France

Subterms

    Latest story

    163 Shares130 Views

    The L.P.G.A. Is Getting a New Commissioner. He’s Got Some Work to Do.

    by

    Craig Kessler starts in a few days and knows what he must do to help the tour grow.Women’s golf has been riding a wave of increased popularity over the past five years.At the professional level, golf has a young generation of stars like Nelly Korda, Charley Hull, Minjee Lee and Rose Zhang, who are keeping fans engaged and who are expected to play in this week’s Amundi Evian Championship.Korda, in winning five tournaments in a row last year, transcended golf to become part of the broader sports conversation for her feat.Among amateurs, girls and young women are the fastest growing contingent of golfers. A third of junior golfers are girls — the highest percentage ever — and the number of female golfers has grown by 41 percent since 2019, according to the National Golf Foundation.But unlike the organizations behind women’s soccer or basketball, the largest professional organization behind women’s golf, the L.P.G.A., which runs the L.P.G.A. Tour, has struggled to capitalize on interest in the sport and the star power of its players.Craig Kessler, the L.P.G.A.’s incoming commissioner, said that his goal was to nurture emotional investment among fans.Sam Hodde/Getty ImagesThe league’s newly appointed commissioner, Craig Kessler, who starts on Tuesday, knows that leveraging this interest in the women’s game to create momentum is his remit. He does not shy away from the challenges.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

    More stories

    • 113 Shares99 Views

      in Golf

      The Evian Championship Has Produced a Lot of Drama

      by

      Here are a handful of exciting tournaments from 2004 to 2022.The Amundi Evian Championship, which begins Thursday at the Evian Resort Golf Club in France, has produced its share of drama since Helen Alfredsson of Sweden captured the first tournament in 1994.The event, a major on the L.P.G.A. Tour since 2013, has been held 30 times. In half of those occasions, the winner won by a stroke or in a sudden-death playoff, including five times since 2017.Following are five tournaments that stand out.2004Early in the final round, Wendy Doolan trailed Annika Sorenstam, a Hall of Famer, by six strokes. Game, set and …Not match.During a five-hole stretch (holes six through 10), Doolan of Australia, notched three birdies and two eagles. The eagle came on No. 7, a par five, when she hit her second shot to within two feet and knocked in the putt.With three holes to go, she was up by three and wound up winning by one.“That’s a lot of birdies and eagles right there,” she said after clinching the victory. “I’m going to cherish this because I wouldn’t be surprised if it never happens again.”“I just knew I had it in me to make a lot of birdies on this course,” she added. “This means what I’m doing is working for me.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

    • 138 Shares139 Views

      in Tennis

      French Open: Aryna Sabalenka Wants to Win but Iga Swiatek Remains

      by

      Sabalenka has had success on clay, but Swiatek can be dominant.When Aryna Sabalenka was a teenager in Minsk, Belarus, she would have long conversations with her father, Sergey, a former Belarusian hockey player who introduced her to tennis when they drove by some empty local courts. They did not discuss specific results or rankings so much as aspirations. Sergey, Sabalenka has said, was anxious for her to win at least one major title before she turned 25.“We were just talking about goals and what I want and how big I want to go in the sport,” Sabalenka, 27, said in an interview during the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells in March. “We were having our chats, and it was, of course, his dream because he was the one pushing himself really hard to make sure that I stay there because it wasn’t something cheap back then in Belarus.”Sergey died suddenly in November 2019, more than three years before Sabalenka captured the first of her back-to-back Australian Open titles. In 2023, she defeated Elena Rybakina in the final and in 2024 she ousted Zheng Qinwen. She also won last year’s U.S. Open by beating Jessica Pegula.But Sabalenka, world ranked No. 1, has never won the French Open, which begins on Sunday, or Wimbledon, titles she covets most. The closest she has come at Roland Garros was a 7-6 (5), 6-7 (5), 7-5 semifinal loss to Karolina Muchova in 2023. Last year, while suffering from a stomach illness, she lost in the quarterfinals to Mirra Andreeva.At last year’s French Open, Sabalenka, suffering from a stomach illness, lost in the quarterfinals to Mirra Andreeva. She has won just three of her 20 career titles on clay.Dimitar Dilkoff/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesSabalenka has also missed two of the last three Wimbledons — she withdrew with a shoulder injury last year and was barred from playing in 2022 when Russians and Belarusians were prohibited because of Russia’s attack on Ukraine. Two years ago she lost to Ons Jabeur in the semifinals.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

