Category: 6. Sports

• Over 2,500 members of the women’s rugby community have already benefited from Impact Beyond 2025
• 42 Unions have received Rugby Rising Play grants
• Fundraising toolkit launched for unions 

Impact Beyond 2025 is World Rugby’s ambitious global programme designed to supercharge the growth of women’s rugby long after the tournament concludes, with the pinnacle event set to take place across England from 22 August to 27 September. 

Working alongside the RFU’s domestic Impact ‘25 programme and a number of inspiring social impact projects spearheaded by the RWC 2025 Local Organising Company (LOC), Impact Beyond 2025 is designed to ensure that this generational moment for rugby creates lasting change – from grassroots participation to the elite level – by empowering more women and girls, strengthening communities, and advancing gender equity across the sporting landscape.

The report highlights the progress made across three key pillars: 

• Inspiring more people to play, support, and fall in love with the game
• Providing targeted career and personal development initiatives working across rugby and supporting them to thrive in their careers
• Empowering Unions with the tools and networks to build a stronger, more inclusive future for the sport 

Highlights include: 

• Over 2,500 members of the women’s rugby community have already benefited from Impact Beyond 2025
• Over 300 people have attended the first two women’s health webinars  
• Over 50 Unions have attended Impact Beyond Regional Summits in Africa, Asia and Europe
• 42 Unions have received Rugby Rising Play grants
• Fundraising toolkit launched for unions 

The second instalment of the Impact Report covers the period up to June 2025. The full Impact Beyond 2025 Plan and first report are available on the World Rugby website here with the final report scheduled post-tournament. 

Welcoming this mid-year report, Sally Horrox World Rugby’s Chief of Women’s Rugby said: “It’s 50 days before Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025 kicks off in England, yet Impact Beyond 2025 is already making a huge difference to women’s rugby across the world.  

“The report evidences great progress, but there is even greater opportunity ahead of us.  I’m looking forward to an incredible Women’s Rugby World Cup, but am equally excited to see the lasting impact that our flagship programmes will have on the sport globally and the evolution of women’s rugby”.

Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025 will be one of the hottest tickets of the sporting summer with over 300,000 people already set to take their place in the stands.  You can join them by visiting www.tickets.rugbyworldcup.com  

• Download the NBA App
• 2025 Summer League

The 2024-25 NBA season ended with the Oklahoma City Thunder winning their first-ever title. The 2025 NBA Draft is also complete as teams around the league spent two days selecting rookies from all over the world. NBA Summer League is the first official instance where fans can watch the rookies and young players continue their transition into regular roles in the NBA.

This year, Summer League will be divided into three tournaments: the California Classic (July 5-8), the Salt Lake City Summer League (July 5-8), and the NBA 2K26 Summer League in Las Vegas, from July 10 to July 20. The Las Vegas Summer League will feature all 30 teams in action.

Here are some of the players worth watching across the three Summer League tournaments.

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Cooper Flagg, Dallas Mavericks

Who wouldn’t want to watch Flagg’s first game in the NBA? Even if it’s Summer League, the former Duke standout seems destined for greatness and should be a dominant presence in a Summer League environment. Flagg averaged 19.2 points, 7.5 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game while shooting 48.1% from the field and 38.5% from 3-point range during his lone season at Duke. 

Those numbers might not translate directly to the NBA right away. Still, he’s one of the most hyped prospects in recent years, similar to the level of hype Zion Williamson and Victor Wembanyama were carrying before making their debuts in the NBA. It’s unclear what kind of role Flagg will have with Dallas, and since he’s pro-ready, he’s not likely to see heavy minutes across all of Dallas’ Summer League games. However, he’ll be a must-watch every time he steps on the hardwood.

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Dylan Harper, San Antonio Spurs

Harper was the No. 2 pick in the draft after averaging 19.4 points, 4.6 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 1.4 steals over 29 games in the 2024-25 college season for Rutgers. The positional fit remains a bit uncertain, as he spent most of his college career as a guard, but expect coach Mitch Johnson to find a way to play Harper alongside De’Aaron Fox and Stephon Castle. The Spurs believe the three players can coexist.

