Browsing: Fourth

October 13, 2025 | Paul Stimpson

England dug deep to defeat fourth seeds Portugal to get their European Championships campaign off to a superb start.

Tom Jarvis, Paul Drinkhall and Sam Walker (pictured above) all won once to leave Portugalâ€s Joao Geraldo empty-handed despite a gutsy double.

The match also answered (at least based on this sample size) the question of whether left-handers or right-handers are best, Englandâ€s righties sinking a trio of Portuguese southpaws.

Geraldo (WR 109) made a blistering start in the first match, going on the attack from the off and winning the first 11-4.

Walker (WR 182) started to counter-attack to good effect in the second, keeping pace with his opponent before saving a game point and then levelling up the match, 12-10.

That pattern of attack and counter-attack continued in the third, Geraldo leading 5-1 but taking his timeout as Walker closed to 7-6 behind. It was nicely poised at 9-9 but it was Geraldo who took the next two.

Walkerâ€s timeout came at 5-2 down in the fourth and he worked his way back to 6-6 with some clever positional play. But he could never get a lead and Geraldo saw it out 11-9.

Jarvis was up against 17-year-old Tiago Abiodun and, for the first time in these championships in either menâ€s or womenâ€s competition, the England player was higher-ranked than their opponent.

It went as expected, Jarvis occasionally trailing by a point or two but always with a measure of control and on top at the end of games as he closed out a 3-0 win, with every scoreline 11-8.

Drinkhall (WR 382) versus Joao Monteiro (WR 221) saw a big gap on paper but perhaps not reflecting the players†true levels.

Monteiro took the first 12-10 and led the second 3-0, at which point Drinkhall took his timeout. Whatever was said, from that moment on, the Englishman was on fire – and at times unplayable. He raced through from 4-6 to 11-6 to level the match, and powered through 11-4 in the third.

The fourth was a bit closer and Monteiro was behind 6-5 when he took his timeout. But Drinkhall was not to be stopped. He brought up match points with a dead net cord – though his brilliant play merited a little reward. He took his second chance as Monteiroâ€s receive went into the net, and England led 2-1.

Match four turned into quite a battle as Geraldo took on Jarvis. After only four points of the match, Geraldo was complaining about the Jarvis serve, and the referee was called.

That came to nothing, though Jarvis was warned later in the game and would go on to have one fault called in the third.

Jarvis won the first 12-10 having saved a game point, but Geraldo hit back to take the second. Jarvis moved back in front, having to contend with a lengthy debate about a wet ball when he went 9-6 up – he ended up winning the replayed point too.

The match arguably turned on the Portuguese timeout in the fourth, taken when 6-5 down. Geraldo won five successive points from then to turn the game around.

Jarvis led the decider 5-2 at the turn-around, took his timeout at 5-4 and trailed 5-7. He worked his way back to 8-8 but Geraldo, bristling with aggression, won the next three points to level the match at 2-2.

And so it came down to Walker versus Abiodun and the Englishman started like a train, leading 8-1 and finally winning the first 11-7 as the youngster clawed back.

Abiodun kept the momentum going, leading 9-6 and then closing it out 11-9 in the second, having taken his timeout at 9-8.

But Walker took charge from 3-3 in the third, opening up a three point gap which he maintained as the players exchanged points to 9-6, and then clinching the game 11-7.

The pattern repeated in the fourth, from 3-3 to 6-3 and then on to 9-6. And two points later it was all over as the England bench leapt to their feet in celebration.

England now play Greece – who lost 3-1 to Portugal yesterday, in the final group match at 9am UK time tomorrow.

On Sunday, Englandâ€s women were defeated 3-0 by seventh seeds and host nation Croatia.

With every Croatia player ranked significantly higher than their English counterparts, it was always a tall order for England to get anything out of the match.

However, Tin-Tin Ho raised hopes of striking an early blow as she took the first game 11-8 against world No 72 Lea Rakovac, fighting back from 6-3 down.

The next two games followed an almost identical pattern as Rakovac forced an early lead and maintained it to the finish line as she got her nose in front.

Ho (WR 247) took her timeout at 1-4 in the fourth but it was to no avail as Rakovac brought up six match points and, although Ho saved two, the Croatian completed her 3-1 victory.

Tianer Yu (WR 290) started a little nervously against Hana Arapovic (WR 111) in match two and lost the first four points. She fought back and at 4-6, could have got into the game – only for her opponent to win the next five points.

The second was tight throughout and Yu was the first to bring up a game point at 10-9. However, the chance could not be taken and Arapovic ruthlessly took her own first chance.

Yu led the third 6-0 but was forced to take her timeout as Arapovic fought back to 6-3. The Croatian led 8-7 and then 10-8. Yu saved the first match point but not the second.

