The first-round of the three-day Jamaica Golf Association national junior golf trials took place at the Caymanas Golf Club on Friday.
Ten players in the Girls 18 & under, Boys and Girls 15 & under and Boys and Girls 13 & under age- groups began their journey for a place on Jamaica’s team to the Caribbean Amateur Junior Golf Championship in the Cayman Islands from July 3-8. The Boys 18 & under completed their trials two weeks ago.
The scores from Friday's action showed some very competitive match-ups.
Emily Mayne and Mattea Issa both scored five over par 77 to be joint leaders in the Girls 18 and under category. They each posted two birdies and seven bogeys on the day.
Aaron Ghosh and Davin Hogan scored 83 and 98 respectively in the Boys 15 and under age-group while Anoushka Khatri shot 89 and Samantha Azan shot 94 in their respective first-rounds in the Girls 15 & under age-group.
The three players in the boys 13 & under category, Kemari Morris, Shasha Redfelsen and Cameron Coe, are closely tracking each other after round one with scores of 85, 89 and 91, respectively.
The lone representative in the girls 13 & under category is Alessandra Coe who scored 91 for her first round.
Second round action begins with all golfers teeing off at 9:00 am on Saturday.
Francesco Bagnaia triumphed in MotoGP's first sprint race after Marc Marquez snatched pole position for Sunday's Portuguese Grand Prix.
Reigning series champion Bagnaia fended off Jorge Martin in the half-distance sprint, winning by 0.307 seconds, with Marquez taking third position and Jack Miller fourth.
That race came after Marquez rolled back the years by roaring to pole for the sprint and Sunday's main event at the season-opening race weekend.
Six-time MotoGP champion Marquez endured a miserable 2022 season and only achieved one podium, but he reasserted himself as a threat for the new campaign with a dazzling lap record.
He pipped Bagnaia to pole, with Martin starting third on the grid.
It was just Marquez's second pole since his 2019 championship-winning season, with his show-stealing lap coming late on in Q2 after Bagnaia had looked set to bag first position on the grid.
Spaniard Marquez, who turned 30 last month, surprised himself with his qualifying pace.
He said afterwards: "I don't know, I cannot explain because I don't understand, honestly speaking. I don't understand the situation.
"Yesterday we were struggling a lot and today it's true that I started to ride in a better way, I improved myself and the guys yesterday did an incredible job and improved some small details.
"Today in FP3 I already felt good and smooth to ride. I was alone and was consistent."
Marquez senses real limitations with his Repsol Honda RC213V, but he found a way to bypass those in qualifying.
Quoted on motorsport.com, Marquez said: "It's true that to do a very quick lap with the Honda, we need a slipstream. It's not the best way, it's not the most polite way to do a lap time. But it's one of my strongest points.
"So, if the strong point is there, I need to take profit of that. It's not easy to follow a guy, but at the moment it's the only way."
That factor meant Marquez was not likely to be a front-runner in the sprint itself, but third place represented a strong outcome all the same.
Bagnaia's Ducati team-mate Enea Bastianini crashed during the sprint and suffered a right scapula fracture, meaning he was taken to hospital in Portimao.
GRID CLASSIFICATION
1. Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda) 1 minute 37.226 seconds
2. Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati) + 0.064 secs
3. Jorge Martin (Pramac Racing) + 0.228s
4. Miguel Oliveira (RNF) + 0.295
5. Jack Miller (Red Bull KTM) +0.323
6. Enea Bastianini (Ducati) + 0.358
7. Maverick Vinales (Aprilia) + 0.372
8. Marco Bezzecchi (Mooney VR46) + 0.390
9. Luca Marini (Mooney VR46) + 0.396
10. Johann Zarco (Pramac Racing) + 0.654
SPRINT RESULT
1. Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati) 19:52.862
2. Jorge Martin (Pramac Racing) +0.307
3. Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda) +1.517
4. Jack Miller (Red Bull KTM) +1.603
5. Maverick Vinales (Aprilia) +1.854
6. Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia) +2.106
7. Miguel Oliveira (RNF) +2.940
8. Johann Zarco (Pramac Racing) +5.595
9. Alex Marquez (Gresini) +5.711
10. Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha) +5.924
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
1. Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati) 12 points
2. Jorge Martin (Pramac Racing) 9
3. Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda) 7
4. Jack Miller (Red Bull KTM) 6
5. Maverick Vinales (Aprilia) 5
6. Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia) 4
7. Miguel Oliveira (RNF) 3
8. Johann Zarco (Pramac Racing) 2
9. Alex Marquez (Gresini) 1
New York Yankees pitcher Luis Severino is set to miss the start of the MLB season due to a low-grade right lat strain.
