Until just a few years ago, the quiet community of Peyia on the western coast of Cyprus was known mainly for its banana plantations.
Over the past decade, however, the area has undergone a rapid transformation, driven largely by developments involving foreign investors, many of whom are Russian.
The most emblematic project of the development of this coastal community is the Cap St Georges complex, a luxury resort that includes a hotel and hundreds of beachfront villas.
Between March 28 and April 16, this high-end resort hosted some of the world’s greatest chess players, who gathered there to compete in the 2026 FIDE Candidates Tournament and the FIDE Women’s Candidates Tournament.
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Grandmasters descended on Cyprus
These elite players were vying for the right to challenge the reigning world champions.
The 2026 FIDE Candidates Tournament and the FIDE Women’s Candidates Tournament were held at the luxury Cap St Georges Hotel and Resort in PeyiaImage: Loucianos Lyritsas/DW
Among them were elite grandmasters such as Fabiano Caruana, Hikaru Nakamura, Anish Giri, Matthias Blübaum and 20-year-old Javokhir Sindarov of Uzbekistan, who emerged as the tournament’s standout performer and eventual winner.
His victory earned him the right to challenge reigning World Champion Gukesh Dommaraju for the world title.
Winner of the Women’s Candidates Tournament was 24-year-old Vaishali Rameshbabu of India, who will challenge the reigning Women’s World Champion, Ju Wenjun.
Candidate’s withdrawal
The tournament took place within a broader international context that cannot be overlooked.
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Ongoing tension and instability in the Middle East had a direct and tangible effect on the event itself. India’s Koneru Humpy withdrew from the Women’s Candidates Tournament, citing serious safety concerns connected to the evolving regional situation.
In a statement posted on X, she emphasized that “no tournament, no matter how important it may be, can take precedence over personal safety and well being.” She pointed to regional instability and disruptions to international travel as the main reasons behind her decision to step away from the competition.
Following her withdrawal, Humpy was replaced by Ukrainian Grandmaster Anna Muzychuk, who stepped into the lineup in her place.
20-year-old Javokhir Sindarov of Uzbekistan (left) was the tournament’s standout performer and eventual winner. He is pictured here with Canadian-American chess player and content creator Zachary SaineImage: Loucianos Lyritsas/DW
The war has led to sweeping sanctions against Russia across international sport — and chess has been no exception.
Following decisions by the International Chess Federation (FIDE), Russian players have been required to compete under a neutral flag in official competitions, without national symbols, anthems or federation representation.
As a result, Russian players Andrey Esipenko and Aleksandra Goryachkina took part in the tournament under the FIDE flag.
‘Little Russia’ in Limassol
Despite the absence of Russian national symbols, the Russian presence in the tournament environment was still strong, especially in the audience.
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As Vlad, a chess enthusiast, explained to DW, chess has always been very important in Russia. “My parents learned it at school,” he said, showing how deeply rooted the game is in Russian culture and education.
When asked whether he had come from Russia to watch the tournament, he replied with a smile: “From Little Russia: Limassol.”
Vlad was referring to the most cosmopolitan city in Cyprus, situated on the island’s southern coast, where the Russian presence is especially strong and highly visible.
The 16 elite players at the tournaments were vying for the right to challenge the reigning world champions. Pictured here: information panels featuring the images of five-time World Chess Champions Magnus Carlsen and Viswanathan AnandImage: Loucianos Lyritsas/DW
It is estimated that around 40,000 Russian-speakers live on the island overall. The wider figure is even higher when dual nationals and long-term residents are taken into account.
Limassol has become the main center of the Russian-speaking community in Cyprus: More than 30,000 are believed to be based there alone.
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Why Cyprus?
Cyprus’s Russian community began to grow after the collapse of the Soviet Union and continued in the decades that followed, driven by investment opportunities, real estate development and Cyprus’s attractive tax and residency framework.
Today, the Russian-speaking community forms an important part of life in the city, with a visible presence in business, education and everyday social activity.
