The Star Online: Sports
The Star Online: Sports |
- Ice queen Nicol into British Open quarters
- Australia to consider following ban on anchor putters
- Intxausti wins 16th stage, Nibali still keeps pink jersey
| Ice queen Nicol into British Open quarters Posted: 22 May 2013 05:28 PM PDT HULL, United Kingdom - World number one Nicol David (pic) survived a huge temperature drop to carry her bid for a fifth British Open title into the quarter-finals with a straight games win over a surprise survivor Wednesday. The game's greatest legend did that with an 11-4, 14-12, 11-2 success against the unseeded Sarah Kippax in single figure outdoor temperatures which were almost 20 degrees celsius colder than first round matches played indoors. David saved a game point in the second game as Kippax, who on Tuesday upset the former finalist Natalie Grinham, started to hit a better line and length, and then grew a little in confidence, advancing to 11-10. But David responded by simplifying her game, using her consistency and mobility, before once more attempting some more ambitious attacking ploys as she stretched her lead in the third game. "It was like day and night," she said, when asked how different the conditions for the first and second rounds had been. "It was so bouncy on the other court (at the Pontefract squash club) and here this was so much colder and you have to work so much harder on the ball. Both of us were putting so much into hitting every shot." David was asked how she had almost allowed Kippax to level at one game all, after which the match may have taken a different character. "With home crowd advantage she was feeding off the crowd and going with the momentum," the champion replied. "I was just trying to make sure I took that game." David will now have a day's rest before taking on Joelle King, the sixth-seeded New Zealander, who progressed with an 11-5, 11-7, 11-5 win over Annie Au, the 13th seed from Hong Kong. Kasey Brown, the 12th-seeded Australian, made a tenacious recovery from two games down to beat Sarah-Jane Perry, the English surprise packet who had already despatched the seventh seeded Low Wee Wern. "I lost last year when I was two games up, so I thought I really ought to turn this one around," said Brown after a 8-11, 9-11, 12-10, 11-7, 12-10 win in which she was twice within two points of defeat. "After the third game I thought I would win." Brown will now face Alison Waters, the fourth-seeded English player, who lost a two-game lead but still scrambled home 11-2, 11-4, 8-11, 7-11, 11-4 against 36-year-old Rachael Grinham. Nick Matthew, the only Englishman to have won the British Open three times, reached the quarter-finals with a 11-7, 11-3, 11-4 win over Laurens Jan Anjema, the world number 17 from The Netherlands. Matthew, 32, next plays Karim Darwish, the former world number one from Egypt, who played with commendable accuracy in winning 11-9, 11-5, 11-6 against Daryl Selby, the world number 13 from England. "I was pleased with the way I played, and I have always said I want to win the British Open before I retire," the 31-year-old said. "So that's what I shall be trying to do." Matthew is seeded to contest Sunday's final with Ramy Ashour, the man who last year took away his world title and world number one ranking, and popular opinion suggests that the Egyptian will perform another steal. Ashour makes his bid to reach the quarter-finals on Thursday when he plays England's Chris Simpson. Tarek Momen underlined Egypt's impressive dominance of the sport by causing the tournament's biggest upset so far - a four-game win over Peter Barker, twice a former semi-finalist. The 25-year-old from Cairo is only his country's sixth best player, yet took advantage of the cold conditions superbly to score a 9-11, 11-4, 11-6, 11-9 win over one of the tour's most consistent top ten players. - AFP Related Stories: |
| Australia to consider following ban on anchor putters Posted: 22 May 2013 04:31 PM PDT SYDNEY: The Professional Golfers Association of Australia yesterday suggested they would follow the Royal & Ancient and US Golf Association in banning anchored clubs, but said they would not be rushed into a decision. Golf's main ruling bodies on Tuesday announced that broomstick-style putters would be outlawed from the start of 2016. The new rule will ban players from anchoring a club directly, or by use of an anchor point, against any part of the body, effectively banning belly and chest putting. The anchored stroke has been in the spotlight since being used by a series of players to win Major championships, with Australian Adam Scott the latest to use the club to claim the Masters title at Augusta in April. The ban is a blow to Scott, and PGA of Australia chief executive Brian Thorburn said the organisation would not rush into any rule change. "We wish to clarify that the PGA of Australia will now take this formal announcement on board and consider whether it will be appropriate to apply the new rule to PGA Tour of Australasia tournaments," he said in a statement. Thorburn said Australian members competed around the world and "therefore we shall be liaising closely with our fellow Tours through the International Federation of PGA Tours and with the PGAs around the world". "We would like to avoid a situation where our members play under different rules in different countries, therefore hope sanity prevails and we continue to play under a common rule," he added. "We expect that our decision will be made reasonably soon and we will make a formal announcement at that time." — AFP |
| Intxausti wins 16th stage, Nibali still keeps pink jersey Posted: 22 May 2013 05:11 PM PDT IVREA (Italy): Astana's Vincenzo Nibali kept possession of the Giro d'Italia race leader's pink jersey for another night after a strong showing in Tuesday's 16th stage. Benat Intxausti (pic) of Spain, riding for the Movistar team, won the stage, a 238km ride from the French resort of Valloire, in 5'52:48. Intxausti beat Estonian Tanel Kangert into second in a sprint finish, with Nibali and his rivals in the general classification, Austra-lian Cadel Evans and Colombian Rigoberto Uran, coming in as part of the same peloton 14 seconds behind. Evans stands 1:26 off Nibali, with Uran 2.46 off the Italian's pace. "You might have thought the stage would be easy, but it wasn't the case," Nibali said. "A lot of riders from Monday's day off. The Giro, the Tour, they're raced like that. In the final descent, I didn't try to gain time, I only sought to control. It's been a good day, I can only be happy." The big loser of the day's racing was Mauro Santambrogi, the Vcini Fantini rider starting in fourth overall but losing more than two minutes. "Over three weeks, a bad day can happen to anyone," said Santambrogio in reference to Bradley Wiggins and Michele Scarponi. "Today was my turn. Tomorrow, I'll ride out calmly with the goal of doing well at each occasion that presents itself. "Even if it didn't happen today as I had hoped, I can't complain about my Giro." Intxausti, competing in the Giro for a third time, took his moment perfectly for his first-ever stage win on a Grand Tour. "It wasn't an easy sprint. At 3km, Kangert got on my wheel and I knew he was my opponent," said the 27-year-old Intxausti. "At 700m, I was able to keep my head and stay in the saddle, and at 300m, with a tailwind, I attacked on the outside." The 17th stage sees the riders tackle a 214km course between Caravaggio and Vincenza, before three testing stages. — AFP |
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