RI wushu athlete Susyana wins bronze

Guangzhou - Indonesia`s wushu athlete Susyana Tjhan failed to grab a gold medal and had to be content with a bronze in the taolu event during the finals of the 16th Asian Games here on Tuesday.

Susyana who was initially expected to win a gold for the Indonesian contingent was only able to collect 9.66 points.

The gold medal in this event was won by Hong Kong`s wushu athlete Xiaoling Geng who collected 9.75 points. The silver went to Myanmar`s athlete who scored 9.67 points.

With the bronze won by Susyana, Indonesia ranked 17th in the overall medal tally. Indonesia had so far y won one silver and seven bronzes. (Uu.A014/HAJM/A014/P003)

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Vettel to renew Yas Marina affair with new tyres

Abu Dhabi - The newly-crowned Formula One drivers' world champion Sebastian Vettel will be united with perhaps his favourite circuit — Yas Marina — within days after the German achieved his awesome feat.

Vettel, who became the youngest champion when he outclassed three other rivals to win one of the most closely-fought title race on Sunday, partied late into the night and then left for a press conference in Salzburg. The Red Bull driver will however be back burning rubber on his favourite circuit, the only difference is that it will be the Pirelli tyres instead of the Bridgestone that were used on Sunday.

Next year's Formula One championship will be fought on Pirelli tyres and the Italian manufacturer start their winter-testing at the Yas Marina Circuit this Friday and Saturday. Each of the 12 F1 cars present will have eight sets of tyres available over the course of the two days.
Meanwhile, Red Bull owner Dietrich Mateschitz told Austrian TV ORG that Red Bull will allow Vettel to go if they can't provide him the right car. "He [Vettel] will be a World Champion a few more times provided he is sitting in the right car. We will do our best to give him that car and if we are not able to we will let him go somewhere where he can be champion again," said Mateschitz

Early testing
Red Bull are keen to extend Vettel's contract, which ends next year, until 2015. The Yas Marina Circuit will get busy even before Vettel and the other big stars test the Pirelli tyres as the official young driver testing starts today.

Virgin Racing will be giving Luiz Razia, Jerome D'Ambrosio and Rio Haryanto the opportunity to drive the 2010 CFD-designed VR-01. Razia will drive today morning and then D'Ambrosio takes over. Haryanto will drive the car for a full day tomorrow.

Davide Valsecchi, who won the GP2 race on Sunday, will also be driving while Paul di Resta, Yelmer Buurman and Antonio Felix da Costa will test for Force India. Sauber's representatives are Sergio Perez and Esteban Gutierrez while all eyes will be on Red Bull's Daniel Ricardo.

Sam Bird will be in the young driver line-up of Mercedes, Jean-Eric Vergne for Toro Rosso and Vladimir Arabadzhiev and Rodolfo Gonzalez for Lotus. Meanwhile, Williams said Brazilian driver Rubens Barrichello will be staying and confirmed that rookie Nico Hulkenberg is leaving.

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Force India upbeat about the future

Abu Dhabi - With Red Bull Racing having already claimed the Constructors Championship at the penultimate race itself, Sunday's Abu Dhabi Grand Prix not only crowned the Drivers' Champion but also decided two small battles in the Constructors' Championship.

McLaren-Mercedes and Ferrari were in the fight for the second place while lower down Williams and Force India were separated by just one point in their fight for the sixth position.

McLaren's Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button finished second and third respectively to Sebastian Vettel on Sunday and the 33 points they earned helped them push Ferrari to third in the Constructors' Championship.

Points haul
Martin Whitmarsh, McLaren Team Principal said: "We notched up 33 world championship points this evening, which is more than any other team scored today. That hefty points haul more than consolidated our second position in the constructors' world championship and indeed lifted us to a comfortable 58 points clear of our friends at Ferrari, who, as is so often the case, took the battle to us again this year."

