Sports
EuroCup Women’s final: History-making London Lions going for glory and breaking boundaries
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Since losing their first match of the season, a qualifier to get into Europe’s premier club competition the EuroLeague, the Lions have won all 26 games across domestic and European basketball. They sit second in the WBBL with three games in hand on league leaders Caledonia Gladiators.
Having finished top of their group, the Lions convincingly beat Lointek Gernika Bizkaia, of Spain, in the round of 16, before overcoming Turkey’s Melikgazi Kayseri in the quarter-final.
They then beat Umana Reyer Venice, of Italy, to become the first British finalists in a European competition and Fagbenle said it would be the “cherry on the top” to win a European championship in London.
She added: “This is going to be the first and last year I’m playing here so why not end it with a bang?”
The Lions face three-time Turkish league champions Besiktas in a two-leg final, travelling to Istanbul for the first leg before hosting the second at a near sold-out Copper Box, in Stratford.
The team with the higher aggregate score across the two legs will win the trophy.
General manager Vanja Cernivec has warned her Lions players to expect a huge home support in Istanbul and captain Shanice Beckford-Norton said the players will relish the opportunity in Turkey and London.
“It’s massive, I’ve heard some of the other teams in the league are coming down to support us so that’s where our rivalry goes out the way,” the 26-year-old guard said.
“It’s been a long journey for this club and this team and we’re so pleased to be able to have so many people backing us.
“They’re a very talented team and they have some superstars like we have, but I think we have a deeper bench and we’re ready, so I hope they are too and I hope we put on a fantastic show for women’s basketball as well.”
Support for the Lions has grown to a point where the players regularly spend up to 45 minutes signing autographs after home games, something Cernivec was not seeing when she first arrived.
She believes the team’s success can help continue to grow the sport in the UK and also improve the standards of the league and coaching in the country.
“The players are best friends, they have great chemistry and on the court it’s like they’re reading each other’s minds,” Cernivec said.
“The final is such a big moment for us and we’re ready to bring the trophy home and make another note in the history of British basketball.”
Sports
US Open women’s final 2024: Aryna Sabalenka holds off Jessica Pegula to win third Grand Slam title
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After losing to Gauff in last year’s final, a tearful Sabalenka admitted she had struggled to deal with the crowd, later saying the noise was so loud it “blocked my ears”.
The atmosphere was no different this time around, with Pegula receiving the majority of the support from the packed 23,000-seater stadium.
There were times when Sabalenka looked like the occasion would again get the better of her as she hit 34 unforced errors and five double faults.
Once the type of player who failed to keep her emotions in check, she has taken active steps to strengthen her mentality, including working with a psychologist, to become one of the most consistent competitors on the WTA Tour.
With injuries disrupting her season – she struggled with a stomach problem at the French Open before a shoulder issue ruled her out of Wimbledon – Sabalenka has got back on track with successive titles after beating Pegula in the final of last month’s Cincinnati Open.
“I wish she would have at least let me get one set. We had a tough match in Cincinnati a few weeks ago and she’s one of the best in the world,” Pegula said.
“She’s super powerful and isn’t going to give you anything, she can take the racquet out of your hand.”
Sabalenka’s victory in New York sees her become the first player to win both hard-court Slams in the same year since Angelique Kerber in 2016.
Sports
Republic of Ireland 0-2 England: What BBC Radio 5 Live saw in Lee Carsley’s first game
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Ian Dennis
Even before we had gone live on air for 5 Live, it was noticeable how involved Lee Carsley was with the warm-up.
The interim head coach even placed the red and white cones out in the England half of the field.
He was waiting on the pitch as a solitary figure before the players came out to warm up.
Carsley was actively involved along with his assistants Ashley Cole and Joleon Lescott. It’s a significant change in approach to that of Gareth Southgate or previous managers.
I even remember Fabio Capello, when he was England head coach, watching intently from the sidelines along with his assistant Franco Baldini – but they would study and monitor the opposition.
Carsley was purely focused on his England players and looked comfortable as a tracksuit manager.
John Murray
If you were looking for a different approach from Lee Carsley, it was there right from the start. There was an initial mis-step when he turned right to the home dugout when he first walked down the tunnel, but it was a tracksuited Carsley who laid out the balls and the cones and oversaw the whole of the warm-up.
It served to underline how he wishes to be seen very much as the head coach. And if England replicate the first-half performance, he will not be interim for too much longer.
Sports
Paris 2024 Paralympics: Finlay Graham, Emma Wiggs and Charlotte Henshaw win trio of golds for GB
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Finlay Graham, Emma Wiggs and Charlotte Henshaw won gold medals on Saturday morning at the 2024 Paralympics in Paris, taking Great Britain’s tally to 45.
Graham, 24, won the men’s C1-3 road race, while Wiggs, 44, was victorious in the women’s VL2 200m Va’a Single final.
Henshaw, 37, continued GB’s Para-canoe success, winning the women’s VL3 Single final, where there was also a silver medal for Hope Gordon. David Phillipson took silver in the men’s KL2 Single final.
Daniel Powell has guaranteed himself at least a silver medal in the men’s -90kg men’s J1 judo.
In Para-equestrian, Sophie Wells won the bronze medal in the Grade V individual freestyle event.
Great Britain now have a total of 106 medals at the Paralympics, including those 45 golds. Only China, with 85 golds and 195 total medals, have more.
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