel bad for you." In the middle of a tirade at Miller and his inconsistent strike zone against the Tampa Bay Rays, during which Boone coined the phrase "savages in the box" to describe Yankees hitters, he managed to offer something rarely if ever seen in the annals of manager-umpire dust-ups: empathy. (Another sign of Boone's uniqueness among managers is that the comments did register as genuinely earnest empathy, not sarcasm.)
As bad as Boone felt for Miller, he does not feel bad for what he did.
"It's a hard balance to strike of being respectful and not just bitching all the time," Boone says. "But also, I'm going to battle for it too. We're playing for a lot."
"I don't want this to be about demeaning another person, which I didn't mean to do with the umpire," he adds. "But there was a lot of truth to it. That's what I view [the players] as. They are relentless. It's probably sometimes why I get a little too far when I'm yelling about strike zones. Because I know how hard we are on them. We're going to control the strike zone."
That Boone's objections came in such eminently quotable fashion -- adorned with four F-bombs and a couple of other expletives -- wasn't particularly surprising given the scenario. It was Game 1 of a doubleheader. Almost all of the Yankees' best hitters were off the injured list and in the lineup. Miller, in his fifth career major league game working home plate, was calling an inconsistent zone from the first inning. Early in the game, Boone was yelling in the dugout: "Bear down" after one borderline pitch, and "Get better" after another and "Really bad start," he said. His players heard him. They were beginning to echo Boone. Brett Gardner (whom, for the record, Boone had been calling a "savage" since the season prior) angled the knob of his bat perpendicular to the metal dugout ceiling and pounded it in frustration.
Miller was going to eject someone. Boone just didn't want it to be a player.
The next day, Boone apologized to the young ump, rueful that a field microphone had picked up his rant and allowed Jimmy O'Brien, the Twitter user known as @Jomboy_, to clip the 21 seconds of fury, post them to Twitter and enlighten the world. The sentiment has lived on, inside and out of the clubhouse. Boone's mom, Sue, bought 15 T-shirts stamped with Savages in the Box. Yankees players still talk about it, wear the T-shirts and embrace this defining identity.
"It was getting our guys fired up," Gardner says. "It's a big part of the game. It's a long season. I'll be honest: We lose our minds from time to time."
Managers can earn instant credibility simply by standing up for players. Boone recognizes this. He knows all the tips and tricks. He downloaded an encyclopedia of advice from Bob, who spent six years managing the Cincinnati Reds and Kansas City Royals, and adapted it to the modern game. In Bob's day, managers would have never allowed an analytics team near the clubhouse. His son embraced the sport's evolution, and even if he disagreed with the findings, he always promised to think about it. Sometimes, he would get back in a couple of minutes, sometimes a couple of hours, sometimes a couple of days.
"It's like a sponge growing right before our eyes with every decision he has to make, every discussion he has to have," Cashman says. "Whether it's a send-out [to the minor leagues], navigating a difficult circumstance, taking a ball from the starter's hand early. All those things, he just continues to benefit and grow from. I feel like we got one of the better managers in the game, and we're lucky that we ran into him."
Here's the thing about the job in 2019: Managers, especially ones with just two years of experience, are far more often scapegoats than heroes. Boone knows his mandate. In the 15 years since Boone's ALCS home run, the Yankees have been to the World Series once. It is a stretch equal to the barren 1980s and early 1990s, and to break it the Yankees -- as short on starting pitching as they are long on home runs -- must beat the Twins, a team that set a new MLB record for home runs in a season, then, likely, an Astros team that is among the best in MLB history, not to mention whoever advances from the National League.
"If we don't win a World Series, you understand what the reaction is going to be from the city," says Phil Nevin, Boone's friend dating back to high school and now the Yankees' third-base coach. "We're healthy. We're expected to be in a certain place at the end of October. We expect to be there too. But we know how hard this game is. And if it doesn't go the way we hope it does, there will be backlash."
FOR NOW, THE potential of backlash or consequences or ruminations can wait. When Boone thinks of his two years with the Yankees, he prefers not to waste time on what isn't or might not be. Not because he's unwilling to acknowledge the possibility of another year that ends without a World Series appearance but because you do more with your life by considering what got you here.
