Dayana Yestremska with her trophy in 2019

World No 21 Yastremska outlasted Ajla Tomljanovic of Australia in three tough sets for her second WTA crown in the inaugural edition last year. The WTA Thailand Open, which offers a total prize money of US$275,000, will be held at True Arena Hua Hin, Prachuap Khiri Khan province, from February 10-16.

Fans will, however, have the compensation of watching Martic who arrived in the Kingdom on Sunday. World No 5 Elina Svitolina of Ukraine will be the highest-ranked player in the field.

Martic said that she had never been to Thailand. This is her first time and she is excited to be here as Thailand has beautiful tourism destinations which she would love to experience. She loves Thai food and is waiting for a chance to sample them during this trip.

“For this trip, I have changed my schedule to be able to participate in the Thailand Open 2020. A number of players have told me that they loved this tournament due to the nice venue, nice weather and excellent tournament standards.

This makes me excited to participate in and I am ready. I hope a lot of tennis fans will show up for this year’s tournament,” said Martic, on her arrival at Suvarnabhumi Airport.

Martic has won one WTA tournament — in Istanbul, Turkey — last year and reached the finals of three more tournaments. She has also won another WTA tournament in Chicago, USA. Her best Grand Slam performance is reaching the quarterfinal of the French Open in 2019 and the fourth round of other Grand Slams.

Former Wimbledon finalist Eugenie Bouchard of Canada has also confirmed her participation. Bouchard was world No. 5 in 2014 but is currently ranked 212. She is a former junior Wimbledon singles and doubles champion. She has won one WTA title, in Nuremberg, Germany, and finished runner-up in five more tournaments.

She reached the Wimbledon women’s singles finals in 2014 before losing to Petra Kvitova from the Czech Republic. She has also reached the semi-finals of the Australian Open and French Open in 2014.

Meanwhile, representatives from the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) together with the tournament organiser of “GSB Thailand Open 2020 presented by EA”, organised a special charity activity “WTA Charity” by bringing WTA world No 51 Wang Yafan from China and No 178 Chole Paquet from France to the development community at Moo 17 Phra Pradaeng district, Samut Prakarn province, on Sunday. Local people were educated about breast cancer. A tennis clinic for kids whose parents and relatives suffer from breast cancer was also conducted in the community.

In seven tries, Djokovic had never before triumphed in a major final after trailing two sets to one. But after the talented young Austrian Dominic Thiem took the second and third sets Sunday, Djokovic held steady to win the fourth and fifth and capture a record-extending eighth Australian Open title, 6-4, 4-6, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4.

The victory is Djokovic’s 17th major title of his career, placing him just two trophies behind Rafael Nadal and three behind Roger Federer, the record holder whom Djokovic dismissed in straight sets to get to the final.

On Monday, Djokovic will reclaim the world No. 1 ranking. But he didn’t get there without a fight.

Djokovic didn’t so much as surge to a comeback win as he stayed strong, raising his level just incrementally enough as the match wore on, proving not just his first-class resilience and willpower but also his experience in five set finals.

Thiem, the No. 5 player in the world at 26 years old, challenged Djokovic as few have in Melbourne – Djokovic hadn’t lost a set in the Australian Open final since Andy Murray took one off him in 2015. Thiem pushed Djokovic just as he pushed Nadal months ago in the French Open final, just as 23-year-old Daniil Medvedev pushed Nadal again in a thrilling five-set final at the U.S. Open in September.

But Nadal proved it twice last year and Djokovic proved it again as the first Grand Slam of the decade came to a close: Tennis’s old guard may be fighting harder than ever to maintain their status, but they will not slacken their grip on the sport willingly. The younger generation will have to pry their fingers loose.

Thiem, now 0-3 in Grand Slam finals, tried his best Sunday.

The Austrian didn’t waste opportunities to break Djokovic’s serve and looked utterly in control for a period as Djokovic first grew irate with the crowd then frustrated after being called for time violations in the second set. In the third set, the Serbian looked exhausted, left the court to see the medical trainer and guzzled fluids from then on.

Thiem’s fatal error was that he simply maintained his high level of play in the final two sets. Against Djokovic, who carried a 3-1 record in five set major finals into Sunday’s match, failing to improve as the match wore on was as good as giving the win away.

Djokovic finally sealed the match after Thiem sent a forehand wide, and he simply smiled and pointed to the crowd, saving his victory roar for a few moments later.

