Category: 6. Sports

Meyer Shank Racing (MSR) is turning up the volume for its home race – The Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Presented by the All-New 2026 Passport – with the No. 60 SiriusXM Honda set to debut a bold new look for the NTT INDYCAR SERIES event July 4-6.

Felix Rosenqvist and MSR are bringing heavy metal to the track, teaming up with legendary rocker Ozzy Osbourne and SiriusXM’s Ozzy’s Boneyard (channel 38). The No. 60 Honda will sport a striking purple livery inspired by the channel, which features hard rock and heavy metal classics curated under the influence of Ozzy himself.

The special livery also celebrates a monumental moment in music history: Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath’s upcoming “Final Show at the Back to the Beginning” concert on July 5 in Birmingham, England. The concert will feature icons like Metallica, Slayer, Alice in Chains and more.

“I can’t wait to represent Ozzy and Ozzy’s Boneyard at Mid-Ohio,” Rosenqvist said. “The livery is totally different than anything we have ever done before and having Ozzy on the car – literally, his face is on the car, will be pretty epic.”

For fans who cannot attend “Back to the Beginning” in person, the show will host a livestream. Tickets can be purchased at www.backtothebeginning.com.

The Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Presented by the All-New 2026 Passport starts at 1 p.m. ET Sunday, July 6 (FOX, FOX Sports app, INDYCAR Radio Network).

South Africa left-arm wrist spinner Tabraiz Shamsi has reflected on the Proteas’ maiden ICC World Test Championship (WTC) title.

The Proteas lifted their first WTC mace with a five-wicket win, anchored by Aiden Markram’s sensational fourth-innings century.

The opener’s 136 earned him the Player of the Match award, while Kagiso Rabada’s fiery nine-wicket haul proved instrumental in dismantling Australia across both innings.

Held from June 11 to 14, the final of the third WTC cycle saw an extraordinary 2.94 billion minutes of TV watch-time on Star Sports, reaching an audience of 47 million viewers nationwide, a staggering milestone for a Test that didn’t feature the Indian team.

The match also sparked massive engagement online, clocking 225 million digital views, matching the numbers from the previous WTC Final between India and Australia at The Oval in 2023.

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During an interview with a sports platform, Shamsi, who played two Tests for the Rainbow Nation, hailed South Africa’s victory and praised Temba Bavuma’s leadership for ending the title drought.

“Definitely, it was very, very special even for guys who were not part of the triumph. You know, South African cricket had a history of heartbreaks in major tournaments,” he said.

“So, just to watch the guys and finally break the curse was really an emotional moment, and I think it’s the first of many, many trophies that South Africa is going to win in the future,” Tabraiz Shamsi added.

The spinner who was not part of the winning squad hailed Temba Bavuma’s leadership.

“Yes, he is a little man with a big heart, and he is very calm in his demeanour and the way he speaks and communicates, Tabraiz Shamsi said of Bavuma.

Tabraiz Shamsi also eyed the 2026 T20 World Cup, stating that the South Africa team is his priority.

“Obviously, playing for the country will always be a priority, and I am fully available for South Africa,” the 35-year-old stated.

READ: ICC WTC 2025 Final sets new viewership records

Even in the past week, away from Leeds, West Indies flirted with pulling off something special against the Aussies in Barbados, and in Zimbabwe 19-year-old Lhuan-dre Pretorius became the youngest man to make a hundred for South Africa. Keep an eye on him, a megastar of the future.

More broadly, runs are being scored faster, wickets taken more regularly, there are more close matches and fewer draws than ever before.

The run-rate across all Test cricket in the past three years has been 3.60, the highest of any three-year period. Over the same time, less than 10% of Tests were drawn, down from more than 20% across the previous 20 years and more than 40% historically.

It is a disregard for draws that marks England’s Bazballers out as innovators.

It would be hyperbole to say they have saved Test cricket, still not unreasonable to say they have altered the perspective on the way it could be played – 37 Tests and counting since Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum united, only one soggy draw among them.

Draws can be thrilling – some wonderful Tests have been drawn – but by being so bullish about not considering a stalemate as a possibility, this England team have added a thrilling aspect to the five-day narrative.

For those watching, it leaves the wonder of how England will attempt to force a result, regardless of the situation. For opponents, it leaves the fear of always being in danger, the confusion of what it will take to beat Stokes’ team. For England, it gives the clarity of thought to attempt and comfortably complete a run chase like the one in Leeds, removing the seed of doubt sewn by the safety net of a draw.

As an opening chapter of a 10-part story, comprising this India series and the Ashes against Australia this winter, Headingley was perfect, more than living up to the pre-match billing. There will have been plenty of other series with as much expectation as the two England are undertaking, though it is hard to remember a time when Test cricket has been in such sharp focus for a period of time as prolonged as the next seven months.