Boone vividly remembers Dec. 1, 2017. The USC football team was in the Pac-12 championship game. (His Trojans fandom is the one piece of his life that truly vexes Boone and can prompt prodigious mood swings.) He and Brandon flew to California. They met at a hotel with Stromsborg and his son Jake. Like eight years earlier, Boone came bearing a note. He made sure Brandon wasn't looking and slipped it to Stromsborg, who opened it.
"Shhhhhhhhhh," the note read. "Brandon doesn't know that I'm going to become the manager of the New York Yankees."
As Boone and Brandon walked away, Stromsborg showed it to Jake. They tried to hide their excitement -- and needed to bite their tongues when they met Boone and Brandon again later for lunch. Stromsborg asked Brandon what he thought about his dad interviewing with the Yankees.
"Horrible idea," Brandon said. "My dad has coached one year of flag football. The Yankees? He'll be gone within a year."
Minutes before the game, Brandon was sitting outside of their suite when Boone finally told him. Right around kickoff, the news broke on Twitter. Texts poured in. A dozen, then 50, then 100, then hundreds -- everybody from all walks of Boone's life, from the elementary-school outcasts he still kept in touch with to the teammates whose respect he had earned to those who had helped facilitate Jeanel and Sergot's adoption to the ESPN crew whom he had befriended on all those Sunday night broadcasts. From afar, they were toasting Boone, and he was with his son and his best friend, watching USC win the conference championship game. Life was good.
The past two years have bolstered that feeling. Managing did what he hoped it would: fulfill him. Boone has maintained balance. If a few curse words and gray hairs are the worst effects of managing the Yankees, that's a worthwhile trade. If he loses an hour or two of sleep nightly when he gets home because he rewatches the game and then a few episodes of "Friends" -- iPad on, AirPods in, chuckling to himself until he falls asleep -- so be it.
He can still wake up with the kids, grab breakfast and take them to the bus. He spends his downtime at Yankee Stadium kicking around ideas with the front-office staff, sparking conversation, maybe making a few phone calls. Soon after he was hired, he gave Stromsborg a ring.
For years, Boone has called him during the work day. Stromsborg is in estate planning and manages finances for the rich and famous, so whenever Boone called and was asked who was speaking, he would name a celebrity. It was odd, then, when Stromsborg's assistant told him Aaron Boone was on the line. He picked up, figuring it was another friend.
"What's up, Ry?" Boone said.
"Boonie," Stromsborg said, "are you using your own name now?"
"Couldn't think of a bigger one," Boone said.
Stromsborg couldn't stop laughing. Classic Boonie feel. He always seemed to know what to say when.
"I want to be authentic in who I am," Boone says. "I've always been pretty comfortable in my own skin. Again, I think that goes back to probably my childhood and how I was raised. I always felt -- people always made me feel my whole life that I was special. And I'd like to think not in an entitled whatever way, but I always felt like people treated me like I was important. I'm grateful for it."
It's why he is so sanguine about this October. The Yankees might win. The Yankees might lose. As much decision-making and strategizing and string-pulling as he does, Boone knows there's only so much a manager can control. Sometimes the guy who is benched winds up the hero anyway. Sometimes you end up with the crappy part. Sometimes you're made for the moment and it still doesn't come to you. And sometimes, when everything lines up right, when the million pieces of the puzzle come together at once -- well, that's just savage.
Andy Murray reached his first singles quarter-final in a year by beating fellow Briton Cameron Norrie in the second round of the China Open.
After two tight sets taken on tie-breaks, Murray raced through the decider to win 7-6 (8-6) 6-7 (4-7) 6-1 after nearly three hours in Beijing.
It is the first time he has won two straight ATP Tour singles matches since hip resurfacing surgery in January.
Murray will next face Austrian top seed Dominic Thiem or China's Zhang Zhizhen.
The three-time Grand Slam champion, 32, served for the first set at 5-3, but Norrie broke back to force a tie-break, also then saving three set points before he double-faulted to hand Murray the opener.
British number three Norrie, 24, surged into a 5-2 lead in the second before Murray responded to take it to a tie-break - only to go down 7-4.
Murray loudly admonished himself following errors and told his coaching team he was "very poor" after the first set.
Yet the Scot was moving well, looking to have recovered after his impressive win over Matteo Berrettini on Tuesday, and won 71% and 70% of points on his first and second serve respectively.
And Norrie had no answer to Murray's power and placement in the decider, the former world number one breaking twice to wrap up victory.
