I Dig Sports
Success in Gerona, Marc Ledoux repeats feat in Wladyslawowo
Second place in his initial stage group, beaten by Great Britain’s Aaron McKibbin, the no.6 seed (11-7, 9-11, 12-10, 11-6), in the main draw Marc Ledoux progressed from strength to strength.
After accounting for Poland’s Marcin Skrzynecki, the no.2 seed (4-11, 10-12, 11-9, 11-7, 11-4) and Slovakia’s Richard Csejtey, the no.5 seed (12-10, 9-11, 11-9, 11-8), he beat Great Britain’s Billy Shilton, also not seeded (11-9, 4-11, 11-9, 11-7), to secure gold. Notably in the adjacent half of the draw, Billy Shilton had caused a major quarter-final upset by overcoming Sweden’s Emil Andersson, the top seed (4-11, 11-9, 11-7, 11-9), prior to ousting colleague, Aaron McKibbin (7-11, 12-10, 11-9, 11-9) to reserve his place in the final.
“It has been a great competition for me overall and I’m delighted with a silver medal. The level I have been playing in training is really starting to show and I’m really pleased I am getting the results as well.” Billy Shilton
Disappointment for Aaron McKibbin but he is a seasoned campaigner and was in a philosophical mood, looking forward to the men’s team event where in class 8 he partners Billy Shilton.
“I played very well, continuing the good form from Slovenia. I was happy with how I played up until the semi-final. It is always hard playing a team mate and it felt even stranger in an international. Billy played very well and I’m happy for him although I am personally disappointed as I believe that the way I was playing I could have won this competition. Moving on to the team event we are clearly both in great form so I’m looking forward to it and over the last two singles events I think I’ve put myself in a good position for Tokyo.” Aaron McKibbin
An unexpected outcome, in class 11 there was also a surprise winner but it was no great upset. Hungary’s Peter Palos, the no.2 seed, gold medallist at the London 2012 Paralympic Games beat Belgium’s Lucas Creange (11-5, 11-8, 12-10) to secure the title; Lucas Creange was very much a player in form, in the penultimate round he had ended the hopes of Belgium’s Florian Van Acker, the top seed and Rio de Janeiro gold medallist (11-5, 11-8, 12-10).
Otherwise, in all other men’s singles events it was success for the top seeds.
In class 1-2, Hungary’s Endre Major finished in first place in a group organised event ahead of Russia’s Dmitry Lavrov, the no.3 seed; Switzerland’s Sylvio Keller, the no.2 seed reserved third position.
Third place for the second seed, in all other wheelchair classes, the final witnessed success for the top seed against the player next in the order of merit. Frenchman Fabien Lamirault won class 2 beating Poland’s Rafal Czuper in the final (11-8, 12-10, 9-11, 11-4); in class 3 Germany’s Thomas Schmidberger overcame colleague Thomas Brüchle (12-10, 11-9, 12-14, 11-8) to seal the top prize.
Similarly facing a compatriot Abdullah Ozturk prevailed against Nesim Turan (11-6, 11-6, 11-7) to win class 4; also from Turkey, Ali Ozturk defeated Germany Valentin Baus (11-6, 12-14, 8-11, 11-8, 11-9) to claim class 5 gold.
Meanwhile, in the standing categories, Spain’s Alvaro Valera secured the class 6 title at the expense of Cristian Dettoni (11-3, 11-8, 11-9), the semi-final winner in opposition to Romania’s Bobi Simion, the no.2 seed (12-10, 11-8, 11-13, 11-8). Success for Spain and there was more, Jordi Morales won class 7 beating the host nation’s Maksym Chudzicki in the final (9-11, 11-8, 13-11, 11-9).
