THE EVE EDITION
AFTERGLOW | SUN OCT 25
Kaylia Nemour and Zhang Qingying finished the beam final in Rotterdam on the same score, 14.566, and the world title came down to execution. Zhang, the defending champion, stumbled on a connection and stepped back on her double pike and still matched Nemour to the thousandth. Nemour had a slow connection of her own, but her execution score was two-tenths higher, and the Algerian who won bars on Saturday left the championships with a second gold and her first world title on beam. Then floor belonged to the United States, with Claire Pease and Reese Esponda first and second to close the women’s program.
It was a Sunday for finishing the job. Elena Rybakina needed 76 minutes to defend her title in Ningbo, Maryland answered its first loss of the season with a shutout in Bloomington, and Minnesota swept a ranked Washington without much argument. The U.S. under-17s, already through to the knockout rounds, finally met a team that could outscore them. By night the NWSL Shield race was down to Gotham and San Diego, and Kansas City had come from behind again, for the sixth time this season, to match the league record.
Nemour Wins Beam on a Tiebreak as Pease Takes Floor
Kaylia Nemour of Algeria won the world title on balance beam in Rotterdam on Sunday, tying China’s Zhang Qingying at 14.566 and taking gold on the execution tiebreak, 8.266 to 8.066. Zhang, the defending champion, stumbled on a connection and took a step back on her double pike, and Nemour had a slow connection of her own. It was Nemour’s second gold of the championships after uneven bars on Saturday and her first world title on beam, a year after she finished second to Zhang on the event in Jakarta. The two leaders were more than a quarter of a point clear of the field. Flavia Saraiva of Brazil took bronze with 14.300, her first world medal on the event, and Elena Colas of France was fourth with 14.100, ahead of Italy’s Manila Esposito, an Olympic bronze medalist in Paris. Skye Blakely, the new all-around champion, finished sixth after a week of 14 routines without a major error.
Claire Pease won floor with 13.866, and Reese Esponda, the top qualifier, took silver for an American one-two. Pease went out of bounds on one pass and still added gold to her silver on vault. The U.S. women leave with seven medals, led by Blakely’s all-around title.
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Rybakina Defends Her Ningbo Title
#1 Elena Rybakina beat Leylah Fernandez 6-2, 6-2 in 76 minutes to win the Ningbo Open for the second straight year. She broke Fernandez twice in each set, never lost her serve and finished the match with her 24th winner. It was her first title as world #1, a ranking she took after winning the US Open in September, and her fourth of the season after Melbourne, Stuttgart and New York, the most on tour. She has won all eight matches she has played in Ningbo and now leads Fernandez 4-2.
Fernandez, ranked #30, reached the 10th final of her career a month after winning Singapore, with three-set wins over #7 Elise Mertens, Aliaksandra Sasnovich and Ekaterina Alexandrova before a straight-sets semifinal over Marie Bouzková. Rybakina’s 53 match wins lead the tour by three over Mirra Andreeva and Jessica Pegula, and her 15th career title sends her to Tokyo this week as the top seed.
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Eala Wins Her Tokyo Opener in Straight Sets
Alexandra Eala, the eighth seed, beat British wild card Mika Stojsavljevic 6-1, 6-2 in 1 hour and 15 minutes to reach the second round of the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo. She took the first set in seven games and pulled away again in the second after Stojsavljevic made her work on serve. Her next opponent is Talia Gibson. The Australian beat Daria Kasatkina 6-0, 7-5 earlier in the day.
Elise Mertens, the fifth seed, beat Japanese wild card Moyuka Uchijima 6-4, 6-2 in 78 minutes. She meets Leylah Fernandez or Himeno Sakatsume next, and Fernandez beat her in the first round in Ningbo a week ago.
WTA Full Story →
Maryland Answers Its First Loss With a Shutout
#1 Maryland beat #13 Indiana 1-0 in Bloomington on Sunday, three days after Northwestern handed the Terrapins their first loss of the season. Babs van Hest scored the only goal early in the third quarter, her ninth of the season, from a Josie Hollamon assist. Alyssa Klebasko made four saves for the 21st shutout and 49th win of her career. It was close throughout: the teams finished even on shots, 9-9, and Indiana put four on goal to Maryland’s three.
