Sir Chris Hoy Wins Again for Nissan
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TUESDAY, AUGUST 18, 2015 SPORTS Lahiri optimistic of future KOHLER: Anirban Lahiri notched up India’s tournaments co-sanctioned by the European best-ever result at a major championship by Tour that carried more weight. finishing tied fifth at the PGA Championship His world ranking has surged from 195th to on Sunday, leaving him in no doubt he 38th with a spot on the Internationals team for belonged at golf’s top table with the game’s the Presidents Cup in October all but assured. current crop of rising stars. The biennial team event in South Korea would The 28-year-old closed with an assured final see Lahiri mix it again with Day and new world round of four-under-par 68 and a 13-under number one Spieth and the Indian said his PGA total on the notoriously tricky Whistling Straits display, where he out-performed second- track, seven shots back of winner Jason Day of ranked Rory McIlory, showed he had no reason Australia who held off double major winner to feel inferior. “I didn’t really feel out of place. I Jordan Spieth. think that’s a massive positive for me,” he said “It’s been a fantastic week,” Lahiri told of his Sunday display where he played along- reporters after eclipsing the previous Indian side world number 15 Matt Kuchar. major record of a tied ninth finish by Jeev “I felt really comfortable whoever I was Milkha Singh at the 2008 PGA Championship. playing with and whenever I was playing and “I won’t really say I was in contention here whatever I was doing, I felt very much at home. because I was a long way out but I was in the I think that’s a good sign.” Lahiri, though, was mix. It’s a great feeling, it’s massive for me. It already eyeing improvements. His second gives me so much confidence. “It also tells me bogey of the day came on his final hole on that I can compete with the best on the tough- Sunday and with it the opportunity to push for est courses and the best fields. It also tells me better playing opportunities. that I need to get just a little bit better and “It’s obviously the scoring aspect that I feel maybe I’ll be back here more often.” is lacking a little bit. I think that’s where I need Lahiri, who finished tied 30th at the British to tighten it up, just around the greens and Open and made the cut at his first Masters this make a few more 10 and 12-footers,” he said. “I year, has enjoyed a whirlwind 18 months. think a couple of shots better would have got He has won four times on the Asian Tour, my card on the PGA Tour. So a little bummed with two of those triumphs coming crucially in about that.” — Reuters Bubka and Coe — two legends battle to save track and field BEIJING: Two modern-day legends of track willing to step down from his role as an and field will battle to take over the presiden- ambassador for US equipment company Nike. cy of athletics’ world governing body next The manifestoes of the two former stars are WHISTLING STRAITS: Jason Day, of Australia, poses with the Wanamaker Trophy after winning the PGA Championship golf tournament. — AP week in the knowledge that they face a major not hugely differing to the layman, though overhaul to salvage the sport’s doping-blight- one major divergence is Coe’s insistence that ed face. Either Sergey Bubka or Sebastian Coe an independent drug-testing body be estab- Day seals major in record style will become president of the International lished. Bubka, who also won Olympic gold in Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) on 1988, would prefer to continue working with Wednesday after the body’s 214 member fed- the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). KOHLER: Australia’s Jason Day held his nerve to expense of Rory McIlroy. Day, who was a bogey at the eighth after driving into a bunker. erations vote, with incumbent Lamine Diack Interestingly, Coe went for the messen- end five years of close calls at the majors with an embraced by his pregnant wife Ellie as he made And he was in danger of dropping another stepping down after 16 years in charge at the ger’s jugular in the wake of ARD/Sunday emotional breakthrough victory by three shots his way off the green, became the fifth shot at the ninth after chunking a wedge age of 82. Times claims that more than 800 athletes over American Jordan Spieth at the PGA Australian to win the PGA Championship after approach shot from the middle of the fairway. Facing the Ukrainian 10-time world pole recorded suspicious blood tests between Championship on Sunday. World number five Steve Elkington (1995), Wayne Grady (1990), He pitched his third shot to nine feet and vault champion and British two-time Olympic 2001 and 2012. Day, two ahead of Spieth overnight, never relin- David Graham (1979) and Jim Ferrier (1947). sank the clutch putt to salvage par and go to the 1500m gold medallist is a monumental task of He described the finding as a “declaration quished his lead as he closed with a five-under- “It’s an amazing feeling,” a visibly emotional back nine with a spring in his step and a two- tackling the doping scourge that has rocked of war” against athletics, adding that the cov- par 67 on a blustery afternoon of hazy sunshine Day told CBS Sports after being presented with shot lead. athletics. The IAAF has in recent weeks been erage was “wrong” and showed “a breathtak- at Whistling Straits to post a major record low of the coveted Wanamaker Trophy, which he hoist- Day picked up further shots at the 11th and at the centre of allegations of widespread ing ignorance or a level of malevolence”. 20-under 268. ed high in celebration. 14th to move four strokes clear and could afford cheating and suspicious blood tests involving Bubka, however, avoided taking aim at the The previous best at a major was the 19- “Winning the PGA Championship is very spe- the luxury of a bogey on 15 before finishing hundreds of athletes. The Monaco-based media outlets, instead reiterating his calls for body has responded whole-heartedly, calling more transparency and admitting that the under 269 by Tiger Woods when he triumphed cial. I felt no one was going to stop me today. I birdie-par-par. the claims “sensationalist and confusing”. IAAF needed to be “more proactive”. by eight shots in the 2000 British Open at St. played fantastic, through the whole round. Even Spieth, who ended his remarkable 2015 cam- In much the same way as football’s world Both men have some serious experience Andrews. though I made a couple of mistakes, I really felt paign in the majors with two wins, a tie for body FIFA has been torn apart by allegations of sports management and are masters in Day fended off the challenge of Spieth, who good about my game. “Just to be able to finish fourth and a runner-up spot, was lavish in his of corruption, with Sepp Blatter agreeing to confidently holding their own in the public had been bidding for a rare third major victory with a birdie on 16 and two pars on 17 and 18 praise for Day’s performance in the final round. stand down as president as a result of the fall- domain. in the same year, with four birdies in the first sev- felt fantastic. I never expected to be here. I can’t “He was sitting there swinging as hard as he out, the IAAF finds itself in turbulent waters. Bubka, 51, has been involved with the en holes, followed by three more after the turn. say anything else because I’m going to cry.” could off the tee, and every single drive was And rarely can someone be parachuted IAAF since 2001 and has served as vice-presi- The 27-year-old Australian, who had previ- South African Branden Grace, who pulled right down the middle of the fairway,” said the into a job at such a pivotal time in a sport dent since 2007. He has also been president ously recorded nine top-10 finishes in the within a shot of Day’s lead after making four 22-year-old American. craving more public and media interest and of Ukraine’s National Olympic Committee in majors-six of them in the top four- had to wipe birdies in five holes from the third, signed off “Jason ... it was his day. He played like a cham- support in a world so dominated by football. Ukraine since 2005 and a member of the tears from his eyes before he tapped in a one- with a 69 to place third at 15 under. pion and he fully deserved this win.” McIlroy, Insiders say the race is too close to call. Bubka, International Olympic Committee (IOC) since foot putt for par on the 18th green. Spieth, the back in action this week to defend his PGA 51, is standing for both the presidency and 1999. He decided, rather ambitiously, to run Masters and US Open champion, had to settle CONFIDENT START Championship crown after being sidelined with the vice-presidency, the 58-year-old Coe just for IOC president in 2013, but lost to current for second after closing with a 68 and securing Day made a confident start to the final round, an ankle injury, shot 69 to finish 17th at nine the former, having announced he was also head Thomas Bach.