Hard earned wins, in class 9 and class 10, success for the top seeds was even harder earned. Belgium’s Laurens Devos emerged the class 9 champion beating Italy’s Mohamed Amine Kalem in the final (11-9, 8-11, 4-11, 11-6, 11-5). Even more testing, in class 10, the host nation’s Patryk Chojnowski recovered from a two games to nil deficit in opposition to the Czech Republic’s Ivan Karabec (9-11, 1-11, 12-10, 11-6, 11-6) to reserve the top step of the podium.
Play continues with the team events, proceedings conclude in Wladyslawowo on Saturday 1st June.
2019 Para Polish Open: Latest results and main draws
The previous day, contrary to ranking, Chile’s Nicolas Burgos, Andres Martinez and Manuel Moya, alongside Colombia’s Alexander Echavarria and Puerto Rico’s Angel Naranjo had all secured first places in their group contrary to expectations.
One day later, all maintained their form, all emerged successful in their opening round encounters.
Most impressively Nicolas Burgos beat Guatemala’s Kevin Montufar (11-8, 11-6, 11-4, 11-9), in a similar vein Angel Naranjo overcame Costa Rica’s José Perez (11-4, 11-8, 11-5, 11-6). Equally imposing, Manuel Moya was in no mood for charity, likewise he prevailed in opposition to Guatemala’s Diego de la Cruz (11-5, 11-6, 11-4, 11-3).
Straight games wins, authority imposed; rather differently for Alexander Echavarria and Andres Martinez life was more testing. Both needed the full seven games to secure victory. Alexander Echavarria overcame the Dominican Republic’s Isaac Vila (11-8, 9-11, 11-6, 3-11, 11-8, 6-11, 11-8), Andres Martinez ended the hopes of Puerto Rico’s Gabriel Perez (9-11, 6-11, 11-8, 11-7, 13-15, 11-6, 11-8).
The second round decided, in the men’s doubles the semi-finalists are known. In the top half of the draw Cuba’s Jorge Campos and Andy Pereira face Guatemala’s Allan Gutierrez and Kevin Montufar; in the lower half it is Hector Gatica and Heber Moscoso, also from Guatemala, in opposition to the Dominican Republic’s Samuel Galvez and Emil Santos.
Play in Guatemala City concludes on Saturday 1st June.
Entry and Schedule of Play
2019 Latin American Championships: Participating National Associations
2019 Latin American Championships: Entry List
2019 Latin American Championships: Schedule of Play
Seeding
2019 Latin American Championships: Seeding – Men’s Team & Women’s Team
2019 Latin American Championships: Seeding – Men’s Singles & Women’s Singles
2019 Latin American Championships: Seeding – Men’s Doubles, Women’s Doubles, Mixed Doubles
Draws & Results – Team Events
2019 Latin American Championships: Men’s Team – Group Stage & Main Draw (Wednesday 29th May)
2019 Latin American Championships: Men’s Team – Full Results (Wednesday 29th May)
2019 Latin American Championships: Women’s Team – Group Stage & Main Draw (Wednesday 29th May)
2019 Latin American Championships: Women’s Team – Full Results (Wednesday 29th May)
Draws & Results – Individual Events
2019 Latin American Championships: Men’s Singles – First Stage (Wednesday 29th May)
2019 Latin American Championships: Men’s Singles – Main Draw (Thursday 30th May)
2019 Latin American Championships: Women’s Singles – First Stage (Wednesday 29th May)
2019 Latin American Championships: Women’s Singles – Main Draw (Thursday 30th May)
2019 Latin American Championships: Men’s Doubles – Results (Thursday 30th May)
2019 Latin American Championships: Women’s Doubles – Results (Thursday 30th May)
2019 Latin American Championships: Mixed Doubles – Results (Thursday 30th May)
The player to attraction the attention was the host nation’s 17 year old Hidalynn Zapata, occupying the same seeded position as her age, she caused the biggest upset of the day. In the second round, the round prior to the quarter-finals, she accounted for Daniela Ortega, the no.3 seed (11-7, 12-10, 7-11, 6-11, 11-7, 10-12, 11-8), the player who had been the backbone of Chilean success earlier in tournament.
