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Revamped National Badminton Centre in Milton Keynes to reopen

The centre opened in 1999 and was the training base for the 2004 silver medal-winning Olympian silver medallists Gail Emms and Nathan Robertson. In November 2023, the badminton base was recognised by UK Sport for its contribution to the preparation of elite Olympic and Paralympic athletes.A sports centre dubbed the “home of badminton” is to […]

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Revamped National Badminton Centre in Milton Keynes to reopen

The centre opened in 1999 and was the training base for the 2004 silver medal-winning Olympian silver medallists Gail Emms and Nathan Robertson. In November 2023, the badminton base was recognised by UK Sport for its contribution to the preparation of elite Olympic and Paralympic athletes.A sports centre dubbed the “home of badminton” is to reopen after undergoing months of major refurbishment.More recently, it has been the training home of Commonwealth Games and European Games medallists Ben Lane and Sean Vendy.
Work to upgrade the centre included a new reception area, cafe, bar and lounges – as well as modernised gym and fitness facilities.The National Badminton Centre, in Milton Keynes, is one of only eight venues in the country awarded Accredited Elite Training Centre status.Sue Storey, chief executive of Badminton England, said: “We are delighted to launch these refreshed facilities which will offer so much more to the local community.”

High School Sports

Maryland Basketball Recruiting

New Maryland men’s basketball head coach Buzz Williams‘ first high school recruiting class with the Terps now stands at two. Class of 2025 point guard Guillermo Del Pino has signed with Maryland, CBS Sports college basketball insider Jon Rothstein reported on Friday afternoon. [embedded content] Del Pino, not rated on 247Sports’ ratings, is listed at 6-foot-4 […]

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Maryland Basketball Recruiting

New Maryland men’s basketball head coach Buzz Williams‘ first high school recruiting class with the Terps now stands at two.

Class of 2025 point guard Guillermo Del Pino has signed with Maryland, CBS Sports college basketball insider Jon Rothstein reported on Friday afternoon.

Del Pino, not rated on 247Sports’ ratings, is listed at 6-foot-4 and 183 pounds, per RealGM.

Del Pino, who turned 18 on Jan. 12, averaged 11.0 points, 2.0 rebounds and 2.3 assists, 1.4 steals and 0.9 blocks per game in seven games playing for Spain at the FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup in Türkiye. 

He was recognized as an all-star at the NBA’s Basketball Without Borders camp this past February. He did an interview with 247Sports’ Dushawn London shortly after and described his game.

“I consider myself to be a very energetic player who gives 100% on the court,” he told London. “I can contribute to the creation and management of the game. I can shoot the three and I think I have great potential as a defensive player. I do those things well. I am working to improve on my physical conditioning.”

Del Pino helped guide Spain to the FIBA U16 European Championship in North Macedonia in August 2023. He earned MVP honors after scoring 22 points in a 77-68 win over Italy in the final. For the tournament, he averaged 14.6 points, 1.4 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 1.9 steals per game.

“He takes a lot of off the dribble shots,” popular talent evaluator Arman Jovic said on a radio appearance with ESPN Louisville in February. “He’s shifty. He can really play. He was the MVP of E16, and so he’s a really, really talented guard. I’m a little bit lower than him amongst like some other European services I’ve seen, but I think he could be a good depth piece and for [the future would] be a good player.”

Del Pino joins McDonald’s All-American and five-star combo guard Darius Adams in the Class of 2025 heading to College Park. He is the 10th player on Williams’ first roster at Maryland, joining Texas A&M transfers Pharrel Payne, Solomon Washington, Andre Mills and George Turkson Jr., Indiana transfer Myles Rice, Washington State transfer Isaiah Watts, Kansas transfer David Coit and Virginia transfer Elijah Saunders.

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High School Sports

Matt Luce hired as New Castle boys basketball coach after 18 years at Wapahani

AI-assisted summaryMatt Luce, Wapahani’s all-time winningest boys basketball coach, is leaving after 18 seasons to lead the New Castle Trojans.Luce amassed a 335-99 record at Wapahani, leading the Raiders to multiple county, sectional and regional titles, and a 2A state runner-up finish in 2023-24.NEW CASTLE — After an incredibly successful 18-year run, the Matt Luce […]

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Matt Luce hired as New Castle boys basketball coach after 18 years at Wapahani

AI-assisted summaryMatt Luce, Wapahani’s all-time winningest boys basketball coach, is leaving after 18 seasons to lead the New Castle Trojans.Luce amassed a 335-99 record at Wapahani, leading the Raiders to multiple county, sectional and regional titles, and a 2A state runner-up finish in 2023-24.NEW CASTLE — After an incredibly successful 18-year run, the Matt Luce era of Wapahani boys basketball has come to an end.Luce was named the next head coach at New Castle following a special session of the New Castle Community Schools board on Friday, May 2. He went 335-99 during his time at Wapahani, making him the program’s all-time winningest coach.”How exciting to be the new coach of the New Castle Trojans?” Luce said. “With that comes a lot of tradition, a lot of expectations, a lot of fun. I think my wife and I will be excited for it, and we’re ready to roll again, so just excited to be standing here and thrilled to be the next coach at New Castle.”The news was first reported May 1 on social media by Sam Frick of Around the Northeast Corner.

