Tag Archives: raphael

Agen 22 Bath 27: Louw"s last-gasp try seals Euro victory

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Agen 22 Bath 27: Louw's last-gasp try seals Euro victory

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UPDATED:

23:16 GMT, 18 October 2012

Francois Louw's late try clinched a
dramatic late win for Bath in Pool B of the Amlin Challenge Cup against
Agen at the Stade Armandie.

Raphael Lagarde's late penalty looked
to have won it for the home side, but Louw crossed the line in the 79th
minute to put Bath back in front and Stephen Donald's conversion added
the gloss to the scoreline.

Gloss: Bath's Stephen Donald

Gloss: Bath's Stephen Donald

The visitors fell behind in the third minute when Benjamin Petre scored a try for Agen and the accurate Lagarde converted.

Donald and Lagarde exchanged penalties as Agen extended their lead to 10-3, but Michael Claassens scored a crucial try for Bath just before half-time to make it 10-8 to the French side at the interval.

Another Lagarde penalty extended Agen's lead at the start of the second period before Kyle Eastmond crossed for Bath's second try to level the score and Donald's conversion nudged Bath in front for the first time.

Lagarde restored Agen's advantage and, although Donald crossed for Bath in the 54th minute, he missed the conversion and it threatened to cost Bath dear when Lagarde pulled Agen back within a point.

Lagarde's 71st-minute penalty gave the hosts a 22-20 advantage which looked like being enough until Louw's late strike maintained Bath's 100 per cent start to the group.

Italian Open 2012: Richard Bland leads at halfway stage

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Bland birdie run hands Englishman control of Italian Open at halfway stage

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UPDATED:

18:33 GMT, 14 September 2012

Richard Bland birdied the last three holes of his second round to take the halfway lead at the Italian Open in Turin.

The Englishman carded a second successive 66, with birdies at the first, the 11th and four of the last six holes to eventually move ahead of a developing logjam at the top of the leaderboard.

France's Gregory Bourdy shot 64 to leap to 11 under alongside Scot Marc Warren and Spaniard Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano, who both went round in 65, and Garth Mulroy of South Africa (67).
Bourdy said: 'This morning it was perfect conditions to play on this course.

Out in front: Bland has taken the lead at the turn of the Italian Open in Turin

Out in front: Bland has taken the lead at the turn of the Italian Open in Turin

Italian open 2012

Click here for latest leaderboard

'It was a lovely round and I enjoyed it a lot. I was very solid and I'm very proud. Almost everything went right today.

'Last week my driving was wonderful and so were my irons, and that continued today. I'll try to do the same at the weekend.'

Richard McEvoy was at 10 under after following his opening 66 with a four-under-par 68. First-round leader Joel Sjoholm fell into a seven-way tie for seventh on nine under after failing to go with the trend of improved scoring.

He could only follow his opening round eight-under-par 64 with a 71 and was level with fellow Swedes Mikael Lundberg and Joakim Lagergren, Spain's Pablo Larrazabal, South African Richard Sterne, England's Sam Little and Victor Dubuisson of France.

Great Scot! Jamieson of Scotland plays off the tee during round two

Great Scot! Jamieson of Scotland plays off the tee during round two while Raphael Jacquelin watches his shot head towards the green (below)

Great Scot! Jamieson of Scotland plays off the tee during round two while Raphael Jacquelin watches his shot head towards the green (below)

English pair Lee Slattery and David Howell were hot on Sjoholm's tail overnight and that was where they remained, shooting 71 and 70 respectively to join compatriot Robert Coles and a host of others on eight under.

Ryder Cup-bound Martin Kaymer, Spaniard Rafa Cabrera-Bello, Welshman Bradley Dredge, Darren Fichardt of South Africa and India's Shiv Kapur completed the group.

A second Ryder Cup player, Italian Francesco Molinari, was in the group at seven under as was Graeme Storm, who was fifth in Holland last week having led for two rounds and started well again here with rounds of 69 and 68.

