The Star Online: Sports
The Star Online: Sports |
- Donald holds title edge over Simpson at the Disney
- Thien How-Wee Kiong storm into Denmark Open quarter-finals
- Koo and Tan mentally weak, says Korean coach
| Donald holds title edge over Simpson at the Disney Posted: 20 Oct 2011 06:34 PM PDT WORLD number one Luke Donald seized an early advantage in his title duel with Webb Simpson by charging into a seven-way tie for the lead in Thursday's opening round of the Disney Classic at Lake Buena Vista in Florida. Briton Donald coped well with breezy conditions as he fired a flawless six-under-par 66 on the Palm course, one of two layouts hosting the final PGA Tour event of the season. That lifted him to the top of the leaderboard, alongside Americans James Driscoll, Gary Woodland, Scott Stallings and Derek Lamely, India's Arjun Atwal and Australian Nathan Green. Steven Bowditch of Australia carded a seven-birdie 68 on the more difficult Magnolia layout to lie one stroke off the pace with six other players. American Simpson, who is vying with Donald for the PGA Tour's money list title and possibly also player of the year honours, opened with a bogey-free 68 on the Palm course. With their head-to-head battle the biggest storyline of the week, the two have been paired together by organisers for the first two rounds and they each relished the opening day. "We get along fine and we had a little light-hearted banter going today," a smiling Donald told reporters after recording four birdies on his outward nine and two more after the turn. "He asked when I was having my off-season and I said, 'Well, it was going to be this week. Thanks for playing the last two weeks'." Simpson, who leads Donald by $363,029 in the PGA Tour money list going into the season finale, agreed. "It was fun," said the 26-year-old, who has won twice on the U.S. circuit in his last six starts. "We fed off each other a little bit and we had a good time." Donald, who only committed to this week's event when he knew his bid for the money title was under threat, was wary of focusing too much on Simpson at the Disney. "My focus this week is trying to win the tournament," the 33-year-old Englishman said. "Obviously I have to beat Webb to do that but I've got to beat the rest of the field as well. I have to keep my eye on everyone." While Simpson trails Donald by two shots going into Friday's second round, he was happy with his Disney start. "It was tough this morning," he said. "It was cold when we teed off and then the wind picked up pretty early. "I just thought if I could eliminate my mistakes and shoot anything under par, that would be pretty good on day one. And I did." Among the other big names competing this week, double U.S. Open champion Retief Goosen of South Africa opened with a 68 while British world number 17 Justin Rose battled to a 75. American Robert Garrigus, who won last year's Disney Classic by a commanding eight shots, launched his title defence with a 70. This week is also a nerve-jangling one for players bidding to secure their full playing privileges for next year by finishing in the top 125 on the season-ending money list. Driscoll, 125th coming into this week, gave himself the perfect start with his opening 66 on the Palm layout. "I don't look at 125 as that special of a number," he said. "The guys at 120 through 190 are kind of all in the same position. "Every one of those guys needs a good week this week to avoid Q-School (qualifying school)." Full content generated by Get Full RSS. |
| Thien How-Wee Kiong storm into Denmark Open quarter-finals Posted: 20 Oct 2011 06:54 PM PDT ODENSE: Doubles shuttlers Hoon Thien How and Tan Wee Kiong are enjoying a dream run in the Denmark Open in only their first outing as a pair. Thien How-Wee Kiong continued their fairytale run by storming into the quarter-finals with a sensational 21-18, 21-17 win over Indonesians Alven Yulianto-Hendra Gunawan in 37 minutes. A day earlier, the Malaysian qualifiers got their new partnership off to a flying start with a superb 16-21, 21-19, 21-11 win over China's second pair Guo Zhengdong-Chai Biao in the first round. Today, they will take on the winners of the match between top seeds Cai Yun-Fu Haifeng of China and Taiwan's Fang Chieh-min-Lee Sheng-mu for a place in the semi-finals. Their good run has certainly lifted the gloom in the men's doubles department following the shock loss of Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong to South Korea's Kwon Yi-goo-Cho Gun-woo in the opening round. Thien How was delighted to have made the breakthrough, especially after picking up a slight injury to his knee on Tuesday. "I hurt my knee during the qualifying tournament. It hurts when I lunge forward ... but it won't stop me from giving my best here," said Thien How, who had a strap on his knee. Wee Kiong said their good run thus far has helped erase any doubts he had about their future as a pair. "I am confident we can take this partnership further now. There is better understanding between us." Meanwhile, Malaysia's world No. 1 Lee Chong Wei, who will turn 29 today, took down two players from India en route to checking into the quarter-finals. Yesterday, he disposed of Anand Pawar with a 21-14, 21-13 win in the second round. On Wednesday, he had