Yankees manager Aaron Boone on Saturday revealed Severino will not throw for at least five days.
The two-time All-Star was due to start Yankees' second game of the season against the San Francisco Giants next Saturday, but looks likely to instead be on the injured list.
Clarke Schmidt is expected to get a start in the absence of Severino, with Gerrit Cole the man to open up in the first game of the season versus the Giants on Thursday.
Severino missed over two months with the same injury last season.
The 29-year-old has an ERA of 9.00 this spring, having allowed 15 runs in as many innings.
The Yankees are also without Carlos Rodon (forearm strain) and Frankie Montas (shoulder surgery) heading into the new season.
Guyana produced a massive upset win over The Dominican Republic to advance to the semi-finals of the men’s team category at the 2023 Caribbean Regional Table Tennis Federation Championships in Georgetown on Saturday.
The team of Shemar Britton, Elishaba Johnson, Paul David and Jonathan Van Lange combined to defeat Dom Rep 3-2 and guarantee the hosts at least a bronze medal.
Earlier, the hosts finished second in their group behind Cuba, who will take on Barbados in semi-final two after Guyana battle Puerto Rico on Saturday.
Guyana also advanced to the Women’s semi-finals after Chelsea Edgehill, Natalie Cummings, Thuraia Thomas and Jasmin Billingy combined to beat Barbados 3-0 on Friday. Cummings and Billingy won the doubles before Edgehill and Cummings both secured 3-0 singles wins. They will face Trinidad & Tobago in the semis while Barbados and Dominican Republic will contest the other semi-final.
Dennis Schroder said the Los Angeles Lakers were grateful to Lonnie Walker IV for inspiring the win that finally took them to .500 for the season and vowed "we're still not finished".
Walker contributed 20 points off the bench in Friday's 116-111 triumph over the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The Lakers, who started the season 2-10, consequently reached the .500 mark after 74 games, representing the first time in over 400 days (January 25, 2022) they have been at that mark.
According to ESPN, it marks the latest a team has reached .500 for the first time in a season since the 2003-04 Miami Heat, who did so after 78 games.
After the win, Schroder hailed Walker's impact, saying: "He's the guy who won us the game, it's that simple.
"Everybody thanked him for that tonight. This is his win."
Of reaching .500, he added: "Big accomplishment, but we're still not finished."
Those sentiments were echoed by Anthony Davis, who said now is the time to really push on.
"We got to .500, now it's time to get on the other side and have more wins than losses," said Davis, who had 37 points and 15 rebounds.
"So it starts Sunday. We got an opportunity to be a game above .500 against a good Bulls team."
Lakers coach Darvin Ham said: "Now it's time. Instead of constantly facing a deficit, we get to try to create a surplus, create a cushion between the wins and losses.
"So, the guys are excited about that."
San Diego State coach Brian Dutcher hailed his "fearless" team as they defeated Alabama to book his first trip to the Elite Eight at the NCAA Tournament.
Dutcher is one of six coaches set for an Elite Eight debut this year, the most in a single season since the field expanded to 64 teams in 1985.
None of the other five reached this stage in as spectacular fashion as Dutcher, however, as SDSU upset the number one overall seed 71-64 on Friday.
And Dutcher had a sporting great on his mind as he inspired his players in their unlikely win.
"I just tell the guys: nothing is going to be easy, so just keep playing our brand of basketball, keep doing your best, stay competitive," the coach said.
"And I'm using Muhammad Ali quotes because we're Louisville.
"We talked about confidence, and the key to confidence is being fearless, and I thought we were fearless tonight."
Dutcher does not want this to be the end of SDSU's run, though, adding: "When we recruit, we say our goal is to win a national championship, so we can't act surprised when we have an opportunity to advance to the Final Four.
"It's not just words we use to get them to come here. It's words we believe in."
Despite the disappointment of defeat, Alabama coach Nate Oats attempted to focus on the positives of the past year.
"I'll say it's one of the most memorable seasons ever," he said. "It's not easy to win the regular season, the SEC tournament in the same year and make a Sweet 16 run.
