Latest news with #Laykold
Yahoo
10-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Sport Group Appoints Alejandro Pena as Chief Executive Officer
BURGHEIM, DE / / April 10, 2025 / Sport Group (the "Company"), the global leader in artificial turf and sports and recreation surfaces, today announced the appointment of Alejandro Pena as Chief Executive Officer, effective immediately. Alejandro has more than 25 years of experience leading high-performance organizations and driving transformational growth across the consumer products and building materials sectors. He joins Sport Group following his successful tenure as CEO of Keter Group, a global leader in durable consumer lifestyle solutions. Under his leadership, Keter achieved significant earnings growth while accelerating innovation, digital transformation, and sustainability across its portfolio. Prior to Keter, Alejandro held senior executive roles at Newell Brands and Jarden Corporation, where he built a track record of scaling global businesses, optimizing operations, and fostering winning cultures. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering from Universidad de Los Andes in Colombia and an MBA from the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas. "I'm honored to join Sport Group at such an exciting moment in its journey," said Mr. Pena. "The Company's iconic brands - including AstroTurf, SYNLawn, Polytan, Rekortan, and Laykold - have shaped the sports and recreational landscape for decades. I look forward to working closely with our talented global team of more than 2,600 associates to build on this strong foundation, delivering exceptional value to our customers through quality, innovation, and service." Sport Group extends its thanks to outgoing CEO Christoph von Nitzsch for his leadership and contributions to the Company. About Sport GroupSport Group is the global leader in artificial turf systems and polyurethane-based sports and recreational surface solutions. With a portfolio of pioneering brands and a presence in over 70 countries, Sport Group delivers high-performance, sustainable surfaces for professional sports venues, schools, parks, and residential applications. Its brands include AstroTurf, SYNLawn, Polytan, Rekortan, and Laykold. About KPS Capital Partners, LP KPS, through its affiliated management entities, is the manager of the KPS Special Situations Funds, a family of investment funds with approximately $19.7 billion of assets under management (as of December 31, 2024). For over three decades, the Partners of KPS have worked exclusively to realize significant capital appreciation by making controlling equity investments in manufacturing and industrial companies across a diverse array of industries, including basic materials, branded consumer, healthcare and luxury products, automotive parts, capital equipment and general manufacturing. KPS creates value for its investors by working constructively with talented management teams to make businesses better, and generates investment returns by structurally improving the strategic position, competitiveness and profitability of its portfolio companies, rather than primarily relying on financial leverage. The KPS Funds' portfolio companies currently generate aggregate annual revenues of approximately $22.2 billion, operate 222 manufacturing facilities in 30 countries, and have approximately 58,000 employees, directly and through joint ventures worldwide (as of December 31, 2024, pro forma for recent acquisitions). The KPS investment strategy and portfolio companies are described in detail at Contact Information Eva Issa VP HR, Legal & Internal 151 22 56 88 54 SOURCE: Sport Group View the original press release on ACCESS Newswire
New York Times
13-03-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells: How to watch Carlos Alcarez, Iga Swiatek make title runs
We're getting to it at Indian Wells. This year's BNP Paribas Open had a lot of chaos in the foreground — Novak Djokovic, Alexander Zverev and Casper Ruud were all upset in their first matches. The next few days will get increasingly tense, with singles quarterfinals beginning on Thursday. Thursday, March 13 (11 a.m. to 9 p.m.) Friday, March 14 (4 p.m. to 8 p.m.) Saturday, March 15 (1:30 p.m. to 8 p.m.) Sunday, March 16 (11 a.m. to 4 p.m.) The spotlight rightfully hovers over Spanish phenom and second-seeded Carlos Alcaraz (No. 3 in the world), who is in pursuit of an Indian Wells three-peat. He has defeated Daniil Medvedev in consecutive finals here. Five American men reached the Round of 16: Taylor Fritz, Ben Shelton, Brandon Nakashima, Marcos Giron and Tommy Paul. Only Shelton made it to the quarters and he beat Nakashima to get there. Advertisement In women's singles, world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka seeks her first solo title in the Coachella Valley. The Belarusian advanced to the final in 2023 but fell short to Kazakhstan's Elena Rybakina, 7-6, 6-4. She won the doubles championship in 2019 with Belgian partner Elise Mertens. Defending singles champion and two-time winner Iga Swiatek breezed into the quarterfinals with a 6-1, 6-1 defeat of Czechia's Karolina Muchova. Madison Keys will try to become the first women's singles champion from the home country since Serena Williams in 2001. Coco Gauff had a chance at it before losing to Belinda Bencic in three sets. Both Williams sisters boycotted the event for more than a decade after Venus pulled out with a late injury, and crowd taunts devolved into overt racism in that '01 final. The Athletic's Matthew Futterman on the court conditions: 'In the past, the Indian Wells playing surface was fashioned by Plexipave. This year, Laykold came on board. In both cases, the courts have three layers: Asphalt or concrete on the bottom, a softer acrylic or silicone surface on top of that, and then surface paint that contains varying amounts of sand. Tommy Haas, the former player who is tournament director at Indian Wells, said organizers listened to the complaints from the players last year and decided it was time at least try to speed up the courts. 