Sister act as Korda romps to Gainbridge LPGA win

Nelly Korda
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Updated 02 March 2021

Sister act as Korda romps to Gainbridge LPGA win

  • Three birdies in her opening six holes gave her a healthy cushion at the top of the leaderboard, leaving her five shots clear at one stage

MIAMI: Nelly Korda produced a flawless final round to claim a three-shot victory at the Gainbridge LPGA tournament in Florida on Sunday.

Korda — whose elder sister Jessica won the LPGA Tour’s previous event, the season-opening Tournament of Champions in January — fired a three-under-par 69 to finish on 16 under.

The 22-year-old, whose father is former Czech tennis star Petr Korda, had opened up a one-shot lead on Saturday with a four-under-par 68.

On Sunday at Orlando’s Lake Nona Golf and Country Club, she picked up where she left off in the third round.

Three birdies in her opening six holes gave her a healthy cushion at the top of the leaderboard, leaving her five shots clear at one stage.

She then reeled off 12 consecutive pars to remain in control and close out the fourth LPGA Tour victory of her career with her parents and sister Jessica rushing to congratulate her on the 18th green.

“Honestly I did not play very good golf today,” Korda told a television interviewer moments after clinching her first career win on US soil.

“I just stayed really solid. I honestly don’t know how I did it. It was definitely very stressful.

“Winning in front of my parents was a first too, so that was really nice.”

Korda’s 72-hole aggregate 272 left her three clear of Lexi Thompson and Lydia Ko who finished tied for second on 13 under.

Thompson had closed to within three of Korda with a brilliant eagle three at the par-five 11th, but a bogey on the following hole stymied her chances of mounting a charge down the stretch. Thompson finished with a four-under-par 68.

New Zealand’s former world No. 1 Ko stormed up the leaderboard at the start of the back nine with four consecutive birdies starting on the 12th hole, eventually carding a three-under-par 69.

World number one Ko Jin-young meanwhile finished five off the lead in fourth place on 11 under. Ko posted a one-under-par-71 after an erratic final round that included four birdies and three bogeys.

There was disappointment for Thailand’s Patty Tavatanakit, who had started the day one off the lead.

The 21-year-old rookie faded with a two-over-par 74, with two bogeys and a double bogey on the front nine dropping her out of contention.

Tavatanakit finished on 10 under alongside Australia’s Sarah Kemp, who shot a three-under-par 69.

Meanwhile, LPGA great Annika Sorenstam, who parred her final hole on Friday to make the cut in her first tour start since 2008, closed with a four-over-par 76, propping up the leaderboard on 13 over.


Medvedev, Kvitova win in semis at Miami Open

Updated 01 April 2023

Medvedev, Kvitova win in semis at Miami Open

  • Medvedev will face the winner of the other semifinal match between Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner
  • Kvitova will face the red-hot Elena Rybakina, who Rybakina, who beat Jessica Pegula in straight sets

MIAMI GARDENS, Florida: Daniil Medvedev hasn’t won a title in the United States since capturing the 2021 US Open, when he turned away Novak Djokovic’s bid for a calendar-year Grand Slam.
Now the Miami Open’s No. 4 seed is one victory from a fresh American title, beating fellow Russian Karen Khachanov 7-6 (5), 3-6, 6-3 in the semifinals Friday, the same day Wimbledon announced Russians will be allowed back — with conditions.
The other men’s semifinal is Friday night between Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner. If Alcaraz wins, it’ll set up a rematch of the Indian Wells final; Alcaraz beat Medvedev 6-3, 6-2 on March 19.
Also Friday, No. 15 seed Petra Kvitova beat unseeded Sorana Cirstea 7-5, 6-3 in the second women’s semifinal. Kvitova will face the red-hot Elena Rybakina in the final.
Medvedev has won 23 of his last 24 matches — the lone loss to now-world No. 1 Alcaraz — and is in his fifth straight final.
Medvedev has been friends with the 14th-seeded Khachanov since childhood, and they’re each fierce baseliners, with one rally lasting 31 shots.
Medvedev needed a tiebreaker to win the first set, serving it out with the first of 13 aces in the match. Proving a little more consistent in the second set, Khachanov forced a third by breaking Medvedev’s serve early to go up 2-0.
But Medvedev owned the third, surviving an early breakpoint when Khachanov hit a loose backhand into the doubles alley for a rare unforced error.
Medvedev broke Khachanov in the next game to go up 3-1 and a won a wondrous 26-shot rally on match point. Khachanov picked up a drop shot, then retrieved a shot from the baseline between the legs before his friend put away the winner.
In the women’s match, the lefty Kvitova rallied from a 5-3 hole in the first set, facing two set points at 15-40 before willing herself back. She won six straight games in all, taking the first set and going up a break and 2-0 in the second.
Rybakina, who has won 13 straight matches, including the Indian Wells title last week, beat Jessica Pegula in straight sets in a rain-delayed match that ended late Thursday night.
 


