The Star Online: Sports
The Star Online: Sports |
- Shortened PGA season begins in Hawaii
- Nicol suffers group match defeat to Massaro in World Series
- Syafiq shows nerves of steel to reach third round in Sheffield
| Shortened PGA season begins in Hawaii Posted: 03 Jan 2013 05:17 PM PST KAPALUA, Hawaii: American Rickie Fowler will strike the first ball as the 2013 PGA Tour season kicks off Friday with 30 players in the field for the winners-only Hyundai Tournament of Champions. Last year's winner Steve Stricker is back and he will have some strong competition to beat in his quest to repeat. Stricker, who is the only previous winner in the abbreviated field, posted a pair of 69s in the final two rounds last year, defeating Martin Laird by two strokes. Stricker's worst finish in his last four times at Kapalua was a tie for 10th three years ago. Reigning major champions Bubba Watson (Masters) and Webb Simpson (US Open) are also contenders. Watson, who has played here the last two years, carded his best finish last year when he tied for 18th. "I'm excited about it," Watson said. "A great time for the family, hanging out with friends and seeing the scenery and playing the golf course is a challenge but it's a fun time to start off the year in Maui." Watson said his goals this year are to get back to the winner's circle and make the Presidents Cup team. "For me it's about winning a golf tournament," Watson said. "And the second thing is making the team event. In the US we have a team event every year. This year it's the Presidents Cup, so that would be the second goal. "I got my tour card for five years now. That would have been number three, but I'm good for five years." Simpson tied for third place in his first appearance at Kapalua last year. Players Champion Matt Kuchar tied for sixth in 2011, while Tour Championship winner Brandt Snedeker is back after not playing the tournament last year. The Kapalua event begins a shortened PGA season after organisers decided to switch to a 2013-14 season next year. The former Fall Series is now the beginning of the new season, resulting in seven fewer tournaments in 2013. Hunter Mahan said the new so-called "wrap-around" season has added to the work load and created some uncertainty among the players. "With golf now, it's year-long," Mahan said. "The season doesn't end in September. I mean, it doesn't really ever end. It just keeps kind of looping over and over and over again. "Starting the first week of January you don't get a whole lot of time off. "The wrap-around schedule, I just don't know. When does the season actually end? Is it December?" Mahan will play in a group that includes fellow American Zach Johnson in the Friday to Monday event. Fowler is partnered with Jason Dufner. The PGA Tour stays in Hawaii next week for the Sony Open, where Johnson Wagner captured the title by two strokes last year. - AFP |
| Nicol suffers group match defeat to Massaro in World Series Posted: 03 Jan 2013 03:45 PM PST PETALING JAYA: World No. 1 Nicol David's hopes of retaining the World Series Finals title suffered a major dent after she went down fighting 10-12, 9-11 to world No. 3 Laura Massaro at the Queen's Club in London. The 29-year-old, fresh from winning her record seventh world title, appeared to be on top of her game when she blew away Hong Kong's Annie Au in her first Group A match on Wednesday. But home favourite Massaro was determined not to repeat her Women's World Open final loss to Nicol in Cayman Islands last month and started strongly, edging to a 10-9 lead in the first set. Nicol, however, levelled it at 10-10 but Massaro again nicked ahead to take the the first set 12-10. The Malaysian squash queen, however, had a better start in the second set. But Massaro gradually took control of the match and the 'T' as Nicol committed too many errors. The Englishwoman then sealed the match in just 29 minutes to hand Nicol her first defeat of the year. Massaro, who beat Holland's Natalie Grinham a day earlier, is now through to the semi-finals. This is only the third time that Massaro has beaten Nicol in 18 professional meetings. Both her previous wins came in 2011 – in the Cleveland Classic and Singapore Masters. Nicol must now beat Grinham, who defeated Annie 14-12, 11-4 yesterday, in order to make the last four. There were also major upsets in Group B when Jenny Duncalf of England and France's Camille Serme overcame their more talented Egpytian rivals. World No. 8 Duncalf, going through a poor run of form, brought the home crowd to their feet by beating world No. 2 Raneem El Weleily 10-12, 11-8, 11-8. Serme, who only confirmed her ticket to the World Series at the Hong Kong Open last month, routed world junior champion Nour El Sherbini 11-9, 12-10. In the men's Group A, World Open finalist Mohamed El Shorbagy of Egypt got off to a great start by beating Englishman Peter Barker 11-6, 11-7 while compatriot Amr Shabana silenced the home crowd by overcoming Nick Matthew 11-6, 11-6. In Group B, former world No. 1 James Wilstrop defeated Karim Darwish 11-9, 11-5, while Frenchman Gregory Gaultier came back from a set down to beat late entry Simon Rosner 10-12, 11-4, 11-7. |
| Syafiq shows nerves of steel to reach third round in Sheffield Posted: 03 Jan 2013 03:12 PM PST PETALING JAYA: Top Under-17 junior Mohd Syafiq Kamal held his nerves to book a spot in the third round of the British Junior Open squash championships in Sheffield. The talented 16-year-old from Kelantan powered past American Jordan Brail 11-7, 11-7, 5-11, 11-7 yesterday. A day earlier, the soft-spoken Syafiq overcame England's Cillian Duanne 10-12, 11-3, 11-1, 11-8 in the first round. It was an excellent result for Syafiq, who has now achieved his own minimum target of making the last 16. Syafiq, however, feels that he needs to do better in the next round as he will be up against joint fifth-eighth seed Abdel Zaher of Egypt. "It was a tough match against Jordan and I'm happy to win 3-1. But it wasn't my best performance ... I'm not happy at all with the way I played," said Syafiq. "Perhaps it's because my opponent is the type of player who makes you lose concentration, which I did, and that's how I dropped a set. "My next opponent will be much tougher. "I definitely need to do my best to win a spot in the quarter-finals." Syafiq is the sole survivor in the Under-17 category after Darren Chan and Al Nikc Ally crashed out in the second round. Darren, who scored a good 9-11, 11-5, 11-8, 11-6 win over Belgium's Tiago Goriely in the first round, failed to keep up with joint fifth-eighth seed George Parker of England and lost 3-1. Al Nikc, who squeezed past local hopeful Ben Windle in the first round, went down in five sets to yet another English lad – James Peach. Meanwhile Jesse Foo, who upset India's joint 17th-32nd seed Aryaman Andik in the first round of the Under-15 event, failed to join top seed and compatriot Ng Eain Yow in the third round after losing an epic five setter to Egypt's Ziad Sakr, last year's Under-13 champion. In Under-19, Sanjay Singh Chal cleared his first hurdle by beating England's Scott Young 11-4, 12-10, 11-3 before going down 10-12, 5-11, 11-6, 11-6, 9-11 to Kuwait's Youseff Saleh in the second round. In the girls' event, Penang Junior Open champion Teh Min Jie made the third round of the Under-17 category by first beating Wales' Lowri Roberts before stunning local favourite Kip Quiney 11-4, 11-2, 11-5 in the next round. Rachel Arnold, who received a first round bye, also made the last 16 after crushing Canada's Sophie Mehta 11-7, 11-4, 11-3. |
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