Sussex World reporters Sam Morton and Derren Howard report live from Devonshire Park during the Eastbourne tennis tournament and take a look at how Brighton and Hove Albion's stars are getting on for their countries.
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00:00My Outro For My 20th Birthday
00:31Hello and welcome to Latest TV News
00:34I'm Sam Morton, a reporter for Sussex World
00:36and today I'm here with sports correspondent Derren Howard
00:38to speak about the Eastbourne Tennis Tournament
00:40and we'll also be looking at Brighton & Hove Albion's latest transfer rumours
00:43and see how their players are getting on for their countries at Euro 2024 and Copa America
00:48So Derren, we're at Devonshire Park
00:50on day 5 of what has been a fantastic tournament so far
00:53so tell us how it's been for you
00:55Yeah, another great tournament
00:57it's a lovely setting as you can see
01:00the weather's been perfect throughout the last few days as well
01:05and yeah, we've seen some really good quality, high quality matches as well
01:10I think the highlight for me is the first time I've seen Emma Raducanu play live
01:16and yeah, I was really impressed
01:19she's up against the former US Open champion Sloane Stephens on centre court
01:26and it was a really good game
01:28they both played really well, especially that first set
01:30I thought it was very competitive yesterday
01:33Raducanu took the first set
01:35and yeah, it looked really good
01:37she had a little bit of a slip halfway through
01:40but played very well
01:42and very powerful, quite powerful ground strokes as well
01:45so I was really impressed and it was great to see
01:48Yeah, the tournament is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year
01:51and it's your 20th year of covering the tournament
01:53so what makes it so special in your opinion?
01:56I just think it's just a really nice event
01:59and especially when you have the weather like this
02:01it's so close to the seafront, it's so close to the town centre
02:04you can feel the vibe in the town centre
02:07the town really gets behind it for the tennis week
02:10the restaurants are packed, the hotels are packed
02:13and it's just a really good boost for the town
02:16and you get to see some really good top level tennis
02:20just before Wimbledon, up close and personal
02:23there's very few tournaments like this on the tennis calendar
02:27where you can see the players practising so closely
02:30and really get a feel for the skill that it takes to compete at that level
02:34I think it's a great tournament
02:36and I've really enjoyed covering it for the last few years
02:42it feels like a long time ago when I did my first one
02:46but yeah, it's a really good tournament
02:49There is of course an elephant in the room this year
02:51as we know that next year the WTA tournament will be downgraded to a 250 event
02:58which means that there won't be any top 30 players
03:01how much of a shame is that?
03:03that there won't be some of the biggest and best players coming to play here at Eastbourne?
03:06Yeah, they're moving it to Queens
03:09so it's currently WTA 500
03:12which means they can get some of the better players
03:15or more of the better players to play in Eastbourne
03:18there's more ranking points on offer
03:21the prize money is more as well
03:23so it encourages the top players to come
03:26there will still be top players next year coming
03:29but there will be fewer
03:31so I think there's a limit on three of the top 30
03:34will only be allowed to play in Eastbourne
03:38so it will be interesting to see how that develops
03:41there will still be a few big names coming to Eastbourne
03:44but I don't think it will be on quite the same scale as it is
03:47at the moment
03:50but they're hopeful that the tournament will still carry on in the same vein
03:53so the same atmosphere will be here
03:56the same amount of games will be played
03:59but there will just be fewer of the big names that will be coming down
04:02which is a shame
04:04and I asked the same question to Emma Raducanu and Katie Porter in their press conferences yesterday
04:08and they both spoke about their love for Eastbourne
04:11I mean it's Emma's first time here at the tournament
04:13whereas Katie's been here for a number of years
04:15and Katie said how much she loves it here in Eastbourne
04:17and Emma was just saying how nice it is to get out of London
04:19and enjoy the seaside
04:21so you're kind of hearing first hand from some of the biggest stars
04:24of how great this tournament is
04:26and how good it still can be
04:28Yeah no for sure
04:30it was interesting to hear their comments
04:33on how much they enjoy playing in Eastbourne
04:36and it is a shame
04:38the players do really enjoy it
04:40and it is that welcome break
04:42they often say it's a calm before the storm of Wimbledon
04:45so it's nice for them to be in these relaxed settings
04:49where they can just go to the hotel
04:51walk from the hotel
04:53they can easily get on a practice court as well
04:55whereas at Wimbledon they're a bit more restricted
04:57for their practice times as well
04:59so I think for the players
05:01the whole vibe of Eastbourne
05:03is much more low-key, much more relaxed
05:05than it is if they're in London
05:07where they're struggling to get to the venue
05:10and everything's just a bit more busy
05:12but yeah
05:14it was very interesting to hear
05:16the players' thoughts on it yesterday
05:18And this is the last tournament before the big one
05:20of Wimbledon
05:21and who are your early favourites?