Similarly, Colombia’s Corey Tellez and Paraguay’s Leyla Gomez afforded most creditable second round performances; Corey Tellez, the no.13 seed, beat Guatemala’s Mabelyn Enriquez, the no.4 seed; Leyla Gomez, the no.24 seed, caused Chile more heartaches, she overcame Judith Morales, the no.5 seed (13-11, 11-9, 14-12, 11-8).
Also upsetting the odds, Cuba’s Daniela Fonseca Carrazana, the no.16 seed, ended the hopes of the host nation’s Andrea Montufar, the no.10 seed (11-9, 12-10, 8-11, 11-6, 11-9), having in the opening round beaten the Dominican Republic’s Yasiris Ortiz, the no.8 seed (11-8, 11-8, 11-5, 11-1). Farewell to notable names and there was one more who waved goodbye but in different circumstances; Cuba’s Idaly Lovet was forced to withdraw from proceedings, thus affording Colombia’s Maria Perdomo a walk-over.
Surprises, there were also surprises as play in the women’s doubles event advanced to the semi-final round. At the quarter-final stage, El Salvador’s Keren Constanza and Monica Mendoza, the no.8 seeds, beat the host nation’s Lucia Cordero and Mabelyn Enriquez the no.4 seeds (8-11, 11-9, 2-11, 11-8, 11-9). Likewise Leyla Gomez and Paraguayan teammate Lucero Ovelar, the no.9 seeds, ended the hopes of the Dominican Republic’s Eva Brito and Yasiris Ortiz, the no.3 seeds (12-10, 11-4, 11-9).
At the semi-final stage Keren Constanza and Monica Mendoza meet Judith Morales and Paulina Vega, the top seeds; Leyla Gomez and Lucero Ovelar oppose Paula Medina and Maria Perdomo, the no.2 seeds.
Semi-finalists known in the women’s doubles event, it is the same in the mixed doubles; in the top half of the draw Cuba’s Jorge Campos and Daniela Fonseca Carrazana meet Colombia’s Alexander Echavarria and Paula Medina; in the lower half Chile’s Nicolas Burgos and Paulina Vega oppose the Dominican Republic’s Isaac Vila and Esmerlyn Castro.
Play in Guatemala City concludes on Saturday 1st June.
Entry and Schedule of Play
2019 Latin American Championships: Participating National Associations
2019 Latin American Championships: Entry List
2019 Latin American Championships: Schedule of Play
Seeding
2019 Latin American Championships: Seeding – Men’s Team & Women’s Team
2019 Latin American Championships: Seeding – Men’s Singles & Women’s Singles
2019 Latin American Championships: Seeding – Men’s Doubles, Women’s Doubles, Mixed Doubles
Draws & Results – Team Events
2019 Latin American Championships: Men’s Team – Group Stage & Main Draw (Wednesday 29th May)
2019 Latin American Championships: Men’s Team – Full Results (Wednesday 29th May)
2019 Latin American Championships: Women’s Team – Group Stage & Main Draw (Wednesday 29th May)
2019 Latin American Championships: Women’s Team – Full Results (Wednesday 29th May)
Draws & Results – Individual Events
2019 Latin American Championships: Men’s Singles – First Stage (Wednesday 29th May)
2019 Latin American Championships: Men’s Singles – Main Draw (Thursday 30th May)
2019 Latin American Championships: Women’s Singles – First Stage (Wednesday 29th May)
2019 Latin American Championships: Women’s Singles – Main Draw (Thursday 30th May)
2019 Latin American Championships: Men’s Doubles – Results (Thursday 30th May)
2019 Latin American Championships: Women’s Doubles – Results (Thursday 30th May)
2019 Latin American Championships: Mixed Doubles – Results (Thursday 30th May)
Update day three: Seamaster 2019 ITTF World Tour Platinum China Open
Day starts
China’s Zhu Yuling, the no.2 seed, starts the day; she meets Chinese Taipei’s Cheng I-Ching, the no.8 seed. Immediately following the defending champion enter the arena, Wang Manyu, the no.4 seed, confronts the player in form.
