Never give up with Saso
FOR someone signing for six bogeys and is still in contention for honors, that’s quite a feat.
That’s how it was for Yuka Saso in the first round of the Youth Olympic Games (YOG) girl golf competitions on Wednesday (Oct. 10 PHL time) in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Strong winds somewhat tried to derail Saso’s game but her spirits didn’t sink.
She fought off the six bogeys with five birdies for a one-overpar 71, a performance that drew applause from a clubhouse crowd that knows a class act from mediocre. To finish strong when seemingly down, it proves once more that Saso is of sterner stuff.
It quickly recalled her recent brilliance when she bagged the gold medal after a stupendous rally that saw her eagle the last hole in the Jakarta Asian Games.
Down by four strokes at the start of the Asiad’s last round—and by two with two holes to go— she smashed a 4-iron from 206 yards into the fringe, then holed it from 18 feet for a two-shot victory over her stunned Chinese rival.
Saso’s last-day heroics capped by that improbable last-hole eagle also earned for us a rare twingold sweep in the Asiad women’s golf.
She seems bent on replicating her Jakarta feat in Buenos Aires, judging by the way she’s been performing thus far?
With her 71, Saso was just two shots behind going to the second round off Alesia Nobilio of Italy.
But her golden chances somewhat dimmed when she took a 74 in Thursday’s Round 2. Down five shots with one round left.
Her putting going awry, Saso succumbed to four straight bogeys for a three-over at the turn. Two more bogeys on Nos. 11 and 15 negated a birdie on No. 12 for a one-over coming home.
Like Saso, Carl Jano Corpus, our bet in boys golf, was just two shots behind after Round 1. But he faltered the next day with a 76 to fall 10 shots behind Karl Vilips of Australia.
Corpus could be out of it but in Saso’s case, you’ll never know.
Remember, Saso was four shots behind with one round left in Jakarta before she went on to win the Asiad gold by two shots.
In golf, a five-shot deficit could vanish in a blur. If you believe in miracles, then believe in Saso. REIGNING WBC Super Flyweight World Champion Srisaket Sor Rungvisai was, as advertised, dominant in his most recent outing.
Defending his world title for the first time in his home country of Thailand since regaining it over a year ago, Srisaket outboxed Mexican challenger Iran Diaz en route to a unanimous decision victory after 12 rounds of boxing action in the main event of ONE: Kingdom of Heroes on October 6.
Srisaket’s masterful dismantling of Diaz thrilled thousands of martial arts fans present at the Impact Arena in Bangkok, and it was also enough to earn the praise of a very interested observer.
Sitting in the crowd was IBF Super Flyweight World Champion Jerwin Ancajas, who was invited to witness the historic debut of boxing on the ONE Championship stage.
“Seeing boxing on this kind of stage is surreal. ONE Championship is the biggest martial arts organization in the world, and it’s no surprise that boxing feels right at home there,” the Filipino boxer shared.
“It was definitely an honor to be able to witness history. ONE Championship provides another avenue for boxers to showcase their skills and their talents on a massive stage. I congratulate ONE Championship on a successful first boxing match, and I certainly wish them even more luck in the future,” he added.
With regards to what he saw that night, Ancajas had nothing but good things to say about the Thai boxing superstar.
“It played out just as I expected. Don’t get me wrong, Iran Diaz is a great challenger, but Srisaket Sor Rungvisai is just on a different level. You could feel that he was feeding off from the excitement of the crowd, and you could see that he wanted to put on a show for his home country. It was definitely a good match. I had fun watching it,” he expressed.
Being arguably the two of the best pugilists in the 115-pound weight class today, Ancajas and Srisaket appear to be headed for a collision course, and for the Filipino, it is only a matter of when and where.