Golf: Lucas Bjerregaard takes lead at BMW Masters in Shanghai
In golf,
Norway's Lucas Bjerregaard has jumped into the lead after Round-2 of the BMW Masters in Shanghai, carding another 6-under-66 today to move to minus-12.
Thailand's Thongchai Jaidee and first-round leader Sergio Garcia sit 2nd at minus-9.
Garcia, after carding a blistering first round 8-under-64, struggled today on his back-9, bogeying the par-3 12th, then double-bogeying the following par-5 13th after finding the water to erase the 3 birdies he made on the front-9.
He finished the day at minus-1.
Englishmen Ian Poulter and Paul Casey, along with South Korean Ahn Byeong-hun are tied for 3rd at minus-8.
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At the PGA stop in Mexico,
Justin Leonard and 3 others share a tie for the lead at 6-under after round-1 of the OHL Classic at Mayakoba.
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And in Mexico City,
Inbee Park has the lead at the LPGA's Lorena Ochoa Invitational.
It's the South Korean's first action since she pulled out of the stop in Hainan two weeks ago because of a problem with one of her fingers.
Park comes into the 2nd-to-last event of the season in 2nd place in the world rankings after New Zealand's Lydia Ko surpassed her after winning in Taiwan last month.
Ko is not taking part in this week's event in Mexico.
She, along with mainland golfers Feng Shanshan and Lin Xiyu, are resting this week in preparation for the LPGA Championships next weekend in Flordia.
Football: China keeps World Cup hopes alive
In football,
The Chinese squad has kept its 2018 World Cup hopes alive in resounding fashion, destroying Bhutan last night 12-nil.
The thrashing in Changsha gives the boys from the mainland 10-points in 5 matches, and also gives them a plus-20 goal differential.
It's an important stat to consider, as the mainland squad is set for a possible do-or-die match this coming week as they take on the boys from Hong Kong.
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Hong Kong has maintained its 2nd place position in Group C, edging the Maldives last night in Male 1-nil.
This gives Hong Kong 13-points in 6-matches, meaning Tuesday night's match down in Mongkok could well decide who might find their way to Russia and who will be watching at home..
If the mainland squad can get past Hong Kong next week, they will level with points, but will move into 2nd in the group by virtue of goal differential, as Hong Kong only sits at plus-10.
The top-2 teams from each group move into the next qualifying round.
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In other Group C action from earlier today, it was Qatar all but assuring they'll move into the next stage of qualifying, dumping the Maldives 4-nil this morning in Doha.
Qatar moves to 5-0, and will be up against lowly Bhutan this coming Tuesday in Thimphu.
That all-but-guaranteed victory will secure their way into the next round.
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In other action from the Asian qualifiers last night,
Chinese Taipei is all-but-assured of not making it through, going down to Thailand 4-2 last night in Bangkok.
The boys from the island are winless in all 4 of their qualifying matches, and will have to beat both Vietnam and Iraq in their last 2 matches, and have both those clubs lose all the rest of theirs if they have any hope of making it through.
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It was Australia blanking Kyrgyzstan 3-nil.
A win by the Aussies next Tuesday in Bangladesh all but assures their trip to the next round.
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South Korea blanked Myanmar 4-nil to maintain their perfect record atop Group G.
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Japan maintained its 1st place position in Group E, shutting out Singapore 3-nil.
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The top team in Asia, Iran, held off Turkmenistan 3-1 at home to level with Oman at 11-points atop Group D.
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Across the city in Tehran, it was Afghanistan - which plays out of Tehran - dumping Cambodia 3-nil.
Neither of those clubs have a shot at moving on.
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The Philippines was handed a virtual death-blow in their hopes of making it through, going down to Yemen 1-nil last night in Manila.
This Philippine side is in a dire situation now after Uzbekistan upset Group H leaders North Korea 3-1 last night in Tashkent.
So unless the Philippines can defeat both Group H 2nd place side Uzbekistan and Group leaders North Korea in their final 2 matches, they will not be moving through.
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Tajikistan blanked Bangladesh 5-nil last night in a mean-nothing match, as neither has a shot at moving on.
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India edged Guam 1-nil in Bangalore for its first victory in another mean-nothing affair.
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Palestine has kept its World Cup hopes alive, thumping Malaysia last night 6-nil to maintain pace with the UAE, who hammered Timor-Leste last night 8-nil.
The UAE sits 2nd in Group A with 10-points, one point ahead of the Palestinians, but with a match-in-hand.
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And it was Lebanon keeping its hopes alive, hammering Laos 7-nil earlier this morning in Beiruit.
That moves the Lebanese side up to a tie with Kuwait in Group G for 2nd on points.
However, the Kuwaities do have a match-in-hand this coming Tuesday against Myanmar.