Maryland is 15-1 and 6-1 in the Big Ten, with its ninth shutout and fifth ranked win of the season, and leads the series with Indiana 14-1. The Terrapins close the regular season at home against Iowa on Friday. Indiana fell to 9-6 and 4-3. Northwestern beat Rutgers 2-1 on Senior Day in Evanston to move to 16-1 and 7-0 and clinch at least a share of its fourth straight Big Ten regular-season title, the first school in the conference to win four in a row. The Wildcats can take it outright at Penn State on Friday.
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Minnesota Sweeps #21 Washington
#20 Minnesota beat #21 Washington 25-17, 25-17, 25-20 at Maturi Pavilion for its first ranked win of the Big Ten season. The Gophers hit .292 to Washington’s .104, out-blocked the Huskies 11-6 and gave up the lead only once, in the second set. Mckenna Wucherer had 11 kills, three blocks and two aces for her eighth double-double of the season, and Makenna Crosson added nine kills and a career-high six blocks. Lucie Blažková hit .667 in the first set on her way to a season-high six kills, and Stella Swenson ran the offense with 28 assists.
Washington made 21 attacking errors to Minnesota’s eight and fell to 15-4 and 6-4 in the Big Ten, level in the conference with the Gophers, who are 12-6. Minnesota leads the all-time series 4-3 and plays at UCLA on Friday.
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China Hands the U.S. Its First Loss in Morocco
China beat the United States 3-2 in Rabat on Sunday in the last match of Group E. Liu Yuxi scored in the 7th minute, and the U.S. pushed for an hour before Maddie DiMaria headed in the equalizer in the 69th. It was her 11th goal of the tournament, the most by an American at any FIFA Women’s World Cup. China answered two minutes later through Zhao Jiayi, and Liu added her second in the 81st. Isa Ortiz scored deep in stoppage time. The U.S. outshot China 20-12 and won eight corners to one.
The Americans finish second with two wins and 25 goals, 17 of them against Samoa, and meet Spain, the Group F winner, in the round of 16 on Thursday in Rabat.
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Kansas City Comes From Behind to Beat the Spirit
The Kansas City Current beat the Washington Spirit 2-1 at CPKC Stadium before 18,000 on Sunday, scoring twice in three minutes after falling behind. Clara Luvanga put Washington ahead in the 12th minute after a goalkeeping error, Lo’eau LaBonta’s shot deflected in two minutes later, and Vanessa DiBernardo scored the winner in the 17th from a Croix Bethune pass. It was DiBernardo’s first goal of the season in her 200th regular-season appearance, and Bethune’s 11th assist, a league single-season record. Washington outshot the Current 12-7 but could not get a shot on target in a long spell of second-half possession. Kansas City has gone 32 home matches without a loss, a league record, and its sixth comeback win matches the 2014 Seattle team for the most in a season.
Gotham won 2-1 in Orlando and set a club record with 58 points. Midge Purce scored from a Guro Reiten pass, Tierna Davidson added a second, and Ann-Katrin Berger made seven saves as the Pride outshot Gotham 19-9. San Diego drew 2-2 with Boston at Snapdragon Stadium, where Alba Caño equalized in the 73rd minute after an own goal had put the Wave ahead.
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Pante Scores Twice as Vancouver Moves Into Fourth
Mia Pante scored twice in the first 35 minutes, the first brace of her career, and Vancouver Rise beat Calgary Wild 3-2 at Swangard Stadium to move into the last playoff place in the Northern Super League. Josie Aulicino pulled one back for Calgary with a long shot over Morgan McAslan just before halftime. Jessica De Filippo, on at the break, restored the two-goal lead in the 53rd minute with her 13th goal of the season, the most in the league, and Jorian Baucon made it 3-2 in the 69th after the Rise failed to clear.
Vancouver finishes on 31 points, three ahead of Halifax, which plays its last match at AFC Toronto on Monday and needs a win to go back above the Rise on goal difference. Montreal clinched first place on Friday with a 1-0 win over Ottawa, Tanya Boychuk scoring in the 81st minute.
NSL Full Story →
LAST LIGHT
Gotham has never won the NWSL Shield, and a draw at home against Utah on Decision Day will now be enough. San Diego’s draw left the Wave three points back with a trip to Bay FC to come, needing a Gotham loss just to force the tiebreakers. Kansas City’s win moved it back into fourth, two points behind Washington, and the top four host the quarterfinals. All 16 teams kick off at 5:00 PM next Sunday.
Rybakina has no first-round match in Tokyo, where the draw opened overnight, and will play her first match there as the reigning Ningbo champion. Closer to home, the WNBA Finals go back to San Francisco on Monday night level at 2-2.