NASUKARASUYAMA, Tochigi Pref. — Seasoned veteran Toru Taniguchi didn't feel like he had an under-par round but still posted a 2-under 70 Friday to take a three-shot lead at the halfway point of the Japan PGA Championship.Taniguchi, who counts three majors among his 17 JGTO Tour wins, had a 9-under 135 total, while crowd favorite Ryo Ishikawa missed the cut by two strokes at Karasuyamajo Country Club in Tochigi Prefecture.As he did in the first round, Taniguchi birdied all four par-5 holes and made two other birdies against four bogeys.But the 44-year-old was disgusted with the way he finished the round."I made so many silly errors, I didn't feel like I shot under par today," said Taniguchi, the 2010 winner of the tournament. "I made a lot of birdies, but those bogeys ruined my day."I missed the green with my second shot on the (par-4) 18th and wound up with a bogey. That was embarrassing. Even amateur golfers can hit the green from where I hit."I want to play more aggressively, but I can't do that when I'm hitting the ball like today. I have to fix my mechanics for the final two rounds."Keiichiro Fukabori matched the day's low with a bogey-free 66 to sit alone in second.He produced a birdie-birdie finish while making the cut for the first time in four events this season."I couldn't control the distance of my shots earlier this season," Fukabori said. "But I've finally found my distance control. My ball striking and putting were both solid today."Yoshikazu Haku (68), Akinori Tani (69), Yasuki Hiramoto (69) were tied for third at 5 under.Yuta Ikeda barely made the cut as a 69 put him at 1 over, but Ishikawa finished two more strokes behind after a 73.The top 62 players advanced to the weekend. The winner will earn ?30 million from the ?150 million yen Sunday as well as a five-year exemption on the tour.FUKUOKA — China's Feng Shanshan took the opening-round lead at the Fudokin Ladies with a bogey-free 67 on Friday.Feng dropped five birdies at the Fukuoka Country Club to finish the day three strokes ahead of Park In Bee of South Korea. Sitting one shot behind Park are four others, including Ahn Sun Ju, who is aiming for a victory for the second straight weekend.Ahn won the World Salonpas Cup last week for the second straight year in a playoff over Park and Morgan Pressel.The best Japanese performers of the round were Mihoko Iseri and Rikako Morita, who joined Ahn and another Korean, Jeon Mi Jeong, in third place. Defending champion Miki Saiki was off to a rough start, shooting a 6-over 75.
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Saturday, May 12, 2012
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
City opens new year with surprise loss to Sunderland
LONDON — Manchester City gave its title rivals renewed hope on Sunday by slumping to a second Premier League defeat of the season, conceding a last-gasp goal to lose 1-0 to Sunderland and cap a weekend of surprise results.
Stunner: Sunderland's Ji Dong Won (left) celebrates his goal with teammate Sebastian Larsson on Sunday at the Stadium of Light. Sunderland edged Premier League leader Manchester City 1-0. AP PHOTOManchester United's shock 3-2 defeat by bottom team Blackburn on Saturday handed City the chance to pull clear at the top but the cross-town rivals remain locked together on points at the halfway stage of the season after Ji Dong Won's dramatic winner at the Stadium of Light.Four seconds of the three minutes of stoppage time were remaining when the South Korea striker tapped into an empty net after rounding City goalkeeper Joe Hart.The impact of City's defeat will also be felt in London, with third-place Tottenham six points behind with a game in hand despite its 1-1 draw at Swansea on Saturday.Arsenal is three points further back in fourth while even Chelsea, which was upset 3-1 at home to Aston Villa on Saturday, and Liverpool might still feel in contention 11 points off the lead.In Sunday's other game, Everton climbed into the top half of the table by beating West Bromwich Albion 1-0 thanks to substitute Victor Anichebe's 87th-minute winner.Ji's goal, which came with a suspicion of offside, came even later to continue City's recent wobbles in the league.After looking irrepressible early in the season in its hunt for a first title since 1968, Roberto Mancini's side has won only two of its last five matches.Even the goals, which flowed in record style for the first four months of the campaign, have dried up, with the Sunderland defeat coming hot on the heels of a 0-0 draw at West Brom on Monday."We deserved to win this game," Mancini said. "It's incredible . . . I don't know how many chances we had."Micah Richards missed the best of them, the substitute defender heading downwards and onto the bar with the goal at his mercy in the 88th minute. Earlier, Edin Dzeko had wasted a number of chances in both halves, crashing a shot against the bar with one in the 34th minute."We knew we were going to have withstand ferocious pressure from Manchester City. We did it and we did it remarkably well," said Sunderland manager Martin O'Neill, whose team climbed three places to 13th.The O'Neill effect has lifted the gloom at Sunderland, with the team winning three of its five matches since the Northern Irishman replaced Steve Bruce as manager at the start of December."We've got the belief going into games that we're going to win now," Sunderland captain Lee Cattermole said.City will look to bounce back when it hosts Liverpool on Tuesday, when Mancini will no doubt recall Sergio Aguero and David Silva to the starting lineup after the attacking pair were used as second-half substitutes against Sunderland.City also plays Tottenham in the league this month and has a mouthwatering F.A. Cup third-round match at home to United to come on Sunday.Anichebe came off the bench to grab his first goal since March 2010, pouncing on a poor defensive header by West Brom midfielder Paul Scharner to score from close range.It was the Nigeria striker's first appearance since injuring himself on international duty at the start of September."He's not even had a reserve game," Everton manager David Moyes said. "He's a big-time player because of what he can do and what he brings to us."LONDON — Gary Ablett, the only player to win the F.A. Cup with both Liverpool and Everton, has died. He was 46.The former defender died on Sunday night after a 16-month fight against non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, a type of blood cancer, England's League Managers Association said Monday."There was also a steely determination about Gary," said Paul Walsh, who played alongside Ablett at Liverpool. "You don't get in the Liverpool team and come through the ranks at Liverpool and play 100 times for them if you haven't got that little bit of steel."While never appearing for the England national team, Ablett won the league championship twice and the F.A. Cup in 1989 during a 147-game stint at Liverpool between 1986 and 1992.He made the rare switch to neighbor and rival Everton in 1992.
