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The day I signed my contract with Liverpool, that’s one day I will never forget because Liverpool was my favourite team when I was younger and it was a dream come true – Sami Hyypia
Kiradech comes alive on the Asian Tour AGEnCiES
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Molinari back in the swing of things KIALA LUMPUR: edoardo Molinari believes his new swing is only at 30 per cent capacity despite finishing second in the weather-shortened Maybank Malaysian Open in Kuala Lumpur. Molinari switched coaches in December after missing three months following wrist surgery and missed the cut in his first five tournaments this season. But the Italian found form in sweltering conditions in Malaysia, carding a closing round of 67 to finish 12 under par and just one behind winner Kiradech Aphibarnrat of Thailand, in an event reduced to 54 holes after daily delays due to thunderstorms. “Felt so good to be in contention again after 18 months,” Molinari wrote on Twitter. “New swing is only 30 per cent of where I want it to be but I’ve never hit the ball so well.” The 32-year-old has not won on the european Tour since the second of his victories in 2010, the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles, helped persuade european captain Colin Montgomerie to name him as a wild card for the Ryder Cup that year alongside brother Francesco. But teaming up with Sean Foley, who also coaches the likes of Tiger Woods and Justin Rose, looks to have paid dividends. “It’s mixed emotions because I’m very happy to have a good week for the first time in a long time,” Molinari added. “The swing changes are starting to pay off which is surprising because I thought it would take a lot longer, but I’m disappointed because I had a lot of chances on the back nine. “The 18th is only the second fairway I missed all day which is very disappointing. I felt if I birdied the last I might have won outright because it puts a lot of pressure on the guy coming up behind.” Aphibarnrat handled that pressure superbly, returning to the 16th fairway after a two-hour storm delay with a one-shot lead, only to promptly hit his approach to three feet for a birdie and then save par from 12ft on the next. That allowed the 23-year-old former junior world champion the luxury of taking six on the 634-yard 18th to complete a closing 70, sealing a wire-towire victory and the first prize of £303,000. AGEnCiES
raised the bar higher and is setting his sights on joining the exclusive Major winner’s club, much like his namesake. “I’ll try to win a Major event. I cannot say when it is but I’ll try my best. I just play for fun. I don’t have any routine. I’m happy with the name, John Daly of Asia. He won a Major event and I’m proud someone has called me that,” said Kiradech. Kiradech’s early season success has seen him notched two top-five finishes and a win in only three starts on the region’s premier Tour, which is celebrating its 10 season in 2013. The Thai will also be making his maiden appearance at The Open
Championship after he won the International Final Qualifying - Asia in Thailand earlier this month Kiradech’s quick rise since his amateur days where he was crowned World Junior Champion on two occasions can be credited to the unity and close bond he shares with his fellow compatriots. “The Thai pro golfers, we stay like family. Boonchu Ruangkit, Thaworn Wiratchant, Prom Meesawat, and Thongchai Jaidee, they all provide valuable advice to the younger generation,” said Kiradech. “Boonchu and Thongchai teach me a lot and have always stressed not to put too much pressure on myself.
Di Resta keen to put Sepang woes behind SEpANG AGEnCiES
Paul Di Resta has drawn a line through a wretched weekend following a Malaysian Grand Prix that proved to be of “extreme disappointment” for Force India. Despite possessing a quick car to start this season as the team have undoubtedly made progress since last year, Di Resta’s woes began in qualifying on Saturday when he was caught out by the weather. Starting from 15th, the conditions again played a part early in the race as teams switched from wet to dry tyres, with Force India opting to stack their cars. Team-mate Adrian Sutil, however, suffered a problem that cost Di Resta behind him 23 seconds, dropping him to 18th. But the 26-yearold powered his way back through the
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Tuesday, 26 March, 2013
wAtCh It LIve ESPN World Cup Qualifiers: Korea Republic vs. Qatar
4:25 PM
STAR SPORTS World Cup Qualifiers: Jordan vs. Japan
07:25 PM
Two matches decided in national veteran Cup
KuALA LuMpuR IRADeCH Aphibarnrat believes his ‘birth’ on the Asian Tour has made him the winner he has always wanted to be following his win at the Maybank Malaysian Open. Despite having to battle the elements and a thyroid disease, the 23-year-old Thai showed he can match up against the best in the world when he outplayed the likes of Major winners such as South Africa’s Charl Schwartzel and Ireland’s Padraig Harrington as well as Ryder Cup star edoardo Molinari of Italy to lift the Seagram Trophy. With his winner’s prize cheque of uS$458,330, Kiradech propelled to the top of the Asian Tour’s Order of Merita position where he is determined to be in when the season comes to a close at the end of the year. “It’s the Tour (Asian Tour) where I was born. I’m 24 this year and I’ve got another 20 years to play. I’ll try to win as much as I can. I’ve three Tours to play on now (Asian Tour, Japan Tour, european Tour) and my focus will be to win the Asian Tour Order of Merit,” said Kiradech Dubbed Asia’s John Daly due to his physique and style of play, Kiradech has
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field, including passing Sutil, and was running 11th when an issue with the front-left wheel nut effectively ended his race at the second stop. A few laps later Sutil retired with the same problem, ensuring the team left Kuala Lumpur empty handed when they should have had both cars in the top 10 given their pace. “The wheel nut issue was something that did not show up all weekend, but it hurt us quite badly,” Di Resta said to Press Association Sport. “We did a whole winter’s testing with the new nut and nothing showed up, so why here? Maybe the heat. I guess the design office is going to be busy now. “I was probably looking at seventh place, without the first stop in which I lost all that time, so what happened is pretty frustrating given how quick we were over the weekend.
