Category: 6. Sports

Lee Zii Jia‘s stay at the 2025 BWF World Championships was a short one.

Playing in the Adidas Arena in Paris, where just over a year ago the shuttler won an Olympic bronze medal, Lee suffered a 41-minute straight-games defeat (17–21, 11–21) on Monday (25 August) at the hand of Republic of Korea’s Jeon Hyeok-jin.

But, the way Lee moved around freely on court and threw himself into dives to try to save points, one might not realise he is fresh off the back of a major ankle injury which has seen him miss five months of action and limited him to just two tournaments all year.

“The first priority was to get injury-free and I think I did it,” Lee told Olympics.com after his match. “For now, I can [be] 100 per cent sure that my injury is healed.”

Lee managed to stick with Jeon well in the first game, playing a few nice-looking smashes while testing his ankle. However, Jeon asserted his dominance in the second and managed to pull away.

While the Malaysian had said before the tournament he was not setting himself any goals, he admitted that a first-round exit still hurt. “Definitely [disappointed]. I have to try to accept the situation which I have been away for five months, and it’s not easy to come back here to the same level as I have [been before].

“The upcoming [plan] is Hong Kong [Open] and the China Masters as well, it’s back-to-back tournaments and definitely I have to prepare [to be] more ready.

“I think the priority is to get back the tournament feeling and also the level that I used to be at.”

In the Team Japan camp, Ogami Tomoki is enjoying his time at the 6DAYS® Italia. For him, it is a great opportunity for Japan to compete on the world stage of Enduro.

Although Japan does not have a World Trophy team for 2025, he hopes their presence in the Club Team Award categories will prepare them for future editions.

“We don’t have Japanese riders at international level for Enduro,” Tomoki explains. “We don’t have anyone competing in the FIM EnduroGP World Championship, that’s why it’s important to be here at the 6DAYS®.

“We need to help our riders experience this high standard of racing and build for the future. Bringing riders to the 6DAYS® Italia gives us that. Hopefully by coming, racing, learning and improving, we can develop a good base for the next generation.”

Organising the logistics required to compete at the 6DAYS® Italia takes a lot of planning, especially when travelling from Japan.

“It takes a lot of preparation to organise everything to race here. We start to make plans when the pre-entry list opens for registration. We speak with riders to see who is available. We also talk with teams for support, bike rental and servicing, so we can have everything we need when we arrive.

“There is a lot of work beforehand to ensure that these two weeks run smoothly. It was very nice to join Finland to walk the special tests, that was a great help.

“I really enjoy everything about the 6DAYS®. It’s such a pleasure to come here. But of course, seeing your riders do their best and reach the finish line on Day Six is the most rewarding part of it all.”

For the first time at the 6DAYS® Japan have four entries in the Club Teams Award category, and with one Japanese rider also registered in an Italian Club Team, there are a total of thirteen riders representing the Asian nation this year in Bergamo.

Our 5-0 success against Leeds United will live long in the memory for many reasons, but it’ll never be forgotten by Max Dowman who made his Gunners debut in the second half.

Aged just 15 years and 235 days, Max made his professional debut in the 64th minute when he replaced Noni Madueke, and became the second-youngest player in Premier League history.

And in a nice piece of symmetry, he shared the field with the current record holder – Ethan Nwaneri who was 54 days younger than Max when he made his Gunners bow against Brentford back in September 2022.

Three years ago, Ethan became the first 15-year-old to play in the Premier League, and also became the youngest player ever to appear in a top-flight match in English football, beating the previous record held by Sunderland’s Derek Foster in August 1964. Foster was just three days older at 15 and 184 days.

The pair are also the two youngest players in Arsenal history, and indeed the only players to feature for us before their 16th birthday.

However, another current Gunners holds the record for being our youngest ever starter. Jack Porter’s appearance against Bolton Wanderers last season – a night that saw Ethan score his first goals for the club – came when he was 16 years and 72 days. 

That means that Max, who won’t turn 16 until New Year’s Eve, has until mid-March to take that record from our academy custodian.

Given his impressive cameo off the bench against Leeds, Max has shown he has an eye for goal, and another long-standing club could be his if he continues to receive first-team opportunities in 2025/26.

Back in December 2003 – six years before Max was born – a fresh-faced Cesc Fabregas made a name for himself when he netted in a League Cup tie against Wolves, becoming our youngest-ever goalscorer aged 16 years and 212 days.

With that in mind, should Max score his first Gunners goal at any point this season, then he would leapfrog the Spaniard in the rankings and potentially take that particular slice of club history, unless another academy product gets there first!

And while we may have the youngest Premier League player in history in Ethan, should Max score in the top-flight before September 27, 2026, then we could also have the competition’s youngest scorer.

