Latest news with #semifinal
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Qualifier Atmane stuns Rune to set up Sinner semi-final in Cincinnati
French qualifier Terence Atmane toppled another top-10 player in Holger Rune on Thursday to line up a semi-final showdown with world number one Jannik Sinner at the Cincinnati Open. Atmane followed up his victory over fourth-ranked Taylor Fritz with a 6-2, 6-3 win over ninth-ranked Rune. The 23-year-old will now face the ultimate test against defending champion Sinner, who said he "felt great" as he thrashed Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-0, 6-2. "I don't think any words can describe how I feel right now," the 136th-ranked Atmane said after blasting 22 winners past Rune, 14 of them off his powerful lefty forehand. "It's pretty insane to be honest," added Atmane, who will move inside the top 100 in the rankings for the first time. "I cannot believe it. Being here in the semi-finals of a Masters 1000, breaking into the top 100. It means a lot to me." He will face a formidable challenge in Wimbledon champion Sinner, who powered through a rapid-fire opening set and bounced back quickly after dropping serve to open the second. Sinner prevailed in a brief 71 minutes as he claimed an eighth victory in a row at this event and his 30th match win this season. "I felt great on the court today, you could see that," said the Italian, who turns 24 on Saturday. "But every day can be different. Let's see what I can do in the semis." Sinner took advantage of Auger-Aliassime's serving troubles to take the first set in less than 30 minutes, the Canadian delivering three double-faults in the final game. After going down a quick break in the second Sinner broke back to level at 2-2 and advanced as Auger-Aliassime coughed up his eighth double-fault on match point. "I served well today, that was the key for me," Sinner said. "I had a small drop in the second set and I'm happy that I broke back. He moves and serves well, he's difficult to play." In the day's only other men's match, fifth-seeded Ben Shelton -- coming off a title in Toronto -- posted a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Jiri Lehecka to book a quarter-final clash with third-seeded Alexander Zverev. - Gauff sets up Paolini clash - French Open champion Coco Gauff, the women's second seed, booked her quarter-final berth with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Lucia Bronzetti. "I could have maybe made some more first serves in that second set, but overall I had a lot of aces and unreturnables," said Gauff, the 2023 Cincinnati champion who went on to win the US Open title that year. "I'm happy considering where (my serve) was last week." The American next takes on seventh seed Jasmine Paolini, who crushed 2024 Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova 6-1, 6-2. Krejcikova had treatment on her left foot in the second set and her movement was clearly hampered. "She's a great player and can do anything she wants with the ball," Paolini, a finalist at Roland Garros and Wimbledon in 2024, said. "But I don't think she was at 100 percent today." France's Varvara Gracheva rallied to beat Germany's Ella Seidel 2-6, 6-1, 6-1 in an error-strewn battle of qualifiers. "I made her play her best game," Gracheva said. "She was so hot at the end of the first set that I could barely see a ball. "I had to go back to basics, I had so many mistakes. I was doubting myself but I stuck with it." She will face Veronika Kudermetova, a 6-4, 6-3 winner over Poland's Magda Linette. str/bb/pst
CBC
8 hours ago
- Sport
- CBC
Montreal's Auger-Aliassime dispatched from Cincinnati Open by world No. 1 Sinner
Social Sharing Montreal's Felix Auger-Aliassime has been bounced from the Cincinnati Open. World No. 1 Jannik Sinner of Italy beat Auger-Aliassime 6-0, 6-2 on Thursday in the men's singles quarterfinals. Sinner will be playing in Saturday's semifinal but his opponent is not yet determined. Auger-Aliassime was the last Canadian in the event's singles brackets. Earlier, Ottawa's Gabriela Dabrowski and partner Erin Routliffe of New Zealand advanced to the women's doubles semifinal by beating Caty McNally of the United States and Linda Noskova of Czechia 6-2, 7-6 (3). Dabrowski and Routliffe will face Australia's Ellen Perez and Ukraine's Lyudmyla Kichenok in Friday's semi. Routliffe holds dual Canadian-New Zealand citizenship and had previously represented Canada in tennis. Dabrowski and Routliffe had six aces to McNally and Noskova's one, and only three double faults to their opponents' seven.
