Category: 6. Sports

The royal box was first installed in the southern stand at Wimbledon’s Centre Court when the grounds originally opened in 1922.

Since then, the 74-seater segregated area has hosted celebrities, sportspeople, royalty, and other famous faces on each day of the tournament.

Those invited do not have to queue or pay for entry, and are also invited to lunch before play begins as well as tea and drinks following the close of play. Those events take place in the adjacent clubhouse.

Guests are sent invitations by the chairperson of the All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC), which since 2023 is former professional player Debbie Jevans.

Jevans takes into account suggestions from the the AELTC’S management committee, the Lawn Tennis Association, and other tennis bodies and prominent figures when selecting high profile guests.

Guests taking one of the dark green Lloyd Loom wicker chairs in the box can include less recognisable faces like commercial partners, delegates, dignitaries, and media professionals, as well as household names.

The British royal family are regularly invited, as well as other heads of state like presidents and prime ministers.

Bidding to break stereotypes

Having always sensed she was different, including going through tests online when she was younger that indicated she might be neurodivergent, Middleton-Patel found a sense of relief in her diagnosis.

“When I was younger, I just thought, ‘everyone is like this, I’m thinking the same as everyone else.’ But as I got older, it progressively got worse. For me to have to hide it, without knowing I’m hiding it, was stacking on top of me,” she told the Mail Online last year.

“But I can take a step back and understand why I’ve been struggling in this way, why people have been perceiving you as rude and quite blunt when actually I’m just being honest, I’m just being me. I don’t mean to come across as rude. I don’t mean to break down when you tell me something has changed in my routine.”

She opened up first to her teammates and then decided to go public with her neurodivergence, sharing the news on social media in 2023.

Since then, she has continued to share her experiences of what it’s like being an elite athlete with ASD and how it has given her “superpowers” on the pitch.

“When I’m playing, that’s when I’m hyperfocused,” Middleton-Patel told BBC Sport. “When I am on the training ground or playing a game, I don’t hear anything – it’s just the ball and myself.

“I probably hear my own heartbeat more than anything else.”

But perhaps even more importantly for Middleton-Patel, she now sees herself as an example for others like her.

With many prevailing perceptions about autism, she hopes she can disprove them and be a positive influence.

“People will say, ‘you’re not autistic, you don’t look autistic,’ but autism doesn’t have a look. Many people won’t listen and don’t want to understand. They only really listen to stereotypes, which is what I’m trying to break,” the Welsh star continued to the Mail Online.

‘The spectrum isn’t linear, everyone thinks it is, but I see it almost like a colour wheel because every autistic person is different.

“I just want to be that role model and show that everyone is different, and be that person someone can come to and ask me questions about my experiences because I didn’t have that whilst I was going through it.”

Ndlozi, who scored two tries in their pool opener against Australia, sustained a hamstring injury against England on Friday, which has ruled him out of the rest of the tournament.

Felix, who played for the SA Schools team in 2024, had a good FNB Varsity Cup campaign, and was part of the wider Junior Bok squad prior to their departure for Italy.

With one pool game to go before the semi-finals, the Junior Boks are fully aware of the huge threat posed by Scotland when they meet at the Stadio San Michele in Calvisano on Wednesday. Kick-off is at 15h30 and the match will be televised live on SuperSport Rugby.

With just five days between matches, and with two more games to come after Wednesday’s pool decider, both sides have made changes to their match squads.

The Junior Boks have picked a strong starting fifteen stacked with players who have already donned the green and gold jersey during their tour of Georgia, the U20 Rugby Championship, and warm-up games against Kenya. The bench includes several players who participated in the victories over Australia and England in Italy.

Meanwhile, Scotland have made nine changes to their starting line-up, meaning they will come at the Junior Boks with fresh legs and huge determination to challenge the South Africans from the outset.

Alzeadon Felix in action in the U18 International Series last year.

Thando Biyela, who captained the Junior Boks against Georgia and will lead the side against Scotland, said he will be leaning on the experienced players around him during the game.

“It is a massive honour to be leading the Junior Springboks, but I have such experienced players around me, such as Vusi Moyo and Jaco Grobbelaar, and also Haashim Pead on the bench,” said Biyela.

“We will be looking to maintain our momentum, but the Scots are a big and physical unit so it’s going to be an exciting battle. For us, it will be about getting clarity on all the things we are doing and focusing on our set piece to set up a good attacking platform.”

Lumumba Currie, the Junior Springboks’ forward coach, echoed head coach Kevin Foote’s view that their performances thus far are the result of the squad’s hard work during their preparation back home in Stellenbosch.

“We went to Georgia, and one of the big areas we focused on was getting the set piece right,” said Currie.

“Then, to gain more experience, we trained against senior provincial players and against Kenya, so we took confidence from those camps leading up to the tournament. Our forwards have done well so far, but we did concede some penalties, so we have been working hard to eliminate our mistakes.

“As a South African team, we want to impose ourselves on the opposition, but we know Scotland are a good set-piece team with a big pack of forwards and good plans, so we must be prepared for them.”

London Pulse won their first ever Netball Super League (NSL) Grand Final this weekend at the O2 Arena, London, live and on demand for the international netball family on NetballPass.

Pulse, who finished top of the ladder this season and won the pre-season Super Cup, faced defending Champions Loughborough Lightning in front of the biggest NSL Grand Final crowd ever.

