ben mertens
SMU Beats Pitt: A 38-36 Set, a 12.5-6 Block Edge, and the Lesson of an Isolated StarThe third set ended 38-36. In more than forty years in the commentary booth, ...
ITTF Re-awards Hopes Week 2026 to Sheffield: What Matters Lies in the U12 Talent PipelineForty athletes under twelve years old. Twenty boys, twenty girls. That figure...
The Uncounted: Women's Sports and the Fight for DataThe match ended at 9:47 in the evening, and I was still sitting in the worn...
An All-Indian Final at the 2026 Asian U17: Pipeline Depth Matters More Than Tanvi Patri's CrownThe deciding game ended 15-12. Tanvi Patri dropped the opening game 11-15 to...
Saudi Arabia's Six Changes Against Oman at the Gulf Cup: Rotation Logic and the Defensive Blind SpotSaudi Arabia's Six Changes Against Oman at the Gulf Cup: Rotation Logic and t...
Sindarov's Scoresheet: A Diplomatic Move and the Generational Shift on the World ChessboardI have seen many diplomatic gifts in my decades as a journalist: gilded...
Three Quotas, One Ticket: Why the World's Fifth-Fastest Runner Can Still Stay HomeOn the track, the scoreboard shows exactly one thing: the placing. It does no...
Smartphones don’t score goals: the mislabeled “football” tag and the data lesson for Vietnamese footballMukhtar Begum turned 82 and learned to press the green button to video-call h...
Fabio Lima and Vietnam's Defensive Equation: Why the 218-Goal Number MisleadsNight falls on a stadium with no matches scheduled, and I am still there,...
Samarkand Without Gold: India's Chess Data Board and the Unrepeatable Shadow of Budapest 2026The final round in Samarkand. Gukesh sits at board 4. The reigning world...
VAR in V.League 1: Three Years of Silence and the Question of TrustForty-Seven Seconds of Silence The referee raises a hand to his earpiece....
Classic LoL Update 4: Legendary Graves Returns, Council Vote Reveals Data Blind SpotsI watched a ranked match in Classic League of Legends mode on Saturday night....
Peyz's 6 Pentakills Are Not Enough to Cover T1's WeaknessesPeyz's 6 Pentakills Are Not Enough to Cover T1's Weaknesses The match dragged...
An empty data sheet and the discipline of not writing in sports journalismAn empty data sheet is not a blank page. It is a mirror reflecting a question...
Van Dijk and the Ten Seconds That Kept Him: How the Netherlands Retained Its CaptainOn the night of December 6, 2026, in Al Rayyan, a match ended without a singl...
Inside the Compression Cycle of the BWF World Tour: Injury, Calendar and the Unlocked DoorsOn August 4, 2026, at the Porte de la Chapelle arena in Paris, Carolina Marin...
CS2 Falls to 805,637 Average Players: An Unprecedented Seven-Month Slide and What the Data Cannot SayOn September 23, 2026, Counter-Strike 2 recorded 1,450,705 concurrent players...
Asian Games 2026: India's Medal Path and the Badminton Team Equation at Japan's DoorstepIn the first-day medal round-up of the 2026 Asian Games - the continental...
When the pitch goes silent, data speaks: what Vietnamese football is missingIn March 2026, I stood in the corridor of AAMI Park while Melbourne Victory...
Global Chess League 2026: Carlsen Returns, India in Turmoil, and a Suffocatingly Packed ScheduleOn September 5, 2026, in an undisclosed European city, six franchise chess...
ITTF Re-awards Hopes Week 2026 to Sheffield: What Matters Lies in the U12 Talent PipelineForty athletes under twelve years old. Twenty boys, twenty girls. That figure...
The Uncounted: Women's Sports and the Fight for DataThe match ended at 9:47 in the evening, and I was still sitting in the worn...
An All-Indian Final at the 2026 Asian U17: Pipeline Depth Matters More Than Tanvi Patri's CrownThe deciding game ended 15-12. Tanvi Patri dropped the opening game 11-15 to...
Saudi Arabia's Six Changes Against Oman at the Gulf Cup: Rotation Logic and the Defensive Blind SpotSaudi Arabia's Six Changes Against Oman at the Gulf Cup: Rotation Logic and t...
Sindarov's Scoresheet: A Diplomatic Move and the Generational Shift on the World ChessboardI have seen many diplomatic gifts in my decades as a journalist: gilded...
Three Quotas, One Ticket: Why the World's Fifth-Fastest Runner Can Still Stay HomeOn the track, the scoreboard shows exactly one thing: the placing. It does no...
Smartphones don’t score goals: the mislabeled “football” tag and the data lesson for Vietnamese footballMukhtar Begum turned 82 and learned to press the green button to video-call h...
Fabio Lima and Vietnam's Defensive Equation: Why the 218-Goal Number MisleadsNight falls on a stadium with no matches scheduled, and I am still there,...
Samarkand Without Gold: India's Chess Data Board and the Unrepeatable Shadow of Budapest 2026The final round in Samarkand. Gukesh sits at board 4. The reigning world...
VAR in V.League 1: Three Years of Silence and the Question of TrustForty-Seven Seconds of Silence The referee raises a hand to his earpiece....
Classic LoL Update 4: Legendary Graves Returns, Council Vote Reveals Data Blind SpotsI watched a ranked match in Classic League of Legends mode on Saturday night....
Peyz's 6 Pentakills Are Not Enough to Cover T1's WeaknessesPeyz's 6 Pentakills Are Not Enough to Cover T1's Weaknesses The match dragged...
An empty data sheet and the discipline of not writing in sports journalismAn empty data sheet is not a blank page. It is a mirror reflecting a question...
Van Dijk and the Ten Seconds That Kept Him: How the Netherlands Retained Its CaptainOn the night of December 6, 2026, in Al Rayyan, a match ended without a singl...
Inside the Compression Cycle of the BWF World Tour: Injury, Calendar and the Unlocked DoorsOn August 4, 2026, at the Porte de la Chapelle arena in Paris, Carolina Marin...
CS2 Falls to 805,637 Average Players: An Unprecedented Seven-Month Slide and What the Data Cannot SayOn September 23, 2026, Counter-Strike 2 recorded 1,450,705 concurrent players...
Asian Games 2026: India's Medal Path and the Badminton Team Equation at Japan's DoorstepIn the first-day medal round-up of the 2026 Asian Games - the continental...
When the pitch goes silent, data speaks: what Vietnamese football is missingIn March 2026, I stood in the corridor of AAMI Park while Melbourne Victory...
Global Chess League 2026: Carlsen Returns, India in Turmoil, and a Suffocatingly Packed ScheduleOn September 5, 2026, in an undisclosed European city, six franchise chess...