The Star Online: Sports
The Star Online: Sports |
- Povetkin retains WBA title with Rahman stoppage
- USA in sight of Ryder Cup triumph
- Fans converge on Medinah as Cup fever grips Chicago
| Povetkin retains WBA title with Rahman stoppage Posted: 29 Sep 2012 05:58 PM PDT HAMBURG - Russia's Alexander Povetkin retained his WBA world heavyweight title on Saturday with a second-round stoppage of former world champion Hasim Rahman of the United States. Povetkin, 33, extended his undefeated record to 25 fights with 18 victories coming inside the distance. The 39-year-old Rahman, who famously relieved Britain's Lennox Lewis of his world titles in 2001, fell to his eighth career defeat against 41 wins and two draws. |
| USA in sight of Ryder Cup triumph Posted: 29 Sep 2012 05:35 PM PDT CHICAGO, Illinois - The United States maintained a stranglehold on the 39th Ryder Cup on Saturday, winning the foursomes and sharing the fourballs to leave Europe trailing 10-6 at the end of the day. That left Davis Love and his men in prime position to retain the trophy they lost agonisingly at Celtic Manor, Wales two years ago. It left Europe needing to match the record last day comeback set by the US team at Brookline, Massachusetts in 1999 when they won from four down. Saturday afternoon's fourballs ended with two wins for Europe as darkness fell after the Americans had won the first two on the back of dominating the morning foursomes 3-1. To retain the cup on Sunday, Jose Maria Olazabal's men need to win eight out of the closing 12 singles, a highly-unlikely scenario given that the Americans have habitually been stronger on the final day. The Americans need just four and a half points to get past the winning post. Mission impossible for some, but US crowd-pleaser Bubba Watson said there was still plenty fight left in the European team. "The team is not going to lay down. Europe is not going to lay down. They are not going to give it to us. We have to play good golf and come out focused and ready to win some points," he said. The home team took up early Saturday where they left off Friday evening with one hand round the European throats as the star duo of Phil Mickelson and Keegan Bradley once again led the charge. Their 7 and 6 thumping of former world No.1s Lee Westwood and Luke Donald equalled the highest ever 18-hole winning margin by a Ryder Cup pairing, and the first time such a drubbing had been handed out since 1991. Jason Dufner and Zach Johnson scored their second straight win for the United States, while Jim Furyk and Brandt Snedeker turned the tables on Rory McIlroy and Graeme McDowell who beat them in the first match out on Friday. Only English pair Ian Poulter and Justin Rose provided some respite for Olazabal with a vicory at the last hole over Bubba Watson and Webb Simpson. That left the Americans 8-4 ahead at the end of the morning's play and Olazabal saying his team had to at least carry the afternoon session to have any realistic chance of retaining the trophy on Sunday. But that never looked likely as once again the hosts dominated from the start of the fourballs. Matt Kuchar and Dustin Johnson came home with their second straight win in the format, edging the untested partnership of Nicolas Colsaerts and Paul Lawrie by 1 up. Watson and Simpson then put their morning reverse behind them to romp away to a 5 and 4 win over Rose and Francesco Molinari. That put the Americans 10-4 up with two games to go and the dejection was clear to see on the faces of Europe's players, fans and skipper Olazabal. There was something for them to cheer at last when Luke Donald and Sergio Garcia, both pointless through the three first sessions, defeated Tiger Woods and Steve Stricker at the last hole. It was a third straight defeat for the Woods-Stricker pairing, having been left out of the morning session - the first time that Woods had been benched in a Ryder Cup career dating back to 1997. And then five straight birdies from the 14th from Poulter, including a clutch 12-footer at the last saw the Englishman and world No.1 McIlroy, playing for the first time without McDowell, overhaul the previously unbeaten Dufner and Johnson for a win that left Europe with a glimmer of a hope. "It was huge - those last two matches were massive. That keeps us in just with a chance. It's been done before in the past. And tomorrow is going to be a big day," Olazabal said. - AFP |
| Fans converge on Medinah as Cup fever grips Chicago Posted: 29 Sep 2012 04:31 PM PDT THE expectant crowds had started gathering from as early as 4am, and the chants of "USA, USA, USA" became increasingly loud and frenzied as Bubba Watson and Webb Simpson stepped up on the first teebox. There's nothing like the Ryder Cup – the palpable electricity in the air, spine-tingling moments and the surge of emotions that seem to be carrying the Americans while, at the same time, affecting the Europeans. The second day of golf's biggest event began with the US holding a commanding 5-3 lead and looking increasingly like champions. Pockets of European support, some dressed in their national colours – Irish, Spanish, Union Jack and Scottish – have tried to get their team going. Sporadic chants of 'ole, ole, ole' can be heard around the golf course, but these are ultimately drowned out by joyous whoops whenever an American birdies a hole. Chicago is the ultimate sports city with football (the American variety) and baseball preeminent, but the natives have taken the Ryder Cup to their hearts. The loud, raucous and aggressive crowds have become the 13th man for the US team and the record numbers at Medinah Country Club is the ultimate motivation for Tiger Woods and Co. Horrendous traffic, taking almost two hours to get to the club from downtown Chicago in the mornings and snarling jams in the evenings, have failed to deter golf fans from making a beeline for Medinah's Number Three Course. "This is golf's biggest event and there's no way I was going to miss it," said Bernie Schreiber, a sports marketing manager who came all the way from Palm Beach, Florida. Someone from even further away, Lora de Luca from Sao Paulo, Brazil, made the trip because "golf is going to be an Olympic sport in Brazil for the first time in 2016 and I wanted to see for myself first-hand how a large tournament like this is organised". Even celebrities have got the golf bug – basketball legend Michael Jordan has become the US team's unofficial mascot, and Olympian Michael Phelps and even Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan have been spotted in the crowd. All the talk on the course has been on the controversial selections of the fourball and foursome match-ups of captains Davis Love III and Jose Maria Olazabal. Love's inspired pairing of the hyped-up rookie Keegan Bradley with the calm, cool and collected Phil Mickelson seems to be the key move that has inspired the US team. On the European side, however, Olazabal's decision to leave out his "fighters" Ian Poulter and Sergio Garcia for the first day's afternoon match-ups has left European fans scratching their heads. To be fair to Olazabal he reinstated his inspirational players for yesterday's sessions but the Europeans have to play out of their skins to have any chance of retaining the famous Cup they last won at Celtic Manor in 2010. Whatever happens, today's singles match-ups are sure to be a mouth-watering prospect for golf fans. |
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