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Both faced Chinese adversaries, Tomokazu Harimoto was beaten by Sun Wen (11-8, 11-5, 11-7, 11-8), Lin Yun-Ju, after overcoming Korea Republic’s Cho Seungmin (5-11, 11-9, 7-11, 11-9, 11-8, 10-12, 11-9), accounted for Lin Gaoyuan, the no.2 seed (9-11, 9-11, 21-19, 11-9, 11-7, 11-9).
Disappointing for the home fans but remember Tomokazu Harimoto is not yet 16 years old. I’m not sure that comments regarding being under pressure on home soil really holds water. More the video cameras have been whirring and a tactical master plan had been designed by coach, Chen Qi.
Now, there is a name to note; if any young man at the start of the century oozed talent, it was Chen Qi. Approaching 20 years later, Lin Yun-Yu, just 17 years old, is a player of the same ilk. They are young men bestowed with immense natural talent, you just need to look at their hand skills; they learn quickly, a fact reflected in the world ranking progress in recent times of Lin Yu-Ju.
At the start of 2018, he was listed at no.134; in January this year he had risen to no.28, now he occupies the no.20 spot, a career high.
Three months ago in March, he won the men’s singles title at the Seamaster 2019 ITTF Challenge Plus Oman Open; notably he beat Sweden’s Mattias Falck in the final, the player who in April at the Liebherr 2019 World Championships was to excel all expectations by reaching the men’s singles final.
Now the goal for Lin Yun-Ju is to repeat the Oman success on the ITTF World Tour but, just as he has gradually climbed the world rankings, so it is step at a time. The next step is to reach the semi-final stage; in Sapporo he faces Brazil’s Hugo Calderano in the quarter-finals, a third name to add to the list of a major challengers to Chinese hegemony.
It is an intriguing contest, just as intriguing as the heavyweight battle in the same round between the Chinese duo of Ma Long and Fan Zhendong. Speed, fast attacking play is the hallmark of Lin Yun-Ju, power is on the side of Hugo Calderano, also a most talented sportsman; let’s be most grateful he chose table tennis!
Does a first ever ITTF World Tour men’s singles semi-final place await for Lin Yun-Ju? Also does another first await Chinese Taipei?
At the Liebherr 2013 World Championships in Paris, Chen Chien-An and Chuang Chih-Yuan won the men’s doubles title; despite trying time and time again, they have never reached an ITTF World Tour men’s doubles final!
In Sapporo at the semi-final stage they are the favourites; the no.4 seeds, they meet German qualifiers Benedikt Duda and Qiu Dang.
Could it be a day of two firsts for Chinese Taipei, at last for Chen Chien-An and Chuang Chih-Yuan, a new horizon for Lin Yun-Ju?
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PSA World Tour Finals champions Raneem El Welily and Karim Abdel Gawad
Raneem roars back to win women’s title
By SEAN REUTHE in Cairo
Egypt’s Raneem El Welily and Karim Abdel Gawad are the 2018-2019 CIB PSA World Tour Finals champions as they rose to respective wins over France’s World No.3 Camille Serme and World No.7 Mohamed Abouelghar at Cairo’s Mall of Arabia to take the honours at the final tournament of the PSA World Tour season.
World No.4 Gawad captured his second major title of the season one week to the day after getting married … with Abouelghar one of his groomsmen at the ceremony. Gawad won 12-10, 11-6, 5-11, 8-11, 12-10 to lift this trophy for the first time,
Both players claimed semi-final scalps, with Gawad ending World No.2 Mohamed ElShorbagy’s title defence, while Abouelghar dispatched World No.3 Tarek Momen to earn a place in his biggest final to date.
Abouelghar, the lowest seeded player in the men’s event, downed Gawad 2-0 to top Group A, but found himself on the wrong end of that scoreline as former World No.1 Gawad edged out the opening game, before some clinical attacking into the front corners saw the 27-year-old double that lead.
The third game went the way of Abouelghar as he finally found chinks in his opponent’s armour. The 25-year-old also claimed victory in the fourth, bringing the match back to all square as he looked to emulate El Welily’s comeback victory.