The strong presence of the Russian-speaking community on the island may also explain FIDE’s decision to host the tournament in Cyprus — even though chess does not traditionally attract particularly strong interest among locals.
Although FIDE is an international governing body with members from over 190 national federations, Russia has historically held considerable influence within the chess world due to its deep-rooted connection to the game.
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Sofia was one of several Russian volunteers working at the tournamentImage: Loucianos Lyritsas/DW
Sofia, who is currently studying maths at the Cyprus University of Technology in Limassol as part of an exchange program, was one of several Russian volunteers working at the tournament.
She too told DW that chess is deeply embedded in both Russian education and culture, with many people learning the game from a very young age.
This strong cultural connection is one of the reasons she chose to volunteer for the Candidates Tournament and, she said, why there are many Russian employees and contributors within FIDE.
The choice of Cyprus as a location certainly seems to have appealed to winner Javokhir Sindarov.
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When asked at the press conference following his victory where he would like the World Championship match to take place, he replied that, if it were up to him, he would choose a warm country like Cyprus, adding that he would not like to play such an important match in cold conditions.
The speculation over who Conor Benn may work with moving forward has come to an end after he put pen to paper on a new deal.
It came as a shock earlier this year when it was announced that Benn had left Eddie Hearn and Matchroom in order to join forces with Dana White’s Zuffa Boxing.
That meant ‘The Destroyer’ was a free agent at the conclusion of that fight and was able to negotiate with other promoters, though former long-term promoter Hearn has continued to doubt whether that was the case.
It hasn’t taken long for Benn’s future to be decided, after it was confirmed that the British star will continue to work with Zuffa and White after signing a new multi-fight promotional deal with the company.
CONOR BENN IS BACK 🥊
It’s official! @ConorNigel has signed a NEW deal with Zuffa Boxing!
With his new deal in place, Benn shared his delight at the announcement.
“Just signed a new multi-fight deal [that] I’m very excited about. Our visions are aligned. Our goal remains the same. Let’s get that world title and more importantly give people the fights that they want, give people the mega fights. If you guys want it you guys can get it.”
White also spoke out on the deal.
“Conor and I just signed a new deal here after his one fight deal. We’re excited to have him. We’re ready to put on some big fights. Welcome to Zuffa Boxing Conor Benn.”
“To go and get promotion automatically as a non-parachute [payment] team with three games to go… these boys have managed to achieve something special and unique,” Lampard told Sky Sports.
“This is what it’s about. Coming here and getting a point at this stage isn’t easy.”
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He added: “Doing this after 25 years… wow.
“The resilience to come back after losing in the play-offs (last season to Sunderland). We spoke in the summer about what we could do this season and whether we could finish third or fourth to get a home play-off in the second game which we didn’t do last year.
“It’s such a good feeling that the boys have managed to get it over the line.”
The former Chelsea and England midfielder, 47, took over at the CBS Arena in November 2024 for his first job outside the top flight since a season at Derby in 2018-19.
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An emotional Lampard, who also credited the “incredible” job his predecessor Mark Robins had done, said he had “fallen in love” with the club during his time in the Midlands and ranked leading Coventry back to the top flight alongside his many accolades as a player.
“I’m proud of myself and the staff,” he said.
“We came into a bit of an unknown 15 or so months ago when we arrived in a people carrier.
“We’ve fallen in love and this is right up there with what I have achieved.
Barrier 11 has trainer Chris Waller pondering if Jokers Grin should begin his autumn in the Hall Mark Stakes at Randwick or adhere to the backup plan of going directly north to Queensland.
This former Perth flyer was last fifth across the line in the Group 1 Winterbottom Stakes (1200m) of November and lines up for a stable debut in Saturday’s Hall Mark Stakes (1200m), the autumn carnival’s last hurrah.