    • 125 Shares189 Views

      in Basket

      Victor Wembanyama Prepares to Become ‘Genuine’ Face of the N.B.A.

      by

      As the N.B.A. confronts a fast-approaching time without LeBron James, Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant, the 21-year-old Spurs star has embraced the idea that he is the league’s future.One day last summer, Harrison Barnes, a longtime N.B.A. veteran, was finishing up an off-season workout with Victor Wembanyama, his 7-foot-4, then-20-year-old San Antonio Spurs teammate and one of the league’s most dazzling young stars.Barnes was new to the team — he had recently been traded from the Sacramento Kings — and new to Wembanyama. But he was already beginning to understand that Wembanyama was precocious in more than one way.In the N.B.A., many teams track shooting percentages and shots made in games and at practice as a way of gauging their players’ progress. The Spurs had a chart that tracked both, but ranked players based on makes. Barnes told Wembanyama that metric felt insufficient. Wembanyama pondered Barnes’s concern. Then he got to work.He picked up a marker and started to sketch out some thoughts on a white board. He wondered if a graph might be better than a chart and if it should include week-to-week changes. Wembanyama plotted ideas for three theoretical players, whom he labeled A, B and C. At one point, Barnes heard the word “coefficients.”“He was really trying to wrap his mind around like, ‘How do you get better at that?’” Barnes said. “How do you chart what progress is?”That day, Barnes saw into Wembanyama’s psyche — the sincere search for knowledge and human connection that he’s carried with him through the early part of his N.B.A. career. It leads to the kind of authenticity that marketers crave, and fans are drawn to.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

    • 250 Shares169 Views

      in Soccer

      I got a doctorate in biomechanics after average football career, now I want to follow Wenger’s footsteps in the Prem