The football exhibition is held to strengthen the relationship between the country’s leading institutions. Both universities have taken turns in organising the event since the first edition in 1934.

Thammasat has won 24 times and Chulalongkorn 17 times. A total of 32 draws occurred between them. Chulalongkorn are the defending champions after they won last year’s showdown 2-1.

This year the tournament will be held under the theme “Make a Change” to create awareness of current social issues, according to organising committee chairman Sarawut Songsiwilai.

Despite being a football friendly game, the event is more popular in terms of students’ activities, including their cheerleading teams, and especially students’ creative processions and on-stand card displays which mainly mock and satirise current issues and local politics. Comments on air pollution, the novel coronavirus outbreak and the government administration are highly anticipated this year.

The four-time MVP and his Los Angeles Lakers teammates met daily for practices and bonding, but their Tuesday game against the Clippers was postponed, giving James a rare break from his unrelenting public responsibilities during the NBA season. For four days, he wasn’t expected to have the answers, on or off the court.

James returned to the spotlight Friday, stepping to center court to deliver an extended pregame statement honoring Bryant before the Lakers’ 127-119 home loss to the Portland Trail Blazers. The speech hit all the right, and expected, notes: James recognized the victims, expressed sympathy to their families, praised Bryant’s basketball abilities and thanked Lakers fans for coming together as a community. He projected strength and pledged to honor Bryant’s legacy, all while doing his best to hold back tears.

“What he said was just beautiful, it was strong,” said Lakers Coach Frank Vogel. “It represented who he is and who we are as a team. [That was] definitely the heaviest game I’ve been a part of.”

After the game, the weight of Bryant’s death on James was even more obvious. He wore sunglasses to hide his eyes, he hung his head at times and he answered questions, uncharacteristically, in monotone. Yet James was able to make clear that Bryant’s death had led him to reflect on his own life, career, family and priorities.

Although James and Bryant were rivals for more than a decade, they shared so much in common. They are champions, MVPs, Olympic gold medalists, fathers, maniacal workers, global celebrities, sneaker pitchmen and heirs to Michael Jordan. They had different strengths on the court and distinct personalities off it, but they clearly could relate to each other in ways outsiders could never fathom.

James appeared reluctant to share his memories of Bryant in detail through his grief, though he called Bryant his “brother.” He remembered their first meeting when he was 15 years old and waxed briefly about their battles at USA Basketball practices in 2008 and 2012.

“You can see a lot of the clips from our practices where we me and Kobe were leading the troops,” James smiled. “You could tell both of us were trying to see which one was the alpha dog. We had so much mutual respect and drive.”

The bulk of James’s reflection time this week, though, clearly wasn’t spent on basketball. As his news conference closed, James recalled a recent conversation with his wife, Savannah, about Bryant’s relationship with his wife, Vanessa, and four daughters, including 13-year-old Gianna, who also died in the helicopter crash.

“Seeing Kobe playing the game of basketball for 20 years,” James recounted, “you know what’s crazy? Out of all the success he had – five rings, MVPs, first-team everything, all-life, all-world, all-basketball – I felt like the last three years were the happiest I’ve ever seen him. Being able to be with his daughters and his family.”

James’s relationship with his children has been a subject of increased media attention this season, in part because his 15-year-old son, Bronny, has become a high school basketball phenomenon. Bryant’s happiness in retirement and his sudden death naturally led James to contemplate his own work-life balance.

“When we play this game of basketball, we give so much to it,” he said. “This is my 17th year so I know. Unfortunately your family comes to the wayside at times. When you want to be great at something, the best at something, you become so driven that you won’t let anything stand in the way of it. Not even your own family sometimes.”

James, 35, added that history, and playing in the shadow of past legends, only increases the burdens of pressure and time.

“We get compared all the time to greatness, and that makes us even more driven and even more [kept] away from our own family,” he said. “That’s the difficult part that we deal with as professional athletes when you want to be great. . . . [Bryant’s death] puts everything into perspective.”

On a recent road trip, James drove two hours of his way, to Springfield, Massachusetts, to attend one of Bronny’s high school games shortly before a game against the Boston Celtics. James said Friday that, even though they Lakers “got our a– kicked” by the Celtics, he “didn’t feel bad” about it because he had spent the time with his son.

