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Irish Examiner
a day ago
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
Portrush Open victory last of old monkeys to shake from Rory McIlroy's back
It wouldn't be true to say that the 153rd Open Championship will only start when Rory McIlroy steps up to the first tee on Thursday afternoon. It just feels like that. Of the 156 players at this event, 135 will have already taken to the Dunluce links course here on the north Antrim coast before him, starting with Pádraig Harrington who accepted the honour of taking the first shot at the ungodly hour of 6.35am. But McIlroy's first swing is the moment everyone is waiting for. The reigning Masters champion and Grand Slam conqueror expressed his amazement earlier this week at the fact that six years have flown by since this prestigious competition returned to this course and to Northern Ireland for the first time in decades. And he's right. It feels like yesterday. To walk around this place here, past that first tee box and across the opening fairway is to shake your head with wonder all over again at just how exactly this magical golfer managed to find the out-of-bounds on the left and card an opening quadruple bogey. He has admitted to being caught off guard by the swell of support and the frisson of excitement that swirled around him back in 2019. So you could argue that, with the Masters and Slam secured, this is maybe the last of the old monkeys to shake from his back. 'You know, he's going to play 72 holes,' Harrington reminded us on Wednesday. You wouldn't bet on some having to play 76. It's ten years since the last four-hole playoff at this tournament, when Zach Johnson edged out Marc Leishman and Louis Oosthuizen at St Andrews. And four of the last five hostings have been won by one or two strokes. There are five Irish players in the field here, and Shane Lowry will fancy his chances of a 2019 repeat and lifting that Claret Jug again, but McIlroy remains the North Star on this stretch of coastline in north Antrim. It's six years since Shane Lowry's Open victory at Portrush. Picture: Ben Brady/Inpho It's 18 years since Harrington won his first Open and McIlroy took home the silver medal as the leading amateur. The Dubliner predicted great things for the younger man that day — not a stretch — but even he couldn't foresee the extent of achievement that was to come. 'I really went out on a limb, didn't I?' he laughed on Wednesday in a chat with the Irish media. 'Look, we all knew about Rory for probably five, six years before that. He would have been on the radar. 'Obviously he's delivered on that, and that's hard. There's many a star in all sorts of sports that, for whatever reason, when they get going, it just doesn't happen. Rory delivered on that. To win a Grand Slam is incredible. 'Who would have thought that? And hopefully, maybe with Tom McKibbin and others coming behind, we do need to fill that void. That's the one thing we're missing in Ireland: we don't have that next bunch of guys on the tour. 'When I went out on tour there was 15 Irish guys. Only Conor Purcell's on the European Tour at the moment. So we do need a bunch of players to get out there and be the next generation. But for the moment let's hope that previous generations still have a few in them.' There was the hint of a twinkle in his eye as he said that, but there are so many contenders for the title here and, if some of the leading men are obvious, then there isn't anyone absolutely head and shoulders above the rest in terms of odds or expectations. Scottie Scheffler starts as favourite. Natch. Remarkably, the world number one was asked a question about slumps this week despite being the reigning US PGA champion, winning as recently as May and claiming three top tens in his three outings since. Some slump and yet he clearly hasn't been playing to his absolute best. Find that here and there won't be many can live with him although the likes of an in-form McIlroy, Jon Rahm, reigning champion Xander Schauffele and Bryson DeChambeau will all have their backers. Two-time Open champion Pádraig Harrington will be fiirst to tee off on Thirsday morning. Picture: Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile Then again, this is a tournament that can chuck up winners from, if not left field then out of central casting. Think of Brian Harman, Francesco Molinari and Henrik Stenson in the last ten years alone. And JJ Spaun is here as US Open champion. Even he didn't see that coming. For all the talk of links golf and its unique nature and unfamiliar demands, the famous jug has gone back to America 13 times since the millennium. There have been South African, Australian, Swedish and Italian champion golfers in that same time. Unpredictable winds and bounces don't hold much regard for nationality, although the expected weather conditions this week, while mixed, could probably do with a stiffer breeze to make for the ideal test on a course that has been love-bombed all week. Harrington summed it up as a perfect mix of risk versus reward, a track where players are asked a multiplicity of different questions on every shot and hole and one that, as a result, promises plenty of drama for player and spectator alike. And to think, then, that we haven't even widened the lens on all this yet to take in the enormity of a second Open on Irish soil in just six years. This is enormous. Epic. Just maybe don't mention as much to McIlroy any time before ten-past three in the afternoon. Read More Rory McIlroy more at peace with his mind and his game on return to Royal Portrush
Global News
2 days ago
- Health
- Global News
A year after report into boy's torture, death, B.C. still laging on reforms: Advocate
