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3 lakhs and counting! For the first time ever since her transformation, Anaya and her father Sanjay Bangar share the frame; pic goes viralAnaya Bangar (extreme right) with parents on Diwali. Anaya Bangar on Tuesday shared a photo with her father Sanjay Bangar and her family after a long time on Diwali.Anaya shared the photo on Instagram and also penned a heartfelt note: “Light feels different this year — softer, steadier, closer to home.” The photo has gone viral and has already hit 3 lakh likes.Earlier this year, Anaya had revealed that her father had made it clear that she would not be allowed to play cricket in the future.

Indian cricket stars spread Diwali cheer: Kohli, Gill & Bumrahâ€s festive wishes

Click here to check the photo“He was just stating the fact that there’s no place for me in cricket. I had to take a stand for myself. I did get suicidal thoughts as it felt like the entire world was against me, and the decision I took (hormone therapy to become a woman) has now left me with no space in this system,” Anaya had told Lallantop.”Even basic opportunities and rights are no longer there for me. I still had space for myself from the family point of view. But it wasn’t there in society, cricket, or the external world.”Anaya had also revealed how she shared a “complex†relationship with her father.”My relationship with my father is complex, like many families navigating change. I hope that one day he will find a way to stand beside me,” she was quoted as saying by Hindustan Times.Earlier this year, Anaya had also posted on Instagram, where the 24-year-old shared a detailed scientific report to support her case to play cricket.”It began as me wanting to play again, but the more I spoke up, the more I realised that my journey is tied to so many who feel invisible in Indian sport,” Anaya wrote on Instagram.

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“My personal dream and public advocacy have become the same thing now,” she added. “Walking back onto the field, this time as Anaya, wonâ€t just be about playing but reclaiming the right to belong, compete, and dream with dignity.””Well-known cricketers from both the menâ€s and womenâ€s sides have messaged me. Some just sent a heart. Some said, ‘We see you.†It made me emotional. Because in a sport where silence is common, even a whisper of support can feel like thunder,” added Anaya.

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YOKOHAMA, Japan — Max Greyserman and Xander Schauffele shared the top of the leaderboard after Saturday’s third round of the Baycurrent Classic in Japan.

Playing on a rainy day, Greyserman finished with an even-par 71 with Schauffele carding a 67 at the Yokohama Country Club. Both are on 12-under 201.

Greyserman is after his first PGA Tour title — he was second in this event a year ago.

It’s a different story from Schauffele, who could add to his long resume on Sunday. This includes two major championships, a gold medal in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, and numerous other PGA Tour titles.

Schauffele’s mother was born in Taiwan but grew up in Japan. Winning, of course, would be a dream.

“It would be special obviously, my grandparents here, my mom growing up here with her brother as well,†he said. “That’s far away from now, but yeah, to think into the future, it would be an incredible feeling.â€

Greyserman, who has shared or held the lead outright since the first round, described just holding on.

“Obviously I think me and Xander are tied — so I would have liked to push my lead further, play better today and all that stuff, but you’re not going to play great for 72 straight holes,†he said. “The conditions were tough and I didn’t really adapt to the elements that well, but it’s a new day tomorrow.â€

Five players were three strokes back going into the final round including defending champion Nico Echavarria (69), Michael Thorbjornsen (66), Byeong Hun An (66), Garrick Higgo (68), and Si Woo Kim (69).

Baycurrent Classic Presented by LEXUS - Previews

Here are final-round tee times and TV times for the PGA Tour’s event in Japan.

“With these conditions, I’m very proud of the way I fought today to give myself a chance,†Echavarria said, referring to the all-day rain.

It is the only PGA Tour tournament in Japan. The event was moved this year to Yokohama after being played east of Tokyo. It premiered in 2019 and was won by Tiger Woods.

JACKSON, Miss. — Sam Ryder played bogey-free and Danny Walker finished with a pair of birdies, each posting a 7-under 65 to join a four-way tie at the top Thursday and each in need of a good week at the Sanderson Farms Championship.

Eric Cole managed 10 birdies, which helped offset a a double bogey from the trees late in the round, and Garrick Higgo continued to show strides since a torn labrum slowed his progress after a win earlier this year. They also were at 65.

Ryder is at No. 110 in the FedExCup, while Walker is at No. 104. The Sanderson Farms Championship is part of the Fall Series where players who did not reach the PGA Tour’s postseason have to finish in the top 100 to keep their full cards.

“I’m very aware where I’m at. You know it all year,†Ryder said. “You get a text every single week that tells you exactly where you are on FedEx. You can’t hide from it. But it doesn’t dictate my schedule. If I was in a better position I would still like to think that I would be working hard on my game and trying to win and check other boxes.

“Right now I’m trying to play for my status but still trying to play for bigger goals, too.â€

Walker tied for sixth in The Players Championship, but the last five months have been miserable. He showed up at the Country Club of Jackson having missed eight straight cuts to fall out of the top 100.

