The Star Online: Sports
The Star Online: Sports |
- Golf: Choi and Scott charge but Stefani keeps US PGA lead
- Olympics: TV-friendly squash right for Games, says president
- Del Potro upsets Murray to reach Indian Wells semis
| Golf: Choi and Scott charge but Stefani keeps US PGA lead Posted: 15 Mar 2013 07:10 PM PDT PALM HARBOR, Florida: Australia's Adam Scott and South Korea's K.J. Choi charged into contention on Friday at the US PGA Tampa Bay Championship, but US rookie Shawn Stefani clung to the lead after 36 holes. Choi opened with an eagle on his way to firing a four-under par 67 while Scott fired a bogey-free 66, but Stefani's 70 was enough to keep him ahead on seven-under par 135 after the second round at the $5.5 million event. Scott and Choi shared second on 136 with Americans Brian Harman, Harris English, Jason Dufner and Peter Tomasulo another stroke off the pace and Spain's Sergio Garcia and American Tag Ridings sharing eighth on 138. Choi, who won the Tampa Bay title in 2002 and 2006, followed his stellar start with a birdie at the sixth but stumbled with a bogey at the par-3 eighth. Birdies at the par-5 11th and par-3 13th and 15th holes lifted Choi into a share of the lead, but a bogey at the par-4 16th dropped him back as he bids for his first US tour triumph since the 2011 Players Championship. "This course is very comfortable for me," Choi said. Scott, coming off a share of third last week at Doral, birdied all four par-5 holes on the Innisbrook Copperhead layout - the first, fifth, 11th and 14th - and birdied the par-3 fourth as well. "To go bogey-free anywhere is good," Scott said. "Here is particularly good. It is quite a tricky golf course and mistakes are easily made." Scott, who made bogeys on the last four holes to fall to Ernie Els at last year's British Open, last won a US event at the World Golf Championships event at Firestone Country Club in 2011. Stefani, who has not cracked the top 35 at a PGA event, birdied the sixth hole, took a bogey at seven, then answered with a birdie at the eighth. After starting the back nine with a bogey, he birdied the 15th and parred in. "The lead is one thing but leading on the weekend is another," Stefani said. "I just wanted to go out there and play golf and hit each shot the best I could and really have some fun. That's really what I did. I really had a lot of fun out there, even though I didn't really play my best." South Africa's George Coetzee, Australian Greg Chalmers and American Ben Kohles shared 10th on 139 with England's Brian Davis and Aussie Mark Leishman among nine others on 140. - AFP |
| Olympics: TV-friendly squash right for Games, says president Posted: 15 Mar 2013 07:07 PM PDT PARIS: Squash's evolution as a TV-friendly sport, played against some of the world's most dramatic backdrops, should serve it well in its bid to become an Olympic sport in 2020, its federation president told AFP on Friday. Squash lost out to rugby sevens and golf in the campaign to replace baseball and softball for the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro. But the World Squash Federation (WSF), under the presidency of India's Narayana Ramachandran, has implemented revolutionary changes which have boosted its attraction for the global television viewer. This aspect had already weighed heavily on IOC members' minds when they came to vote in 2009. However, Ramachandran, who was elected to the post in 2008, told AFP he and the federation had learnt from the previous candidacy and, having consulted with IOC members after the 2009 decision, had taken steps to fine-tune this new bid. "It is totally different to two to three years ago," he said, speaking by phone from London. "There are all glass courts, glass floors, under-floor lighting, we have Hawkeye like in cricket and tennis, reviews by referees and slow motion replays. "In short we have more broadcast experience and our own specialised team that goes from event to event. We can say that our sport has the highest broadcast quality." Ramachandran said another benefit of squash was its inexpensiveness and that it can be played at some spectaular sites. Tournaments over the past few years have been played in iconic locations such as The Pyramids, Grand Central Station and alongside Hong Kong Harbour in front of IOC members. "All we need is two courts which can be set up in iconic locations at whichever bid city wins the right to host the 2020 Games. So, for instance, it could be near the Blue Mosque in Istanbul," he said. "We will only have 64 competitors - 32 men and women, and 20 officials. So it is very economical." Squash, which appears at every other major multi-sport event, from the Asian Games to the Commonwealth Games, has truly become a global sport, said Ramachandran. "Anyone can pick up a racquet and a ball and hit it against a wall," he said. "We now have tournaments as far afield as Paraguay and China. There have been world champions from all five continental federations and thus it is a sport that offers genuine medal prospects to a whole host of countries. "In terms of prize money we are moving towards equality for both men and women." Squash is in competition with six other sports bidding for inclusion plus wrestling, which was recommended to be excluded by the IOC's 15 member Executive Board in February. All eight sports will make presentations to the Executive Board at a meeting in St Petersburg, Russia, at the end of May. They will then vote and could recommend up to three sports. The final decision as to which of the sports appear at the 2020 Games will be put to a vote of all IOC members at their Congress in Buenos Aires in early September. - AFP |
| Del Potro upsets Murray to reach Indian Wells semis Posted: 15 Mar 2013 07:02 PM PDT INDIAN WELLS, California: Argentina's Juan Martin del Potro upset World No. 3 Andy Murray 6-7 (5/7), 6-3, 6-1 on Friday to reach the semi-finals of the Indian Wells Masters. Del Potro, the 2009 US Open champion, beat reigning US Open champion Murray for just the second time in seven meetings and booked a clash with World No. 1 Novak Djokovic for a place in the final. Djokovic earlier remained unbeaten in 2013 with a 6-3, 6-1 victory over France's Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. The defeat means Murray will have to wait longer for a chance to overtake Roger Federer for the second spot in the world rankings. Murray could have risen to No. 2 for the second time in his career by reaching the final here after Federer bowed out in the quarter-finals. But the Scot was undone by eight double faults, the last coming on match point to bring things to a close after two hours and 32 minutes. - AFP |
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