Team Falcons and Nigma Galaxy finished atop their groups on Saturday to advance to the Dota 2 playoffs at the Esports World Cup in Paris.

Team Falcons (4-0-1) posted a 2-0 sweep of Xtreme Gaming to complete the round-robin action in Group A, winning in 59 minutes on red and 42 minutes on green. Nigma Galaxy (4-0-1) swept PlayTime to wrap up Group B, winning in 66 minutes on red and 44 minutes on green.

Team Falcons and PARIVISION stand alone atop their groups, while 1w and Team Yandex share first place and Aurora Gaming is tied with Nigma Galaxy after Thursday’s action at the Dota 2 event of the Esports World Cup in Paris.

The Dota 2 event at the Esports World Cup is the final championship of the ESL Pro Tour, now in its fourth season. The tournament has a $2 million prize pool, with $750,000 and 1,000 club points going to the first-place team.

The format consists of three phases: a group stage (through Sunday) of four groups of six teams competing in a round robin, a survival phase (July 14-15) formatted into a single-elimination bracket that will see four teams advance, then a final playoff stage (July 16-19), which is single elimination.

All matches in Phase 1 are two games, while the matches in Phases 2 and 3 are best-of-three until the best-of-five grand final.

The four group winners advance directly to the playoffs. Teams finishing second, third and fourth in each group move to the survival stage, with the remaining teams eliminated.

Also Saturday in Group A, BetBoom Team (3-0-2) swept GamerLegion (1-3-1) and Rune Eaters (1-1-3) did the same to Poor Rangers (0-4-1). In Group B, Aurora Gaming (3-0-2) and Team Liquid (2-1-2) tied while Level UP (1-4-0) swept L1 Team (0-4-1).

The Esports World Cup features competition in 25 titles and a $75 million prize pool. This week’s events also include Valorant, Apex Legends and Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves. Upcoming events include League of Legends, PUBG, EA Sports FC, Call of Duty: Warzone, Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, Rocket League, Counter-Strike 2 and Fortnite.

Sunday’s schedule:

Group C:

–PARIVISION vs. Team Spirit

–MOUZ vs. Vici Gaming

–REKONIX vs. Team Nemesis

Group D:

–1w vs. Team Yandex

–OG vs. Virtus.pro

–LGD Gaming vs. Inner Circle x Insanity

Dota 2 Esports World Cup group-stage standings (match record W-L-T, map record):

Group A

1. Team Falcons, 4-0-1 (9-1)

2. BetBoom Team, 3-0-2 (8-2)

3. Rune Eaters, 1-1-3 (5-5)

4. Xtreme Gaming, 1-2-2 (4-6)

5. GamerLegion, 1-3-1 (3-7)

6. Poor Rangers, 0-4-1 (1-9)

Group B

1. Nigma Galaxy, 4-0-1 (9-1)

2. Aurora Gaming, 3-0-2 (8-2)

3. Team Liquid, 2-1-2 (6-4)

4. PlayTime 1-2-2 (4-6)

5. Level UP, 1-4-0 (2-8)

6. L1 TEAM, 0-4-1 (1-9)

Group C

1. PARIVISION, 4-0-0 (8-0)

2. Team Spirit, 3-0-1 (7-1)

3. Vici Gaming, 2-2-0 (4-4)

4. MOUZ, 1-1-2 (4-4)

5. Team Nemesis, 0-3-1 (1-7)

6. REKONIX, 0-4-0 (0-8)

Group D

T1. 1w, 3-0-1 (7-1)

T1. Team Yandex, 3-0-1 (7-1)

3. OG, 1-1-2 (4-4)

T4. LGD Gaming, 1-2-1 (3-5)

T4. Virtus.pro, 1-2-1 (3-5)

6. Inner Circle x Insanity, 0-4-0 (0-8)

–Field Level Media

Linda Noskova captured her first career Grand Slam title at Wimbledon on Saturday with a 6-2, 5-7, 6-3 victory over fellow Czech Karolina Muchova in London.

The ninth-seeded Noskova notched 10 aces and outlasted the 10th-seeded Muchova in 2 hours and 29 minutes. It was the first final between two players of the same nationality at the All England Club since Serena Williams defeated her sister Venus in 2009.