Waller intends to evaluate the drawback of the outer gate before deciding, aware that the five-year-old gelding previously conquered wide positions in the prior year’s The Quokka (1200m) and Colonel Reeves Stakes (1100m) from Ascot.
“His draw isn’t very good, but his owners were quick to point out he has run some really good races from wide draws, and he is a ‘get-back’ horse,” Waller said.
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“I’ll have a good look at the field and the race, and if we think he’s a genuine winning chance or top three chance, we’ll be running him.
“If I think he needs another two weeks based on the set up of the race, we might wait two weeks. But at this stage he’s running.”
The Sydney autumn program wasn’t the initial pathway for Jokers Grin, who was destined for Brisbane races alone.
“We intended to go to Queensland with him for a Group Two race in two weeks’ time, but he is come up a bit quicker than I thought, which is good,” Waller said.
“I think he can get to a race like the Doomben 10,000 and Kingsford Smith. They’re my two target races, and then hopefully he’s done enough to show he can get ready for the good ones in the spring.”
Waller noted Jokers Grin’s seamless settling in, with light handling during barrier trials.
Encouragement comes from his edge over stablemate Generosity in the Quokka where she was third, later winning Challenge Stakes (1000m) and running close fifth in Group 1 Galaxy (1100m).
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“It’s good form. Even Generosity has form around him too, and she has come over and franked that form,” Waller said.
Waller’s history with WA stars features Come Play With Me taking the 2019 Metropolitan (2400m) and Arcadia Queen the Theo Marks Stakes (1300m), securing a 2019 The Everest (1200m) spot.
Discover top online bookmakers offering value on the 2026 Hall Mark Stakes featuring Jokers Grin.
Canelo Alvarez’s longtime trainer and manager, Eddy Reynoso, has effectively dismissed the likes of David Benavidez and Dmitry Bivol as potential opponents.
This will mark his first assignment since losing a unanimous decision to Terence Crawford, who relieved him of his undisputed crown in September 2025.
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It was an exceptional performance that saw Crawford move up two weight divisions and dethrone Alvarez, shortly before calling time on his glittering career.
But now, it appears that Canelo is determined to reclaim at least one of his major titles at 168lbs, with WBC champion Christian Mbilli representing a possible option.
Two fighters that have been removed from the equation, meanwhile, are Benavidez and Bivol, the respective WBC and unified world champions at 175lbs.
Since losing a unanimous decision to Bivol in 2022, Canelo has repeatedly expressed an openness to enter a light-heavyweight rematch with the Russian.
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As for Benavidez, who challenges unified cruiserweight champion Gilberto Ramirez on May 2, Alvarez has been far less vocal about their much-talked about encounter.
Team Canelo, however, have now reached a stage where neither champion is included in their plan, as Reynoso has told Elie Seckbach that the 35-year-old will instead remain at 168lbs.
As mentioned, WBC champion Mbilli seems like the frontrunner, while the winner of Hamzah Sheeraz vs Alem Begic – which takes place for the vacant WBO title on May 23 – could also emerge as a potential option for Alvarez.
Finn Balor will be in action against Dominik Mysterio at WrestleMania 42. The latter has admitted that he also has demons of his own that he plans on introducing.
The feud between Mysterio and Balor officially began after the former Universal Champion was booted out of The Judgment Day. Mysterio blamed Balor after he lost the Intercontinental Championship to Penta.
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Appearing at the WrestleMania 42 Kickoff Show, Mysterio admitted that he was initially cautious of The Demon, but then got reminded of his own demons. He even stated that Balor has never gone face-to-face with his former stablemate’s demon.
“I was a bit cautious of the Demon… then I remembered who I am. I’m Dirty Dom. Finn Balor has never gone face-to-face with my Demon. I’ve got a few demons of my own.” Mysterio said.
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Finn Balor thinks that WrestleMania 42 will be very painful for Dominik Mysterio
Finn Balor will be out for revenge against Dominik Mysterio at WrestleMania 42. The veteran has warned “Dirty” Dom and admitted that he shouldn’t have trusted Mysterio in the first place.
