Optimism golfers will bring home medals from Orkney
THE Isle of Wight golf team is optimistic about securing medals at the Island Games in Orkney.
The team boasts a blend of experience and youthful enthusiasm, promising a strong showing.
Darren Masterton, the team manager and a veteran of the competition, expressed confidence in the squad's potential ahead of the games, which start on Saturday (June 12).
Advertisement
He described the team as a "fantastic mix of players with heaps of experience, skill, consistency, and youth."
Among the key players is Sophie Beardsall, who is set to make her tenth appearance at the games.
As the previous flag bearer for Team Isle of Wight, her ultimate aim is to secure a team gold medal.
Her sister, Caroline Johnson, will be making her debut at the games, eager to share the experience with her sister.
Another notable player is Lucy Burke, a former Island champion who will be competing in her fourth Island Games and is the ladies' team manager.
Read more:
The Shanklin and Sandown Golf Club player anticipates a challenging competition due to the weather conditions in Orkney.
Advertisement
However, she remains confident in the team's ability to adapt.
Lucy, 30, of Newport, said: "Really excited about the challenge ahead, but conditions will be a bit testing in Orkney.
"It'll be cold, wet, and windy, compared to the dry conditions here at the moment.
"On the Isle of Wight, you get used to the wind and the rain anyway, so I'd say we're all pretty good at most weather conditions.
"Our ladies team is probably the strongest we've had in a few years, and I think we have a very good chance of a medal."
The final member of the ladies' team is Sammi Keen, a seasoned Island Games competitor at just 32 years.
Advertisement
Having won a team silver medal at the Gotland Games in 2017, she is confident of adding to her medal tally.
Sammi said: "The course is going to be challenging, but I think with my experience playing in Freshwater, in the wind and rain, I'm hoping it'll be a bit of an advantage."
In the men's team, George Foreman, the 2022 Island champion, returns to compete after having managed the team for the past few Games.
He is eager to add to his team silver medal from 2011.
Conner Knight, the Isle of Wight scratch match play champion, is set to make his debut at the Island Games.
He is keen to make a significant impact both individually and as part of the team.
Advertisement
Chris Hayward, the current Island champion, is returning for his second games and is aiming for a top ten finish, with the hope of delivering some exceptional golf.
Lastly, Nat Riddett will be participating in his third Island Games.
Having finished in the top 13 in his previous games, he is determined to break into the top ten and possibly compete for a medal.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
43 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Ben Shelton advances to Round 4 of Wimbledon Championships
For the third time this year, Ben Shelton has reached the fourth round of a Grand Slam event; this time at the Wimbledon Championship. The former Florida Gators and current No. 10-ranked player in the world defeated Australian Rinky Hijikata in straight sets, 6-2, 7-5, 6-4 in Round 2 on Thursday/Friday, and he took down Hungarian Marton Fucsovics, 6-3, 7-6(4), 6-2 in the third round on Saturday. Advertisement Shelton reached the fourth round of Wimbledon a year ago only to fall in straight sets to World No. 1 Jannik Sinner. He'll have to defeat Italian Lorenzo Sonego to reach the quarter-finals this year, and his prize is a rematch against Sinner with even more at stake. Round 2: Shelton def. Hijikata (6-2, 7-5, 6-4) Shelton once again relied on his powerful left-handed score to cruise through the second round on Thursday. He hit 47 winners and 11 aces while winning 75% of first serves. A controversial suspension of play interrupted the dominant win, however. Both players asked for a stoppage earlier in the match due to fading light. When the umpire made the call with just one round left, both players and the fans erupted in protest. Advertisement Shelton channeled those frustrations into a win the very next day. He only needed one minute to secure the win, making good on the shot he called while pleading with the umpire the night before. Round 3: Shelton def. Fucsovics (6-3, 7-6(4), 6-2) Shelton continued his dominant run through the first weekend of Wimbledon by winning 81% of his first serves, delivering nine aces and zero double faults. It only took two hours for Shelton to advance, which is beneficial after losing a day of rest thanks to the stoppage during Round 2. During the match, Shelton sent serves at 145, 146, 147 and finally 148 mph. That would have broken the Wimbledon record for the fastest serve of all time, but Frenchman Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard had a 153 mph serve earlier in the week. Advertisement 'I had a lot of fun,' Shelton said. 