Seve Ballesteros will mastermind Europe's bid to repel a concerted Asian challenge in the second staging of the Royal Trophy in Thailand this week.
The Spanish great, one of the driving forces behind the event's creation, is non-playing captain of the European team in the three-day matchplay extravaganza that tees-off on Friday.
Bangkok's acclaimed Amata Spring Country Club will host the showpiece that has been billed as the "Battle of the Continents."
"We are looking forward to strong competition from the Asian team. There is no doubt they will put up a highly spirited fight," said Ballesteros, who led Europe to a 9-7 victory in the inaugural edition of the event last year.
Like the Ryder Cup matchplay event between Europe and the US, the Royal Trophy uses three different formats -- foursomes (alternate shot) on the opening day followed by four-ball on day two and singles on the last day.
With five members of Europe's triumphant 2006 Ryder Cup team in his line-up, Ballesteros is confident he can inspire his charges to another victory.
Ireland's Paul McGinley and Darren Clarke, England's Lee Westwood and Swedes Robert Karlsson and Henrik Stenson, who secured the winning point in both the Royal Trophy and Ryder Cup last year, provide the backbone for Europe.
Despite facing such strong opposition, the Asian team, captained by Japan's Naomichi "Joe" Ozaki, are not daunted.
Spearheading their charge is Indian Jeev Milkha Singh, ranked 37th in the world after a breakthrough 2006.
"Last year I managed to win some very significant events and to prevail over some of the best players in the world. I will do my best to make a strong contribution to our Asian team," Singh said. "To win the Royal Trophy against the Europeans right here in Asia would be fantastic."
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
The Minnesota Timberwolves, with so many promising performances spoiled by late mistakes fresh in their memory bank, sure timed this strong finish well. Jaden McDaniels scored a career playoff-high 30 points and spearheaded Minnesota’s stifling defense on an ailing Luka Doncic, and the Timberwolves beat the Los Angeles Lakers 116-104 to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven Western Conference first-round series in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Friday night. “Jaden never looks tired. He looks like he could play 48 minutes,” said teammate Anthony Edwards, who had 29 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. Julius Randle added 22 points for the Wolves, who outscored
Inter’s defense of their Italian Serie A title was hit with a setback on Sunday as they lost 1-0 at home to AS Roma, while Scott McTominay netted a brace as SSC Napoli beat Torino 2-0 to go top of the table. No fixtures were played on Friday or Saturday because of the funeral of Pope Francis in Rome, meaning the full round of Serie A matches took place on Sunday and yesterday. Matias Soule’s first-half strike for Roma knocked Inter off top spot earlier in the day before new Napoli opened up a three-point buffer with victory in Sunday’s
Ethiopia’s Tigst Assefa yesterday set a women’s only world record of 2 hours, 15 minutes, 50 seconds as she won the London Marathon, while Kenya’s Sabastian Sawe put a star-studded men’s field to the sword. For 28-year-old Assefa it was ample compensation for finishing runner-up in London and the Paris Olympics last year — especially as bitter Dutch rival, the Ethiopia-born Sifan Hassan, finished third. Assefa dropped Kenya’s Joyciline Jepkosgei as the race, played out in blazing sunshine and with thousands lining the route, entered its business end. She came home almost three minutes clear of the Kenyan. Hassan, who beat her in
RSS