Luce, a 1992 graduate of Wapahani, led the Raiders to six Delaware County titles, seven sectional crowns, three regional championships and one semi-state title during his tenure. Wapahani finished as IHSAA Class 2A state runners-up in the 2023-24 season. Prior to Luce’s arrival, Wapahani had endured 10 straight losing seasons.

For Luce, the decision to leave Wapahani and the Selma community where he grew up was not an easy one.”Bittersweet,” Luce said of his decision. “What a wonderful 18 years at Wapahani, coaching basketball, teaching, raising my family, making so many friends. It’s the teachers, it’s the assistant coaches, it’s the players and their families. Extremely bittersweet.”Matt Luce was approved as the next head coach of the New Castle boys basketball program at a special session of the New Castle school board on Friday, May 2, 2025. Luce has coached Wapahani for the last 18 seasonsNew Castle athletic director Cory Bennett highlighted the characteristics that made Luce stand out as a candidate for the Trojans head coaching job.”Obviously, he has a great record at Wapahani,” Bennet said. “But I think also just the fact that he’s been running the ECI leagues, so obviously he has a lot of knowledge with feeder systems and putting time into feeder systems. And I think the last part was just personality. I mean, we felt like when he came in, he was easy to talk to. Thought he would fit in well with not only all of us, but also the community.”Luce began his coaching career as an assistant at Fountain Central from 1999-2001. He then was an assistant at Crawfordsville in 2001-02 before beginning his head coaching career at Southwestern (Hanover) in 2002-03. He returned to Crawfordsville as the head coach for 2003-04 before spending three years as the head coach at Benton Central from 2004-07. Luce returned to Wapahani in 2007. His overall career coaching record is 385-159.Luce is from a family of coaches, including his father Mike, brothers Joe and Kris, and nephew Tommy. Joe Luce was recently named the next head coach at Wawasee after three seasons at Tippecanoe Valley.Contact Cade Hampton via email at cbhampton@muncie.gannett.com or on X, formerly known as Twitter, @CadeHamp10.

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Professional Sports

UFC Des Moines Viewers Guide For Awesome May 3 Show

For the first time since 2000, the UFC makes its way back to Iowa for a special showcase of some of the best that the bantamweight division has to offer when Cory Sandhagen battles Deiveson Figueiredo in the headlining bout of UFC Des Moines. Before that, though, Reinier de Ridder looks to extend his UFC […]

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UFC Des Moines Viewers Guide For Awesome May 3 Show

For the first time since 2000, the UFC makes its way back to Iowa for a special showcase of some of the best that the bantamweight division has to offer when Cory Sandhagen battles Deiveson Figueiredo in the headlining bout of UFC Des Moines. Before that, though, Reinier de Ridder looks to extend his UFC win streak to three when he takes on Bo Nickal in the second to last bout of the night.

UFC Des Moines Main Event

Stepping into the cage for the first time since suffering a unanimous decision defeat to Umar Nurmagomedov last August, Sandhagen aims to stake his claim toward a shot at 135-lb gold in Des Moines. Boasting one of the more well-rounded skill sets in the division, the Colorado native has all the tools he needs to record a dominant performance in his fifth main event in a row.

UFC Des Moines Co-Main Event

Since moving up to the bantamweight class in late 2023, Figueiredo has enjoyed much success in the Octagon, winning his first three fights in the weight category over Rob Font, Cody Garbrandt and Marlon Vera. Sadly, that impressive streak would be ended following a close contest with Petr Yan at UFC Fight Night 248. Undeterred from claiming a second belt, the previous two-time flyweight champion will go toe-to-toe with yet another strong contender in the UFC Des Moines co-main event this weekend.

In the not too distant past, de Ridder was on top of the world as a high-profile double title holder in ONE Championship. Aiming to build on his legacy even further, “The Dutch Knight” signed with the UFC in 2024, submitting Gerald Meerschaert in his debut. Netting a first round submission over Kevin Holland at UFC 315 in January, the middleweight standout appears primed to continue his ascent up the rankings in UFC Des Moines.

Emerging as a top blue chip prospect in mixed martial arts, Nickal has looked sterling across his UFC career so far with a perfect 4-0 company record. Handedly defeating Paul Craig at UFC 309, Nickal now has the chance to finally crack the 185-lb top 15 by conquering a once two-division champion from another promotion.

Here’s how to watch UFC Des Moines

Online Streaming: You can catch the entire card on  ESPN+, but you will need to subscribe in order to do so. Right now, the company is offering a monthly or yearly subscription of $11.99 and $119.99 respectively. For those who want to get more bang out of their buck, there is also the monthly Disney Bundle Deal, which offers ESPN+, Hulu, and Disney+ for $16.99 with included commercials, or $26.99 for no commercials at all.