Stunner: Sunderland's Ji Dong Won (left) celebrates his goal with teammate Sebastian Larsson on Sunday at the Stadium of Light. Sunderland edged Premier League leader Manchester City 1-0. AP PHOTOManchester United's shock 3-2 defeat by bottom team Blackburn on Saturday handed City the chance to pull clear at the top but the cross-town rivals remain locked together on points at the halfway stage of the season after Ji Dong Won's dramatic winner at the Stadium of Light.Four seconds of the three minutes of stoppage time were remaining when the South Korea striker tapped into an empty net after rounding City goalkeeper Joe Hart.The impact of City's defeat will also be felt in London, with third-place Tottenham six points behind with a game in hand despite its 1-1 draw at Swansea on Saturday.Arsenal is three points further back in fourth while even Chelsea, which was upset 3-1 at home to Aston Villa on Saturday, and Liverpool might still feel in contention 11 points off the lead.In Sunday's other game, Everton climbed into the top half of the table by beating West Bromwich Albion 1-0 thanks to substitute Victor Anichebe's 87th-minute winner.Ji's goal, which came with a suspicion of offside, came even later to continue City's recent wobbles in the league.After looking irrepressible early in the season in its hunt for a first title since 1968, Roberto Mancini's side has won only two of its last five matches.Even the goals, which flowed in record style for the first four months of the campaign, have dried up, with the Sunderland defeat coming hot on the heels of a 0-0 draw at West Brom on Monday."We deserved to win this game," Mancini said. "It's incredible . . . I don't know how many chances we had."Micah Richards missed the best of them, the substitute defender heading downwards and onto the bar with the goal at his mercy in the 88th minute. Earlier, Edin Dzeko had wasted a number of chances in both halves, crashing a shot against the bar with one in the 34th minute."We knew we were going to have withstand ferocious pressure from Manchester City. We did it and we did it remarkably well," said Sunderland manager Martin O'Neill, whose team climbed three places to 13th.The O'Neill effect has lifted the gloom at Sunderland, with the team winning three of its five matches since the Northern Irishman replaced Steve Bruce as manager at the start of December."We've got the belief going into games that we're going to win now," Sunderland captain Lee Cattermole said.City will look to bounce back when it hosts Liverpool on Tuesday, when Mancini will no doubt recall Sergio Aguero and David Silva to the starting lineup after the attacking pair were used as second-half substitutes against Sunderland.City also plays Tottenham in the league this month and has a mouthwatering F.A. Cup third-round match at home to United to come on Sunday.Anichebe came off the bench to grab his first goal since March 2010, pouncing on a poor defensive header by West Brom midfielder Paul Scharner to score from close range.It was the Nigeria striker's first appearance since injuring himself on international duty at the start of September."He's not even had a reserve game," Everton manager David Moyes said. "He's a big-time player because of what he can do and what he brings to us."LONDON — Gary Ablett, the only player to win the F.A. Cup with both Liverpool and Everton, has died. He was 46.The former defender died on Sunday night after a 16-month fight against non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, a type of blood cancer, England's League Managers Association said Monday."There was also a steely determination about Gary," said Paul Walsh, who played alongside Ablett at Liverpool. "You don't get in the Liverpool team and come through the ranks at Liverpool and play 100 times for them if you haven't got that little bit of steel."While never appearing for the England national team, Ablett won the league championship twice and the F.A. Cup in 1989 during a 147-game stint at Liverpool between 1986 and 1992.He made the rare switch to neighbor and rival Everton in 1992.
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