It's tough, but someone had to say it: Who's Justin Rose?
That was the reaction of one journalist at a press conference yesterday in Taipei to announce the star player at this year's Acer Taiwan Open. Last year's US$1.5m BMW Asian Open in November at the Ta Shee Golf and Country Club, near Taipei, is this year's US$300,000 Acer Open. England's No. 1, Justin Rose, 23, may be one of the rising stars of the international golf circuit, but he does not have the clout of last year's players, who included legend Gary Player, Richard Daly and many European Ryder Cup stars, as well as the best Asian PGA tour local players.
"The tournament is different in terms of scale compared with previous years, but it is still the country's major golf event,"
said Taiwan Open spokeswoman Marian Ma (馬薏明).
"It's a totally different thing from the point of money. The Taiwan Open focuses on the Asian PGA and we have one star player every year, which is a regular eye-catching thing," she said.
"It's not so glamorous as in previous years. But we will have the top 65 Taiwanese players and the top 60 from the Asian APGA are eligible to attend. There will be a few surprises left as well as the sponsors will invite another six players for a total field of 132."
Justin Rose was the youngest player ever on the European PGA tour and made his name in 1997 as a Walker Cup team member, after a promising amateur career.
Though he has not won a major tournament, his game has improved in the last two years to the point where he is beginning to make an impression on the leaderboard at the big events.
He won the Dunhill Championship and Nashua Masters last year and came fifth, three shots ahead of Tiger Woods, at the this year's US Open. He finished ninth on the 2002 Order of Merit and is ranked 42 in the world. Rose said in a videotaped message at the press conference that he was looking forward to his visit.
"This is my first time in Taiwan. I hope to try some Taiwanese food and look around Formosa island," he said. "I look forward to meeting you in the 2003 Acer Taiwan Open."
He added that he hoped to record a hole-in-one and win the prize of a mansion.
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was