Molinari's brother Eduardo, the big-hitting Alvaro Quiros and Frenchman Thomas Levet were among the higher-profile players to miss the cut.

Picturesque: Slattery sends a putt towards the hole

Picturesque: Slattery sends a putt towards the hole

KLM Open 2012: Graeme Storm leads after two rounds

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Brewing up a Storm! Englishman leads KLM Open by three shots heading into third round

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UPDATED:

18:34 GMT, 7 September 2012

Overnight leader Graeme Storm retained top spot after the second day of the KLM Open but insists his focus at the moment is on the bigger picture rather than outright victory.

The 34-year-old is dangerously close to the cut-off mark in the Race to Dubai which would require him to go back to qualifying school.

There are still two months remaining before the end of the season but Storm knows a good finish at Hilversum will massively help his cause.

Storming up the leaderboard: The Englishman takes a three-shot lead into the third round

Storming up the leaderboard: The Englishman takes a three-shot lead into the third round

KLM Open

Click here for the latest leaderboard

The Hartlepool golfer is 114th on the money list and probably needs to win another 100,000 euros to safeguard his playing rights and a top-three finish in Holland could achieve that.

Asked if his position in the Race to Dubai had been on his mind Storm replied: 'Every day. It has been for the last three months. It is a big struggle missing so many cuts.

'It's all about momentum and for two days it has gone my way. The goal for me still is to keep my card, even though I am leading.

'If someone comes through then so be it, I just need my card for next year.'

Storm began the day with a two-shot advantage over Martin Kaymer, Fabrizio Zanotti and Raphael Jacquelin.

Focus: Storm is trying to keep his cool despite so much resting on success at the KLM

Focus: Storm is trying to keep his cool despite so much resting on success at the KLM

Focus: Storm is trying to keep his cool despite so much resting on success at the KLM

He returned a score of 66, his second bogey-free round to the tournament, to extend his lead to three over Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano, Scotland's Scott Jamieson and Sweden's Peter Hanson.

'It makes a change to have all red on my card,' Storm, 41st in last week's Omega European Masters, told europeantour.com.

'Hopefully I used all the bogeys up last week in Crans and long may it continue.

'I wasn't expecting to shoot four-under. I just managed to go round and keep the bogeys off the card as I did yesterday and made a few birdies.'

Fernandez-Castano, the 2005 winner on this course, is looking to put the disappointment of failing to make the Ryder Cup team behind him.

'My year has been disappointing to say the least. I didn't play well over the summer,' said the Spaniard, who shot a 65.

Green and pleasant: The crowwds have flocked to watch the action in Holland

Green and pleasant: The crowwds have flocked to watch the action in Holland

Green and pleasant: The crowds have flocked to watch the action in Holland

'Hopefully I can improve this second half, hopefully with a win, and maybe here as it is a course I like very much.'

Jamieson raced into contention with a 64, the joint-best round of the day, after picking up seven shots in his first 10 holes having started at the ninth but a bogey at the sixth pegged him back slightly.

'Being four under after four holes was a very hot start and a couple more of them would be great,' he said.

'Six under par on any day is great but especially on a course like this where it is tight off the tee.'

Jamieson's round was matched by Ireland's Simon Thornton after he eagled the par-five last.

In the Nic of time: Colsaerts is six shots of the lead heading into the third round

In the Nic of time: Colsaerts is six shots of the lead heading into the third round

Graeme Storm leads KLM Open

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Ryder Cup stars Kaymer and Hanson in contention as Storm takes KLM Open lead

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UPDATED:

23:28 GMT, 6 September 2012

England's Graeme Storm took a two-shot first-round lead at the KLM Open after a seven-birdie 63 at Hilversum.

The Hartlepool native birdied two of the last three holes to nudge ahead of a tightly-packed leaderboard which sees European Ryder Cup team members Martin Kaymer and Peter Hanson among the leading challengers.

