Forget the tennis finals. At Wimbledon this July, it's pickleball.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
43 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Baptist bowled over as fourth Bradford club to get generous gift off Park Avenue
BOWLING Baptist have become the fourth Bradford District club - and the second from the Timothy Taylor's Craven League - to have been given outdoor nets that have been moved from Park Avenue. The others are league rivals Hepworth & Idle, Steeton (Aire-Wharfe League) and Bowling Old Lane (Bradford Premier League). Nasa Hussain and Mo Hussain, equality, diversity and inclusion officers for the Bradford Premier League and Yorkshire County Cricket Club respectively, were at the centre of the official opening of the nets at Baptist's Scotchman Road ground in BD9. Nasa, who received the British Empire Medal in the recent King's Birthday Honours list and is the groundsman at Park Avenue, said: 'The nets are in good nick considering they have been sat at Park Avenue for two years. 'They are a little bit longer (than most outdoor nets) but the good thing is the tunnel netting in the middle and they are very robust. 'We had them for five years at Park Avenue, and they did get a battering there because they were free to use, and they are still going strong now. 'The bowlers gets the chance to have a longer run up and, like the ones at Bowling Old Lane, they are set higher than the surrounding ground.' Nasa added: 'The ECB (England & Wales Cricket Board) funded these nets at Park Avenue and when they put the dome in there the decision was made to recycle these nets to clubs. 'Then there was the decision of which clubs would get them, and a little group of four or five people was set up to decide where they would go - everyone had the opportunity to put in for them - and these four clubs were the lucky recipients. 'They are community facilities, but it is up to the clubs to manage them.' Mo Hussain, who skippered the Manningham Mills team at Scotchman Road for a decade from the 1990s, said: 'I was the lead then on the application for the new clubhouse and it was a no-brainer for me when Bowling Baptist applied to have the nets moved from Park Avenue. 'Baptist are at the heart of the South Asian community and there is a real passion for cricket here in this hotbed.' A girls' squad from Great Horton Church Cricket Club were coming down the use the nets minutes after they were officially opened, with Mo saying: 'You can come here on a Sunday, a Monday, a Wednesday and there are different formats being played. The Great Horton Church girls (left) got to use the new nets at Bowling Baptist Cricket Club on opening night. (Image: UGC) 'I can remember it being like this 15 to 20 years ago and to see it being developed is fantastic, and they will get well used, as they would be if these nets were in Girlington or West Bowling as the passion for cricket is so rich. 'The numbers of Asians in the recreational game are growing and these facilities are only going to encourage and galvanise that.' Baptist's director of cricket Shazaid Yousaf, who has put in a lot of the legwork to get this project off the ground alongside community development officer Tariq Shiraz, said: 'We have a very good turnout tonight, although it has been a bit of a difficult season so far for our first XI in the Craven League. 'However, our second XI, third XI and Under-18s are doing really well and a facility like this will give our players, particularly the younger ones, extra momentum and extra motivation to get more practice in. 'We are hoping that every team will use it and we are in a good catchment area for schools. 'We are hoping to have U9s and U11s next season and gradually build up from that in succeeding years, so one of the nets has been marked out for juniors. 'We also have a good relationship with Great Horton Church CC, and that continues to blossom. 'We don't want to be fishing in the same pond as them as the catchment area is so close, but we will work very closely with them and there is scope to have a girls' team down here. 'We have a lot of space down here which isn't utilised at the moment, and the plan is to continue to expand. 'The ground is gradually getting back to where it used to be.'
Yahoo
44 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Meet the Instagram influencer at Wimbledon who posts fashion content. She's entirely AI-generated
An Instagram influencer by the name of Mia Zelu has taken the internet by storm with her recent photo series at Wimbledon — except, she isn't real. With flawless skin, long blonde locks, and striking blue eyes, Zelu might appear to be having the time of her life at the London-based tennis Grand Slam. But upon closer inspection, she's completely AI-generated. In fact, Zelu's account bio clarifies that she's a 'digital creator & influencer AI.' While the online personality's creator is unknown, the account shares content with her more than 160,000 followers on a regular basis. Her latest post, made Friday, shows her wearing a double-breasted, mint green suit jacket, with her hair coiffed in perfect waves. In most of the pictures, other people can be seen in the background. One of the photos shows a set table with a place card bearing her name. 'They'll only notice once it works. But you'll remember every moment it didn't — and you kept going anyway. To everyone out there building in silence, doubting in private, hoping in secret — don't stop,' reads the caption. 'To everyone out there building in silence, doubting in private, hoping in secret — don't stop. Your time will come. Keep showing up. Never give up,' it adds, followed by a trio of hashtags: #tennis #wimbledon #keepbelieving. Last week, Zelu shared photos of herself sitting courtside at the legendary tennis tournament. 'Which Wimbledon match was your fave?' she asked in the caption. The online influencer's first post dates back to March 15. 'A little about me: I'm happiest in the sun, I believe coffee tastes better in cute cafés, and I live for cozy hoodies and deep conversations. Now tell me something about you,' the caption reads, alongside a picture of Zelu in a white hoodie, sitting in a living room with a kitten in her lap. However, she actually made her Instagram debut the day before, in a post with her 'sister,' Ana Zelu, another AI-generated influencer who has been active since January 2024. '[Mia] finally decided to open up her Instagram, so show her some love!' the post said. Zelu's creation comes amid a growing wave of AI-generated influencers on social media. Sometimes referred to as virtual influencers, these computer-generated personalities have been around since 2016. Lil Miquela, who currently has over 2.4 million Instagram followers, is considered to be one of the first CGI characters to have joined the platform. Another popular AI influencer is Aitana Lopez, a 25-year-old virtual model created in 2023 by the Spanish company The Clueless. Lopez's Instagram bio claims that she's the '1st AI influencer created,' and she currently has just under 400,000 followers. According to a 2024 Euronews article, Lopez can earn up to €10,000 ($11,690) a month. On average, though, her creators said she makes around €3,000 ($3,507). Lopez's designer, Rubén Cruz, explained that they created her 'so that we could make a better living and not be dependent on other people who have egos, who have manias, or who just want to make a lot of money by posing.' 'We started analyzing how we were working and realized that many projects were being put on hold or canceled due to problems beyond our control,' he revealed. 'Often it was the fault of the influencer or model and not due to design issues.'
an hour ago
Iga Swiatek defeats Amanda Anisimova 6-0, 6-0 to win her first Wimbledon title
LONDON -- LONDON (AP) — Iga Swiatek won her first Wimbledon championship with a 6-0, 6-0 victory over Amanda Anisimova on Saturday in the first women's final at the tournament in 114 years in which one player failed to claim a single game. Swiatek's victory on a sunny, breezy afternoon at Centre Court took just 57 minutes and gave Swiatek her sixth Grand Slam title overall. She is now 6-0 in major title matches. The 24-year-old from Poland finished with a 55-24 edge in total points and accumulated that despite needing to produce merely 10 winners. Anisimova was shaky from the start and made 28 unforced errors.