05:23I mean Jack Draper's unfortunately not here
05:24because he pulled out of the tournament
05:25but is he a bit of a dark horse for the tournament?
05:27Well he could be
05:29he did really well at Queen's
05:31obviously he had that great win against Alcoraz
05:33in Queen's
05:35and then I think he was looking at the Eastbourne schedule
05:37and probably thinking he'd had enough
05:39grass court time at Queen's
05:41so he decided against coming to Eastbourne
05:43which is a shame
05:44I was really looking forward to seeing him play
05:46but you're right, he could be a dark horse
05:48Alcoraz is obviously going to be very strong
05:51Djokovic, there's still some injury concerns
05:53around Djokovic as well
05:55but on the women's side as well
05:57you have to look at the form of Katie Boulter as well
05:59and she could be a real dark horse
06:01going into this as well
06:03and if Radhikanu can keep
06:05her fitness levels up as well
06:07so there's a good amount of British interest
06:09which should hopefully at least
06:11see us through to the second week anyway
06:13and give some good stories for the media
06:15for the first week at least
06:17That's great, thank you for that Darren
06:18and stay tuned after the break
06:19as we discuss all things Brighton and Hove Albion
06:36Welcome back to Latest TV News
06:38Darren Howard here with me still
06:40to talk about all things Brighton and Hove Albion
06:42So Darren, at the time of recording
06:44we're heading towards the knockout stages
06:46of the Euro 2024 competition
06:48so how much have you enjoyed the tournament so far?
06:50Yeah, it's been good
06:52other than the England performances
06:54which have been fairly
06:56not what we were expecting really
06:58with the amount of talent there
07:00but it's been good
07:02and I'm really looking forward to
07:04the competition really with the amount of talent
07:06that they have in the squad
07:08but the actual tournament as a whole
07:10seems to have been really good
07:12the fans seem to be really enjoying it
07:14out in Germany
07:16and some of the group games have been great
07:18I always like this part of the tournament
07:20with the group games
07:22the games are always coming thick and fast
07:24you don't know what way to turn
07:26to watch all the matches
07:28and it's been good to keep up with all the action
07:30Brilliant, and how have Brighton players
07:32impressed you the most?
07:34Well, there's been a few Brighton players
07:36I thought Bart Verbruggen was doing
07:38very well for Holland
07:40until they
07:42I saw some of the goals yesterday against Austria
07:44and it was difficult to fault
07:46Verbruggen as such for any of the
07:48goals that Holland conceded
07:50but yeah, I thought he was
07:52he's been doing very well
07:54obviously Lewis Dunk with the England team
07:56there were some
07:58hopes that he may play in the first match
08:00John Stones, there were a couple of injury concerns
08:02around John Stones, but he's been
08:04on the bench for England throughout the tournament
08:06he hasn't been used as yet
08:08which is understandable
08:10I think Gahy's played very well
08:12alongside Stones for England
08:14and obviously
08:16Pascal Gross has played
08:18some for Germany, but hasn't been
08:20a regular starter for them
08:22as well, and Dennis Undaff
08:24he's the German striker as well
08:26he's come on as a late substitute
08:28in some of the matches
08:30so yeah, a bit of a mixed bag
08:32for Brighton, but Verbruggen's been the standout
08:34for me I should think
08:36And just on to Billy Gilmore, unfortunately Scotland
08:38were knocked out of the tournament in the group stage
08:40but Gilmore had his moments didn't he
08:42especially in that second game against Switzerland
08:44so how would you assess his
08:46performances? Yeah, very good
08:48I was amazed that he was left
08:50out of the team
08:52for the first match against Germany
08:54to have a midfielder like that
08:56I think Scotland just don't have
08:58that quality of player
09:00and I was very surprised that he was left
09:02out of the starting team
09:04for the Germany match
09:06and I think in the next two games
09:08that he played, he proved why he should
09:10have been in really
09:12he played very well
09:14and it was just unfortunate for Scotland
09:16that they just lost out
09:18to Hungary in the last
09:20minutes
09:22but they did okay
09:24I think they struggled to
09:26get too much, as England
09:28have to be honest, too much attack
09:30and play into the team
09:32so it's a disappointment
09:34for Scotland, but I think Billy Gilmore can be
09:36very proud of the way he played in the two
09:38matches and he should hopefully come
09:40back to Brighton a better
09:42player for it as well
09:44And going back to England, Lewis Stunck
09:46obviously hasn't had any minutes just yet
09:48because of the form of Mark Gage as you've
09:50mentioned, but would you like to see him
09:52get some minutes in the knockout round
09:54or do you think that's quite unlikely?
