Ryoma Kimata of Japan, who lost to Japan in the world championships for freestyle skiing and snowboarding, wins the big air title.
READ MORE: GB’s Bankes wins silver at the Worlds of Snowboard Cross.
Second-round leaderboard for the Ford Championship
-14 L Vu (US), -12 C Hull (Eng), N Korda (US), NK Madsen (Den), A Thitikul (Tha), -10 S-Y Kim (Kor), I Yoon (Kor), A Furue (Jpn)
Other notable names: -9 L Ko (Aus), -4 L Maguire (Ire), and L Thompson (US).
Charley Hull, who carded a three-under-par 69 in the second round, is two shots clear of Charley Hull’s lead at the Arizona Ford Championship.
At the halfway point, American Lilia Vu, who had a 64, moved to 14 under for the tournament.
With compatriot Nelly Korda, Denmark’s Nanna Koerstz Madsen, and Thailand’s Atthaya’ Jeeno Thitikul, who is also a two-time champion, making eight birdies, vaulted herself out of the woods with Hull on 12 under.
In windy conditions, Hull struggled to keep up with Vu as she made four birdies and one bogey from her opening 63.
She said, “I felt like I played pretty well out there today.” It was a little windy out there today, but I did some good putts and some I should have missed.
On some of the holes, it was a little trickier, but I’m enjoying it and looking forward to the weekend.
Second-round leaderboard for Houston Open
-11 S Scheffler (US), -10 T Pendrith (Can), N Echavarria (Col), -9 M-W Lee (Aus), R Gerard (US), -8 J Suber (US), T Mullinax
Selected others: -7 R Hojgaard (Den), -4 R McIlroy (NI), H Hall (Eng), -3 D Skinns (Eng), -2 D Willett (Eng), M Wallace (Eng), S Power (Ire)
Not all players have advanced to the second round.
With eight birdies and no bogeys, Scheffler set the tone for the tournament, taking advantage of Memorial Park’s best of the early conditions before thunderstorms caused play to be halted.
On par with Colombian Nico Echavarria, who was nine under for the day but faced a chip from the green on the 17th when bad light prevented play, is Canadian Taylor Pendrith, who is a shot back on 10 under.
Danny Willett and Matt Wallace, both from England, are both one shot under the projected cut line, while McIlroy carded a 66 to finish the day and the tournament at four under.
They waited for the second round to end in the hopes that they would play over the weekend, which is scheduled to resume on Saturday at 13:30 GMT.
After putting in a number of smart putts in his final round of birdies, McIlroy was unconcerned of these issues.
The Northern Ireland player’s round was delayed for two hours as the rains came to an end and darkness was falling.
He improved from his level-par opening round, which he called “pedestrian,” but he still fell further behind, seven shots clear of Scheffler.
McIlroy said, “I holed a few putts.” That was it, I thought. A few putts went in and were nice to see finished.
At the conclusion, it was a little hazy there. Nice to finish the round the same way I did.
Scheffler, however, posted his best game since returning from a hand injury over the Christmas holiday.
As he prepares to defend his US Masters title in April, he continues to be bogey-free for his first 36 holes, charging to the front after putting together an opening three-under 67.
Before the Italian giants sack him last week and appoint Igor Tudor quickly, Thiago Motta lasted only nine months at Juventus.
Following string-busting Serie A defeats, Motta’s departure came after losing to Atalanta 4-0 at home and losing 3-0 to Fiorentina.
With Motta also overseeing Juventus’ exit from the Champions League and the Coppa Italia, which they won last year, that appeared to be the straw.
On the BBC Radio 5 Live’s Euro Leagues podcast, journalist Julien Laurens remarked, “It was inevitable.”
You can’t lose 4-0 and 3-0 in back-to-back games after losing in the Champions League.
Motta, 42, a former midfielder for Barcelona, Inter Milan, and Paris St-Germain, was hired last year after a remarkably impressive stint at Bologna.
His forward-thinking approach to football transformed the organization from one that struggled against relegation to one that finished fifth in Serie A last year to earn a place in the Champions League.
However, Juventus rarely displayed the football style he so passionately demonstrated at Bologna.
Because I am a big fan and I adore what he did at Bologna, Laurens continued, “I felt for him.”
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Additionally, questions may be raised about Motta’s involvement with Juventus’ transfer business during his time at the club.
He oversaw the £42.35 million signing of Aston Villa midfielder Douglas Luiz after he left for Juventus.
Although Luiz started just three of the 17 league games that made up the matchday squad, the high cost suggested he would play a key role in what Motta wanted to do.
In a deal worth reportedly £10 million, Moise Kean was allowed to leave to join Fiorentina. With 15 goals, he currently has the second-highest scoring total in Serie A.
Because Juventus didn’t concede a goal in their first six games, Motta’s goalkeeper wanted to make them defensively strong.
However, it appeared to limit their ability to attack, and they also drew far too many games as a result. They started playing 19 league games unbeaten starting on September 1st, but 13 of those games ended in draws.
