Tag Archives: hooter

Women"s British Open: Jiyai Shin wins to make Asian record

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Shin the star at Hoylake as Asian grip on women's golf extends to all four majors

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UPDATED:

20:58 GMT, 16 September 2012

Fourteen years was all it took for golf in the Far East to go from Asia minor to Asia major.

Fourteen years after Se Ri Pak became the first Asian to win a major championship, her Korean compatriot Jiyai Shin completed an overwhelming nine-shot victory in the Ricoh British Open at Royal Liverpool on Sunday that symbolised the region's complete domination of women's golf.

Not only have Asian golfers now completed the Grand Slam this year, they have won the last seven majors in succession.

Champion: Jiyai Shin celebrates with the trophy and on the green (below)

Champion: Jiyai Shin celebrates with the trophy and on the green (below)

Shin's 18th green celebration

Alongside the brilliant Taiwanese
Yani Tseng, the driving force, of course, has been the Koreans, where
producing a good woman golfer seems to be the primary ambition for many
households.

Shin completed her victory with one of the great performances in the recent history of this event.

It is never easy to follow up a
great round, and on Saturday she scored 64, hitting all 18 greens in
regulation to record the lowest total seen in competition on this, the
most historic course in England.

Yet Shin never broke her stride on
Sunday during the course of the final 36 holes played out in conditions
that varied from the benign in the morning to the frightful during
mid-afternoon.

Runner up: Inbee Park came second at Hoylake

Runner up: Inbee Park came second at Hoylake

As the wind blew and the rain came in
sideways, the championship was reduced to ridicule when play was
suspended for a short time for no obvious reason, and contrary to the
rules of the game.

The master commentator Peter Alliss mixed mirth with indignation.

'Yes we know it's miserable, but you can't stop play because it is miserable,' he said.

When one player seemingly carried on
before the hooter sounded to signal play could continue, he added: 'Why
not play when you like, and dole out some prize money at the finish'

Away we go: Shin tees off on the 15th hole

Away we go: Shin tees off on the 15th hole

A poor tournament for the British contingent had two small bright spots.

Scot Catriona Matthew, the 2009
champion, shot 75 to squeeze into the top 10 and Holly Clyburn, 21, from
Cleethorpes, came within two strokes of finishing as the leading
amateur.

Meanwhile, at the Italian Open,
Martin Kaymer picked a timely moment to turn in his first top five this
season, finishing with two 67s in his last event before the Ryder Cup.

Team-mate Nicolas Colsaerts finished alongside him in fifth spot of an event won by the Spaniard, Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano.

Sandstorm: Paula Creamer plays out of a bunker

Sandstorm: Paula Creamer plays out of a bunker

Huddersfield 12 Bradford 34

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Huddersfield 12 Bradford 34: Gale stars as Bulls keep marching towards play-offs

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UPDATED:

16:44 GMT, 19 August 2012

Scrum-half Luke Gale kept cash-strapped Bradford in the hunt for the Stobart Super League play-offs by inspiring them to a third straight win.

Gale, at the heart of Bradford's attacking play, scored a first-half try and added three conversions to leave the Bulls 18-6 up at the break.

Karl Pryce touched down twice after the interval to give the Bulls some breathing room as Huddersfield lost for the first time in three matches.

Squeezed out: Bradford block off Eorl Crabtree

Squeezed out: Bradford block off Eorl Crabtree

Bradford, battling Hull KR and Wakefield for the final top eight spot, fell behind early on when ex-Bulls star Joe Wardle dived over from Greg Eden's pass.

The Bulls were unlucky with some neat moves, notably on 11 minutes when a defence-splitting pass bounced off the posts and to a Giants player.

But the match seemed to turn on 12 minutes when Huddersfield's Keith Mason was let off with a warning for retaliation.

He threw the ball into the face of an opponent, which seemed to make Bradford up their game and go into the break deservedly ahead.

A flowing move involving Gale and Heath L'Estrange saw Shaun Ainscough dive over from Pryce's final pass on 21 minutes.

Gale was also involved in the move which led to substitute Matt Diskin bagging a controversial try on 35 minutes.

Huddersfield complained about an obstruction in the build-up, but referee Thierry Alibert allowed play to carry on and the Bulls took full advantage.

Pryce and Brett Kearney then helped set up Gale under the posts on the hooter, with the former Harlequins RL star adding the extras.

Huddersfield, coached by former Bulls legend Paul Anderson, gave Bradford a bigger percentage of away ticket sales to help their survival battle.

It prompted a big turnout, with Bradford fans making up about a third of the 7,477 crowd.

The Giants, looking for the win which would confirm their own play-off berth, were nearly back in it on 59 minutes.

Scott Grix started a flowing move which ended with Leroy Cudjoe putting Jermaine McGillvary in for a try, only for it to be ruled out for a forward pass.

The influential Gale then kicked a 40-20 just seconds later, with Kearney capitalising from the tap-in with a brilliant solo try in the left corner.

Gale converted and was at again on 70 minutes when Pryce went over unchallenged to finish the contest with a 14-point individual haul.

Cudjoe scored a late converted consolation for Huddersfield, but Pryce had the last word on the hooter after an acrobatic pass from Elliott Whitehead.

Catalan Dragons 14 Wigan 36: Warriors maintain top spot courtesy of curious refereeing

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Catalan Dragons 14 Wigan 36: Warriors maintain top spot courtesy of curious refereeing

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UPDATED:

16:10 GMT, 9 June 2012

Wigan maintained their lead at the top of the Stobart Super League with a 36-14 win against a rugged Catalan side.