She opposes Chinese national team colleague, Liu Shiwen, the recently crowned world champion.
Seamaster 2019 ITTF World Tour Platinum China Open: Schedule of Play Thursday 30th June to Sunday 2nd June
DETROIT – Zacharie Robichon celebrated his 27th birthday Friday at Detroit Belle Isle the best way possible – with his first pole in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GT Daytona class.
The Canadian driver, who is substituting this weekend for Park Place Motorsports team owner Patrick Lindsey in the No. 73 Porsche 911 GT3 R, originally qualified second on Friday afternoon, but initial Motul Pole Award winner Robby Foley’s No. 96 entry failed post-qualifying inspection.
The No. 96 was found to have out of compliance camber settings was and moved to the back of the 12-car GTD grid. As a result, Robichon’s Porsche inherited the GTD top spot for Saturday’s Chevrolet Sports Car Classic at the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear.
RELATED: Montoya Powers To Belle Isle IMSA Pole
“It’s not the way you want to do it,” said Robichon. “It’s too bad for the Turner guys, they had a great car and obviously had the pace. But we were really close and I’m really proud to get this for the Park Place team because they kind of threw me in the car this weekend. It’s going to be a different kind of beast for me to tame on the start, but really looking forward to it.”
Robichon’s time was only .031 of a second behind Foley’s at one minute, 29.735 (94.277 mph) at the conclusion of the 15-minute qualifying session.
“Everybody’s been telling me here that’s next to impossible to pass and I can definitely see it from being on track,” said Robichon. “It’s my first time here, my first time in a race environment in this setting. I’ve done some street races before and have seen that you can really control a race from the start.”
Robichon currently drives full time in GTD in the No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R, which is not competing this weekend in Detroit. Instead, he will be co-driving with Patrick Long, who coincidentally drove to the most recent pole position by a Porsche 911 GT3 R before this weekend at Road America in 2018.
With the new starting grid, the No. 57 Heinricher Racing w/ Meyer Shank Racing Acura NSX GT3 of Christina Nielsen and Katherine Legge will start on the outside of the front row following Nielsen’s qualifying time of 1:30.126. Meyer Shank’s second entry, the No. 86 Acura of Trent Hindman and Mario Farnbacher will start third.
The pair of AIM Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3’s will follow suit with the No. 14 of Richard Heistand and Jack Hawksworth – the most recent round winners at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course four weeks ago – in fourth and the No. 12 of Frankie Montecalvo and Townsend Bell in fifth.
DETROIT – Juan Pablo Montoya put his No. 6 Acura Team Penske ARX-05 DPi on the pole for the Chevrolet Sports Car Classic at Belle Isle Park on Friday.
Montoya posted a best lap of 1 minute, 19.373 seconds (106.585 mph) to lead a 1-2 qualifying sweep for Acura Team Penske ahead of Helio Castroneves in the No. 7 Acura DPi.
Montoya shattered Pipo Derani’s year-old WeatherTech Championship track record of 1:22.273 by nearly three seconds. It was his second IMSA pole and first since the 2018 BUBBA burger Sports Car Grand Prix at Long Beach. Nine of the 11 DPi cars qualified faster than Derani’s 2018 track record time.
RELATED: Robichon Awarded Belle Isle GTD Pole
“It’s great,” Montoya said. “Everybody at Acura Team Penske did an amazing job. We struggled a little bit in the morning with the car with balance, but it’s good. I had a bit of an understeer but at I kept turning laps it kept getting better. It was fun. It was a hell of a push.”
The 15-minute session saw Montoya, Castroneves and Derani in the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac DPi-V.R swap the top spot, with Montoya finally taking it for good with 40 seconds remaining. Castroneves will roll off the grid second in the No. 7 machine he shares with Ricky Taylor after a best qualifying lap of 1:19.580 (106.308 mph).