For James, this was the major takeaway from Bryant’s tragic death: Career and family might unavoidably come into conflict, but the former shouldn’t marginalize the latter.

“When you punch your clocks and we punch our clocks, when we’re done for the day, make sure you hug the s— out of your family,” James told the assembled media members. “If you have kids, tell them you love them. Try to make it to as much as you can, and don’t feel bad if you happen to go to one of your loved ones’ events and [that means you] sacrifice your job.”

Forever Best Friends, Love Drew.

We Miss You. Love Always, Mom and Dad.

You Are Always in My Heart, Love Liz.

She was quiet. Then, Acompora spoke. “Beautiful, isn’t it?”

Nearly 20 years ago, her 14-year-old son, Louis, was playing goalie on the freshman lacrosse team at Northport High School, about 45 miles east of Manhattan. On March 25, 2000, during his first high school game, he went to make a routine save. The ball hit him in the chest. He collapsed and died. The tragedy set Karen Acompora and her husband, John, on a journey to find out why.

What she learned pushed her into advocacy. She started the Louis J. Acompora Memorial Foundation and immersed herself in subjects related to his death: chest protection; cardiac arrest; portable defibrillators; the sudden, often lethal disruption of the heart’s rhythm known as commotio cordis.

As a new lacrosse season begins, a breakthrough is on the way: Beginning next year, rules enacted by U.S. Lacrosse for boys’ and girls’ youth leagues will require that all goalie chest protectors must meet a new performance standard. This year, all field players in boys’ lacrosse must wear protection for commotio cordis that also meets the standard.

On a visit to her son’s memorial this summer, Karen Acompora walked toward the nearby high school lacrosse field. She pointed to the middle of the field, on the sideline, where she says an automated external defibrillator, or AED, should be placed in a red bag during practices and games.

“As soon as you witness that event, you get that AED,” Acompora said. “You’re going to save somebody’s life.”

The portable devices are designed to deliver a shock to a victim of sudden cardiac arrest within five minutes of the person collapsing, according to Mark Link, a Boston-based cardiologist who specializes in heart-rhythm disorders. Acompora works to spread the word to school administrators, coaches, trainers and parents that they need an AED on every lacrosse and baseball field.

She wants her story to serve as a cautionary tale.

“Louis gave me a job. I wasn’t given a choice,” she said. “He passed right in our laps.”

The day Louis Acompora collapsed, the team came over to the family’s house, where it cut out pieces of his uniform. Karen and John Acompora still wear a part of his jersey every day, in a pin and necklace, just over their hearts. His jersey hangs on a wall near her basement office.

Louis’s death almost immediately prompted his parents to act. By June 2000, the Acomporas held their first conference. Seven months after Louis died, legislation was passed in Suffolk County, New York, where they lived, that required AEDs in all county buildings and parks. In 2002, the state legislature passed Louis’s Law, requiring AEDs on athletic fields and in all New York state school environments.

“It saved our lives,” Karen Acompora said. “I talk about Louis every day.”

Despite the progress, Karen and John Acompora keep striving. “We’re still in infancy here,” she said. There are about 30 cases per year of commotio cordis, the condition that killed Louis and is caused by a direct hit to the chest from an object such as a baseball, lacrosse ball or lacrosse stick. It’s the second-leading cause of sudden death in young athletes, according to Link.

The problem, Karen Acompora says, is that most people don’t know the damage a ball can cause and what an AED can do.

She said she has visited schools to advocate for the importance of AEDs only to sometimes find devices with expired pads or batteries, or placed in the nurse’s office where they cannot be immediately accessed in case of emergency.

“I thought we would be done 10 years ago,” John Acompora said. “When Louis passed away and I found out what an AED did and how easy CPR is to learn, I thought this was a no-brainer. Louis was 14 when he passed. I said, by the time Louis turns 21, I think we’ll be done with this project. This is common sense. Here we are 19 years later, still trying to teach common sense.”

The Acomporas’ work inspired Felice Goldblum, a Baltimore paramedic whose son plays on the Boys’ Latin School lacrosse team. After hearing of Louis’s story, she asked her son where his school’s AED was. There wasn’t one. Last year she helped U.S. Lacrosse launch A Player’s Pulse, an initiative to get an AED on every lacrosse field in the country.

