The Star Online: Sports
The Star Online: Sports |
- Miyazato out of Singapore tourney after car crash
- Djokovic continues unbeaten streak by defeating friend
- Siti-Dayang blow lead to bag another silver in Auckland
| Miyazato out of Singapore tourney after car crash Posted: 27 Feb 2013 04:15 PM PST SINGAPORE: Former winner Ai Miyazato pulled out of the HSBC Women's Champions in Singapore yesterday as she battles whiplash injuries from a car crash which also left American star Paula Creamer struggling to recover. The Japanese world No. 9 said she had stiffness in her neck, back and shoulders after Sunday's five-car pile-up in Bangkok as the players were en route to the airport following the Honda LPGA Thailand. "I still have some stiffness in my neck, shoulder, and back area but it is also a precautionary measure so as not to risk further injury this early in the season," the 2010 champion said in a statement, adding that she was "very disappointed". "I now plan to return to Japan to see my trainer for a few days." Creamer also cut short her appearance in Wednesday's pro-am to seek extra treatment for similar injuries. But the American, who earlier said it was "pretty amazing how we walked away", tweeted that she hoped to tee-off on Thursday (today). World No. 1 Tseng Yani heads a field featuring most of the globe's best players at the US$1.4mil event, considered the most prestigious women's golf tournament in Asia. The "Pride of Taiwan", winless for nearly a year, has started the season with back-to-back top-three finishes, and she insisted staying at number one was not her main concern. "World No. 1 is not as important as before now," said the 24-year-old. "I've already reached there and I've been there before. I'm still here, but I just want to enjoy myself more. Because I know if I'm not looking at the result, I just want to play the golf and enjoy every swing and enjoy every tournament." Yani admitted she had burdened herself with "too much expectation" last season when a run of missed cuts, which contrasted with her seven titles in 2011, left her struggling emotionally. "I think I put too much expectation on myself. I think people, the fans and the media, they give lots of pressure. You know, if I don't finish top 10, I'm in trouble, like 'What's wrong with Yani?'." Yani now has a slim 1.35 average points lead over South Korea's Choi Na-yeon, who will also tee it up today on Sentosa, a wealthy resort island in tropical Singapore. Missing from the field is 25th-ranked New Zealand amateur Lydia Ko, 15, who has become the most talked-about player on tour after winning last year's Canadian Women's Open and coming close at the season-opener in Australia. Thailand's Ariya Jutanugarn, 17, will hope to make up for her heart-breaking triple bogey on the final hole which cost her victory and left her in tears at last week's event in Pattaya. Former teen prodigy Michelle Wie, currently ranked 73rd and playing on a sponsor's invite, and defending champion Angela Stanford will also contest a tournament whose other previous winners include Lorena Ochoa and Karrie Webb. — AFP |
| Djokovic continues unbeaten streak by defeating friend Posted: 27 Feb 2013 04:13 PM PST DUBAI: World No. 1 Novak Djokovic did not let friendship prevent him from carrying on where he left off last month when he made a successful defence of his Australian Open title at the Dubai Open here on Tuesday. Djokovic's attempt to win back the Dubai Open title began with a 6-1, 6-4 win over Viktor Troicki, the fellow Davis Cup player with whom he grew up and shared tennis courts many times in the city of Belgrade. The top-seeded Serbian moved so swiftly and turned defence into attack so suddenly that it was hard to believe four weeks had passed since he last played singles on the ATP Tour. The only blemish in Djokovic's performance was letting slip an early break of serve in the second set, when he delivered a moderate second serve and missed with a backhand drive to allow Troicki back to 4-4. But he intensified his focus and broke again immediately, with some resilient containing and counter-attacking, and then closed out the match without fuss. "Because I have not played for a while I was extremely focused and committed to starting well," Djokovic said. "I played really, really well in the first set. I read his serve well, and I was aggressive in the court. "So