This new concept seeks to promote established and promising MMA talent from across the world to make MMA more accessible and exciting at the grassroots level.

Scheduled to be held at WA Italian Club Inc, Perth, Australia, REBEL FC’s inaugural event under the REBEL Fight Club banner will be titled REBEL Fight Club — Perth and will feature familiar international stars such as Steven ‘The Steamrolla’ Kennedy, World Muay Thai Champion Rob ‘Powerdrill’ Powdrill and two-time world boxing champion as well as Muay Thai champion Wes “The Decappertator” Capper from Australia; Shannon ‘The Cannon’ Ritch and The Ultimate Fighter Welterweight Tournament Winner Jesse “JT Money” Taylor from the USA, Glenn ‘Teddy Bear’ Sparv from Finland and two-time Abu Dhabi world BJJ champion Rodrigo Costa from Brazil.

The historic venue for the inaugural REBEL Fight Club event – the WA Italian Club – is one of Perth’s most recognisable and longstanding clubs. Formed in 1934 to support Italian migrants starting a new life in Australia, the WA Italian Club has hosted MMA and combat sports events since 2007 and a full-house is expected for Rebel FC’s first foray into Australia.

“REBEL FC’s new international ‘REBEL Fight Club’ series of events will be an excellent platform for the best international MMA stars to prove themselves. The winners of the ‘REBEL Fight Club’ series will be given a shot to participate in title fights in REBEL FC’s signature events in China. This ensures that we will have the cream of the crop in MMA that can inculcate the appreciation for MMA at grassroots level across the globe,” elaborates Justin Leong, CEO of REBEL FC.

“Perth is just the first of our planned series of ‘REBEL Fight Club’ events around the world. We are looking at replicating this concept in Central Asia, Europe and even the Middle East,” adds Leong with an air of optimism.

Besides venues with a rich combat sport history, future Rebel Fight Club events could also be staged in interesting venues like power stations, underground caverns, roof tops, airport hangers and even, night clubs.

Australia’s Ben Eccles, who received a late entry after being a reserve for the tournament, also showed his good form by signing for a 65 to share second place with compatriots Wade Ormsby and Brad Kennedy.

Eccles had earlier earned his Asian Tour card with a tied-17th finish at Qualifying School last week.

It was a welcome return to form for Ormsby, who currently leads the Asian Tour Order of Merit. The three-time Asian Tour winner got his season off to a good start with his win in Hong Kong but missed consecutive cuts in his last three events on the European Tour.

Kim, who chose Tom as a suitable first name because he was a fan of the Thomas the Tank Engine television series, won three times on the Asian Development Tour (ADT) to earn his promotion to the Asian Tour in 2019.

He then went on to clinch his breakthrough victory in India last November to become the second youngest professional player to win on the Asian Tour at 17 years and 149 days

Kim started promisingly at the Millbrook Resort with an opening birdie on his par-four first hole before adding two more birdies on holes six and nine under gusty conditions at The Millbrook Resort.

He soared with an eagle-three on 10 before dropping his only shot of the day on 12. The 17-year-old then charged home with another three birdies on 14, 16 and 18 to take a one-shot lead over the Australian trio.

Defending champion Zach Murray of Australia posted an opening 68 at the Millbrook Resort to stay four shots back of Kim in a share of 11th place.

She won her first Wimbledon matches – three of them – as a 16-year-old wild-card entry in 2003 and then won the whole tournament one year later, announcing herself to the world as the third-youngest woman to win at the All England club. Instant, immense fame, a No. 1 ranking and two more Grand Slam titles would follow, all before she turned 21. Sharapova eventually would win the career grand slam – becoming the 10th and most recent women’s player to accomplish it – with titles at the 2012 and 2014 French Opens, even though she had once said she felt like a “cow on ice” while playing on clay.

Maria Sharapova also made only one more grand slam final after winning at Roland Garros in 2014. In 2016, she received a two-year ban after a positive test for meldonium, a substance that had been banned less than a month earlier and one she had taken for years (her suspension later was reduced to 15 months by an arbitration panel, which found she was not an “intentional doper”). Sharapova, somewhat infamously, also struggled against Serena Williams as the American maintained her spot atop tennis’s hierarchy: After winning two of the first three matches they played, Sharapova would lose the next 19. Their most recent meeting, in the first round of the 2019 U.S. Open, lasted only 58 minutes.