Speaking on ESPN, Balor said that he couldn’t describe in words regarding The Demon’s return to WWE, but he will make sure that WrestleMania 42 turns out to be “very painful” for Mysterio. Balor said:
“It is not something that I can really describe in words. It is a feeling. It is an emotion. It is an energy. And it is something that I can only tap into very occasionally. It can be very draining. But trust me, it is going to be very painful for Dominik Mysterio,”
Mysterio is the reigning AAA Mega Champion and still has one title around his waist. For a very long time, he was a double champion before dropping the Intercontinental Championship to Penta.
Last year at WrestleMania 41, Mysterio won the Intercontinental Championship for the first time by winning a Fatal Four-Way Match, also involving Balor.
VANCOUVER – Authority, like water, flows downward.
In the history of the National Hockey League, a general manager has never fired a president.
Sometimes an owner may fire both. But since Luigi Aquilini’s family, which owns the Vancouver Canucks, still trusts Jim Rutherford to preside over the entirety of hockey operations, there was an inevitability to Thursday’s dismissal of general manager Patrik Allvin after one of the worst National Hockey League seasons in franchise history.
Widely varying insider reports in recent weeks had the Canucks poised to fire everybody — or nobody. But as the team burned to the ground in mid-winter, the most likely scenario was always that Rutherford, the Hockey Hall-of-Famer, would stay, and Allvin, his hand-picked, first-time GM, would go.
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Head coach Adam Foote? Well, Rutherford said during his enthralling press conference Friday that the next general manager will eventually decide on the coaching staff — and almost everything else in hockey-ops.
Assistant general manager Ryan Johnson, a holdover from previous GM Jim Benning’s regime who impressed Rutherford long before Johnson built the Canucks’ minor-league team into a Calder Cup champion, is the frontrunner to replace Allvin.
As with the probable dismissal of Allvin, the potential promotion of Johnson has been whispered about for months.
Rutherford told reporters the Canucks did not refuse the Nashville Predators’ permission to interview Johnson for their own vacant GM job. Because they never asked.
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“Somebody made that story up,” he said.
And no, the Canucks won’t grant permission for Johnson to talk to other teams until Rutherford concludes his own GM search.
In the meantime, Rutherford told Allvin, highly respected around the NHL for his scouting and player-development chops, that he is welcome to stay with the Canucks in a lesser capacity.
“I’ll give him a little time to make that decision,” Rutherford said. “It’s very emotional now.”
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Other than the marketing impossibility of bringing back everyone after a 58-point season in which the Canucks won nine of 41 home games for their season-ticket holders, there wasn’t any one reason to fire Allvin.
Even if you aggregated the reasons, listing all of management’s biggest errors over the last four years, it would still be difficult to separate Allvin from Rutherford for blame.
This reality was not lost on Rutherford Friday.
“I think that’s a fair comment,” Rutherford said. “In my position, I do have to make some decisions, but he was in charge of most of the things in hockey, making the trades and deciding who’s getting called up and down, and working with the coach and all those things. (But) I take full responsibility for the season. I head up the hockey department, but I don’t make decisions for other people. And Patrik had the opportunity to make his own decisions.”
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Asked near the end of his 33-minute press conference to grade himself, Rutherford said: “I’m not going to put a letter on it. I’m telling you that I’m disappointed. And, you know, I’m disappointed that I couldn’t have done a better job in some areas and made this work a little bit quicker. But I will say we’ve dealt with some situations over the last couple of years that I did not expect to deal with when I came here, and we’ve worked our way through it. They’re behind us now, and I don’t foresee any of those big issues to deal with going forward. So the team should be OK.”
Interestingly, the 77-year-old president also made it clear he will be less involved in hockey decisions with the next GM. Rutherford mentored and promoted Allvin, 51, when he was managing the Pittsburgh Penguins to a pair of Stanley Cups a decade ago.
