Latest news with #IrishOpen
The Star
an hour ago
- Sport
- The Star
Ireland continues to be Yeoh's happy hunting ground
PETALING JAYA: From a champion to a coach, the fortune of former national shuttler Yeoh Seng Zoe (pic) has changed in just four years on Irish soil. The 27-year-old Seng Zoe has been named as the national singles coach of Ireland. In 2021, he won the Irish Open title after beating Denmark's Mads Christophersen in the final. Badminton Ireland have wasted no time in naming Seng Zoe as the replacement for Iskandar Zulkarnain Zainuddin to take charge of their squad. Seng Zoe is already a familiar face in Ireland, having spent the past four years in the country. He initially joined as a sparring partner to assist Iskandar, who was then the national men's singles coach, in preparing Nhat Nguyen for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. He was later absorbed into the national coaching set-up and eventually promoted to performance coach. On Monday, Badminton Ireland confirmed that Seng Zoe will now assume the role of national singles coach, succeeding Iskandar. The governing body is hoping the 27-year-old can build on the foundations laid by Iskandar in strengthening their singles department. 'Iskandar has been an incredible coach to work with. His passion for our purpose and values, coupled with the impressive results achieved by the players he coached, speaks volumes about his approach,' said Daniel Magee, Badminton Ireland high performance director in a statement. 'We wish him all the best as he takes up a new opportunity in Malaysia. Yeoh Seng Zoe will take on a role alongside Iskandar in the national singles programme, and Badminton Ireland will review our coaching structure in the coming months.' Last year was one of the best for Irish badminton, with two players, Nguyen and women's singles player Rachael Darragh qualified for the Paris Olympics. Nguyen's Olympic debut was particularly encouraging despite falling short in the group stage. Under Iskandar's guidance, Nguyen also won the Irish Open for two consecutive years, starting in 2023. Interestingly, Seng Zoe is not the only Malaysian contributing to Irish badminton. Mohd Izzuddin Shamsulmuzli, a former Nusa Mahsuri club player, is also serving in the set-up with a focus on junior development. Iskandar was recently roped in by the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) to fill the national women's singles coaching post, which had been left vacant for five months following the resignation of Jeffer Rosobin in late February.
Irish Daily Mirror
7 hours ago
- Sport
- Irish Daily Mirror
Shane Lowry spotted at site of first tour victory as he prepares for Open
Shane Lowry continued his preparations for the Open Championship by returning on Tuesday to the scene of one of the most famous victories. In a little over two weeks' time, Lowry will return to Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland, where he lifted the Claret Jug in jubilant scenes in 2019. The Offaly man has already been on a scouting trip to the Dunluce Links ahead of the 2025 Open, but he has also found the time to get in a practice round at County Louth Golf Club. County Louth Golf Club, known as Baltray to the locals, played host to the 2009 Irish Open when Lowry sensationally triumphed as an amateur after a thrilling play-off with Englishman Robert Rock. Understandably the Louth venue has always held a special place in Lowry's heart ever since, and the Clara man returned there on Tuesday morning for a round. Happy to take pictures with the locals, including the course's team of greenkeepers, Lowry got in some links practice on one of the finest tests in the country. It has always been common for golf's finest players to take in a trip to Ireland before teeing it up in the Open Championship. During his pomp, Tiger Woods often travelled to Ireland alongside his good friend Mark O'Meara to play our top links courses ahead of the major championship. And many more of the world's top players are expected to turn up at courses around the country in the coming week as they get in some links practice ahead of the mania of Open week. Lowry is set to practice in Ireland for the next two weeks, deciding against competing in the Scottish Open next week, where Rory McIlroy is teeing it up. The Offaly man has enjoyed a consistent season on the PGA Tour but is looking to bounce back from two below par events, first a missed cut at the US Open and then a tied 45th finish at the Travelers Championship last time out.
The Star
15 hours ago
- Sport
- The Star
Seng Zoe replaces Iskandar as new coach for Ireland
PETALING JAYA: Badminton Ireland have wasted no time in naming a replacement for Iskandar Zulkarnain Zainuddin, turning to another former Malaysian player, Yeoh Seng Zoe, to take charge of their national singles squad. Seng Zoe is already a familiar face in Ireland, having spent the past four years in the country. In fact, he won the Irish Open title in 2021. He initially joined as a sparring partner to assist Iskandar, who was then the national men's singles coach, in preparing Nhat Nguyen for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. He was later absorbed into the national coaching set-up and eventually promoted to performance coach. On Monday, Badminton Ireland confirmed that Seng Zoe will now assume the role of national singles coach, succeeding Iskandar. The governing body is hoping the 27-year-old can build on the foundations laid by Iskandar in strengthening their singles department. "Iskandar has been an incredible coach to work with. His passion for our purpose and values, coupled with the impressive results achieved by the players he coached, speaks volumes about his approach. "We wish him all the best as he takes up a new opportunity in Malaysia. "Yeoh Seng Zoe will take on a role alongside Iskandar in the national singles programme, and Badminton Ireland will review its coaching structure in the coming months," said Badminton Ireland in a statement. Last year was one of the best for Irish badminton, with two players, Nguyen and women's singles player Rachael Darragh qualified for the Paris Olympics. Nguyen's Olympic debut was particularly encouraging despite falling short in the group stage. Under Iskandar's guidance, Nguyen also won the Irish Open for two consecutive years, starting in 2023. Interestingly, Seng Zoe is not the only Malaysian contributing to Irish badminton. Mohd Izzuddin Shamsulmuzli, a former Nusa Mahsuri club player, is also serving in the set-up with a focus on junior development. Iskandar was recently roped in by the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) to fill the national women's singles coaching post, which had been left vacant for five months following the resignation of Jeffer Rosobin in late February.
