Thomas puzzled by 'bizarre' CJ Cup win
JEJU - Justin Thomas shot 9-under par in the opening round of the inaugural CJ Cup and said Sunday it was ‘bizarre’ he won three days later still on the same mark. Thomas shot a 63 in benign conditions in the first round and made the Nine Bridges course look ridiculously easy. It could not have been more different over the next three days as the wind whipped ferociously around the slopes of mountain Hallasan. Thomas was astounded that he finished on nine-under par and that it was still good enough to get him into a playoff against Marc Leishman. "It's bizarre that that happened," he said. "I never would have guessed it, especially after the first round. But it really was so, so difficult out there, especially the last two days when it was cold and hitting into the wind: your ball just goes nowhere."–AFP
South Korea's Ji takes LPGA Tour gold
TAIPEI - South Korea's Ji Eun-Hee bagged her first victory in eight years after beating former world number one Lydia Ko at the LPGA Taiwan Championship Sunday. Ji had maintained her lead throughout the tournament at the Miramar Golf Country Club in New Taipei city, clinching her win with a 7-under par 65 in Sunday's final round. It is the 31-year-old's third career win on the LPGA Tour and her first gold since the US Women's Open in 2009. "I was waiting for this moment for so long, so I'm super happy right now," said Ji. She finished 17-under par overall, six points ahead of runner-up Ko of New Zealand. Ko also shot an impressive bogey-free 7-under par, but it was not enough to close the gap on Ji. "I think we were all worried about the weather at one stage," said Ko.–AFP
Wapda in trouble against NBP in QAT
ISLAMABAD – Defending champions Wapda were in trouble against NBP in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy 2017-18 round five Pool-A match, as they finished day two at 181-9 here at Pinid Stadium on Sunday. M Saad slammed unbeaten 45 and skipper Salman Butt 39. Raza Hasan grabbed 4-43 while Hazrat Shah took 3-66 and Mushtaq Ahmed 2-24. Earlier, NBP were all out for 314 with Bilal Asif scoring 84, Ramiz Raja 64 and Kamran Ghulam 50. In another Pool A match at Diamond ground, Faisalabad Region scored 127-4. In Pool-B match at Abbottabad Stadium, Lahore Region Blues required 98 runs for victory against Peshawar Region with all 10 second innings’ wickets in hand, as they close the day at 1-0. Peshawar were bowled out for meager 65 in their second innings with Aizaz Cheema clinching 6-23.–Staff Reporter
Main round of SN Tennis begins today
ISLAMABAD – As many as 14 players qualified for the main rounds of the men’s singles and boys U-18 on the inaugural day of the Subh-e-Nau National Clay Court Tennis Championship 2017 here at Senator Dilawar Abbas PTF Tennis Complex on Sunday. Huzaifa Abdul Rehman, Kamran Nisar, Tahirullah, Jibarnulhaq, Ameerul Haq and M Shoaib qualified for the main round of men’s singles after winning three matches each. Eight players qualified for main round of the boys U-18 after winning two matches each. The winners were Bakhta Sajid Jamal, Hasan bin Musaffir, Abdul Rehman Ch, Abdullah Shafaqat, Kamran Khan, Muhammad bin Mufassir, Shaeel Tahir, Uzair Khan. The first round matches of ladies singles will be played at 2pm in which Sara Mahboob, Ushna Suhail, Sara Mansoor and others are featuring.–Staff Reporter
Lahore win Under-16 7s Rugby title
LAHORE – Lahore team won Pakistan Rugby Union (PRU) ‘Get into Rugby’ Under-16 National 7s Rugby Championship title here at Pakistan Rugby Academy on Sunday. Lahore dominated the final from first half against the Desert Camels Fort Abbas as captain Ismail scored a try to give Lahore lead which was equalized by Fort Abbas. Before end of second half, Lahore scored a try to register title victory. For the third position match, Muzaffargarh beat Faisalabad 10-5 while Lodhran thrashed Islamabad 15-0 to bad the fifth position. PRU president Chaudhry Arif Saeed was chief guest at the concluding ceremony and distributed prizes and trophies to the winners and runners-up teams.–Staff Reporter