altogether I am satisfied with my performance and I hope I can continue," he concluded. That will be against Roberto Bautista Agut, the world No. 55 from Spain. Earlier Djokovic was asked if he might be starting on another long unbeaten streak, as he had the season before last. "Yes I am definitely am (on a streak)," he said. "But I am not thinking about it or trying to better the one I had in 2011, because it's really hard to ask from myself something which may be impossible. "But knowing that I have done it gives me that mental edge and confidence I need in to approach every tournament with self-belief." Djokovic should have a semi-final against Juan Martin Del Potro, the former US Open champion, although the Argentinian nearly did not survive beyond the first round. Del Potro had to save four match points to beat Marcos Baghdatis, the former Australian Open finalist from Cyprus, by 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7-4). Baghdatis, ranked 36, got his chances as Del Potro was serving at 4-5 in the final set, when the seeded player went 15-40 and then advantage point down. On the first two match points Baghdatis was a little passive, allowing Del Potro to work his way out of difficulty, and on the third Del Potro launched a good first serve and a fine follow up forehand. Nikolay Davydenko, who hopes to return to the top 20 this year as part of his farewell to the tour, reached the second round too, the former world No. 3 from Russia beating Janko Tipsarevic, the sixth-seeded Serbian, 6-0, 7-5. But Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, the fifth-seeded Frenchman, was beaten by his Davis Cup team-mate, Michael Llodra. Tsonga was back on court less than 48 hours after winning in Marseille, and more than 3,000 miles away, with depleted energy, and, as the match wore on, declining motivation too. Tsonga expressed annoyance with a replayed point after a disputed line decision on a serve in the seventh game, when Llodra broke back. "My first serve was in, and the line judge said, out," Tsonga said. "But he said, out, after the hit. Michael hit the ball back, you know, but into the stands. And the umpire said, replay the point, but the ball was good." — AFP |
| Siti-Dayang blow lead to bag another silver in Auckland Posted: 27 Feb 2013 03:15 PM PST PETALING JAYA: It was a frustrating day for Malaysia in the Commonwealth Tenpin Bowling Championship as the Siti Shazwani Ahmad Suhaimi-Dayang Khairuniza combination blew an early lead in the women's doubles to settle for silver in Auckland, New Zealand. The pair knocked down a total 2,709 pins to finish second – just seven behind Singapore's Bernice Lim-Geraldine Ng, who scored 2,716. It was Malaysia's second silver in the tournament after Siti's runner-up effort in the singles on Tuesday. Australians Bec Whiting-Ann Maree Putney knocked down a total 2,602 pins to take bronze. But it could have easily been Malaysia's first gold medal of the tournament as Siti-Dayang came charging out of the blocks to take the lead in the first four games. Dayang, who was woeful in the singles, was all fired up as she notched high lines of 258, 244 and 263 in the first three games. But the Malaysian pair faltered when it mattered most, posting a low combined score of 386 in the fifth game to hand over the lead to the Singaporeans. A frustrated Dayang admitted that they blew it. "It felt good to have my rhythm back ... I don't know why I always struggle in the singles," said Dayang. "But it's really frustrating indeed to lose the gold medal by just seven pins. We weren't really aware of the results during the competition and had no idea Singapore had caught up so fast. "After the good start, I figured that we had a healthy lead and it was only in the last game that we knew we had lost." Siti blamed the lane condition in the fourth game for their troubles. "We were struggling to get strikes on lane 21 and 22. It was really quite frustrating not to hold on to the lead," said Siti. In the men's doubles, the pairing of Isaac Russell Paul-Mohd Rafiq Ismail could only manage a total of 2,601 to finish fifth. Singapore's Javier Tan-Jaris Goh emulated their female counterparts to take gold with 2,702 pinfalls. England's Christopher Oates-John Wells (2,691) took silver and Australia's Sam Cooley-Brendan Meads (2,651) bronze. |
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