'The outside courts seem to be a little bit quicker than Stadium One and Stadium Two,' Haas said in an interview Tuesday. 'Stadium One seems to be the slowest. So we're trying to adjust, looking at numbers and trying to figure out how to keep all the courts as even as possible. That's what we want for the players.'' On the mercurial weather: 'For a tournament that bills itself as a tennis paradise, Indian Wells has a tendency to bring some Old Testament elements to the sport in the California desert. The sun that blazes down in the day is replaced with temperatures that can turn frigid at night. In a part of the world that sees rain around 14 days out of 365, a few always seem to land in the first fortnight of March, interrupting play. Last year, bees swarmed the main stadium. This year, the sworn enemy of tennis players at all levels — that rarely stops play, but defines its rhythm more than any other weather condition — is puppeting the small yellow ball they try to hit inside the white lines and driving them to distraction.' Charlie Eccleshare on Yosuke Watanuki: 'On Sunday night, Japanese qualifier Yosuke Watanuki offered the kind of sportsmanship against Frances Tiafoe that many fans have said they would like to see. Tiafoe was serving at deuce, down 2-3, when he was given a time violation for taking too long before serving. Watanuki walked towards umpire Mohamed Lahyani and told him that he hadn't been ready to receive. …Watanuki went on to win an action-packed match 6-4, 7-6(6) despite Tiafoe twice serving for the second set. One of those breaks for Watanuki came immediately after he had asked for a Pepsi when struggling for energy down 5-4. The win means that Watanuki, ranked No. 349 after missing most of last year with injury, is the lowest-ranked player in the Indian Wells last 16 since 2004.' Streaming links in this article are provided by partners of The Athletic. Restrictions may apply. The Athletic maintains full editorial independence. Partners have no control over or input into the reporting or editing process and do not review stories before publication. (Photo of Carlos Alcaraz: Clive Brunskill / Getty Images)
Express Tribune
06-03-2025
- Sport
- Express Tribune
Sabalenka swoons over new court surfaces
World number one Aryna Sabalenka is enamored with the new surfaces at Indian Wells, the Belarusian believing the faster courts will play into her powerful game, while Carlos Alcaraz said he did not understand the reason for the change. Indian Wells, which has long been known for its gritty, slow hard courts, has been resurfaced this year by Laykold, the company that also provides surfaces for the Miami Open and US Open, to make playing conditions more consistent. "I love them (the courts). They're a little bit faster, which is good for me, right?" Sabalenka told reporters on Tuesday. "It feels good so far. I'll tell you later after my first match. I hope I'll still like it," she added with a smile. Another big server, Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan, said she had not noticed a huge change when she practiced on them. "I feel that it's not much faster, but I will say maybe the bounce (is) a little bit lower," said Rybakina, the 2023 champion. "The past few days were very windy and a lot of sun came, so it's also a bit different, the bounce. But I think the court's still nice." Although the fast courts are supposed to help bigger servers, they could spell trouble for players like two-time defending champion Alcaraz, who relies more on his creative shot-making than sheer power. The Spaniard arrived in the Southern California desert late on Monday and said he had not had a chance to try out the courts. "Honestly, it's a change that I didn't understand when I saw it. It was 25 years, the tournament, it was the same court, and then right now has changed. I don't know the reason why they did it," he said. "I have to practise on it," he added. "I consider myself a player who adapts very well my game on the surfaces and all the conditions that you're playing on." Russian Daniil Medvedev, a self-described hard court specialist who called the Indian Wells courts "a disgrace" two years ago, was unimpressed after practicing on them. "It's okay, I like Indian Wells, I even like the courts now, but they seem to be almost slower than before, very slow," he said. First-round action gets under way on Wednesday. Struggling Raducanu Former US Open champion Emma Raducanu said she could not see the ball through tears and was barely able to breathe after noticing a stalker during her match at the Dubai Championships two weeks ago. Raducanu looked distressed during the opening set of her second-round clash against Karolina Muchova and stood behind the umpire's chair as security personnel led the man out. The 22-year-old then resumed the match and lost 7-6(6) 6-4. "I was obviously very distraught," Raducanu told reporters in Indian Wells, where she will return for the first time since the ordeal with enhanced security. "I saw him in the first game of the match and I was like, 'I don't know how I'm going to finish'. "I literally couldn't see the ball through tears. I could barely breathe. I was like, 'I need to just take a breather'." Raducanu said she had previously been approached twice off the court in Dubai by the man, who was also present during her matches in Singapore, Abu Dhabi and Doha in preceding weeks. She decided to drop the charges against the man who had been detained by Dubai Police. The man has since been banned from all WTA tournaments. "It was a very emotional time," added Raducanu, who took a week off before returning to the tour. "After the match I did break down in tears, but not necessarily because I lost. There was just so much emotion in the last few weeks of the events happening, and I just needed that week off to take a breather and come here. "I feel a lot better." Raducanu, the 2021 US Open champion who has slipped to 55 in the world rankings due to form and fitness issues, will play Japan's Moyuka Uchijima in the first round of Indian Wells with a win ensuring a match against third seed Coco Gauff.