"It's a great group that really loves each other.They're going to be close for life, most of them.
"I love the group, they love each other, and it's just really disappointing that it's ending early.
"But I think it's one of the most memorable seasons in Alabama history, and they can walk out of here with their heads up."
Dallas Mavericks coach Jason Kidd slammed his side's performance as "awful" and "dogs***" and says they deserved to be booed during their 117-109 loss to the Charlotte Hornets on Friday.
Despite having star duo Kyrie Irving and Luka Doncic available, the Mavericks were brushed aside by the under-manned Hornets who are already out of playoff contention.
The defeat significantly hurts the Mavs' own playoff aspirations, slipping outside the play-in tournament spots to 11th in the Western Conference with a 36-38 record after three straight losses.
The home crowd at American Airlines Center made their feelings known, booing the team during a third-quarter timeout when they trailed by 18 points.
"We probably should have been booed in the first quarter," Kidd told reporters. "The effort in the play. They have a right, they paid to see a better show, it wasn’t there until the second half.
"It was awful, dogs***. Understanding the talk before the game with what we're playing for, playoffs or championship, to come out in that first quarter and give up 37, the interest level wasn't high. It was just disappointing."
The Mavs are 7-12 since Irving was traded in from the Brooklyn Nets in February to make them a championship contender. Dallas are 3-7 when Irving and Luka Doncic have played together.
Doncic scored a game-high 34 points with 10 rebounds and eight assists, while Irving added 18 points, nine rebounds and seven assists, but the Mavs were undone after their poor first-half showing.
Irving downplayed the significance of the fans booing the side, despite losing six of their past eight games.
"So what? Just the way I feel about it," Irving said. "I've been in New York City, so I know what that's like. You obviously want to play well, but it's only five people on the court that can play for the Dallas Mavericks.
"If the fans want to change places, then hey, be my guest. Got years of work ahead to be great enough to be on this level. But our focus isn't necessarily on the boos.
"It should be on our performance and just being there for each other."
The Golden State Warriors stormed home to rally back from an 11-point fourth-quarter deficit to down the Philadelphia 76ers 120-112 despite Joel Embiid's 46 points on Friday.
Jordan Poole was clutch with 33 points off the bench including six three-pointers, while Stephen Curry added 29 points on 10-of-18 shooting from the field with eight rebounds at the Chase Center.
Poole made a pivotal three-pointer for a 115-110 lead with 1:18 remaining in the last as the Warriors improved to 39-36 to sit sixth in the Western Conference.
The 76ers had led by 11 points with 11:32 remaining in the fourth quarter after Shake Milton laid off for Paul Reed's alley oop layup, but the Warriors launched their comeback with Poole and Curry at the heart of it.
Poole scored 19 of his 33 points in the fourth period, while Curry stepped up with eight points in the final four minutes.
Klay Thompson added six triples in his 21 points, while Draymond Green had 10 points, seven rebounds and 10 assists in a busy display.
MVP candidate Embiid was huge with 46 points on 13-of-23 shooting from the field with nine rebounds and eight assists.
Tobias Harris added 23 points for the 76ers, with Tyrese Maxey contributing 21. James Harden was absent with Achilles soreness.
Embiid scored 13 straight points for the 76ers in the fourth quarter after checking back in with 8:26 left.
Mavericks slip out of play-in spots
The Dallas Mavericks suffered their third straight loss as their playoff hopes took another hit with a disappointing 117-109 loss to the short-handed Charlotte Hornets.
Luka Doncic scored a game-high 34 points with 10 rebounds and eight assists, while Kyrie Irving added 18 points, nine rebounds and seven assists, but the Mavs were undone after a slow first half, with Hornets forward P.J. Washington managing a team-high 28 points.
The loss leaves the Mavs outside the play-in tournament spots in 11th in the Western Conference with a 36-38 record.
Lakers up to .500 for first time this season
The Los Angeles Lakers squared their ledger at .500 and moved up to eighth in the West with a 116-111 triumph over the Oklahoma City Thunder securing three consecutive wins.
Anthony Davis had 37 points and 14 rebounds for the Lakers, while Lonnie Walker impressed in his return with 20 points and Denis Schroder added 13 of his 21 points in the second half.
The Lakers improved to 37-37 with the win, getting to .500 for the first time this season, with LeBron James' return form injury reportedly not far away. LA are 8-5 during James' latest absence.
