Category: 6. Sports

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EL SEGUNDO, Calif. (AP) — Although Bronny James tries to stay off all social media, that strategy didn’t stop one of his friends from calling him up this week and asking him about LeBron James’ thoughts on the Los Angeles Lakers’ direction — and what it all might mean for Bronny’s future.

“I said, ‘I have no idea what you’re talking about,’” Bronny James said with a grin Wednesday after practice with the Lakers’ NBA Summer League team. “I don’t really pay attention to that stuff. There’s a lot of stuff going around that I don’t pay attention to.”

Bronny sounds ready to spend a long, hot summer ducking rumors, pleading ignorance on innuendo and concentrating on the work necessary to become a contributor during his second NBA season with the Lakers.

LeBron James has decided to pick up his $52.6 million player option with the Lakers for his record 23rd NBA season — but his longtime agent, Rich Paul, announced the news with ambiguous comments in which he declared LeBron’s desire to compete for a championship this season, even while the Lakers are building for the future around Luka Dončić.

While many NBA observers are interpreting the comments as a prelude to a possible trade if the Lakers aren’t an elite team in the fall, Bronny James said he isn’t thinking or looking that far ahead. The Lakers took a big step toward contention Wednesday when center Deandre Ayton reportedly agreed to sign with them as a free agent, filling their most glaring offseason need.

LeBron and Bronny became the first father and son to play together in NBA history last season, but the 20-year-old son of the top scorer in NBA history claims he doesn’t know what the future holds.

“We don’t really talk about that much, but I think when stuff like that does come up, he just tells me to not worry about it, not even pay attention to it,” Bronny said. “Just lock in to what you have going on right now, and that’s what’s going to get me better and keep me focused. I think it’s good that he tells me not to pay attention to that stuff.”

James first played for the Lakers a year ago in the NBA Summer League, and he is returning this month for another run. The Lakers’ first game is in front of their famously passionate Vegas fans against No. 1 pick Cooper Flagg and the Dallas Mavericks in the marquee event of the tournament.

“Last year it was a crazy environment for me to step in and produce right off — being nervous, too,” Bronny said. “I feel like this year I’ll be able to go out and play freely and know what I’m going to go out there and do for me and my teammates. I’m just really excited to be able to play nervous-free.”

Bronny’s focus is on his conditioning and his diet. He has slimmed down to 215 pounds with a bit more work still to go, and he wants to be able to play 10-minute stretches with no fade.

That’s also important for the mental aspect of the game for Bronny, who went into cardiac arrest two years ago during a summer workout at USC.

“I think that side of confidence just comes with time, and being able to go through or endure myself at a longer rate of time,” Bronny said. “Just being able to be out there for longer time, going at it, just coming in every day and pushing myself even more than I did the last day, I think, is really good for me.”

Bronny also reaffirmed his determination to be a defensive stopper, even though he showed an ability to score last season in the G League and during a 17-point performance against the Milwaukee Bucks last March.

“I can’t lose that defensive drive that will get me on the floor,” Bronny said. “There’s going to be guys that can go out and score 15, 20 (points) a game. I’m most likely not going to be that guy right now, but to get myself on the floor, I have to be a defensive menace, and that’s my main focus, getting into that condition this year.”

Bronny won’t get a chance to play alongside Adou Thiero in Las Vegas, however. The Lakers’ second-round draft pick is still building strength after the left knee injury that bothered him at Arkansas, and while he won’t play in Summer League, he is expected to be fully ready for training camp.

Former Asian Games silver medalist Lakshay Sheoran will lead India’s challenge in men’s trap alongside veteran Zoravar Singh Sandhu and the upcoming Jaswinder Singh.

Neeru, Preeti Rajak and Pragati Dubey will represent India in women’s trap.

In the mixed team trap event, Lakshay will pair up with Neeru, while Zoravar will partner Preeti.

India’s only medal in shotgun events at this year’s ISSF World Cups has come in mixed trap with Kynan Chenai and Sabeera Haris striking bronze at Nicosia back in May.

Indian shotgunners drew blanks at the Buenos Aires and Lima legs, both of which featured all shooting disciplines – rifle, pistol and shotgun. The Nicosia leg, like Lonato, was also exclusively for shotgun events.