However, fans will have to wait to see Harper in action. The first-year guard has been sidelined for the California Classic, where the Spurs are scheduled to play three games, due to a groin injury. This means Harper’s best chance to make his Summer League debut will come in Las Vegas, though the recovery of the groin injury will ultimately determine whether the star rookie will be able to step on the court or not. Expect San Antonio to be cautious with him, as Harper is expected to play a significant role for the Spurs right out of the gate in his rookie year.

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Ace Bailey, Utah Jazz

Bailey was Harper’s teammate at Rutgers and was considered to be the second- or third-best player in this class, on the same level as Harper and slightly below Flagg. However, he slipped down to the No. 5 pick, beginning his career with the rebuilding Jazz. It remains to be seen what Bailey’s role will be out of the gate, but he’s a natural scorer and should find a way to get his points on a regular basis. 

Plus, the fact that Bailey will play in an organization that’s in the early stages of a rebuild means he’ll have time to learn on the fly, similar to what happened with Alex Sarr last season in Washington. It’s all about the fit with Bailey, but there’s no doubt it’ll be exciting to watch him play in Summer League. Bailey averaged 17.6 points, 7.2 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 1.0 steals and 1.3 blocks per game with Rutgers during the 2024-25 campaign. 

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Khaman Maluach, Phoenix Suns

Even though Flagg, Harper and Bailey were always considered the three best players in this year’s class, Maluach has always been seen as one of the prospects with the most significant upside in the class. The South Sudan native struggled to adjust to life in the college ranks at first, but he improved massively as the campaign progressed. Maluach earned ACC All-Freshman Team honors after averaging 8.6 points, 6.6 rebounds and 1.3 blocks in 21.3 minutes per game.

Maluach is a developmental project with a high floor given his defensive projections, but he’s also expected to have some upside on the offensive side of the ball. At 7-foot-2, Maluach has the size and length to be an elite defender in the NBA, and his early steps in Summer League will be a good indicator to see how well — and how quickly — he can grow. Maluach can be an absolute stud in category-based leagues if he gets enough time in the NBA.

Brentford have completed the signing of Antoni Milambo from Eredivisie club Feyenoord, subject to international clearance.

The 20-year-old midfielder has put pen to paper on a five-year contract with a club option of an additional year.

Milambo arrives in west London following a highly impressive 2024/25 campaign.

The Dutchman made 42 appearances for Feyenoord in all competitions, scoring seven goals and assisting eight. This included nine matches and four goal involvements (3G, 1A) in the UEFA Champions League.

A Netherlands Under-21 international, Milambo represented his nation on three occasions at the UEFA European Under-21 Championship in Slovakia this summer.

Milambo was in from the start as Michael Reiziger’s side lost 2-1 to eventual winners England in the semi-final.

“We are all very excited by the arrival of Antoni Milambo,” said technical director Lee Dykes.

“The recruitment department have followed Antoni for a few years now and have closely monitored his development at Feyenoord into the first team.

“We believe that Antoni has all the attributes needed to be a very good Premier League player and feel he has the potential to develop his game to a high level here in England.

“Antoni is a skilful, forward-thinking midfield player capable of scoring all types of goals as proven through his youth development phase, in the Eredivisie and in the Champions League.

“I would like to place on record our appreciation to the senior management team at Feyenoord for their assistance with our interest in Antoni and their professionalism throughout the transfer process.”

Head coach Keith Andrews added: “Antoni has played a lot of football in the last 12 months and really shot to prominence.

“He’s had experience in the Eredivisie, Champions League and most recently the Under-21 Euros with the Netherlands.

“I love the way that Antoni takes the ball and drives; he has the ability to go past players and he’s a goal threat. He will complement the midfielders we have in the building.

“Now it’s just a case of getting him used to the intensity and rhythm of the Premier League and our own intensity levels. I am looking forward to working with him.”

Milambo made his professional debut for Feyenoord in a 3-0 UEFA Europa Conference League victory over Luzern in August 2021. At 16 years and 131 days, he became the club’s youngest-ever player, taking the record from Georginio Wijnaldum.

