Revered by teammates, captain and US fans, Lexi Thompson hopes for a win in her final Solheim Cup

Revered by teammates, captain and US fans, Lexi Thompson hopes for a win in her final Solheim Cup
US' Lexi Thompson hits from the third tee during a practice round prior to the Solheim Cup golf tournament at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Club Thursday in Gainesville, VA. (AP)
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Updated 13 September 2024
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Revered by teammates, captain and US fans, Lexi Thompson hopes for a win in her final Solheim Cup

Revered by teammates, captain and US fans, Lexi Thompson hopes for a win in her final Solheim Cup
  • Thompson and Alison Lee are the only players on the American squad who’ve won a Solheim Cup, which the US last captured in 2017 in Iowa
  • The US is favored statistically, with the top two players in the world in Nelly Korda and Lilia Vu and an average world ranking of 26.75 to Europe’s 40.5

GAINESVILLE, Virginia: Lexi Thompson worked her way down the rope line between the second and third holes at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club on Thursday, signing dozens of hats, flags and golf balls. The fans on the other side, worried they would miss their chance with the US Solheim Cup team’s most popular player, began chanting, “Lexi! Lexi!”

Thompson obliged, finally informing her still-waiting supporters, “Sorry, guys, I’ve got to go hit, OK?” There was a practice round to play, after all. But then she stopped again to sign the hats of two school-age girls and the vest of a service dog.

“We’re excited for you, and we’re excited for your retirement,” one fan told Thompson. “Enjoy life.”

The Solheim Cup begins Friday at this battle-tested venue about 40 miles west of Washington, D.C., that has hosted four Presidents Cups. And if it’s truly Thompson’s last as a player, she’s going out on top — at least in the eyes of American fans, teammates and captain Stacy Lewis.

There was never a doubt that Lewis would select Thompson to play in her seventh consecutive Solheim Cup. Although the 29-year-old hasn’t won on the LPGA Tour in five years, she brings power, proficiency in the tricky alternate-shot format and — rare on this US team — memories of hoisting the trophy in the biennial team competition against Europe.

Thompson and Alison Lee are the only players on the American squad who’ve won a Solheim Cup, which the US last captured in 2017 in Iowa. Europe won in 2019 in Scotland and 2021 in Ohio and retained the cup last year with a 14-14 draw in Spain. The event returns a year later — with Lewis and European captain Suzann Pettersen reprising their roles — to move back to even-numbered years and avoid the Ryder Cup.

The Solheim Cup dates to 1990, and no team has captured it four straight times. Also, neither side has won twice in a row on foreign soil.

The US is favored statistically, with the top two players in the world in Nelly Korda and Lilia Vu and an average world ranking of 26.75 to Europe’s 40.5. While Europe’s biggest margin of victory in the past three events was two points, it has gotten strong contributions from the likes of Carlota Ciganda (4-0 last year) and Leona Maguire (7-2-1 in the last two).

“The US team, they’ve been playing better than us on paper,” Ciganda said. “But I think this week is different.”

Lewis made “Unfinished Business” her team’s motto this year, and Pettersen, too, has tweaked her approach after neither side was fully satisfied with its performance in Spain. The US got off to a strong start in alternate shot, typically a strength for Europe, but was unable to maintain that advantage.

“We put a lot of emphasis last year on alternate shot, which you guys saw in the result,” Lewis said. “Looking back, was it maybe too much? Probably.”

Lewis shook things up with her foursomes pairings for Friday morning’s opening session. She announced Thursday she would send out rookies Lauren Coughlin (with Rose Zhang) and Sarah Schmelzel (with Vu) and bench Thompson, who is 9-7-7 overall in six Solheim Cups and 5-2-1 in alternate shot. Korda was tapped for the leadoff match alongside Allizen Corpuz, with Charley Hull and rookie Esther Henseleit as Europe’s opening team.

Four better-ball matches will be played Friday afternoon, with more alternate-shot and better-ball matches on Saturday and 12 singles matches on Sunday. Europe needs 14 points to retain the cup, while the US needs 14 1/2 to win it.

Lewis said finding alternate-shot duos who use the same or similar golf balls was important — even though the brand of ball doesn’t seam to matter to Thompson.

“She’s one of those you could literally pair with anybody, and she’s like, ‘I’ll figure it out,’” Lewis said. “She was testing a golf ball the other day that was going like 7 or 8 yards shorter with the wedge. She’s like, ‘It’s OK, I’m just going to get my numbers, it’s good.’ Where anybody else would just be freaking out.”