Murray will now have a day off before playing his last-eight tie on Friday.
His last ATP Tour singles quarter-final appearance was a defeat by Spaniard Fernando Verdasco at the Shenzhen Open in September 2018.
Playing at a high tempo suits England’s Paul Drinkhall; that fact was underlined earlier this year when he won the men’s singles title at the 2019 ITTF Challenge Serbia Open, beating Frenchman, Abdel-Kader Salifou in the final. He recovered from a two games to nil deficit to impose himself on the contest (8-11, 10-12, 12-10, 11-3, 11-2, 11-1).
Against Slovenia’s Darko Jorgic it was very much the same, he trailed by three games to one before pressing the accelerator to secure a full distance win (11-7, 5-11, 6-11, 8-11, 13-11, 11-9, 11-5).
“He’s strong from the backhand, so I tried not to let him play his strength. He did miss some backhands. I tried to impose my gain; even when I was losing 3-1 I felt good in myself. It was important to try to establish a fast tempo; also in the seventh game I made a really good start, at 10-4 he played an outrageous backhand but to win he would had to do that again and again.” Paul Drinkhall
The surprise winner the previous day in opposition to Portugal’s Marcos Freitas (11-9, 13-15, 5-11, 11-3, 11-9, 9-11, 11-6); facing another left handed top spin attacking player, Romania’s Alexandru Cazacu experienced a reversal of fortunes. He was beaten by Frenchman, Enzo Angles (9-11, 11-3, 11-9, 11-8, 12-10).
“In the first game I didn’t serve that well, I was throwing the ball too high. After the opening game I created more angles when I served; I played better when I stepped around my backhand to play my forehand. He plays with a great of top spin, so I had to keep varying the play.” Enzo Angles
Match after match, facing adversaries from foreign shores, Chinese players have progressed; that scenario was halted by Thailand’s Supanut Wisutmaythangkoon. He withstood a brave recovery by Zhang Yudong to reserve his place in round four (11-5, 13-11, 11-5, 6-11, 8-11, 2-11, 11-5).
“At the start of the match I was doing well in the short play but after the third game he changed and started to flip the ball more. In the seventh game I think he became nervous; I became more confident in the open play.” Supanut Wisutmaythangkoon.
While the intense qualification action continues, the seeded stars are preparing to take to the stage.
Defeats for Sweden’s Anton Källberg and Elias Ranefur but the host nation’s morning was saved by left-hander Viktor Brodd, who outpaced his Croatian counterpart Andrej Gacina in emphatic style (11-9, 11-7, 11-4, 11-9).
“Good tactics, I think today I was perhaps too fast for him but also my ball placement was accurate. I received service well; I expected he would use the forehand reverse serve more. I moved well, overall it was a solid performance.” Viktor Brodd
Responsible for Jonathan Groth’s exit on the opening day of qualification but Mehdi Bouloussa’s journey is over with the Frenchman falling to Belarusian Pavel Platonov in a seven-game thriller (10-12, 11-8, 8-11, 12-10, 11-5, 9-11, 11-7).
“Mentally I felt really good before playing Mehdi; the fact we won the mixed doubles match gave me a real boost. It was a question of focus on every point; I was down two games to one but came back. He was very aggressive; he is very powerful, very strong from the backhand. In the seventh I was down 2-4 and then level at 5-5. I felt calm in my mind and maintained concentration.” Pavel Platonov
One of Japan’s up-and-coming names, Takuya Jin continues to pick up noteworthy results with his latest coming in preliminary round three of the men’s singles qualification tournament in Stockholm. Taking on Romania’s Ovidiu Ionescu, the young Japanese star needed just four games to extend his stay in the competition (11-9, 11-8, 11-8, 11-3).
Arguably the standout performance of the 10.10am session came courtesy of Brazil’s Gustavo Tsuboi and Bruna Takahashi, who combined to beat 2017 World Junior Championships runners-up Cristian Pletea and Adina Diaconu in straight games (11-9, 11-6, 11-2).