“The squad has settled down well and training in right earnest,” Indian shotgun shooting team coach Vikram Chopra said. “We even went out to celebrate Anant’s birthday on Tuesday and it was brilliant from a bonding perspective as well. This will be the last World Cup stage before the World Championships in Athens and it is important that things start falling into place at the right time.”.

As many as 551 athletes from 73 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) will compete at Lonato. Winners in each individual event will secure a spot at the year-end ISSF World Cup Finals in Doha.

Where to watch ISSF World Cup 2025 Lonato live in India

Live streaming of the ISSF World Cup 2025 Lonato will be available on Olympics.com. There will be no live telecast of the shotgun event on any TV channel in India.

ISSF World Cup 2025 Lonato: Indian shooting squad

• Skeet (men): Mairaj Ahmad Khan, Angad Vir Singh Bajwa, Anantjeet Singh Naruka
• Skeet (women): Maheshwari Chauhan, Raiza Dhillon, Ganemat Sekhon
• Trap (men): Lakshay Sheoran, Zoravar Singh Sandhu, and Jaswinder Singh
• Trap (women): Neeru Dhanda, Preeti Rajak, and Pragati Dubey
• Mixed team trap: Lakshay Sheoran/Neeru Dhanda, Zoravar Singh Sandhu/Preeti Rajak

ISSF World Cup 2025 Lonato schedule

Finals only. All in India Standard Time (IST)

July 8, Tuesday

• Women’s skeet final – 6:30 PM
• Men’s skeet final – 8:00 PM

July 12, Saturday

• Women’s trap – 6:30 PM
• Men’s trap – 8:00 PM

July 13, Sunday

Trap mixed team (bronze and gold medal matches) – 6:30 PM onwards

Femke Bol: “I love love”

Once upon a time, in two lands not so far away, a Dutch hurdler and a Belgian pole vaulter fell in love. They met just before her career took off on the global stage, falling for each other and for the rhythm of life in sport. Since then, they’ve grown as athletes and as partners, learning how to navigate long-distance training camps and life’s small, everyday moments together.

“That can be hard sometimes,” Bol said when asked how they manage to keep their relationship from being consumed by the world of sport. “If he’s focused on training or I am, we can talk about it all evening long. I think that’s normal. But we’re also good at watching a show together and forgetting about everything, or planning a vacation, or going golfing, just doing something completely different and enjoying each other’s company.”

There’s a sweetness in the way Bol speaks about Broeders, a warmth that’s both candid and matter-of-fact. “We miss each other a lot with different training camps, [so] we really value the time we do have together, without all the stress,” she said. “Especially before big championships, those weeks are full of stress. I’m super nervous, and so is he. Sometimes we need to not talk about it at all. Or sometimes we’re really good at supporting each other through it. It depends on the moment.”

Support, in this relationship, isn’t just lip service. She recalled the night of the Paris 2024 Olympic 4x400m mixed relay final. Earlier that day, Broeders had competed in his own Olympic qualification round, which hadn’t gone as planned. That night, Bol ran to Olympic gold.

“That’s tough,” she reflected. “We didn’t talk about his day. We focused on my final. It was incredible how he handled that. He was truly happy for me, even though he was dealing with so many emotions of his own. That means a lot. That he could set his own feelings aside in that moment.”

Asked if it was important to her that he’s an athlete, Bol smiled. “Not at all. Honestly, the only ‘requirement’ I had was that a guy was taller than me, and even that didn’t work out!” she laughed.

Bol is open about her emotional nature and the intensity with which she feels. “I love love. I give a lot of love,” she said. “But I’m also a very emotional person… if a training session goes badly, I might fall apart for half a day, and I bring it all to him.”

So what makes him so special? “He’s caring, sweet, social, very calm, and patient. His personality alone makes me feel calm, just being with him helps.”

First India vs Pakistan T20

The first-ever India vs Pakistan T20 match was a classic and is remembered as one of the most thrilling games in cricket history.

Led by MS Dhoni, the Men in Blue went on to post a total of 141/9 with Robin Uthappa top-scoring after making 50 off 39 balls.

Chasing a target of 142, Pakistan needed 12 off the last over with Misbah-ul-Haq and all-rounder Yasir Arafat at the crease.

Arafat picked up a single off the first ball of the final over to give the strike to Misbah-ul-Haq, who scored 10 from the next three deliveries.

With one needed off two, India’s S Sreesanth bowled a dot ball, taking the match down to the wire.