Kaymer shot a five-under-par 65, the highlight of which was an eagle at the 12th hole, to join Fabrizio Zanotti and Raphael Jacquelin in second place.

In contention: Kaymer fared well on the opening day of the KLM Open

In contention: Kaymer fared well on the opening day of the KLM Open

Hanson was a shot further back after a round containing five birdies and a solitary bogey at the sixth.

The third member of Jose Maria Olazabal's team in action, Belgian wild-card pick Nicolas Colsaerts, was level par – while Olazabal's eventful one-over-par 71 contained one of the highlights of the day when he chipped in from a bunker for one of his five birdies.

Storm made a steady start and was one under through six holes before back-to-back birdies at the next two holes sparked his round into life.

He gained another pair of shots at 11 and 12 to join the leaders before his strong finish took him clear of the pack at seven under.

Steady start: Colsaerts is level-par after his first round

Steady start: Colsaerts is level-par after his first round

Zanotti's round was also bogey-free, starting with two birdies and finishing with another, while Jacquelin began with a bogey at the ninth before going eagle-birdie at 12 and 13, picking up further shots at holes one to three and finishing off with a birdie at eight.

Kaymer's front nine contained three birdies before a chaotic back nine balanced two birdies, two bogeys and that eagle.

England's Danny Willett was one of three British challengers alongside Hanson on four under while Paul Casey and Oliver Fisher feature in a large group at three under.

Spain's Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano birdied the last to join that group while Michael Campbell, the 2005 US Open champion from New Zealand, was two under along with Swede Henrik Stenson.

London 2012 Olympics: Wrestling chief blasts Team GB

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They absolutely sucked… and you can write that down! Wrestling chief blasts Team GB

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UPDATED:

09:05 GMT, 11 August 2012

British Wrestling stood by their policy of foreign imports despite a withering attack from the president of the sport's international governing body.

More criticism was aimed at British Wrestling this week after Britain's sole wrestler at the Olympics – Ukraine-born Olga Butkevych – crashed out of the -55kg freestyle in the first round.

The organisation were already under fire for failing to fill their quota of three athletes, and for going back on their vow that foreign imports, who came to Britain as sparring partners five years ago, would not be allowed to wrestle for Team GB.

End of the road: Olga Butkevych (red) crashed out in the first round

End of the road: Olga Butkevych (red) crashed out in the first round

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And the organisation were hit by fresh criticism from Raphael Martinetti, president of Fidiration Internationale des Luttes Associies (FILA) yesterday evening.

'The British team actually managed to do nothing,' Martinetti told a press conference.

'Three places were awarded to Great Britain but they decided to keep only one.

'Who is to blame Great Britain Someone else the federation I am not sure, but what I can tell you is that they absolutely sucked, and you can write that down.'

Going down: The Ukraine-born Brit failed to make it beyond the opening round

Going down: The Ukraine-born Brit failed to make it beyond the opening round

British Wrestling defended their policy after the attack.

'The policy of bringing training partners to Britain was to raise standards,' the body's chief executive Colin Nicholson said.

The British Olympic Association ruled in May that Leon Rattigan and Oleksandr Madyarchyk were not good enough to wrestle for Team GB despite the fact they only missed their qualification target by one and two places respectively.

Nicholson believes the pair should have been allowed to compete in London.

'FILA is not used to having host nation places returned to it. that was the result of a BOA policy, a policy of returning host nation places where the agreed selection criteria hasn't been met,' he added.

'There is no doubt that British Wrestling was able to field three credible athletes at the Olympics.

'The other two athletes (Rattigan and Madyarchyk) have both beaten other wrestlers who are participating in the Olympic Games in previous competitions.'

London 2012 Olympics: Athletics: Steven Lewis and Sophie Hitchon miss out on medals

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Lewis just misses out on medals and finishes fifth in pole vault as Hitchon comes 12th in hammer

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UPDATED:

21:28 GMT, 10 August 2012

Steve Lewis had to settle for joint fifth place in the pole vault with a best of 5.75m.