However, the result was much closer than the scoreline suggests as time and time again the home side were on the wrong end of some baffling refereeing decisions.

The main contentious decision came just before half-time when Josh Charnley appeared to score a try despite his elbow being in touch. Despite a video referee being available to James Child, the referee opted to give the try without the assistance.

After last weekend's defeat at Salford, this was a much better Catalan performance and they took the lead early through a Scott Dureau penalty.

There are still signs that the home side are not at their best however, when – with Gil Dudson in the sin-bin for a late challenge on Dureau – Wigan managed to score two tries. Charnley converted one of them to give the Warriors a 10-2 lead.

The video referee was needed in the 18th minute when he awarded a penalty try to the Catalans after Michael McIlorum tackled Clint Greenshields just before the tryline without the ball as the full-back chased Setaimata Sa's kick through. Dureau added the conversion to reduce the arrears to 10-8

Just before the break Louis Anderson left the field with a shoulder injury, and down the right hand edge that he had been defending in Sam Tomkins set Charnley free to dive over for his controversial effort. Charnley failed to convert his effort as the half time hooter went.

Six minutes after the turnaround, Charnley did extend the Warriors lead with a penalty from in front of the posts, given for the markers not being square at the play the ball.

Wigan extended their lead further four minutes later with a superb try that involved Sean O'Loughlin, Jeff Lima, McIlorum and Brett Finch before the ball found its way to George Carmont to score his first of the afternoon. Again Charnley failed with the conversion.

On the hour the ball was sent to the Wigan left and Jack Hughes managed to offload to the supporting Carmont to score to the left of the posts. Charnley again missed the conversion attempt.

Dureau narrowed the deficit with a quick tap penalty that caught the Wigan defence napping as he raced in from 60 metres out to score under the posts. He quickly converted his own try to narrow the gap further to 10 points with 10 minutes remaining.

However, Wigan finished the stronger and late tries from Tomkins and Hughes extended their advantage. Tomkins took over the kicking duties from Charnley and converted both efforts.

London 28 Widnes 24: Antonio Kaufusi"s late try won it for Broncos

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London 28 Widnes 24: Bucking Broncos throw Vikings with late show

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UPDATED:

16:24 GMT, 9 June 2012

Antonio Kaufusi grabbed a last-gasp try as London snatched a dramatic victory over Widnes in the Stobart Super League basement battle at the Stoop.

Kaufusi burst over from close range as the hooter sounded to haul the Broncos off the foot of the table – at Widnes' expense.

It was a cruel blow for the visitors, who looked set to claim the two points after try braces from Cameron Phelps and Frank Winterstein.

Triumph: London Broncos hauled themselves off the bottom of the league

Triumph: London Broncos hauled themselves off the bottom of the league

The hosts welcomed back both Jason Golden and Julien Rinaldi after lengthy spells out with injury, although both Michael Witt and Chris Melling were forced to miss out.

Widnes were able to restore Jon Clarke at stand-off, although Joe Mellor sat out the clash following his suspension for a dangerous tackle against Huddersfield last week.

Having beaten the Londoners 38-30 on their own patch earlier this season, and buoyed by last weekend's defeat of the Giants, Widnes approached the game in confident mood.

The visitors made the brighter start, Phelps racing clear to touch down after a delayed pass from Clarke with barely three minutes on the clock.

But a succession of penalties soon put Widnes on the back foot, and the Londoners profited when Craig Gower charged over from close range to bring the teams level.

Paul McShane came close to giving the Vikings the lead again on 17 minutes, only for some strong London defence to hold him up as he attempted to wrestle over the line.

The hosts themselves were growing into the game, but handling errors from both sides were stopping them gaining any momentum.

The Broncos were showing a severe lack of creativity though, and that was allowing the Vikings to stay on level terms despite the hosts bossing possession and territory.

Tug back: Jamie O'Callaghan of London Broncos has his shirt pulled by Paddy Flynn

Tug back: Jamie O'Callaghan of London Broncos has his shirt pulled by Paddy Flynn

Gower thought he had struck again on 30 minutes, only for referee Rob Hicks to adjudge him short of the line.

But London did take the lead shortly after, wing Omari Caro crossing in the corner after some neat hands from Dan Sarginson and David Howell.

As has so often been the case this season though, the Broncos were unable to take that lead into half-time, Winterstein muscling over to bring the sides level right on the hooter.

And things got even better for the away side moments after the interval when Phelps took advantage of Gower's slip to race through for his second try and push Widnes back into a six-point lead.

Collection: Julien Rinaldi

Collection: Julien Rinaldi

London were quick to answer that though, Tony Clubb bulldozing through to level things up on 48 minutes.

It was the Broncos who were on top, but they were unable to take the game by the scruff of the neck as Widnes held firm.

But as the chances went begging the Vikings rallied themselves, and then showed London how it should be done when Winterstein crashed over for his second and Patrick Ah Van maintained his 100% record with the boot this afternoon with the conversion attempt to push the visitors 24-18 ahead.

Back came the Broncos, Sarginson setting up a grandstand finish when he wriggled over with seven minutes to play, only for Shane Rodney, who had added the extras to the previous three tries, to hit the post with his conversion attempt.

The game looked up but Kaufusi changed all that, with Kieran Dixon adding the extras to seal a narrow win.