Jasmin Wong (WR 806) had the double challenge of facing a player much higher than her and a defender – Ivana Malobabic (WR 118).

Wong started positively and led 5-2 but again Englandâ€s opponent ruthlessly exposed the gap in class as Malobabic reeled off eight points in a row and went on to win the first 11-7.

Thereafter it was a bit of a procession as a frustrated Wong could only win six points across the remaining two games and Englandâ€s fate was sealed.

Their remaining match in Group G is against Italy, the ninth-ranked team, at noon on Tuesday UK time.

Wales began their campaign with a 3-0 defeat to top seeds Romania in Group A, despite Anna Hursey almost turning around her match against Andreea Dragoman, who eventually won 3-2 (12-10, 11-8, 8-11, 8-11, 11-9). Adina Diaconu bear Charlotte Carey in four in the opening match and Elizabeta Samara completed victory with a 3-0 win over Danielle Kelly.

Coach Carlo Agnello and Tin-Tin Ho and England bench

Results

Womenâ€s Group G
Croatia 3 England 0
Lea Rakovac bt Tin-Tin Ho 3-1 (8-11, 11-7, 11-6, 11-6)
Hana Arapovic bt Tianer Yu 3-0 (11-4, 12-10, 11-9)
Ivana Malobabic bt Jasmin Wong 3-0 (11-7, 11-4, 11-2)

Men’s Group D
England 3 Portugal 2
Joao Geraldo bt Sam Walker 3-1 (11-4, 10-12, 11-9, 11-9)
Tom Jarvis bt Tiago Abiodun 3-0 (11-8, 11-8, 11-8)
Paul Drinkhall bt Joao Monteiro 3-1 (10-12, 11-6, 11-4, 11-7)
Geraldo bt Jarvis 3-2 (10-12, 11-7, 7-11, 11-7, 11-8)
Jarvis bt Adiodun 3-1 (11-7, 9-11, 11-7, 11-6)

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MADRID — Jon Rahm made seven birdies to get back into contention for a fourth title at the Spanish Open on Friday, but fellow Ryder Cup winner Shane Lowry couldn’t fully recover from a poor opening day as he missed the cut.

Rahm’s 5-under 66 put him five shots behind leader Marco Penge of England (67) after the Spaniard had opened with a 72 on Thursday at his home tournament.

Lowry had an even worse start with a 75 in the opening round — two weeks after making the clinching putt to win the Ryder Cup for Europe — and a 68 on Friday wasn’t enough to avoid missing the cut by one stroke.

Penge hit four birdies in a flawless round to sit one shot ahead of a trio made up of Jeff Winther of Denmark, Joel Girbach of Switzerland and Canada’s Aaron Cockerill.

Rahm is tied for 18th. He is trying to surpass Seve Ballesteros as the tournament’s most successful golfer since the creation of the European tour in 1972.

Rahm is making his seventh appearance in Madrid, with his victories coming in 2018, 2019 and 2022. He was runner-up to fellow Spaniard Ãngel Hidalgo in a playoff last year.

Hidalgo won’t be back to challenge Rahm this time after the defending champion missed the cut at three over.

• Associated Press

Oct 4, 2025, 06:11 PM ET

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PHILADELPHIA — Philadelphia Phillies slugger Bryce Harper added to his family lineup when he and his wife, Kayla, welcomed the birth of their fourth child days ahead of Saturday’s playoff opener.

The Harpers shared a joint Instagram post Saturday announcing their fourth child, Hayes Three Harper. The Harpers said their son was born Thursday.

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A post shared by Kayla Harper (@kayy.harper)

“Decided to add more chaos to Red October,” the Harpers captioned the photo.

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A two-time NL MVP, Harper wears No. 3 for the Phillies. He was in the lineup for the Phillies on Saturday for Game 1 of the NL Division Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Harper used a blue bat as part of a gender reveal during a game in April. Harper had ordered two custom-made bats from Victus Sports — one of the bat manufacturers that produced the torpedo bat — in pink for a girl and blue for a boy.

The Harpers already have three young children: a son named named Krew and two daughters, Brooklyn and Kamryn.

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NEW YORK — For three innings in the decisive Game 3 of this American League Wild Card Series against the Yankees, Connelly Early exuded calm in his fifth Major League start, matching zeros with fellow rookie, Yankees righty Cam Schlittler.

But in the fourth inning, the momentum changed and never turned back, beginning with a fly ball to right-center that fell between Ceddanne Rafaela and Wilyer Abreu for a double by Cody Bellinger. Rafaela, who seemed to take a circuitous route, had it tick off his glove.

That was the start of a four-run inning in which Early gave up three more hits, one walk and another misplay in the field — an error by Nathaniel Lowe. Boston was eliminated from the postseason with a 4-0 loss at Yankee Stadium. As it turns out, that inning, along with Schlittlerâ€s utter dominance, was the ballgame.