It almost seemed like he lost the dressing room when it came to absorbing those instructions, according to Italian journalist Mina Rzouki, who criticized Thiago Motta for some of the decisions made regarding the players’ selections.
He refused to be pragmatic in any way, whether or not, and I believe that you continue to support your philosophy despite having the second-young team that is now losing confidence.
Motta has issues both off the pitch and on the field, which makes up some of the blame for Juventus’ problems this season.
Rzouki continued, “Juventus is a mess on every level.”
They don’t have a sponsor, which just proves that you need to know everything. The long-term sponsor they had ran out, and they were unable to find another one.
Therefore, this management is performing poorly from the top up.
According to reports, Cristiano Giuntoli, the sporting director of Juventus, is under fire for allegedly making mistakes in the hiring process for players and managers.
According to Laurens, “Motta struggled to get his project going. It’s not just on him; it’s also at the players and Giuntoli, the sporting director, who are both at fault.”
Giuntoli must now make sure Tudor is the right person to change the club’s fortunes given how the Motta appointment turned out.
The former Juventus midfielder, who played there between 1998 and 2007, has a contract until the end of the season that will reportedly be automatically renewed if he earns Champions League qualification.
He has been hailed as a “fixer,” a coach who can take over changes over the course of a season and oversee swift improvements.
The 46-year-old has a reputation for being a fixer, joining clubs regularly throughout the year and turning things around, as he has done successfully in previous roles at Udinese, Hellas Verona, and Lazio.
His most recent assignment was at Lazio for three months at the end of the season.
Do you think I can fix problems? “I’m a coach,” Tudor said.
I began coaching when I was a young child, and I’ve been doing it for ten to fifteen years. I’ve also been traveling a lot, and I’m a little picky because I follow my heart when I choose what to do. I’m in the here and now.
Katie Taylor, the Irish superstar, anticipates Mikaela Mayer and Sandy Ryan to win Saturday’s world title fight in Las Vegas.
After being defeated by 34-year-old American Mayer in New York in September, Briton Ryan now has a chance to settle the score and reclaim the WBO welterweight title.
Ryan, 31, from Derby, who had just left the venue, was the victim of red paint damage to the fight.
Between this training camp and the previous training camp, she continued, “I think Sandy has had an amazing training camp this time.”
She’s in a much better mental state than I think, so I think that’s going to make a big difference going into this fight.
The 38-year-old narrowly won both of her prior points decisions against Serrano and her most recent win in Texas in November.
“It would be a fight of the year contender if I and Amanda engaged in 100 fights.” Just a style clash. It will always be one of those battles where you must exert a lot of heart and depth,” Taylor said.
The pair’s first fight will be broadcast live on the streaming service Netflix, which will also house the iconic venue where they first met.
Amanda Serrano has been my amazing dance partner, Taylor said.
Italy v. Ireland Women’s Six Nations
Date: Sunday, March 30th, Kick-off: 5:00 BST
Numerous sportspeople would find it difficult to overcome two anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries in just nine months.
However, she is determined to use those setbacks to aid in the development of her future rugby career and give her more motivation in the case of Ireland scrum-half Aoibheann Reilly.
The 24-year-old suffered a second ACL tear in last summer’s SVNS Grand Final in Madrid after initially struggling to recover from her first serious knee injury in the fall of 2023.
The Roscommon woman only made her competitive debut when she participated in the Clovers’ Celtic Challenge matches in early March after losing her chance to represent Ireland at the Paris Olympic Games.
In the final 25 minutes of Ireland’s 27-15 defeat by France in their opening Six Nations game in Belfast, Reilly was replaced by Emily Lane last week when he was substituted off the bench.
She will start for Sunday’s away game against Italy in Parma this week.
“I performed both of my left ACL and my right ACL.” Between both, I played for nine months. Although it was very difficult mentally, I knew that if I got it right, I would have suffered long-term injuries.
I wanted to attend the Olympics and wear the Ireland Nine jersey in the 15s game, returning from the first one. I put my hand up for both teams with great effort.
Although it was difficult, my family and I had a lot of support around me. Even though it was a very difficult situation, it really strengthens my resolve and ability to play.
Reilly continued, “It was a special moment to come out for Ireland against France last weekend despite all of her injury issues.”
Standing there for the anthem was “a very emotional moment,” she said.
“I was just focusing on getting back for that France game when I tore my ACL before the Olympics for a second time, and I knew everything had to go right on my rehab journey to get back on the pitch.”
“It was a significant moment for my family and I to wear green again.”
After defeating the French in their opening match, Reilly thinks Ireland can win the tournament if they face Italy in Parma on Sunday.
“We weren’t pleased with the performance we put out after the weekend. We occasionally went through really good phases, but she added that we weren’t as clinical as she was.
That’s our main focus this weekend, they say. pursuing the goal that we are capable of.
“We are aware of our talented players, but occasionally we make things difficult. We simply need to hold on to the ball during pressure situations, which is where we really need to go.