The Star Online: Sports
The Star Online: Sports |
- Former long-time US golfer Walker dies
- Hatton homes in on Asia
- Olympic gold and silver medallists await Koo-Tan in Shenzhen
| Former long-time US golfer Walker dies Posted: 11 Dec 2012 07:49 PM PST DAYTONA BEACH, Florida: American Colleen Walker, who played 23 years on the LPGA Tour, died Tuesday after a bout with cancer. She was 56. The LPGA Tour said Walker, who won nine times on the tour, died at her home in Florida. Walker was diagnosed with breast cancer in early 2003 and rejoined the tour nine months later. But last year, the cancer returned to her hips and pelvis. Walker played the LPGA Tour from 1982 to 2004, winning three titles in 1992. In 1998, she won the Vare Trophy for the lowest scoring average and finished fifth on the money list. Walker is survived by husband Ron Bakich and 16-year-old son Tyler.-AFP |
| Posted: 11 Dec 2012 07:48 PM PST HONG KONG: Former world champion Ricky Hatton says that he hopes to find his successor in Asia, with the popular Briton homing in on the region in the hope of unearthing the next big thing in boxing. A former world light-welterweight and welterweight champion, the 34-year-old Hatton was knocked out on his return to the ring last month, and insists that he will not be coming out of retirement again. It was time to move on, he told AFP in Hong Kong, where he staged a night of boxing on Tuesday under the Asia-Pacific arm of Hatton Promotions, which has set up an office in the southern Chinese city. "This is such a successful, big part of the world and nobody here does boxing so that's the whole purpose of us coming here," the likeable Hatton said. "The law of averages says there must be some talent out here somewhere and I'd like to raise the profile of boxing out here. "Boxing is a massive passion for me and there's nothing I'd like better than to be the first promoter to bring a world champion through to this part of the world, to give people someone to be proud of, like the fans were of me." Hatton insisted that he had laid his demons to rest despite defeat to Vyacheslav Senchenko in November, and hopes to get some measure of the satisfaction he got in the ring from finding new talent. "I'll try to live my dreams through other boxers," he said. "There is such a fantastic sporting heritage here," he added on what he said was his third visit to Hong Kong, where he saw local boxer Rex Tso win the vacant WBC Asia Continental flyweight title. "There is such a fantastic sporting heritage here. They have mixed martial arts here, which is very popular, so I am a little bit flabbergasted to think why boxing isn't so popular. "So that's something I am hoping to change and hopefully this is the start of something and more shows." Hatton, one of the biggest names in British boxing over the past decade, said he was yet to begin his search in mainland China - which is beginning to emerge as a force in amateur boxing after the sport was long banned under former leader Mao Zedong. "Whatever you do, you need to be able to walk before you can run and hopefully this is the start of something," Hatton said of the prospect of going into mainland China one day. "It's such a massive, massive population and a massively successful area, and nobody boxes, which is incredible. "I am sure that there is some wonderful talent out there. Nobody has probably looked for the talent from a boxing point of view until myself. "I'd feel very very proud if I can say that Ricky Hatton came to Hong Kong and brought a fighter through to a world title level and made the country proud, just like I like to think I did with my fans. "Boxing has given me and my family such a wonderful life and I'd like to pass that on to some other youngster and hopefully it will be someone from Asia. That'd be another box ticked in the Ricky Hatton story."- AFP |
| Olympic gold and silver medallists await Koo-Tan in Shenzhen Posted: 11 Dec 2012 03:42 PM PST KOO Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong have been handed the toughest start to a tournament any player can expect after being drawn with London Olympics gold and silver medallists – Fu Haifeng-Cai Yun and Mathias Boe-Carsten Mogensen respectively – in the group stage of the World Super Series Finals starting here today. However, the Malaysians have shrugged off the tough draw and are prepared to fight their way into the semi-finals. The draw made yesterday pitted the Malaysians against Olympic champions Haifeng-Cai Yun of China and runners-up Boe-Mogensen of Denmark as well as dangerous South Korean pair Kim Ki-jung-Kim Sa-rang in Group A. The other Malaysian pair, Hoon Thien How-Tan Wee Kiong, are in Group B with Hiroyuki Endo-Kenichi Hayakawa of Japan, Hong Wei-Shen Ye of China and Bodin Isara-Maneepong Jongjit of Thailand. The top two pairs from each group will play in the crossover semi-finals. Kien Keat-Boon Heong must beat either the Danish or the Chinese pair, whom they've been struggling against this year, to survive the group stage. Boon Heong was philosophical about the draw, saying it was something that could not be avoided. "But it's good to play the big names early on ... and we're ready for them. It's only for the top eight pairs and either way we still have to win matches to get to the semi-finals," he said. "We've been playing in the China League the past week and are in tournament condition. "It's good preparation as we have to play against tough opponents like Haifeng-Cai Yun and Boe-Mogensen early on. Even the Korean pair cannot be under-estimated, although they look the easiest opponents on paper." Kien Keat-Boon Heong have showed consistent form since the London Olympics, where they lost in the bronze medal play-off. They've reached three of the last four finals of the Super Series events but lost all of them. Will Shenzhen see a change of luck for the beleaguered Malaysian pair then? |
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