The Guardian
14 hours ago
- Sport
- The Guardian
Wayne Rooney, Tom Brady and a serving of ultra-processed beef
Today's Football Daily would like to start with the topical events of 15 February 1983. That was the day Manchester United outplayed and outviolenced Arsenal in the first leg of their Milk Cup semi-final at Highbury. United won 4-2; they were 4-0 up after 80 minutes before taking their foot off Arsenal's throat, and shinbone, and head. 'Perhaps we've been concentrating too much on passing and technique,' lamented Don Howe, Arsenal's head coach and assistant to the manager, Terry Neill. 'Against United we went out to strike the ball about instead of putting some meat into the game.' In 1980s English football, there was no place for veganism. Things have changed since the days when ABH was a bookable offence, and only then after the first 10 minutes, but English football still has a pretty noxious meat footprint. In 2025, English society, never mind football, is addicted to beef. You know it's a weekday when a relatively minor difference of opinion between two adults is reported using the kind of language once reserved for a bloodbath involving the Five Families. Today's beef involves two football legends: Wayne Rooney (association) and Tom Brady (American). In case you missed it – if you did, get out while you still can – Rooney's work ethic during his time as Birmingham City manager was questioned by Brady, a part-owner of the club. This emerged in a documentary at the end of July, seven months after Rooney was sacked by Birmingham – but this ultra-processed beef ain't got no sell-by date, baby. 'I'm a little worried about our head coach's work ethic,' said Brady. 'I mean, I don't know, I don't have great instincts on that.' Rooney waited a couple of weeks to reply publicly, coincidentally via the medium of a new podcast that he'd be plugging desperately, if only there was a story he could sell. Remember the name: The Wayne Rooney Show. Actually, we shouldn't throw shade at Our Wazza. We're all selling something these days, whether it's a podcast, a Substack or our last dapple of dignity. And we're all buying what everyone else is selling, a world of dopamine nutters in desperate need of just one more hit. 'I think it was a very unfair comment,' said Rooney, before explaining that Brady's only visit was the day before a game, when everyone's workload is generally lighter. 'I don't think he really understood football that well at the time.' Rooney went on to call Brady an abject, NKOTB-loving motherf- no, of course he didn't. He called him 'one of, if not the greatest athlete of all time'. His tone was reasonable throughout, even if he undermined his point slightly by saying the NFL season only lasted three months. Rooney concluded by putting the whole thing in an appropriate context. 'Bit disappointed but nothing too serious, so move on.' That quote wasn't used by the BBC, broadcasters of The Wayne Rooney Show, but they did have sufficient grasp of nuance to put together a graphic for their news story that screamed THE BRADY BEEF. Football Daily isn't claiming to be any better. We're eating beef right now, FHS, and we've got enough in the fridge to take us through to at least May 2026. But deep down – to nick a line from our progenitor The Fiver – we know it's time to STOP BEEF. And maybe, if this jejune culture gets much worse, to STOP FOOTBALL. 'In medical terms, the operation succeeded but the patient died, so not that good in the end. But we worked on a gameplan that was a little bit different and very close to succeeding' – Thomas Frank, having failed to cure Tottenham of historic ills, reflects on losing Biggest Cup on penalties to PSG. In doing so, Frank echoed the words of Danish compatriot Ebbe Skovdahl, who said the same after his Aberdeen team lost, er, 7-0 to Celtic in 2002. With reference to yesterday's Football Daily (full email edition), in which your contributor was bemoaning the lack of alternative monikers for a goalkeeper, may I be so bold as to proffer a few enhancements to their vocab? For starters, there's goal minder, glovesman, custodian, netminder, No 1, sticksman, backstop and, of course, shot-stopper. For those seeking a more left-field nickname, try these for size: guardian (no, not that one) of the onion bag, net ninja, glove wizard or, indeed, the good old last line of defence. I should get out more' – Peter MacLeod. Given the fiasco of foreign footie fandom that Rob Ford described [Wednesday's letters], maybe it's time an English club of limited local loyalties takes advantage of La Liga's newfound love of overseas matches and moves to the Costa Brava, offering competitive football at regularly scheduled times to ex-pats and disaffected locals alike … CB Dons, it's your time to shine' – Declan Hackett. Spurs playing very well and yet losing to a PSG team that only had one week of training since the end of last season, only really had Vitinha in midfield until the vastly underrated Fabián Ruiz came on in the 60th minute, and offered up the funniest Keystone Cops-style defending since Spurs's 4-0 defeat to Bayern last week? Of course the Spurs(y) manager is rightly 'Very, very proud'' – Noble Francis. If you have any, please send letters to Today's winner of our prizeless letter o' the day is … Peter MacLeod. Terms and conditions for our competitions, when we run them, can be viewed here. Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, Jonathan Wilson and John Brewin for the second of our Premier League preview podcasts: Leeds to Wolves. On Thursday 11 September, join Max Rushden, Barry Glendenning and Football Weekly all-stars Jonathan Wilson, Nicky Bandini and Jonathan Liew for an evening of breathtaking beautiful game punditry at Troxy in London. The pod will also be livestreamed globally. Book now. This week has seen Marcus Rashford invite Gary Lineker and Micah Richards into his new Catalan home, and espouse the wonders of what he has found there. Now, can he actually play in La Liga? Barcelona, like last year, are having problems registering players, and are currently barred from registering new signings because their spreadsheets are missing the mark with La Liga's strict guidelines. They just managed to register keeper Joan García but only after Marc-André ter Stegen signed off on a sicknote to confirm he will be off for four months with back knack. Rashford, García, Wojciech Szczesny and Gerard Martín don't have official squad numbers yet. To get them playing, Barca suits must lay down hefty personal guarantees. No pressure: Rashford's Liga debut is supposed to be on Saturday at Mallorca. As a child in Brazil, Dilma Mendes was detained by police on several occasions just for playing football – but went on to forge a coaching career and discovered the legendary midfielder Formiga. Now, they're teaming up to try to lead the hosts to seven-a-side world championship glory. Mendes got her chat on with Júlia Belas Trindade in the latest edition of our women's football newsletter. A banner reading 'Stop killing children – Stop killing civilians' was displayed by Uefa before the Super Cup final, while two refugee children from Gaza were involved in the medal ceremony. Paul Doyle, the man accused of deliberately driving into fans at Liverpool's Premier League victory parade has been charged with 24 new offences, including attempted grievous bodily harm against two babies. Premier League ref supremo Howard Webb has suggested the video assistant referee system could be expanded to include yellow cards and corners. What could possibly go wrong? Liverpool's summer of spending continues with ... no, not Alexander Isak, not even Marc Guéhi, but Giovanni Leoni, the 18-year-old Parma centre-back. 'The clubs have agreed a deal but he has not signed for us yet,' roared Arne Slot, increasingly resembling Richard Pryor in Brewster's Millions. 'The moment he does, I can go into more detail.' Championship transfer news: Wrexham are to sign Ipswich's Nathan Broadhead, the ninth addition to Ryan and Rob's merry men this summer. The Worthington Cup second-round draw has sent not-so mighty Manchester United travelling to Grimsby. Wednesday's first-round matches saw a well-timed win for Sheffield Wednesday, who beat Bolton on penalties. Elsewhere, Sheffield United's Gustavo Hamer scored from miles out but Birmingham's Brady bunch prevailed, and League One Huddersfield beat Leicester in a shootout. And Sunderland have appointed Granit Xhaka – whose mum always handed the house keys rather than big brother Taulant – as their new club captain. 'I'm a winner and I want to win – and I expect the same from my teammates,' roared the younger Xhaka. Sid Lowe runs the rule over what could be an English-tinged title race in La Liga, if Barcelona get their habitual player registration issues sorted. Jonathan Liew on how fantasy football operates as soft power for the Premier League, and reflects the league itself. But who is he triple-captaining? Andy Brassell on what Manchester United can expect from Benjamin Sesko. Xavi Simons to Manchester City? Harvey Elliott to Palace? The Rumour Mill digests these possible moves and more. And our latest Premier League new season team guides spotlight Sunderland and Tottenham. 1 October 1995: Eric Cantona in pole position with Roy Keane as the Manchester United pair celebrate the French forward's equalising penalty in a 2-2 draw with Liverpool at Old Trafford. It was Cantona's first game back following his nine-month ban for kicking a Crystal Palace supporter the previous season.