The battle continued into a dramatic fifth, which saw play halted by a succession of video decisions, while court cleaners were also called into action due to the sweat on the floor. Gawad surrendered two championship balls as Abouelghar came back to force a tie-break, but converted on his third match ball as the younger Egyptian struck the tin to hand the match to his opponent.
“If I knew this would happen then I would have got married six or seven years ago,” said Gawad after winning the 21st PSA title of his career.
“Abouelghar was one of my groomsmen, and he gave me a hard time on court, so hard luck to him, he played some amazing squash. I’m really happy to win a World Tour Finals and really happy with this title.
“I have a lot of people to thank. Firstly the sponsors and CIB bank for their support over the last 12 months. They have worked hard and given a lot of support at a lot of tournaments. Thanks to Karim Darwish and all the organisers for organising such a great tournament. It’s always great to play tournaments in Egypt, we have six or seven players in the top 10, so we deserve to have more tournaments here.”
El Welily has been the woman to beat on the PSA World Tour this season and was crowned as the PSA Women’s Player of the Year on the eve of the World Tour Finals after capturing five titles prior to this week and dethroning compatriot Nour El Sherbini to become World No.1.
The 30-year-old from Alexandria has been sensational throughout the tournament, maintaining a 100 per cent record right up to the final and beating Serme to finish top of Group A. But she was off the pace against Serme in the early stages of their final clash. Nerves looked to have to got the better of El Welily, meaning the World No.4 stormed into a two-game lead.
That 2-0 lead would have been enough to see Serme take the win in the group stages or semi-finals, which were played using a best-of-three games scoring format. However, the finals reverted to the traditional best of five scoring, and that played into El Welily’s hands as the Egyptian displayed the trademark winners that have seen her dominate the tour this season to come back and take two games in a row, drawing level.
A tenacious Serme left it all out there on the court in the fifth and was forced to do a lot of running. The physical exertion soon took its toll though as El Welily moved into the ascendancy, and she soon closed out the win by a 3-11, 8-11, 11-7, 11-4, 11-6 to make it seven wins in a row against the French player, while she celebrates the 23rd PSA title of her career.
“I just gave it everything I had [after the second game],” said El Welily, who finished runner-up at this tournament in two of the last three seasons.
“Camille played really well today, she pushed me to the limit and she was just on fire the first two games. It took a lot of effort and mental strength to push myself and come back from what she did. The game plan she had today was crazy good and I salute her for a great season, she has had an incredible season and was so close to winning some things. I’m sure she will come back stronger next season, and I told her that after the match.
“All day long I was struggling with the idea of maybe having to play three games or even five, but when I was 2-0 down, I thought it was best of five for a reason. I just fought and tried to run as much as I can and get everything back to stay in the rally as long as possible. I maybe needed to focus a little bit more, calm down whenever needed, and those words in between games really helped.”
Gawad and El Welily both take home $42,750 in prize money, while this season’s World Tour Finals rewards players with ranking points for the first time in history. El Welily claims the full 1,600 points after going the whole tournament undefeated, while Gawad wins 1,300 points.
CIB PSA World Tour Finals 2019, Mall of Arabia, 6th of October City, Cairo, Egypt.
Men’s Final:
[4] Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY) bt [8] Mohamed Abouelghar (EGY) 3-2: 12-10, 11-6, 5-11, 8-11, 12-10 (92m)
Women’s Final:
[1] Raneem El Welily (EGY) bt [4] Camille Serme (FRA) 3-2: 3-11, 8-11, 11-7, 11-4, 11-6 (61m)
Pictures courtesy of PSA
Posted on June 15, 2019
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TT Postscript: Woods (72) can't buy a birdie, stumbles late
Published in
Golf
Friday, 14 June 2019 10:09
PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. — That was, honestly, the highest score he could have possibly shot today. Ruminations on Tiger Woods’ immensely frustrating 1-over 72 Friday:
· He’s going to look back on his second nine and regret it. After a bogey-free, 1-under start on the back, Tiger strode to the first tee at Pebble Beach in position to take advantage of the conditions and the course’s gettable holes.