Jonathan Bomarito took third on the grid with a best lap of 1:19.960 (105.802 mph) in the No. 55 Mazda Team Joest RT24-P DPi. He and co-driver Harry Tincknell will look to score Mazda’s first WeatherTech Championship victory in Saturday’s race.
Derani wound up fourth on the grid with a lap of 1:19.991 (105.761 mph). The No. 31 Cadillac and Derani’s co-driver, Felipe Nasr, is the defending winner of the Chevrolet Sports Car Classic as he earned the win last year with Eric Curran. Derani and Nasr also head into the race as co-leaders of the WeatherTech Championship DPi point standings by four, 120-116, over Castroneves and Taylor.
Joao Barbosa made it two Action Express Racing Cadillac DPis in the top five with a best lap of 1:20.239 (105.434 mph) in the No. 5 Mustang Sampling entry he shares with Filipe Albuquerque.
Saturday’s Chevrolet Sports Car Classic begins shortly after 12:30 p.m. EST.
LONG POND, Pa. – Ty Majeski scored his second consecutive ARCA Menards Series victory in come-from-behind fashion in Friday’s General Tire #AnywhereIsPossible 200 at Pocono Raceway.
Majeski trailed race leader Riley Herbst by nearly 20 seconds prior to the only caution of the afternoon, but was able to stay in contact with him after the race resumed.
Herbst led as they came to the pits, Majeski on lap 67 and Herbst on lap 68, but Majeski was able to make up time and steal the lead as Herbst exited pit lane.
“It’s all about being with the right people,” Majeski said. “Being with Chad Bryant and Paul Andrews has been incredible. They have put together a great team and the guys all work hard to make days like today happen.”
Majeski credited his final pit stop and the way he worked through lapped traffic for his win.
“Coming to pit road I thought I could have gotten a little more, but I maximized my speed,” he said. “I came into the box hot and got out pretty good. I knew it was going to be tough for the 18 to match that. I saw him leaving his pit and knew he would have to use the apron in turn one and I had a good head of steam going.”
“You don’t want to catch the lapped cars at the wrong time,” he said. “I tried to back myself up so I caught the lapped cars at the right time and it really helped.”
“Any seat time is good seat time,” Majeski said. “I don’t have a lot of seat time compared to some of the guys that are younger than I am. To be able to run races two weeks in a row is huge for me. We really hit it off well.”
Herbst dominated the first 68 laps of the day, leading by nearly 20 seconds before the caution waved for Bobby Gerhart’s stalled car. With Majeski able to stay in contact after the restart, it all came down to the final pit stop, which saw Majeski bypass Herbst.
“I wish it was the fall race when it’s only 60 laps,” a dejected Herbst said. “We freed it up a lot and I couldn’t get the throttle down off one one and three. He closed up there at the end and we put two tires on at the end and swung for the fence but I couldn’t make a run on him.”
“The 18 car has finished second a lot this season,” he said, referring to the second-place finishes for the team with himself driving at Talladega and Ty Gibbs driving at Pensacola and Toledo. “That’s good for the owner’s standpoint but I am here to win races and prove myself for the other ranks and I didn’t do that today.”
Christian Eckes finished third, followed by Raphael Lessard and Bret Holmes. On the top-four finishes were on the lead lap at the checkered flag.
The finish:
Ty Majeski, Riley Herbst, Christian Eckes, Raphael Lessard, Bret Holmes, Harrison Burton, Hailie Deegan, Joe Graf Jr., Cole Glasson, Travis Braden, Michael Self, Ed Pompa, Scott Melton, Tim Richmond, Brad Smith, Bobby Gerhart, Tommy Vigh Jr., Dick Doheny.