“I don’t think we did anything special, we were able to win the rallies: that was the difference, not the short play.” Bruna Takahashi
“It was important not to give Cristian time to play, not let him into the match. I was able to top spin the first ball and Bruna could then finish the point.” Gustavo Tsuboi
Here’s what Jakub Dyjas and Natalia Partyka had to say following their opening round success:
“Service and receive was the key, Yuan had problems with my service; Natalia was team captain today.” Jakub Dyjas
“Even though we were 5-9 down I felt confident, we just played our game.” Natalia Partyka
Jang Woojin and Yang Haeun have enjoyed a winning start to their mixed doubles campaign in Stockholm after the pair from Korea Republic successfully dealt with Sweden’s Anton and Christina Källberg 3-1 in preliminary round one (12-10, 6-11, 11-9, 15-13).
One of the standout encounters of the session took place over on table 6: leading by two games to one but Poland’s Jakub Dyjas and Natalia Partyka were slow off the mark in game four, trailing France’s Emmanuel Lebesson and Yuan Jia Nan 5-9 on the scoreboard. Showing great resolve Dyjas and Partyka won six points in a row to secure victory (12-10, 3-11, 11-4, 11-9).
Which players do you think will join the seeded entries in the main event?
The time for the second day of qualification to commence has arrived – here’s a look at the day’s schedule:
The daily training took place at the Sveti Martin training hall, adjacent to the Golfer Hotel where all participants were accommodated.
Education plays an integral part of the High Performance pathway, two educational sessions were scheduled in addition to intensive table tennis training: a strengthening and conditioning theory session (complemented by a practical session as part of the training programme) and a lecture on nutrition. The first was conducted by fitness expert Mario Starek and the second by nutritionist Gracia Petek.
ITTF High Performance Manager Massimo Costantini outlined the proceedings in detail:
“This time the work was divided into three parts: footwork / control – power / game-like situation. The mornings were usually dedicated to one-on-one sessions, while in the afternoons we focused on many balls sessions. This was complemented with light fitness units. Of course there were also times when athletes could perform individual drills…
…Consistency is the issue when a player comes to the table and is ready to perform a long series of strokes. The question is: do I need to play 15-20 balls consecutively while the length of the rally in a regular match is on average only 3-4 balls? It looks like at times players want to succeed in a very long-lasting rally and do not care enough when the rally is very short. I know this can be a good subject of discussion and I am very glad to start it and reply to questions if there are any…
…The camp was very well organised. We were met by good local sparring partners, and players enjoyed watching a Champions League match between the local team STK Starr and French side GV Hennebont. The match ended 3-1 for the guests.” Massimo Costantini
The 2019 ITTF High Performance does not end with this camp. Next up will be the World Cadet Challenge in Poland, preceded by a Hopes Team training camp. In December, the Hopes Squad, comprising players selected after the World Hopes Week and Challenge held in Oman this past July will convene for their first training camp together, and another opportunity for Under 21 players is under consideration.
Sachin Shetty, coach of Diya Chitale, had nothing but praise for the camp’s organisation:
“The practice sessions were well planned by Massimo. He requested feedback from all coaches partaking in the camp, which created a sense of bonding and a positive attitude amongst the coaches. The sequences were planned according to match situations, which was very important for the players in order to prepare for the tournament and give them an edge. Planning these kinds of camps before a tournament is very good for players and coaches, as it helps to understand where the student may need to improve…
…I am really happy to have been part of this camp. Thanks to ITTF, Max and TTFI (Table Tennis Federation of India) for giving me and Diya this opportunity.” Sachin Shetty
Are you a flashy wing? A workhorse of a lock? A prop who doesn't take a backward step? Or a fly-half who directs the team?
With England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales all deep into their World Cup campaigns in Japan, find out where you would fit into their line-ups.
Just answer these questions to find out which rugby position suits you best.*
*Part - or in fact all - of this fun quiz is based on classic generalisations and well-worn stereotypes that may or may not be true in real life...
Warren Gatland's players joined a select club with their momentous World Cup win over Australia on Sunday, becoming only the second Wales team to win in seven encounters with the Wallabies in the tournament's history.
Ross Moriarty, however, could already claim some sort of honorary membership, as both his father and uncle were in the last Wales side to triumph in a World Cup match against Australia.
That was back in 1987, the third-place play-off in the first edition of the competition, when dad Paul was at number eight and uncle Richard was in the second row.
The brothers were renowned as fierce, imposing competitors and Ross has upheld the family's reputation as an abrasive back-rower.