England were favourites at Headingley and could, probably should, have lost. India paid the price for dropped catches, a crucial Harry Brook wicket off a no-ball and a tail that refused to wag.

As a result, the tourists are in a muddle at Edgbaston. Do they play another one of their Jasprit Bumrah chips, leaving only one for the rest of the series? Will they find a place for magician wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav and simultaneously boost their lower-order batting?

England are settled, with the prospect of Jofra Archer returning for the third Test next week at Lord’s, the ground where he made his electrifying debut six years ago. Steve Smith and all that.

It would be good for the series if India won this week. Level at 1-1 is all to play for, 2-0 down is as good as over. The visitors will have to battle history – they have never won in eight visits to Edgbaston spanning 58 years.

Another classic incoming?

Divyanshi Bhowmick created history at the Asian Youth Table Tennis Championships 2025 in Tashkent, Uzbekistan on Tuesday, becoming the first Indian in 36 years to win the U15 girls’ singles continental title.

Subramanian Bhuvaneswari was the last Indian to win the girls’ title in the age group. She did it at the 1989 edition hosted by New Delhi.

The 14-year-old Indian table tennis player, seeded second, defeated the People’s Republic of China’s Zhu Qihi 4-2 (13-11, 11-8, 8-11, 12-10, 9-11, 11-8) in the final to cap off a stunning campaign, which saw her beat three Chinese opponents.

Divyanshi also secured qualification for the upcoming World Youth Table Tennis Championships, scheduled in Romania this November, with her gold-medal-winning run at Tashkent.

Divyanshi’s most notable performance came in the semi-finals, where she edged past Liu Ziling of China in a tightly-contested seven-game table tennis battle.

In the final, she held her nerve against Zhu Qihi, using her strong backhand and clever placement to overcome early pressure and close out the match.

A rising star in India’s junior table tennis circuit, Divyanshi was named Best Women’s Player (Overall) at the Table Tennis Super League (TTSL) Maharashtra in April.

St. Louis Blues President of Hockey Operations and General Manager Doug Armstrong announced today the Blues have signed forward Nick Bjugstad to a two-year contract worth $3.5 million ($1.75 million annual average value).

Bjugstad, 32, appeared in 66 regular-season games with the Utah Mammoth last season, posting 19 points (eight goals, 11 assists) and 16 penalty minutes.

A native of Minneapolis, Minnesota, the 6-foot-5, 205-pound forward has amassed 330 points (157 goals, 173 assists) and 344 penalty minutes in 760 career NHL regular-season games, including stints with Florida, Pittsburgh, Minnesota, Arizona, Edmonton and Utah.

He has also totaled eight points (six goals, two assists) and 22 penalty minutes in 27 career postseason games.

Daria Kasatkina’s first Wimbledon win as a naturalized Australian citizen wasn’t the only highlight of her Tuesday at the All England Club.

After beating Colombia’s Emiliana Arango in straight sets in the first round, Kasatkina and her fiancée Natalia Zabiiako met Australian actress Cate Blanchett.

A smiling selfie posted to Instagram by Zabiiako commemorated the occasion, a meeting that the former Olympic figure skater confessed was a “dream come true.”

Two-time Academy Award winner Blanchett was just one of many famous faces in the star-studded Royal Box guest list across the first two days of the tournament.

The roster of attendees has also included another Australian movie star, Rebel Wilson — who is ubiquitous to the tennis tour — as well as Russell Crowe, Eddie Redmayne, David Beckham, and Maria Sharapova.

Back on the court, Kasatkina’s win snapped a four-match losing streak, and marked her first win on grass this summer. She had previously gone 0-3 with opening exits at the Queen’s Club, Berlin and Eastbourne. But she’ll hope that historic good results at SW19 will parlay into another deep run at the grass-court major. She has reached the third round at Wimbledon in each of the last two years and also had a 2018 quarterfinal appearance.

The No. 16 seed will look to keep the good vibes going when she faces Romania’s Irina-Camelia Begu in the second round.

Zara Tindall recently tugged at the heartstrings of royal fans via her bittersweet candor, and honest admissions about her children.

In a chat with Bella magazine, the daughter of Princess Anne and mother to three kids admits some of her traits have even managed to peek out through her kids, Mia, 11, Lena, 7 and Lucas 4.

“My personality is coming out in the kids, and there are some parts that you love and some that you don’t like,” she is quoted saying.

Especially since as a parent “every day there is a different dilemma or problem”, although an ‘incredible’ one she admits.

She even shared her hope for her children’s future and added that as a mother one hopes that one can “instil in them the values that you hold and from both of us, what we have learned from our careers and our hard work, dedication, motivations, lessons and respect.”

Near the end, she also acknowledge all the struggles that come with modern day parenting too.

“It is so easy to be distracted from that kind of thing, so we try and work every day to make sure they get the same values that we had,” she added to the outlet all before signing off.