Lewis was in contention for a medal but eventually struggled to keep up with the leaders. He was finally dumped out after he missed his third attempt at the 5.85m.

Although the 26-year-old missed out, the final rounds were scintillating.

Almost... Steven Lewis finished joint fifth in the men's pole vault

Almost… Steven Lewis finished joint fifth in the men's pole vault

Renaud Lavillenie eventually took gold, as Germans Bjorn Otto and Raphael Holzdeppe took the silver and bronze respectively after they all cleared the 5.91m mark.

Sophie Hitchon was also left without medals. But the Team GB athlete has much to be proud of, as she finished 12th in the hammer final after failing to emulate her impressive qualifying throw.

The 21-year-old, who broke her British record with a 71.98m throw in qualifying, could only manage a best of 69.33m.

It would have taken a huge personal best to make the top-eight cut in any case, though.

Russia's Tatyana Lysenko won gold with an Olympic record of 78.18m. She led all the way through the competition, having thrown 77.56m with her first attempt, before going even further with her penultimate effort.

Poland's Anita Wlodarczyk took the silver with a final throw of 77.60m and China's Zhang Wenxiu the bronze with 76.34.

Not quite: Sophie Hitchon could finished in 12th in the hammer after a promising qualifying performance

Not quite: Sophie Hitchon could finished in 12th in the hammer after a promising qualifying performance

The Open 2012: Tee times

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Clarke out with Els and Johnson as Rose joins Tiger! Full list of tee times for The Open

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UPDATED:

11:46 GMT, 16 July 2012

Defending champion Darren Clarke will play with Ernie Els and Zach Johnson in the first two rounds of The Open.

Tiger Woods will join Justin Rose and Sergio Garcia on Thursday and Friday at Royal Lytham & St Annes while world No 1 Luke Donald is with Phil Mickelson and Geoff Ogilvy.

Rory McIlroy's partners are Louis Oosthuizen and Keegan Bradley while Lee Westwood tees it up with Yoshinori Fujimoto and Bubba Watson.

Fun while it lasted: Darren Clarke (right) has had to hand back the Claret Jug

Fun while it lasted: Darren Clarke (right) has had to hand back the Claret Jug

Those arriving really early will have the chance to see three former winners playing together.
Sandy Lyle and Americans Todd Hamilton and Mark Calcavecchia will be on the first tee at just after 7am – yet the championship will be well under way by then.

Because the field is 157, one more than usual because of all the different exempt players, the action kicks off at 6.19am with a two-ball of 52-year-old former Ryder Cup player Barry Lane, who came through qualifying, and American James Driscoll.

Northern Ireland's Alan Dunbar, who won the British title last month at Royal Troon, partners Australian Adam Scott and American Matt Kuchar at 8.42am.