So that is what’s under consideration upon the news Wednesday that Sharapova is retiring, effective immediately, at the age of 32. Immediate and somewhat prolonged success, yet only five grand slam titles (tying her for 22nd all-time with eight other women). A combined 21 weeks at No. 1, yet none since 2012. The taint of a failed drug test, however unintentional. A rivalry with Williams for the women’s tennis spotlight that was a rivalry only on the most superficial of terms.

“Looking back now, I realize that tennis has been my mountain,” Sharapova wrote in an essay announcing her retirement in Vanity Fair. “My path has been filled with valleys and detours, but the views from its peak were incredible. After 28 years and five Grand Slam titles, though, I’m ready to scale another mountain – to compete on a different type of terrain.”

Beset by injuries even during her most productive years, Sharapova was able to play only 15 matches last season because of shoulder trouble, going 8-7. Her final match, a 6-3, 6-4 loss to Donna Vekic at the Australian Open last month, dropped her world ranking outside of No. 350, and she was ranked No. 373 as of Wednesday. Since her return from the doping suspension, Sharapova won just one title and advanced to the quarterfinals of a grand slam tournament only once, at the 2018 French Open, and only then because Williams withdrew due to injury ahead of their fourth-round match.

Sharapova also was a potent promotional force, scoring endorsement deals with Nike, Canon, UBS, Porsche and Tiffany, among others, over her career. And the deals didn’t stop when the wins dried up: Last year, she ranked No. 2 on Forbes’s list of the world’s richest female athletes (behind Williams, of course). But Sharapova, in announcing her retirement, seemed to suggest that her battles on the court were what mattered.

“Throughout my career, Is it worth it? was never even a question – in the end, it always was,” she wrote. “My mental fortitude has always been my strongest weapon. Even if my opponent was physically stronger, more confident – even just plain better – I could, and did, persevere.”

With just under a fortnight to go, interest in the Royal’s Cup 2020 has been shifting to high gears with a stable of automobile giants committing to the event.

The Royal’s Cup 2020 is one of the first outings for many players who would have graduated from the Tour’s Qualifying School and tees off at the Grand Prix Golf Club from March 12-15.

The tournament is promoted by Grand Prix International, the company behind the Bangkok International Motor Show (BIMS) which has been a major event on Thailand’s automotive scene for over 40 years.

Apart from the US$400,000 prize purse, Toyota, Mitsubishi, Mazda, MG, and Isuzu are among the brands that have come on board where their vehicles will be offered as Hole-In-One and Albatross prizes to the 150 professionals battling for top honours at the Royal’s Cup 2020.

The first player to ace any of the par-three holes during tournament play will drive home with automobiles from the likes of Toyota, Mitsubishi, Mazda, and MG respectively while the first player to record an albatross on hole 14 will drive home with a Fiat provided by Grand Prix International. A brand new Isuzu awaits on the 18th hole.

The respective car makers will enjoy the privilege of being part of the inaugural event at Grand Prix Golf Club which serves as a perfect accompaniment to the BIMS.

Thailand’s Gunn Charoenkul and Poom Saksansin are among the local hopefuls who have committed to the Royal’s Cup 2020 and are already looking forward to teeing up at the inaugural event.

“My wife and I recently welcomed our first child, Vera and a new car would certainly be a welcome present for us. It’s great to see the tournament receiving such amazing support and I’m sure all the players are going to set their sights on the par-three holes and play more attention to these holes.

“My form over the last season and the start of this season has been good and I am looking forward to competing on home soil,” said Gunn.

Asian Tour Commissioner and CEO, Cho Minn Thant said: “The impressive line-up of vehicles that will be offered as prizes for our members as well as the commitment shown by the various car makers for the Royal’s Cup 2020 is a strong testament to the appeal of professional golf in Thailand and the Asian Tour. We’re looking forward to a memorable week in what will be the Tour’s maiden visit to Kanchanaburi next month.”

Powered by the mix of heavy metal songs blaring over the speakers, the 62-year-old from Naperville, Illinois, didn’t look at the clock or even at the time displayed on the phone in between his hands to control the music. He drank only periodic sips of water, and he didn’t eat much at all. Instead, he planked and planked and planked.

Eight hours, 15 minutes and 15 seconds later, when he finally unclenched his thighs and stretched his arms out, Hood had broken the Guinness world record for the abdominal plank.

The record-breaking feat, which Guinness officially announced last week, caps nearly a decade of planking for the former Marine and Drug Enforcement Administration officer, who trained for hours each day to raise awareness about mental health issues.

