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HSBC Champions Gets World Champ Status

Tuesday, 28th April 2009 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)

The HSBC Championship is now a World Championship Golf event, one of 100 so sanctioned by the International Federation of PGA Tours. The announcement was made at a Shanghai press conference earlier today. The event's prize money will increase from $5 million to $7 million, and Tiger Woods and Sergio Garcia are both confirmed to compete.

The HSBC Championship will take place November 5 through 8 at Sheshan International Golf Club in Shanghai, where it has taken place every year since it started. But IMG Golf global managing director Mark Steinberg said at the press conference that it will likely move to Mission Hills, perhaps as soon as 2011.

This post relies heavily on the reporting of Shanghaiist managing editor Dan Washburn, who attended the press conference and is the only English-language writer closely following China's golf scene. His full report is here.

Tags: Dan Washburn, golf, HSBC Championship, IMG, Mission Hills, Sheshan International Golf Club, Tiger Woods

China divers finish World Series on top

Tuesday, 28th April 2009 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)

Due to the swine flu outbreak, divers performed in an empty house at the Mexico City stop on the FINA Diving World Series. Chinese divers won every event in Mexico City, except for the men's 3-meter springboard synchro event, in which it did not medal at all. This was the last event in the four-event World Series, with the others taking place in Doha, Qatar; Changzhou, China; and Sheffield, England. China won all but two of the series' 32 gold medals. Next up is the Diving Grand Prix, for which 3-meter gold medalist Guo Jingjing has said she will return to the pool. Events are in Montreal (April 30-May 3), Ft. Lauderdale (May 7-10) and Madrid (May 29-31). The FINA World Championships run over one week, beginning August 18, in Rome.

Tags: diving, FINA Grand Prix, FINA World Championships, FINA World Series, Guo Jingjing

Aussie wins at Sofitel Zhongshan IGC Open

Tuesday, 28th April 2009 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)

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A record-setting field of 144 golfers competed for 1.2 million RMB at the Sofitel Zhongshan IGC Open, an event on the Omega China Tour, over the weekend. Australian Kurt Barnes became the first Australian winner on the tour, finishing with a four-under 284. Among the field, the biggest for an Omega China Tour event, were 10 Australians, part of the tour's efforts to become more international. For more of a drive-by-drive account of the event, as well as links to interviews and more, check out @Chinagolf on Twitter. The account was created for the Zhongshan event.

Kurt Barnes image: Omega China Tour

Tags: golf, Kurt Barnes, Omega China Tour, Zhongshan Open