BRITISH OPEN GOLF CHAMPIONSHIP ROYAL ST GEORGE'S, SANDWICH (JULY 14-17)

Darren Clarke held his nerve to clinch victory at the British Open here yesterday, becoming the oldest winner of the championship in 44 years as he ended his long wait for a Major.

The popular 42-year-old from Northern Ireland kept his cool in demanding conditions to card a level-par 70, leaving him five under for the tournament and three strokes clear of Americans Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson.

“I was just trying not to make any stupid mistakes and be really careful and it turned out to be enough to win,” Clarke said.

“I’ve been unbelievably comfortable and confident in my own ability this week. It’s for the kids - they’ll be very proud. I think the celebrations could be long. And, I’ll be very, very hungover.”

The win capped a final round of twists and turns at Royal St George’s, where wild fluctuations in the weather were mirrored early on by a fast-moving battle at the top of the leaderboard before Clarke’s rivals fell away.

It also represented a triumph of persistence for the paunchy, cigarette-smoking Clarke, who finally claimed the famous Auld Claret jug at the 20th time of asking, a new record.

Clarke, whose ranking has slipped to 111 in recent years, becomes the oldest winner of the Open since Argentina’s Roberto de Vicenzo won aged 44 in 1967.

Many observers had assumed that Clarke’s days of challenging for Majors were over, with the veteran Ulsterman seemingly destined to forever rue his near-miss at the 1997 Open at Troon, where he tied for second.

Clarke insisted he had never doubted his ability to eventually lift a Major.

“I always believed I would get myself back up here, and I always believed I could get back up here and win one,” Clarke said.

Clarke had started yesterday’s final round with a one-shot advantage over Johnson, who was desperate to atone for suffering two agonising near-misses at last year’s US Open and US PGA Championship.

Yet for long periods of a thrilling final 18 holes, it looked as if three-time Major winner Mickelson would pose the most serious threat.

Mickelson, who had started the day five behind Clarke, produced a dazzling putting display over the front nine to wipe out the Ulsterman’s lead and join him at the top of the leaderboard on five under.

Mickelson reeled in Clarke with three birdies and an eagle to go out in five-under-par courtesy of some red-hot putting, and he might have had another had a birdie putt not lipped out at the eighth.

But Clarke then hit back with a 20-foot eagle putt of his own on the par-five seventh to move to seven-under and move two clear of Mickelson, setting the stage for a nail-biting climax over the back nine.

Mickelson closed to within one of Clarke after holing another long-range putt from 18 feet at the 10th for birdie.

Yet just as it seemed that the momentum was with the 41-year-old from California, Mickelson’s flawless putting deserted him with bogeys on the 11th, 13th, 15th and 16th.

He eventually carded a two-under 68, leaving him two under for the tournament, three behind Clarke.

Mickelson’s implosion left Clarke’s playing partner Johnson as the man best placed to end American golf’s long wait for a Major.

Johnson rolled in an eight-footer on the 12th for birdie to move within two shots of Clarke. But when the 27-year-old from South Carolina crashed his ball out of bounds par-five 14th, it was all over.

Johnson’s double-bogey seven put Clarke four strokes ahead with four holes to play, and from there the result was never in doubt as he came home to roars from the thousands packing the grandstands around the last.

Clarke’s victory was the third by a golfer from Northern Ireland in a Major tournament in just over a year, following Rory McIlroy’s triumph at the US Open last month, an event won by Graeme McDowell 12 months earlier.

It also extended American golf’s record Major losing streak to six. The last US golfer to claim a Major was Mickelson at the 2010 Masters.

Meanwhile pre-tournament favourite McIlroy concluded an unhappy Open with a three-over-par 73 to finish seven over for the tournament.

McIlroy, 22, later blamed the variable weather for undermining his challenge.

“I’m not a fan of golf tournaments that the outcome is predicted so much by the weather. It’s not my sort of golf,” McIlroy said. — AFP

Source : Thestar

CONGRATULATION TO JAPAN WOMEN WORLD CUP 2011 TEAM

IT WAS GREATEST MOMENT FOR ASIAN WHEN THE BLUE SAMURAI TEAM BEAT MIGHTY AMERICAN IN WOMEN FOOTBALL WORLD CUP 2011 IN GERMANY.


JAPAN WON 3-1 ON PENALTY KICKS AFTER BOTH TEAM TIED 2-2 IN THE FINAL.