“A lot of peers in my age group . . . they use it as an excuse. ‘Oh, I’m too old,’ ” he told The Washington Post late Monday. “Well, I’m changing all that. I’m in the best shape of my life, and that’s how everybody should feel.”

The previous record for men’s planking was set by Mao Weidong of China, who in 2016 held a plank for eight hours, one minute and one second. Canadian Dana Glowacka holds the current record for women, at four hours, 19 minutes, 55 seconds.

Hood said he can’t remember exactly how he learned about the plank a decade ago, back when the exercise was unheard of in the U.S. fitness world. But when he did, he got hooked fast, and by early 2011, at age 53, he was testing out the move for five minutes at a time at his gym in Illinois.

“It was a static exercise. There was no movement involved. I could put music in my ears at the gym and lay on the floor and plank,” he said. “So I said to myself, ‘I think I can do this, I’ll try it,’ and I did.”

He did indeed. A few months into his training, in December 2011, Hood held the pose for one hour and 20 minutes straight, breaking the Guinness world record for planking. By then, he said, it had become an addiction.

“I did it every day,” Hood recalled. “I would blow things off to get my planks in. It was like sugar.”

As a former Marine and supervisory special agent with the DEA, he had long been used to working out to fit the part for his occupations. But planking provided a kind of mental peace of mind that weightlifting and other gym exercises never could.

“When I plank, I don’t have to sit in traffic. I don’t have to buy gas. I don’t have to sit and listen to anyone . . . complain about how tired they are,” he said. “I just plank and that gives me all the satisfaction I need.”

In fact, he said, planking has allowed him to work through personal issues. While talking mid-plank, either to himself or to others, he often gets ensconced in his emotions, which both distract him and fuel him to hold the pose longer. Part of his goal in setting the Guinness record was raising awareness for mental health issues, particularly among military and law enforcement officers.

As he planked for hours, Hood’s intense poses became a full-time job. He was invited to Asia for international planking competitions in the mid-2010s and held a multi-hour plank aboard the USS Midway in honor of Veterans Day. Soon, an elevated platform for planking became the centerpiece of his home.

“My plank is my best friend,” he said. “Do I have a social life? No, not one to really speak of, because all I do is train.”

In 2014, China’s Mao had far surpassed his original record, and two years later, he beat the American at the same event where Hood had surpassed his own record. There was always another record to beat, or another record beating that record that would be coming up in the queue of claims to the Guinness title.

But Hood was starting to realize the toll his planking addiction had taken on him, and he was ready to call it quits. Except he wanted to leave his planking career the same way he started it – with a Guinness world record.

As part of his 18-month preparation, Hood stuck to a strict training regimen that took up about seven hours every day: 700 push-ups, 2,000 crunches, 500 toe squats, 500 band curls, 30 minutes of cardio and four to five hours of planking, broken up into three sets or less. Meals were interspersed in between, so that Hood wasn’t done with his last plank of the week until 10 p.m. on Sundays.

The morning of the Feb. 15 challenge required an even stricter routine: Hood woke up four hours before the planking, downed half a cup of oatmeal, an egg and lots of water, before purging his body of any food so that he could hold the pose without needing to go to the bathroom for more than eight hours.

Then came the rock music: Van Halen and Ted Nugent, “Highway Star” by Deep Purple and Rammstein’s “Du Hast,” all played at earsplitting decibels in the gym to motivate him to hold the pose for longer than most people sleep at night.

“I play it so loud I’m reliving a fantasy I had as a kid in college, wanting to be rock star, rolling into a stadium with my semi truck and my band and singing to a crowd of 50,000 people,” he said. “At least at this last event, for eight hours, 15 minutes, 15 seconds, I was the biggest rock star that ever lived in that place.”

About two-thirds of the way through his plank came a tribute to veterans, during which others built a “battlefield cross” memorial using troops’ equipment such as military boots and a sandbag.

Once the world record was his, he took a short break and celebrated with 75 consecutive push-ups. He told The Post that one of his next two goals is to break the world record for push-ups.

His other goal? Make it to age 100.

And this one, Adam Eaton admits, was really, really bad.

The Washington Nationals were skidding against the Brewers in Milwaukee. Eric Thames sliced a popup in the first inning, and Eaton took off running. But as he neared the left field line and the ball dropped to the ground, Eaton was stuck. He had gone too far and could not slow down. He has had trouble decelerating since he tore his left ACL and sprained his left ankle on the same step in 2017. So he shuffled into the dirt, a double bounced behind him, and, helpless, he turned to watch the ball find the stands.