“At least wheel nuts can be fixed for China whereas performance can’t be fixed that quickly, and performance was a big highlight of what we achieved over the weekend. “All I can do now is put a stroke through the weekend, cross it off, but with the positive we showed what we could do with our performance in the race.” Just a week after the team’s best points finish in the opening grand prix in Australia, with Sutil seventh and Di Resta eighth, to leave Malaysia with nothing was a bitter blow for team principal Vijay Mallya. “It was really looking good until the wheel nut failed, and this is the new wheel nut we have on the car for 2013,” Mallya told Press Association Sport. “It is something, with all the delicate equipment on board a Formula One car you would not expect an otherwise robust part like a wheel nut to collapse on you.
LAHORE: Lahore Whites imposed massive 9-wicket defeat over Sargodha Veteran and Chaudhary Sports beat Lahore Shaheen by 72 runs as two matches were decided in National Veteran cricket cup here on Monday. At Race Course Park Cricket Ground, Sargodha Veteran batted first reached 183/7 in 30 overs. Muhammad Nawaz 46, Majeed Shani 44, Muhammad Hafeez 20 & Ashraf Bashir 16 runs. Lahore Whites bowling Javeed Hayat 2/16, Mohtasham Rasheed 2/28, Asif Karmani 1/16 & Asim Sheikh 1/33 wickets. In reply Lahore Whites answered with 184/1 in 17.4 overs. Former Captain Pakistan Cricket captain, Saleem Malik 88 not out and Mohtasham Rasheed 66 led their side to success. Sargodha Veteran bowling Muhammad Nawaz 1/38 wickets. Javeed Ashraf and Qaisar Waheed were the umpires and Abdul Hameed was the scorer. At the Race Course Park Cricket Ground-II. Chaudhary Sports posted 262/6 in 30 overs. Babar Butt top scored with polished 108 followed by Shahid Ali 78, Abid Sheikh 23& Raza Khan 22 runs. Lahore Shaheen bowling Muhammad Javeed 2/29, Amir Rizwan 1/33, Muhammad Anees 1/35 & Muhammad Irshad 1/42 wickets. In reply Lahore Shaheen were dismissed at 190 all out in 29.4 overs. Malik Javeed 38, Agha Sohail Zafar 35, Muhammad Javeed 26 & Amir Rizwan 28 runs not out, Chaudhary Sports bowling Muhammad Khan 3/21, Wasi Shah, 3/30, Chaudhary Shafqat Hussain 2/25, Shahid Ali 1/17 & Naseer ul hassan 1/31 wickets. Masood Khan and Ijaz Ahmad stood as umpires & Azhar Hussain was the scorer. STAFF REPORT
Model Town greens win LAHORE: Model Town Greens won by 96 runs in the Nazar Mohammad Cricket Tournament match here at the Model Town Ground on Monday. Scores: Model Town Greens 236 for eight. Weahab Dar 65, Kamran Younus 64, Danial Sheikh 32, Lukman Butt 24. Mohammad Imran 52 for two. Khurrum three for 43. Lahore Club all out at 140. rauf Wayn 47, usman Liaqat 14, Akbar Ali four for 29,Hasan Dar, Kamran Younus and Aamer Hayat shared one wicket each. STAFF REPORT
Pak to host West Asia Baseball Cup in Oct LAHORE STAFF REPORT
Pakistan will host the 11th edition of West Asia Baseball Cup in October at Lahore with a number of foreign countries taking part. This was stated by President, Pakistan Federation Baseball, Shaukat Javed at a news conference here on Monday after presiding over a general council meeting of the body attended by all the affiliated units of PFBB, barring Pakistan Army. Also present was Secretary, PFBB. He said invitations have been extended to a number of countries and they are confident that that they will confirm their participation in due course of time. “We organized the same event at Lahore in which Afghanistan, Sri Lanka and Iran participated alongside the hosts Pakistan,” he said . PFBB President said the meeting took
important decisions for the further uplift of the game by fixing the dates of a number of national level events and approving the participation of Pak teams in the international events abroad. He said the house granted affiliation to Higher education Commission. Shaukat Javed said a major amendment was made in the PFBB constitution and voting rights of the its all affiliated departments were withdrawn and only provinces will be eligible to have voting rights in the elections of the body.
He said the amendment was made in order to keep the federation away from the pressure of Pakistan Sports Board not to interference in the affairs and elections of PFBB. “We are taking every measures to bring our constitution in line with the constitution of International Olympic Committee to fully follow the charter of IOC. PFBB chief said their affiliated units, Army, Wapda and HeC praised the decision of amending the constitution.
He said inter departmental baseball championship will commence here from Tuesday at Punjab stadium. “The competition focuses at promoting baseball among departments.” Shaukat Javed said the national championship will be held at Lahore with Punjab Group of Colleges sponsoring the event. “The event will help in identifying thirty to forty outstanding players to attend a training camp to select Pakistan team to take part in the West Asia baseball championship”, he asserted. He said Games ruling body, the international baseball federation has offered PFBB to organize the first Islamic women baseball championship in December to give fresh boost to the ongoing efforts for developing baseball among at international level. “ It is a new concept and we will be paying attention to organize the event by inviting female teams from all the Islamic countries across the globe “,he said.