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Canada sweeps Sweden in second tie, remains undefeated at Davis Cup Finals group stage

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After sweeping Italy in a stunning upset on their home court Wednesday, Team Canada presented by Sobeys quickly shifted their focus to Team Sweden.

Vasek Pospisil turned around after his tennis doubles win on Wednesday and produced more of his Davis Cup magic, holding off a spirited fight from Leo Borg to give Canada the lead. Gabriel Diallo followed up by earning another impressive win over Elias Ymer to clinch Canada the win in their second tie of the Davis Cup Finals group stage. Pospisil and Alexis Galarneau once again teamed up in doubles, defeating Filip Bergevi and Andrew Goransson in straight sets to complete Canada’s second sweep of the tournament.

Pospisil powers through to take down Borg

Pospisil quickly showed the Swedes that Team Canada wasn’t going to take their foot off the gas in the second tie of the Davis Cup Finals group stage, as he broke Borg in just the second game of the match. Borg, the son of 11-time major champion Bjorn Borg, fired right back though, breaking Pospisil in the following game. The first set eventually went to a tie-break, where Pospisil broke through to win 7-5.

The second set was par for the course, as Pospisil and Borg traded services back and forth. The turning point came late as Pospisil had an opportunity to break Borg to go up 6-5, but the Swede saved two break points to avoid being put up against the ropes. In the next game, Borg seized the opportunity to break Pospisil to force a third set.

Battling some cramping early in the decider, Pospisil still managed to break Borg to jump out to a 3-2 lead. Visibly struggling physically, Pospisil pulled through to break Borg yet again to take a commanding 5-2 lead. Wasting no time, Pospisil put the match away by serving for the victory to defeat Borg 6-2 in the decisive set, winning the match 7-6, 5-7, 6-2.

Pospisil’s thunderous serve helped him greatly, as he smashed 25 aces to Borg’s four throughout the match. Overall, Pospisil won 85 per cent of his first serve points.

DIALLO STAYS HOT AS HE DEFEATS YMER

Diallo kept the ball rolling in his second match of the tournament after dismantling Lorenzo Musetti on Wednesday. Facing Sweden’s Elias Ymer this time around, Diallo quickly broke him in the opening set to jump to an early lead. He held his own for the remainder of the set, eventually winning 6-4.

Diallo kept up the same pace in the second set, as he broke Ymer yet again in the early goings to take a 3-2 lead. He eventually broke Ymer for a third time to win the second set 6-3 and clinch Canada the victory over Sweden.

The Canadian once again played a nearly flawless game, allowing zero break point opportunities and winning 85 per cent of his first serve points. He made 14 unforced errors to Ymer’s 21 and won 58 per cent of the total points in the match.

GALARNEAU, POSPISIL COMPLETE THE SWEEP

With their eyes set on securing Canada’s sixth straight victory to remain undefeated at the Davis Cup Finals group stage, Galarneau and Pospisil teamed up yet again to take on Filip Bergevi and Andrew Goransson.

After winning together against Italy’s Arnaldi and Bolelli on Wednesday, the Canadian duo picked up where they left off, grinding their way into a tiebreak with the Swedes in the first set. The Canadians held on to win 11-9, saving seven of seven break points throughout the set.

With the second straight sweep within reach, Galarneau and Pospisil kept their eyes on the prize. Much like the first set, the two sides held their own on the way to another tiebreak. The Canadians stayed perfect, winning 7-3 to win the match 7-6(9), 7-6(3).

Galarneau and Pospisil went a perfect nine for nine in saving break points, which helped give them the slight edge in a tightly contested battle.

The Canadians will get a day of rest on Friday, and close out the group stage against Chile on Saturday at 9:00 a.m. ET.

 

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After 20 years at the top of chess, Magnus Carlsen is making his next move

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STAVANGER, Norway (AP) — Few chess players enjoy Magnus Carlsen‘s celebrity status.

A grand master at 13, refusing to play an American dogged by allegations of cheating, and venturing into the world of online chess gaming all made Norway’s Carlsen a household name.

Few chess players have produced the magical commodity that separates Norway’s Magnus Carlsen from any of his peers: celebrity.

Only legends like Russia’s Garry Kasparov and American Bobby Fischer can match his name recognition and Carlsen is arguably an even more dominant player. Last month, he beat both men to be named the International Chess Federation’s greatest ever.

But his motivation to rack up professional titles is on the wane. Carlsen, 33, now wants to leverage his fame to help turn the game he loves into a spectator sport.

“I am in a different stage in my career,” he told The Associated Press. “I am not as ambitious when it comes to professional chess. I still want to play, but I don’t necessarily have that hunger. I play for the love of the game.”

Offering a new way to interact with the game, Carlsen on Friday launched his application, Take Take Take, which will follow live games and players, explaining matches in an accessible way that, Carlsen says, is sometimes missing from streaming platforms like YouTube and Twitch. “It will be a chiller vibe,” he says.

Carlsen intends to use his experience to provide recaps and analysis on his new app, starting with November’s World Chess Championship tournament between China’s Ding Liren and India’s Gukesh Dommaraju. He won’t be competing himself because he voluntarily ceded the title in 2023.

Carlsen is no novice when it comes to chess apps. The Play Magnus game, which he started in 2014, gave online users the chance to play against a chess engine modeled against his own gameplay. The company ballooned into a suite of applications and was bought for around $80 million in 2022 by Chess.com, the world’s largest chess website.