Top overall seed Alabama were ousted from the NCAA tournament Sweet 16 after an upset 71-64 loss to San Diego State on Friday.
The Crimson Tide were well below their best in a sloppy performance with 14 turnovers, shooting three-of-27 from beyond the arc.
SDSU's Darrion Trammell scored 21 points as San Diego progressed to the Elite Eight for the first time.
Trammell led the way offensively for the Aztecs, while Nathan Mensah had eight rebounds and five blocks, while Lamont Butler had three steals, four rebounds and four assists.
For Alabama, top-five NBA Draft prospect Brandon Miller scored nine points with 11 rebounds but committed six turnovers and shot three-of-19 from the field, including one-of-10 from three-point range.
Crimson Tide guard Mark Sears scored 16 points with 10 rebounds but shot none-of-five from beyond the arc.
"Everybody is really disappointed in the loss," Alabama coach Nate Oats said. "It ended too soon."
Midwest regional top seed Houston were also eliminated in the Sweet 16 on Friday after losing 89-75 to Miami.
Hurricanes guard Nijel Pack led the way with 26 points including seven-of-10 three-pointers as Miami made 11 of their first 22 attempts from beyond the arc.
Miami will take on Midwest second seed Texas in the Elite Eight after the Longhorns won ___ over the Xavier Musketeers, with Tyrese Hunter scoring a team-high __ points with __-of-__ three-pointers.
South regional six seed Creighton defeated Princeton 86-75 to set up a Elite Eight meeting with SDSU, after Ryan Kalkbrenner and Baylor Scheierman scored 22 and 21 points respectively.
World number one Carlos Alcaraz wasted no time in advancing to the Miami Open third round with a straight-sets win over Facundo Bagnis in just 64 minutes, while 13th seed Alexander Zverev suffered an early exit on Friday.
Reigning US Open champion Alcaraz eased past Bagnis 6-0 6-2, firing 12 winners and three aces for the match, committing only 11 unforced errors.
The Spaniard won the first set in 24 minutes, marking the first time he has won an opening frame 6-0 at an ATP Masters 100 event. It was also the first bagel he has dished out since beating Bagnis in Umag last year.
"I knew that I needed to be focused for my first match," Alcaraz said after his win, having triumphed in Indian Wells last week. "To start a new tournament is never easy, different conditions.
"I have to be ready to get used to these new conditions, but I was really focused on the match from the beginning, and I'm happy with the way that I played. I try to improve every day."
Alcaraz will face Dusan Lajovic after he beat 30th seed Maxime Cressy 6-4 7-6 (7-2), having knocked off Andy Murray in the first round.
Zverev was the highest seed to bow out on Friday, going down 6-0 6-4 to Japan's Taro Daniel, who beat world number four Casper Ruud last month in Acapulco.
Daniel triumphed in 73 minutes against the German, hitting 17 winners and committing only two unforced errors for the match, while Zverev gave up 18.
The Japanese wild card will meet Emil Ruusuvuori in the third round after the Finn beat 22nd seed Roberto Bautista Agut 6-4 7-6 (7-5) to open up that section of the draw.
Third seed Ruud also had few problems getting past Ilya Ivashka 6-2 6-3 to set up a clash with Botic van de Zandschulp after his three-set win over Alexei Popyrin.
Sixth seed Andrey Rublev overcame J.J. Wolf 7-6 (7-3) 6-4, having been broken in the opening game of what was a tight contest.
Jannik Sinner beat Laslo Djere 6-4 6-2, marking his 16th win out of 20 appearances at the Sunshine Double (Indian Wells and Miami), with only three other players – Novak Djokovic, Alcaraz and Hubert Hurkacz – having as many wins within their first 20 matches.
Ninth seed Taylor Fritz defeated fellow American Emilio Nava 6-4 6-1, and will face Denis Shapovalov in round three after he beat Guido Pella 6-3 3-6 6-3.
American 16th seed Tommy Paul came from a set down to beat Marc-Andrea Huesler 5-7 6-3 6-4, while seventh seed Holger Rune beat Martin Fucsovics 6-3 7-5.
Top 10 seeds Ons Jabeur, Caroline Garcia and Maria Sakkari were all eliminated in a day of upsets in the Miami Open second round on Friday.