But raising awareness isn’t easy. Though AEDs cost roughly one-third as much as they did at the time of Louis’s death, they still run about $1,300 apiece. And the condition is obscure enough that it’s hard to understand the risk. Drew Thompson, Louis’s best friend who went to play at the University of Virginia and in Major League Lacrosse, said there’s reluctance among players to adopt safety measures because there’s a prevailing notion that tragedy won’t happen to them.

“It didn’t scare us at all,” Thompson said of playing after Louis died.

Since Louis’s Law passed, Karen Acompora has kept an Excel document logging the name, age, location and circumstance of incidents in which an AED has saved a life. It’s a reminder of the work she’s done, and the work she still has to do. In honor of the 20th anniversary of her son’s death, she wants to track down people on the list, and see how they feel years later.

“Maybe in a way it’s a little bittersweet,” Karen said. “I wish Louis was on the survivor sheet, but unfortunately, tragically, he’s not. It makes me know what we’re doing is the absolute right thing. It’s Louis’s legacy.”

– Experienced defender joins Leicester City on loan from Wolves

– The 29-year-old has played 19 times in all competitions this season

– Bennett has previously played for Grimsby Town, Peterborough United and Norwich City

The experienced 29-year-old moves to King Power Stadium having played 19 times in all competitions for the Molineux outfit this term, scoring once in the Europa League.

Standing at 6ft 2in, the imposing centre-back started his career with Grimsby Town, making over 100 appearances for the Mariners before switching to Peterborough United in 2010.

A former England Under-21 international, Bennett earned a move to the Premier League with Norwich City in January 2012 and spent five years with the Canaries.

He signed for Wolves from Norwich City in May 2017 and helped the club to promotion to the top-flight in his first year. He went on to play on a further 40 occasions in all competitions last season, as Wolves earned a seventh-place finish in the Premier League.

“It’s great to be here. It’s a massive club and the league table doesn’t lie. The manager has taken the team to another level and the players deserve great credit too. The Club is moving in a forward direction and it’s really good to be part of it,” said Bennett.

“I’ve experienced the atmosphere at King Power Stadium before too with Wolves and with Norwich City. It’s a great environment here and it’s a journey I’m looking forward to,” he added.

Bennett played the full 90 minutes for Nuno Espírito Santo’s side on their visit to King Power Stadium on the opening weekend of the 2019/20 campaign, a game which ended goalless.

The defender will now link up with his new team-mates, but won’t be available for Saturday’s Premier League tie with Chelsea at King Power Stadium.

A case could certainly be made, especially considering the rush he is putting on as he pushes toward career goal No. 700. He added two more Friday night in a 5-3 win over the Ottawa Sentors, giving him 695 for his remarkable career and placing him eighth all-time.

Goal No. 694, midway through the second period, tied him with Mark Messier; goal No. 695, an empty-netter in the closing moments at Canadian Tire Center, gave him 37 on the season and was his 11th goal in his past five games, the hottest stretch of his career.

Behind their captain, and strong closeout defense down the stretch, the Capitals (35-12-5) left Ottawa with a gritty win, a needed response after Wednesday’s sloppy loss at home to Nashville.

After the Capitals jumped up to a 4-2 lead early in the third period with a tally from Carl Hagelin, who scored his fourth goal and first shorthanded of the season, the Senators responded with a power-play goal from Artem Anisimov only 1:40 later.

The Capitals fought off a hard Senators push and were up an extra man for the final 3:42 of regulation after Colin White received a double minor for high-sticking. Ovechkin’s empty netter came with 15 seconds left.

Ilya Samsonov (25 saves) won his 11th straight contest, dating back to Nov. 30 against Detroit. The rookie netminder came in with a 1.60 goals against average, .941 save percentage and a shutout during that streak.

The win improved Samsonov to 15-2-1 but he was far from flawless. While he had a stellar start (his breakaway save on Vladislav Namestnikov was one of the highlights of the opening 20), there were noticeable struggles down the stretch.

With the Capitals holding a 3-1 lead midway through the second period following Ovechkin’s first goal, Samsonov let in a nifty goal from Thomas Chabot only 1:04 later. The momentum shifted, but Hagelin took advantage of a turnover with the Senators buzzing on the power play, looking for an equalizer.