Thursday's first-round tee times at Royal Lytham & St Annes

06:19 Barry LANE James DRISCOLL

06:30 Richard FINCH Garth MULROY

06:41 Matthew BALDWIN Adilson DA SILVA Tadahiro TAKAYAMA

06:52 Rafa ECHENIQUE Kodai ICHIHARA John HUH

07:03 Sandy LYLE Todd HAMILTON Mark CALCAVECCHIA

07:14 Alejandro CANIZARES Jeev Milkha SINGH Greg CHALMERS

07:25 John DALY Chad CAMPBELL Michael HOEY

07:36 Thongchai JAIDEE Justin LEONARD Simon KHAN

07:47 David DUVAL Raphael JACQUELIN Miguel Angel JIMENEZ

07:58 Stephen AMES Robert ROCK Kyle STANLEY

08:09 Stewart CINK Rafael CABRERA-BELLO Johnson WAGNER

08:20 Jamie DONALDSON Bill HAAS YE YANG

08:31 Davis LOVE III Tim CLARK Paul LAWRIE

08:42 Adam SCOTT Alan DUNBAR (A) Matt KUCHAR

08:58 Vijay SINGH Nick WATNEY Ian POULTER

09:09 Darren CLARKE Ernie ELS Zach JOHNSON

09:20 Lee WESTWOOD Yoshinori FUJIMOTO Bubba WATSON

09:31 Dustin JOHNSON Graeme McDOWELL Hiroyuki FUJITA

09:42 Tiger WOODS Justin ROSE Sergio GARCIA

09:53 Ryo ISHIKAWA Martin KAYMER Tom WATSON

10:04 Thomas BJORN Aaron BADDELEY Charl SCHWARTZEL

10:15 Jason DUFNER Martin LAIRD Kevin NA

10:26 James MORRISON Daniel CHOPRA Joost LUITEN

10:37 Thorbjorn OLESEN Troy MATTESON Thomas AIKEN

10:48 Brad KENNEDY Mardan MAMAT Steven TILEY

10:59 Warren BENNETT Aaron TOWNSEND Grant VEENSTRA

11:10 Dale WHITNELL Sam WALKER Elliot SALTMAN

11:31 Bob ESTES Steven O'HARA Brendan JONES

11:42 Juvic PAGUNSAN Scott PINCKNEY Nicholas CULLEN

11:53 Steven ALKER Lee SLATTERY Russ COCHRAN

12:04 Tom LEHMAN Pablo LARRAZABAL Greg OWEN

12:15 Marcel SIEM George COETZEE Chez REAVIE

12:26 Marcus FRASER Lucas GLOVER Gregory HAVRET

12:37 Charles HOWELL III Paul BROADHURST Richard STERNE

12:48 Carl PETTERSSON KT KIM Gary WOODLAND

12:59 Ben CURTIS Paul CASEY Trevor IMMELMAN

13:10 Robert KARLSSON Mark WILSON Branden GRACE

13:21 Harris ENGLISH Simon DYSON Gonzalo FERNANDEZ-CASTANO

13:32 Angel CABRERA KJ CHOI Ross FISHER

13:43 Jonathan BYRD SM BAE Alvaro QUIROS

13:59 Nicolas COLSAERTS Hunter MAHAN John SENDEN

14:10 Bo VAN PELT Francesco MOLINARI Toshinori MUTO

14:21 Rory McILROY Louis OOSTHUIZEN Keegan BRADLEY

14:32 Rickie FOWLER Padraig HARRINGTON Manuel TRAPPEL (A)