After a closely-fought battle, Williams finished sixth to edge out Force India, with neither team having scored in Abu Dhabi on Sunday.

"To finish 12th and 16th from seventh and 15th is not something to be pleased about," Patrick Head, Williams' director of Engineering, said. "Ultimately, of the various goals for the weekend, the main one was to finish ahead of Force India and retain sixth in the championship, which we achieved."

Though Force India lost the sixth position to Williams, Dr Vijay Mallya, Chairman and Team Principal was optimistic.

"Sixty-eight points is something I, and the whole team, can take great personal pride in. When we bought the team we scored zero points the first year, then 13 last year and now more than five times that in 2010." (M. Satya Narayan)

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Harradine lifts Shaikh Rashid Trophy

Dubai - Michael Harradine kept his cool when it mattered most to win the Shaikh Rashid Trophy, organised by the Emirates Golf Federation, at the Jebel Golf Resort and Spa yesterday.

The 27-year-old defied the stamina-sapping heat and humidity to close with a tidy 73 to go eight-over-par 224 for the tournament which, in the end, was good enough to beat his nearest challenger Daniel Hendry by a good four shots.

Top Saudi golfer Othman Al Mulla made his present felt in the elite field, finishing third on a gross 229, four shots ahead of Abdullah Al Musharrekh, who became the first UAE national to post a podium finish since the inception of the tournament in 1998.

The tournament, sponsored by Jebel Ali Golf Resort and Spa, turned out be a huge success with almost all leading amateurs in the UAE and a couple of them from overseas contesting for honours at three different courses from the Championship tees.

It was Harradine who held the centre stage on the final day with a solid tee-to-green golf. "It feels great to win this prestigious tournament. Overall, I am very happy the way I played. Conditions were tough, but I managed to keep the ball in play and tried to hit the greens as much possible," he said.

Hendry, who shot a 76 in the final round, had his chances, but a double-bogey on the ninth proved to be crucial in the end.

Not giving any chances
"Michael and I were eight over at that stage, but after that two dropped shots, I just couldn't match pace with him. He really played well thereafter and never gave any chances. Well, beating the heat was another big challenge. Anyway, I am really glad with the second-place finish. No regrets." said the winner of the Emirates Golf Federation's Junior Order of Merit title.

Al Musharrakh, a member of the UAE national team, carded 77 to secure a creditable fourth-place finish. "I think I could have done much better, but made some stupid mistakes. You learn new things every day in golf. The experience of playing three days on the trot will come in handy in the future," he said.

Competition was held in net division with Martin Vertigen of Emirates Golf Federation taking the honours in Division A with back-to-back rounds of 74, just ahead of Hassan Musharrekh (73 and 75). Fred Watts walked away with the Division B title with rounds of 71 and 69.

Adel Zarouni, secretary-general of the Emirates Golf Federation, and Saeed Malek, who represented the Jebel Ali Golf Club owning family, presented the prizes.

"The Shaikh Rashid Trophy will be much bigger and better next year," said Zarouni. "Quite a few players from the UK, Bahrain, Tunisia, Morocco and other countries have already promised to sign up for the event next year. Even though the tournament has returned to domestic circuit after a gap of our years, there was no dearth of enthusiasm."

Scores
Winner (gross): Michael Harradine (Jebel Ali Golf Resort and Spa) eight over 224 2, Daniel Hendry (Emirates Golf Club) 12 over 228 3. Othman Al Mulla (Saudi Arabia) 13-over 229 4. Abdullah Al Musharrekh (Dubai Creek Golf and Yacht Club) 17-over 233 5. Douglas Maclennan (Arabian Ranches Golf Club) 18-over 234 Best Net Day 1 (Al Badia Golf Club): Fred Watts net 71 Best Net Day 2 (The Els Club): Fred Watts net 69 Best Gross Day 1 (Al Badia Golf Club: Othman Almulla gross 75 Best Gross Day 2 (The Els Club): Bret Armstrong (Al Badia Golf Club) 73 Division A (scratch to 10 handicap):

