Heavy rains forced the organizers to abandon the second round of the Yeangder Tournament Players Championship yesterday, with first-round leader Filipino Angelo Que remaining three shots clear.
Play was called off before the three-time Asian Tour winner, who shot a flawless seven-under 65 on Thursday to take a single-shot lead over India’s Gaganjeet Bhullar and Jason Knutzon of the US, was able to tee off.
Thunderstorms caused play to be halted for the first time at about 9:30am and as downpours continued to soak the Linkou International Golf and Country Club, officials were forced to abandon the day’s play at 3pm.
Photo: AFP / Paul Lakatos / Asian Tour
Knutzon was level-par through nine holes to remain in second place at the US$500,000 event along with Bhullar, who like Que did not start his second round.
Taiwanese veteran Lu Wen-teh, a five-time Asian Tour winner, provided spectators with something to cheer before the storms hit when he recorded the event’s second hole-in-one on the par-three 11th.
It came a day after Knutzon’s ace on the fifth.
“This is my fourth hole-in-one since I turned professional and it came with my biggest prize to date,” Lu said. “I’m happy and hopefully I can continue my charge when we return tomorrow.”
Taiwan’s Huang Tao made the best of it before conditions took a turn for the worse, going three-under after six holes to take a share of sixth place.
“The winds started to blow very strongly from the fourth hole and it was a challenge to play under such conditions. Hopefully, the weather will be kind to us tomorrow,” said Huang, who had opened with a 72.
Lin Wen-tang was the highest placed Taiwanese in fourth spot, two shots behind Que.
The players were scheduled to resume their rounds at 8am today.
Additional reporting by Staff writer
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