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Holy salkow, Batman, Miki’s back! Yes, Japan’s very own Babe on Ice, Miki Ando, roared back to form in the opening event of the Grand Prix figure skating series, not only winning October’s Skate America competition in Connecticut, but overshadowing younger teen star Mao Asada, everybody’s current tip for greatness. Ando, of course, was panned after finishing a disappointing 15th at the Turin Olympics, but she’s lost a bit of chunkiness and taken her skating to a higher level; maybe now she will start to fulfill her promise. Next up on the calendar is the NHK Trophy from November 30 to December 3 in Nagano. Japan’s women skaters are hot right now. Catch them while you can. FV See sports listings for details.
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By
Fred Varcoe, former sports editor for The Japan Times
Ryder Cup golfers do battle at The Belfry
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| World No. 1 Tiger Woods
hopes to recreate the Americans' 1999 success
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Watching TV in this country a decade ago, you could be forgiven
for thinking that there weren't any sports events going
on outside Japan, at least not without Japanese participants.
The World Cup was a bit player on NHK's satellite channel
(hey, it wasn't that big a deal), Major League Baseball
was the poor man's version of the Japanese game (they
didn't have Ichiro at the time) and overseas golf tournaments
were golf events that didn't feature Jumbo Ozaki. So
the Ryder Cup, a three-day, biennial competition between the
European and American PGA tours, didn't stand a chance.
So how come Japanese golf fans will be able to see all three
days of this year's Ryder Cup competition (Sept 27-29)
live on Japanese TV? Well, two reasons:
1) Tiger Woods. Tiger could spend all his days picking his
nose and Japanese TV companies would bid to screen it. Tiger
is so hot, he could probably beat most JPGA fields left-handed.
Arguably, he is the most prominent sports personality on the
planet, and his presence in a head-to-head competition like
the Ryder Cup should have golf fans dribbling in their plus-fours.
2) The Golf Channel. Satellite TV really isn't all
bad, and golf channels provide sick little golf puppies like
myself with hours of mind-numbing entertainment. When I found
out The Golf Channel was showing this year's Ryder
Cup live, I nearly wet my pants (they were damp already after
the aforementioned dribbling).
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| Spanish phenom Sergio
Garcia leads the European squad |
So golf freaks, sit back, fill up your glasses and settle
down for three days of excitement. We should point out, of
course, that there shouldn't be a Ryder Cup this year,
as it was meant to happen last year, but due to 9/11 it was
canceled. The two captains wisely opted to field the same
teams and play on the same course: the Brabazon Course at
The Belfry in central England, so you should get what you
were expecting last year. And what can you expect this year?
Here's a quick rundown.
The teams:
Europe: Thomas Bjorn, Darren Clarke, Niclas Fasth,
Pierre Fulke, Sergio Garcia, Padraig Harrington, Bernhard
Langer, Paul McGinley, Colin Montgomerie, Jesper Parnevik,
Phillip Price, Lee Westwood.
America: Paul Azinger, Mark Calcavecchia, Stewart Cink,
David Duval, Jim Furyk, Scott Hoch, Davis Love III, Phil Mickelson,
Hal Sutton, David Toms, Scott Verplank, Tiger Woods.
The schedule:
Friday, Sept 27, 4pm, four fourball matches, four foursomes
matches.
Saturday, Sept 28, 4pm, four fourball matches, four foursomes
matches
Sunday, Sept 29, 7:15 pm, 12 singles matches, closing ceremony
The course:
The Belfry is a public facility with two courses and has hosted
the Ryder Cup three times before (two wins to Europe and one
to the Americans). The Brabazon course is very flat and not
excessively long at 7,118 yards, but has at least three great
holes:
No. 3, a 538-yard par-5 with a slightly raised and undulating
green protected by a bunker and a lake on the left-hand side.
No. 10, 311 yards, par-4, surely some mistake? Nope, it's
a peach. You have to go over trees and water to reach the
slender green, which is very well protected.
No. 18, a monstrous 473-yard, par-4 dogleg left with water
almost all the way to the green. You have to fire blind over
trees and water to reach the fairway and then go over more
water to reach the multi-tiered green.
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The Ryder Cup is one of those few occasions in golf where
the fans get to cheer a team, as opposed to a player. Things
can get a little unruly, and the American players were accused
last time round of bad sportsmanship. So there is an edge
this year. There's always a lot of tension, especially
on Sunday when the singles matches finish up and the result
is left hanging-hopefully-until the last pairing.
It's edge-of-the-sofa stuff. Dribbling starts on Sept
27.
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