09:56I think if there's any injuries to
09:58Gage or Stones, then Stunck may come
10:00into the equation, but I think
10:02his role is going to be quite limited
10:04at the tournament, he may
10:06come on as a late substitute
10:08if they're looking to shore the match up
10:10or in certain circumstances like that
10:12but I think overall
10:14it would be nice for him to get some minutes
10:16for England
10:18and for all Brighton fans
10:20I think his role
10:22will be as a backup, just in case
10:24anything goes awry
10:26with Stones or Gage
10:28And just moving on to Copa America, Julian
10:30Sisso scored his first goal for Paraguay
10:32in a 2-1 defeat against Colombia
10:34How impressed were you by him in that game?
10:36How important will that goal be for his confidence
10:38going into the new season?
10:40He struggled this season
10:42and he had the terrible knee injury
10:44which he picked up in the Wolves game, which was
10:46way back at the start of the season
10:48and then he only just started to come back
10:50and find his feet
10:52and find his fitness again towards the latter end of the season
10:54So I think for him
10:56the tournament, this summer's tournament
10:58has come at the perfect time for him
11:00he's just getting his fitness back
11:02and you can see the quality that he has
11:04in the match
11:06that he played yesterday
11:08So for him to get back playing at his best
11:10scoring again as well
11:12will only bode well for
11:14Brighton at the start of the new season
11:16I imagine Brighton's new manager
11:18Jairzelo will be looking at him
11:20and Jeremy Sarmiento as well
11:22who scored for Ecuador in a Copa America
11:24and yeah
11:26they're going to be pushing to be a big part
11:28of the team in the early parts
11:30of the new season
11:32You just mentioned Sarmiento there
11:34How impressed have you been by him
11:36obviously when he's been on loan away from Brighton
11:38and do you really think he now can push for
11:40a place in this Brighton side under the new manager?
11:42Yeah, it's an interesting one
11:44with Sarmiento
11:46I always quite like him
11:48when he comes onto the pitch
11:50he always tries to make an impact
11:52and he's always trying to make something happen
11:54in the final third
11:56and I think players like that
11:58you have to consider them
12:00to be in the first team next season
12:02a lot depends on who Brighton are going to sign
12:04this summer
12:06and I think he's got another two years
12:08or so left on his contract
12:10so it's going to be interesting
12:12whether he goes out on another loan
12:14whether he's going to get opportunities in the first team next season
12:16I imagine Ipswich
12:18who just got promoted
12:20Sarmiento was on loan at Ipswich
12:22and played a role in their promotion
12:24so they could be keen on making a permanent move
12:26or another loan move for Sarmiento
12:28next season
12:30so yeah, I'm interested to see
12:32how that situation develops
12:34because I think he's capable of doing
12:36a job for Brighton next season
12:38but whether he's going to be a regular starter
12:40and what's best for his career
12:42it's going to be interesting
12:44to see how that develops
12:46Absolutely
12:48You mentioned new players coming in
12:50to Brighton in the new season
12:52are there any transfer links or rumours at the moment
12:54obviously we've heard that Pascal Gross
12:56still being linked with the move away
12:58back home to Germany
13:00is there any other talk of players leaving or coming in?