Thompson’s career could be remembered just as much for near-misses in major championships as for her 11 LPGA victories and one major. As generous as she can be with fans and sponsors, she is in some ways a reluctant star. Guarded with the media, she declined again this week to detail her plans for the semi-retirement she announced earlier this year.

“I’m just going to take it day by day, take some time for myself, and see how I feel after that,” Thompson said.

The team format, where success isn’t measured by individual strokes and she can contribute to others’ success, brings out the best in Thompson.

“I think it is her legacy, is her and the Solheim Cup. Just the way she is with the crowd and the fans, this event is Lexi to a T. ... She plays better golf here,” Lewis said. “She’s going to do whatever it takes to win, and I wish I had 12 of them.”


Inclusion of Dubai Basketball in ABA League is a ‘great thing’ for UAE sport, says legend Jokic

Inclusion of Dubai Basketball in ABA League is a ‘great thing’ for UAE sport, says legend Jokic
Updated 04 October 2024
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Inclusion of Dubai Basketball in ABA League is a ‘great thing’ for UAE sport, says legend Jokic

Inclusion of Dubai Basketball in ABA League is a ‘great thing’ for UAE sport, says legend Jokic
  • ‘Basketball should, needs to be much more extended,’ he says

DUBAI: Three-time NBA’s Most Valuable Player Nikola Jokic has described the formation of Dubai Basketball and its inclusion in the Adriatic Basketball Association League as a “great thing” for the sport in the Emirates.

Founded in 2023 by the UAE’s Abdulla Saeed Al Naboodah, Dubai Basketball is a newly established professional basketball franchise that is competing in Europe’s ABA for the 2024-2025 season.

Featuring a strong roster of players representing many different countries, including the Philippines, Turkiye, the US, Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, Jordan, Turkey, Latvia and Italy, Dubai Basketball have enjoyed an impressive debut in the league, with two wins in as many games so far.

Their upcoming test is a home clash at Coca-Cola Arena on Saturday against Serbian side Mega MIS, which is where Jokic began his professional career, spending three seasons there before getting drafted by the Denver Nuggets.

Jokic, who is in the UAE this week with the Nuggets for the NBA Abu Dhabi Games, has heard nothing but good things about Dubai Basketball.

“To be honest I think it’s a great thing for the country and for basketball,” the 2022-2023 NBA champion told reporters at the Etihad Arena on Thursday.

“I think basketball should and needs to be much more extended.

“I have a couple of friends that play in Dubai and they say it’s a good organization. They say everything is perfect, so hopefully they can extend basketball, even in this country.”

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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Jokic is in Abu Dhabi for the second time in three months, having also visited the capital with the Serbian national team during the summer ahead of their Paris Olympics campaign, which saw them claim a bronze medal.

An avid fan of horse racing and owner of several horses, Jokic was asked if he will be checking out the equestrian scene in the UAE.

He said: “I want to see the horses, because that’s where the horses are best, probably. I think I don’t have time to be honest, but maybe one time.”

Despite a shortened offseason due to his Olympic commitments, Jokic is optimistic about his fitness levels entering the new NBA season.

He said: “We will see. I think the last time I played with the national team we won the championship, so that doesn’t really affect my stamina.

“Maybe I’ll be even in better shape. We’ll see when the season starts, or maybe when the season ends.”

After winning the first NBA championship in the Denver Nuggets’ 47-year franchise history in 2023, Jokic and his teammates crashed out of the playoffs the following season against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Jokic said that the early exit has had “zero” effect on his motivation levels for this upcoming season — adding “last year doesn’t motivate me”  —  and explained the challenge of trying to successfully defend an NBA title, something not witnessed since the Golden State Warriors went back-to-back in 2017 and 2018.

The 29-year-old Serb said: “They always say it’s really tough to win a championship again, but I think it’s really tough to win a championship anyhow.

“After going through so many emotions, after winning a championship … it seemed like we didn’t have a break, it just felt longer, and maybe we were tired, maybe we were not.

“I think that you should just enjoy winning the championship because most really good teams never won a championship, so I think we’re supposed to be happy that we won a championship and everything else is just extra.”

Denver Nuggets will once again rely on the dynamic partnership between Jokic and Jamal Murray, but have also brought in reinforcements in the form of veteran point guard Russell Westbrook and Croatian forward/center Dario Saric.

Westbrook, who is a former NBA MVP and nine-time All-Star, has been energetic and vocal in practice so far with the Nuggets, and brings a wealth of experience and leadership skills with him from the 16 previous seasons he has played in the league.

“He’s always positive, a great teammate, on the court, off the court,” Jokic said of Westbrook. “He has been nothing but perfect right now, so hopefully he’s going to do the same thing the whole season.”