Carlsen and Mats Andre Kristiansen, the chief executive of his company, Fantasy Chess, are betting that a chess game where users can follow individual players and pieces, filters for explaining different elements of each game, and light touch analysis will scoop up causal viewers put off by chess’s sometimes rarefied air. The free app was launched in a bid to build the user base ahead of trying to monetizing it. “That will come later, maybe with advertisements or deeper analysis,” says Kristiansen.

While Take Take Take offers a different prospect with its streaming services, it is still being launched into a crowded market with Chess.com, which has more than 100 million users, YouTube, Twitch, and the website of FIDE the International Chess Federation. World Chess was worth around $54 million when it got listed on the London Stock Exchange.

The accessibility of chess engines that can beat any human means cheating has never been easier. However, they can still be used to shortcut thousands of hours of book-bound research, and hone skills that would be impossible against human opponents.

“I think the games today are of higher quality because preparation is becoming deeper and deeper and artificial intelligence is helping us play. It is reshaping the way we evaluate the games,” especially for the new generation of players, says Carlsen.

At the same time, he admits that two decades after becoming a grand master, his mind doesn’t quite compute at the tornado speed it once did. “Most people have less energy when they get older. The brain gets slower. I have already felt that for a few years. The younger players’ processing power is just faster.”

Even so, he intends to be the world’s best for many years to come.

“My mind is a bit slower, and I maybe don’t have as much energy. But chess is about the coming together of energy, computing power and experience. I am still closer to my peak than decline,” he said.

Chess has been cresting a popularity wave begun by Carlsen himself.

He became the world’s top-ranked player in 2011. In 2013, he won the first of his five World Championships. In 2014, he achieved the highest-ever chess rating of 2882, and he has remained the undisputed world number one for the last 13 years.

Off the table, chess influencers, like the world No. 2, Hikaru Nakamura, are using social media to bring the game to a wider audience. The Netflix series “The Queen’s Gambit” burnished chess’ unlikely cerebral sex appeal when it became one of the streamer’s biggest hits in 2020.

And in 2022 Carlsen’s refusal to play against Hans Niemann, an American grand master, who admitted to using technology to cheat in online games in the past, created a rare edge in the usually sedate world of chess. There is no evidence Niemann ever cheated in live games but the feud between the pair propelled the game even further into public consciousness.

Whether chess can continue to grow without the full professional participation of its biggest celebrity remains to be seen.

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Top figure skaters ready to hit the ice at Skate Canada International

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Canadian pairs team Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps along with ice dancers Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier headline a strong field at Skate Canada International. The Canadians say they’re excited to perform in front of a home crowd as the world’s best figure skaters arrive in Halifax. (Oct. 24, 2024)

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Nico Echavarria shoots another 64 to lead the Zozo Championship by 2 shots after the second round

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INZAI CITY, Japan (AP) — Nico Echavarria shot a 6-under 64 on Friday — matching his 64 on Thursday — to lead by two shots over Taylor Moore and Justin Thomas after the second round of the Zozo Championship in Japan.

Thomas shot 64 and Moore carded 67 with three others just three shots off the lead including Seamus Power, who had the day’s low round of 62 at the Narashino Country Club.

Thomas has twice won the PGA Championship but is winless in two years on the PGA Tour.

Eric Cole (67) and C.T. Pan (66) were also three behind heading to Saturday.

Nick Taylor, of Abbotsford, B.C., is the top Canadian at 5-under and tied for 16th.

Ben Silverman, of Thornhill, Ont., is two shots back of Taylor and tied for 31st.

“I’ve never had a lead after 36 holes,” said Echavarria, a Colombian who played at the University of Arkansas. His lone PGA win was last year in Puerto Rico.

He had a two-round total of 12-under 128.

“I’ve had it after 54, but never after 36, so it’s good to be in this position. There’s got to be some pressure,” he added. “Hopefully a good round tomorrow can keep me in the lead or around the lead. And how I said yesterday — the goal is to be close with nine holes to go.”

Rickie Fowler, a crowd favorite in Japan because of his connections to the country, shot 64 to go with an opening 68 and was four shots back going into the weekend. Max Greyserman was also four behind after a 68.

“It would be amazing to win here,” said Fowler, whose mother has Japanese roots. “Came close a few years ago.”

Fowler tied for second in 2022

Fowler described his roots as “pretty far removed for Japan, but I’m sure I have relatives here, but I don’t know anyone. Japanese culture’s always been a fairly big part of life growing up. I always love being over here.”

Japanese star Hideki Matsuyama shot his second 71 and was 14 shots off the lead.

Defending champion Collin Morikawa shot 67 and pulled within eight shot of the lead, and Xander Schauffele — British Open and PGA winner this season — shot 65 and was 10 behind after a 73 on Thursday.

“I feel like I’ve got a good game plan out here,” Morikawa said, another player with Japanese connections. “I just have to execute shots a little better.”

“I am the defending champ, but that doesn’t mean I’m immediately going to play better just because I won here,” he added. “It’s a brand new week, it’s a year later. I feel like my golf game is still in a good spot. I just haven’t executed my shots. When that doesn’t happen it makes golf a little tougher.”

Schauffele turned 31 on Friday and said he was serenaded before his opening tee shot. He also has ties to Japan. His mother grew up in Japan and his grandparents live in the Tokyo area.

“Nice way to spend my 31st birthday,” he said.

___

AP golf:

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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