He did not. He missed good looks for birdie at Nos. 1, 2, 4, and 6. He hit an indifferent wedge at No. 7. And when he ran out of holes he was supposed birdie, his missed opportunities caught up with him.
· The chickens came home to roost on Nos. 8 and 9, two-thirds of the Cliffs of Doom. His iron approach at No. 8 barely cleared the hazard (don’t care, writing hazard) and left him truly scrambling for the first time in hours. He stuck his club in the rough, sailed his ball 15 feet by, and left himself the least desirable putt on the golf course. That was never going in. A pulled driver into a fairway bunker at No. 9 led to him laying up in the rough. To his credit, he worked a wizardly wedge to just 7 feet, but he couldn’t stay level. It was a bogey-bogey close, after 14 consecutive pars.
· He was, understandably, miffed. “Are you steaming?” he was asked. “Yeah, I am,” he answered. “Not a very good finish. … I'm a little hot right now. I just signed my card about a minute ago. So need a little time to cool down a little bit.”
· There was no fault in the strategy. And there wasn’t much fault with the ball striking – not until the end. The putts just didn’t drop. He missed five birdie tries from inside 15 feet. He missed three from inside 10. He surrendered 2.02 shots on the greens in Round 2 as of midday. “Yeah, I had a couple opportunities there. I missed a couple,” he said. “But overall, I kept leaving myself above the hole. And unlike yesterday, when I missed it, I missed the correct spots below the hole; today, I never had that many looks from below the hole. And the one I did have, I made at 11.”
· There was a plausible version of this round that would have seen him make a run at Justin Rose’s lead. There was a perfectly acceptable version of this round that would have seen him make a few, miss a few, and work his way to maybe 3 or 4 under through 36 holes. Just about the least likely outcome would have seen him make 14 straight pars, fumble late and shoot 1 over. But that’s exactly what happened. Now he’s even par for the championship, seven off the lead held by Rose at the end of the morning wave. “Yeah, right now I'm still in the ball game,” he said. “There's so many guys with a chance to win. We've got a long way to go, and, you know, we'll see how it shapes up for tomorrow.”
· It’s not often you’re going to look at 14 straight pars in a U.S. Open and feel disappointment. That was the story Friday. He is capable of putting together back-to-back rounds in the red this weekend, but it's only going to get harder to score. Pebble Beach was there for the taking.
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PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. – The adventures of Jordan Spieth continued Friday at Pebble Beach. A day after he was caught on camera blaming caddie Michael Greller for two bad yardages, Spieth once again became exasperated after his fairway-bunker shot struck a rake that was buried in tall grass on his 11th hole of the day, No. 2.
“Oh, it hit the rake,” Spieth said, taking off his hat. “Oh, there’s a rake there.”
The ball could have gone anywhere after ricocheting off the rake, but instead it hopped a few feet in front of him, into gnarly rough from which he was only able to advance the ball 40 yards. From there Spieth was actually able to salvage bogey, after holing an 8-footer, part of a whirlwind day in which he carded seven birdies and five bogeys, leaving him six shots off the lead at the U.S. Open.
“Today was kind of a what-could-have-been round,” he said.
Through two rounds Spieth (nine) has made more birdies than clubhouse leader Justin Rose (eight), but he’s also made a number of miscues, from indecision with shot selection to poor execution.
The rake incident was a result of both – it was perhaps a stretch to hit a 200-yard 6-iron from a sidehill, downhill lie over a barranca, and either player or caddie should have spotted the rake directly in line with the target.
Spieth took responsibility for the mental lapse – “That’s on me. I’ve got to look at all options ahead of me” – but his incredulous reaction was another bad look after he was slammed on social media for throwing his caddie under the bus.
“It was kind of a weird set of events,” he said.
And it’s been a weird week for Spieth, who hit only eight greens during a Friday 69. Two years ago he was the best iron player on the planet, but he’s struggled mightily with his approach shots this season, ranking 161st in greens in regulation. That has continued with his iron shots into Pebble’s small, severe greens.
“To be under par at the U.S. Open with eight bogeys in two days means things are in a good place,” he said. “Just got to limit those mistakes. ... It’s easier for me to limit the mistakes than it is to try and force birdies.”