13:02Well, I was
13:04Dewsbury Hall is a name that keeps popping up
13:06Brighton tried to sign him
13:08in the previous transfer window
13:10from Leicester
13:12it seems that Leicester are in a position where they have to sell
13:14or need to sell
13:16for their financial flair play
13:18so there could be some outgoings
13:20at Leicester this season
13:22whether Dewsbury Hall will be one of those
13:24we'll have to wait and see
13:26but he's a player that Brighton have been
13:28interested in before
13:30and are expected to try and
13:32rekindle that interest again this summer
13:34he'd be a great signing
13:36Emile Smith-Rowe
13:38he's a name that keeps coming up again as well
13:40from Arsenal, again another great
13:42player for Brighton if they could get him
13:44Somerville at Leeds as well
13:46Brighton are supposed to be
13:48in talks or still in talks with Leeds United
13:50and trying to arrange
13:52a deal for him to come across
13:54he's an attacking player as well
13:56so that would be a nice move for
13:58Brighton but as you mentioned
14:00Pascal Gross, if they can keep him
14:02an experienced midfielder
14:04coming in for Hersella's first
14:06year in charge I think keeping Pascal
14:08Gross would be a great move
14:10for Brighton if they can
14:28Thank you very much for joining us today
14:30we're joined by
14:32Dan Ulowitz who's a Tokyo
14:34based sports journalist and
14:36will be commenting on Brighton's
14:38two friendlies that they've just arranged
14:40in Tokyo
14:42ahead of the next Premier League
14:44season where they'll be up against
14:46J1 league side's Kashima Antlers
14:48on Wednesday 24th
14:50July before facing Tokyo
14:52Verde on Sunday
14:5428th July and both games will be
14:56at the 68,000
14:58capacity National Stadium
15:00in Tokyo
15:02so Dan, thanks very much for
15:04joining us
15:06what can Brighton fans expect from their
15:08first ever trip to Japan
15:10and from Tokyo?
15:12Darren, thanks for having me on
15:14it's going to be
15:16I should hope
15:18a very enjoyable
15:20experience for any Brighton
15:22fans who are making the trip
15:24the club certainly has a lot of fans
15:26in Japan and in Asia
15:28obviously there's a lot of
15:30English and British expats
15:32who live here
15:34and work here for whatever reason
15:36and quite a number who are
15:38very attached to Brighton
15:40and I know
15:42quite a few who have gotten a lot
15:44of recognition
15:46they say they're from Brighton and they go
15:48oh Mitama
15:50it really does show
15:52how much of an impact Mitama has made
15:54at the club and in Japan in terms
15:56of raising the club's recognition
15:58they're going
16:00to be friendlies
16:02so obviously the level of play
16:04it's the middle of the summer
16:06Japanese
16:08summers get very hot
16:10very humid so
16:12anyone who's making the trip I will say
16:14be cautious and be aware of that
16:16but the fans are
16:18second to none
16:20the National Stadium is
16:22magnificent when it's packed
16:24which hopefully the organisers will
16:26be putting a lot of work into over these
16:28next two months or so
16:30and it'll be
16:32eye-opening I think for anyone who
16:34comes over and I think they're going to get a chance to see
16:36how big
16:38Brighton's fandom in Japan has
16:40grown over these last
16:42two years really
16:44It's going to be a
16:46great experience for the fans by the
16:48sounds of it. Can you give us a feel for
16:50Mitama's profile
16:52in Japan. How popular
16:54is he? Obviously he's a key player for the
16:56national team
16:58you get the
17:00sort of feeling there's so many more Japanese
17:02fans around the Amex Stadium now when you
17:04go to the match days. Does that
17:06correspond in Tokyo as well?
17:08Is he quite big over there?
