Latest news with #Akie
The Sun
a day ago
- Sport
- The Sun
Akie Iwai wins Portland Classic to join twin sister as LPGA champion
JAPAN 's Akie Iwai carded a six-under 66 to secure her maiden LPGA victory at the Portland Classic. The win makes her the 10th first-time champion this season and the fifth Japanese player to lift a trophy. Iwai finished with a 24-under total of 264, four strokes clear of American Gurleen Kaur in second place. Kaur posted a bogey-free 65, her best LPGA round, but couldn't close the gap on the steady Iwai. Chisato Iwai, Akie's twin sister, charged up the leaderboard with an eight-under 64 to finish tied for third. Chisato had previously won the Riviera Maya Open in May, inspiring Akie to push for her own breakthrough. '(She) really inspired me,' said Akie, who also finished runner-up in Thailand and at the LA Championship this year. Akie started strong with birdies on the fifth and sixth, then added two more at the 11th and 14th. She sealed the win with back-to-back birdies on the final two holes, including an 18-footer at the last. 'Today I was able to conquer myself,' she said after the emotional victory. Chisato was the first to celebrate, rushing onto the green to spray champagne with her sister. 'Just watching, so nervous,' Chisato admitted as Akie closed out the win. Chisato's round included two eagles and four straight birdies, but an early bogey kept her from contention. Sweden's Linn Grant matched Chisato's 19-under total, while Australia's Grace Kim finished fifth at 18-under. The victory cements the Iwai twins as rising stars in women's golf. - AFP
New Straits Times
a day ago
- Sport
- New Straits Times
Akie Iwai's bogey-free final round earns first LPGA title at Portland
AKIE Iwai fired a bogey-free 6-under-par 66 on Sunday at Columbia Edgewater Country Club to breeze to the Standard Portland Classic title – the first LPGA win for the 23-year-old rookie from Saitama, Japan. Iwai opened the final round with a two-shot lead, but she birdied three of the final five holes to finish at 24-under-par 264 for a four-shot victory margin over Gurleen Kaur. Iwai joined her identical twin sister, Chisato, as first-time LPGA Tour winners this season. Chisato celebrated Akie's triumph Sunday by greeting her on the 18th green with champagne – repaying Akie's gesture when Chisato won the Mexico Riviera Maya Open in May. "So this year she won, so really inspired me," Akie said. "Yeah, that's why I do my best this year." Kaur, 25, authored a 7-under 65 on Sunday to claim her first second-place finish. She stood at 6-under through 10 holes to put some pressure on Akie Iwai. "I think it just shows I have the capability to win out here," Kaur said. "I was close today. I just need to keep that consistent momentum going and confidence for the future. Yeah, (a) second-place finish is pretty good. I'll take that." Chisato Iwai tied amateur Kiara Romero for the day's finest round – an 8-under 64 – to pull into a third-place tie with Sweden's Linn Grant at 19-under for the tournament. Grant equaled her best finish of the season and turned around recent struggles. She had missed the cut in three of her previous four events. "I think, like, for my mentality, it's just been nice to kind of be able to like see my vision like come alive sort of," Grant said. "Kind of see the shots I'm thinking and actually seeing them happening, too, and be able to, you know, really play with much more joy and more relaxed than the last couple months." Australia's Grace Kim, who started the day two strokes behind Akie Iwai, posted a 2-under 70 to finish alone in fifth at 18-under. India's Aditi Ashok posted a final-round 67 to finish sixth at 17-under. Romero, a 19-year-old University of Oregon junior, solidified her status as the world's No. 1 amateur by finishing in a tie for seventh at 16-under. "It feels great to just play really well (in) my first LPGA event," Romero said. "It was really cool just being out there and just having this big support group behind me and everybody kind of cheering me on and supporting me. Just helped a lot with everything. Made everything so much sweeter." — REUTERS
USA Today
a day ago
- Sport
- USA Today
Akie Iwai wins 2025 Standard Portland Classic, twin sister Chisato finishes ties for third
The LPGA was oh-so-close to having twin sisters finish 1-2 in a tournament. While that came up just short of happening, Sunday did produce the second half of twin wins in 2025. The winner of the 2025 Standard Portland Classic was Akie Iwai, an LPGA rookie who finished 23 under to win by four shots over Gurleen Kaur. She joins twin Chisato as a winner this season. Chisato won the 2025 Mexico Riviera Maya in May. Akie is older by one minute. Akie shot 67-67-64-66 at Columbia Edgewater to win for the first time on the LPGA. She went bogey-free on Sunday. She's now played in 17 events and has made 12 cuts. This week also marks her fourth top-10 finish. During a season when Japanese players won the first and last majors on the calendar, Akie is the latest from Japan to win on the LPGA. Chisato shot a final-round 64, the round of the day Sunday, and she finished 19 under, five back of big sister.
