KAWAGOE: The first round of the Olympic golf tournament was suspended Thursday because of a lightning storm at the Kasumisageki Country Club.
Play was halted just before 2:00 p.m. local time with 27 of the 60-player field yet to finish their opening 18 holes as thunder cracked around the course.
Unheralded Austrian Sepp Straka set the early pace with a bogey-free eight-under par 63 to be leader in the clubhouse after playing in the first group out.
British Open champion Collin Morikawa, representing USA, was yet to complete his round at one-under par with five holes left alongside partner Rory McIlroy of Ireland on the same score.
Home favorite Hideki Matsuyama, the US Masters champion, had just finished with a two-under par 69 as when play was halted, with “dangerous weather” given as the official reason.
Lying second in the clubhouse three shots behind Straka were Thomas Pieters of Belgium and Mexico’s Carlos Ortiz.
Olympic golf first round suspended over lightning
Olympic golf first round suspended over lightning
- Play was halted just before 2:00 p.m. local time
Medvedev to face Griekspoor in bid for second Dubai title
- Former world No. 1 Medvedev demolished top seed Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada in the semifinal
- Despite an injury, unseeded Dutchman Griekspoor beat 5th-seed Andrey Rublev in the other semifinal
DUBAI: Daniil Medvedev reached the Dubai Tennis Championships final on Friday and will face unseeded Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor as the Russian attempts to achieve something that has eluded him throughout his stellar career — winning the same tournament twice.
Former world number one Medvedev demolished top seed Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-4 6-2 in an 83-minute semifinal, setting up a title clash that could see him claim a second Dubai crown to go with his 2023 triumph.
Medvedev, who has won 22 titles at 22 different tournaments, arrived in Dubai with a point to prove after early exits in Rotterdam and Doha.
However, the third seed has been in scintillating form in Dubai, dispatching Shang Juncheng, Stan Wawrinka, Jenson Brooksby and Auger-Aliassime — all in straight sets.
“It has been an amazing four matches, probably playing better and better each match, today being the best performance,” said Medvedev.
“If I can put in an even better performance tomorrow, I will have my chances to win and that is what I am going to try to do.”
Griekspoor battles injury to beat Rublev
Standing in his way will be Griekspoor, who continued his giant-killing run by beating fifth seed Andrey Rublev 7-5 7-6(6) in the other semifinal.
The Dutchman denied the 2022 champion, who also finished runner-up the following year, another shot at the Dubai trophy, saving two set points in the second-set tiebreak.
“No idea how I pulled off this one, I could barely walk at the end of the first set,” said Griekspoor, who took a medical timeout for treatment in the opening set.
“He served extremely well. I got very lucky in the tiebreak to win it in two sets ... I landed with a serve and felt something in my hamstring.
“If he had won the tiebreak, I don’t know if I would have continued.”
It marked three consecutive top-20 wins for Griekspoor for the first time in his career after he beat second seed Alexander Bublik and Jakub Mensik en route to the final.
Griekspoor, who has won three ATP 250 titles in his career, will be looking to add a first ATP 500 trophy to his collection when he faces Medvedev.