The Nuggets face reigning NBA champions the Boston Celtics in two preseason games at Etihad Arena, Yas Island, on Oct. 4 and 6, in what is the third edition of the NBA Abu Dhabi Games.


Tottenham and Lazio stay perfect in Europa League with second straight wins

Tottenham and Lazio stay perfect in Europa League with second straight wins
Updated 03 October 2024
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Tottenham and Lazio stay perfect in Europa League with second straight wins

Tottenham and Lazio stay perfect in Europa League with second straight wins
  • Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou made seven changes to the team that beat Manchester United 3-0 at Old Trafford in the Premier League on Sunday
  • Lazio captain Mattia Zaccagni finished off the win from the penalty spot

ROME: A youthful Tottenham side maintained a perfect record in the Europa League with a 2-1 victory away at Ferencváros on Thursday, while Lazio also made it two wins out of two by routing Nice 4-1 at home.
Pape Sarr gave Tottenham the lead midway through the first half when he reacted quickly to a loose ball in the area and slotted it into the net with a right-foot shot for his second goal in two games in the second-tier European competition.
Brennan Johnson came on as substitute in the second half and scored the second four minutes from time with a left-footed strike off the far post. It was the fifth goal in five games in all competitions for the Wales international.
Parnabas Varga pulled one back for Ferencváros in the final minute.
Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou made seven changes to the team that beat Manchester United 3-0 at Old Trafford in the Premier League on Sunday.
Four teenagers started for Spurs, with the 19-year-old Will Lankshear making his senior debut and 17-year-old teammate Mikey Moore making his first start.
In torrential rain at Stadio Olimpico in Rome, Taty Castellano scored twice for Lazio, first making it 2-0 in the first half by lobbing the ball over goalkeeper Marcin Bulka in a one-on-one situation and then making it 3-1 in the second half with a shot into the roof of the net.
Lazio captain Mattia Zaccagni finished off the win from the penalty spot.
Substitute Tomáš Chorý headed in a second-half equalizer for Slavia to hold Ajax to a 1-1 draw in Prague. Ajax went ahead after Branco van den Boomen sent Slavia goalkeeper the wrong way from the spot in the 18th. The visitors were reduced to 10 men in the 75th after defender Youri Baas received his second yellow card.
Anderlecht came from a goal down to beat Real Sociedad 2-1 away, with Theo Leoni scoring the winner late in the first half.
Ayoub El Kaabi scored two and Santiago Hezze added another one for last year’s Conference League winner Olympiacos to beat visiting Braga 3-0.
Hoffenheim, which are struggling in the Bundesliga, recorded a 2-0 win over Dynamo Kyiv.
Manchester United were playing at Porto later Thursday.

Conference League
The third-tier UEFA Conference League saw a couple of high-scoring games as Cercle Brugge routed St. Gallen 6-2 after a hat trick from Kevin Denkey, and Omonoia beat Vikingur Reykjavík 4-0 at home in Cyprus.
Legia Warsaw edged Real Betis 1-0.
Scottish side Hearts traveled a long way to Sumgayit, Azerbaijan, to take home a 2-1 victory over Belarusian champion Dinamo Minsk.
UEFA banned Russian clubs from all its events over the country’s invasion of Ukraine but has allowed Belarusian teams to keep playing despite the country’s support of Russia, as long as the games are hosted outside of Belarus without a crowd.


FIFA agrees on interim transfer rules to help players go to 2025 Club World Cup in US

FIFA agrees on interim transfer rules to help players go to 2025 Club World Cup in US
Updated 03 October 2024
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FIFA agrees on interim transfer rules to help players go to 2025 Club World Cup in US

FIFA agrees on interim transfer rules to help players go to 2025 Club World Cup in US
  • The move on Thursday opens the door for players whose contracts expire on June 30 to sign early as free agents for one of the 32 teams
  • They include Real Madrid, Manchester City, Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain

ZURICH: FIFA has agreed on interim transfer rules aiming to help players change teams and go to the Club World Cup in the United States next June-July.
The move on Thursday opens the door for players whose contracts expire on June 30 to sign early as free agents for one of the 32 teams who qualified for the relaunched FIFA club tournament. They include Real Madrid, Manchester City, Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain.
Potential free agents who could be pursued by Club World Cup teams include Liverpool trio Mohamed Salah, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Virgil van Dijk, plus Lille forward Jonathan David and Tottenham captain Son Heung-min.
FIFA’s council approved interim transfer market rules that give member federations the option of opening an exceptional transfer window from June 1-10.
If agreements are reached between clubs, the FIFA transfer amendments would let players represent a new team for two weeks from mid-June, before their formal contract expires, in a tournament that is technically still part of the current season.
Had the Club World Cup been scheduled this year, Kylian Mbappé’s pending free agency on June 30 would have complicated the issue of him going to the US as a PSG or Madrid player.
FIFA’s aim to help get players to the Club World Cup also could see those with expiring contracts sign a two-week extension through to the end of the June 15-July 13 event.
Star players at Club World Cup teams with contracts expiring in June include Man City midfielder Kevin De Bruyne and Bayern teammates Alphonso Davies and Joshua Kimmich.
Players cannot represent two different teams during the tournament being staged in 12 stadiums.
FIFA also agreed on an exemption to the long-time rule that clubs must release players to national duty for games and tournaments on dates protected by the calendar of international games.
That affects US and Mexico players who might have been called up for the Gold Cup, also being played in the US from June 14-July 6.
The Club World Cup lineup includes Seattle Sounders, Leon, Monterrey and Pachuca as the past four champions of the CONCACAF region. One more space is left open for an MLS team to represent the host nation.
FIFA previously amended transfer market rules in 2020 when the soccer shutdown during the COVID-19 pandemic extended the traditional season from June into August.
In one notable transfer four years ago, Germany forward Timo Werner declined an option to stay with Leipzig and resume in the Champions League knockout rounds in August. He instead moved to Chelsea on schedule, though could not play until the next season.


Juventus defender Bremer set for long layoff after knee surgery

Juventus defender Bremer set for long layoff after knee surgery
Updated 03 October 2024
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Juventus defender Bremer set for long layoff after knee surgery

Juventus defender Bremer set for long layoff after knee surgery
  • Bremer suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury to his left knee in the sixth minute of the game the Italians won 3-2
  • He will undergo surgery in the coming days, Juventus said

ROME: Juventus defender Gleison Bremer will undergo surgery on a knee injury picked up in midweek Champions League action against Leipzig, the Serie A club announced on Thursday, with the 27-year-old facing up to six months on the sidelines.
Bremer suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury to his left knee in the sixth minute of the game the Italians won 3-2. He will undergo surgery in the coming days, Juventus said.
His recovery is expected to take at least six months which could rule him out for most of the season, according to Italian press reports.
“Unfortunately, the results of the tests confirmed the worst-case scenario,” Brazilian international Bremer wrote on Instagram.
“It’s a challenge that I will face with my usual motivation, it will be an opportunity to grow, improve and come back even stronger.”
The Brazilian has been a key element in coach Thiago Motta’s defensive strategy, playing all their Champions League and Serie A games this season.
Juventus are second in Serie A, one point behind Napoli after six matches.
The Turin side will also be without Argentine forward Nico Gonzalez who injured his right thigh in Wednesday’s game.


FIFA defers decision on request to suspend Israel

FIFA defers decision on request to suspend Israel
Updated 03 October 2024
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FIFA defers decision on request to suspend Israel

FIFA defers decision on request to suspend Israel
  • The FIFA council adopted the recommendations and conclusions reached in the legal analysis
  • It decided that its disciplinary committee would be mandated to investigate the alleged offense of discrimination raised by the PFA

ZURICH: World football’s governing body FIFA made no verdict either way Thursday on a Palestinian request to suspend Israel, instead launching committee investigations to inform an eventual decision.
At FIFA’s congress in Bangkok in May, the Palestinian Football Association (PFA) called for its Israeli counterpart to be suspended and for Israeli teams to be banned from FIFA events.
FIFA was initially set to hold an extraordinary session of its ruling council before July 20 to review the independent legal analysis and decide how to proceed.
However, the deadline was pushed back to give legal experts more time to complete a report.
At the organization’s headquarters in Zurich on Thursday, the FIFA council adopted the recommendations and conclusions reached in the legal analysis.
It decided that its disciplinary committee would be mandated to investigate the alleged offense of discrimination raised by the PFA.
Meanwhile the FIFA governance, audit and compliance committee “will be entrusted with the mission to investigate — and subsequently advise the FIFA Council on — the participation in Israeli competitions of Israeli football teams allegedly based in the territory of Palestine.”
FIFA president Gianni Infantino said in a statement: “The FIFA Council has implemented due diligence on this very sensitive matter and, based on a thorough assessment, we have followed the advice of the independent experts.
“The ongoing violence in the region confirms that, above all considerations... we need peace.
“As we remain extremely shocked by what is happening, and our thoughts are with those who are suffering, we urge all parties to restore peace to the region with immediate effect.”