Qualifier Varvara Gracheva earned her first career top-five win by beating 2022 Wimbledon and US Open finalist Jabeur 6-2 6-2 in only 67 minutes.
Fifth seed Caroline Garcia also crashed out, losing 6-2 6-3 to 74th-ranked Sorana Cirstea, having also recently beaten the Frenchwoman at Indian Wells.
Bianca Andreescu came from a set down to beat seventh seed Maria Sakkari 5-7 6-3 6-4 in a match that lasted over three hours.
Andreescu displayed some of the form that saw her lift the 2019 US Open title, fighting back from a set down and proving composed in the big moments.
The Canadian, who is ranked 31st, will take on 2020 Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin in the third round.
Second seed Aryna Sabalenka had few problems against Shelby Rogers, winning 6-4 6-3 in one hour and 17 minutes. Sabalenka will next face 31st seed Marie Bouzkova.
The 2023 Australian Open champion has won 65 main draw matches in WTA-1000 events, which equals Marion Bartoli and Ashleigh Barty at the 30th place since 2009 for the most wins at this level.
Indian Wells winner Elena Rybakina beat Anna Kalinskaya 7-5 4-6 6-3, and Petra Kvitova eased past compatriot Linda Noskova 6-3 6-0.
Ninth seed Belinda Bencic dropped just two games as she cruised past Leylah Fernandez 6-1 6-1, and will face Ekaterina Alexandrova next as the 18th seed needed three to get past Taylor Townsend.
Veronika Kudermetova was eliminated by Marketa Vondrousova 6-4 6-2, who goes up against Karolina Pliskova in round three after she eased past Wang Xinyu in straight sets.
Jon Rahm was the major casualty from the WGC Match Play on Friday as Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy and Patrick Cantlay all advanced with perfect records.
The Spanish second seed was dumped out after losing 5 and 4 to 2021 WGC Match Play winner Billy Horschel in their final Group 2 match at the Austin Country Club in Texas.
Horschel went 1-up with a par on the second hole and never relinquished the lead, with Rahm failing to register a birdie throughout the day's play.
The 36-year-old American pulled away with birdies on the 10th and 11th holes followed by a 21-foot birdie putt on the 14th to clinch a spot in the round of 16 against Cameron Young.
Horschel progressed in a tight group with a 2-0-1 record ahead of Rickie Fowler (2-1-0), Rahm (1-2-0) and Keith Mitchell (0-2-1).
Top seed and reigning champion Scheffler advanced after beating Tom Kim 3 and 2 to round out a 3-0-0 group stage record.
Kim came out strong with birdies on the first two holes to go 2-up, but Scheffler rallied back immediately winning three of the next four holes.
Third seed McIlroy topped Group 3 unblemished after beating Keegan Bradley 3 and 2, while fourth seed Cantlay beat Brian Harman 2 and 1 to top Group 4 with a 3-0-0 record.
Kurt Kitayama won a three-way sudden death playoff over Tony Finau and Adrian Meronk to progress atop Group 10.
Canadian Mackenzie Hughes produced an upset to advance via Group 12 from Taylor Montgomery who he beat 6 and 4. Jordan Spieth, who beat Hughes on Thursday, missed out after losing to Shane Lowry 2 and 1.
J.J. Spaun also pulled off a surprise by topping Group 11 with a 3-0-0 record, downing Min Woo Lee 2 and 1 to seal his progress.
Max Homa, Xander Schauffele, Andrew Putnam, Matt Kuchar, Sam Burns, Lucas Herbert, J.T. Poston, Jason Day and Young also all progressed into Saturday's last 16 knockout stage.
Englishman Matt Wallace leads the Corales Puntacana Championship by one stroke at the halfway point ahead of American pair Sam Stevens and Wyndham Clark.
Wallace, who was third after the first day, carded a second-round six-under-par 66 on Friday to be 11-under overall at the picturesque Puntacana Resort's Corales Golf Course in the Dominican Republic.
The 32-year-old Englishman has never won a PGA Tour event but has a golden opportunity with most of the world's top-ranked players competing at the WGC Match Play.
Wallace's second round was bogey free, carding birdies in four of his final six holes to claim the lead, with early leaders Brice Garnett and Ben Martin scoring 70 and 72 to slip down the leaderboard.
Stevens and Clark are 10-under overall, with the former managing eight birdies with one bogey in his seven-under round.