      by

      REGIS LE BRIS revealed Arsene Wenger’s early work inspired him to become a boss.The Frenchman has guided Sunderland to the top of the Championship as they chase a return to the Prem following their relegation in 2017.Regis Le Bris has left the Black Cats eyeing promotion to the PremCredit: RexArsene Wenger taught his fellow Frenchman well at MonacoCredit: RexLe Bris, 48, grew up in Brittany and had an unremarkable career as a defender in France.But he knew he wanted to coach after studying Arsenal legend Wenger during his seven years at Monaco from 1987.Saluting the 75-year-old’s Monte Carlo masterclass, Le Bris said: “I really liked Monaco under Arsene Wenger. I wasn’t really a fan but when I was young I liked this team and  his style.“If a player, team or manager had a specific style, I liked analysing the way that they played, their personality . . . there was something different.READ MORE IN FOOTBALL“It was new — with many young players and  a proactive style of play.“I was young, so it was difficult to assess the different elements involved in a game.“But I think it was about emotional elements, which were different from other teams.“You can see a football team and think, ‘They are playing well’ or, ‘This is interesting’. But  you don’t really know  why — it just makes you  feel something different.Most read in Football “As a player, I was  interested in understanding the game because I probably didn’t have the  X factor technically or physically.FOOTBALL FREE BETS AND SIGN UP DEALS“When you have a specific talent then you just  have to use it and be good on the pitch — but I was average everywhere.“So I had to think how I could compete with stronger players, understand the game better and be connected with the other players to  solve problems.”Rising star Chris Rigg talks about his rise through the ranks at Sunderland After an “average” playing career as a defender at Rennes, Laval and Belgian minnows Ronse, Le Bris went on to achieve a doctorate in sport physiology and biomechanics while first embarking on his coaching career.Following a spell as youth coach at Wasquehal, he spent eight years at Rennes before moving  to Lorient to help bring through their kids into  the first team.Ex-Arsenal man Matteo Guendouzi and Leeds keeper Illan Meslier were just two of those prior to him becoming first-team boss in 2022.Le Bris always had a “curiosity” to work abroad — and felt England would be the perfect place having visited many clubs.He added: “I wanted to discover new cultures, environments and languages.“I’m just curious and, when I’m in  the same environment for a long   time,  I like working on a long project but  need to be fed new elements to learn.“If it all just stays the same, then I’ll need something else to grow, keep the energy  and connect with other people.“It was a whole new experience and I was  aware that it would be different — but I liked that difference and was prepared for that.“I have visited many football clubs in Spain  and England so  was aware of the environment  and  really liked it.England U18 midfielder Chris Rigg is one of Sunderland’s hot prospectsCredit: GettyJude Bellingham’s younger brother Jobe is another top Black Cats teenCredit: PA“Crystal Palace, Liverpool, Everton, Leeds,  Chelsea, Arsenal and probably two or three more.“I’m like that, I’m curious about new ideas, behaviours and thinking about football.”Le Bris ended up joining Sunderland in July and has no doubts his  young guns —  including Chris Rigg, 17, and Jude Bellingham’s 19-year-old younger brother Jobe — can reach the very top.The impressive Frenchman has already scooped two manager-of-the-month awards but a Premier League return is the biggest prize he is chasing.Le Bris, whose side go to Millwall on Saturday, explained: “The players are good — very good.“I have worked with many, many players that  have worked at the highest level.“It is always a question of potential. We think that they could play at the highest level, Premier League or Champions League.“But the question between the potential and  reality is down to the pathway.I don’t think you can assess the reality of the size of Sunderland before being at SunderlandRegis Le Bris“I’m very confident for them but it’s still fragile. “Yet their behaviours, for example Jobe, Riggy and other players, it’s very interesting their potential and qualities and the way they are managing this relationship with the game.“If you can keep this relationship with the game then you can exploit your potential.“If the environment around the football becomes more important then it will be more difficult.“I’m just a part of their journey, really. If I can help them to grow, and if they can help us to grow as a club, then that’s a good connection. So we’ll have to see for the future.“I don’t think you can assess the reality of the size of Sunderland before being at Sunderland.READ MORE SUN STORIES“Away to Preston, the stands were full and it was crazy. It’s a new experience for me.“This  football club is very important and its history, the fanbase is big and the passion around the club is impressive.” More

    • 263 Shares159 Views

      in Soccer

      Spanish newspaper’s XI of best U18 starlets in 2016 goes viral with forgotten English prodigy and ‘9 of them top tier’