While the game was dicey late, the Capitals dominated early, taking a 2-0 lead with opening period goals from T.J. Oshie and Evgeny Kuznetsov. Oshie’s 19th and first in seven games was a redirection in front, off a slick feed from John Carlson at 4:10. Carlson’s assist was his 361th of his career, tying Calle Johansson for most by a defenseman in Capitals history.

Kuznetsov scored a wacky goal seven minutes later that triggered a delayed reaction from the players on the ice. Off a feed from Jakub Vrana, Kuznetsov’s shot hit goaltender Marcus Hogberg’s leg and disappeared near side under the net skirt. Players initially didn’t realize it went in. Then the center threw up his hands in celebration when he realized the puck had crossed the goal line for his 17th tally of the season.

The Senators cut the Capitals’ lead down to 2-1 with a shorthanded tally by Chris Tierney at 7:15 of the second period. The goal came while Ovechkin and the Capitals’ second power play unit was on the ice.

It was the fifth shorthanded goal the Capitals have allowed in the past eight games, a stretch that seen the team produce five power play goals. The Capitals have allowed nine shorthanded goals on the season, tied with Detroit for the most in the league.

The Capitals have a day to rest before Sunday’s marquee matchup at home against the Pittsburgh Penguins, the first meeting between the two Metro Division rivals of the season. The team has yet to name a starter in net.

The deal agreed late Thursday gives the U.K. luxury carmaker much-needed breathing space as it looks to get back in track following a turbulent start to life as a public company.

Aston Martin needs funds to ease a debt burden and start building the DBX — its first-ever SUV — which Chief Executive Officer Andy Palmer is banking on to sell in higher volumes than the stylish sports cars made famous in the James Bond movies.

The shares posted their biggest gain ever on Friday after Aston Martin announced details of the rescue package, which sees a group led by Stroll buying as much as 20% of the company. The sterling bonds also rose to their highest since July.

The Canadian investor will become executive chairman, according to a statement. Bloomberg News reported earlier that the deal had been agreed to overnight.

“This fund-raise brings down our leverage and substantially supports investment in new products,” Palmer said in an interview. The company no longer needs to draw down on a 100 million-pound, high-interest loan, he added.

Stroll, a Canadian investor who owns a Formula One racing team, won the backing of Aston Martin’s board. He edged out rival suitor Geely, which also sought to invest in the sports-car maker. Stroll’s consortium will pay 182 million pounds for a 16.7% stake, before contributing to a rights issue supported by major shareholders to raise a further 318 million pounds.

Nevertheless, the need for a cash influx sums up the disappointing turn of events since Aston Martin went public in October 2018. At the time, the company was touting a turnaround under Palmer, a former Nissan Motor Co. executive, helped by private-equity backing.

Aston Martin shares jumped 22% to 490 pence as of 9:35 a.m. Friday, the most since its October 2018 initial public offering. Still, the stock remains about 74% lower than the listing price.

Stroll, 60, made his fortune building and selling two fashion brands: He and his partner, Silas Chou, took Tommy Hilfiger public in 1992 and later sold it to private-equity buyers. In 2011, they listed the Michael Kors brand, eight years after acquiring majority control. Chou is also part of Stroll’s Aston Martin consortium.

Stroll also led a group of investors who took over the Force India Formula One team after it was pushed into administration. Renamed Racing Point, it is based in the U.K. and gets its engines from Mercedes-Benz. Stroll’s son Lance is a driver for the team. Aston Martin’s naming partnership with Red Bull Racing will end after the 2020 season.

Stroll’s presence will help steer the company toward its aim of becoming a luxury-goods company, Palmer said. “It’s going to change the dialogue in the boardroom,” he said. “The dialogue will change from automotive to luxury.”

However, investment in electric vehicles will be delayed beyond 2025, bucking a trend that occupies most other carmakers.

Morgan Stanley, Deutsche Bank and JPMorgan advised Aston Martin. Stroll was advised by Barclays.

At the time of its IPO, Aston Martin was pitched as a peer to Ferrari NV, the Italian supercar maker. The company built a new factory in Wales to make the DBX — an optimistic signal for the British car industry, which has been reduced by Brexit and an industry shift away from diesel engines.

But the image quickly evaporated as sales slumped and dealers struggled to offload the entry-level $150,000 Vantage. The DBX, which will cost $189,000 and is set to begin production in the second quarter, may also be late to the competition. Prestige brands like Lamborghini, with the Urus, and Bentley’s Bentayga have already established themselves in the ultra-luxury SUV market.