Paul must have been beaming with pride, then, when he watched from the crowd at Tokyo Stadium on Sunday as his son come on as a replacement to help Wales cling on to a monumental win.
"Dad's very emotional when it comes to me playing rugby, especially for Wales," says Ross.
"To be involved for this World Cup again, it was a big one. They just know, bench or start, when I've come off I will have given everything - that's all they know I can do.
"My dad and my uncle were in the 1987 team that last beat Australia at a World Cup. My parents came out for the game and have gone home now, but it was a special day for me."
Do Moriarty's parents have plans to return to Japan at some point?
"When we get to the final, yeah," he laughs.
Moriarty is quick to clarify that is a light-hearted remark, but it is not without sincerity.
Even if Wales' players and coaches are not thinking beyond next week's Pool D match against Fiji, they have given themselves the perfect start with two wins from their opening two matches.
There is a strong belief among the group in Japan that they could become the first Wales side to win a World Cup, but they will not allow themselves to look that far ahead at this point.
That is because there can be no room for complacency in this squad, not when a seemingly nailed-on first-choice player such as Moriarty has been limited to two appearances from the bench so far in this tournament.
The 25-year-old was Wales' starting number eight as they won the Six Nations Grand Slam earlier this year and, with 36 caps to his name, the 2017 British and Irish Lions tourist is playing in his second World Cup.
But it is his 22-year-old Dragons team-mate, Aaron Wainwright, who has started in his place in Japan so far, enhancing his burgeoning reputation with two excellent performances alongside the ever-impressive Justin Tipuric and Josh Navidi in the back-row.
"I've started a lot of games in the last few campaigns. To be on the bench is obviously disappointing for myself, but I know my role in the team and when I come on the pitch it changes that mindset for me," Moriarty says.
"I came on for 35 minutes at the weekend and it felt like I'd played the 80. For those boys starting it is tough. I've got quite a lot of experience and 36 caps.
"I've started a lot of those games, but coming off the bench I'm aiming to give the boys energy and put my front foot forward."
For a player so aggressive on the pitch, Moriarty seems remarkably measured when he assesses his own role in the Wales side.
It is genuine too, and head coach Gatland has praised the Dragons enforcer for the way he has responded to losing his place in the team.
"It was disappointing not to get the start, but putting that aside the bigger picture is to help the team and make sure we prepare as well as we can and be that opposition in training," Moriarty adds.
He has certainly done that, training with the kind of ferocity that saw blood spilled during some sessions last week, according to captain Alun Wyn Jones.
Moriarty is a man who plays the game on the edge, a bulldozing carrier and a wholehearted tackler prone to the occasional moment when the red mist descends.
No wonder, therefore, that Wales played with such intensity against Australia, having prepared with such fiery training sessions.
"We want to push each other as hard as we can, whether that's physicality, fitness, and when we have to smash each other, we just smash each other," says Moriarty.
"It's 100% going into training because we know that's going to be the best way to prepare ourselves for tough games.
"Obviously not all the time but I was quite fresh and maybe some of the other boys weren't quite so fresh. I enjoyed that side of training last week and that obviously showed in the game, so we prepped well and we put it in on the pitch."
Moriarty played his part in a memorable victory, replacing Wainwright early in the second half to help Wales withstand a strong Australian fightback.
Wainwright has been one of the breakthrough stars of this World Cup, and his industrious display against the Wallabies will make it difficult for Moriarty to reclaim his starting place.
Whether it is for the whole 80 minutes, 40 or less, however, Moriarty knows what makes him a valuable member of this squad.
"Presence and imposing myself physically on opponents," he says.
"Coming off the pitch, I know I've put 100% into every tackle I've done.
"My intention is never to go out and hurt anyone or do anyone harm, but to put that physicality into the game and to do what I need to be doing is a big boost for the team."
Rugby World Cups take time, because the turnaround between games has to allow recovery, and Rugby World Cups create time, because there is only so much training even a professional's body and mind can take.
Into those gaps can come boredom, and mischief, and trouble. There might be computer games, quizzes, box sets. Into the empty hours too can come more intellectual stimulation than you might imagine.
This England rugby team have been enjoying a little cricket in their downtime. They were at it on the open spaces between their hotel and the Toyohira river up in Sapporo on the morning of their opening match against Tonga, and they have spread the field once again here in Tokyo.