CTV News
15 hours ago
- Sport
- CTV News
Vancouver FC upsets Atletico Ottawa with 3-1 win in Canadian Championship semifinals
Forge FC goalkeeper Jassem Koleilat (1) stops a deflected shot from Vancouver Whitecaps' Mathias Nicolas Laborda Malse — ido (2) during second half Canadian Championship semifinal soccer action in Hamilton, on Thursday, August 13, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nick Iwanyshyn Hugo Mbongoe's goal in the 69th minute stood up as the game winner as Vancouver FC downed Atletico Ottawa 3-1 in the first leg of their Canadian Championship semifinal matchup on Wednesday. Michel da Silva opened the scoring for Vancouver in the 21st minute, and Ottawa's Samuel Salter replied with a strike of his own in the 58th. Vancouver regained the lead thanks to Mbongoe's goal, then added some late insurance when Nicolás Mezquida scored in the first minute of injury time. It was an upset victory for Vancouver, who sit last in the Canadian Premier League standings with a 2-11-5 record on the season, while Ottawa (11-1-6) is battling Forge FC for top spot. Atletico will host the second leg of the semifinal series in Ottawa on Sept. 18. Earlier on Wednesday, Forge battled Major League Soccer's Vancouver Whitecaps to a 2-2 draw in the first leg of their semifinal matchup. Nana Ampomah had a goal and an assist for the CPL club, capitalizing on a failed clearance by Vancouver's Bjorn Utvik in the ninth minute, collecting the ball and firing it in to give Forge an early 1-0 lead. Tristan Blackmon responded for the 'Caps, scoring in the 18th minute, and Brian White gave Vancouver a 2-1 lead in the 29th minute. Forge levelled the score in the 34th minute when Ampomah picked up another failed Whitecaps clearance and sent it to Brian Wright, who popped it into the back of the Vancouver goal. The 'Caps will host the second half of the two-legged semifinal series in Vancouver on Sept. 16. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 13, 2025.
New York Times
19 hours ago
- Sport
- New York Times
Remembering a Little League World Series team that once included future NHL greats
It's the third inning of a 1982 Little League World Series semifinal in Williamsport, Pa. Five-time defending champion Taiwan — representing the Far East in those days — is on the ropes. Its 2-0 lead against Canada is in danger. Taiwan has two outs with star pitcher Huang Yao-Chung on the mound. Canada has runners on second and third, and the next batter is a tall, gangly preteen. Advertisement Young Pierre Turgeon is at the plate. Facing a count of one ball and two strikes, Turgeon drives the ball into left field, resulting in a two-RBI double. Canada had only tied the game, but they celebrated like they'd won. Turgeon smiles as he watches teammates' exuberance from second base. Canada's next hitter, shortstop Martin Lafrenière, gets a hit into right field. Turgeon crosses home plate and celebrates with his teammates as Canada takes a 3-2 lead over Taiwan in front of a frenzied Williamsport crowd. One of the first teammates to greet Turgeon after giving Canada the lead: pitcher Stéphane Matteau. 'Against Taiwan, it was over 20,000 people,' Turgeon said of the attendance at Howard J. Lamade Stadium. 'It's crazy. You're 11 years old, you're looking around, you're thinking, 'Wow, that's nuts.'' Forty-three years ago, Turgeon and Matteau were pieces of a ragtag, small-town Quebec team that made it to the Little League World Series final four and put a baseball dynasty on the brink of elimination. (Taiwan won a hard-fought game 10-7.) Turgeon, the biggest player for Canada and arguably the most talented, ultimately became Turgeon the Hockey Hall of Famer. Matteau permanently traded his bat for a stick and won a Stanley Cup with the New York Rangers 12 years after his Little League World Series appearance. Rangers fans and hockey historians will remember Matteau's iconic series-winning goal in double overtime that lifted New York past the New Jersey Devils in the 1994 Eastern Conference final. But in 1982, two grade-school standouts from Rouyn, Quebec, and their teammates were the talk of a town for the summer. 'Our little team from Rouyn accomplished a miracle, an extraordinary feat,' Matteau said. 'And to do it with school friends, our childhood friends, our hockey friends that we played with in the winter … it was a magical summer.' Rouyn is a town in western Quebec that straddles the provincial border with Ontario, as part of Quebec's Abitibi-Témiscamingue region. It's known today as Rouyn-Noranda, as the two townships merged in 1986. Matteau and Turgeon — and other youngsters in Rouyn — enjoyed two seasons each year: hockey in the winter, baseball in the summer. They had grown accustomed to seeing snow on the ground until the end of April and would play hockey for most of the calendar year until the snow melted. They'd prepare for baseball season with the Rouyn Rotary club in their school gyms before playing ball in nearby parks. Advertisement If they weren't watching the Montreal Canadiens play hockey on television, they were watching the Montreal Expos baseball team. The Expos made the playoffs for the first time in franchise history in 1981, with players like Gary Carter, Tim Raines and Andre Dawson becoming household names across the province. 