South Korea's K.J. Choi stormed into the lead at the UBS Hong Kong Open yesterday, firing an eight-under first round of 62 to take a slender advantage over a star-studded field.
The world No. 12 lived up to his billing as favorite for the US$2.25 million tournament with nine birdies, including five in succession from the 12th.
A bogey at the ninth was the only blemish in an otherwise flawless display that left him one shot ahead of Welshman Garry Houston, who had eight birdies and a bogey in his 63.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Choi has had a breakthrough year, winning twice in the US, but after shooting yesterday's low score he admitted that nothing would please him more than victory in Hong Kong.
"I have a lot of fans here. Playing really well in front of them makes me very happy," he said.
Choi was briefly joined at the top of the leaderboard by Houston but a bogey at the last saw the Welshman fall back.
On a day of low scoring Sweden's Robert Karlsson and Fredrik Andersson Hed hit matching rounds of 64 to set the early clubhouse target before Choi's back-nine surge propelled him up the leaderboard.
South Korea's Kang Wook-soon, the last Asian winner of this tournament, enjoyed a good day, hitting a 65.
"My putting today was spot on. I holed almost everything within 11 yards, so overall I am very pleased with my round," said Kang, whose score was matched by Spain's Miguel Angel Jimenez and Scotland's Barry Hume.
Australia's Scott Strange and Thailand's Thongchai Jaidee and Chapchai Norat are one shot further adrift.
Thongchai, who was playing with Karlsson, matched the Swede for most of the day but two bogeys in the last three holes saw him slip back. China's top player Liang Wen-chong is also in contention after a two-under round of 68.
Among the biggest names here, South Africa's Retief Goosen and Canada's Mike Weir, with three Majors between them, both hit 69 to lie seven off the lead.
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
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but
Taiwanese gymnast Lee Chih-kai failed to secure an Olympic berth in the pommel horse following a second-place finish at the last qualifier in Doha on Friday, a performance that Lee and his coach called “unconvincing.” The Tokyo Olympics silver medalist finished runner-up in the final after scoring 6.6 for degree of difficulty and 8.800 for execution for a combined score of 15.400. That was just 0.100 short of Jordan’s Ahmad Abu Al Soud, who had qualified for the event in Paris before the Apparatus World Cup series in Qatar’s capital. After missing the final rounds in the first two of four qualifier