On a video posted on his social media platforms, Maro Itoje can be seen dismissing his Saracens team-mate Jamie George with a brute of a ball that leaps off a length to produce a catch at short leg.
It's an impressive delivery, the classic fast bowler's wicket, but not particularly representative of how the 24-year-old has been relaxing before a match against Argentina that the Pumas' hooker Agustin Creevy has said will resemble a war.
"A lot of my team-mates have a laugh at my techniques for bowling," flanker Itoje told BBC Radio 5 Live.
"But sometimes it's dangerous to underestimate your opponents. And I'm afraid Jamie George underestimated me. And what do you know, he's been sent packing.
"There's a lot to do out here. There are also a lot of distractions - you can do 101 different things in each city. For me, I'm here to play rugby, so my preparation gets me in shape."
That preparation has included listening to political podcasts and reading books on cultural history. Itoje's politics degree from the University of London's School of Oriental and African Studies may be in the bag, but the interests have kicked on past.
"I had one or two modules with Japan, mainly about the imperial past, contrasting the Japanese empire with other empires that were around in the West and in Africa, which was really interesting," says Itoje.
"I'm a big fan of podcasts. I've actually just started a new one - The Economist Asks - which is very good.
"I've been listening too to Political Thinking with Nick Robinson, I'm a fan of that one. Reasons to be Cheerful with Ed Miliband. Then there's the Alastair Campbell one which is awesome - very, very good.
"I've also been listening to the audiobook of Emma Dabiri's Don't Touch My Hair, which is about a black woman's experience of hair.
"The black woman's experience of hair is very different to the Western or Caucasian experience of hair, and it goes into racism, it goes into different stereotypes and assumptions that are made. It's very interesting."
Itoje, perhaps unsurprisingly, was the England player chosen to thank their hosts in Japanese at the team's official welcome in Miyazaki two weeks ago.
While he is modest about how he fared compared to World Rugby chairman and former England skipper Bill Beaumont - "I think my pronunciation was a little bit better than his, but it probably still wasn't great" - he also sees reflections of his own experiences in the players around him.
"Courtney Lawes is the most Zen in the squad. I've never seen a man more chilled out than Courtney," he adds.
"He never rushes anywhere - always relaxed, always in control. It's a very nice trait to have.
"I'll talk about books and big ideas with Sam Underhill. He's pretty political. He's quite engaged on all those types of things.
"There are also two of our security who have some kind of political history, so most of my conversations are actually with them, to be honest."
Pumas hooker Creevy has also described England's style as "boring" in the build-up to a game in which victory would mean almost certain qualification for the quarter-finals for Eddie Jones' men.
Argentina have not beaten England in their past nine meetings, and George - intimidated less by his opposite number than short-pitched bowling - is sanguine about the pre-match barbs.
"I don't think we do play boring rugby. I'm not overly surprised that he's tried to say that - but he's entitled to his opinion and hopefully we prove him wrong on Saturday.
"I don't think it's very justified. I'm sure he's just trying to rattle us a bit. He's more than welcome to try."
France needed three late tries to survive a scare and see off the United States for their second World Cup win.
Yoann Huget and Alivereti Raka scored early tries but France conceded regular penalties and made handling errors to keep Gary Gold's side in touch.
The USA, ranked 13th in the world, got within three points in the 64th minute but Gael Fickou and Baptiste Serin crossed in the space of three minutes.
With the bonus point secured, Jefferson Poirot added a fifth try late on.
France forward Bernard Le Roux said afterwards his side thought the match was going to be "a bit easier" and they got a "big surprise" in the first half.
"They got stuck in and gave us a tough time at the breakdowns and we didn't get clean ball," he said.
"So it was really tough, especially in the first half, and the bench did well when they came on.
"They made a big difference and we got some go-forward and our set plays opened up play on the outside."
The win moves France up to second in Pool C, one point behind England.
Eddie Jones' side ran in seven tries when they beat the US last Thursday and, despite the late points, France's performance only strengthens England's position as group favourites.
England play Argentina on Saturday and France meet Tonga on Sunday before the sides meet on 12 October in their final games of the pool stage.
France gave the score-line a flattering look with the late points that secured the precious bonus point, but for large parts of the game they were hugely disappointing.
In total they conceded 10 penalties to the USA's four and conceded 18 turnovers to their opponents' 13.