beaten P. Kashyap 21-11, 21-13. Chong Wei will take on former world champion Chen Jin of China for a place in the semi-final. Earlier, back-up shuttler Mohd Arif Abdul Latif, playing in only his second Super Series tournament, gave a good fight before going down 16-21, 10-21 to Jan O Jorgensen of Denmark in the first round. It was a great day for world junior champion and local star Viktor Axelsen when he knocked out fifth seed Taufik Hidayat of Indonesia 16-21, 21-9, 21-14. He will take on the winner of the match between Peter-Gade Christ-ensen and Germany's Marc Zwiebler. Malaysia's challenge in the mixed doubles event also ended when Chan Peng Soon-Goh Liu Ying went down 16-21, 15-21 to top seeds Zhang Nan-Zhao Yunlei of China. Results Full content generated by Get Full RSS.Men's singles first round: Lin Dan (Chn) bt Rajiv Ouseph (Eng) 21-14, 21-13; Jan O Jorgensen (Den) bt Mohd Arif Abdul Latif (Mas) 21-16, 21-10; Chen Jin (Chn) bt Brice Leverdez (Fra) 23-21, 21-14; Peter-Gade Christensen (Den) bt Wang Zhengming (Chn) 21-13, 21-10; Chen Long (Chn) bt Shon Wan-ho (Kor) 19-21, 21-18, 21-8; Lee Chong Wei bt P. Kashyap (Ind) 21-11, 21-13; Viktor Axelsen (Den) bt Wacha Przemyslaw (Pol) 21-15, 21-15; Taufik Hidayat (Ina) bt Hans-Kristian Vittinghus (Den) 18-21, 22-20, 21-19. Second round: Viktor Axelsen (Den) bt Taufik Hidayat (Ina) 16-21, 21-9, 21-14; Sho Sasaki (Jpn) bt Nguyen Tien Minh (Vie) 21-13, 15-21, 23-21; Chen Jin (Chn) bt Tommy Sugiarto (Ina) 21-14, 21-16; Chen Long (Chn) bt Simon Santoso (Ina) 18-21, 21-16, 21-8; Lee Chong Wei bt Anand Pawar (Ind) 21-14, 21-13. Men's doubles first round: Mathias Boe-Carsten Mogensen (Den) bt A. Songphon-Sudket Prapakamol (Tha) 21-10, 21-8; Jung Jae-sung-Lee Yong-dae (Kor) bt Yoshiteru Hirobe-Kenta Kazuno (Jpn) 21-18, 21-7; Markis Kido-Hendra Setiawan (Ina) bt Adam Cwalina-Michal Logosz (Pol) 21-16, 22-20; Hoon Thien How-Tan Wee Kiong bt Chai Biao-Guo Zhengdong (Chn) 16-21, 21-19, 21-11; Cho Gun-woo-Kwon Yi-goo (Kor) bt Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong 15-21, 21-15, 21-12; Cai Yun-Fu Haifeng (Chn) bt Naoki Kawamae-Shoji Sato (Jpn) 21-16, 21-12; Ko Sung-hyun-Yoo Yeon-seong (Kor) bt Chris Adcock-Andrew Ellis (Eng) 21-16, 19-21, 21-7; Liu Xiaolong-Qiu Zihan (Chn) bt Mohd Ahsan-Bona Septano (Ina) 21-15, 18-21, 21-17. Second round: Hoon Thien How-Tan Wee Kiong-Alven Yulianto-Hendra Gunawan (Ina) 21-18, 21-17; Jung Jae-sung-Lee Yong-dae (Kor) bt Mads Conrad-Petersen-Jonas Rasmusen (Den) 14-21, 21-12, 21-7; Cai Yun-Fu Haifeng (Chn) bt Fang Chieh-min-Lee Sheng-mu (Tpe) 21-19, 21-16; Women's doubles first round: Mizuki Fujii-Reika Kakiiwa (Jpn) bt Chin Eei Hui-Wong Pei Tty 22-20, 21-18. Second round: Lotte Jonathans-Paulien van Dooramalen (Hol) bt Sabrina Chong-Goh Liu Ying 21-18, 21-14. Mixed doubles second round: Zhang Nan-Zhao Yunlei (Chn) bt Chan Peng Soon-Goh Liu Ying 21-16, 21-15. |
| Koo and Tan mentally weak, says Korean coach Posted: 20 Oct 2011 03:56 PM PDT ODENSE: Malaysia's top pair of Koo Kien Keat and Tan Boon Heong are not mentally strong enough to beat Korean shuttlers. That's the brutal truth, said South Korean head coach Sung Han-kook after world No. 5 Kien Keat-Boon Heong lost 21-15, 15-21, 12-21 to the third ranked Korean pair of Kwon Yi-goo-Cho Gun-woo in the first round of the Denmark Open on Wednesday. It was the Malaysians' first loss in three meetings against the Korean pair. "Yi-goo is 24 years old and Gun-woo is 23. Our back-up pair did well and were superior at the front court. Our players showed more fighting spirit and that was the key," said Han-kook. "All our top three pairs are of almost equal standard. There is no special reason why the Koreans are able to beat this Malaysia pair so often ... it is all about practice, determination in training and adopting the right strategy. "I have seen Koo and Tan play for some time and, I think, they are weak mentally, especially against the Koreans. The Malaysians played so well in the opening game but could not keep it up. It is in their heads." He may have a point as Kien Keat-Boon Heong have also found it difficult to beat South Korea's two top pairs – Lee Yong-dae-Jung Jae-sung and Ko Sung-hyun-Yoo Yeon-seong. They have only won twice in 13 meetings against Yong-dae-Jae-sung and have never beaten Sung-hyun-Yeon-seong in five meetings. The Malaysians' latest defeat by Sung-hyun-Yeon-seong came at the quarter-finals of the World Championships in Wembley in August. A dejected Kien Keat, however, begged to differ. The 27-year-old felt that "our game has become too predictable and we are finding it hard to quickly recover when our opponents take healthy leads". "We get stuck during the crucial points. It is not that we fear the Koreans or that we do not have strong minds," he said. "We do ... but when we are left behind, we do not have ideas how to turn the game around. "We know our weak points and I believe that we are at a transition stage of improving our game. "We are confident we can overcome the Korean challenge in future. We just have to change our style." Kien Keat-Boon Heong will compete in the France Open in Paris next week before heading home to tinker with their style of play. Full content generated by Get Full RSS. |
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