McLaren's Oscar Piastri wins Spanish Grand Prix
BARCELONA: McLaren's Oscar Piastri won the Spanish Grand Prix on Sunday to consolidate his lead in the drivers' standings.
Piastri, who started in pole position, finished ahead of teammate Lando Norris, with Ferrari's Charles Leclerc rounding out the podium. - AFP
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The Star
20 minutes ago
- The Star
Ancient Myanmar ball game battles for survival in troubled nation
YANGON: Mastering control of the rising and falling rattan chinlone (sepak takraw) ball teaches patience, says a veteran of the traditional Myanmar sport - a quality dearly needed in the long-suffering nation. "Once you get into playing the game you forget everything," says 74-year-old Win Tint. "You concentrate only on your touch and you concentrate only on your style." Chinlone is Myanmar's national game and dates back centuries. Branded a blend of sport and art, it is often played to music, and is typically practised differently by men and women. Male teams in skimpy shorts stand in a circle using stylised strokes of their feet, knees and heads to pass the ball in a game of "keepy-uppy", with a scoring system impenetrable to outsiders. Women play solo like circus performers - kicking the ball tens of thousands of times per session while walking tightropes, twirling umbrellas and perching on chairs balanced atop beer bottles. Teen prodigy Phyu Sin Phyo hones her skills at the court in Yangon, toe-bouncing a burning ball while spinning a hula-hoop - also on fire. "I play even when I am sick," says the 16-year-old. "It is important to be patient to become a good chinlone player." But play has plunged in recent years, with the Covid-19 pandemic followed by the 2021 military coup and subsequent civil war. Poverty rates are shooting up and craftsmen face increasing problems sourcing materials to make balls. But the rising and falling rhythm of the game offers its practitioners a respite. "When you hear the sound of kicking the ball it's like music," Win Tint, vice-chairman of the Myanmar Chinlone Federation, told AFP. "So when you play chinlone, you feel like dancing." Different versions of the hands-free sport known as "caneball" are widely played across South-East Asia. In Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia players kick and head the ball over a net in the volleyball-style sepak takraw. In Laos it is known as "kataw" while Filipinos play "sipa" -- meaning kick. Myanmar's iteration dates back 1,500 years, according to popular belief. Some cite a French archaeologist's discovery of a replica silver chinlone ball at a pagoda built in the Pyu era of 200 BC to 900 AD. It was initially practised as a casual pastime, a fitness activity and for royal entertainment. But in 1953 the game was given rules and a scoring system, as part of an effort to codify Myanmar's national culture after independence from Britain. "No one else will preserve Myanmar's traditional heritage unless the Myanmar people do it," said player Min Naing, 42. Despite the conflict, players still gather under motorway overpasses, around street lamps blighted with wartime blackouts and on dedicated chinlone courts - often ramshackle open-sided metal sheds with concrete floors. "For a chinlone man, the day he plays is always a happy day. I am happy, and I sleep well at night," says Min Naing. "On the days I don't play it, I feel I am missing something." But Win Tint is concerned that participation rates are falling. "I worry about this sport disappearing," says master chinlone ball maker Pe Thein, toiling in a sweltering workshop in Hinthada, 110 kilometres north-west of Yangon. "That's the reason we are passing it on through our handiwork." Cross-legged men shave cane into strips, curve them with a hand crank and deftly weave them into a melon-sized ball with pentagonal holes, boiled in a vat of water to seal its strength. "We check our chinlone's quality as if we're checking diamonds or gemstones," adds the 64-year-old Pe Thein. "As we respect the chinlone, it respects us back." Each ball takes around two hours to make and earns business-owner Maung Kaw US$2.40 apiece. But supplies of the best-quality rattan he covets from nearby Rakhine are dwindling. There is fierce fighting in the state between the military and opposition groups that now control almost all of it. Farmers are too fearful to plunge into the jungle battleground to cut cane, says Maung Kaw, endangering his profession. "It should not be that we have players but no chinlone makers," says the 72-year-old. "I want to work as well as I can for as long as I can." - AFP
The Sun
4 hours ago
- The Sun
Spain's Le Normand has ‘no resentment' ahead of France clash
SPAIN defender Robin Le Normand bears 'no resentment' towards France, he explained before a Nations League semi-final clash against the country of his birth on Thursday. The 28-year-old Atletico Madrid centre-back, born in the Brittany region of France, obtained Spanish nationality in May 2023 and has gone on to become a regular for La Roja. Spain coach Luis de la Fuente brought the defender into the fold during the last Nations League final four, and they won it before triumphing at Euro 2024 last summer, where he started in the final against England. 'There was no resentment or (thinking) 'I made the right choice'... I never felt that way,' Le Normand told AFP at Spain's training centre Las Rozas. 