An end-to-end frantic start to the game made it hard to see who was going to come out on top, but once Pulse found their rhythm there was no stopping them.

England Rose Funmi Fadoju lead the Pulse defensive end as she has all season, making eight deflections, three interceptions and eight gains – a performance she was later awarded Player of the Match for.

The defensive work of Fadoju, and fellow international and domestic league teammates, Halimat Adoi and Zara Everitt, knocked Lightning and broke down their attacking flow which Pulse were able to capitalise on ensuring they always kept their opposition at arm’s length.

There were later two Everitt’s on court for a period of time, as Zara’s sister, Darcey Everitt replaced an injured Adio in defence – despite the forced change, Pulse still did not miss a beat.

Lightning on the other hand had their lowest scoring game of the season, scoring just 45 goals to Pulses 53.

Pulse became the 7^th different team to be crowned NSL Champions, and the first of the new era.                                                 

One of their players also broke a record of her own, with the introduction of Gracie Smith as a substitute in the match making her the youngest ever player, aged just 16, to feature in a NSL Grand Final.

You can catch up on the Grand Final on NetballPass, here. *

The World Orienteering Championships in Finland kicked off on Tuesday morning with the qualification for Wednesday’s middle distance.

Here, the athletes were divided into three heats per gender with the goal of finishing in the top 15 to qualify for the final.

And from the start, they were thrown into demanding Finnish terrain in the race, which was held right across from the WOC event center in Tahko.

An challenging area with many details and many short legs made up the first part of the courses, which today was 3.3 kilometers for women and 3.9 kilometers for men before ending down a ski slope at the finish area.

The women’s heat winners in today’s qualification were Natalia Gemperle (SUI), Simona Aebersold (SUI) and home favorite Venla Harju.

On the men’s side, the Swiss were also strong. Here, the reigning middle distance world champion Matthias Kyburz was fastest in heat 1, while Fabian Aebersold (SUI) and Kasper Fosser (NOR) won the other heats.

Find results, GPS-tracking and the livestream from today’s qualification in IOF LIVE.

Timo Sild (EST) was third in heat 1 today. By Kristina Lindgren

Wednesday’s Middle distance final takes place in Neulamäki close to the host city Kuopio.

The first start is at 13:40 EEST (UTC +3) and the TV broadcast begins at 14:30 and runs until 18:20.

Find all you need to follow the Middle final in IOF LIVE

Reigning middle distance World Champions from Switzerland two years ago are Tove Alexandersson (SWE) and Matthias Kyburz (SUI).

Watch the WOC 2023 Middle distance in YouTube here

4. STINGER GC

At LIV Golf Dallas, Stinger GC charged on Sunday, shooting 5-under as a team to finish in 4th place on the team leaderboard, narrowly missing out on their first podium finish since LIV Golf Hong Kong. The team was led by a resurgent performance from their captain, Louis Oosthuizen, who finished T2 after coming up short in a four-man playoff won by Patrick Reed.

Oosthuizen’s revival comes at a perfect time for the Stingers. The South African is a great fit for Valderrama and finished T4 at LIV Golf Andalucía last season. Oosthuizen’s teammate, Dean Burmester, is slowly rounding into form, having finished T23 in Virginia and T18 in Dallas. If Burmester can build off those performances this week, he will form a formidable duo with Oosthuizen. Branden Grace, who’s struggled for most of the last two seasons, may also be finding some form. He finished T19 in Virginia and T26 and Dallas, where he gained 0.7 strokes per round on approach, his best performance in the category since LIV Golf Singapore in March. At a golf course that favors strategy and precision, I believe the Stingers can contend this week.

5. FIREBALLS GC

This may feel like a disrespectful spot in the power rankings for Fireballs GC, who are the defending champions, but their lack of recent form is difficult to ignore. After three straight victories in Adelaide, Hong Kong and Singapore, the Fireballs have missed out on a podium finish in five consecutive events. Sergio Garcia, who of course won this event last year, has struggled of late. His best finish since LIV Golf Miami in April (3rd) was a T25 finish at LIV Golf Dallas. Last week, the Fireballs captain missed the cut at the BMW International Open on the DP World Tour.

David Puig has certainly been a bright spot for the Fireballs. The 23-year-old finished T13 in Dallas after missing LIV Golf Virginia with an injury and finished T11 at the BMW international Open on the DP World Tour last week. Abraham Ancer was also extremely helpful in Dallas where he finished T16 and contended for most of the week before slipping down the leaderboard on Sunday.

With the question marks surrounding Garcia, even at his favorite course, and lackluster recent play from newly acquired Josele Ballester, the Fireballs will look to bounce back in Spain.

6. RIPPER GC

Since their win at LIV Golf Miami followed by a runner-up finish at LIV Golf Mexico City, Ripper GC has been on a relative cold streak, failing to finish better than 5th in the team standings in their last three events.

A bounce back week for Ripper GC could be in store at Valderrama if their captain, Cameron Smith, can find some of the form that made him one of the best players in the world over the past handful of seasons. Smith finished T6 at LIV Golf Andalucía last year and T12 the year before.

Lucas Herbert, who earned medalist honors at the West Lancashire Open Championship qualifier last week, should be a strong contender this week. The Australian is having a strong season and is looking to win his first LIV Golf individual title.

Marc Leishman , who won LIV Golf Miami earlier this year, finished T10 at Valderrama last season and enters the week having gained strokes on approach in six consecutive starts.