Fellow Northern Irishmen and Ryder Cup colleagues Graeme McDowell and Rory McIlroy on Friday set themselves up to meet in a mouth-watering Volvo World Match Play Championship last 16 clash to be played yesterday.
McDowell, the US Open champion, topped his group when he followed up his win over British Open Champion Louis Oosthuizen of South Africa with a last green victory against Venezuela’s Jhonattan Vegas.
McIlroy, who defeated South Africa’s Retief Goosen by one hole in his Thursday opener, slumped to a shock 3 and 2 loss to Belgium’s Nicolas Colsaerts.
“Rory beats me every time we play together,” said McDowell. “But this isn’t the Northern Ireland match play championship and I’m hoping it’s going to be different. It’s the Volvo World Match Play and the pressure is on.”
MADEIRA ISLANDS
AFP, MADEIRA, PORTUGAL
Ireland’s Simon Thornton carded a second round 66 for a one shot lead at the halfway stage of the Madeira Islands Open on Friday.
The 33-year-old leads from France’s Frangois Delamontagne, with overnight leader Chris Gane and his English compatriot Jamie Elson tied for third on five under.
“I played well, and I drove and putted well in worse conditions yesterday,” Thornton said. “I just hit lots of fairways and my putter’s hot at the moment so it was a good round today.”
Gane was level par for the day, but still pleased with his work over the first two days.
Carlos Alcaraz on Monday powered into the French Open second round with a resounding win to start his title defense, while world No. 1 Jannik Sinner and three-time defending women’s champion Iga Swiatek also progressed at Roland Garros. Four-time Grand Slam champion Alcaraz struck 31 winners in a 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 victory over Italian qualifier Giulio Zeppieri and is to face Hungary’s Fabian Marozsan in round two. Alcaraz is now on an eight-match winning streak at the French Open and also took Olympic silver at Roland Garros last year, losing the final to Novak Djokovic. “The first round is never
TIGHT FINISH: Napoli only needed to do the same as or better than Inter, who won their game against Como 2-0 on the same day, leaving Napoli with a one-point lead The two players who Antonio Conte wanted more than any others secured Napoli their second Serie A title in three years on Friday. Scott McTominay scored with an acrobatic bicycle kick before halftime and Romelu Lukaku doubled the lead with a solo goal after the break in the decisive 2-0 home win over Cagliari. Conte became the first coach to win the Italian championship with three different teams. “Everyone contributed to this — but the coach most of all,” Napoli captain Giovanni Di Lorenzo said. “Napoli needed him to get back on top. He’s phenomenal.” Comparing it to his three Serie A titles won
The journey of Taiwan’s badminton mixed doubles duo Ye Hong-wei and Nicole Chan at the Malaysia Masters in Kuala Lumpur came to an end in the semi-finals yesterday after they suffered a 2-0 loss to China’s Feng Yanzhe and Huang Dongping. Ye, 25, and Chan, 20, teamed up last year and are currently ranked No. 23 in the world. The Taiwanese shuttlers took on China’s second seeds in the mixed doubles event, but proved no match for Feng and Huang, losing the match 10-21, 7-21. In the first half of the first game, the pairings were neck and neck at 6-7 until Ye
SSC Napoli coach Antonio Conte has dragged the team back from disaster and restored them to the top of Italian Serie A, but his future at the Scudetto winners is in doubt even after a triumphant season. The fiery 55-year-old has exceeded preseason expectations and bolstered his reputation as a serial winner by guiding Napoli to their fourth Scudetto, and second in three seasons. However, he might well be on his way in the summer after just one season at the helm as his charged relationship with Napoli owner Aurelio De Laurentiis has simmered throughout the campaign. Conte has said
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