'I give my all and try to repay the trust, striving to give my full potential and my best version on the pitch.' Le Normand, who played at youth level for French side Brest, joined Basque country club Real Sociedad in 2016. France coach Didier Deschamps told Le Normand he liked his football but did not call up for national team duty and Spain pounced, just as they did for Aymeric Laporte in 2021 and Diego Costa back in 2013. Spain beat France in the Euro 2024 semi-finals but Le Normand was suspended and could not face Les Bleus. On Thursday in Stuttgart he is in line to start but does not feel he is under the microscope because of his origins more than any of his team-mates. 'It's a match with a special kind of pressure because it's still a semi-final, with the importance of representing a country, wanting to do things right, and trying to repay the trust they've always placed in me,' said Le Normand. 'That's where the pressure mainly comes from.' Road to recovery This season was not the easiest for Le Normand on a personal level after clashing heads with Real Madrid's Aurelien Tchouameni in a derby clash in October. It left Le Normand with a traumatic brain injury, which took him nearly three months to recover from. 'I've taken several hits before, so initially I didn't really take it seriously... (then) the symptoms remind you that it's serious,' said Le Normand. 'When you want to get back on the bike, when you just want to go up the stairs, your brain ultimately tells you no, you can't. 'Well, you can -- but you're tired, you're out of breath, it spins. It's quite striking.' Le Normand was out for nearly three months, and it took him longer to get back to his best, which he managed in the final weeks of the season. 'Wearing the helmet during recovery wasn't easy, but, it was necessary,' he explained. 'I think now it's been 15 to 20 matches where we've tried to get back into the rhythm. Now, I feel really good. 'I've felt good for the past 10 matches. We're trying to continue along this path.' The reward for that could come against France as Spain try to become the first team to defend the Nations League trophy. Spain's triumph against France last summer was inspired by a sensational goal from Barcelona's teenage winger Lamine Yamal. Le Normand is grateful every time he can avoid facing the 17-year-old star in training. 'I prefer having him on my team rather than going up one-on-one against him... we've had a few games this year against Barca, and we sometimes feel a bit powerless,' said the centre-back. 'He is 17 years old and has already played an incredible number of matches at an extraordinary level.'
The Sun
4 hours ago
- The Sun
Robin Le Normand Ready to Face France with No Regrets
SPAIN defender Robin Le Normand bears 'no resentment' towards France, he explained before a Nations League semi-final clash against the country of his birth on Thursday. The 28-year-old Atletico Madrid centre-back, born in the Brittany region of France, obtained Spanish nationality in May 2023 and has gone on to become a regular for La Roja. Spain coach Luis de la Fuente brought the defender into the fold during the last Nations League final four, and they won it before triumphing at Euro 2024 last summer, where he started in the final against England. 'There was no resentment or (thinking) 'I made the right choice'... I never felt that way,' Le Normand told AFP at Spain's training centre Las Rozas. 'I give my all and try to repay the trust, striving to give my full potential and my best version on the pitch.' Le Normand, who played at youth level for French side Brest, joined Basque country club Real Sociedad in 2016. France coach Didier Deschamps told Le Normand he liked his football but did not call up for national team duty and Spain pounced, just as they did for Aymeric Laporte in 2021 and Diego Costa back in 2013. Spain beat France in the Euro 2024 semi-finals but Le Normand was suspended and could not face Les Bleus. On Thursday in Stuttgart he is in line to start but does not feel he is under the microscope because of his origins more than any of his team-mates. 'It's a match with a special kind of pressure because it's still a semi-final, with the importance of representing a country, wanting to do things right, and trying to repay the trust they've always placed in me,' said Le Normand. 'That's where the pressure mainly comes from.' Road to recovery This season was not the easiest for Le Normand on a personal level after clashing heads with Real Madrid's Aurelien Tchouameni in a derby clash in October. It left Le Normand with a traumatic brain injury, which took him nearly three months to recover from. 'I've taken several hits before, so initially I didn't really take it seriously... (then) the symptoms remind you that it's serious,' said Le Normand. 'When you want to get back on the bike, when you just want to go up the stairs, your brain ultimately tells you no, you can't. 'Well, you can -- but you're tired, you're out of breath, it spins. It's quite striking.' Le Normand was out for nearly three months, and it took him longer to get back to his best, which he managed in the final weeks of the season. 'Wearing the helmet during recovery wasn't easy, but, it was necessary,' he explained. 'I think now it's been 15 to 20 matches where we've tried to get back into the rhythm. Now, I feel really good. 'I've felt good for the past 10 matches. We're trying to continue along this path.' The reward for that could come against France as Spain try to become the first team to defend the Nations League trophy. Spain's triumph against France last summer was inspired by a sensational goal from Barcelona's teenage winger Lamine Yamal. Le Normand is grateful every time he can avoid facing the 17-year-old star in training. 'I prefer having him on my team rather than going up one-on-one against him... we've had a few games this year against Barca, and we sometimes feel a bit powerless,' said the centre-back. 'He is 17 years old and has already played an incredible number of matches at an extraordinary level.'