He bounced back from a soft bogey on the 15th to finish with two straight birdies. Much like Ryder, he’s trying to not get wrapped up in scores and position.

“It’s really hard when you’ve missed a bunch of cuts to not go into a week and all you’re thinking about is hoping you make the cut, and that’s kind of where it got to,†Walker said. “When all you’re thinking about is results … it really got in my head, and I felt like going into this week I finally got in a place where I just wasn’t really worried about that.â€

He had two weeks off because of the Ryder Cup and worked hard at learning to trust his game and see where it takes him.

NCAA champion Michael La Sasso was chasing the leaders until he was assessed a two-shot penalty after his par on the sixth hole. The PGA Tour said he violated Rule 8.1a for improving conditions of the shot he was playing.

It was not clear what he did. A tour official said La Sasso, who is playing on a sponsor exemption, declined to speak to the media.

Mac Meissner at No. 86 in the standings and defending champion Kevin Yu were at 66. Yu won last year to earn a spot in the Masters. Winners of Fall Series events no longer get an automatic invitation to Augusta National.

Rasmus Hojgaard was at 69, coming straight from New York and Ryder Cup victory in his debut for Team Europe. He is at No 87 and now turns his attention toward keeping his card.

“Still a bit low on energy, so I’m going to manage myself the next couple days and hopefully restore some of it,†Hojgaard said.

The city of Anaheim faces an annual deficit projected at $64 million, so every little bit helps. And, because of the Angels†poor play, that is exactly what the city got in ticket revenue from its hometown baseball team this year: just a little bit.

Until Sunday, in fact, the city did not know for certain that it would get even a penny in ticket revenue.

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As part of their lease to play in the city-owned stadium, the Angels are required to pay the city $2 for every ticket sold beyond 2.6 million. On Sunday, the final day of the regular season, the last-place Angels topped that threshold by 15,506. The payment to Anaheim: $31,012.

In better times — amid a run of six postseason appearances in eight years — the city received more than $1 million annually in ticket revenue. The high point: $1,613,580 in 2006, when the team sold a record 3,406,790 tickets.

Although major league teams do not disclose their financial data, Forbes estimated the Angels generated $120 million in ticket revenue last year. The Angels sold 2.58 million tickets last year, so the city received none of that revenue.

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When the city and the Walt Disney Co. — then the owner of the Angels — agreed on that stadium lease in 1996, the 2.6 million figure was largely aspirational. The Angels sold 1.8 million tickets that year. In the previous 30 seasons playing in the stadium, the Angels†attendance had topped 2.6 million only four times.

In 2003, however, Arte Moreno bought the Angels from Disney, inheriting a Cinderella World Series championship team and fortifying it with premier free agents, including Hall of Famer outfielder Vladimir Guerrero and star pitcher Bartolo Colon.

The city first received ticket revenue that year, when the Angels†attendance shot past 2.6 million and topped 3 million. Under Morenoâ€s ownership, the Angels won five division championships in the next six years and sold more than 3 million tickets every year from 2003-2019.

The Angels have not made a postseason appearance in 11 years — the longest drought in the major leagues — and have not posted a winning record in 10 years. Attendance dropped sharply after the pandemic, and Anaheim has received a share of the Angels†ticket revenue only twice in the past six years: this year, and $81,150 in 2023.

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The city does receive revenue from parking and other stadium events, but only after certain thresholds have been reached. Under the lease, ticket sales are the primary driver of city revenue.

The Angels pay no rent under their lease, since Disney paid all but $20 million of a $117-million stadium renovation. The city said it would make its money back from development of the parking lots around the stadium, which has not happened in the three decades since the lease took effect.

Moreno twice has agreed to deals in which he would own the stadium and develop the land around it, but the city backed away both times: in 2014, after then-mayor Tom Tait objected to leasing the land to Moreno for $1 per year; and in 2022, after the FBI taped then-mayor Harry Sidhu saying he would ram a deal through and ask the Angels for a million-dollar contribution in return. (Sidhu was sentenced to prison last March, after signing a plea agreement that specified he had leaked confidential negotiating information to the Angels. The government has not alleged the Angels did anything wrong.)

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In April, current mayor Ashleigh Aitken invited Moreno for a new round of discussions. He made no commitment, and the city subsequently decided to put any talks on hold until the completion of a property assessment designed to determine how many hundreds of millions of dollars would be needed to keep the 1966 stadium viable for decades to come. That study is expected to be concluded next year.

In January, the Angels exercised an option to extend their stadium lease through 2032. They have two other options to extend the lease if they wish: one through 2035, the other through 2038.

Get the best, most interesting and strangest stories of the day from the L.A. sports scene and beyond from our newsletter The Sports Report.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

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Kelsey Surmacz - The Hockey News

Normally, NHL training camp is an all-business kind of affair, and that’s exactly how it’s been at Pittsburgh Penguins’ camp this year.

That is, until a certain Penguins’ legend waltzed into the rink at UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex in Cranberry, Pa. for practice on Friday.

“Itâ€s been a few years, you know?” said Marc-Andre Fleury – the aforementioned Penguins’ legend – after practice. “But it didnâ€t feel like it. Itâ€s so good to see the guys, obviously, and you guys [the media], and other staff members are still the same… so, definitely very fortunate to be able to come back for a couple days.â€

And players, coaches, and media weren’t the only ones who got to see the 40-year-old goaltender – who officially called it a career at the end of his 2024-25 campaign with the Minnesota Wild – take the ice for one last practice.

Fans showed up in droves. Parking lots were full. There was a line outside of the facility prior to the morning skate that preceded practice. There were cheers every time Fleury made a save and groans every time any one of the Penguins’ players scored on him.

There is so much love between Fleury, his teammates, and the city of Pittsburgh, and it’s a bond that hasn’t faded since 2003 – even with an eight-year absence between now and his last appearance as a Penguin in 2017. Ultimately, the chance to play for that bond one last time is what made him want to do it, even given some initial hesitation after Penguins’ GM and POHO Kyle Dubas approached him about signing the paid tryout (PTO) contract – which he did end up signing on Sept. 12 with the Penguins – at the end of last season.

Penguins Sign Marc-Andre Fleury To Professional Tryout Contract
Penguins Sign Marc-Andre Fleury To Professional Tryout Contract
Pittsburgh Penguins fans are getting their wish to see Marc-Andre Fleury one more time in Pittsburgh.

“I was like, ‘I donâ€t know, I feel like Iâ€ve said goodbye, like, 17 times already to everybodyâ€, you know?” Fleury said. “I was a little banged up, too, after the season. I wasnâ€t planning on working out or skating.

He continued: “We talked a few weeks back… and I was like, yeah, itâ€d be fun and come in and spend some time with the guys, the staff, and see the fans, you know? I miss them, too. Iâ€m happy it all worked out.â€

It seems, too, that it worked out for just about everyone. Fleury brings an energy to the rink – as he is known to do – that simply just fills a room. It was all smiles for pretty much the entirety of practice, and especially for his longtime pals in Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Kris Letang.

“Just trying to enjoy it,” Crosby said. “You know, you [practice with him], like, hundreds of times, a thousand times, and you take it for granted. To get a chance to do that today was a lot of fun.â€

There was even a moment before the main practice when the veterans were all taking turns and shooting pucks in Fleury’s direction five-on-zero in the offensive zone. They kept passing the puck around and trying to get pucks past Fleury, and Crosby was fed a pass in the right circle. He walked in a bit and fired, with Fleury making a barrel save with his toe.

However, Crosby made sure to clear the air with the media post-practice about what happened with the rebound off of Fleury’s toe.

“The one where I batted it out of the air and scored? That’s the one you’re talking about?” Crosby said, smiling. “Yeah, it was a good initial save, for sure.”

The quips didn’t end there, either. They never do with Fleury around, and he got a good one of his own in, too. During the practice session, Fleury had the chance to chat with Penguins’ goaltending prospects Sergei Murashov and Filip Larsson, and when asked what was said and what advice he would give to the young netminders, he remained deadpan.

For Fleury And The Penguins, A Storybook Ending Is In Store
For Fleury And The Penguins, A Storybook Ending Is In Store
When a young netminder from Sorel, Quebec made his NHL debut on Oct. 10, 2003, it’s difficult to imagine that folks in Pittsburgh, Pa. knew what was in store for the next decade and a half.

“You better try hard because I’m coming to take your spot,” he said in response before cracking a smile and adding that he wished them luck this season.

And what would a visit from Fleury be without a good prank or two? Not only did Fleury put “29” stickers on Letang’s and Crosby’s cars in the parking lot, his son also pranked his own father as well as Malkin prior to practice by placing little wind-up cockroach toys in their equipment.

It’s those little things that make Fleury so endearing to everyone around him. And Crosby hopes that some of the younger players in the locker room can take his demeanor and the way he carries himself – as well as the effort he puts into building relationships – as lessons for themselves.

Even if Fleury is in town for just a few short days, that is.

“I think that just observing someone like that… obviously, everyoneâ€s got to be themselves, you know?” Crosby said. “Itâ€s gonna be hard to be another Marc-Andre Fleury, but I think just seeing the compete that he brings to practice, the enthusiasm, the bond that he has with the guys that heâ€s played with and how unique that that is… thatâ€s a part of our culture, and thatâ€s something that I think is special.

“So, hopefully, they can see that, and just get to meet him, get to know him, and see what a great person he is above and beyond all the stuff that heâ€s accomplished.â€

Ticket Prices For Fleury's Final Game Keep Rising
Ticket Prices For Fleury’s Final Game Keep Rising
When the Pittsburgh Penguins signed goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury to a paid tryout (PTO) contract on Friday, along with that came the announcement that he’d be appearing in one final pre-season game in Pittsburgh on Sept. 27 against the Columbus Blue Jackets before officially retiring from the NHL.

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