Khaleej Times
05-03-2025
- Sport
- Khaleej Times
Sabalenka swoons over new, faster Indian Wells court surfaces
World number one Aryna Sabalenka is enamored with the new surfaces at Indian Wells, the Belarusian believing the faster courts will play into her powerful game, while Carlos Alcaraz said he did not understand the reason for the change. Indian Wells, which has long been known for its gritty, slow hard courts, has been resurfaced this year by Laykold, the company that also provides surfaces for the Miami Open and US Open, to make playing conditions more consistent. "I love them (the courts). They're a little bit faster, which is good for me, right?" Sabalenka told reporters on Tuesday. "It feels good so far. I'll tell you later after my first match. I hope I'll still like it," she added with a smile. Another big server, Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan, said she had not noticed a huge change when she practiced on them. "I feel that it's not much faster, but I will say maybe the bounce (is) a little bit lower," said Rybakina, the 2023 champion. "The past few days were very windy and a lot of sun came, so it's also a bit different, the bounce. But I think the court's still nice." Although the fast courts are supposed to help bigger servers, they could spell trouble for players like two-time defending champion Alcaraz, who relies more on his creative shot-making than sheer power. The Spaniard arrived in the Southern California desert late on Monday and said he had not had a chance to try out the courts. "Honestly, it's a change that I didn't understand when I saw it. It was 25 years, the tournament, it was the same court, and then right now has changed. I don't know the reason why they did it," he said. "I have to practise on it," he added. "I consider myself a player who adapts very well my game on the surfaces and all the conditions that you're playing on." Russian Daniil Medvedev, a self-described hard court specialist who called the Indian Wells courts "a disgrace" two years ago, was unimpressed after practicing on them. "It's okay, I like Indian Wells, I even like the courts now, but they seem to be almost slower than before, very slow," he said.
Asharq Al-Awsat
05-03-2025
- Sport
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Sabalenka Swoons Over New, Faster Indian Wells Court Surfaces
World number one Aryna Sabalenka is enamored with the new surfaces at Indian Wells, the Belarusian believing the faster courts will play into her powerful game, while Carlos Alcaraz said he did not understand the reason for the change. Indian Wells, which has long been known for its gritty, slow hard courts, has been resurfaced this year by Laykold, the company that also provides surfaces for the Miami Open and US Open, to make playing conditions more consistent. "I love them (the courts). They're a little bit faster, which is good for me, right?" Sabalenka told reporters on Tuesday. "It feels good so far. I'll tell you later after my first match. I hope I'll still like it," she added with a smile. Another big server, Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan, said she had not noticed a huge change when she practiced on them. "I feel that it's not much faster, but I will say maybe the bounce (is) a little bit lower," said Rybakina, the 2023 champion. "The past few days were very windy and a lot of sun came, so it's also a bit different, the bounce. But I think the court's still nice." Although the fast courts are supposed to help bigger servers, they could spell trouble for players like two-time defending champion Alcaraz, who relies more on his creative shot-making than sheer power. The Spaniard arrived in the Southern California desert late on Monday and said he had not had a chance to try out the courts. "Honestly, it's a change that I didn't understand when I saw it. It was 25 years, the tournament, it was the same court, and then right now has changed. I don't know the reason why they did it," he said. "I have to practice on it," he added. "I consider myself a player who adapts very well my game on the surfaces and all the conditions that you're playing on." Russian Daniil Medvedev, a self-described hard court specialist who called the Indian Wells courts "a disgrace" two years ago, was unimpressed after practicing on them. "It's okay, I like Indian Wells, I even like the courts now, but they seem to be almost slower than before, very slow," he said. First-round action gets under way on Wednesday.
