Thai teenager Chinnarat Phadungsil birdied his last three holes to join Malaysia's Iain Steel as co-leader after round one of the Pine Valley Beijing Open yesterday.
Chinnarat, 19, recorded a seven-under 65 at the par-72 Pine Valley layout to match Steel in the US$1 million event sanctioned by the Asian, Chinese and Japanese tours.
Australia’s Tony Carolan was a stroke back in lone third, while South Korean youngster Bae Sang-moon, who won last year’s SK Telecom Open, was joint fourth alongside Taiwan’s Lin Keng-chi and Japanese trio Hiroyuki Fujita, Takao Nagomi and Masao Nakajima.
Defending champion Gaurav Ghei of India has work to do after shooting 73 for tied 84th alongside Chinese trailblazer Zhang Lian-wei.
Chinnarat was thanking his lucky stars after nailing a series of 20-foot birdie putts on the windswept course.
Steel fired eight birdies against a lone bogey in a pleasing return to the course near Beijing.
“This is my second time playing here at the Pine Valley Golf Club. My game wasn’t sharp last year, so I’m glad to be hitting it spot this week,” Steel said.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
Japanese players are moving to English soccer in record numbers and more look set to follow with clubs attracted by their quality, strong work ethic and value for money. Kaoru Mitoma is the standout talent of five Japanese players in the English Premier League, with eight more in the Championship and two in League One. Liverpool midfielder Wataru Endo, the captain of Japan, believes his compatriots are “being held in higher esteem” by English clubs compared with the past. “The staff at Liverpool ask me about lots of Japanese players, not necessarily with a view to a transfer, but just saying this or
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