“It wasn’t good last year,” Eaton said of his defense. “Honestly, at times it was miserable.”

Off the top of his head, he counts four other plays that unfolded like that. The common thread was an inability to slow down how he used to, before his left leg became a nagging problem. The takeaway, when he reviewed the season, formed his biggest goal for 2020: Get much better in right field, his primary position, and give the Nationals baseball’s best defensive outfield.

Juan Soto and Victor Robles were Gold Glove finalists last season. Eaton used to be in that company – in 2014 and 2016 – but is now trying to break habits he formed after the injuries. It is his focus for February, and it will be his focus in March, and that won’t change until his brakes are finally fixed.

“Just trying to keep up with them is a chore,” Eaton, 31, said of Soto and Robles. “I feel like we can each improve on defense, in some shape or form, but I have much farther to go than they do.”

Every defensive statistic went against Eaton in 2019. Major League Baseball’s Statcast uses “outs above average” to quantify in a single number a player’s range, defensive skill and the difficulty of plays made. Robles finished the year with 23, which led the major leagues. Eaton, in a stark contrast, finished with one. FanGraphs’ all-encompassing defensive metric rated Eaton well below average. So did Baseball Reference’s way of measuring defensive wins above replacement.

But Eaton believes this is correctable and even part of a four-year recovery cycle. In 2017, he missed all but 23 games after the ACL tear and ankle sprain. In 2018, he was compensating for lingering pain and, as he put it, “just trying to get by.” That led him to decelerate by hopping on his right leg while swinging his left foot out in a semicircle. The maneuver kept weight off his left leg and was a more comfortable way of slowing down. Yet in 2019, when the leg felt better, the hopping and swinging became muscle memory.

He wants to get back to planting his left foot in the ground to stop. It is the difference between tapping the brakes and slamming them. And in the field, that is the difference between excelling and making mistakes.

“It’s a vicious cycle,” Eaton explained Sunday. “At first, you’re trying to cheat because it hurts, and because your gait is [expletive] up. The next year, you keep doing it because it’s what your body knows. Then the next year, you can hopefully get back to your normal self. That’s where I am now. I’m getting back to normal.”

Normal began this past August, when the pain eased. Eaton saw an uptick in power at the plate, and he felt better in right field. But he can’t wait for spring to end, and the summer to dwindle, for that to happen this year. That’s why the next five weeks will center on his defensive mechanics.

Eaton plans to log a few more innings than usual before Opening Day and otherwise use workouts to track balls to the line, to the corner and toward the wall. His locker in West Palm Beach is right next that of Thames, who signed with the Nationals in January. Thames has mentioned that play in Milwaukee more than once, and he jokes that Eaton gifted him a double. It’s a fact that Eaton won’t deny.

“I hate thinking about that, but you also have no choice,” Eaton said. “If you take away that play, the four other ones, you start to put together a decent defensive season. You start to get back to what you were in 2014, maybe, when your legs did what you asked. You go in the right direction.”

By talking to Eaton, it’s clear how bothered he is by those half-dozen instances across an eight-month stretch.

“You wouldn’t want to be inside my head,” Eaton added with a laugh. “You’d start to wonder, ‘How the hell does he live like this?’ ”

Beal had touched greatness at Capital One Arena, scoring like he never had before, but he would not be able to grab a win from the NBA’s best team.

The Washington Wizards lost, 137-134, in overtime to the Milwaukee Bucks, after Beal took over for the second straight night only to fall short again. Beal finished with 55 points – shooting 19 for 33 overall and 8 for 13 from the three-point line – after going for 53 Sunday in a loss to the Chicago Bulls. His individual masterpiece, as well as the Wizards’ collective effort against their elite opponents, shined through despite the loss.

Washington trailed by as many as 20 points in the third quarter and spent much of the second half aiming to pull off the improbable. Beal, as he has all season, tried to save his team from defeat almost singlehandedly.

Beal checked back into the game with 7:50 remaining in the fourth quarter and the Wizards trailing by 10. He scored his team’s next 17 points, splashing assisted three-pointers, dunking with fury and drilling a midrange jumper over two defenders. When Beal found some breathing room after Moritz Wagner screened Milwaukee guard George Hill, he connected on another three and trimmed Washington’s deficit to just 119-116 with 2:16 left in regulation.