Clark also carded a seven-under 65, including an eagle on the par-five fourth hole to help launch his surge up the leaderboard.
Tyler Duncan, Akshay Bhatia, Nicolaj Hojgaard and Garnett, who won the event in 2018, are all tied for fourth at eight-under overall. Bhatia carded the best round of the day, with a nine-under 63.
Lane Johnson's goal is to retire as a member of the Philadelphia Eagles, and he now looks destined to achieve that aim by signing a one-year extension.
The All-Pro right tackle inked an extension worth $33.445million, and includes $30m guaranteed.
It will keep the 32-year-old under contract through the 2026 season.
"My whole goal is to retire an Eagle," Johnson said on Friday.
"That's what I'm going to do. I'm just excited to be here, be as fortunate as I am to be with one team for as long as I have.
"I love this game and, more importantly, I love the people and the coaches that I'm with every day and that's why I love the game so much."
Johnson is a two-time first-team All-Pro and four-time Pro Bowler who has started 127 games in a stellar career.
Having won Super Bowl LI with the Eagles in 2017, the 2013 fourth overall pick helped Philadelphia to Super Bowl LVII last season, where they lost 38-35 to the Kansas City Chiefs.
In 2022, his aggregate win rate across pass protection and run blocking of 78.26 per cent was ninth among all tackles, according to Stats Perform data.
Luka Doncic has been fined $35,000 after making "an inappropriate and unprofessional gesture" towards an official.
With just 1.7 seconds to go of the 127-125 defeat to the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday, the Dallas Mavericks star rubbed his fingers together at a referee, appearing to reference money.
One piece of fortune for Doncic was that he was not given a technical foul for the gesture, with the Slovenian just one shy of the 16 required for a one-game suspension.
However, the NBA confirmed on Friday that Doncic will be fined for the incident.
Mavericks owner Mark Cuban wrote on Twitter after the game that they will protest what he called the "worst officiating non-call mistake possibly in the history of the NBA".
Dallas' objections are based on a referee call that led to Warriors center Kevon Looney scoring an uncontested dunk to make it 90-87 from a Jordan Poole inbound pass with 1:54 left in the third quarter following a Mavericks timeout.
The Mavericks believed they had possession of the ball, and so were not in position for the inbound, with Cuban claiming that was due to a miscommunication by the referees.
Markquis Nowell said the back-and-forth clash between the Kansas State Wildcats and the Michigan State Spartans in Thursday's Sweet 16 round at the NCAA Tournament was "like a Rocky fight."
Nowell starred as the Wildcats won 98-93 in overtime, recording 19 assists to break the tournament record for a single game.
The five-foot-eight guard has 64 points, 42 assists and 11 steals in his three outings so far, with the last division one college basketball or NBA player to reach all of those numbers over any three-game span being Allen Iverson in 2005.
"It was like a 'Rocky' fight," Nowell said about the game, which saw 16 lead changes and neither team ever holding a double-figure lead.
Nowell's 19 assists were complimented by 20 of his own points, joining Chris Paul and James Harden as the only players from either division one college basketball or the NBA in the last 10 years to put up a game of at least 20 points, 15 assists and five steals.
And he attributed his success to his team-mates, with the Wildcats setting up an Elite 8 clash with the Florida Atlantic Owls on Saturday.
"We're at our best when we're sharing the ball, passing the ball around the perimeter and different guys is getting into double figures in the scoring category," Nowell said. "I wouldn't have 19 assists if they didn't make any shots."
He produced a stunning alley-oop pass to Keyontae Johnson late in the game, and Johnson heaped praise on Nowell, especially after sustaining an ankle injury during the second half that still did not slow him down.
"He's our starting point guard," he said. "His IQ, his feel for the game, he brings everybody confidence, and when he came back... everybody saw how he was trying to fight through his injury, and we just wanted to fight back for him."
Coco Gauff loves the inner "dog" in Jimmy Butler's basketball game and hopes the Miami Heat star saw plenty to admire about her own tenacity as she made a positive start at the Miami Open.
Winning 6-4 6-3 against Canadian Rebecca Marino got Gauff off the mark at this fortnight's WTA 1000 tournament, with the 19-year-old American very much at home in Florida.
Butler was watching at courtside, and the 33-year-old was so close Gauff could hardly ignore his presence.
"I mean, he was right next to my towels. I had no choice but to see him," Gauff said.