The theatrics continued off the last ball as Misbah hit the ball towards cover only for Yuvraj Singh to pick it up and throw to the non-strikers end, where Sreesanth was present to whip off the bails as the match ended in a dramatic tie.

Though the match is listed as a tie in the record books, the two teams would play a bowl out – cricket’s equivalent to the dreaded penalty shootout in football – to determine the winner.

India prevailed 3-0 in what was the only bowl out in cricket history before it was replaced by the Super Over.

Interestingly, the two teams would meet once again in the final of the 2007 T20 World Cup, where India pulled off a dramatic win by defending 157. The Indian cricket team won the match by five runs to become the inaugural World T20 champions.

In fact, India boasts a 6-1 lead in ICC T20 World Cups, with the Pakistan cricket team’s only win coming in the 2021 edition in Dubai.

India vs Pakistan head-to-head in T20 World Cups

NEW DELHI: The Pakistan Hockey teams for the forthcoming Asia Cup tournament in Bihar’s Rajgir and FIH men’s Junior World Cup later in Tamil Nadu’s Madurai are going to be allowed to participate, sources in the government confirmed, while stating that any attempt to block participation would lead to contravention of the Olympic Charter.

The sources said that the clearance for allowing the Pakistani teams to come to India was given by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and the visa process for the players has been initiated.

A high-level source in the government said, the decision has been communicated to the host federation – Hockey India (HI) and in turn it has informed the same to its counterpart in Pakistan.

“The decision was part of the Government of India’s (GoI) efforts to keep politics and sports separate, while following the statutes of the Olympic Charter, which calls for inclusion and harmony among the participating nations despite their political difference,” said a source.

Experts say that had India blocked the Pakistan teams’ participation for the two hockey events, the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) would have faced sanction from the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

“It is not something you think about at the start of your career,” Ford told BBC Sport of his milestone.

“You dream of playing for England, and when you get to do it once it is an unbelievably special moment – to achieve that was the proudest memory of my career.

“Then I suppose you get your head down to work as hard as you can and improve so you might gather a few caps together – that is all I have tried to do really, take each year and campaign as it comes, try to improve, develop and do the right thing for the team.

“I have the opportunity to hit quite a big milestone and it is something I will be very proud of.”

Scrum-half Ben Youngs, who retired from international rugby at the end of the 2023 Rugby World Cup, won 127 caps for his country, the most of any man.

Dan Cole, Jason Leonard, Owen Farrell, Courtney Lawes, Danny Care and co-captain George have also passed the 100-Test mark for England.

Sarah Hunter retired in March 2023 having won 141 caps for England’s women’s team.

“George has been a standout player for over a decade,” said head coach Steve Borthwick.

“Reaching 100 caps is a remarkable achievement, and it speaks volumes about both the professional and the person he is.

“Everyone in the squad is incredibly proud to share this moment with him.”

Borthwick has said that Argentina will be favourites across the two-Test series after the Pumas’ victory over the British and Irish Lions in Dublin last month continued their fine run of form.

Argentina are ranked fifth in the world, one place above England.

The second meeting between the two teams takes place in San Juan on 12 July.

England: Steward; Roebuck, Slade, S Atkinson, Muir; Ford, Spencer; Baxter, George, Heyes, Ewels, Coles, B Curry, Underhill, Willis.

Replacements: Dan, Rodd, Opoku-Fordjour, Cunningham-South, Pepper, Dombrandt, Van Poortvliet, Murley

We are rattling through the European rounds, and we head to Silverstone for Round 7 of the 2025 campaign and another stern test for the teams and drivers.

With the prospect of changeable weather and the circuit layout promoting great wheel-to-wheel racing, this weekend’s action is sure to be spectacular.

Here are the main areas you’ll want to keep an eye on.

BRITISH SUMMER

After weeks of sunshine, the standard Silverstone affair is back on the menu, with a chance of rain on both Saturday and Sunday.

It could make for a lively Sprint and Feature Race, though it will have some time measuring up to the unpredictability of last season, when Arvid Lindblad managed the conditions best to become the first driver to win both races on an F3 weekend.

With the weather radars indicating the threat of rain throughout both days, drivers and teams will need to be at their sharpest to manage conditions as best they can.

We saw in 2024 just how important it was to be on the right tyre at the right time, and the judgement call to come into the pits and make a pitstop is always a tough one to weigh up.