Geppert and his Maryland lacrosse teammates played Cornell that morning in nearby Ithaca, New York. Before the 2018 trip, Coach John Tillman asked Geppert, a freshman at the time, if he felt comfortable with the team playing a scrimmage there. Maybe it would be too painful, too raw.

Geppert told his coach he had no problem with the location. He initially didn’t want to be the freshman who forced a change in plans, but the more he thought about it, he realized he could let the visit serve as an opportunity for closure.

“What’s scary about it?” he said.

So after the scrimmage, Geppert and his parents headed to the state park. Geppert stayed mostly quiet, within his own thoughts, while his mom talked to the police officer who joined them. The officer pointed out the campsite where Geppert’s older brother, Geoff, had stayed and other areas where he might have spent time during those few days in August 2017. Those were Geoff’s last days, and this park was his last view before he died during a camping trip accident. He was 24.

John Geppert calls this visit his proudest moment: He played for the Terrapins and then “took a big step forward in confronting something that I, for a long time and still do, try not to engage with too often.” Geppert speaks freely about his brother’s influence on him but not so much about this day his world changed.

It’s all deeply personal and private yet in many ways intertwined with his lacrosse career. Geppert started playing the sport as a kid so he could follow the path of Geoff, who was seven years older. When his brother died, Geppert’s first thought was: “What do I compare myself to now? What do I strive to be?”

Geppert wears a necklace with his brother’s signature etched into a silver piece, along with another that depicts a hand holding a cross, based on one of Geoff’s elementary school drawings. It’s too heavy to wear to bed, so Geppert thinks about his brother each morning as he puts on the necklace and at night when he leaves it on his nightstand.

During Geppert’s freshman season at Maryland, he realized he needed to rediscover his on-field identity and remind himself why he played. He visited Haverford College, the school near Philadelphia where his brother played lacrosse. A memorial staircase replaced the muddy hill players walk up to greet their parents after games. Geppert had yet to see the place that helps preserve his brother’s legacy.

“I came back with a clear mind,” said Geppert, who then played well in the NCAA tournament, where Maryland reached the quarterfinals.

Teammates and coaches trust Geppert. The sophomore is calculated and detail-oriented. He started at quarterback for Landon School in Bethesda, and those decision-making skills translated to lacrosse. This season, which begins at noon Saturday for the fourth-ranked Terrapins with a home game against 20th-ranked High Point, Geppert probably will start at close defense for the Terps, and he will do so wearing the No. 20 jersey, the number his brother wore at Haverford.

When Geppert thinks of his brother and the mind-set that helped elevate his own game, he mentions the mantra he and others have adopted: lionhearted. That represents toughness, fearlessness and Geoff’s wholehearted devotion to everything he pursued. It’s how Geppert wants to play lacrosse.

Before moving to Washington and starting middle school, Geppert spent his early years in Ohio. He played with his older siblings – Geoff and Katherine, who is 25 – despite the age gap. They invented games outside on their trampoline and in the basement. John’s involvement in sports replicated his brother’s path. The two played basketball through middle school before focusing on lacrosse and football in high school.

As a kid, John attended Geoff’s games wearing his brother’s old uniforms. John’s earliest lacrosse memory is asking his dad to buy him a helmet – not so he could play but to look more like Geoff with a full complement of gear on the sideline.

“He was like Geoff’s shadow,” Katherine said, adding how John usually took on a water boy-type role. “But he wasn’t a shadow because everyone noticed him.”

In the summer before his senior year of high school, John and his parents visited Geoff in New York City. The brothers walked around the city a bit and discussed John’s college decision. They talked about Penn State and Maryland, but Geoff could tell John was leaning toward Maryland. Geoff told him to go with his gut. That was the last time the brothers saw each other. John committed soon after. Less than a month later, Geoff was gone.

At the funeral, Geppert’s high school lacrosse coach, Rob Bordley, noticed a group of lacrosse players. But he knew they weren’t from Landon, and even if they had been from another local school, Bordley would have recognized them. Then Bordley heard they played for Maryland.

Bryce Young had the idea to go with all his fellow seniors, players who graduated in 2018 before Geppert arrived in College Park. Young had met Geppert once. He didn’t even have his phone number. But Young’s cousin died unexpectedly earlier that year, so he immediately felt for Geppert when he heard the news. The seniors wanted to show Geppert that connections in the program ran deeper than lacrosse. And they wanted to assure Geppert’s parents their son had a support system at Maryland.

