Category: 6. Sports

KATOWICE (Poland) – Luka Doncic became on Sunday only the fourth player since 1995 to post a triple-double in a FIBA EuroBasket game after coming up with 26 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds to spark Slovenia to their first win in this year’s big event, 86-69 over Belgium.

The calm with which Slovenia reacted to the accomplishment is a testament to the fact that, Doncic was destined for greatness ever since he debuted at FIBA EuroBasket 2017 as an 18-year-old and helped Slovenia conquer the title . As teammate Edo Muric put it, “He’s breaking records, and I’ve always believed he could do this. This is a normal day at the office for him.”

However, that was not the only page of EuroBasket lore the Los Angeles Lakers star wrote on Sunday. Doncic became also the youngest player in the 21st century to surpass 400 career points, 100 career assists and 100 career rebounds in EuroBasket.

When it comes to the scoring aspect specifically, at 26 years and 184 days old Doncic is the youngest player to reach the 400-point milestone in the competition since Tony Parker in 2007, who was 25 years old and 122 days old at the time.

*Stojan Vrankovic of Croatia posted a triple-double in FIBA EuroBasket 1993 which however is not taken into consideration as records of blocks before 1995 are not ratified.

FIBA

KATOWICE (Poland) – Slovenia came up with a convincing defensive display on Sunday to top Belgium 86-69 and Luka Doncic put the cherry on top by becoming only the fourth player since 1995 to register a triple-double in a FIBA EuroBasket game.

Turning Point

Belgium were in the lead for just the first 44 seconds of the game but Slovenia opted to go small ball early on and quickly found themselves in comfortable positions by forcing switches.

The FIBA EuroBasket 2017 champions easily controlled the first half and even made it a 21-point game at 76-55 with five minutes to go in the fourth. They were propelled by a historical performance by Luka Doncic.

TCL Player of the Game

It’s Luka Magic day after day in Katowice but Sunday was truly special as the Slovenian superstar dropped the 4th FIBA EuroBasket triple-double since 1995 with 26 points, 11 assists, and 10 rebounds.

The Lakers superstar also became the youngest player (26 years and 184 days old) to reach 400 EuroBasket points since Tony Parker in 2007 (25y 122d). From Slovenia, only Goran Dragic and Jaka Lakovic have reached this milestone.

Moreover, he has already reached at least 400 points, 100 assists, and 100 rebounds at EuroBasket, getting to those marks in just 19 games. Luka Doncic is the fastest at doing so in the 21st century.

Stats Don’t Lie

Slovenia’s superiority on the glass was evident in the Sunday opening game in Spodek Arena. They out-rebounded Belgium 43 to 31 and outscored them 40-18 in the paint.

Bottom Line

Led by #77 , Slovenia clinched their first win in FIBA EuroBasket 2025, after losing to Poland and France. They are now looking forward to celebrating again on September 2, when they will meet Iceland.

Moving to Belgium, Dario Gjergja’s team found themselves once again on a losing record, at 1-2 in the Group D standings. The Belgian Lions hope to react and roar in the upcoming matchup against Israel.

They Said

For more quotes, tune in to the official post-game press conference!

FIBA

LIMASSOL (Cyprus) – Greece entered Group C as favorites and they justified that status once again with a 94-53 victory over Georgia to remain perfect thanks to the return of Giannis Antetokounmpo.

Despite having three wins in three games, Greece must wait until the day’s later games to see if they already have booked a ticket for the Round of 16.

Hellas would advance to Riga if Cyprus beat Spain or Italy knock off Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Turning Point

Georgia were playing at Greece’s level for the first 13 minutes when Greece won on a 12-2 spurt to open a 36-22 advantage – with Dinos Mitoglou scoring eight of those points. The cushion grew to 17 points at halftime and Greece never really let Georgia back into the game, which drew a crowd of 7,290 fans.

TCL Player of the Game

Giannis Antetokounmpo rested during the second game of the tournament against Cyprus and was his usual dominant self in his return with 27 points. The NBA superstar also grabbed 8 rebounds and dished out 4 assists and swiped 2 steals.

Dinos Mitoglou helped out with 17 points including a trio of three-pointers for the winners while Alexander Mamukelashvil tallied 14 points in the loss.

Stats Don’t Lie

Greece were lighting it up from the outside, hitting 14 of 25 three-pointers for 56 percent as they dished out 28 assists. They also limited Georgia to just 30 percent shooting including 4 of 22 (18 percent) from long range.

Bottom Line

Greece have taken care of business with three wins in three games and will looking to make it a perfect 4-0 on Tuesday when they take on Bosnia and Herzegovina. Georgia meanwhile face off against hosts Cyprus as they aim for a 2-2 record.