Get it right though, and a difficult weekend could just turn into a memorable day out in Northamptonshire. Get it wrong, and it’ll be a tough debrief.

READ MORE: Hitech TGR confirms Nikita Johnson at Silverstone round

PUSHING TO THE TRACK LIMITS

The super-fast layout of the Silverstone circuit encourages drivers to push to the maximum in order to extract the best laptime possible, but the white line could make or break a driver’s weekend.

Specifically, Copse and Stowe are both some of the most spectacular corners on the circuit, and reward those getting right up to the edge of the track to carry the speed through both corners. But go just over the track limits and that laptime is gone.

It could be a very interesting Qualifying session if drivers can’t get a provisional time on the board or lose an earlier effort to a track limits deletion. The pressure will only ramp up from there, and ending up outside the top 12 will leave an uphill struggle for the remainder of the weekend.

Keep an eye on these two corners in particular, as they are the most likely areas a driver will fall foul of those limits.

LOCAL KNOWLEDGE

Three drivers on the 2025 grid call Silverstone their home event, with Callum Voisin, Roman Bilinski and James Hedley preparing for a raucous welcome from the British fans.

All three have raced here before, though each of them will be seeking out a first victory on home soil after taking to the podium previously.

Their experience around the British circuit could pay dividends with the limited track time in Practice ahead of the grid-setting Qualifying session.

With a packed out attendance expected across the weekend, and with the home crowd huge fans of racing no matter what championship, all three can expect plenty of support across the entire event.

In India, the Abhinav Bindra Foundation hosted a variety of sports and movement activities for young people to participate in on Olympic Day – including skipping, football, cricket, volleyball and kho-kho – together with Olympic-themed arts and crafts. The activity is part of the Olympic Values Education Programme (OVEP), implemented in collaboration with the IOC and the governments of Odisha, Assam and Chandigarh, and has already engaged 10 million schoolchildren

The Reliance Foundation marked Olympic Day 2025 with a vibrant celebration featuring 1,450 school children and a line-up of Olympians and national champions at the Reliance Foundation School in Navi Mumbai. Olympic archers Atanu Das and Deepika Kumari, alongside athletic stars Ancy Sojan, Tejas Shirse and Sakshi Chavan, inspired young students to embrace sports and embody the core Olympic values of excellence, respect and friendship.

In China, table tennis player Sun Yingsha, swimmer Pan Zhanle and shooter Sheng Lihao championed Olympic Day 2025 through a series of videos, calling on the public to take on the “Let’s Move +1” challenge – a fun and accessible way to get people moving and ignite passion for physical activity in daily life. More than 13,000 people have participated in the “Let’s Move +1” themed Olympic Mini Program on WeChat, through which they could compete with friends, complete daily challenges, and practise sport together. Worldwide Olympic Partner Allianz held a mini marathon at the company’s Hangzhou headquarters, including online fitness challenges and AI-powered engagement initiatives; whilst Mengniu promoted mass sports, and released an Olympic themed short film, encouraging people to move and “give everyone the strength to power on”.

Over 350,000 people have already participated in Worldwide Olympic Partner Samsung’s “Let’s Move?” challenge to walk 260,000 steps between 23 June and 21 July. The IOC marked the day in the Olympic Capital, including the traditional Olympic Day run – a 5km public event around Olympic House in Lausanne.

The theme of this year’s Olympic Day, “Let’s Move?”, shone a light on the benefits of playing sport and working out together, celebrating the motivation, community and joy that movement with others brings. As part of this, everyone was encouraged to invite a “+1” to walk, run, dance, skip and move with them. People were invited to ask a friend to join their team or workout, and could use specially created “Let’s Move?” digital tools. More than 35,000 posts have been shared on social media in relation to Olympic Day.

“Let’s Move” launched in 2023 in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO), following its research that alarming numbers of people across the world are not meeting the minimum activity level required for optimal health: one in three adults and 81 per cent of young people (WHO, 2024). Rallying the power and inspiration of the Olympic Movement to highlight this worrying trend, while aiming to encourage and create opportunities for everyone to move more, “Let’s Move” is part of the Olympic Movement’s mission to make the world a better place through sport and will continue beyond Olympic Day, with the ambition, and the support of the Olympic Movement, to keep inspiring and enabling people to move and enjoy physical activity through resources, activations and content.