Ko runs out to 5-shot lead at CME Group Tour Championship

Lydia Ko watches her second shot from the ninth fairway during the second round of the LPGA CME Group Tour Championship golf tournament Friday at the Tiburon Golf Club in Naples, Fla. (AP)
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Updated 19 November 2022

Ko runs out to 5-shot lead at CME Group Tour Championship

  • Ko’s 66 was the round of the day Friday; four other players shot 67’s

NAPLES, Florida: Lydia Ko is in total control at the halfway mark of the CME Group Tour Championship.

Total control of the season-long scoring and money races, too.

Ko shot a 6-under 66 in Friday’s second round of the LPGA Tour’s season finale, pushing her to 13 under for the tournament and five shots clear of Hyo Joo Kim through 36 holes.

Ko made four birdies in a six-hole stretch midway through her round, rolled in a testy 4-footer to save par on the par-4 13th to maintain what was then a four-shot lead, and hasn’t dropped a shot since her opening hole on Thursday.

“I just wanted to focus on my game,” said Ko, who turned a one-shot lead entering Friday to a five-shot edge when it was over. “It was a pretty tight leaderboard. I shot a low one yesterday and that round, it can be anybody throughout the week.”

Except right now, it’s not anybody else going as low as Ko has.

Ko’s 66 was the round of the day Friday; four other players shot 67’s. Through two rounds at Tiburon, there have been four scores of 66 or lower; Ko has two of them after an opening 65 on Thursday.

Kim (69) made back-to-back birdies on 16 and 17 to get to 8 under, alone in second. World No. 1 Nelly Korda (69) is in a pack tied for third at 7 under, along with Japan’s Nasa Hataoka (67), Sweden’s Anna Nordqvist (69) and Scotland’s Gemma Dryburgh (70).

Korda was making a move on the front, closing her first nine with three birdies in a four-hole stretch. But she made nothing but pars on the back nine.

“Lyds is playing well. She’s had an amazing year,” Korda said. “To catch her I’m just going to have to play aggressive and drain the putts.”

And even that might not be enough. Everyone is chasing Ko, who is chasing trophies and more.

Ko entered the week with a one-point lead in the race for LPGA Tour player of the year. She needs to avoid just all-out disaster on the weekend to win her second consecutive Vare Trophy for having the year’s lowest scoring average. Those titles would move her closer to the LPGA Hall of Fame.

And with $2 million, the biggest single prize in women’s golf, awaiting the winner that means the money title is within her reach as well.

“It was a solid day,” Ko said. “It was more solid than yesterday. ... I couldn’t really have asked for more to start this week.”

Ko is now averaging 68.964 this year. Atthaya Thitikul’s average for the season is now 69.447. It would take about a 40-shot swing between them on the weekend for Thitikul to catch Ko in that race.

And if Ko wins the tournament, she’d push her earnings for 2022 to $4,364,403 and virtually lock up the money title as well.

“Lydia is Lydia,” said Ireland’s Leona Maguire, who shot 69 for the second consecutive day; she’s tied for seventh at 6 under, seven shots back of Ko. “I’m sure she’s going to keep going, so ultimately try and shoot as low as we can over the weekend and see what happens.”

DIVOTS: Jin Young Ko, bidding for a fourth consecutive win on the Tiburon course, shot 75 and is 16 shots back. Stacy Lewis holed out from a greenside bunker on the 18th to finish a round of 70 with a birdie. She’s 5 under for the tournament. ... Brooke Henderson, clearly ailing from the back issue that bothered her last week as well, shot 2-over 74 and is 2 under for the week. ... Pajaree Anannarukarn and Danielle Kang each had 66’s on Thursday; neither came close to that Friday. Anannarukarn shot 73, Kang 74.


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.