They Said

This game report will be updated in the coming moments. Stay tuned.

For more quotes, tune in to the official post-game press conference!

FIBA

Japan’s Yamaguchi Akane clinched her third global crown with a dominant 21-9, 21-13 win over Olympic gold medallist Chen Yufei at the BWF World Championships 2025 in Paris on Sunday (31 August).

The 28-year-old Yamaguchi added to her badminton world titles from 2021 and 2022, becoming only the second woman behind Carolina Marin to own three global crowns. Chen from the People’s Republic of China made her own piece of history equalling the record for most singles medals, extending her tally to five – two silver and three bronze.

Chen stepped onto the court with a heavily strapped right ankle following an injury in her semi-final win over Olympic and former world champion An Seyoung (Republic of Korea).

The Chinese star valiantly pushed through in that match for a straight game victory. The final was a different story against a rampant Yamaguchi. Chen had clearly lost some speed and agility, which proved detrimental against an on-song Yamaguchi.

Yamaguchi made a storming start to the contest as she raced to an 11-4 lead at the mid-game break.

Tokyo Olympic champion Chen put up a gutsy fight after recess with three unanswered points to get within four of the Japanese shuttler.

She could not sustain the intensity as Yamaguchi regained her rhythm to pull ahead to close out the first game, following a five-point run.

Chen dug deep in the second game to give Yamaguchi a run for her money by taking a 6-4 lead in the early exchanges.

But the Japanese player clawed her way back to once again take control of the match by opening a three-point gap (9-6).

At the interval, Yamaguchi enjoyed a two-point advantage after Yufei came painstakingly close to winning an exhausting rally.

The tenacious Chen remained within striking distance, with the deficit fluctuating between two and three points.

Yamaguchi found her edge again, opening a six-point cushion (16-10) to inflict maximum damage to Chen’s efforts to force the match into a third game.

Earlier, Chen Tang Jie and Toh Ee Wei made history, clinching Malaysia’s first mixed doubles world title with a 21-15, 21-14 win over the Chinese duo of Jiang Zhen Bang and Wei Ya Xin.

The gold is only the second by a Malaysian pair, following Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik men’s doubles success in 2022.

Five-try Spain refused to go quietly in front of a raucous crowd but Ireland came through what was a severe test tahead of their final Pool C match v New Zealand next Sunday.

Story of the match

The first half was utterly compelling. Roared on by a largely green crowd, it was all Ireland for the first 20. Two tries and a 12-0 lead a just reward for a powerful-looking pack and sharp backs.

But then it all changed. Making good on their pre-match promise to “fight for every inch” Spain forced themselves into the contest, largely through their own set of effervescent forwards. Level inside the half-hour, Las Leonas were flying, as the error-prone Ireland rocked.

With Irish captain Sam Monaghan forced off with injury, all the momentum seemed to be with Spain. But Ireland have not risen to No.5 in the world rankings for nothing and with half-time approaching they shifted back to what they do best. Twice inside four minutes, their front five pulverised Spain’s line before the shifted wide at speed for first Eve Higgins and then Anna MCGann to touch down. The 12-point advantage restored.

Much to the delight of the neutrals watching, the see-saw action continued after the break. Spain refusing to lie down, took full advantage of another Irish error off the restart to pull within seven. A further two tries – including a touchdown for Cristina Blanco Herrera on the final whistle – securing a well-deserved losing bonus point.

But as they did all afternoon, Ireland responded powerfully each time Spain came at them. The influential number eight Grace Moore twice galloping through to give the Irish the breathing space they needed, before Enya Breen finished things of for the women in green

MORE TO FOLLOW 

The Indian men’s hockey team made it two wins in a row in their Asia Cup 2025 campaign and moved to the top of Pool A after beating Japan 3-2 at the Rajgir Hockey Stadium in Bihar on Saturday.

Captain Harmanpreet Singh (5’, 46’) and Mandeep Singh (4′) scored the goals for India, who are seventh in the men’s hockey rankings, while Kosei Kawabe (38′, 59′) bagged a brace for world No. 18 Japan.

With this win, India have secured a spot in the Super 4s stage and the match also marked an important milestone for Indian goalkeeper Krishan B Pathak as he celebrated his 150th international game.

India made a bright start to the opening quarter, scoring two goals in the first five minutes to assert their dominance.

In the fourth minute, Sukhjeet Singh collected the ball on the baseline and played a perfect pass to Mandeep Singh, who beat his marker in front of goal and finished to open the scoring.

In the very next minute, India won their first penalty corner of the day and after two retakes, Harmanpreet Singh fired a powerful shot that struck the Japanese goalkeeper’s foot and went into the goal.