17:10Absolutely
17:12I believe it's been
17:14about a year since
17:16Brighton opened their official Japanese
17:18language Twitter account
17:20if you will and they have
17:2286 or so thousand followers
17:24One of
17:26the top
17:28European clubs in
17:30Japan in terms of social
17:32media presences
17:34He's put the club
17:36on the map and
17:38definitely a star
17:40for the national team
17:42a star as far as the J
17:44League is concerned even though he only played
17:46in the J League for a season and a half
17:48and that was during the pandemic
17:50I always
17:52like to say
17:54one of the great
17:56tragedies of the pandemic
17:58in terms of football here was that
18:00so few fans got to see him
18:02play in the stadium because
18:04obviously attendances were capped at
18:065,000 for most of
18:08the 2020 season. I consider
18:10myself very fortunate to have gotten to
18:12watch him grow and evolve
18:14into the player that you see today
18:16and arguably he was
18:18very much robbed of the MVP
18:20award that season
18:22just a massive player
18:24for both club and country
18:26these days
18:28certainly
18:30in a national team that
18:32hasn't quite settled on
18:34who the star is
18:36he is one of the candidates. His exploits
18:38at the World Cup goes without saying
18:40are massive. That one
18:42millimeter made all the
18:44difference to Bane.
18:46As you've seen around
18:48the Amex stadium
18:50he's bringing fans
18:52out and that's not a cheap trip these days
18:54considering how weak Thien is
18:56so you have to be very dedicated
18:58to make that journey
19:00and certainly he inspires that
19:02in fans here.
19:06When he's on his form
19:08obviously he's sustained this lower
19:10back injury
19:12in the last stages of the season
19:14but prior to that he's absolutely
19:16electric. He's one of the few
19:18players that you can say when he gets the ball
19:20the whole crowd
19:22they're anticipating
19:24he's one of those players that get the crowd
19:26on their feet.
19:28To do that at the highest level
19:30in the Premier League, was that potential
19:32evident when he was at
19:34Kawasaki Fontale?
19:36Absolutely.
19:38He came as a
19:40rookie into that 2020 squad
19:42and even just coming off the
19:44bench as a super sub
19:46essentially
19:48Kawasaki, that 2020
19:50Kawasaki squad
19:52was arguably one of the
19:54strongest top to bottom
19:56that the league has ever seen
19:58just in terms of the quality that they had
20:00at the depth that they had
20:02and even in a squad that good
20:04he stood out.
20:06Whenever he got the ball
20:08he was capable of doing something incredible
20:10not just scoring goals but also
20:12key passes, making assists, setting up
20:14chances.
20:16You knew that it was never a question
20:18of if Europe but it was a question of when Europe
20:20and it was
20:22honestly no surprise that he's ascended
20:24to this level.
20:28How is it on the news now?
20:30Are his games
20:32covered on the news, on the mainstream
20:34media in Japan?
20:36Yes.
20:38Anytime a Japanese player does anything
20:40in the Premier League, you see it
20:42in the headlines, in the little
20:44info
20:46displays on the trains where they'll
20:48show the highlights, not the
20:50highlights but photos and headlines
20:52from whatever happened over the weekend
20:54and of course if Mikawa plays
20:56you're going to see him at some point.
20:58Very prominent in advertising
21:00related to the national team.
21:02Of course Brighton is
21:04becoming more of a draw
21:06for sponsors here as well.
21:08He's out there, certainly one of the
21:10most visible Japanese
21:12players today.
21:14Hopefully he's fit in time.
21:16He mentioned
21:18that he is working towards
21:20being fit for the new season
21:22with the eye definitely playing these
21:24two games against
21:26Kashima Antlers and
21:28Tokyo Verde. What can
21:30they expect to face
21:32against these teams?
21:36What sort of tests are Brighton
21:38going to get against them?
21:40The Kashima game is going to be
21:42probably the tougher of the two
21:44of the two friendlies.
21:46They're very much
21:48sort of, I
21:50hesitate to say rebound because they did
21:52fairly well last season but they're under
21:54Renko Popovic
21:56this year, the new manager, and he's got
21:58them in third place.
22:00It's going to be a very
22:02tough
22:06squad.
22:08The most accomplished
22:10in Japanese football.
22:12They've won the most titles
22:14and I'm talking about both major titles
22:16domestically and
22:18if you include their ACL
22:20triumph in
22:222018.
22:26You've got players in there like
22:28Suzuki who for a while
22:30was one of Japan's
22:32brightest talents at Striker
22:34and he
22:36had some personality conflicts that kept him
22:38from the national team which is sort of a shame because
22:40he's been one of the best strikers that Japan
22:42has produced in the last decade.
22:44Thank you for watching 80s TV News.
22:46For more stories from across the county,
22:48please visit sussexworld.co.uk.
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