WARNING: This story deals with situations that may be distressing to some readers. Discretion is advised. One year after releasing a report into the horrific abuse and death of an 11-year-old boy, British Columbia's representative for children and youth says the province must do more to protect kids in government care. The report, titled Don't Look Away – How one boy's story has the power to shift a system of care for children and youth, profiled the preventable death of 'Colby' (a pseudonym to protect his privacy), an Indigenous boy born with medical challenges and who was placed in multiple foster homes. 2:02 B.C. boy's story of torture, neglect has power to inspire reform: report He ultimately died in February 2021 while in the care of two extended family caregivers, four days after suffering repeated beatings from his mother's aunt. When he died, he had multiple fractures and injuries to his brain, head, lungs, organs and skin — and weighed just 63.5 pounds (28.8 kilograms), not much more than half the weight of an average child his age. Story continues below advertisement The report, penned by representative for children and youth Jennifer Charlesworth, called for an overhaul of the province's child welfare system, including more family support services, improved violence prevention resources, better support for people providing kinship care and improved collaboration between agencies. 'Our hope was that it would point government in the direction of not just tweaking at the edges, but actually substantively shifting their approach to child, youth and family services, what we called the 'North Star' with a different way of thinking about things and with a much deeper focus on child wellbeing, which of course brings in mental health, health care, education, poverty reduction,' Charlesworth said Tuesday. Get daily National news Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy But Charlesworth said despite some progress, the province has a long way to go. She said the province has yet to produce a child wellbeing strategy and action plan, nor a timeline for a first draft. And she said that despite welcome efforts by the province to improve staffing, much of the new hiring so far has been to fill vacancies, not to expand the workforce enough to deliver the kinds of services that are necessary. 2:29 Torture, death of boy in care prompts demand for change from B.C. watchdog Charlesworth said her concerns were further exacerbated by the current economic climate which is simultaneously putting more pressure on low-income families, while creating pressure for the government to cut services just as they're needed most. Story continues below advertisement 'We see on a daily basis that in the absence of doing the preventive services, we see very expensive services needed to be provided when a child is older, when the family is in a significant state of crisis or when the child has come into care,' she said. 'It's going to require an infusion of resources to support families in the short term in order to achieve better outcomes in the longer term — but if our kids aren't thriving, if they are struggling, and if we've got families that are falling to pieces and unable to care for their children, there are significant social, emotional, and financial costs attached to that.' Minister of Children and Family Development Jodie Wickens told Global News the province has fulfilled nearly two-thirds of the report's recommendations, and remains committed to implementing the rest. 'Minister (Grace) Lohr stood up at the time and apologized on behalf of government, and we took action immediately,' she said. 'So there are a number of small, quick actions that our government and my ministry took. And then there are larger systemic actions that will take much longer, some of which that are generational in nature.' 2:54 Father of boy who died in foster care demands accountability The province has improved integration between ministries and renewed its commitment to First Nations self-determination. Story continues below advertisement Critics say the improvements to the system aren't enough. 'It's on the brink of collapse, the brink of functional collapse. And in Colby's case we can directly attribute the lack of staffing to his death,' said BC Conservative children and family development critic Amelia Boultbee. 'Many children are currently not safe in the system that MCFD currently has designed, especially due to staffing.' The province was currently working on a child and youth wellbeing plan and outcomes framework. If you require emotional support the following resources are available: Kid's Help Phone (1-800-668-6868, or text CONNECT to 686868) is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week to Canadians ages five to 29 who want confidential and anonymous care from a counsellor. KUU-US Crisis Line (1-800-588-8717) is available to support Indigenous people in B.C., 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The Métis Crisis Line (1-833-638-4722) is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Youth in BC ( Online Chat is available from noon to 1 a.m. in B.C. Mental Health Support Line (310-6789 – no area code) will connect you to your local B.C. crisis line without a wait or busy signal, 24 hours a day. Crisis line workers are there to listen and support you as well as refer you to community resources. Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls Crisis Line (1-844-413-6649) is available to individuals impacted by missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls and LGBTQ2+ people, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The National Indian Residential School Crisis Line (1-866-925-4419) provides 24-hour crisis support to former Indian Residential School students and their families.