'It's always special playing at Wimbledon. This is my third time playing on Court No 1. Hopefully I get a few more matches on one of these two big courts. I'm trying to make my way to Centre Court. Maybe I'll get there one day.' Do what he says, Morgan Stanley On a more lighthearted note, Shelton had some fun at a major investment bank's expense after his Round 3 win. "I've been playing well this week. It's not just been me here. I have a great team. My parents are here. My girlfriend's here. Also, my sister's here. She's been here for every match that I've played this tournament so far. She's been the lucky charm," Shelton said. Advertisement He made a plea to get his sister, Emma, some more time off work, with hopes of keeping the good luck rolling. "If any of y'all have some (connections) and get her a couple extra days off so she can (stay). We can keep this rolling, that'd be great," he said. The brief saga had a happy ending with Shelton posting an Instagram story seemingly confirming his sister's paid time off being approved. Smart move, Morgan Stanley. Follow us @GatorsWire on X, formerly known as Twitter, as well as Bluesky, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions. This article originally appeared on Gators Wire: Florida tennis alum Ben Shelton advances to Round 4 at Wimbledon
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
‘They stole it from me!': Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova fury as Wimbledon technical error costs her against Sonay Kartal
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova claimed that a game was 'stolen' from her in her fourth-round Wimbledon match with Sonay Kartal on Sunday, following a failure of the electronic line-calling (ELC) system. Britain's Kartal struck a ground shot well beyond the baseline, as proven by a video replay, but the new ELC technology had failed, meaning the error was not called. Advertisement • Follow Pavlyuchenkova vs Kartal live, plus other Wimbledon updates on Sunday A brief pause in action ensued, with neither player sure how to proceed, before the umpire addressed the crowd and picked up a phone and spoke to colleagues. After a few minutes, the umpire informed those present on Centre Court that the point would have to be replayed, despite the fact that it should clearly have been Pavlyuchenkova's – a point that would have seen her hold serve for a 5-4 lead in the first set. Pavlyuchenkova lost the ensuing point, battled back and forth with Kartal briefly, then ultimately lost the game. With that, Kartal broke serve and had a chance to serve for the set. Advertisement Former French Open runner-up Pavlyuchenkova, 34, stayed calm during the game but let out her frustration during the ensuing changeover. She told the umpire, 'Because she is local, they can say whatever. You took the game away from me,' with the official appearing to tell her that the rules around the system were to blame. 'They stole the game from me, they stole it,' Pavlyuchenkova replied. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova shows her frustration (Getty Images) In these situations, rare as they are, officials cannot rely upon or use the video replays that broadcasters show. Pavlyuchenkova in fact broke Kartal's serve in the next game to make it 5-5, before both players held serve to force a tiebreak. Pavlyuchenkova won that tiebreak, meaning her lost point cost her nothing in the long run, although it clearly caused her stress at the time and might have meant she had to expend more energy in what became a longer set. Advertisement Ultimately, in any case, the Russian secured victory in two sets. This year marks the first edition of Wimbledon to feature the ELC, which replaces human line judges after 147 years of their work at the grass-court grand slam. Electronic line calling was created by Hawk-Eye, the pioneering company leading the way in sports technology. The first Hawk-Eye system was developed by British computer expert Paul Hawkins in 2001, and has been deployed by multiple sports including cricket for leg-before-wicket decisions and football's goal-line technology. Hawk-Eye replays have been used in tennis since debuting at the US Open in 2006, allowing players to challenge questionable calls. But that will soon be a thing of the past as the same technology feeds back results in play, known as ELC or Hawk-Eye Live. The Australian and US Opens had already replaced line judges with electronic calling, although the French Open still relies on the human eye. That is a little easier at Roland Garros, where the ball's landing mark tends to show up on the dusty clay surface. Sonay Kartal in action against Pavlyuchenkova (Getty Images) Players have widely supported the rollout, and Wimbledon organisers felt the tournament could become antiquated if it failed to keep up with technological advances in the game. Advertisement ELC was first used as an experiment at the ATP Next Gen Finals in Milan in 2018, and was adopted more widely during the Covid-19 pandemic. It has been used on all courts across ATP Tour events in 2025. The ELC technology works by tracking balls using 18 cameras set up around the court. The cameras capture the ball's movement as a computer interprets the location in real time, producing an accurate three-dimensional representation of the court and the ball's trajectory within it. An automated voice mimics that of a line judge, with a loud call of 'out!', 'fault!' or 'foot fault' emitted within a tenth of a second. A video operator oversees the technology from an external room. Chair umpires continue to take their seat overlooking the court to enforce the rules of the game.