Noskova, 21, won her third title on the WTA Tour and became the third Czech champion in four years, following in the footsteps of Marketa Vondrousova in 2023 and Barbora Krejcikova in 2024.

Noskova benefited from a spectacular lob to close out the first set in 32 minutes. She won 12 of 13 points on her first serve and never faced a break point in the set.

Strong net play and a powerful serve put her in prime position in the second set, building a 5-2 lead before Muchova launched a remarkable rally. Muchova won five consecutive games while fighting off five championship points to extend the match.

Noskova regained her composure in the decisive set, fending off three break points in the opening game to halt the skid. She then broke Muchova in the second game to regain the momentum and once again seized a 5-2 lead.

This time, after Muchova held serve to get within 5-3, Noskova set up championship point with her final ace and finally clinched the trophy.

Muchova, 29, fell short in her second career major final. She lost to Iga Swiatek of Poland in three sets at the 2023 French Open.

–Field Level Media

The Chicago White Sox selected UCLA shortstop Roch Cholowsky with the first overall pick Saturday afternoon at the 2026 Major League Baseball Draft in Philadelphia.

Cholowsky, who turned 21 in April, is considered by draft analysts to be the best college shortstop prospect since Troy Tulowitzki in 2005. He’s the first college shortstop to be taken No. 1 overall since Dansby Swanson in 2015.

Cholowsky was an early favorite to go first overall, with Texas high school shortstop Grady Emerson and Georgia Tech catcher Vahn Lackey also among the top tier of available players. The Tampa Bay Rays were set to pick second overall, and the Minnesota Twins third.

It was Chicago’s first time picking first overall since 1977, when they took prep outfielder Harold Baines, who became a Hall of Famer in 2019. The White Sox also picked high school catcher Danny Goodwin first overall in 1971, but did not sign him.

Cholowsky produced a .329/.448/.624 slash line with 52 home runs in 178 career games over three seasons for the Bruins. He ranked second among NCAA Division I shortstops this season in wins above replacement and defensive runs saved, per USA Baseball, which named him a finalist for the Golden Spikes Award as the nation’s top amateur player.

Cholowsky twice won Big Ten Player of the Year, something only three individuals have accomplished, and helped UCLA win a share of the past two conference championships. His production didn’t dip overall as a junior, but his draft stock waned among some analysts after he didn’t dominate at the NCAA tournament, with the top-ranked Bruins failing to reach the Men’s College World Series.

While analysts universally project Cholowsky to be at least a solid major leaguer at a premium position on both sides of the ball, some worry that his potential ceiling isn’t as high as that of Emerson, an 18-year-old from Fort Worth Christian High School. Neither of the top shortstops project to make an impact like that of Kansas City Royals star Bobby Witt. Several analysts ranked Lackey narrowly as the best player in the draft, but had concerns about his relatively short history playing baseball, along with the physical toll that catching inevitably takes on any prospect.

A right-handed batter listed at 6-foot-2 and 202 pounds, Cholowsky could have taken a college football scholarship to play quarterback at Notre Dame. He even said he prefers football, but also acknowledged that a baseball-only path gave him the best professional outcome.

Had he chosen to skip college three years ago, Cholowsky was said to be a top-50 draft prospect as a high schooler. He grew up around baseball as the son of an MLB scout, Dan Cholowsky, who himself was drafted in the first round (39th overall) by the St. Louis Cardinals in 1991. He played for eight seasons with four organizations professionally, including 285 games at Triple-A, before turning to scouting.

In a rebuilding phase for the past several years, Chicago has been a surprise contender in the American League Central. One of their leaders is shortstop Colson Montgomery, who has developed into one of the best players at his position in a league deep with big-time talent playing short.

The White Sox also have a deep farm system rich with additional shortstop talent like Caleb Bonemer and Billy Carlson. But a good thing about drafting any shortstop is the flexibility to change their position if needed. By the time Cholowsky is ready to play in the majors, Montgomery and others could move elsewhere on the diamond.

–Field Level Media