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PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. – Justin Rose’s short game has caught the eye of even world-renowned scrambler Jordan Spieth.
After watching Rose save par from all over Pebble Beach over the first two rounds here, Spieth offered high praise for his playing partner: “That’s the best I’ve seen somebody get up and down around the golf course for two rounds, maybe ever.”
Rose’s performance through two rounds of this U.S. Open wasn't historic, but it was impressive. Through two rounds he’s ranked first in strokes gained: around the green (4.19) and second in putting (6.34). Rose is leading at 7-under 135 despite hitting just over half of his greens (19 of 36).
“He’s chipping and putting beautifully,” Spieth said, “and not hitting it probably as well as he’d like to, and he’s still leading the U.S. Open. So that’s scary for Justin Rose.”
Rose, the 2013 U.S. Open champion, said that the key to his hot start was converting putts in the 5- to 8-foot range.
“They are makable. You feel like you should make them. But they’re kind of 50-50 putts,” said Rose of Pebble's small, sloping, fast greens. “So when you make them you are keeping up the momentum, and then when you miss one you really feel like you’ve lost something. Even though they’re 50-50 putts, the psychological gain from making them is a whole shot.”
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Tiger might have putted himself out of the championship on Friday
Published in
Golf
Friday, 14 June 2019 11:47
PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. – Stepping to a makeshift stage a short walk from the ninth green, Tiger Woods did not mince words following his second round at the U.S. Open.
“I’m a little hot right now,” Woods said. “I just signed my card about a minute ago. So need a little time to cool down a little bit.”
Following a day with plenty of promise and scant results, Woods had reason to feel the steam building under his collar. While his opener at Pebble Beach was somewhat a product of smoke and mirrors, draining putts and saving pars to keep the round on track by the thinnest of margins, this was a stroll along the coast where birdie chances were in high supply. The consistency that eluded Woods with his irons and wedges the day before made a decided turnaround, helping him find 13 greens in regulation – four more than Thursday’s 1-under 70.
But the 11-footer he rolled in for birdie on No. 11, his second hole of the day, proved to be a rare bright spot and the lone birdie in an otherwise frustrating round. The rest of the round was a slow bleed, as Woods time and again was unable to capitalize on the type of controlled ball-striking many in the field would envy and eventually signed for a score that was two strokes higher than the day before.
Pars are usually welcome sights in a U.S. Open, and Woods made 14 of them in a row. Going back to the opening round, he had a run of 29 holes without a bogey – a longer stretch than even he had en route to that 15-shot romp in 2000. But with Pebble’s teeth scaled back amid calm winds and soft conditions, Woods was stuck in neutral while Justin Rose showed him that pars aren’t the only thing on the menu this week.
“Overall, I kept leaving myself above the hole,” Woods said. “And unlike yesterday, when I missed it and I missed it in the correct spots below the hole, today I never had that many looks from below the hole. And the one I did have, I made at 11.”
Woods’ self-assessment speaks to the small margins that make Pebble a demanding championship venue. Already boasting the smallest greens in tournament golf, summer conditions can make them play even smaller and make an uphill 30-footer more desirable than an 8-footer back down the slope.
But when he looks back on where things went awry, Woods will surely focus on his second nine Friday. After each of the first two rounds he has hammered the importance of capitalizing on Nos. 1-7, then “hanging on” over the subsequent 11 holes. He did just that Friday morning, starting on the 10th and making the turn at 2 under for the week. The stage was set for him to bury a few putts and move firmly into the mix, perhaps reaching the 4 under plateau currently enjoyed by Matt Kuchar and defending champ Brooks Koepka, among others.
Instead he missed three birdie putts from inside 15 feet before the course bit back, per his forecast, on Nos. 8 and 9 where bogeys dropped him out of red figures for just the second time all week.
Staring at a seven-shot deficit against an accomplished former champ, and with more than two dozen other contenders between him and the top spot, Woods said all the right things and failed to give up on his chances for a fourth U.S. Open title and 16th major championship.
“Right now, I’m still in the ball game,” he said. “There’s so many guys with a chance to win. We’ve got a long way to go and, you know, we’ll see how it shapes up for tomorrow.”