'Those Expos teams were like All-Star teams back in those days,' Matteau said. Rouyn hoped to emerge as Canadian Little League champions in 1981 while boasting four pitchers who'd go on to have NHL careers: Matteau, Turgeon and the duo of future defenseman Éric Desjardins and goaltender André Racicot, who both won a Stanley Cup with the Canadiens in 1993. They fell short that year. The following year, however, would be their time, and Matteau was counted on as one of their aces. Former #NHL #Hockey player Stephane Matteau pitched in the 1982 Little League World Series. #Baseball — Home Run Hockey (@HomeRunHockey) October 7, 2017 'Stéphane was very intense,' said Richard Jolicoeur, a former baseball teammate who grew up on the same street as Matteau. 'He was our Maurice Richard, but when he went out to pitch, he wanted to be the best pitcher.' All the while, Turgeon was doing double duty, going back and forth between Montreal for hockey camp and playing baseball with his team that summer. If Matteau was the team's Maurice Richard, Turgeon was its Wayne Gretzky, playing pitcher, shortstop and center field. He wanted to be where the ball was. 'Pierre was a monster,' Matteau remembered. 'He was a warrior. He was 12 years old, but he had the maturity of a 15-, 16-, 17-year-old.' 'We knew he was good, but he was so big and strong compared to the rest of us,' Jolicoeur added, as Turgeon, now standing 6-foot-1, was listed as a 6-footer during Little League play. 'He really had a physical advantage. But he was also a good guy who wanted the team to win. He was super nice to all of us.' A post shared by NHL History (@nhlhistory) The climb to the Little League World Series was arduous — and that was just the travel. It meant long bus rides for the squad and staying with families who weren't their own. Rouyn Rotary first won a district tournament in Timmins, Ontario, over 2 1/2 hours west of their hometown. (The result of being so close to Ontario towns led to them being part of the Ontario baseball system and not Quebec's.) After that, they traveled to Stoney Creek, Ontario, near Hamilton, for the provincial championship. Advertisement Jolicoeur, who spoke French, remembered staying with an English-speaking family all by himself during the provincial championship. 'One morning, I got asked a question, but I didn't understand much,' Jolicoeur said. 'They asked me if I ate, and I always said, 'Yes.' The only English word I knew was yes. They brought me to the ball park, and then I told the manager that I didn't eat, and he found me a muffin.' After winning the provincial title, one final step was needed before reaching the Little League World Series: Rouyn needed to win the Canadian Region Tournament in Boucherville, Quebec. They finished round-robin play with the second-best record behind Maritime champion Glace Bay, an eastern Nova Scotian town. Rouyn lost one of their pre-knockout stage games to Glace Bay but hoped to get their revenge as both teams reached the tournament final. In the sixth inning (Little League games are six innings long), Rouyn's chances looked doomed until Turgeon saved them with a home run while facing a full count. His shot tied the score at 3-3, forcing extra innings. With Turgeon and Marc Dubois on base in the top of the eighth, Jolicoeur hit an opposite-field, two-run double that gave Rouyn a go-ahead 5-3 lead. 'That was my big achievement of that summer,' Jolicoeur said. The Rouyn team did not have long to savor their victory. An 11-hour bus ride to Williamsport awaited the group of 11- and 12-year-olds, many of whom had never left the country. Between signing autographs before and after games and recording promos for ESPN, the Rouyn boys experienced culture shock being around international teams from countries they had barely heard of. All the while, they were representing an entire nation of their own. Canada has been represented in the Little League World Series each year since 1952, when a Montreal-based team became the first foreign team to compete in the tournament. Advertisement Canada won its first game of the 1982 tournament, a 3-0 victory over Spain, to advance to the semifinal round. But the Canadians would face a Taiwan squad featuring players who dedicated themselves year-round to playing. Many of the Canadian youngsters trained for only a quarter of the year. 