GOOD LUCK FOR MALAYSIA JUNIOR

Malaysia checked into the finals of the mixed team event of the Asian Junior Badminton 


Championships  at Lucknow, India and will meet mighty China!!


GOOD LUCK FOR OUR MIXED TEAM!!!

MICHAEL PHELPS WON AT CANADA CUP

MONTREAL (AP): Michael Phelps won the 100-meter butterfly in 51.32 seconds on Sunday to complete a 100-200 double at the Canada Cup.

"I'm really happy with that and I know I need to do more training," said Phelps, who turned 26 on Thursday. "It's races like these that I think help me more mentally than anything else. ... Being able to still see that I can pop a good race here and there gives me a little bit of a confidence."

The three-day meet was billed as a tuneup for the world championships starting July 16 at Shanghai and Phelps helped draw 1,800 spectators Sunday, when he stayed for an hour after his race to sign autographs and pose for photos with fans.

Phelps could swim up to seven events at the world championships, including the 100 and 200 butterfly, the 200 freestyle, the 200 individual medley and three relays.

He won eight medals at each of the 2004 and 2008 Olympics - all but two were gold - and needs only two Olympic medals to equal the record of 18 won over three Games.

Canadian Katerine Savard won three races and set a new Canadian record in the 50-meter freestyle during the meet.

"It gives me a lot of confidence because I think I can lower my times even more," she said.

Source : THESTAR

WIMBLEDON GENTLEMAN CHAMPION 2011

NOVAK Djokovic won his first Wimbledon title yesterday, dethroning champion Rafael Nadal with a 6-4, 6-1, 1-6, 6-3 triumph to celebrate his coronation as new world number one in style.

It was the 24-year-old Serb’s third Grand Slam title, to add to his 2008 and 2011 Australian Open victories, and 50th win his last 51 matches.

I can’t believe it: Novak Djokovic celebrating after defeating Rafael Nadal in the men’s singles final at Wimbledon Sunday. — Reuters

Djokovic, who will succeed Nadal as world number one on Monday, also denied the Spaniard, the champion here in 2008 and 2010, an 11th Grand Slam title.

“It’s hard to describe how I feel, it’s the best day of my life. This is the most special tournament that I always dreamed about winning when I was young,” said Djokovic.

“I think I am still sleeping and dreaming.

“Rafa has always beaten me in the big matches in the Grand Slams so I had to be on top of my game and I think I played my best match on a grass court.”

“And with being world number one, it’s been a couple of good days in the office.”

Nadal, who was appearing in his 13th Grand Slam final, admitted Djokovic was the better player on the day.

“He has had an amazing season and I congratulate Novak,” said Nadal.

“I can imagine how he feels. It was a dream for me to play here, it always feels like home. Today I tried my best but today he was better than me.”

Djokovic went into the final with a 11-16 losing record against Nadal over their five-year rivalry but having won all four of their clashes in 2011 and all in finals.

Serve dominated until the 10th game when from 30-0 up Nadal handed his opponent a set point with a forehand error which Djokovic gobbled up, forcing another wild forehand out of the Spaniard to take the opener after 41 minutes.

The Serb had been the more convincing in the rallies and Nadal, who committed just seven unforced errors in his semi-final win over Andy Murray, was already up to eight by the time Djokovic was 1-0 ahead in the second set.

Djokovic was taking control of the final and was a break up at 2-0 when he brilliantly anticipated a Nadal drop shot before scampering across court to execute a wonderful, wrong-footing backhand.

The Serb broke again for a 5-1 lead when a powerful drive left Nadal scrambling, and off balance, and he could only pat the return wide.

A confident hold to love gave Djokovic the set 6-1 when Nadal found the net.

But Nadal, who had won all five of the pair’s previous Grand Slam clashes, carved out his first break points of the final in the second game of the third set to open a 2-0 lead which was soon 3-0 courtesy of a confident love service game.

Djokovic served up a first double fault to be broken again in the sixth game before Nadal pulled off a third successive love game to take the set.

The Serb saved a break point in the first game of the fourth set and made the most of his reprieve with a break to lead 2-0.

But a net cord fell in Nadal’s favour and gave him the break back in the third game.

A subdued Nadal then slipped 3-5 down as a brilliant defensive rally from Djokovic forced an error from the Spaniard.

The trophy was the Serb’s when on his first match point when Nadal went long with a backhand. — AFP

Source : THESTAR

CONGRATULATION TO PETRA KVITOVA

WIMBLEDON CHAMPION 2011

UNIKL-IPROM FOOTBALL TEAM 2011