Economic Times
2 days ago
- Sport
- Economic Times
Test Match: India's transition jigsaw - A work in progress
There is little to no shame in being 2-1 down to England, in their backyard, with two Tests to play. Behind the scenes, Brendon McCullum thinks like a chess player, even if the execution is occasionally ninja-style. Fronting up is Ben Stokes, who will put his body on the line, wearing blows when at the crease, or bowling himself into the dust because the situation warrants it. Around these two, England have built a unit that is formidable in conditions that abet their style of yet, India will be kicking themselves. For they have no real business being 2-1 down in this series. They lost a Test they shouldn't have, picked a team for a draw and won and then seemed to get the balance right on the third try, dominated the opposition in a calculated manner for the most part, and still ended up losing. This Indian team is in transition, it is well worth remembering. This is their first full series without Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, and R Ashwin, and these are giant boots to fill. Certainly, they are unfillable in the short term. But, while it is impossible to have like-for-like replacements ready and waiting, especially as the elevation to doing the business in Test cricket is a mental one as much as it is about skills, India have found some answers. Shubman Gill is scoring the runs India is missing, and a combination of all-rounders is ensuring that there are enough wicket-taking options through the 90 overs available in a day. What the team does appear to lack, though, is a vision or sense of direction that is integral to navigating any transitional phase. There will be wins and losses along the way, but a captain-coach combination that knows what its North Star is and chases it to the exclusion of all else is the only way to consistent growth. Having a vision does not mean being inflexible or sticking with the same personnel irrespective of the conditions. You cannot blame India for chopping and changing. But you have to ask what the overarching blueprint for success is, and whether it has been articulated clearly enough to the wider India's last two coach-captain combinations: first Ravi Shastri and Virat Kohli, and then Rahul Dravid and Rohit Sharma, it was clear that the pursuit of 20 wickets would supersede everything else. This may occasionally mean additional pressure on the top-order batsmen to deliver, with a longer tail in harness. But, as experts have pointed out, having a gun bowling attack that is looking for wickets at all times also results in the opposition making fewer runs, which takes a load off the may not have five specialist bowlers they trust to pick up wickets in foreign conditions, or even four plus Ravindra Jadeja, but deploying all-rounders to do the job leaves too many loose ends, with each player's role not being defined clearly enough. Add to this Gill's tendency to rely on fast bowlers as his primary offensive tactic, and the role of the spinner itself is diminished, setting aside for a moment the loss of a slow bowler of Ashwin's quality, control, guile and could also be argued—as has been the case in these columns for some time—that India are playing Washington Sundar out of position. It's not merely a case of him batting too low down the order to make full use of his talent, but of his very positioning as a bowler who brings batting to the table. There's no reason why he should not bat at No 3 and still bring himself into play as an off leads to the obvious question of Karun Nair's vulnerability. Karun forced his way back into the team with a ton of runs, but Sai Sudarshan is no slouch to come in at the top, should the team insist on sticking with Washington down the have given Karun a fair go, and he has not been an obvious failure, but the question the team has to ask is whether he fits into their best eleven, with a long-term view at least somewhere in the background. That answer will dictate whether Karun plays the final two Tests of this series or final day rearguard action during the third Test in Lord's from the redoubtable Jadeja brought India to within 22 runs, but it should not be lost on anyone that the lower order did its thing in the first innings as India went from 376 for 6 to 387 all out. If India took a step back and looked at how the Test went, they could be reasonably satisfied from a numerical perspective. They won more sessions than they lost. But in the moments that mattered, they faltered. When the game was evenly poised, ripe for the picking, India could not press home the advantage. This is not for lack of belief, but more likely a product of indecision and tentativeness stemming from the way forward not having found its way into the DNA of each and every player that makes up this unit.