Editor’s Note: Read more NBA coverage from The Athletic here. The views on this page do not necessarily reflect the views of the NBA or its teams.

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It’s the complaint that they all have, the exhausted, the annoyed, the aggrieved. The NBA, no matter what the mass media says, is more than the Los Angeles Lakers. Every time a big-name player gets released, every time a big-name free agent hits the market, every time a star wants a trade, an army of purple-and-gold photoshops arrives with the talking heads to turn the league’s eyes to the West.

And a lot of days, those people have a point.

But here in the early moments of the NBA offseason, the Lakers have firmly established themselves as the main character, for better or worse, because of their glaring deficiency at center, because of the big decisions ahead and because their two superstars are at wildly different stages in their career.

Beginning with Sunday’s news that Dorian Finney-Smith was opting out of his deal, the Lakers found themselves as the main event in text messages bouncing between scouts, executives, agents and reporters. It cascaded from there into a flurry of rumor and speculation. Does LeBron James want a trade? Is Finney-Smith going to leave? Are the Lakers trading Austin Reaves for Walker Kessler? Are they the favorites for Brook Lopez? And, in one last exclamation point for the night, did Deandre Ayton just take a buyout from the Portland Trail Blazers to go play with Luka Dončić?

It was a real set of waves crashing in for 12 hours or so, and it continued into Monday, when the Lakers were one of the biggest stories, sometimes behind the story.

The noisiest stuff was attached to James — the reaction from around the NBA to Rich Paul’s statement ranging somewhere between a not-so-veiled threat to leave to an outright trade request to a not-so-subtle reminder to the Lakers’ front office that his role in their team matters too (even if they’ve clearly put their priorities behind Dončić).

While some of that calmed on Monday with Paul telling Chris Haynes that there’s been no trade conversations and that James merely wants the Lakers to prioritize winning now while still being wise with their plans for Dončić and the future, that kind of storyline just doesn’t disappear.

And losing Finney-Smith to the Houston Rockets came with its own set of issues. The Lakers, according to team sources, offered two years against the four-year, $53 million deal he got with Houston because they wanted to maintain as much future flexibility as possible to be in position to land a superstar down the line to pair with Dončić.

Without Finney-Smith, the Lakers quickly pivoted to Jake LaRavia, the Sacramento Kings’ free agent who had interest from multiple teams. The 6-foot-7, 42-percent 3-point shooting wing was an unrestricted free agent after the Memphis Grizzlies declined his fourth-year option last November.

In Memphis and, briefly in Sacramento, LaRavia flashed the kind of potential that some evaluators coveted at a low price tag this free-agent cycle.

“Everyone can use a player like him,” one Western Conference executive told The Athletic.

Another executive praised LaRavia’s toughness, his shooting and promising skills as a playmaker off the dribble.

LaRavia is represented by Aaron Reilly and Reggie Berry, the same agency team that represents Reaves. Reaves made a surprise cameo at the end of a long LaRavia interview this summer, when it turned out that the car LaRavia was riding in was being driven by his future Lakers teammate.

According to league sources, LaRavia was the Lakers’ first call when free agency officially opened at 3 p.m. Pacific Time on Monday. In his conversation with Rob Pelinka and Lakers coach JJ Redick, LaRavia and his team were impressed with the ways Pelinka sold the strengths of the Lakers’ brand and Redick’s detailed vision for how he’d like to use the young wing.

The Lakers were able to get a relatively quick commitment to a two-year guaranteed contract worth $12 million.

“Hope Lakers fans are as excited as I am,” LaRavia posted on Instagram. “Let’s work.”

The Lakers’ work is far from over. LaRavia could be championed as a good signing … provided the Lakers land their center.

LA’s target list, which began the day with Brook Lopez, Clint Capela and Ayton on it, quickly shrank to one by the early evening with Lopez agreeing to sign with the Los Angeles Clippers and Capela heading to Houston via a sign-and-trade with the Atlanta Hawks.

Ayton was clearly the team’s top priority. He was picked first in the same draft as Dončić, shares an agency with Dončić under Bill Duffy, who heads WME basketball, and is best equipped to give the Lakers the rolling lob threat Dončić has thrived alongside. Signing Ayton is not without risk — The Athletic’s Jason Quick detailed those in his piece on Ayton’s time with the Blazers — but a return to high-stakes basketball at a critical juncture in his career combined with a point guard who can prop up centers who are way less talented certainly makes this seem worth it.

However, there’s competition. The Milwaukee Bucks, who lost Lopez to the Clippers in free agency, are trying to remain competitive and have access to the full midlevel exception after some cap creativity and a need for a center — giving them the ability to offer roughly $6 million more than the Lakers.

That means the Lakers remain in the middle of one of free agency’s biggest storylines.

And with a team that still has a sale to close, an extension to finalize with Dončić and the handling of James’ final chapters all still to come, they’re probably not going anywhere.

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