The Star Online: Sports
The Star Online: Sports |
- Spain's Fernandez-Castano wins Singapore Open in playoff (update)
- Former Springbok Tyibilika shot dead - reports
- Edwards to stay with Wales as defence coach
| Spain's Fernandez-Castano wins Singapore Open in playoff (update) Posted: 13 Nov 2011 05:03 PM PST SINGAPORE, Nov 14 (Reuters) - Spain's Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano rolled in a birdie putt at the second hole of a sudden-death playoff to win the $6 million weather-affected Singapore Open on Monday and deny plucky Filipino Juvic Pagunsan an unlikely victory. Fernandez-Castano rolled in an eight-foot effort at the par-five 18th to claim the $1 million first prize in the co-sanctioned event after the playoff at the Sentosa Golf Club was suspended twice by heavy rainstorms on Sunday. It marked a fifth European Tour victory for the 31-year-old Spaniard, four of them in playoffs, and his first since the 2008 British Masters. On their third attempt at completing the shoot-out for the title, the duo returned to the course at 7.30 a.m (2330 GMT on Sunday) on Monday to hit their third shots to the 18th. Juvic went first and fired his approach to five feet but missed the opportunity to claim his first European Tour title when his putt for victory grazed the left edge of the cup after Fernandez-Castano had missed his birdie attempt from nine feet. Both players again chose to lay up when they played the hole for a second time with Fernandez-Castano landing his approach a couple of feet inside Pagunsan's ball on the green. The Filipino, who has one win on the Asian Tour in 2007, rolled his downhill effort just right off the cup and the Spaniard made no mistake on his first opportunity to win it but appeared more relieved than overjoyed when the ball dropped in the cup. The muted reaction in front of a sparse crowd was likely to have stemmed from the fact that Fernandez-Castano had held a four-shot lead on the back nine before folding under pressure. Pagunsan drained a 12-foot birdie putt on the 54th and final hole on Sunday to record a four-under 67 before overnight leader Fernandez-Castano recovered to hole a similar-length putt for par and a one-over round of 72 after finding water off the tee. Full content generated by Get Full RSS. |
| Former Springbok Tyibilika shot dead - reports Posted: 13 Nov 2011 03:51 PM PST CAPE TOWN, Nov 13 (Reuters) - Solly Tyibilika, the first black African to score a test try for the Springboks, has been shot dead in a Cape Town tavern, South African media reported on Sunday. The 32-year-old flanker was born in Port Elizabeth, in the Eastern Cape province which is the heartland of black rugby in South Africa, and scored a try on his test debut in 2004 against Scotland in Edinburgh. South African Rugby Union president Oregan Hoskins said he was distressed to hear of Tyibilika's death. "Solly was a trailblazer among black African Springboks and to lose him so suddenly and in this brutal manner is very distressing," Hoskins said in a statement. "His emergence was a demonstration of what can be achieved when talent is combined with opportunity in what is always a very competitive position in Springbok rugby. I remember a very talented player and an immensely likable young man who rose far and fast to become a Springbok early in his career." A hard-running loose forward with tremendous stamina, Tyibilika played in eight tests and scored three tries, the last against New Zealand in Pretoria in 2006. After playing 16 Super Rugby matches for the Sharks, Tyibilika moved to the Lions in 2007 but never settled in Johannesburg and returned to his native Eastern Cape, playing for Border between 2008 and 2010. He made 158 first-class appearances, scoring 24 tries, for Griqualand West, the Sharks, Lions and Border. Full content generated by Get Full RSS. |
| Edwards to stay with Wales as defence coach Posted: 13 Nov 2011 03:50 PM PST LONDON, Nov 13 (Reuters) - Shaun Edwards has slipped through England's rugby union net for the second time after the former rugby league international agreed to sign a new coaching contract with Wales, the Welsh Rugby Union said on Sunday. Edwards became a free agent last week when he parted company with Wasps, where he had coached for 10 years, a month after his part-time contract with Wales expired at the end of the World Cup in which they reached the semi-finals. With England's coaching set-up possibly in line for a shake-up following their poor World Cup performance, Edwards, a master defensive tactician, was considered to be very much in the running to join the Rugby Football Union (RFU) in some capacity. However, he has signed a new contact with Wales up to and including the next World Cup which will also involve him working with younger players at the Welsh national academy. The 45-year-old will also be free to work one day a week with an English Premiership club, as well as with Welsh Premiership clubs. "I concluded negotiations with Shaun over the weekend and am extremely pleased to be able to announce we have secured his services up to and including the rugby World Cup in 2015," WRU chief executive Richard Lewis said. "We have an outstanding team of coaches and backroom staff working under head coach Warren Gatland and Shaun's role as defence coach within that team is something quite unique. "Talks began informally and discreetly in New Zealand with Shaun, and have continued over the past two weeks. "I am particularly pleased to add that in addition to his extended senior national team duties, Shaun will also be working with WRU head of rugby (and former Wigan team mate) Joe Lydon within the WRU National Academy." Edwards, one of the most successful players in rugby league history, was approached by the RFU four years ago but was offered a role working with the second-string Saxons team at a salary he described as derisory. He helped Wales to a Six Nations grand slam in 2009 and played an important role in their run to the World Cup semi-finals. Those achievements added more lustre to a CV that already included helping Wasps to two Heineken Cups and four English Premiership titles and working with the British and Irish Lions on their tour of South Africa in 2009. Full content generated by Get Full RSS. |
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