TT Postscript: Clean up on aisle 15 as Woods' disaster negates progress
DUBLIN, Ohio – Tiger Woods finished his day at the Memorial at 2 under par and seven strokes off the lead in what has essentially become a U.S. Open tune-up. If that all sounds a bit mundane, consider how he reached his crossroads:
• After a slow start that included a bogey at the first hole, Tiger birdied the seventh, 11th and 13th holes to move to within five shots of the lead. “At 14 I had a look to go to 5 [under] and make birdie at 15, go to 6 [under] and all of a sudden I'm three back, and now here I am seven back,” he said. “So a round that could have flipped and gone in a positive way didn't do that because of what I did on 15.”
• Yes, the par-5 15th hole was not kind to Tiger. After a drive down the left side of the fairway left him 250 yards from the hole, he pulled his 5-wood second shot well left of the green and needed three shots to reach the putting surface. After chipping to 5 feet, he missed the putt for bogey. Asked which shot disappointed him the most: “The second shot, by far,” he said. “I could hit that ball 50 yards right of the flag and be fine. Anything inbounds right of the flag I have a chance to make birdie. I just can't afford to miss it left where that flag is. And I did.”
• Statistically, Tiger might have gotten everything he could out of his round. He hit 9-of-14 fairways and 11-of-18 greens in regulation to rank 31st in the field in strokes gained: tee to green.
• The highlight of Tiger’s day was his short game. He was 5-for-7 in scrambling and converted a 22-footer for birdie at the 13th hole. Although he needed 28 putts, he did have eight one-putts.
• There was a silver lining for Tiger. He admitted he’ll need a low round on Saturday if he’s going to fight his way back into contention and Justin Rose, who was paired with Tiger for the first two days, showed him the way with a 9-under 63 on Day 2.
• It was no big surprise but Tiger’s name was not on the commitment list for next week’s RBC Canadian Open which will make the Memorial his final start before the U.S. Open.
Woods on Haney comments and suspension: 'He got what he deserved'
DUBLIN, Ohio – There has been no shortage of outrage over Hank Haney’s insensitive comments about women's golf earlier this week on his PGA Tour SiriusXM radio show, and following his round on Friday at the Memorial Tiger Woods was the latest to share his thoughts on the controversy.
“He deserved it,” Woods said of Haney’s suspension from the radio show. “Just can't look at life like that. And he obviously said what he meant, and he got what he deserved.”
Haney served as Woods’ swing coach for six years before the two split in 2010.
During Wednesday’s show on SiriusXM Haney and co-host Steve Johnson were discussing this week’s U.S. Women’s Open. When asked to predict a winner Haney said, “I’m gonna predict a Korean.”
“I couldn’t name you six players on the LPGA Tour,” Haney went on to say. “Maybe I could. Well … I’d go with Lee. If I didn’t have to name a first name, I’d get a bunch of them right.”
Haney was suspended from the show on Thursday and according to a statement from the PGA Tour officials are “reviewing his status on SiriusXM going forward.”
“I accept my suspension and apologize again,” Haney said in the statement.
Spieth (70) on his game: 'By no shape or form on its A level'
DUBLIN, Ohio – Jordan Spieth described his second-round 70 at the Memorial as an “easy-on-the-body kind of day,” which was a refreshing change for a player who hasn’t exactly been on an easy run the last few months.
Spieth had just a single bogey on Friday and was alone in fourth place at 8 under par, just a stroke off the lead, following another solid ball-striking round that included 13 of 18 greens in regulation.
“I found something in my striking on the range today and really trusted it pretty well on the course. I feel like it will get better day-to-day,” Spieth said.
That’s a dramatic improvement over where he was just last week when he ranked 35th in greens in regulation and 65th in fairways hit.
“It's by no shape or form on its A level, but it feels really close and it's in a position where if I just get a little bit better the next two days, I'm in great shape in this golf tournament,” he said.
Spieth has finished in the top 10 in his last two starts (T-3 at the PGA Championship and T-8 at the Charles Schwab Challenge) but those performances were largely driven by his putting, which was not as productive on Friday when he made just 45 feet of putts. Last week at Colonial he rolled in over 500 feet of putts.
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