He made his Eredivisie debut in April 2023, coming on as a substitute in a 3-1 win over Sparta Rotterdam. Milambo went on to play two more league games that season as Feyenoord earned their 16th title.

Milambo’s involvement increased during the 2023/24 campaign. He made 13 senior appearances and was on the bench as Feyenoord won the KNVB Cup by beating NEC 1-0 in the final in April 2024.

The following August, Milambo scored in a 4-4 draw with PSV in the Johan Cruyff Shield, before Feyenoord won the trophy on penalties.

In October, the midfielder was named Player of the Match after scoring twice in Feyenoord’s 3-1 away win over Benfica in the Champions League.

Milambo departs Feyenoord having registered 17 goals involvements (8G, 9A) in 60 senior appearances. He is Brentford’s third first-team signing of the summer following the arrival of goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher from Liverpool and the permanent transfer of full-back Michael Kayode from Fiorentina.

Tait was the first recipient of McColgan’s ‘Giving Back to Track’ programme, which was set up three years ago to help young women make their way in athletics.

After plenty of support and encouragement, Tait says breaking her mentor’s record was something she had targeted for a while.

“Eilish has supported and mentored me for a good few years now and she always said she thought I would be the one who would take her record down,” she revealed.

“Eilish really took me under her wing. I am still in touch with her now, we still go back and forth. She always sends me a congratulations message, she is always there to support me and I am really grateful for everything she has done for me.”

Having just completed her studies at West Virginia University, Tait admits she is “still figuring things out” in terms of where she is going to base herself as she prepares for next summer’s Commonwealth Games, which she says is her “priority”.

As a 13-year-old, Tait went to watch the athletics at Hampden Park when the games last visited the city in 2014.

“I just can’t wait to hopefully be a part of it and be part of inspiring the next generation because that was me sitting in the stands watching – so I really hope that can be me on the start line this time,” she added.

WIMBLEDON — Back in February, 17-year-old Mirra Andreeva won the title in Dubai becoming the youngest player ever to capture a WTA 1000. A few weeks later, she won another one in Indian Wells and found herself in the Top 10.

Teenagers can be volatile, of course, and there was a disappointing loss to wild card Lois Boisson in the Roland Garros quarterfinals — one stage earlier than she achieved the year before — followed by a first-round loss in Berlin to Magdalena Frech several weeks ago.

Wimbledon: Scores | Order of play | Draws

Here at the All England Club, Andreeva has collected herself nicely. On Thursday she was a 6-1, 7-6 (4) winner over Lucia Bronzetti, advancing to the third round. She’ll play the winner of the later match between Hailey Baptiste and lucky loser Victoria Mboko.

Andreeva has already won 34 matches this year — only Aryna Sabalenka, Iga Swiatek and Jessica Pegula have more. Bronzetti, ranked No. 63, was the 12^th player outside the Top 50 that Andreeva has beaten this year. Her only such loss was to Boisson. 

Andreeva served well, winning 46 of 63 points, but perhaps more importantly, she took 19 of Bronzetti’s 30 second-serve points. Andreeva’s forehand slice, it should be mentioned. was a constant bother to Bronzetti, who has now lost all 10 career matches to Top 10 players.

Watching the No. 7-seeded Andreeva fluidly playing and thinking her way through points, it’s easy to forget that at 18 she’s the youngest player in the PIF WTA Tour Top 75. Of the six teenagers in the main draw, she’s the only one left standing.

The first set was an example of Andreev’s rapidly improving tennis IQ and keen sense of timing. She didn’t face a break point in that frame, but the two times Bronzetti had her in a 15-30 hole, Andreeva responded with an ace — and ultimately closed out the set in 23 minutes.

After Bronzetti raced out to a 5-2 lead in the second set, Andreeva slowly reeled her in — calmly saving two set points in the process — to level it at 5-all.

Andreeva opened the tiebreak with a gorgeous running crosscourt backhand winner and followed it up with another backhand winner. She closed it with a sweet forehand stab volley that Bronzetti couldn’t run down.