That record has been held for 20 years by James Vaughan, who scored for Everton against Crystal Palace aged 16 years and 270 days in April 2005. Playing, and indeed scoring, for the Toffees that day was a certain Mikel Arteta, who could be instrumental yet again in helping a young prospect set a new Premier League benchmark.

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Quiz: Name Arsenal’s 20 youngest-ever players

During the peak years of the Big Three, from 2008-2020, the only relevant issue to be discussed when discussing a grand slam draw was which of the trio was scheduled to meet before the final. And what this ultimately meant was that semi-finals often turned out be better than the finals (see: the 2010 and 2011 US Open semi-finals between Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic, or the 2013 and 2021 French Open semis between Rafael Nadal and Djokovic).

Tennis hadn’t had that kind of impenetrable triangle of stars since the Jimmy Connors-Björn Borg-John McEnroe troika’s very brief hold on the sport in the late 1970s and very early 1980s. What makes that long-ago epoch stand out even further is the preponderance of left-handed players. Consider – from 1974 through 1984, a southpaw triumphed in every one of those 11 years at the US Open; Connors in 1974, 1976, 1978, 1982 and 1983; Manuel Orantes in 1975, Guillermo Vilas in 1977 and John McEnroe in 1979, 1980, 1981 and 1984. Further, in 1979 four of the top-six ranked men were lefties – Connors, McEnroe, Vilas and Roscoe Tanner. And just prior to Connors and McEnroe’s dominance, the left-handed Rod Laver had been – by far – the best men’s player in the world when the open era began.

Why were lefties so predominant? It’s impossible to know. But in the 41 years since McEnroe’s last US Open title only two male lefties (Nadal and Goran Ivanišević) have won the US Open or Wimbledon singles title and only three other lefties have claimed any slam: Andrés Gómez (1990 French Open), Thomas Muster (1995 French Open) and Petr Korda, who won his one and only slam in Australia in 1998.

And Nadal isn’t even a natural lefty as he does nearly all other tasks right-handed. Part of the legend of the Spaniard is that when he was a young player he hit his groundstrokes with two hands from both sides. His coach and uncle, Toni, saw his nephew hit stronger from the left-handed side and from that moment on Nadal became a lefty. Contrary to initial opinions on the topic, there was no master plan to turn an infant Nadal into a lefty to reap the inherent benefits of being a southpaw in tennis.

The same trend has also held true for the women. In the late 1970s into the mid-1990s, several southpaw women accumulated a bounty of slam titles, most notably Martina Navratilova and Monica Seles (though she hit with both hands for all her shots, she was a natural lefty and served left-handed). But since Seles’s too-short reign, there have been only three fellow left-handers to claim a women’s major, Petra Kvitova, Marketa Vondroušová and Angelique Kerber.

What makes the paucity of left-handed champions in the sport’s recent history so puzzling is that there is a distinct advantage to being a lefty. Be it McEnroe’s twisting, slicing serve in the all-important ad court (the shot that some maintain drove Borg from the sport), or Nadal’s vicious high topspin forehands into Federer’s backhand, lefties have confounded even the most talented right-handed players throughout the sport’s history. The different ball trajectories and spins that the lefties impart are just so vastly different for the majority of players who are righties. And, to state it even more simply, from a young age left-handers are just more accustomed to hitting against right-handers than vice versa.

The advantage that lefties have in tennis is not dissimilar to the edge southpaw pitchers enjoy in baseball, or left-handed bowlers have in cricket. Consider the fact that there are 84 pitchers in the Hall of Fame and 18 are lefties, accounting for more than 20% which is around double the lefty percentage in the overall population. The serve and the pitch are the two most important components to the respective sports. And in each case their goal is to confound and confuse their foe.

It does appear that a lefty renaissance in tennis may be under way. Leading the charge are Ben Shelton (natural lefty) and Jack Draper (a more Nadal-like lefty who switched dominant hands as a junior).

The question that every top male American player hears relentlessly is whether he will be the “first American to win a slam since Andy Roddick”. If Shelton were to notch a major he’d also be the first American lefty since McEnroe in 1984 to do so.

Shelton, the world No 6, won his first-round match at Flushing Meadows in straight sets on Sunday, and is having the best and most consistent year of his career. Despite a disappointing finish in Cincinnati, losing a lopsided quarter-final to Alexander Zverev, the Floridian did win his first Masters title in Canada earlier this month and is fast becoming a confident all-around player who is utilizing his leftyness to maximum advantage, especially with the wide ad-court serve. And though the task of breaking the stranglehold that Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner have at the top of the sport is daunting, to say the least, Shelton has the tools – most notably his powerful serve – to provide a legitimate challenge.