French referees told not to pause matches during Ramadan

Updated 31 March 2023

French referees told not to pause matches during Ramadan

  • Unlike England's Premier League which allows it, the practice does not comply with the French Football Federation's statutes
  • It said it had been brought to the federation's attention that matches were being interrupted following the breaking of the Ramadan fast

PARIS: France’s football federation has told referees they must not pause matches to allow Muslim players to break their fast during Ramadan, media reports said Friday.
Unlike England’s Premier League which allows it, the practice does not comply with the French Football Federation’s statutes, several media reported the body saying in an email sent to referees Thursday.
It said it had been brought to the federation’s attention that matches were being interrupted following the breaking of the Ramadan fast.
“The idea is that there is a time for everything. A time to do sport, a time to practice one’s religion,” Eric Borghini, head of the federal referee commission at the Federation, told AFP.
He said that the federation had learned that “a certain number of amateur-level meetings have been stopped to allow players observing the fast to hydrate.”
This is not permitted in the regulations, he said, highlighting they included the strict respect of the principle of secularism in football.
English football has taken the reverse decision and will permit matches of the Premier League to pause during the holy month of Ramadan, during which Muslims abstain from food and water from sunrise to sunset. It is being observed this year from March 22.
Asked about the issue, Nice coach Didier Digard said Friday that several Muslim players in the team observed Ramadan without any problems.
Although he said it would be good if France allowed the breaks, he added “nobody cares that they don’t do it. Because we are not in a Muslim country. You have to accept the country you live in,” he told reporters.

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Racism claims against ex-England captain Vaughan ‘not proved’

Updated 31 March 2023

Racism claims against ex-England captain Vaughan ‘not proved’

  • The Cricket Discipline Commission said it was "not satisfied on the balance of probabilities" that Vaughan had used the alleged words
  • In its concluding remarks the CDC report said: "This is not a case which necessitated a conclusion from the panel that anyone has lied or acted out of malice

LONDON: Former England cricket captain Michael Vaughan has been cleared “on the balance of probabilities” of using racist language before a Yorkshire match in 2009.
The 2005 Ashes-winning captain was alleged to have used the term “you lot” when referring to a group of four Yorkshire team-mates of South Asian ethnicity, including Pakistan-born Azeem Rafiq.
In a report released on Friday, the Cricket Discipline Commission said it was “not satisfied on the balance of probabilities” that Vaughan had used the alleged words.
It pointed out “significant inconsistencies” in how the two key witnesses — Rafiq and England bowler Adil Rashid — had recalled the wording that Vaughan allegedly used.
But it added that its findings “do not in any way undermine the wider assertions” made by Rafiq, who told lawmakers in November 2021 that English cricket was “institutionally racist.”
In its concluding remarks the CDC report said: “This is not a case which necessitated a conclusion from the panel that anyone has lied or acted out of malice.
“Far from it. The panel had to consider whether the case as presented to it by the ECB (England and Wales Cricket Board), in light of all the evidence, was sufficiently accurate and reliable, on the balance of probabilities, to rule out mistake. It was not.”
Vaughan, who appeared in person at a CDC hearing earlier this month to answer the charges brought by the ECB, said the process had taken a “toll” on him and his family and it had been “upsetting to hear about Rafiq’s experiences.
“The outcome of these CDC proceedings must not be allowed to detract from the core message that there can be no place for racism in the game of cricket, or in society generally,” the 48-year-old said in a statement on social media.
The former batsman, who has worked as a TV and radio pundit since his retirement added: “I have never wanted to do anything that runs contrary to genuine efforts to clean up the game of cricket.
“I truly hope people can understand why, on a personal level, I could not just accept, or apologize for, something which I know I did not do.”
Yorkshire accepted in September 2021 that Rafiq, now 32, had been the victim of racial harassment and bullying during his time at the club.
But they subsequently confirmed nobody would be disciplined, a decision that was greeted with widespread incredulity.
The scandal sparked an exodus of senior boardroom figures and 16 members of the club’s coaching and backroom staff were dismissed.
Former off-spinner Rafiq, who had two spells at Yorkshire, told a British parliamentary committee in December 2022 that the abuse he and his family had faced had forced him to leave the country.
The CDC panel upheld charges against five other former players and coaches, including England Test stars Tim Bresnan and Matthew Hoggard, in relation to the use of racist and/or discriminatory language.
None of the five attended the CDC hearing in London, with Hoggard saying the ECB’s disciplinary procedures had “failed everybody.”
Former Yorkshire and England player Gary Ballance, who now plays for his native Zimbabwe, admitted using racist and/or discriminatory language prior to the hearing.
Yorkshire admitted four amended charges against them, with the panel to disclose any sanctions against the club and the individuals at a later date.
In a statement on Twitter, Rafiq pointed out that charges against seven of the eight defendants had been upheld.
“This comes in addition to the other reports, panels and inquiries that found I and others suffered racial harassment and bullying while at Yorkshire,” he said.
“The issue has never been about individuals but the game as a whole. Cricket needs to understand the extent of its problems and address them.
“Hopefully, the structures of the game can now be rebuilt and institutionalized racism ended for good.”
ECB chairman Richard Thompson said cricket must learn from an “incredibly challenging period” to make the sport more inclusive.
“When Azeem Rafiq spoke out about his time in cricket, he exposed a side of our game which no one should have to experience,” he said. “We are grateful for his courage and perseverance.”


