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SPORTS TRIBUNE |
Turf
tussle is here again
Chinese
checks in Golf
prodigy |
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IN THE NEWS Misbah-ul-Haq, who has ignited his Pakistan career in recent months, almost turned his back on the game at the age of 23 in favour of a business career. He studied for his MBA in business management and only started playing top-level cricket at 24. “Before my first-class debut, I was in two minds about which way to go, but I chose cricket because of my love and passion for the game,” the 33-year-old Misbah said. “Even after two years of choosing cricket, though, I thought I might have chosen wrong. But in 1999, my fortunes changed, I made my first-class debut and two years later was playing against New Zealand on my Test debut. “Ever since I have not had any thoughts in my mind apart from playing cricket. I’m now really happy.” Misbah was a fringe player for Pakistan till three months ago but a superb show in the Twenty20 World Cup and a maiden Test century against India in Kolkata, followed by an unbeaten 133 in Bangalore, have tremendously boosted his credentials. He scored 161 not out at the Eden Gardens as Pakistan replied to India’s intimidating total of 616 for six declared. Misbah’s partnership of 207 with Kamran Akmal earned Pakistan a draw. The duo repeated their rescue act in Bangalore. Earlier, Misbah got fighting knocks of 82 and 45 in the first Test at Delhi, which Pakistan lost. In all, he compiled 465 runs in three Tests at an average of about 116. Just how good Misbah’s current form is can be gauged from the fact that his highest score in seven Tests prior to this series was just 41 — against South Africa at Lahore two months ago. “It’s been nice after such a long time, with all the failures since my debut in 2001, as it was always my dream to score runs in Test cricket,” he said. “I wasn’t playing consistently and it’s been a boost to play regularly of late. “It’s a totally different story now. Before this series, I was not sure of my future but now I am confident and feeling part of the team.” Former captain Rameez Raja even tipped him to eventually take over as skipper from Shoaib Malik. The pressure was on Misbah after he came in for Inzamam-ul-Haq, who retired in October, especially as the former skipper had been part of a seemingly untouchable middle order along with Younis Khan and Mohammed Yousuf. He attributes his new-found success to the faith reposed in him by Malik, coach Geoff Lawson and the new panel of selectors formed after the disastrous World Cup campaign in the Caribbean.
— Reuters |
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Chinese checks in Liang Wen-chong
may have just announced the coming of age of Chinese golf. On December 9, Liang became the first Chinese player to win the Asian Tour Order of Merit, despite a modest finish in tied 28th place at the season-ending Volvo Masters of Asia tournament. Liang also broke the Indo-Thai monopoly of the Order of Merit honours. Since 2001, Indian and Thai players have won it thrice each. Jyoti Randhawa (2002), Arjun Atwal (2003) and Jeev Milkha Singh (2006) did the trick for India, while Thongchai Jaidee (2001 and 2004) and Thaworn Wiratchant (2005) made it to the top for the Thais. Even this year, on the eve of the Volvo Masters, the only player in with a chance to catch up with Liang was another Thai, Chapchai Nirat. In the end, Chapchai, needing to win the final tournament to grab the Merit honours, finished tied 12th. Liang carded a 72 in the final round and finished tied 28th but still emerged as the top golfer in Asia, ending the season with a haul of $532,590. The 29-year-old Liang has been on the Asian Tour since 1999 but has always been under the shadow of the more famous and iconic Zhang Liang-wei. But over the last year or so, Liang has slowly but steadily matured into a top-class golfer and is now China’s leading player, taking over the mantle from Zhang. In fact till the end of 2006, he had 16 top-10 finishes, but had never won. It was only this year that Liang broke through for his first big victory when he won the Clariden Leu Singapore Masters in 2007, beating Malaysia’s Iain Steel in a playoff. It was, in a manner of speaking, following in Zhang’s footsteps, as the latter had won the same title in 2003. This year, Liang played only four events in Japan and concentrated mainly on the Asian Tour. In Japan his best was third place in Golf Nippon Series JT Cup while his three other appearances saw him finish inside top-20. Liang’s growth on the Asian Tour has been steady. From 82nd in his second year on Asian Tour in 1999, he was 46th in 2000, 12th in 2001 and 32nd in 2002. It was only after 2003 that he began getting noticed and in 2004 he was 47th in just nine events. He improved to 25th the following year in 2005. In 2006 he was further up in 16th places despite playing just 10 events, just as he had done the previous year. With a world ranking of 86th, he is the third best Asian in world ranking behind KJ Choi (10th) and Jeev (78th). The ace golfer swept the major awards at the UBS gala night on December 9. Besides claiming the Order of Merit crown, he was also voted the Players’ Player of the Year for his sterling season which included one victory and eight other top-10 finishes. Liang also picked up the lowest stroke average award with 70.41, pipping Thongchai Jaidee as the most consistent player on the Asian Tour this season. With a great all-round game, he may well be the next Asian tipped to make it big in world golf.
— IANS
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Golf prodigy Fifteen-year-old
Tanya Wadhwa created a flutter in the recent Ladies Masters at Bangalore when she finished tied 23rd in a competition which saw the world’s top lady golf professionals slug it out for the $2 lakh prize money. The teenaged amateur produced her best card of the week — a one-under 71 — to finish at six-over 293, two strokes head of country’s number one pro Smriti Mehra, who settled for the tied 32nd place after signing off with a 73. This US-based Indian amateur has come a long way since her parents shifted from New Delhi to Bradenton in Florida when she was just nine. A stint at the David Leadbetter Academy saw her dominate the junior golf competition in the USA. “My dad read on the Internet about the academy and thought it would be She has a drive that sends the ball hurtling to a distance of 250 yards. She intends to increase this by one yard every month and make it to the top on the LPGA Tour one day. A star pupil at the academy in Florida, Tanya wears a red belt in the taekwondo arena. She loves to swim and is also very competent on the tennis court. She regularly finishes among the top golfers on the US PGA’s Junior Golf Tour for girls. But her most memorable moment came at the US Girls Junior competition in Idaho — the biggest junior event for under-18 girls in the world. At 12, Tanya was the youngest in the field. She recently moved from Bradenton to McKinney to hone her skills at the Hank Haney Golf Ranch, where she teamed up with Highland Park standout Lila Barton to dominate the girls division at the AJGA Justin Leonard/Deloitte Junior Team Championship. She has the distinction of being the first player to complete a Grand Slam of title wins in the history of world junior golf. Then just 10 years old, Tanya achieved the feat with a resounding seven-stroke win at the US Kids Junior Golf Championship in Virginia on August 2-3, 2002. She also won the longest drive category, with a 180-yard effort off the tee, and the chipping competition. Her earlier two wins came at the Doral Golf Resort, Miami, in December, 2001, and the World Junior Championship at San Diego a fortnight earlier. These two tournaments, along with the US Kids Junior Golf Championship, form the Grand Slam in junior world golf.
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