And four years ago, shortly after Canucks managing owner Francesco Aquilini showed up on Rutherford’s doorstep in Raleigh, N.C., and convinced him to come out of “retirement,” Rutherford poached Allvin from the Penguins and made him the first Swedish general manager in the NHL.
“He’s a friend of mine,” Rutherford said. “I think Patrik’s a great hockey guy, but we felt it was time to make a change and give somebody else the opportunity to sit in that chair.
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“Quite frankly, I had a lot of sleepless nights, and I thought a lot about this in many different ways. It wasn’t easy, and it took me a long time to get to this point.”
As for the working dynamics Rutherford envisions with his next GM, he said: “I’m available for somebody, to anybody, in the organization to ask me questions, ask me for help. But I want the new GM to make all hockey decisions. Now, he may not make decisions about the practice rink because nobody wants to make that decision… or where training camp is or some of the things that a president would do. But as for hockey… he will make those decisions.”
Candid and unvarnished as always, Rutherford dropped a bunch of news grenades during his press conference.
• On $92.8-million centre Elias Pettersson, who just had his second straight 15-goal season: “It’s the same as anything people do in life; preparation is the key to success. And I don’t believe he’s put enough preparation in at this point to be the player he needs to be. But he’s young enough, he’s capable of doing it, and if he does the things he’s told to do, he has a chance to succeed here. But if he doesn’t, you know, the GM is going to have to make a decision.”
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• Discussing the urgency to trade Quinn Hughes in December, which turned the organization sharply towards a rebuild, Rutherford effectively fed the former captain into a wood-chipper: “Some people think Quinn left here because the team wasn’t any good; he was leaving anyways, OK? The best example I can give you is Matthew Tkachuk. He was in Calgary. They had a good team. He wanted to go back to the U.S. and he went. And this is not going to be the last guy, Quinn Hughes, that decides he’s going to leave. And I think I’m close to him; I really like him. I respect what he did in Vancouver. He put on a good show for a lot of years. But guys work towards free agency, and we should respect the fact that he had that option.”
• Rutherford reiterated how poor the Canucks’ dressing-room culture had been, and praised the new one forming since the team came together after the March 6 trade deadline: “It was really bad. The chemistry and the culture in the Canucks dressing room over the last five weeks is the best it’s been since I’ve been here. This team has a chance to move forward, and let every player enjoy coming to the rink and not have to worry about somebody barking at them in practice or picking on them in the room or whatnot. This group is tightly knit. (There are) good veterans left here, good mentors, very good young character players, we’ve got a number of good young players coming. So this team is going in the right direction.”
Rutherford expressed gratitude to Canucks fans, who seem to have embraced the early stages of the rebuild and kept Rogers Arena full most nights despite the 25-win season.
He said there will be “no shortcuts” on the rebuild.
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Someone else will have to take over the transition Allvin began, and Rutherford may not be around when it is finished.
“Despite the way things look right now… I believe this organization’s in a very good place to move forward,” Rutherford said. “I feel that I haven’t done as good a job as I would have liked to, and I would have wished we were in a stronger place by now. But look, where I’m at in my life now, I can do whatever I want and be very comfortable. And I like this franchise a lot, and I want to do what’s right for them. So if I feel comfortable that when we have a good, strong person in place and maybe even potentially two people over time, I would feel comfortable making a decision to leave.”
It is the Canucks first rebuild this century, coming 15 years after the team’s last run to a Stanley Cup Final.
Even before news of Allvin’s firing came overnight from a report in Sweden, Friday was scheduled for player exits. There were six formal press conferences involving waves of Canuck players, many thousands of words spoken.
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“I think it’s really important to learn from this year,” veteran goalie Kevin Lankinen said. “We can’t just wrap this thing and move on. We have to sit down and learn — older guys, younger guys, doesn’t matter — because these are the kind of experiences that if you turn them the right way, you can bring fuel for not just next year but for your whole career. Because this is obviously something that we don’t want to go through again.