Gauff is a fan of the Heat, so to be watched by six-time NBA All-Star Butler was flattering for the teenager.
She is a high achiever herself, reaching the French Open final last year and setting up camp in the WTA top 10 rankings, so there was mutual respect, and the pair met up after Thursday's match.
"It was really cool because I love watching the Heat, they're my team. He has just that mentality, that dog in him, something that I really admire a lot," Gauff said. "I always do that when I'm on the court, but I was, like, I hope he sees that in me."
Gauff also spoke about having met players from the Buffalo Bills, the NFL franchise owned by world number three Jessica Pegula's parents.
"They might have been here for Jess, but I'm glad they stayed to watch my match," Gauff said.
Pegula beat Katherine Sebov in the match directly after Gauff's clash on the Stadium court.
Gauff said it was a "privilege" to be watched by fellow sports stars.
"I think it means more than maybe an actor or singer watching me, because it's like, as an athlete, finding the time to appreciate other sports is really hard," she said. "For them to want to do that, especially for a sport like tennis, which generally most of them don't understand, is really cool."
Gauff next faces Anastasia Potapova, the Russian player who beat Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk at the last-64 stage.
That match was notable largely for Kostyuk's refusal to shake hands afterwards with Potapova, a player who earlier this month was warned by the WTA for wearing a Spartak Moscow jersey at Indian Wells.
Russian and Belarusian players are competing under a neutral flag on the WTA Tour this season, amid the continuing invasion of Ukraine.
Mercedes are missing the influence of Niki Lauda amid their ongoing struggles, team principal Toto Wolff said.
Three-time champion Lauda held a non-executive chairman role with Mercedes until his death in 2019 and played an integral role during the team's dominant years in Formula One.
That spell at the top now seems a million miles away, having conceded the Constructors' Championship to Red Bull last season when they won just a single race.
Mercedes' struggles look set to continue in 2023 after failing to get on the podium in either of the first two races of the season in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, where Red Bull dominated.
While the team are in need of development upgrades to close the gap on their rivals, Wolff outlined why the absence of Lauda is also a hindrance.
"Niki's missed all those years because Niki always simplified things to really what mattered," he said.
"I'm having to think what would he have said, and how would he have positioned [things], and the two of us worked well together in that sense that sometimes oversimplification can lead you straight to the results.
"But there are lots of nuances. This is a technical sport, so maybe my role was to translate it in a way that we actually were able to execute it in the car design.
"But this is very simple: the stopwatch never lies, and we see on the data where we are missing and that needs to be corrected."
Top seed Chris Binnie got off to a strong start at the Jamaica Squash Association's senior trials defeating the number-five seed Bruce Burrowes in straight sets 11-9, 11-9 and 11-8 at the Liguanea Club in Kingston on Thursday.
As the scores indicate, all three sets were competitive with Burrowes enjoying the lead over Binnie briefly in each set but was not able to convert any to a win.
"Good game. I think that shows, you come, you have to play and everyone is competitive and today he (Burrowes) took it to me and it was really close so I am happy to get a 3-0 win and I am looking forward to tomorrow (Friday)," said the nine-time Caribbean men’s singles champion.
"When you start playing events, you want to get that first win under your belt, you want to get that first match done with as well so little nerves to start getting used to the court. I am not based here so the courts I play on are a lot colder so getting used to all of that. I am super happy with how it ended. Hopefully tomorrow (Friday) I can be a little bit better and hopefully get another win."
Despite the loss, Burrowes was not unhappy with his play.
"Chris is a top notch player; Caribbean national player, Caribbean top player, top national player. He is definitely of a different level than the local boys that I am able to train with here but I was able to hold my own against him in the game with points 11-9, 11-9, 11-8,” he said.
“That's not bad even though it’s a 3-0 loss. (I) just have to move on to the next match. Wish Chris all the best in the rest of his matches and just hope that Jamaica can put together our strongest team of these trials."
The trials opened with number-four seed Dane Schwier defeating the number-six seed Stephan Morrison in straight sets.
Meanwhile, reigning national champion and number-two seed Julian Morrison beat the U19 champion and number-seven seed Tobias Levy 3-0.
The four-day trials to select Jamaica's team to the upcoming PanAm Games in June and the Senior Caribbean Squash Championship in August, continue on Friday with matches starting at 6:00 pm at the Liguanea Club.
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