But barring another flash of that 2000 form, Woods’ realistic chances to win may have come and gone. While this event usually separates wheat from chaff with squares of all sorts on the scorecard, Woods’ primary issue hasn’t been an inability to limit the errors.
Instead, it’s been about creating ample chances and having little to show for the effort. Woods spoke often about the “grind it out” aspect of this tournament, one of its annual hallmarks. But this week, with verdant grass around every corner and coastal conditions relatively calm, idling by has left him chasing a decorated lead pack. And it won’t get any easier to find the gas pedal over the weekend.
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PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. – Heading into the weekend at Pebble Beach, Brooks Koepka’s bid for three-peat is alive and well.
Koepka put together another solid effort at the U.S. Open, carding 2-under 69 for the second straight day. He trails Justin Rose by three shots. With a portion of the U.S. Open record book already devoted to him, Koepka on Friday became the first defending champ to break 70 in each of the first two rounds since Scott Simpson in 1988.
It was enough to bring a smile to the face of the two-time defending champ, who is looking to become the first player to win this event three years in a row since Willie Anderson from 1901-03.
“I feel great, I’m excited. I’ve got a chance,” Koepka said. “That’s all you can ask for. I just need to make a few more putts. Sometimes the hole just needs to open up.”
Koepka’s putter went a little cold during the second round, when he found 15 greens in regulation but carded just three birdies. Koepka came here off a pedestrian T-50 finish last week in Canada and admitted he was hitting it poorly in his early-week prep at Pebble. He’s been able to rectify that aspect over the first two days – not during range sessions, but during his actual competitive rounds.
“I was striking it just a little thin, and this range doesn’t quite help,” Koepka said. “The turf on the range is a little firmer, a little tighter than it is on the golf course. And it’s been easier to find my game actually on the golf course. I feel like I can really hit down on the ball, come in a little bit steeper than on the range.”
Koepka was tied for the 36-hole lead in 2017 at Erin Hills, but last year at Shinnecock he found himself five shots behind Dustin Johnson at the halfway point. Having turned both of those previous positions into major victories, he’s content to be in the mix heading into the weekend, without yet having flashed his best stuff along the California coast.
“I’m pretty pleased. I’d have taken 69 before I started,” Koepka said. “I hit some good putts. Some didn’t go in, but I struck it beautifully. And if I strike it like I did today and hole a few more putts, I should be just fine."
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Transfer Talk: Arsenal wary of big-money China move for Aubameyang
Published in
Soccer
Friday, 14 June 2019 17:23
The Premier League transfer window is open. Click here to review all the latest transfers and, below, keep up to date with the latest gossip.
When does the window open in Europe? | QUIZ: Which club should you join?
TOP STORY: Arsenal set to block CSL interest in Auba
Arsenal are ready to spend big in the next few weeks to ensure that Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette remain at the club when the new season kicks off in August.
Aubameyang has been the subject of interest from Chinese clubs who aren't shy when it comes to splashing the cash, with Guangzhou Evergrande and Shanghai SIPG both rumoured to be waving enormous wads of cash in Aubameyang's face in an attempt to lure him to the country's Super League.
Now the Mirror reports the Arsenal hierarchy is prepared to sanction a whopping increase to Aubameyang's current deal, handing him £190,000 per week to keep him in North London. And given he shared the Premier League's Golden Boot in an otherwise underwhelming season at the Emirates, that's hardly surprising.
Speculation surrounding his strike partner Lacazette has also put the Frenchman in line for a pay raise after being linked with a switch to Barcelona and Atletico Madrid since the end of the season, with the Emirates brass aiming to tie him down as they try to return Arsenal to past glories.
Willian to put pen to paper
Chelsea star Willian is set to sign a new two-year deal at Stamford Bridge, as the club tries to ward off interest in the player from Spanish giants Barcelona.
That's the claim from The Sun, which says that the Brazilian maestro is "on the brink" of staying in West London. That is not only good news for Chelsea fans bracing themselves for life with a transfer ban, but also a further indication that the club have ditched their long-term philosophy of offering players only one-year deals once they've turned 30.