Japan also won a penalty corner in the 13th minute but it didn’t amount to anything. They improved upon their performance in the second quarter as the match saw more end-to-end action between the two sides.

However, India’s resilient defence ensured their lead remained intact. In the 19th minute, Japan came close to scoring as Ryosuke Shinohara dribbled down the middle and fired a backhand shot, which went narrowly wide.

Japan won their second penalty corner in the 24th minute but Jarmanpreet saved it on the line and cleared it away for a retake which was eventually stopped by India.

India, meanwhile, won their second penalty corner towards the end of first-half but Amit Rohidas couldn’t find the target with his dragflick.

Japan found their first goal in the third quarter as Kosei Kawabe did well to collect a difficult pass inside the circle and followed it with an angular shot, finding the bottom right corner past the keeper.

After the goal, Japan had a spring in their steps as they started attacking aggressively in search of an equaliser, but India ensured they controlled the possession and tempo of the game and did not give away another goal.

With just seconds left in the quarter, India won a crucial penalty corner which was converted beautifully by Harmanpreet Singh through the goalkeeper’s legs to reclaim the two-goal cushion.

In the opening minutes of the final quarter, Japan won a penalty corner but were met with incredible back-to-back saves by Indian goalkeeper Suraj Karkera.

Moments later, Abhishek did well to find space inside the circle from the right as he struck a strong backhand shot towards goal but it was saved well by the Japanese keeper.

In the dying moments of the match, Japan’s Kosei Kawabe struck his second goal of the day as he won the ball on the rebound inside the circle and scored past the keeper to reduce the deficit.

Captain Harmanpreet Singh was given a yellow card in the final minute as India were down to 10 men, but they slowed down proceedings and held their ground to protect the slim lead and emerge victorious.

India will play their final Pool A match in the Asia Cup hockey tournament against Kazakhstan on Monday. They had beaten the People’s Republic of China 4-3 in their opening match.

1. Which RWC 2025 second-Saturday try do you prefer?

We hope you enjoyed the second Saturday of Rugby World Cup 2023. Four superb matches and a mountain of tries. You can catch up with all the highlights here. 

But in the meantime, here are a few of our favourite tries to check out, starting with Fiji’s opening stunner against Scotland: 

What about this one from Canada’s Asia Hogan-Rochester on her RWC debut? 

Then there is this one from Australia’s flying teenager Caitlyn Halse: 

Finally, what a way for Jess Breach to bring up her 50th England touchdown: 

2. Samoa smiling after slotting first RWC 2025 points

They may have gone down heavily to tournament favourites England – a side ranked 14 places higher than them – but there is no doubt Samoa won a legion of fans in Northampton on Saturday evening. 

First for this: 

And then this: 

3. Sophie de Goede: an all-action superhero

Some rugby players excel ball in hand, some are supreme defenders, others never miss a kick, while still more offer unrivalled power in close-quarters. Canada’s Sophie de Goede does them all.

Check this out: on Saturday she carried 19 times, made more than 100m, secured two turnovers and slotted six out of six conversions. All from second-row.

No wonder she was the Mastercard Player of the Match, as Canada became the first team to secure a quarter-final spot.

4. Scotland fan shows support by darning 285 thistles

Needlework has been a theme of RWC 2025, with England’s players particularly devoted (see below). But now rivals Scotland have got in to the act, thanks to a super-fan who darned a remarkable 285 thistles in order to inspire her nation.

After sending 50 to the Scotland squad, the knitter extraordinare gave 235 out to the crowd at the Pool B double-header in Manchester on Saturday. It clearly worked with Scotland beating Fiji to qualify for the quarter-finals for the first time since 2002.

5. While England follow ‘knitting trail’ to victory 

Captain for the game against Samoa in Northampton on Saturday, England’s Marlie Packer said she was “definitely not” one of the squad’s ‘crocheting crew’ but admitted it was “absolutely awesome” to see the knitting trail (part of which is below) that the local WI (women’s institute) had created from Northampton Train Station to Franklin’s Gardens.

“The bus drove us past it on the way back from our team run,” said the back-row forward. “Abby Dow [England’s crocheter-in-chief) was giving us some insight, explaining that the yarn was of a particular type so that they can reuse it [to make clothes and blankets] for homeless shelters.”

For Packer, it was another “fill-your-cup-up moment” as the England team witness communities up and down the country embracing Rugby World Cup 2025.

6. Victorious Lioness adds star power to England’s campaign

Just weeks after driving England to the Women’s European Football Championship title, Chloe Kelly was in Northampton and adamant that together, the Lionesses and the Red Roses can do great things: 

Something that the squad enjoyed hearing in person: