Category: 6. Sports

Since arriving to rugby relatively late in life, Italy’s Sofia Stefan has certainly made up for lost time. So much so that when the pocket-rocket scrum-half takes to the field in York on Sunday, her teammates will almost certainly let her run out on her own to mark her 100th cap.

Stefan started playing at school in Padova aged 17, and just two years later, in October 2011, made her international debut against France. 

Now a regular for Toulon, it has been quite a journey via her home town club, Rennes and Sale Sharks. 

“I started at Valsugana Padova a little later than many other girls and honestly I certainly couldn’t have imagined a path like this,” she said on the eve of Italy’s second match at Women’s RWC 2025 against South Africa.

“I’ve had so many opportunities, I’ve met so many people, put myself on the line so many times and I’m very happy to be at this point for sure.”

Barattin, Gai and now Stefan

Following in the footsteps of Sara Barattin and Lucia Gai, Stefan is only the third Italian woman to reach 100 caps, and emotions will run high as she steps out in York in front of her family.

“It’s definitely been in the air for a while, so it (the pressure) can’t be avoided. I can’t help but consider it at this moment and I’m glad it’s like this, partly because it’s 100, partly because expectations are high, both on the match and on individual performance.

“There’s definitely pressure, but when we choose and have the opportunity to play at this level, we take it into account, so it’s one of the things I like. I also like learning to deal with it differently every time because there are always special moments.”

After their opening loss to France in Exeter, the Italians’ second match is one they must win if they are to proceed to the knock-outs.

“I’m very excited and above all for a game that is do or die, so I’d say the most important thing about tomorrow is winning the game.

“The individual paths are part of the collective paths because they must and can give something more. Tomorrow the goal is a common goal and that is to get a victory without a doubt, so the focus remains on that. But obviously it is a very important and special moment in my career.”

FP3

• It was sunny and mild for the start of FP3. The track was declared wet to start with but very quickly dried up thanks to the wind, so even though some teams used Inter tyres, Charles and Lewis went out on the only new Hard tyre sets they had available in order to scrub them in.
• For this session the two SF-25 featured two slightly different levels of downforce, running different rear wings.
• The programme was completed with new Medium tyres fitted on both cars. They then switched to Softs for the usual qualifying simulation, but Lewis was unable to make the most of them mainly because of traffic.

Q1

• Soft was the only compound used in qualifying today. Charles and Lewis used two new sets in Q1.

Q2

• Both managed to save one set of nearly new Softs, aborting their last run when the team saw they were both safely through to Q3.

Q3

• Charles and Lewis went out for their first attempt on the Softs used for the aborted Q2 lap.
• For their final attempt on new Softs both drivers failed to improve and missed out on a second row start by a tenth, with Charles qualifying sixth and Lewis seventh.

 

Charles Leclerc #16

It’s been a difficult weekend overall, which makes it tough to build up to the race in the way we want to. The balance of the car makes it tricky to drive and I didn’t put it all together in qualifying. It’s just that kind of weekend for us, but we may be able to play with strategy tomorrow. We’ll do everything we can to fight our way forward and bring home a good result for the team.

Lewis Hamilton #44

Today was a challenging one in terms of getting the car fully into the right performance window. We showed promising pace on the medium tyre in FP3, but weren’t able to fully translate that into qualifying, and there’s still work to do compared to the teams ahead. That said, after the summer break our priority was to keep building, and today was an encouraging step forward. This circuit is always difficult when it comes to overtaking, so if the weather does bring some mixed conditions tomorrow, hopefully it will create opportunities and make the race exciting for the fans.

Fred Vasseur Team Principal

Today we made a good recovery after yesterday when we were losing 6 to 7 tenths in two corners and struggling. But it meant we were having to come from too far back. We need to do a better job on Friday because looking to make a one second step up is too much in terms of set-up and too much for the drivers.

At this track, it’s difficult to find the right balance and the correct approach for the tyres. The layout of the track with the corners from 7 to 10 puts a lot of load on the tyres and if you are over the limit you can lose a lot in the final part. It’s a bit frustrating as I feel P4 could have been possible, but Charles admitted he made a mistake at turn 10. Lewis has had a very good weekend so far but it’s the same story as Charles, in that we started from too far back from yesterday when we were not in the right set-up window.

I think we have a good opportunity to do well tomorrow as our race pace seems okay. McLaren are far ahead but then it’s close between ourselves, Verstappen and Russell, so it will come down to strategy and tyre management.

NORTHAMPTON, England — England hammered Samoa 92-3 in the Women’s Rugby World Cup on Saturday in Northampton and broke several records in the process.

The Red Roses were overwhelming favourites for the second round Pool A clash and ran in 14 tries — including a hat trick from Jess Breach — in front of a crowd of 13,615 at Franklin’s Gardens.

The eventual scoreline set a record for the Red Roses in the World Cup, as the rout exceeded their 82-0 victory over Kazakhstan in the 2010 edition, while they also surpassed their previous record of points scored from their 84-19 win over Fiji in 2022.

Helena Rowland converted 11 of England’s 14 tries and coupled with her own score, that 27-point tally saw her edge past the most points scored by an England player in a Women’s World Cup match, surpassing the 25 scored by Sue Day (vs. Italy in 2002) and Nicky Crawford (vs. Sweden in 1998).

The match was always going to be stacked in England’s favour given this was the sport’s most-dominant side against a team of amateur players, many of whom had to take unpaid leave from their day jobs to participate in this World Cup.

So it was the Red Roses on their professional contracts and with the pressure of being tournament favourites against a side who were aware of their underdog status but were vowing to give it their all. Samoa’s theme for the week was “Mission: Impossible” and while they never wanted for effort or physicality, they were simply unable to stop a Red Roses side who showed 13 changes from their opening round 69-7 win over the USA last Friday.

With regular captain Zoe Aldcroft sidelined for the rest of the pool stages, Maggie Packer skippered England from openside with just Breach and Megan Jones remaining from the starting team that faced the USA in Sunderland. Jones was exceptional in outside centre again, while the half-back combination of Lucy Packer and Helena Rowland unpicked Samoa’s defence. Breach also grabbed a well deserved trio of scores after being a constant danger throughout.

The first half played out to script and expectation. England scored after just three minutes as Jones glided over after a neat pass from loose-head Kelsey Clifford. Samoa packed plenty of physicality in defence, but failed to make inroads in attack, despite unveiling a (failed) innovative lineout move which saw hooker Faith Nonutunu attempt to launch an NFL quarterback-style pass to their midfield. Any Samoan respite was short-lived as Breach flew into the corner for England’s second soon after and they had their bonus point sewn up before the quarter with Sarah Bern crossing from close range, and Jones grabbing her second all by the 16th minute of the match.

The records were being checked at this stage and the Red Roses’ scrum destroyed Samoa’s on their own put-in to turn them and score in the 23rd minute with Feaunati dotting it down.

The conditions were doing little to help either side and England would grab two more before the break thanks to Lark Atkin-Davies and Lucy Packer scoring from close range. Samoa finished the half in the ascendancy — aided by tight-head replacement Tori Losefo — but failed to get anything on the scoreboard to reward their endeavour and the passionate support in the stands.

But there were few celebrations quite like the ones which greeted Samoa’s penalty just after the break. Having lost their opener 73-0 to Australia, Harmony Vatau slotted the first points of their World Cup with a penalty from 32 metres out.

The players turned to the crowd, delighted, as they returned to their side of the field, and soon that support was on their feet again as Emma Sing knocked-on inside England’s half. But the Red Roses soon found their stride again as Clifford bundled over from close range to ease England past the half-century mark.

Breach then got her second and as the Red Roses got further impetus from changing their entire front-row, Mackenzie Carson crossed from close range for what was their 10th score.

Breach and Claudia Moloney-MacDonald continued to make yards on the wing, but it was Rowland who crossed next to bring up a personal tally of 25 points. England emptied the bench but continued their relentless scoring with Marley Packer crossing in the 70th minute, and Breach grabbing her third in the 74th minute as she outsprinted the Samoan defence to cross in the corner.

Moloney-Macdonald put the finishing touches on the rout as she scored in the final play of the game, with Rowland converting again from out wide to secure her spot in the Red Roses record books.

For Samoa, the defeat means their World Cup will finish in the pool stages, but England are now two from two and eyeing the knockout stages ahead of Australia in Brighton next Saturday.

– Amy Cokayne: The RAF officer and one-time Kiwi powering England’s scrum
– ‘Surreal’: Halse shines to become Australia’s youngest World Cup debutant

“A strong and successful Qualifying in Zandvoort as we lockout the front row for tomorrow’s Grand Prix. With just a few milliseconds deciding Pole position, both Oscar and Lando displayed solid performances in tricky conditions, driving on the limit in an extremely close session to set the two quickest-ever laps around this circuit.

“As with today’s wind in Q3, there are many variables that will contribute to tomorrow’s race, including a persistent risk of rain, making it an interesting afternoon. However, we will work to put ourselves in the best position possible to capitalise on our grid positions and start the second half of the season with a pleasing result.”

Shi Yuqi of People’s Republic of China has reached the men’s singles final at this year’s BWF World Championships in Paris, ending the remarkable run of Victor Lai.

After saving two match points in the second game, the top seed edged past the unheralded Canadian 13-21, 22-20, 21-16.

Shi will meet the winner of the second semi-final between defending champion Kunlavut Vitidsarn (Thailand) and Denmark’s Anders Antonsen, while Lai will leave Paris as his country’s first ever world medallist in the sport taking home bronze.

After his shock win in the quarters against 2021 world champion Loh Kean Yew, the 20-year-old part-time student and part-time badminton player was close to producing an even greater upset in the Adidas Arena.

Top seed Shi got off to the better start but had trouble to deal with the remarkable shot selection of his opponent. who ran away with the first game after just 21 minutes.

It was a similar affair in the second game. Shi seemed to be in control, stormed to a 10-5 lead, only to see Lai win five straight points to draw level.

Shi showed nerves while Lai seemed unfazed by the big occasion. He even had two martch points at 20-18 but the Chinese star fought back to force a decider.

The Toronto-based student, who had only played one Super 500 tournament before Paris, played the match of his life and put up a brave fight in the third game despite trailing 5-0 early on and 11-6 at the change-over.

But Shi finally cut down on his unforced errors and sealed the win.

Lai started this season ranked 99th in the world, and entered Paris competition ranked 50th. He will further climb up the rankings after his unexpected exploits in the French capital.

The BWF World Championships are available to stream live (territorial restrictions apply) on Olympic Channel via Olympics.com and the Olympics mobile apps.

“Pakistan hockey team is coming for the Junior World Cup. They confirmed it to me last night,” Singh said here.

Pakistan’s senior team did not travel to Rajgir for the ongoing Asia Cup. Though they did not give an official statement, people aware of the matter in the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) had said it was due to “security concerns”.

Last week, Government of India came out with a new policy, severing all bilateral sporting ties with Pakistan while adding that India will continue to compete against Pakistan in multilateral international events.

Relations between the two countries deteriorated following a four-day military conflict in May. The conflict was triggered by the April 22 terror attack in which 26 civilians died in Kashmir.

“We have almost completed our preparations for the Junior World Cup. It is in the final stages. We have received the long list (of players) of 23 countries from 24 (participating) nations. Only one has not come in yet which is Pakistan. They will send it in the near future,” said Singh, who is also the vice-president of the Asian Hockey Federation (AHF).

“While Chennai is ready, a new turf is being laid in Madurai. There is some work going on and it should be ready within a month.”

Pakistan in Pro League

On Thursday, the international hockey federation (FIH) confirmed that Pakistan had accepted their invitation to participate in the FIH Pro League, an elite nine-team, season long competition. This means India could also play Pakistan in two of those games, the venue of which is yet to be announced.

Asked whether India will play Pakistan in the Pro League, Singh said, “If there is a match against Pakistan in the Pro League, why will they not play? We will abide by the Olympic Charter. Whatever the Charter says, we will fully follow it whether it is Pro League or Junior World Cup or any other tournament.”

Many Chelsea supporters were already asking the same question during the match, about whether it was too late to cancel Jackson’s loan move to Germany.

Tyrique George, a 19-year-old winger from the academy, replaced Delap at Stamford Bridge and gave a creditable display while out of position, but he too could leave Chelsea before deadline day.

On George, Maresca said: “Today we played more than one hour with Tyrique [George], and he did brilliant.”

It was ironic that Chelsea’s only fit striker, Joao Pedro, was himself filling in for star attacker Cole Palmer in his favoured number 10 position.

When George was picked, Maresca looked short of options with winger Jamie Gittens – signed from Dortmund for £48.5m over the summer – the only other attacker on his bench.

It is a remarkable situation given Chelsea have more than £300m worth of attackers in their squad.

However, Chelsea had decided against carrying three senior strikers because of Jackson’s desire not to be an emergency back-up, and with Nkunku having been unhappy at the club for more than six months.

Pedro Neto showed last season that he is capable of filling in on an emergency basis, with Palmer and George both having played as up-front in the past. Academy striker Shim Mheuka, 17, is also top scorer in the under-21s league with four goals in three matches.

Meanwhile, winger Alejandro Garnacho was sat in the directors’ box on Saturday before completing a £40m move from Manchester United. Chelsea are also closing in on a move for Brighton’s Facundo Buonanotte, who is capable of playing as a 10 or on the right wing.

Chelsea would have eight attacking players for four roles on the pitch after the two Argentine attackers arrive, with a well-stocked academy in behind them.

However, they must be suitably worried about Delap to have taken a shock decision to pull the plug on Jackson’s move, at least for now, and bring him back to Stamford Bridge.

Wales are out of the Women’s World Cup after being brushed aside 42-0 by heavily-fancied Canada at Salford Community Stadium.

A 38-8 loss to Scotland in last weekend’s curtain-raiser left Wales needing to beat Canada — ranked second in the world behind only England — to realistically keep their quarterfinal hopes alive.

They dominated territory and possession early on but went 28-0 down just after the half-hour as McKinley Hunt’s two tries and one each for Alysha Corrigan and Asia Hogan-Rochester put Canada on top.

Taylor Perry and Brittany Kassil touched down after the break, when Georgia Evans was yellow-carded and Sophie de Goede converted all six tries as Canada laid down a marker for their title aspirations.

They have sealed a spot in the last eight after Scotland’s win over Fiji later on Saturday, which also confirmed Wales’ elimination. Wales and Fiji will contest a Pool B dead rubber in Exeter next weekend.

Wales, who were without co-captains Alex Callender and Kate Williams due to injury, shipped a try after 55 seconds against Scotland but they sprung out of the traps to put Canada under heavy pressure.

Lisa Neumann was just out of reach in an attempt to collect a ball over the top, while Bethan Lewis hesitated when a cross-field kick was sent her way and failed to gather with the try line beckoning.

With Wales’ lineout malfunctioning, Canada were able to shrug off a sluggish opening 10 minutes and build pressure inside the opposition 22, which eventually told as Hunt burrowed over under the posts.

Having started the contest so well, Hunt’s try after being teed up by Alex Tessier and De Goede was a gut punch for the Welsh and worse was to follow as Canada struck three times inside five minutes.

Corrigan was the first to go over in the 26th minute, putting the finishing touch to a fine move which stretched Wales’ defence, while Hunt celebrated her second moments later to continue the one-way traffic.

From the restart, the ball was worked to the left and Hogan-Rochester broke on the wing, sprinting 60 metres to touch down for Canada’s bonus-point try.

– Amy Cokayne: The RAF officer and one-time Kiwi powering England’s scrum
– Women’s Rugby World Cup: England make 13 changes for Samoa clash
– ‘Surreal’: Halse shines to become Australia’s youngest World Cup debutant

Gabrielle Senft saw a try chalked off for a couple of infractions after half-time although Evans was sin-binned for a high challenge in the build-up.

Down to 14 players, Wales fell further behind when Canada — not for the first time — went through the phases and recycled the ball for Perry to touch down before Kassil dived over following a driving maul.

Kassil’s try came with 26 minutes still to go but Canada saw prop Olivia DeMerchant sent to the bin for a high tackle and they coasted in the closing stages, holding off a spirited Wales finish.