      by

      A 2016 best XI of wonderkids has gone viral on social media – and nine of them have hit the heights.But one English-born ace has fallen off the radar and now plies his trade with an unfashionable German outfit.Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard was among the most promising talents at the timeCredit: GettyArsenal’s Kieran Tierney was also part of the list during his success at CelticCredit: GettyMarca predicted Europe’s best Under-18 talents in 2016Spanish newspaper Marca put together the best XI of Under-18 talents in Europe back eight years ago.Among them was an unknown Monaco kid called Kylian Mbappe, who is now considered by many as the best in the world.In the 2016 version, the now-Real Madrid superstar was joined by Gianluigi Donnarumma in goal.Donnarumma had just taken football by storm with AC Milan before moving to PSG – where he played with Mbappe – in 2021.Read More on FootballRomanian Cristian Manea was at right-back with Arsenal ace Kieran Tierney on the other side, with Liverpool’s Joe Gomez and forgotten England prospect Reece Oxford at centre-back.Rapid Bucharest’s Manea was playing for Belgian outfit Mouscron, on loan from Apollon Limassol, but got lost in the shuffle as did Oxford, who was a revelation at West Ham before joining Augsburg.Gomez is a utility defender for the Reds, while Tierney’s success at Celtic has yet to be replicated at the Emirates due to a raft of injury set-backs.Renato Sanches, Youri Tielemans and Ruben Neves formed the midfield.Most read in FootballSanches was considered the next big thing during his successful stint at Benfica but failed to live up to expectations and even endured a painful loan stint at Swansea.BEST FREE BET SIGN UP OFFERS FOR UK BOOKMAKERSThe midfielder is currently on PSG’s books but returned to Benfica on loan in his bid to rediscover his old form.Tielemans played for Anderlecht at the time and went on to enjoy success with Leicester – where he won the FA Cup – and current club Aston Villa, who are standing out in the Champions League.Meet Ayden Heaven: Arsenal’s next William SalibaNeves burst onto the scene with Porto and became a star at Wolves but has dropped from the spotlight after moving to Saudi Arabia for Al-Hilal.Mbappe was joined by Martin Odegaard and Dominic Solanke up-front.Odegaard was struggling for minutes at Real after his major move from Norwegian outfit Stromsgodset, where he emerged as one of the world’s most promising wonderkids.But the playmaker found his groove at Arsenal and quickly earned the captain’s armband.Solanke played for Vitesse at the time on loan from Chelsea, where he failed to earn a permanent spot and endured a disappointing stint at Liverpool.But the striker showed exactly why there was so much hype around his name with a stunning spell at Bournemouth, which led to a big move to Tottenham last summer.Mixed fan reactionMbappe dominated at Monaco and earned a big move to PSG where he quickly developed into one of the world’s biggest stars and ultimately completed a highly-anticipated move to Real.Fans were left in awe by that nostalgic post, which received some mixed reaction.One fan posted: “Pretty good tbf.”Another commented: “I miss Kieran Tierney.”A third wrote: “As a West Ham fan, Reece Oxford not fulfilling his potential was so sad.”READ MORE SUN STORIESThis fan wrote: “9 out of the 11 are top tier.”And that one stated: “Not a bad return to be fair.” More

    • 225 Shares99 Views

      in Soccer

      Former top flight stadium left abandoned and overgrown just two years after club last played a game there

      by

      A FORMER top-flight European stadium has been left abandoned and overgrown.The Stade des Costieres was the old home of French outfit Nimes Olympique.The Stade des Costieres has been abandonedCredit: X/ objectifgardThe pitch has become completely overgrownCredit: X/ objectifgardIt was the home of the French club NimesCredit: X/ objectifgardThe club played at the 18,364-capacity ground between 1989 and 2022.The £133milllion stadium hosted the club for their two Ligue 1 seasons between 2018 and 2020.It was designed by architects Marc Chausee and Vittorio Gregotti with the latter also being the man behind the Luigi Ferraris Stadium in Genoa, Italy.Nimes moved into the ground in 1989 and played their first game there against Montcaeu in the French second division.READ MORE ON FOOTBALLHowever, the club left the stadium in 22 for a new modern transitional stadium, the 8,033-capcity Stade des Antonins.In 2024, the city refused the owner Rani Assaf a permit to demolish the ground in order to build a new stadium on the site.The club was reportedly hoping to return to the stadium in 2026 with it rebuilt.However, due to the denial, the work has yet to commence on its renovation.Most read in FootballCASINO SPECIAL – BEST CASINO WELCOME OFFERSRMC Sport have claimed that the stadium will become the property of the City of Nimes due to the end of a sales agreement.The agreement is set to expire on December 31, but it is claimed that Assaf has not provided proof of funds. Inside National League club’s abandoned ‘hotel-stadium’ with 17,000-seater project sold off for housingNimes played at the stadium during their recent stint in Ligue 1Credit: GettyThe club currently plays in the Stade des AntoninsThis means that the stadium will become a municipal facility.A recent video of the state of the ground has gone viral on social media.The clip shows the pitch completely overgrown and roots coming through the concrete in the stands.The current sports delegate for Nimes city hall, Nicolas Rainville, has claimed that the club will return to the ground.He said: “I tell you and I confirm it to you, Nimes Olympique will play again in a Costières stadium renovated to Ligue 1 standards.”Nimes currently play in the third division of French football, the Championnat National.They are 12th in the division, having won three of their opening 12 fixtures to the season.Who are these famous footballers? More