Time of India
2 days ago
- Sport
- Time of India
Test Match: India's transition jigsaw - A work in progress
Live Events (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel There is little to no shame in being 2-1 down to England, in their backyard, with two Tests to play. Behind the scenes, Brendon McCullum thinks like a chess player, even if the execution is occasionally ninja-style. Fronting up is Ben Stokes, who will put his body on the line, wearing blows when at the crease, or bowling himself into the dust because the situation warrants it. Around these two, England have built a unit that is formidable in conditions that abet their style of yet, India will be kicking themselves. For they have no real business being 2-1 down in this series. They lost a Test they shouldn't have, picked a team for a draw and won and then seemed to get the balance right on the third try, dominated the opposition in a calculated manner for the most part, and still ended up Indian team is in transition, it is well worth remembering. This is their first full series without Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma , and R Ashwin , and these are giant boots to fill. Certainly, they are unfillable in the short while it is impossible to have like-for-like replacements ready and waiting, especially as the elevation to doing the business in Test cricket is a mental one as much as it is about skills, India have found some answers. Shubman Gill is scoring the runs India is missing, and a combination of all-rounders is ensuring that there are enough wicket-taking options through the 90 overs available in a the team does appear to lack, though, is a vision or sense of direction that is integral to navigating any transitional phase. There will be wins and losses along the way, but a captain-coach combination that knows what its North Star is and chases it to the exclusion of all else is the only way to consistent a vision does not mean being inflexible or sticking with the same personnel irrespective of the conditions. You cannot blame India for chopping and changing. But you have to ask what the overarching blueprint for success is, and whether it has been articulated clearly enough to the wider India's last two coach-captain combinations: first Ravi Shastri and Virat Kohli, and then Rahul Dravid and Rohit Sharma, it was clear that the pursuit of 20 wickets would supersede everything else. This may occasionally mean additional pressure on the top-order batsmen to deliver, with a longer tail in harness. But, as experts have pointed out, having a gun bowling attack that is looking for wickets at all times also results in the opposition making fewer runs, which takes a load off the may not have five specialist bowlers they trust to pick up wickets in foreign conditions, or even four plus Ravindra Jadeja, but deploying all-rounders to do the job leaves too many loose ends, with each player's role not being defined clearly enough. Add to this Gill's tendency to rely on fast bowlers as his primary offensive tactic, and the role of the spinner itself is diminished, setting aside for a moment the loss of a slow bowler of Ashwin's quality, control, guile and could also be argued—as has been the case in these columns for some time—that India are playing Washington Sundar out of position. It's not merely a case of him batting too low down the order to make full use of his talent, but of his very positioning as a bowler who brings batting to the table. There's no reason why he should not bat at No 3 and still bring himself into play as an off leads to the obvious question of Karun Nair's vulnerability. Karun forced his way back into the team with a ton of runs, but Sai Sudarshan is no slouch to come in at the top, should the team insist on sticking with Washington down the have given Karun a fair go, and he has not been an obvious failure, but the question the team has to ask is whether he fits into their best eleven, with a long-term view at least somewhere in the background. That answer will dictate whether Karun plays the final two Tests of this series or final day rearguard action during the third Test in Lord's from the redoubtable Jadeja brought India to within 22 runs, but it should not be lost on anyone that the lower order did its thing in the first innings as India went from 376 for 6 to 387 all India took a step back and looked at how the Test went, they could be reasonably satisfied from a numerical perspective. They won more sessions than they lost. But in the moments that mattered, they faltered. When the game was evenly poised, ripe for the picking, India could not press home the advantage. This is not for lack of belief, but more likely a product of indecision and tentativeness stemming from the way forward not having found its way into the DNA of each and every player that makes up this unit.
