Good evening!

Today, a couple of New York Yankees fans were booted from Game Four of the World Series for fan interference. LA Dodgers player Mookie Betts attempted to catch a ball but he ended up having to wrestle for it with two eager fans.

The fans subsequently lost their seats, making this a pricey mistake. The cheapest World Series seats at the moment are going for $US700 ($AU1070).

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Stat of the day

3
The number of Aussie men’s tennis players who have advanced past the first round at the Paris Masters. Jordan Thompson, Alex de Minaur, and Alexei Popyrin are all still in with a shot at the last tournament before the ATP Tour Finals. Thompson is already through to the Round of 16 after winning his second-round match (7-6, 3-6, 6-4) against world no.8 Casper Ruud. Thompson has now recorded three victories against the Norwegian this season. Meanwhile, if de Minaur wins his next two matches, he will become the first Australian since Lleyton Hewitt in 2004 to qualify for the ATP Tour Finals.

Quote of the day

“They ask me why women’s football lacks diversity and why it is difficult to find women who look like me in the competitive game. Things like this are the reason.”
Women’s soccer player Iqra Ismail, after the referee stopped her from coming on as a substitute because she was wearing tracksuit bottoms. Ismail is Muslim, so cannot wear shorts due to her religious beliefs. She plays for the United Dragons in the Greater London Women’s Football League. England’s Football Association has since apologised.

Random fact of the day

The Hungarian men’s soccer team between 1950 and 1954 was known as the ‘Golden Team’ or the ‘Mighty Magyars’. They were the first team from outside the British Isles to beat England at Wembley Stadium and won an Olympic gold medal at the 1952 Olympics. Their winning ways came to an end when they were upset by West Germany in the final of the 1954 World Cup, also known as ‘The Miracle of Bern’.

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In case you missed it…

🏐 The Diamonds take on the Silver Ferns at 7:00pm tonight in the fourth and final Test of the Constellation Cup. The match is a dead rubber given New Zealand won the first three Tests and has already claimed the Cup. Before the women play, Australia and New Zealand’s men’s teams (the Kelpies and Net Blacks) will play their fourth Test at 4:30pm. The Kelpies lead the series 3-0.

🚴‍♂️ The route and dates for the 2025 men’s and women’s Tour de France have been announced. The 112th edition of the men’s race will begin in Lille on 5 July and finish in Paris on 27 July. It will feature 21 stages all within France for the time since 2020. The fourth edition of Le Tour de France Femmes will include nine stages (previously eight) between 26 July and 3 August.

⚽ Matildas player Ellie Carpenter has been recognised as the inaugural AFC Asian International Women’s Player of the Year. The 24-year-old defender starred in the Matildas 2023 World Cup campaign as well as at the Paris 2024 Olympics. Football Australia also won the AFC President’s Recognition Grassroots Award, which recognises the nation’s success in fostering community football.

⛷️ Matilde Lorenzi, an Italian competitive skier, has died of her injuries following an accident in training in northern Italy. At the junior World Championships last year, the 19-year-old came sixth in the downhill and eighth in the super-G events. She was also a national champion. 

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Yankees win Game 4 of World Series to prevent Dodgers clean sweep

The New York Yankees won Game 4 of the World Series, holding off a Los Angeles Dodgers clean sweep. The Dodgers now lead the best-of-seven series 3-1.

What happened

The Dodgers jumped out to an early 2-0 lead courtesy of batter Freddie Freeman. Unlike the three previous games, however, the Yankees hit back. In the third innings, the Yankees’ Anthony Volpe hit a home run with all three bases loaded, also known as a grand slam, to score four runs and help inspire his side to an 11-4 victory.

What’s next

Game 5 will be played tomorrow at 11:00am (AEDT) in New York. Games 1 and 2 were played in Los Angeles and Games 3 and 4 in New York. The series will return to LA if the Yankees win tomorrow’s match. It’s still an uphill battle for the Yankees - no team has ever come back to win the World Series from a 3-0 deficit.

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Women’s BBL 2024: What you need to know

The 10th season of the Women’s Big Bash League began on Sunday. The competition features eight teams and will run until 1 December. This year’s season has been shortened to bring it in line with the men’s Big Bash league.

What is the format of the WBBL?

The Big Bash is Twenty20 cricket, which means each team has 20 overs to score as many runs as possible. This shortened format of cricket tends to make the game more exciting as batters will be more aggressive and inclined to take risks to score runs within the limited number of balls.

The regular season runs until 24 November, then there’s a week of finals before the title decider on 1 December. Each team will play ten games during the regular season, meeting every team at least once and three teams twice. The top four teams will advance to the finals. The team on top of the table automatically earns a spot in the final. Third and fourth place will play each other to determine who’ll face off against second place in a match to determine the other finalist.

Who is the favourite to win?

The Adelaide Strikers won back-to-back titles in 2022 and 2023. This season, they’re seeking to become the first team in the competition to win three titles. In 2023, the Strikers beat the Brisbane Heat in the final by just three runs. The Heat, who won two consecutive titles in the fourth and fifth editions of the competition in 2019/20, will also be hungry to return to this year’s final and win a third title.

The competition is still wide open, with Australia and the world’s top women’s cricketers making up the rosters of all the teams in the competition.

How about the men’s competition?

The men’s BBL will start on 15 December and run through to the final on 27 January.

How can I watch?

23 of the 43 games this season will be on free-to-air TV on Channel 7. All matches will be on Kayo and Foxtel.

ICYMI: TDA Sport has a new game on Instagram called Blurdle. IYKYK.
Today’s answer: Daniel Ricciardo
Useless clue: Damn, with the white vans (Get it? Email me if you do.)

A message from our sponsor

Cassandra Iannucci is a senior lecturer at Deakin University and recently helped to co-author an article that explored physical education (PE) curriculums at Australian schools.

PE has long demonstrated benefits for physical, mental, and social health. Research has shown that students who engage with and enjoy PE at school will carry healthy habits into their adult life.

However, global trends suggest a decrease in physical activity in the past 25 years, coupled with an increase in screen time. Australia, which has long been considered a ‘sporting nation’ received a grade of D- on the Global Physical Activity Report card in 2014, 2018, and 2022.

The article suggests that this decline can be addressed by requiring greater curriculum time for PE and providing PE teachers with regular professional development and opportunities to develop partnerships between schools and universities.

Such efforts can help instill positive attitudes toward physical activity and overall well-being. Learn more about the vital role of sport and PE in education at Deakin University and its potential impact on future generations.

Think Beyond The Field. Study Sport at Deakin.

Looking back…

Looking forward… (All times are AEDT)

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