The margin was still three with 1:36 to play when Wagner stepped in to a take a charge against Giannis Antetokounmpo, drawing the reigning MVP into his sixth foul. Antetokounmpo finished with 22 points and 14 rebounds in 25 minutes.

The strong defense led to opportunistic offense on the other end, and Beal swished yet another long-range shot to tie the score at 121 with 1:23 left.

Beal pulled the Wizards ahead by four points with less than two minutes left in overtime, but he couldn’t always do everything by himself. He committed three turnovers in overtime, the last one coming with 43.3 seconds remaining and the score tied. Bucks all-star forward Khris Middleton, who scored 40 points, nailed the decisive three with 31.2 seconds to play, and Milwaukee improved its league-best record to 49-8.

The Wizards (20-36) lost their third straight game, but this time they showed fight.

After Sunday’s loss in Chicago, Wizards Coach Scott Brooks shared criticism that no professional athlete would want to hear.

“We’re playing soft,” Brooks said.

The rebuke, and a night of self-reflection among the players, clearly had an effect.

Wizards rookie forward Rui Hachimura defended Antetokounmpo, and while the matchup between the reigning MVP and a first-year player sometimes went about as expected, Hachimura battled.

Antetokounmpo wasted little time before trying the young player with one of his steamrolling drives, but Hachimura slowed him down and forced a pass. Antetokounmpo had his moments – on one early possession, he hooked Hachimura, keeping him behind the play as he snaked into the lane for a nifty reverse layup – but he didn’t take over the game.

Even without a major scoring contribution from Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee went up 71-51 with 8:29 left in the third quarter, and four other players reached double-digit scoring by the end of the period.

The Wizards could have folded, playing without top three-point shooter Davis Bertans because of a knee injury or center Thomas Bryant, who sat out the second night of a back-to-back as he eases back from his foot injury. But Beal nearly carried them to the upset, with help from Shabazz Napier, who finished with 27 points. The win, however, ultimately escaped their grasp.

The 24-year-old Thai endured initial struggles in the high altitude by opening with three consecutive 73s at Club de Golf Chapultepec in Mexico City before producing his lone under-par card which comprised of six birdies against three bogeys which saw him end the week in T53.

American Patrick Reed claimed a one-stroke victory for his second WGC-Mexico Championship title and eighth PGA TOUR career victory which moved him up to fifth place on the FedExCup points list.

Japanese star Hideki Matsuyama fired a 67 to finish T6 as the best Asian performer in the year’s first WGC while Presidents Cup International teammates Sungjae Im and Byeong Hun An, both from Korea, were amongst those who shared 29^thposition.

With a 3-over 287 aggregate, Jazz, the reigning Asian Tour No. 1, finished some 21 strokes behind Reed which left the Thai in no doubt that he needs to sharpen his game considerably before he tees up at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard, THE PLAYERS Championship and WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play next month.

“It’s a very good experience. I’ve never played much in altitude before. It took some time to adjust and all in all, I think I learned a lot from this week,” said Jazz, who won four times in Asia last year.

“We’ll take this experience and use it to improve myself. I didn’t do anything that well, so I pretty much have to work on everything.”

He will enjouy an off week in Orlando to prepare for his next three starts on the PGA TOUR in March followed by a maiden Masters Tournament appearance in April. While he is dreaming of securing his PGA TOUR card through the Non-Member category, the Thai is under no illusion he needs to crank up his game by a few notches to have a realistic chance.

“I’m looking forward to spending some time in America. It’s going to be great as I love playing golf over here. I can see what I need to improve and I’ll try to improve,” said Jazz.

He is looking forward to reuniting with fellow Thai, Kiradech Aphibarnrat at Bay Hill. Kiradech, playing in his second full season on the PGA TOUR, finished T27 in the Puerto Rico Open on Sunday to stop a run of three missed cuts and he will be hoping to maintain his revival with a strong showing at this week’s The Honda Classic.

Jazz cannot wait to step foot at Bay Hill, a tournament closely linked to golf legend and the late Arnold Palmer. “Maybe he was a little bit before my time but he certainly influenced a lot of players who have then influenced me and got me to play golf. He was also my father’s hero,” said Jazz.

As he prepared to leave Mexico City, Jazz is hopeful of making a quick return after a fairly subdued debut in the US$10.5 million Mexican showpiece. Apart from the motivation to compete regularly against the world’s best golfers, Jazz said he was in love with Mexican food.