The Irish Sun
a day ago
- Sport
- The Irish Sun
Leona Maguire will make history at KPMG Women's Irish Open along with 15 other Irish golfers
LEONA Maguire will be hoping to respond well to her late disappointment in the PGA Championship and star in what's set to be a record-breaking KPMG Women's Irish Open. The KPMG Women's Irish Open tees off on Thursday 3 June for the fourth year running since it's 10-year hiatus. 2 Maguire has been the highest Irish finisher for the last three years in a row 2 Anna Abom was the only other Irish golfer to make the cut in the 2024 Irish Open and did so as an amateur Last year 37,000 spectators flooded Carton House to set a record attendance for the event. Maguire was the highest Irish finisher in The pair will be joined by There will also be a record number of Irish players - 16 in total, including seven professionals and nine amateurs - competing in Kildare. Read more on Irish Sport Maguire will be joined by fellow Irish professionals Olivia Mehaffey, Sara Byrne, Lauren Walsh, Annabel Wilson, Anna Foster, and Canice Screene. An Irish golfer is yet to win in the competition's 30 year history with 18 opens, this year the 16 representatives will be looking to change that. When "Since it came back at Dromoland a couple of years ago (2022) the tournament has really elevated and built year-on-year. Most read in Golf "We have increased numbers of spectators and obviously the increase in the number of top quality players coming over. Anna Nordqvist, Charley Hull, they're a little bit taken aback when they see the number of Irish fans that come out. "Even this week I've had a few friends taking pictures beside Luas signs of me and it's a bit surreal at times. It's one of the pinnacle events and one of the premier events on the Ladies European Tour." Brooks Koepka suffers meltdown and smashes tee marker into fans before withdrawing from LIV Dallas claiming 'illness' The Cavan native had a tough end to her PGA Championship just last week. She started the final day in sixth place and remained in contention as opponents around her dropped shots. But a double bogey on the 12th hole and another on the 13th meant last year's Ladies European Tour winner had to settle for tied 19th along with world number one Nelly Korda. The highest ranked Irish golfer - 84th - said: "It was a very positive week. "It was a tough golf course, it was over 100 degrees Fahrenheit here and it was very windy – the windiest conditions we've played in in a long time. "Combine that with a difficult course set up and it really made for a challenge. "It was kind of nice, you expect a challenge at majors. The KPMG PGA has become a challenging event and we were all expecting that and it was nice to put four good rounds together at this time of the year." "I definitely felt that my game was trending in the right direction," she added. "I played really well at the Meijer at Grand Rapids the week before. Golf is a funny game, sometimes all it takes is a little thing to click and away you go."
The 42
5 days ago
- Sport
- The 42
McCartney, Cassin, Corby and Rynn secure European U23 finals in Slovakia
NEWLY CROWNED EUROPEAN U23 Champion Ellie McCartney progressed to another final along with Jack Cassin, Eoin Corby and Cormac Rynn in Slovakia on Friday morning, while Ellen Walshe and Mona McSharry will have second swims following their morning performances in Rome. At the European U23 Championships, McCartney, who took 200m Individual Medley gold last night, returned to the pool this morning for the 100m Breaststroke heats, clocking 1:08.70 to advance to this evening's final (5:13pm) in fifth place overall. The National Centre Limerick (NCL) swimmer has a personal best of 1:06.97 from the Irish Open in April this year. Advertisement Jack Cassin, meanwhile, who is also an NCL swimmer, produced a career-best performance in the 200m Butterfly heats. The 21-year-old Cork man touched in 1:57.69 to place second in his heat and second overall, chipping more than a second off his previous best of 1:58.71. A dream session for John Szaranek's NCL swimmers continued when Eoin Corby won his 200m Breaststroke heat with a breathtaking finish, turning at the last 50m in third place to touch first in 2:12.77. The Limerick man, who has a PB of 2:10.50 from 2021, will be the third seed in Friday evening's final. Cormac Rynn, 19, then became the fourth NCL competitor to book a final berth, finishing just outside his best of 3:53.70 in the 400m Freestyle, touching in 3:54.10 and securing the eighth and final place in the decider. At the Sette Colli meet in Rome, Ellen Walshe cruised into the 400m Individual Medley Final, placing fourth in her heat and sixth overall in 3:50.32. In the 50m Breaststroke Heats, Mona McSharry, silver medallist in the 100m Breaststroke on Thursday, finished ninth in 31.20 and will compete in the B Final in the Italian capital. Back at the European U23s in Slovakia, then, Maria Godden narrowly missed out on the 100m Backstroke final, touching ninth overall in 1:02.57. Swimming in the same event, Lottie Cullen clocked 1:02.86. 200m Freestyle Finalist Evan Bailey returned to the pool for the 50m Freestyle, where just one hundredth of a second separated him and Ireland team-mate Oisin Tebite in 23.18 and 23.17 respectively. Brandon Biss rounded out the morning for Ireland in the 50m Backstroke, clocking 27.17. Day 2, Finals Schedule, European U23 Championships Women 100m Breaststroke: Ellie McCartney, 5.13pm Ellie McCartney, 5.13pm Men 400m Freestyle: Cormac Rynn, 5.43pm Cormac Rynn, 5.43pm Men 200m Breaststroke: Eoin Corby, 6.04pm Eoin Corby, 6.04pm Men 200m Butterfly: Jack Cassin, 6.25pm Day 2, Finals Schedule, Sette Colli