Given that center fielder Rafaela and right fielder Abreu are two of the best defenders in the Majors at their respective positions, it was a surprising misplay.

Per Statcast, Rafaela had a 90 percent catch probability. Abreu had an 85 percent chance of reeling it in.

But perhaps those numbers donâ€t account for the challenge of two players — both in their second full seasons — participating in the postseason for the first time, and trying to make a play in a venue that reached ear-splitting decibel levels.

“That was a tough play,†Abreu said. “It was in between us. We were playing very deep, so we couldn’t get there.â€

“Itâ€s hard to say, because it was too loud so we couldn’t hear it,†Abreu said.

Asked specifically if he called it, Abreu said, “Not really.â€

“Right there, I just gave my all to catch it,†he said. “I saw Willy maybe didnâ€t have a chance. I just saw he wasnâ€t going to be able to get to it and I dove to catch it.â€

As the inning built, the question was this: How swiftly would manager Alex Cora go to his bullpen? It turned out not nearly as swift as in Game 2, when Cora pulled Brayan Bello after just 28 pitches in a 2-2 game in the bottom of the third in an eventual 4-3 loss.

The lack of execution by two gifted outfielders threw Cora for a bit of a loop. After using six of his nine relievers in Game 2, Cora was hoping Early, ranked as Bostonâ€s No. 6 prospect by MLB Pipeline, could at least get into the fifth.

“We didn’t play defense. The popup drops, there’s a double, and there’s a walk. They didn’t hit the ball hard, but they found holes,†Cora said. “It just happened fast. The kid did a good job. He threw the ball well and induced them to weak contact.â€

Part of Coraâ€s thinking is that the Yankees still had a pocket of lefties due to come up shortly after Amed Rosarioâ€s RBI single broke a scoreless tie.

Other than Rosarioâ€s single, the only other hard-hit ball of the inning off Early was a single by Jazz Chisholm Jr. that loaded the bases with one out.

The final crushing blow of the inning was Lowe trying to backhand a grounder off the bat of Austin Wells and having it tick off his glove as two runs scored.

“I thought I could get to the short hop and I didnâ€t,†Lowe said. “The in-between hop ate me up. Obviously, they got runs cashed in and we couldnâ€t make up for it.â€

After inducing Trent Grishamâ€s flyout to right for the second out in the fourth, Early was taken out and Cora went to righty Justin Slaten to face Yankees captain Aaron Judge.

Considering Early didnâ€t make his MLB debut until Sept. 9, his composure on the hill at Yankee Stadium was impressive, and something he can build on going forward. The 23-year-old allowed six hits in his 3 2/3 innings, along with three runs (just one earned) and one walk to go with six strikeouts.

Lucas Giolito, Bostonâ€s No. 3 starter for most of the season, would have taken the ball in this game if not for an irritated right flexor injury that knocked him out of the postseason. That put the spotlight on Early, who had a 2.33 ERA in four September starts.

“I think just getting this under my belt is huge,†Early said. “Obviously, the Red Sox trusting me to go out there with the ball in a winner-take-all game means a ton to me.â€

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Pep Guardiola lightened the mood on the touchline during Manchester Cityâ€s 1-1 draw with Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium, sharing an unusual moment with fourth official Craig Pawson.

City had taken an early lead through Erling Haalandâ€s ninth-minute strike and looked on course for victory before the Gunners struck back late on.

In the closing stages, Guardiola found himself in a lively exchange with Pawson on the sidelines.

Instead of letting the telling-off get to him, the City boss suddenly leaned in and planted a kiss on Pawsonâ€s cheek. The official stepped back, momentarily startled but with a smile, before resuming his duties, while Guardiola chuckled with his hands on his hips – both clearly seeing the funny side.

Pep Guardiola just kissed the fourth official and he added 7 minutes additional time 😭😭😂😂#ARSMCIpic.twitter.com/oueveR8P8R

— Austine ✪ (@Austinooffical) September 21, 2025

Guardiolaâ€s grin didnâ€t last long, however. Moments later, after Pawson signalled seven minutes of injury time, City conceded deep into stoppage time. Gabriel Martinelli rescued a point for Arsenal, superbly chipping Gianluigi Donnarumma to cancel out Haalandâ€s opener.

The result means Arsenal remain unbeaten in their last five Premier League meetings with City.

Speaking to Sky Sports after the game, Guardiola praised his sideâ€s resilience.

“Today we played against a powerful team,” he said. “Hats off to our team for the resilience. It’s so difficult when you’re not effective with high pressing, it’s always tough in the build-up. We made some transitions. I think the result is fair. In general, Arsenal were better.”

No mention of the kiss, though. Poor Craig Pawson.

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