They were just six points ahead at half-time and when AJ MacGinty kicked a penalty for the USA with 16 minutes to go his side had the momentum and there appeared a real chance of an upset.
However, France took advantage when their opponents tired to follow their narrow victory over Argentina with another win.
There had been flashes of brilliance in the first half in particular, with both tries being created by the boot of fly-half Camille Lopez - the first a chip over the top and the second an excellent cross-field kick.
During a frustrating period in the opening 20 minutes of the second half, errors halted France's progress and their sloppiness was summed up when an excellent break by Sofiane Guitoune was spoiled when he passed forward to Raka when the winger had a clear run to the line.
The USA made plenty of errors of their own and could have caused France even greater problems had they made better use of good positions in the second half.
USA coach Gary Gold said:"I felt we went toe-to-toe. We did make some mistakes but we never gave up the fight.
"It's a bit sad we didn't get a try on the scoreboard, but it was just a very, very good performance."
France: Ramos; Raka, Guitoune, Fickou, Huget; Lopez, Machenaud; Baille, Chat, Setiano; Le Roux, Gabrillagues; Iturria; Camara, Picamoles (capt).
Replacements: Guirado, Poirot, Slimani, Vahaamahina, Alldritt, Serin, Ntamack, Medard.
USA: Teo; Scully (capt), Brache, Campbell, Iosefo; MacGinty, Davies; Fry, Taufetee, Lamositele; Brakeley, Civetta; Lamborn Germishuys, Hanco, Dolan
Replacements: Fawsitt, Kilifi, Mullen, Peterson, Pinkelman, De Haas, Magie, Palamo
Two-time defending champions New Zealand scored nine tries to thrash Canada and record their second convincing win at the 2019 World Cup.
Brothers Beauden, Jordie and Scott Barrett all went over as the All Blacks hit this World Cup's highest score.
They were given a penalty try after four minutes and Jordie Barrett, Sonny Bill Williams and Beauden Barrett also crossed before half-time.
Scott Barrett, Rieko Ioane, Brad Weber and Shannon Frizell also scored.
There were four tries in the first 10 minutes at the start of the second half as New Zealand tore their opponents' defence apart.
The All Blacks move up to second in Pool B, one point behind Italy - out in front courtesy of two bonus-point wins - who they play after facing Namibia on Sunday.
The victory extends New Zealand's winning run at World Cups to 16 matches - their last defeat was to France in the 2007 quarter-final - and continues their record of having never lost a pool game in the competition.
This may not have been the most balanced encounter of the tournament - pitting the winners of the past two World Cups against the second-lowest ranked team in the tournament - but New Zealand's attack was devastating.
They powered over the line inside 70 seconds but Canada were able to hold the ball up.
However it wasn't long before the first try arrived and it did so in typically imposing fashion as New Zealand forced the Canada scrum back over the line under their own posts for a penalty try.
The All Blacks had threats throughout their team with fly-half Richie Mo'unga, who also kicked eight conversions, pulling the strings and Beauden Barrett a constant menace from his new position of full-back.
The Barrett brothers became the first sibling trio to start in a World Cup for New Zealand and the family hat-trick would have been completed even earlier had Scott not dropped the ball when over the line in the first half.
Beauden also had the chance to score a 10th All Blacks try, and take the team's total to 70, but he inexplicably spilled the ball in the final minute when looking certain to score.
On the rare occasions New Zealand did have to defend they did so clinically, turning the ball over to repel Canada when they ventured into their 22.
New Zealand saw off one of their main rivals for the trophy, South Africa, in their first pool game and this emphatic win continues their ominous momentum as they bid for a third consecutive World Cup.
New Zealand: B Barrett; J Barrett, Goodhue, Williams, Ioane; Mo'unga, Perenara; Moli, Coltman, Ta'avao, Tuipulotu, S Barrett, Frizell, Todd, Read (c).
Replacements: Taylor, Tu'ungafasi, Laulala, Whitelock, Savea, Weber, Crotty, Smith.
Canada: Parfrey, Hassler, Trainor, Hearn, Van Der Merwe; Nelson, McRorie; Sears-Duru, Howard, Keith; Olmstead, Keys; Rumball, Heaton, Ardron (c).
Replacements: Quattrin, Buydens, Ilnicki, Sheppard, Larsen, Mack, Paris, Coe
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