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David Luiz was the first to benefit from that departure from policy and now it looks as if his Brazilian teammate is getting in on the act. Barcelona had been linked with a £30m move for Willian, a player they had been linked with back in January. Chelsea, meanwhile, risked waving goodbye to him for nothing at the end of next season if they hadn't moved fast to secure his services.
After a week that saw Eden Hazard leave the Europa League champions, this counts as some good news at last.
Palace's Wan-Bissaka eyeing United switch
The destination of Aaron Wan-Bissaka remains one of the summer's major talking points, and although Palace are thought to be holding out for an offer of at least £50m for the 21-year-old, the player himself would still favour a move to Old Trafford.
At least that's what Sky Sports is claiming.
Wan-Bissaka is one of English football's hottest prospects and shone in the Palace side last season -- sparking huge interest in his services from the big boys. United have already laid down a £40m offer for his services, but the player is contracted to Palace until 2022, meaning that the South Londoners are in no rush to cash in when his value looks set to keep on rising.
Tap-ins
- Timo Werner's chances of turning up at Anfield next season have increased, with Bayern Munich's interest in the player waning. So says the Mirror, which also claims that Bayern are more interested in bringing Leroy Sane back to Germany rather taking the forward off RB Leipzig's hands.
- PSV Eindhoven and Netherlands international striker Luuk de Jong is in "advanced talks" with Liga MX side Monterrey, according to Mexican outlet Record. The former Borussia Monchengladbach man apparently has asked ex-PSV veteran Andres Guardado and current Boeren star Hirving Lozano about living in Mexico.
- Ajax ace Hakim Ziyech has been linked to a number of clubs since helping the Eredivisie side to the brink of the Champions League final this season. The Mirror reports that Arsenal and Liverpool lead the chase, but he won't come cheap with the Dutch champions seeking in excess of £30m to let him go.
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Pronged attack: Spieth drills rake, shoots wild 69
Published in
Breaking News
Friday, 14 June 2019 16:29
PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. -- Jordan Spieth's wild ride at Pebble Beach continued in the second round of the 119th U.S. Open on Friday.
A day after TV microphones captured him chirping at his caddie, Michael Greller, about a yardage miscalculation, Spieth had seven birdies and five bogeys for a 2-under 69. That moved him to 1-under after 36 holes, six shots behind leader Justin Rose after the first wave Friday.
Spieth, a four-time major champion whose last PGA Tour win came at the Open in 2017, also had one of the most bizarre moments of the second round when his ball hit a rake sitting atop a fairway bunker on his second shot on No. 2.
Tall grass hid the rake from Spieth, and he apparently didn't notice it until his ball deflected off it and landed 4 feet away in the rough.
"Oh, it hit the rake. Oh, there's a rake there," Spieth said after hitting the shot, which was low and barely cleared the top lip of the bunker.
"Yes, there's a rake there," Greller replied.
"Oh, it got over the lip, but it hit the rake," Spieth said.
Spieth had to punch his third shot out of the tall grass, and then he was able to hit his fourth on the green and made an 8-footer for bogey.
After the round, Spieth said he didn't see the rake and would have moved it if he had. He didn't say whether it was Greller's responsibility.
"The ball was above my feet in almost a little downslope, and I was trying to hit a 6-iron 200 yards," Spieth said. "So, in the first place, it was a really, really tough shot. But I had a clean lie. Thought I could clear the lip. And when I hit it, all I heard was like the rake. And I guess it slammed into the rake and came back and kind of buried down into the tall grass.
"So if it didn't hit the rake, I don't know if it had enough to get anywhere near the green or if it would have been way short or what, but certainly it would have been in a better position than it went to."
There is no specific USGA rule about the placement of rakes, but golf's governing body does recommend they be placed where they will least likely affect play.
"That's on me," Spieth said. "I just got to look at all options ahead of me. And if there's rakes in front of the bunker, typically we pull them out. But when I was in it, I couldn't see it. So it was kind of a weird set of events.
"Honestly, the only upsetting part was where the ball went after that, because it's on me to hit the rake. Sometimes it'd hit the rake and pop up and be on the fairway, right? But it ended up in a pretty bad spot. I was -- I did well to a make a 5 for sure."
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