“I loved it,” said the baby-faced Jazz. “Apart from Thai food, Mexican food is one of my top-three favourite food in the world and I enjoyed myself eating so much. The player lounge here is like the best player lounge I’ve been to. I think I’ve gained a couple of pounds!”

He pulled a towel over his face and kept it there before covering his legs, which had motored around United Center for 39 hard minutes. Beal had returned to the sideline with 53 points, a new career high, and yet he was the last player glued to the bench long after the buzzer. The expression on his face said it all – the big scoring night didn’t matter as much as his team’s 126-117 loss to the Chicago Bulls.

In two games after the all-star break, the Wizards (20-35) have lost all signs of their previous momentum. On Friday night, they lost to the Cleveland Cavaliers, the team with the worst record in the Eastern Conference. On Sunday, they trailed by as many as 25 points against the Bulls, who had been heading in that direction.

Chicago had dropped a season-high eight straight games, and cameras caught star player Zach LaVine expressing his frustration Saturday night after Coach Jim Boylen called a late timeout during a loss to the Phoenix Suns.

The Bulls – with their injuries, youth and signs of disunity boiling over before they played the Wizards on the second night of a back-to-back – should have afforded Washington an opportunity to bounce back from the Cleveland loss. Instead, a team that entered with the fourth-lowest scoring average in the NBA went for 73 points in the first half. LaVine was able to channel any lingering anger by scoring freely: During a stretch in the second quarter, he scored nine points in less than two minutes and finished with 32 points. And a rookie fresh off a career high needed less than 24 hours to match his big scoring total and do LaVine one better.

Coby White scored 33 points for the second consecutive night, becoming the first Bulls rookie since Michael Jordan in 1984 to score at least 30 points in consecutive games. Before Sunday’s matchup, Wizards Coach Scott Brooks shared praise for the young guard that proved prophetic.

“Once he gets going,” Brooks said of White, “he’s hard to stop.”

When White entered the game near the midpoint of the first quarter, the Bulls trailed 15-11. The Bulls had flipped the deficit into a four-point advantage by the end of the quarter, and the credit belonged to White – and the Wizards’ defense.

On his first play after checking in, White, despite his size disadvantage at 183 pounds, beat Beal and fellow rookie Rui Hachimura to a rebound and zoomed downcourt for a coast-to-coast layup. On the final possession of the quarter, White fooled Troy Brown Jr. with a change of speed. Brown backed away, trying to defend against a drive to the rim, but White slowed down so that he could pull up for a wide-open three in the quarter’s closing seconds.

Washington’s inability to guard the three-point arc continued throughout the first half, and Chicago made 12 of 22 (54.5%) from long distance. White had caused so much trouble with his 16-point outburst in the first quarter that he began to see additional defenders in the second. So within the final two minutes of the half when White skated around Ish Smith, the Wizards shifted toward him but abandoned Ryan Arcidiacono open beyond the left wing.

Then, following White’s pass out, LaVine turned into the facilitator and with the same game plan (dribbling inside, drawing the defense and finding the open teammate) he hit White in the corner to expose Washington with another three-pointer.

In the third quarter, the Bulls opened an 83-58 lead. When the Wizards called timeout, players returned to the sideline, sullen and speechless. Beal leaned back in his padded folding chair and stared across the court. However, the Wizards didn’t stay down for long. Beal refused to rest in the fourth quarter – leaving his sideline seat with 10:09 remaining – and his 21 points helped Washington cut into the lead.

On Beal’s three-point play, the Wizards came within 110-103 with 6:38 left in the game. The rally abruptly ended, however, as Chicago poured in more threes and dunks and the Wizards lost another chance to build off their work before the all-star break.

After Sunday night, the games do not get easier as Washington will face three consecutive opponents currently in the playoff race (Milwaukee, Brooklyn and Utah).

The 22-year-old from Rayong applied her attacking game to upend the world No 5 11-21 21-16 21-18 to win the Super 300 event.

She staged a sweet revenge over the left-handed Marin, the only female player to win three World titles in 2014, 2015 and 2018.

The in-form Thai lost all five previous matches to the Spaniard before their Sunday’s showdown.

Pornpawee won US$12,750 for the winner’s prize money. Previously the Thai was in her first Tour final in the Super 300 Thailand Masters in 2018 but lost to countrywoman Nitchaon Jindapol 21-11 21-18.

However, in the men’s singles final former World junior champion Kunlavut Vitidsarn was given a lesson by former world No 1 Viktor Axelsen of Denmark 21-16 21-13.