NBC Sports
2 days ago
- Sport
- NBC Sports
Dave Roberts defends Jacob Misiorowski's All-Star selection as an ‘easy answer'
ATLANTA — National League All-Star manager Dave Roberts said including Milwaukee rookie right-hander Jacob Misiorowski on his team was 'an easy answer' despite complaints from some players over his inclusion after just five big league appearances. 'If it brings excitement, attention to our game, then I'm all about it,' Roberts said before the Home Run Derby. 'I think for me, kind of my North Star is the All-Star Game should be the game's best players,' the Los Angeles Dodgers manager added before also addressing the other side of the argument by adding 'It's about the fans and what the fans want to see.' Misiorowski has pitched in only five games, a record low for an All-Star, creating a debate between those who say the game is for the most deserving players and those who say the game is for the fans. The 23-year-old created an instant stir when he threw a 100.5 mph fastball for his first pitch in the big leagues. Oh, and for good measure, he opened that debut on June 12 against St. Louis by throwing five no-hit innings before leaving with cramping in the Brewers' 6-0 win. The 6-foot-7 rookie is 4-1 with a 2.81 ERA and has 33 strikeouts with only 12 hits allowed in 25 2/3 innings. It's an impressive debut, but some players still believe the right-hander hasn't been in the game long enough to merit All-Star consideration over more established players. Philadelphia's Trea Turner was outspoken in his criticism of the decision to add Misiorowski to the team when Phillies' left-hander Cristopher Sánchez, who is 8-2 with a 2.50 ERA, didn't make the team. The Phillies also lobbied for left-hander Ranger Suárez (7-3, 1.94). 'What a joke,' Turner told reporters. Misiorowski said he wasn't offended. 'They're not upset with me,' he said, adding he is as surprised as anyone to find himself in Atlanta for the game. 'The last five weeks have been insane,' Misiorowski said. 'I thought the All-Star break would be a chance to sit down and reflect. Now we're here.' Turner's teammate, All-Star Kyle Schwarber, said the attempt by Phillies players to speak up for Sánchez and Suárez 'was not an attack at Misiorowski by any means. It's an honor for him that he's here and it should be an honor for him. It's not his fault that he's only pitched five games and he got named.' Schwarber said Misiorowski could be an All-Star 'every year that he pitches. It's just more of the fact of our guys were having some really good years and some pretty good every day starts and numbers. You want them to feel like they're gonna get represented the way that they should be.' Schwarber added that he would likely talk to Misiorowski during All-Star week and would tell him 'he's doing a great job at what he's doing and he's going to be a perennial All-Star for years to come.' Roberts said he plans to bring Misiorowski into the game as early as the fifth inning. 'And it's going to be electric,' Roberts said. 'So the fans, the media, you're going to love it.' Dodgers left-hander Clayton Kershaw, 37, is on his 11th All-Star roster, this time as a legend pick by commissioner Rob Manfred. When asked about the conflicting opinions about Misiorowski, Kershaw said 'I don't think it's conflicting. I think everybody wants the best players here.' San Francisco right-hander Robbie Ray, 33, said Misiorowski has 'an electric arm. He's a special talent and I'm excited to watch him pitch.' Atlanta Braves manager Brian Snitker, who is serving on Roberts' staff and has experience selecting an All-Star roster, said there's room for a player as inexperienced as Misiorowski to find a spot in the showcase. 'You know what? It's an exhibition game,' Snitker said. 'He's another great talent. ... There are some guys that are very deserving. It is what it is.'