“You know, the best time to start a change was probably 15 years ago. But the next best time is right now.”
The main event for tonight’s episode of WWE SmackDown has been revealed. This week’s edition of the blue brand will air live from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas and is the final show before WrestleMania 42.
According to a new report from Ringside News, the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal will headline tonight’s episode of WWE SmackDown. Carmelo Hayes won the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal last year. Hayes held the United States Championship for several months but recently dropped it and is not scheduled to compete at WrestleMania 42.
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Who will be the last one standing when The Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal returns TONIGHT on #SmackDown?! 📍: Las Vegas 🎟️: 📺: 8 ET/7 CT on @USANetwork
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Sami Zayn captured the United States Championship from Carmelo Hayes on the March 27 edition of SmackDown and successfully defended the title against the veteran two weeks ago on the blue brand in their rematch. Zayn will be putting the title on the line against Trick Williams at The Show of Shows this weekend.
Cody Rhodes is set to defend the Undisputed WWE Championship against Randy Orton at WrestleMania 42. The American Nightmare will be delivering a message later tonight on SmackDown ahead of their title match.
Tiffany Stratton and Jordynne Grace are also scheduled to compete tonight to determine the number one contender for Giulia’s Women’s United States Championship. Stratton was originally supposed to battle Giulia for the title on SmackDown, but the match was changed ahead of tonight’s show.
WWE legend praises Pat McAfee and claims he has real heat
Wrestling veteran JBL recently suggested that Pat McAfee had real heat with WWE fans after he was inserted into the storyline with Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton.
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Speaking on the Something to Wrestle With podcast, JBL complimented the former NFL punter and stated that fans were talking about him, which meant he had real heat.
“It just blows me away when a guy gets heat like this, people go, ‘Oh, no, no, no. It’s go away heat.’ No, it’s not. You’re talking about it. If it was go away heat, you would not be talking about it because you would not like it. You would not even mention it. It’s real heat. And people look out there, they want to have heels to my fans. They want to have heels, but they want to be in on it,” he said.
You can check out JBL’s comments in the video below:
It will be interesting to see which WWE star wins the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal tonight on SmackDown.
Sanjiv Goenka, the founder of the RPSG Group, has opened up about his ventures in cricket and football during an exclusive chat with NDTV’s CEO and Editor-in-Chief, Rahul Kanwal, in ‘Walk The Talk’. Goenka currently owns the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) franchise in the Indian Premier League (IPL) and also has a majority stake (80%) in the historic football club Mohun Bagan Super Giant, which competes in the Indian Super League (ISL). Speaking to NDTV, Goenka reflected on the contrasting performances of the two teams and how the cricket franchise is yet to ‘crack the code,’ unlike the football club.
“In football, we know what needs to be done, but in cricket, we are still not quite there yet,” said the 65-year-old.
The LSG owner explained that while they addressed the loopholes in the bowling department last season and retained their batting core, the batters have struggled to find their rhythm in the ongoing campaign.
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He also quipped that if he knew the exact formula for success in cricket, he would have implemented it long ago.
“If I knew it, why would I not do it?” he added.
Mohun Bagan Super Giant enjoyed a dream 2024/25 season in the ISL, becoming only the second team to complete a Cup and Shield double.
They had also won the Shield the previous year, though they missed out on the chance to win the Cup final, losing 3-1 to Mumbai City FC.
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LSG, on the other hand, made its entry into the IPL in 2022 after the BCCI expanded the tournament from eight to 10 teams.
While the Lucknow-based franchise qualified for the playoffs in its first two seasons, the past two campaigns have seen the side finish seventh both times.
As far as the current campaign is concerned, LSG incidentally sits seventh with two wins from five matches.
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Delhi vs Mumbai IPL 2026: Fans Flood Arun Jaitley Stadium for High-Voltage Clash
PXG staffer Auston Kim, who averages 290 yards per drive, is one of the LPGA’s longest hitters. And her power dictates a special fit. Recently, I had a chance to get some range time with Kim and PXG LPGA tour manager Scotty Kim and got a look into their process when it comes to getting clubs in her bag.