CNN
an hour ago
- CNN
Wimbledon hit with electronic line call controversy as Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova says game was ‘stolen' from her
Wimbledon organizers have apologized and explained that 'human error' was the reason behind the electronic line-calling system being turned off during a match on Sunday. During the first set of the fourth-round clash between Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Sonay Kartal on Centre Court, a backhand from Kartal went long but there was no 'out' call from the electronic system, which has replaced human line umpires at Wimbledon this year. Pavlyuchenkova, who was one point away from winning that game, stopped playing with the ball landing outside the court. Umpire Nico Helwerth called for the match to be paused, while the automated system said 'stop, stop,' leading to confusion from both players and the fans in attendance. Helwerth informed the crowd that he was going to check if the system was 'up and running' before spending time on the phone. After a short delay, he said that the electronic system 'was unfortunately unable to track the last point,' which was subsequently replayed. Kartal went on to win the point and break Pavlyuchenkova to take a 5-4 lead. In the change of ends, the Russian could be heard saying to Helwerth: 'You took the game away from me … they stole the game from me. They stole it.' The automated system did not pick up on balls landing out on three occasions in the game, with Helwerth calling the other two. The All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club (AELTC) said that Helwerth did not know the system had not been running. After the match had finished – with Pavlyuchenkova eventually winning 7-6(3), 6-4 to reach the quarterfinals – a spokesperson for the AELTC said that the system had been deactivated in error by 'those operating the system' and that a full investigation had taken place. 'We have apologized to the players involved,' the spokesperson said in a statement to CNN. 'We continue to have full confidence in the accuracy of the ball tracking technology. 'The live ELC (electronic line-calling) system relies on the Hawk-Eye operators, the Review Official and the technology to work in harmony. This did not happen. In this instance there was a human error and as a consequence we have fully reviewed our processes and made the appropriate changes.' It added that Helwerth had 'followed the established process' of replaying the point if the system goes down and it's unclear whether the ball was in or out. After booking her spot in the next round, Pavlyuchenkova called the whole situation 'confusing,' in particular when the umpire ordered the point to be replayed instead of awarding it to her. 'I think it's good to raise this subject for the future,' Pavlyuchenkova told reporters. 'Because if anything like that happens in a very important moment of the match, I think we should have a wire system like in football. Then it's clear for everybody and we can move on right away instead of just guessing.' The automated line-calling system has been a big talking point at this year's Wimbledon. Great Britain's top-ranked players – Jack Draper and Emma Raducanu – have both expressed their doubts about the system, with Raducanu calling it 'dodgy.' Switzerland's Belina Bencic said that the new automated system has been a topic of discussion among players in the locker room. The introduction of technology to replace line judges at Wimbledon follows many other tournaments around the world, including the Australian Open and the US Open. Following her win on Sunday, Pavlyuchenkova said that Helwerth 'probably was scared to take such a big decision' with the technology not working and called for more human intervention. 'That's why we have a chair umpire,' she said. 'Otherwise, I think soon let's just play without them and then we're going to have everything automatic. I think we are losing a little bit of the charm of actually having human beings, ballboys. 'Like during Covid, we didn't have ballboys. It just becomes a little bit weird and robot sort of orientated.'
