
Work on improving your short game
Alex Smalley hits from the bunker during the the PGA. Holding the club open, you can concentrate hard on keeping it low to the ground after impact. — AP
It won't be long before you'll see your scores come down
WORK hard on your short game and not long afterwards you'll see that you've really improved your scores. Follow us on our official WhatsApp channel for breaking news alerts and key updates!
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The Star
a day ago
- The Star
Rosman stays put to produce women's doubles champs
Great show: Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah in action against China's Li Jiying-Luo Xumin during their semi-final match at the Indonesian Open. — AP PETALING JAYA: National women's doubles head coach Rosman Razak is not planning to jump ship but will stick with the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) until the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games. Rosman is fully aware of his task and he aims to remain firm in his objective of guiding all the shuttlers under his care until 2028 regardless of any decision made by his players to turn professional. Currently, his top pair and world No. 3 Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah have yet to sign a contract with the BA of Malaysia and there is a possibility that they could turn independent. Rosman is not letting his charges' ongoing unresolved contract distract him from his task at hand. 'Whatever the outcome of Pearly-Thinaah's contracts, I can't afford to think about this as it will affect me too,' said Rosman after overseeing a training session at the Academy Badminton Malaysia (ABM) in Bukit Kiara yesterday. 'I don't know the future but as long as they are training under me, I will do my best to guide them and keep working hard towards the biggest goal which is the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. 'BAM hired me for this and my responsibility is not just towards Pearly-Thinaah but also the other women's doubles pairs in the team.' Despite the contract issue, Rosman did well to guide Pearly-Thinaah to a runners-up finish in the recent Indonesian Open. The pair made it into their first ever World Tour Super 1000 final before going down fighting 25-23, 12-21, 19-21 to China's world No. 1 Liu Shengshu-Tan Ning. 'Pearly-Thinaah did not win the title but I'm happy with their performance in this tournament,' said Rosman. 'It's a good breakthrough for them and also a boost for the entire women's doubles department. I hope they can maintain their form. 'For me, it's normal for players to go through ups and downs. We need to support them more when they are struggling than when they are winning.' Pearly-Thinaah will next compete in the back-to-back Japan Open (July 15-20) and China Open (July 22-27).


The Star
2 days ago
- The Star
Cancer survivor Chen an ideal role model for Aidil and other aspiring shuttlers
True fighter: Taiwan's Chou Tien-chen is the epitome of resilience and discipline. — AP PETALING JAYA: Taiwanese shuttler Chou Tien-chen is indeed an ideal role model for youngsters in Malaysia. The 35-year-old Tien-chen defied his age to reach the Indonesian Open final before going down 20-22, 14-21 to Denmark's Anders Antonsen at the Istora Senayan in Jakarta on Sunday. Independent singles coach Nova Armada believes that Tien-chen's never-say-die spirit should be an example to all shuttlers in Malaysia. Tien-chen, who does not have a coach, sometimes trains at Nova's training centre, Sports Affairs and this arrangement has also benefited the Indonesian's charge Aidil Sholeh Ali Sadikin, who gets the opportunity to spar with the Taiwanese. 'Tien-chen is very disciplined and mentally strong. 'He lost in the early rounds in the Malaysian Masters and Singapore Open (before the Indonesian Open) but refused to give up,' said Nova. 'He bounced back strongly and managed to perform well in the Indonesian Open despite his age. He is a great example to young players like Aidil. 'Aidil is only 25 and needs to emulate Tien-chen's spirit and mentality.' Tien-chen pulled off stunning wins over Thailand's world No. 1 Kunlavut Vitidsarn and China's world No. 4 Li Shifeng en route to the final in Indonesia. Tien-chen's performance was all the more remarkable as he was diagnosed with colorectal cancer in 2023. The world No. 7 fought to survive and continued playing badminton, enjoying a remarkable renaissance last year. Tien-chen captured the Arctic Open and Thailand Masters titles last year and finished runner-up in the Japan and Swiss Opens. He also narrowly lost to Singapore's Loh Kean Yew at home in the Taiwan Open final last month. Nova hopes Aidil can take inspiration from Tien-chen and keep improving after reaching a career-high No. 47 in the rankings recently. Aidil is currently Malaysia's No. 4 player in the men's singles behind world No. 15 Lee Zii Jia, Leong Jun Hao (No. 25) and Justin Hoh (No. 43). 'My target is for Aidil to break into the top 40 first this year. Then, hopefully he can move up into the top 32 latest by next year,' said Nova. 'I also want him to try to qualify for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.' Aidil will compete next in the Macau Open from July 29-Aug 3.


New Straits Times
4 days ago
- New Straits Times
No.1 Scheffler sizzling with three wins heading into US Open
OAKMONT, United States: Top-ranked Scottie Scheffler enters next week's US Open with three victories in four starts, including a third career major title, and will be the man to beat at Oakmont. The 28-year-old American won last month's PGA Championship at Quail Hollow after capturing Masters green jackets in 2022 and 2024 and has three top-seven finishes in his past four US Open starts. "Scottie is obviously the best there is right now," US rival Rickie Fowler said. "He's someone that obviously has proven he's in very much control of his game." Scheffler defended his title last week at the PGA Memorial tournament, his ninth win in a row when leading after 54 holes, and won the Byron Nelson last month by matching the lowest 72-hole stroke total in PGA Tour history. After winning nine times last year, including Paris Olympic gold, and bouncing back from a right hand injury that sidelined him for a month at the start of this season, Scheffler has found his most dominant form. He won by eight strokes at the Byron Nelson, five shots at the PGA for his largest major win margin and four at the Memorial. "Look at the record he has had the last few years. It's unbelievable," said 18-time major winner Jack Nicklaus, the Memorial host. "He'll compete to what he has to do. He doesn't want to brag about what he does but he has the ability to bring his level to whatever level it needs to be. That's what good players do. And he's not a good player. He's a great player." American Ben Griffin, who has won twice in the past two months and finished second at Memorial, was a junior rival of Scheffler. "He definitely wasn't as dominant as he is now," Griffin said. "He has just really perfected his craft and really loves the grind and is always trying to get better, so that's what separates him so much from a lot of guys is he has just put in so many hours of being pretty much a robot." Such relentless form, Scheffler said, comes from being patient and smart when playing with the lead. "I try and bring the same level of intensity to Thursday as you do Sunday," Scheffler said. "So when you're coming out here late on Sunday, nothing really changes for me because I try to bring that intensity to the first tee on Thursday." Fellow shotmakers remain most impressed at just how well Scheffler can control his golf ball when it matters most. "The way that he can control his distances with different trajectories, different shapes, I think that's pretty impressive," Austrian Sepp Straka said of Scheffler. "With his iron shots, that's probably the most impressive thing. But it's a long list of things that makes him impressive. That's why he's as good as he is." Three-time major winner Jordan Spieth, says Scheffler's trademark consistency comes from what he can do with the face of his club. "His consistency is ridiculous," Spieth said. "And then that just leads to his distance control being phenomenal. It's elite consistency because his tempo and club face control yields these kind of results." — AFP