Here’s what I learned.
The bottom of the bag
Auston Kim started the bag with a 58-degree lob wedge, choosing to play PXG’s 3x Forged Sugar Daddy III wedges and opting for a lower bounce C-Grind offering in the lobber. She said she’s never used a 60-degree wedge because she prefers to chip with the 58 degree. At one point, she played just 52- and 56-degree wedges until a round with Hollis Stacey at a junior tournament.
“She looked at my wedges,” Kim said, “and said, ‘What are you doing?’ So she told me to go 50, 54, 58 and I’ve just stuck with it.” Wise advice.
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She continued the wedge set with a 54- and 50-degree S-Grind, also in the Sugar Daddy III wedges. I thought it was interesting that she chose the lower-bounce C-grind in the lobber, but Scotty Kim gave some insight.
“You know I think for her, with the shots that Auston hits around the green, the C-Grind provides some versatility for her,” he said. “Being able to open it up and still have the right bounce to get through the turf and not get stuck.”
Irons
Auston Kim had the PXG 0317ST irons, which are easily some of the nicest irons that PXG has ever made. It’s an iron that has stood the test of time over the years, and hasn’t been replaced yet by PXG, but we hear there may be something new coming soon. The 0317ST heads are what I would consider a “player’s blade.” It’s a narrow-sole option that’s meant to launch a little bit lower and spin a bit more while providing optimal control for the player.
Auston Kim hits her PXG 0317ST 9-iron during play at Shadow Creek.
David Becker/Getty Images
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Since Kim is a player who hits a cut shot and works the ball with plenty of spin, something like the ST provides her the feel, feedback and launch that she wants to feel in control of the ball. “I’m a stock cutter — I have to see the ball work left to right.” she said. She also talked about a recent iron switch that happened purely because Accra no longer makes her old Accra Tour 90 shafts. She’s now in the Accra TZi 95 iron shafts — it’s a fantastic graphite offering for stronger players looking for more of a ProjectX type of feel.
Long game
Kim really shines once you put some metal woods in her hands, and it starts with the hybrid, the hero of our story here. PXG has always made a really good hybrid. Even through a couple years of some iffy metal woods, the hybrids were always a good standout in the lineup. Kim, however, isn’t exactly the normal hybrid candidate. Hybrids are extremely popular on the LPGA, but a lot of that comes out of a need for speed and launch, not something that Kim concerns herself with. For her, it’s more about confidence.
“Personally, I think that I struggle with hitting the ball high sometimes,” she said. “I know I can get it up there, but the 4-iron just doesn’t look good to me. I’ve tried it a bunch before and I just — I believe that a hybrid has more versatility. I just like the look of this better.”
Even as a high-speed player with plenty of ball-striking prowess, the versatility of a hybrid isn’t lost on Auston’s game.
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We had Kim hit a couple fun shots with her PXG Lightning 4-hybrid, and she hit the nail on the head when she talked about how versatile the club is. Hitting it through all windows is stress-free for Kim, and it gives her the confidence behind the ball that she needs to perform on course. With ball speeds reaching 143 mph, she gets plenty of distance out of the club as well. With her stock shot getting to about 80 feet in the air, I challenged her to hit the ball up to 100 feet and then hit it as low as possible. She hit one to 100.9 feet in the air and hit a low stinger to 21.4 feet. Versatility? Check.
She then followed up the Lightning 4-hybrid with a Lightning Tour 5W and Lighting Tour 3W before jumping to her Lighting Tour driver.