NFL: Rex Ryan gets revenge as Bills take down Jets
Week 10 of the National Football League season is underway.
The Thursday-night matchup has seen Rex Ryan get his revenge.
The former head coach of the New York Jets, who was sacked at the end of last season, helped guide his new team, the Buffalo Bills, to a 22-17 win this morning on his return to the Meadowlands.
The win moves Buffalo into 2nd place in the AFC East at 5-4.
The Jets are also 5-4, but move down to 3rd in the AFC East by virute of the head-to-head loss.
Top Chinese women's shuttler upset at China Open
In badminton action from the China Open,
Quarter-final action taking place today, which saw a solid Friday for the Chinese men.
Top seed Chen Long is through to the semi-finals after downing Kenichi Tago from Japan in straight sets.
He's set to take on Wang Zhengming in the semi's after he downed a competitor from India in straight-sets as well.
On the other side of the bracket, 2nd seeded Chen Jin needed a 3rd set to get past compatriot Gao Huan.
Chen will take on Malaysia's Chong Wei Feng in the other semi-final.
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On the women's side,
A major upset today, as top-seeded Wang Yihan has been bounced from the China Open.
She went down to German 5th seed Juliane Schenk this afternoon.
After downing Schenk 21-19 in the first set, the German rallied, winning the last two sets 21-16, 21-17 to advance into the semi-finals.
She'll be up against a Thai shuttler tomorrow.
On the other side of the women's singles draw, 2nd seed Li Xuerui also had a bit of a scare.
She dropped her first set to fellow Chinese shuttler Han Li, but regained her composure, hamming Han 21-7, 21-5 in the final two sets to move on.
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Tennis: Wang Qiang into Hua Hin semi-finals
In tennis,
Rising Chinese women's tennis player Wang Qiang is through to the semi-finals of the WTA Challenger event in Hua Hin, Thailand.
The 23-year old from Tianjin managed to gut-out a grueling win over Hsieh Su-wei from Taiwan today.
Despite winning in straight-sets, 6-3, 6-2, the seemingly lop-sided score doesn't reflect the match itself, as it took nearly 2-hours-10 minutes for Wang Qiang to finally best the double's specialist from Kaohsiung.
Wang will be up against Japan's Naomi Osaka, after she downed Chinese teenager Liu Fangzhou in a 3-set battle.
On the other side of the draw, 26-year old Duan Yingying from Tianjin is in action tonight in Hua Hin against Kazakhstan's Yaroslava Shvedova.
Basketball: Golden State with 10th straight win
In basketball,
The Golden State Warriors' amazing run continues to roll-on in the NBA.
Stephen Curry went 15-for-25, including eight 3-pointers to give the defending champions their 10th win in a row, rolling over Minnesota 129-116.
Curry, the reigning league MVP, has hit 52 3-pointers so far this season, which is more than 3 different teams in the league have hit so far this season.
The Warriors should be poised to make it 11-in-a-row as they head home to take on the lowly Brooklyn Nets on Sunday morning, Beijing-time.
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There were just 2 other games this morning in the NBA.
It was the Miami Heat squeezing out their 3rd straight win, holding off the Utah Jazz 92-91.
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And it was the Phoenix Suns snapping a 2-game losing streak, shutting down Blake Griffin and the LA Clippers at home 118-104.
The Suns held Griffin, who is averaging over 27-points a game, to just 11 this afternoon.
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Here in China,
A full slate tonight in the CBA, with all 20-teams in action.
Hockey: Rangers win 7th straight
In action from the National Hockey League,
The New York Rangers' hot streak continues.
Mats Zuccarello with a goal and two assists, one of 6 Rangers with multiple points on the day, to lead New York to a 6-3 win over the visiting St. Louis Blues.
The Rangers have won 7-straight, and are 9-0-1 in their last 10-games, topping the Metropolitan Division with 26-points.
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The Washington Capitals have managed to keep pace with the Rangers in the Metropolitan, dumping the Philadelphia Flyers 5-2 in Philly.
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It was New Jersey continuing its strong start to the season, getting past the defending Stanley Cup Champion Chicago Blackhawks 3-2 in Chicago.
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Dallas doubled up on Winnipeg 6-3.
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Arizona thumped Edmonton 4-1.
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Toronto won its 2nd game in a row, but only their 4th of the season, as they got past Nashville 2-1 in a shootout.
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It was Ottawa edging Vancouver 3-2.
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Tampa Bay dumped Calgary 3-1.
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Buffalo has moved up to .500 on the season with their 3rd-straight, edging Florida 3-2.
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Jason Zucker scored his 2nd of the game in overtime to give Minnesota a 3-2 win over Carolina.
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Colorado got past Boston 3-2.
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And out west, it was the LA Kings jumping into 1st place in the Pacific division with a 2-1 win over the New York Islanders.