Asahi Shimbun
30-05-2025
- Politics
- Asahi Shimbun
Putin offers warm welcome to teary Akie Abe in Moscow
Russian President Vladimir Putin brought Akie Abe, the widow of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, to tears with his words as they met in Moscow on May 29. The Kremlin announced the meeting that day. During the meeting, Putin said that he is 'very grateful' to her late husband and will 'remember his contribution to the development of Russian-Japanese cooperation.' During Abe's tenure as prime minister, the two leaders held 27 summits. A portion of the meeting with Akie on May 29 was televised on Russia's state television, and Putin welcomed Abe's widow by giving her a bouquet of flowers. In the footage, Akie was seen shedding tears as she listened to Putin's words. According to the Russian state-run TASS news agency, Putin recommended that Akie see a ballet at the Bolshoi Theatre, one of Russia's most famous theaters. He even allowed Akie to use his personal limousine to travel to the theater. The unusually favorable treatment can be seen as Putin's move aimed at improving relations with Japan. It is also believed that the charm offensive is intended to bring Japan closer to Russia, which is under severe economic sanctions from the United States and Europe. According to the TV footage and the Kremlin's official website, Putin noted that Shinzo Abe and his father, former Foreign Minister Shintaro Abe, had focused on diplomatic efforts with the former Soviet Union and Russia. Putin said: 'I know his dream--and he pursued it earnestly--was concluding a peace treaty between our nations. We made significant progress together on this path.' But he added, 'The current situation differs; we will not address that aspect today.' It is believed that Putin said that while keeping in mind that Japan had imposed sanctions in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. In their conversation, Akie recalled Putin's visit to her husband's hometown of Yamaguchi Prefecture in December 2016 and said, 'The fact that (Shinzo) hosted you there demonstrates his particularly sincere attitude toward your country.' After prefacing that she is not a politician and does not wish to address political matters, Akie said that Russia is 'a very important neighbor' for Japan and that she hopes cultural exchanges continue. Abe focused intently on the disputed Japan-Russia Northern Territories negotiations and last met with Putin in September 2019. The former prime minister was shot and killed in July 2022 while giving a campaign speech in Nara, almost two years after resigning from office. At the time, Russia's full invasion of Ukraine had already begun and Putin did not attend Abe's state funeral in September that year in Tokyo. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi declined to comment on Akie's visit to Moscow at a news conference on May 30. 'The Japanese government has not had any correspondence with (Akie) and is not in a position to comment,' he said.
30-05-2025
- Politics
Putin Meets with Ex-Japan PM Abe's Widow in Moscow
News from Japan World May 30, 2025 10:22 (JST) Tokyo, May 30 (Jiji Press)--Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Akie Abe, the widow of the late former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, at the Kremlin in Moscow, the Russian presidential office has said. The meeting took place following an invitation from Russia, while Japan maintains its sanctions against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine. In an English announcement on the session released Thursday, the presidential office quoted Putin as saying that the former prime minister "contributed greatly to the development of Russian-Japanese relations." "I had very warm personal relations with him," Putin told Akie, adding that he remembers visiting Japan in 2016 to attend a bilateral summit with Abe in Yamaguchi Prefecture, Abe's home turf. Akie said that although her late husband hoped to meet with Putin after Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine, he died before being able to do so. [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.] Jiji Press
