With Charley Hull back in action on Saturday, England cruised into the final singles matches along with Taiwan and the US at the LPGA’s UL International Crown team event.
Jodi Ewart Shadoff and Holly Clyburn routed Pornanong Phatlum and Pornani Chutichai of Thailand 7 and 5.
Hull, sidelined by illness on Friday, returned and teamed with Melissa Reid to beat sisters Ariya and Moriya Jutanugarn 3 and 1, as England won Pool B with nine points.
Photo: AFP
Thailand had taken the lead with birdies at the second and fourth by Moriya, but Hull reeled off four straight birdies at the fifth through eighth to put England two up.
Reid birdied the ninth to stretch the lead before Ariya stepped up with two birdies and a chip-in eagle on the 16th hole to keep within striking distance.
The group walked to the 17th hole with England two up. Both Thai players missed their birdie chances and then conceded the hole and the match.
“I was gutted not to be out there, but I thought it would be the best thing for me today to rest, because I really didn’t feel well,” Hull said of missing her match on Friday after dealing with a fever and asthma.
The US, who lost two tight matches against England on the opening day, finished second in Pool B with seven points after Cristie Kerr and Lexi Thompson defeated Ai Suzuki and Ayaka Watanabe of Japan 4 and 2, and Stacy Lewis and Gerina Piller beat Mika Miyazato and Haru Nomura 3 and 1.
“It’s pretty huge considering the way we started out, but we pulled it out,” Kerr said. “We can get some rest since we don’t have go to into a playoff.”
“We will have a team meeting and figure out our strategy for tomorrow,” she added.
Taiwan lead Pool A and were assured of going through after Candie Kung and Teresa Lu halved their match with China’s Feng Shanshan and Feng Simin for their seventh point of the competition.
China were lying second in the group on six points after Lin Xiyu and Yan Jing teamed to beat Taiwan’s Yani Tseng and Cheng Ssu-chia 5 and 4.
Lin, like playing partner Yan 20, had six birdies and an eagle on the day and won four holes.
That was despite leaving her putter at the hotel on Saturday morning and playing with one borrowed from the club pro.
“I have to thank to all my teammates, because after they all know it, it’s obviously my very big mistake, but my partner and Simin and Shanshan, they just kept telling me: ‘It’s OK, it’s OK, just relax,’” she said.
“I borrowed a putter from the club pro here, and yeah, I have to thank him as well,” she added.
Two Pool A matches between South Korea and Australia were still on the course when thunderstorms halted play at the Merit Club.
South Korea’s Amy Yang and Chun In-gee were one up over Australia’s Minjee Lee and Su Oh through 15 holes, while Ryu So-yeon and Kim Sei-young of South Korea were two up through 14 over Karrie Webb and Rebecca Artis.
With the top two teams in each group and one wild card going through to the deciding singles, two spots were still open.
The nation with the most points at the end of the weekend lifts the trophy.
Jannik Sinner continued his quest to become the first man in history to win five Masters 1000 tournaments in a row with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Danish qualifier Elmer Moller at the Madrid Open on Sunday. The world leader extended his winning streak to 19 matches, a run that began early March in Indian Wells, and he has captured 24 consecutive victories at the Masters 1000 level, dating back to the Paris Masters last October. Searching for a maiden title at this level on clay, Sinner advanced to the round of 16 at the Caja Magica with a 77-minute performance against
When Paddy Dwyer arrived in China in 1976, crowds jostled to catch a glimpse of him and his companions — the first Western soccer team to play in the country. China was emerging from the chaos of the Cultural Revolution, and on the brink of market reforms that would take the country from economic stagnation to explosive growth. “All we could see was lines of people running beside our bus, trying to look in the windows, to see their first visual of a white person,” he said. “It was all bicycles,” he said. “There were very few cars to be seen.” Dwyer,
Tennis players are facing an unexpected opponent at the Madrid Open. A stomach virus or food poisoning has affected Iga Swiatek, Coco Gauff, Marin Cilic and others, raising concerns. World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka avoided an upset by Naomi Osaka on the court on Monday and said she is trying to avoid illness by sticking to a diet of chicken breasts, rice and salad. The rumor among the players was bad shrimp tacos were to blame. Sabalenka knocked on wood for luck and said, “So far, so good. I heard that I have to avoid those tacos,” she laughed, adding “I stick to the
Some of Clearlake Capital Group’s largest investors are growing increasingly concerned about how much time the company’s co-founders are spending on sports investments as they have struggled to complete the fundraising for the private equity firm’s latest flagship fund. One of Clearlake’s co-founders, Behdad Eghbali, has been spending what some investors described as a disproportionate amount of time on the firm’s investment in Chelsea Football Club in recent months. Now, co-founder Jose E. Feliciano and his wife, Kwanza Jones, are nearing a record US$3.9 billion deal to acquire the San Diego Padres. That personal investment by Feliciano has set off the latest
RSS