Haaland a doubt for Man City’s match against Liverpool

Updated 31 March 2023

Haaland a doubt for Man City’s match against Liverpool

  • The 22-year-old Haaland withdrew from the Norway squad for their European Championship qualifiers against Spain and Georgia
  • City manager Pep Guardiola said Friday he would make a decision on Haaland’s availability after the team’s final training session

MANCHESTER, England: Erling Haaland is a doubt for Manchester City’s match against Liverpool in the Premier League on Saturday as the striker recovers from a groin injury.
The 22-year-old Haaland withdrew from the Norway squad for their European Championship qualifiers against Spain and Georgia during the international break. His father, Alf-Inge, was quoted by Norwegian TV saying his son had traveled to Barcelona for treatment.
City manager Pep Guardiola said Friday he would make a decision on Haaland’s availability after the team’s final training session.
The team will definitely be without England winger Phil Foden, who underwent appendix surgery last weekend.
Guardiola said doctors told him that Foden would be out for “two-to-three weeks.”
Haaland’s fitness is more important, given he has scored 28 goals in the Premier League and 42 in all competitions during a prolific first season in English soccer.
City are second in the league, eight points behind Arsenal but with a game in hand.
The team have a busy April, including home-and-away games against Bayern Munich in the quarterfinals of the Champions League and an FA Cup semifinal match against Sheffield United, as it looks to remain in contention for three trophies.


Ex-England cricket captain Vaughan cleared of racism on ‘balance of probabilities’

Updated 31 March 2023

Ex-England cricket captain Vaughan cleared of racism on ‘balance of probabilities’

  • Vaughan was alleged to have used the term “you lot” when referring to players of South Asian ethnicity
  • In November 2021, Pakistan-born Azeem Rafiq accused English cricket of being “institutionally racist”

LONDON: Former England cricket captain Michael Vaughan was Friday cleared “on the balance of probabilities” of using racist language before a match for county club Yorkshire in 2009.
The 2005 Ashes-winning captain was alleged to have used the term “you lot” when referring to a group of four players of South Asian ethnicity, including Pakistan-born Azeem Rafiq.
A Cricket Discipline Commission (CDC) report said it was “not satisfied on the balance of probabilities” that Vaughan spoke the words he was alleged to have used.

Former England cricket team captain Michael Vaughan leaves the International Arbitration Centre, in London, United Kingdom on March. 3, 2023. (AP)

But it added that its findings “do not in any way undermine the wider assertions” made by Rafiq, who told lawmakers in November 2021 that English cricket was “institutionally racist.”
Vaughan, who appeared in person at a CDC hearing earlier this month, thanked the panel for “their careful attention in very difficult circumstances” in a statement on social media.