    • 138 Shares189 Views

      in Basket

      ‘The Interview’: Joel Embiid Believes He Could Have Been the GOAT

      by

      If all goes according to plan, the star-laden American men’s basketball team will romp to a gold medal at the Paris Olympic Games next month. Which means that for one of the team’s linchpins, the Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid, the most complicated challenge may have been choosing to play for the United States in the first place.Embiid, who is 30, is a native of Cameroon who also holds French and American citizenship. France aggressively courted Embiid, and his decision to instead join the U.S. team led to withering criticism from the French basketball community. (Cameroon’s team did not qualify for this year’s Games.)Listen to the Conversation With Joel EmbiidThe N.B.A. star talks Philly cheesesteaks, Twitter trolling and playing for Team U.S.A. over France in the Olympics.Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube | Amazon Music | NYT Audio AppBut things never go easily for Embiid. He is one of the sport’s best players but also something of a Sisyphean figure. For all his success — including an M.V.P. award in 2023 and multiple scoring titles — he has never achieved the N.B.A.’s biggest prize: a championship. The Sixers have repeatedly fallen short in the playoffs, at times in heartbreaking fashion. Then there’s the churn: During his tenure, the team has seen coaches, star players and general managers come and go. And Embiid himself can’t seem to avoid injury. (Shortly after Embiid and I spoke, the 76ers did sign another star player, Paul George. So there’s reason to hope, Philly fans!)That combination of iffy management and just plain bad luck have cast the shadow of unfulfilled potential over Embiid’s decade-long career. So in some ways, the Games are a chance for a little redemption. Although based on his past experience, Embiid told me he is expecting adversity instead.Can you talk about what it means for you to be playing for the United States? It means a lot. I’ve spent half of my life here. I’ve got a great family, great wife, my son, so it just made a lot of sense. I’ve been given the opportunity to be here and accomplish a lot. More

    • 188 Shares169 Views

      in Soccer

      This Soccer Player Wanted to Wear Her Hijab on the Field. France Wouldn’t Let Her.

      by

      Lina Boussaha joined a team in Saudi Arabia so she could wear her head scarf while playing the sport she calls “a part of my soul.”During Ramadan, as her family fasted and prayed, Lina Boussaha, a professional soccer player, eagerly tore open a package in her bedroom in France. Inside were two head scarves she had ordered, labeled Nike, and marketed as a symbol of empowerment for Muslim women in sports.Ms. Boussaha, 25, turned pro when she was 17. Her parents are Algerian, she grew up in one of Paris’s poorest suburbs, and until that Ramadan, in 2022, had never worn a hijab outside prayers. She usually wore her heavy curls in a high ponytail.But she had recently decided she wanted to wear a hijab regularly, even during games. And that decision put her on a journey that eventually took her from France to start her career anew in the Middle East.It also gave her a chance to unite her religious beliefs with her secular pursuit of soccer.“It is with great pride that I announce that I am wearing the veil (hijab),” Ms. Boussaha wrote on her Instagram account that night. “My religion, my inner peace, and my spirituality are my priorities, and these come before my worldly pleasures like football & my career as a professional player. Nothing prevents doing both, even if (here in France), it remains complicated.”As she recalled writing those words, she said in an interview in a cafe near her childhood home in Seine-Saint-Denis, a wave of relief washed over her.“Soccer is not just a game for me,” she said. “It’s a part of my soul.”Ms. Boussaha at a mosque in Khobar. France’s soccer federation has barred players from wearing conspicuous religious symbols or clothing like hijabs during matches.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More