14:43 Luke DONALD Phil MICKELSON Geoff OGILVY

14:54 Steve STRICKER Toru TANIGUCHI Anders HANSEN

15:05 Peter HANSON Retief GOOSEN Robert ALLENBY

15:16 Jim FURYK Koumei ODA Fredrik JACOBSON

15:27 Marc LEISHMAN Brandt SNEDEKER Alexander NOREN

15:38 Andres ROMERO Jbe KRUGER Richie RAMSAY

15:49 Ted POTTER JR Ian KEENAN Andrew GEORGIOU

16:00 Troy KELLY Morten Orum MADSEN Anirban LAHIRI

16:11 Prayad MARKSAENG Justin HICKS Ashley HALL

Friday's second-round tee times at Royal Lytham & St Annes

06:19 Bob ESTES Steven O'HARA Brendan JONES

06:30 Juvic PAGUNSAN Scott PINCKNEY Nicholas CULLEN

06:41 Steven ALKER Lee SLATTERY Russ COCHRAN

06:52 Tom LEHMAN Pablo LARRAZABAL Greg OWEN

07:03 Marcel SIEM George COETZEE Chez REAVIE

07:14 Marcus FRASER Lucas GLOVER Gregory HAVRET

07:25 Charles HOWELL III Paul BROADHURST Richard STERNE

07:36 Carl PETTERSSON KT KIM Gary WOODLAND

07:47 Ben CURTIS Paul CASEY Trevor IMMELMAN

07:58 Robert KARLSSON Mark WILSON Branden GRACE

08:09 Harris ENGLISH Simon DYSON Gonzalo FERNANDEZ-CASTANO

08:20 Angel CABRERA KJ CHOI Ross FISHER

08:31 Jonathan BYRD SM BAE Alvaro QUIROS

08:42 Nicolas COLSAERTS Hunter MAHAN John SENDEN

08:58 Bo VAN PELT Francesco MOLINARI Toshinori MUTO

09:09 Rory McILROY Louis OOSTHUIZEN Keegan BRADLEY

09:20 Rickie FOWLER Padraig HARRINGTON Manuel TRAPPEL (A)

09:31 Luke DONALD Phil MICKELSON Geoff OGILVY

09:42 Steve STRICKER Toru TANIGUCHI Anders HANSEN

09:53 Peter HANSON Retief GOOSEN Robert ALLENBY

10:04 Jim FURYK Koumei ODA Fredrik JACOBSON

10:15 Marc LEISHMAN Brandt SNEDEKER Alexander NOREN

10:26 Andres ROMERO Jbe KRUGER Richie RAMSAY

10:37 Ted POTTER JR Ian KEENAN Andrew GEORGIOU

10:48 Troy KELLY Morten Orum MADSEN Anirban LAHIRI

10:59 Prayad MARKSAENG Justin HICKS Ashley HALL

11:20 Barry LANE James DRISCOLL

11:31 Richard FINCH Garth MULROY

11:42 Matthew BALDWIN Adilson DA SILVA Tadahiro TAKAYAMA

11:53 Rafa ECHENIQUE Kodai ICHIHARA John HUH

12:04 Sandy LYLE Todd HAMILTON Mark CALCAVECCHIA

12:15 Alejandro CANIZARES Jeev Milkha SINGH Greg CHALMERS

12:26 John DALY Chad CAMPBELL Michael HOEY

12:37 Thongchai JAIDEE Justin LEONARD Simon KHAN

12:48 David DUVAL Raphael JACQUELIN Miguel Angel JIMENEZ

12:59 Stephen AMES Robert ROCK Kyle STANLEY

13:10 Stewart CINK Rafael CABRERA-BELLO Johnson WAGNER

13:21 Jamie DONALDSON Bill HAAS YE YANG

13:32 Davis LOVE III Tim CLARK Paul LAWRIE

13:43 Adam SCOTT Alan DUNBAR (A) Matt KUCHAR

13:59 Vijay SINGH Nick WATNEY Ian POULTER

14:10 Darren CLARKE Ernie ELS Zach JOHNSON

14:21 Lee WESTWOOD Yoshinori FUJIMOTO Bubba WATSON

14:32 Dustin JOHNSON Graeme McDOWELL Hiroyuki FUJITA

14:43 Tiger WOODS Justin ROSE Sergio GARCIA

14:54 Ryo ISHIKAWA Martin KAYMER Tom WATSON

15:05 Thomas BJORN Aaron BADDELEY Charl SCHWARTZEL

15:16 Jason DUFNER Martin LAIRD Kevin NA

15:27 James MORRISON Daniel CHOPRA Joost LUITEN

15:38 Thorbjorn OLESEN Troy MATTESON Thomas AIKEN

15:49 Brad KENNEDY Mardan MAMAT Steven TILEY

16:00 Warren BENNETT Aaron TOWNSEND Grant VEENSTRA

16:11 Dale WHITNELL Sam WALKER Elliot SALTMAN

Sicilian Open: Live leaderboard

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Sicilian Open leaderboard: Keep up to date with the latest scores

The European Tour is at the Verdura Golf and Spa resort this week for the Sicilian Open.

Raphael Jacquelin is the defending champion and you can keep track of all the latest scores right here.

CLICK HERE FOR THE LIVE LEADERBOARD

That winning feeling: Raphael Jacquelin took the Sicilian Open last year

That winning feeling: Raphael Jacquelin took the Sicilian Open last year