Auston Kim and Scotty Kim worked together last fall when the new Lightning product came out and ended up fitting her into a Lightning Tour 9-degree Driver in the PXG FLAT setting with a Fujikura Ventus Velocore+ Black 5-S. Auston Kim works with plenty of spin, so using their Lightning Tour model helps to control her misses a bit better and makes sure that she’s not over-spinning her stock shot. The Ventus Velocore+ Black shaft helps keep up with her aggressive transition and helps stabilize the head through impact. It’s a setup she has a lot of trust in and has plenty of speed. Ranked fourth in driving distance on the LPGA doesn’t come easy, but clearly Scotty Kim has helped her build up a workhorse here.
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Auston Kim has got PLENTY of power.
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“I already liked Black Ops a lot, and when I first tried the Lightning Tour that was — I mean I saw an immediate jump in ball speed and carry so it was a no-brainer,” Auston Kim said.
Mercedes driver George Russell has claimed that Max Verstappen was not really complaining about F1 cars when he was winning with Red Bull in 2022, as he addressed the possibility of the Dutch driver leaving the sport. The 2026 cars have caused a lot of controversy as the new style of racing has its critics.
The new power units introduced in 2026 with a 50:50 split have led to adverse criticism from one side of the fan group, while the other has maintained a conciliatory tone. The new power unit means that drivers are being forced to drive well within themselves in the high-speed sections and are under-driving their respective cars.
This has led to adverse criticism from drivers, with Max Verstappen, Lando Norris, and Fernando Alonso leading the charge. The other side of the coin has seen George Russell, Lewis Hamilton, and Kimi Antonelli come out in defence of these cars, with claims that these cars end up inducing more wheel-to-wheel action.
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While that is true, Max Verstappen has emerged as the biggest critic of these cars, as the driver’s plight has been made worse by the fact that Red Bull is also struggling at the same time. As this continues, George Russell has weighed in on the matter and given his opinion.
Talking to the media, including Sportskeeda, the Mercedes driver pointed out that Max Verstappen was as vocal when it came to the 2022 cars, even though those cars were also quite stiff on the drivers’ backs and necks.
Russell also pointed out that Verstappen was at a different stage in his career compared to many other drivers, as he had already achieved four titles and would hence want to do stuff that is more fun. He said,
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“Formula 1 is bigger than any driver. So, you know, you wouldn’t want to lose Max because I think we all enjoy racing against Max. And it’s just part and parcel of Formula 1. I didn’t enjoy driving the 22 car when it was porpoising up and down, killing everybody’s backs. The car was big, it was heavy, the high speed corners, it wasn’t very pleasant to drive around. But he didn’t have the same complaint because he was winning.”
He added,
“Now, the complaints that he has currently are different to the complaints of Mercedes, Ferrari and McLaren because we’re at the front end of the grid. And this is only natural, and you do understand and recognise the frustration but he’s achieved what most drivers dream of which is winning a championship. He’s got 4 of them.”
George Russell will understand if Max Verstappen leaves the sport in 2026
Talking about Max Verstappen, George Russell felt that the Dutch driver had already broken most records in F1. He didn’t strike as someone who was pursuing records in his career, and that has never been his aim.
Russell compared where he was in his career and where Max Verstappen was in his career at that point and felt that he could understand if the Red Bull driver decided that it was time to leave the sport at the end of 2026. He said,
“And at the end of the day, I guess you get to a point in life that you want- there’s not really much more for him to achieve in Formula 1. You know, he’s ticked all the boxes, maybe he can go after the records, but knowing him as I do and knowing drivers who have won or achieved similar things; at one point, you want to do what puts a smile on your face. And if driving the Nordschleife- I can totally understand why driving the Nordschleife puts a smile on his face.”
He added,
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“But my goal now is to become a Formula 1 world champion. If I have 4 of them under my belt, I’d probably be doing the same. So, you know, he’s in a very different stage of his career. And yeah, I think you’d understand if he stayed and you’d understand if he weren’t.”
Max Verstappen does have an exit clause in his Red Bull contract in 2026, and if he does appear not to be in the right frame to continue racing, then he might end up taking a sabbatical or retiring from the sport.
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