Nett winner: Martin Vertigen (Emirates Golf Federation) 74 74 Net runner-up: Hassan Al Musharrekh (Dubai Cree Golf and Yacht Club) 73 75 Division B (11-18 handicap):

Nett winner: Fred Watts (Arabian Ranches Golf Club) Net runner-up: John Watts (Arabian Ranches Golf Club)

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Harradine sets the pace in Order of Merit

Dubai - Michael Harradine of Emirates Golf Club set an early pace in the Emirates Golf Federation's Order of Merit for the 2010-11 season after carving up an impressive victory in the Shaikh Rashid Trophy which ended at the Jebel Ali Golf Resort and Spa on Saturday.

The 27-year-old golfer, who earned a maximum 30 points for his efforts, has opened up a six-point lead from Daniel Hendry, his fellow club member and the reigning Junior Order of Merit champion, while Abdullah Al Musharrakh is placed third with 22 points — two ahead of Arabian Ranches Golf Club's Douglas McLennan.

Khalid Yousuf, at present representing the UAE in the Eisenhower Trophy, is fifth place with 19 point, going into the Sharjah Wanderers Golf Club Men's Open, the second event on the Order of Merit on November 12 and 13.

"We had a great start to this season Order of Merit, thanks to the overwhelming response to the Shaikh Rashid Trophy," said Saeed Al Budoor, general manger of the Emirates Golf Federation.

"With as many as 12 events on this season's Order of Merit we can expect some intense fight developing before the finale in April. We welcome the addition of the Yas Links Men's Open, The Els Club Open and the Palm Sports Resort Open to the Order of Merit this season."

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Dubai World Championship: Rory ready

Dubai - Rory McIlroy, who finished second to Lee Westwood in the inaugural Race to Dubai last year, believes there is plenty to play for on the final stretch before the season-ending Dubai World Championship presented by DP World at Jumeirah Golf Estates from November 25-28.

McIlroy, currently 14th in The Race to Dubai, will return to European Tour action at the WGC - HSBC Champions in Shanghai next week, before playing the final two events on the International Schedule at the UBS Hong Kong Open and the Dubai World Championship.

"This year is a little different with Martin [Kaymer] so far ahead but there is still a lot of money to be played for before we get to Dubai and the guys in the top five or six will still be hoping to get some big results and catch him," said the Northern Irishman.

"We have Valderrama this week, then huge purses at the WGC - HSBC Champions and the Barclays Singapore Open, the UBS Hong Kong Open and then the Dubai World Championship itself where there is big money to be played for in the Bonus Pool. The top 15 is also important for people who want to secure places in Major and World Golf Championships next year, so there is plenty to play for."

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Tiger Woods keen to give back to Thailand

Bangkok - Tiger Woods says he's looking forward to giving something back to Thailand, his mother's home country, when he makes a quick visit for the first time in ten years to play a one-day skins tournament next month.

The November 8 event is part of celebrations to mark King Bhumibol Adulyadej's 60th year on the Thai throne.

Woods said in a statement released yesterday by organisers he hopes to "win it all" and sees the event as "a good opportunity to give something back" to Thailand. His last visit was in 2000.

Prize money for the one-day event goes to charities overseen by the 82-year-old king.

Eight birdies
Paul Casey of England, Camilo Villegas of Colombia and Thailand's top player, Thongchai Jaidee, will also compete in the event. In Malaysia, Ricky Barnes fired eight birdies in a faultless 63 to lead the CIMB Asia-Pacific Classic on Thursday by a stroke from fellow American Ryan Moore, adds AFP.

The lanky Californian coped best in the searing heat at the PGA Tour's inaugural event in Southeast Asia, rolling in putt after putt on an impeccable course at Kuala Lumpur's Mines Resort and Golf Club.

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