Start Time and Date: The Preliminaries will begin at 7pm ET, followed by the Main Card at 10pm ET on April 26th.

Bout order for UFC Des Moines

Main Card:
Cory Sandhagen vs. Deiveson Figueiredo (Bantamweight Main Event)
Reinier de Ridder vs. Bo Nickal (Middleweight Co-Main Event)
Santiago Ponzinibbio vs. Daniel Rodriguez (Welterweight)
Montel Jackson vs. Daniel Marcos (Bantamweight)
Cameron Smotherman vs. Serhiy Sidey (Bantamweight)
Jeremy Stephens vs. Mason Jones (Lightweight)

Preliminaries:
Yana Santos vs. Miesha Tate (Women’s Bantamweight Featured Bout)

Ryan Loder vs. Azamat Bekoev (Middleweight)

Marina Rodriguez vs. Gillian Robertson (Women’s Strawweight)

Gaston Bolaños vs. Quang Le (Bantamweight)

Thomas Petersen vs. Don’Tale Mayes (Heavyweight)

Juliana Miller vs. Ivana Petrović (Women’s Flyweight)

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College Sports

Arizona men's basketball to open 2025

Is there such a thing as too strong of a nonconference schedule? We may find out with what Arizona is putting together for the 2025-26 season. College basketball insider Jon Rothstein is reporting that the Wildcats are set to add another powerhouse opponent, finalizing a deal to face Florida in the season opener. The game […]

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Arizona men's basketball to open 2025

Is there such a thing as too strong of a nonconference schedule? We may find out with what Arizona is putting together for the 2025-26 season.

College basketball insider Jon Rothstein is reporting that the Wildcats are set to add another powerhouse opponent, finalizing a deal to face Florida in the season opener. The game would be played Nov. 3, the first day of the 2025-26 season, in Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena as part of a doubleheader that would also feature BYU and Villanova.

Florida is coming off its third NCAA title, beating Houston in San Antonio last month. The Gators went 36-4 but like most teams have to rebuild their roster thanks to graduation, the NBA Draft and the NCAA transfer portal.

This would be the fifth meeting between Arizona and Florida (the series is tied 2-2) and first since 2012 when the 8th-ranked Wildcats beat the 5th-ranked Gators 65-64 at McKale Center, winning it on Mark Lyons’ basket with seven seconds left.

Florida is the latest in a murderer’s row of nonconference opponents Arizona has lined up for next season. The UA is also set to face UCLA at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles on Nov. 14, visit UConn on Nov. 19, host Auburn on Dec. 6 and meet Alabama in Birmingham on Dec. 13. That’s in addition to the Big 12 slate.

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Professional Sports

UFC veteran warns fans to avoid underestimating Jack Della Maddalena ahead of UFC 315 title fight

Don’t Underestimate JDM, Says Gilbert Burns During an appearance on MMA Junkie Radio, Gilbert Burns discussed the upcoming welterweight title fight between Belal Muhammad and Jack Della Maddalena. “Durinho” thinks the fight is much closer than the general consensus would lead you to believe. “People are kind of counting JDM out, but JDM is a […]

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UFC veteran warns fans to avoid underestimating Jack Della Maddalena ahead of UFC 315 title fight

Don’t Underestimate JDM, Says Gilbert Burns

During an appearance on MMA Junkie Radio, Gilbert Burns discussed the upcoming welterweight title fight between Belal Muhammad and Jack Della Maddalena. “Durinho” thinks the fight is much closer than the general consensus would lead you to believe.

“People are kind of counting JDM out, but JDM is a problem. … I think Belal is going to struggle a lot in the striking. JDM is not going anywhere. That guy is going to stay there. I was taking Belal as a favorite, but I’m kind of changing. That fight is super, super close. Belal has the speed advantage for sure in the cardio, but JDM is a monster, too. He hits very hard. He’s not going to get finished. He’s not going to get knocked out. His cardio is looking very good. I’m kind of maybe changing. I think it’s going to be a very close fight.”

Maddalena was given a title opportunity after Shavkat Rakhmonov had to be sidelined due to an injury. Many fans and experts feel that Maddalena’s best shot against Muhammad is to keep the fight standing. Muhammad has made great strides with his wrestling over the years, but he insists he will also showcase his striking at UFC 315.

This will be Maddalena’s first crack at UFC gold. He’s riding a 17-fight winning streak and the only losses in his pro MMA career occurred in his first two bouts back in 2016. Muhammad has gone 10-0, 1 NC in his last 11 outings.

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Professional Sports

Mets, Dodgers, Pitch Clock Push MLB to Best April Attendance Since 2017

Mets, Dodgers Push MLB to Best April Attendance Since 2017 Loading stock data… Privacy Manager 6

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Mets, Dodgers, Pitch Clock Push MLB to Best April Attendance Since 2017




Mets, Dodgers Push MLB to Best April Attendance Since 2017


























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