“We rally around guys who are going through some s—,” Young said. “That was something we prided ourselves on – being there for one another.”

Geppert spoke at the reception, focusing on the parallel paths he and his brother shared. Geppert mentioned the outdoor games they played and the summer camp both attended. He said how he preferred his brother’s hand-me-down sports gear to newly purchased equipment.

“I’m going to be honest,” Geppert says now, “I never realized how much I was like him and wanted to be like him until he actually passed away.”

Katherine and John spent time with each other around Christmas during a family trip to Arizona. They worked out together, ate dinner at an Italian restaurant and saw a movie. For Katherine, time with John can spark painful reminders of Geoff, but she feels overwhelmingly grateful.

“Every time I see him,” Katherine said, “he’s growing more into Geoff.”

She notices the similarities in John’s brow and nose structure. Some of their mannerisms and facial expressions seem identical. There’s the giggle with the quick shrug. Of course, there’s also the number on his jersey and the angel-winged tattoo underneath. But Geppert’s truest tributes to his brother run deeper. They’re in his drive and his toughness. They’re in who he has become, the way he plays and how he lives.

If the latest trailer released Friday morning is any indication, remaking the milestone 23 years later almost feels like a necessary step to preserving the game’s unforgettable story for future generations. And by freeing it from the confines of being a single game, game director Tetsuya Nomura (who designed the original characters in the 90s) has gained the leeway to give its story the dignity it always deserved.

The 4-minute clip answers a lot of what fans have been wondering. Will Cosmo Canyon’s noble wolf-lion-thing Red XIII look terrible? No, he looks amazing.

Are we going to see more of the ultrachic and deadly Turks of the Shinra Corporation? Yes, and they’ve all got a makeover, particularly executives Heidegger and Reeve Tuesti.

And most importantly, how much are they going to show of that famous scene of protagonist Cloud cross-dressing to gain access to a brothel full of women dressed as bees? More than ever, as it seems they expanded that scene to have its own musical number, with the glitz and flash of a Broadway musical.

“True beauty is an expression of heart, a thing without shame to which notions of gender don’t apply,” the Honey Bee Inn stylist coos in one of the new lines from the game’s script. Cloud then emerges from his makeover in a dress with hair extensions, looking more detailed and pretty than ever before. Even his confrontation with lecherous brothel owner Corneo unfolds differently than it did in the 1997 release.

The first part of Final Fantasy 7 Remake is being released for the PlayStation 4 on April 10. Square Enix has not yet cemented how many parts the game will be split into, which has caused some critics and fans to worry. After all, Square Enix is famous for stormy, extremely long-term projects that are somehow still rushed to release. Final Fantasy 15, a recent notorious example, was under development for 10 years after many management changes, until it finally released in 2016 in an admittedly unfinished state.

But by not locking itself into promises of a trilogy or numbered episodes, Square Enix could avoid the pitfall that swallowed the recent Star Wars trilogy. Disney itself acknowledged that deviating from the Hollywood standard of three films would best serve the Star Wars brand.

By not promising how many episodes this game will be, the remake of Final Fantasy 7 could be anywhere from two to … however many games long. (My guess is four.) And Final Fantasy 7 is a story with several sections, several natural endpoints, and several scenes that, like Cloud, would benefit from a few touchups and extensions.

After all, Final Fantasy 7′s stars are eco-terrorists coming up from the bottom side of a sharp class divide, resisting in a world where the lines between business and government is all but gone, trying to save a planet from inevitable climate disaster. The first city, Midgar, features its have-not citizens living literally beneath the haves. And its main character Cloud is a testament to the frailty and fallibility of human memory, and how we can construct entire identities from dashed hopes, childhood trauma and self-deception.

Final Fantasy 7 is notable for bringing the Japanese role-playing game format to the global mainstream. The Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy series were always huge in Japan, but the medium didn’t find its “it” factor until the first PlayStation and the extra storage that came from its CD-ROM format. By mixing full-motion video with gameplay, Final Fantasy 7 was a landmark in interactive storytelling, and its success cemented the PlayStation’s place in the games industry.

This remake has a lot to live up to, and yet, each trailer released seems to promise something even more special than our own fallible memories might conjure.