Shelton’s record against the top two doesn’t appear to offer much hope on paper as he has won only one of 10 meetings against Alcaraz and Sinner, but he has made it close on several occasions. It’ll be paramount for Shelton to – again – maximize the use of his tremendous serve if he were to play either of the top two. One of Shelton’s weaknesses when he first appeared on tour was his sometimes erratic play and go-for-broke style. But it is this exact component that he’ll need to summon if he is to threaten Sinner or Alcaraz. Nobody beats that duo by engaging in extended rallies. Chances have to be taken.

Draper, like Shelton, is also enjoying his best year as a pro. His stellar run started at least year’s US Open when he made the semi-finals and it continued into 2025 as he, like Shelton, also won his first Masters title, at Indian Wells. Since he started up playing right handed, Draper has remarked on numerous occasions that his backhand is just as potent a weapon as his forehand.

And there is a third lefty in the mix – arguably the most exciting of the bunch. Frenchman Terence Atmane arrived seemingly out of nowhere in Cincinnati as the qualifier took down two top-10 seeds (Taylor Fritz and Holger Rune) in addition to easily defeating another talented young player, João Fonseca. In the semi-final against Sinner, Atmane put a scare into the world No 1, pushing the Italian to a tiebreak in the first set, before coming down to earth in the second.

With his hyper-abbreviated service motion and toss, Atmane brings to mind that other lefty from the 1970s, Roscoe Tanner. Atmane’s incredibly powerful serve doesn’t give the receiver much time to react and once the point starts, his high-rpm forehand is nearly impossible to defend. Rune and Fritz looked utterly blindsided in Cincinnati when facing the 23-year-old. Unfortunately, we won’t see Atmane at this year’s US Open after he was forced to withdraw with a foot injury.

Contrast is good for sports, in fact it’s essential for drama. By having more lefties in the mix in tennis it can only add to the quality and uniqueness of the matchups. And with a slate of young southpaws making great strides, it’ll be sooner than later before a lefty again claims a men’s grand slam title.

Although he did have to retire in his fourth-round match against Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz, it was not seen as a major concern.

A hip injury had disrupted his pre-season work and meant the lack of time on the court had simply caught up with him.

Draper played a lot in the months which followed, winning the biggest title of his career at Indian Wells before strong runs in the clay and grass swings.

The surprise second-round defeat by Croat veteran Marin Cilic at Wimbledon provided a reality check – and the catalyst for a spell off tour.

With an arm injury continuing to bother him, Draper pulled out of ATP 1,000 events in Toronto and Cincinnati.

But the bruised humerus did not stop him training – and staying home meant he was able to see his favourite band Oasis at Wembley.

Now, having arrived in New York over a week ago, it is back to business as he tries to stop Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz cleaning up the major titles for the second straight season.

“I don’t want to feel like we’re just letting them do it,” fifth seed Draper said.

“I want to keep on going after them, keep on improving, and hopefully soon be competing with them.”

After weeks of uncertainty, Pakistan hockey has finally been handed a lifeline, with reports in local media suggesting that the men’s team will compete in the FIH Pro League 2025–26.

According to journalist Arfa Feroze Zaki, the breakthrough came after the Finance Ministry pledged Rs25 crore and sponsors chipped in an additional Rs10 crore, clearing the immediate financial roadblocks that had threatened to derail Pakistan’s participation.

Pakistan’s place in the Pro League had looked highly doubtful from the start. Despite being invited by the International Hockey Federation (FIH) after New Zealand withdrew, the cash-strapped Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) struggled to raise the funds needed for the campaign. The PHF had appealed for Rs70.30 crore from the Pakistan Sports Board (PSB), but the Board, already demanding clarity over the federation’s past spending, refused to release additional funds.

The impasse created fears of another embarrassment, similar to when Pakistan pulled out of the inaugural Pro League and ended up paying a fine of 170,000 euros to the FIH. After two extensions, the Finance Ministry’s intervention has reportedly ensured that the Green Shirts will not miss out this time.

The Pro League, which runs from November 2025 to June 2026, could now see Pakistan lock horns with the world’s elite sides, including Argentina, Australia, Belgium, England, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, and even India. For a side that has missed the last three Olympics, the most recent World Cup, and boycotted the upcoming Asia Cup, this competition offers a direct route back into hockey’s mainstream.

The FIH and the PHF are yet to confirm this development.

Pakistan’s return to the Pro League is also steeped in history. The four-time world champions and three-time Olympic gold medalists were once the undisputed giants of the sport. They remain Asia’s most successful team with eight Asian Games gold medals and have also lifted the Champions Trophy three times. Yet, administrative turmoil and chronic financial instability have left the game on the margins in recent decades.

This reported rescue package not only guarantees participation but could also spark much-needed momentum in reviving Pakistan hockey. However, with questions still lingering over the PHF’s financial transparency, many believe structural reforms will be as crucial as the funds themselves if Pakistan is to reclaim its past glory.