'Our sport was hockey; we were all hockey players,' Jolicoeur said. 'There was one guy on the team who didn't play hockey: our catcher, Denis Aubut. But the other guys, we were hockey players, and baseball was our second sport. It was our way of having fun in the summer.' '(Taiwan) practiced like a major-league team,' Matteau added. Canada's coaches were mostly volunteers, including manager Gilles Mireault, who wrote for the local newspaper. But the players gravitated around Mireault and fellow coach Yvon St-Amant. 'We were prepared to do well, and we got pushed to do well,' Turgeon said. 'We took the challenge well as a team and as young kids.' Taiwan, which had won its last 30 tournament games, was on the verge of being upset as Canada led 4-2 entering the top of the fourth inning. A breakthrough fifth, however, aided Taiwan, as the team scored seven runs. 'No one thought that we even had a chance to go near (them),' Turgeon said. 'And somehow we battled back.' The Canadians mounted a comeback attempt of their own in the fifth, scoring three runs and cutting the deficit. Unfortunately for Canada, the comeback fell short. The team ultimately finished fourth in the tournament, losing the third-place game 7-4 against a team from Wyoming, Mich. Taiwan's goal of winning a sixth straight Little League World Series was halted in the championship game, as it lost 6-0 to a team from Kirkland, Wash. The championship was played in front of a then-record 40,000 fans and in 2010 was documented in 'Little Big Men,' a part of ESPN's '30 for 30' series. Advertisement Jolicoeur remembers feeling 'disappointed' losing that semifinal, but he took pride in competing against a perennial world-champion team. 'We made them sweat a little bit,' he said. When Matteau returned to Williamsport 35 years after his team's dream run, it was his chance to reconnect with faces he hadn't seen since childhood. He had experienced the glory of an NHL career, so he was used to meeting random fans in public. At one point, Matteau introduced himself to a man who looked back with a puzzled gaze. The man was surprised that Matteau didn't remember him. He then said his name: Maxime Leblanc. It was Matteau's former teammate from that 1982 squad. 'After 1982, I never ran into him once,' Matteau said. 'I saw him 35 years later. Once he told me his name, I recognized his face as a young man.' Turgeon and Matteau reunited with their teammates in 2017 ahead of that year's Little League World Series. A decade earlier, Turgeon was inducted into the Little League Hall of Excellence, the highest honor for Little League alumni. He's the first Canadian and first NHLer to accomplish the feat. But Turgeon and Matteau didn't attend to boast about their NHL exploits. They wanted to catch up with their buddies — some of whom, like Leblanc, they hadn't seen in decades. At a local hotel, members of the team came together over a bonfire. That's when the stories were revisited. The teammates chatted for hours, ordered food and shared memories. 'Nobody wanted to sleep,' Matteau said. 'We were sitting in a circle. We knew our teammates followed my and Pierre's careers in the NHL, but Pierre and I were so interested in hearing everyone else's stories. Where did they end up? How many kids did they have? Their family life, their professional life. 'It got to two or three in the morning, and we were still sitting in the hotel lobby. It was really magical.' Some of the players' most treasured memories came after the tournament ended. The Rouyn team was given a hero's welcome when they landed at the local airport from Montreal. It was just the beginning of the city's celebration. Players signed an official book at City Hall before being paraded through the streets days later, as if they were Stanley Cup champions. They even got free haircuts from a local shop in town. Advertisement Weeks later, the team took one more bus ride to Montreal, this time as special guests for an Expos game at Olympic Stadium. The Rouyn players met the Expos before the game, shaking hands and taking photos with their baseball heroes — including Carter, Dawson, Raines, Tim Wallach and Bill Gullickson. August 1982, and everything that came afterward, was a coming-of-age moment for many of those players, like Jolicoeur. It produced memories that have stayed with them. 'For the majority of us, there was 'before 1982' and 'after 1982,'' Jolicoeur said. 'That's when I came into the world. … I became somebody after that. It breathed confidence into me. It told me anything was possible.' (Illustration: Kelsea Petersen / The Athletic; photos: Graig Abel and B Bennett/ Getty Images; courtesy of Stéphane Matteau) Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Play today's puzzle
