GOLF
Bradley confused by own spit
A dumbfounded Keegan Bradley said even he was taken aback by his excessive spitting as he watched television replays of his play during the final round of last week’s Northern Trust Open in Los Angeles. Bradley ended up losing a three-way playoff for the title at Riviera Country Club, where fellow American Bill Haas triumphed, and was initially surprised his on-course expectorating had sparked widespread criticism on Twitter. However, once he saw for himself via the telecast how much he spat during his pre-shot routine, the PGA Championship winner issued a public apology on his Twitter account. “To be honest with you, I really had no idea I was doing it ... and I feel bad,” Bradley told reporters at Dove Mountain on Tuesday while preparing for this week’s WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship. “It’s something that I’m going to work on and I just ask everybody to just kind of bear with me as I go through this, because it’s something I’ve done without even knowing it. I’m going to truly work on it,” he said. “It might take some time, but I will do my best to stop. It’s something that I’m glad that’s come up, because I’m able to kind of nip it now. It’s just a thing where I’m watching myself.”
GOLF
Tiger ‘beatable’: opponent
Tiger Woods’ opponent in the opening round of the Match Play Championship said he’s “beatable.” There was a time when comments like that — from Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano, in this case — would serve as motivation for Woods. However, on Tuesday, he didn’t seem the least bit bothered except to say of the Spaniard: “He’s beatable, too.” Woods says he has matured since the days he beat Stephen Ames, nine and eight, after Ames questioned Woods’ accuracy off the tee. However, that’s the case for all 64 players at Dove Mountain this week in the first World Golf Championship of the year. Everyone is beatable in 18 holes of match play. Among the first-round matches: Luke Donald, the defending champion, against three-time major champion Ernie Els.
SOCCER
Okubo promises to play nice
Japan forward Yoshito Okubo has promised to be on his best behavior after being brought in from the cold for tomorrow’s home friendly against Iceland by coach Alberto Zaccheroni. The hot-head striker, whose international career has been littered with ill-timed red cards and run-ins with coaches, said yesterday he planned to repay the Italian’s faith in him. “I’m just going to get my head down and work hard,” Vissel Kobe’s Okubo told reporters before Japan’s first game of this year in Osaka. “I’ve been told to play by the rules the coach has laid out. It’s a little difficult to find your rhythm at the beginning, but I’ll try to get a feel for it again quickly. It doesn’t feel like I’ve been away from the national team,” added Okubo, who last played for Japan at the World Cup in 2010 when he helped them reach the last 16. While injury had kept Okubo out of Japan’s side, Zaccheroni’s list of walking wounded has given the pint-sized forward a chance to force his way back into the Japan side. Zaccheroni said Okubo deserved his place in a Japan squad made up solely of J-League players. “After I took over the Japan job, Okubo suffered a serious injury,” the Italian coach said when naming his squad. “It took time to get his fitness and form back.”
Shohei Ohtani and his wife arrived in South Korea with his Los Angeles Dodgers teammates yesterday ahead of their season-opening games with the San Diego Padres next week. Ohtani, wearing a black training suit and a cap backwards, was the first Dodgers player who showed up at the arrival gate of Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul. His wife, Mamiko Tanaka, walked several steps behind him. As a crowd of fans, many wearing Dodgers jerseys, shouted his name and cheered slogans, Ohtani briefly waved his hand, but did not say anything before he entered a limousine bus with his wife. Fans held placards
Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals at the All England Open, beating Kim Ga-eun of South Korea 21-17, 21-15. With the win, Tai earned a semi-final against China’s He Bingjiao, who beat Michelle Li of Canada 21-9, 21-9. Defending champion An Se-young defeated India’s P.V. Sindhu 21-19, 21-11. An on Wednesday cruised into the second round, unlike last year’s men’s winner, Li Shifeng, who suffered a shock defeat. South Korea’s An, the world No. 1, overcame Taiwan’s Hsu Wen-chi 21-17, 21-16 to set up the match against Sindhu. In other women’s singles matches, Taiwan’s Sung Shuo-yun lost 21-18, 24-22 against Carolina Marin of
EYEING TOP SPOT: A victory in today’s final against Storm Hunter and Katerina Siniakova would return 38-year-old Hsieh Su-wei to the world No. 1 ranking Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens on Thursday secured a spot in the women’s doubles finals at the BNP Paribas Open after dispatching Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez 6-2, 7-6 (7/5) at Indian Wells. Hsieh and her Belgian partner Mertens, who won the Australian Open in late January, coasted through the first set after breaking their opponents’ serve twice, but found the going tougher in the second. Both pairs could only muster one break point over 12 games, neither of which were converted, leaving the set to be decided by a tiebreaker. Hsieh and Mertens took a 6-3 lead,
DOUBLES PAYBACK: Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Martens avenged their defeat in the quarters at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open against Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei on Wednesday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California. Hsieh and partner Elise Mertens of Belgium dispatched Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani 6-1, 6-4 to set up a clash against Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez for a spot in the final of the WTA 1000 tournament. Hsieh and Martens made a blistering start to their rematch after they lost to Schuurs and Stefani in the quarter-finals at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open last month, winning three games without reply at the start of the first set