Tag: Hong Kong

Former Notre Dame fencer Nick Itkin wins Olympic bronze in foil

Way to go, Nick!

Both current and former Notre Dame fencers have made quite an impact on the 2024 Olympics in Paris. [autotag]Lee Kiefer[/autotag] won her second straight gold medal in the women’s individual foil, and [autotag]Eszter Muhari[/autotag] took bronze in the women’s individual epee for Hungary. Now, we can add [autotag]Nick Itkin[/autotag] to the medal count.

Itkin, who won a bronze medal with the U.S. for the team foil during the pandemic-delayed 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, has his first individual Olympic medal. He claimed the bronze with a 15-12 defeat of Japan’s Kazuki Iimura in the men’s individual foil. That made him the first American to medal in the event since Alexander Massialas won silver at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

Cheung Ka Long of Hong Kong successfully defended his gold medal in this event, defeating 2016 gold medalist Daniele Garozzo of Italy. Meanwhile, [autotag]Gerek Meinhardt[/autotag], another former Irish fencer in the event and Kiefer’s husband, bowed out in the round of 16, 15-10, to Enzo Lefort of France.

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Follow Geoffrey on Twitter: @gfclark89

Notre Dame fencer Eszter Muhari wins Olympic bronze for Hungary

Congrats, Eszter!

Notre Dame fencing fans have plenty to cheer for during the 2024 Olympics. In fact, four of the 10 current or former Notre Dame athletes competing in Paris are fencers. But Irish fencers are representing more than one country, and that already has paid off.

[autotag]Eszter Muhari[/autotag] skipped her sophomore season with the Irish to train for Hungary’s Olympic team. On the first full day of competition, she earned a bronze medal in the individual epee with a 15-14 overtime victory over Nelli Differt of Estonia. She trailed, 12-10, during the third period before pulling off a come-from-behind victory in a match that lasted 19 minutes, 35 seconds.

Taking the gold in the event was Vivian Kong of Hong Kong with a victory over France’s Auriane Mallo, who defeated Muhari in the semifinals. Muhari’s medal was the first for Hungary in these Olympics, and it came in what has historically has been the country’s best Olympic sport by far.

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Geoffrey on Twitter: @gfclark89

2024 LIV Golf Hong Kong prize money payouts for each player and team

It pays to play well in the Saudi-backed league.

It pays to play well in the LIV Golf League, just ask Abraham Ancer.

The 33-year-old won for the first time on the Saudi Arabia-backed circuit after a three-way playoff on Sunday to claim 2024 LIV Golf Hong Kong at Hong Kong Golf Club’s Fanling Course.

For his efforts, Ancer will take home the top prize of $4 million. Paul Casey and Cameron Smith each earned $1.875 million for their runner-up finishes. Joaquin Niemann and Carlos Ortiz round out the top five at T-4 and banked $900,000.

Check out how much money each player and team earned at 2024 LIV Golf Hong Kong.

MORE: Best shots from LIV Golf Hong Kong

Individual prize money

Position Player Score Earnings
1  Abraham Ancer -13 $4,000,000
2  Paul Casey -13 $1,875,000
2  Cameron Smith -13 $1,875,000
T4  Joaquin Niemann -12 $900,000
T4  Carlos Ortiz -12 $900,000
T6  Kevin Na -11 $650,000
T6  Bryson DeChambeau -11 $650,000
T8  Richard Bland -10 $396,071
T8  Graeme McDowell -10 $396,071
T8  Charles Howell III -10 $396,071
T8  Ian Poulter -10 $396,071
T8  Dean Burmester -10 $396,071
T8  Jon Rahm -10 $396,071
T8  Henrik Stenson -10 $396,071
T15  Lucas Herbert -9 $278,750
T15  Adrian Meronk -9 $278,750
T15  Harold Varner III -9 $278,750
T15  Eugenio Chacarra -9 $278,750
T19  Sam Horsfield -8 $245,000
T19  Louis Oosthuizen -8 $245,000
T21  Dustin Johnson -7 $204,286
T21  Talor Gooch -7 $204,286
T21  Martin Kaymer -7 $204,286
T21  Scott Vincent -7 $204,286
T21  Tyrrell Hatton -7 $204,286
T21  Sebastián Muñoz -7 $204,286
T21  Matt Jones -7 $204,286
28  Brooks Koepka -6 $180,000
T29  Peter Uihlein -5 $165,000
T29  Marc Leishman -5 $165,000
T29  Patrick Reed -5 $165,000
T29  Andy Ogletree -5 $165,000
T29  Bubba Watson -5 $165,000
T34  Brendan Steele -4 $146,250
T34  David Puig -4 $146,250
T34  Cameron Tringale -4 $146,250
T34  Anirban Lahiri -4 $146,250
T38  Caleb Surratt -3 $137,500
T38  Sergio Garcia -3 $137,500
T38  Pat Perez -3 $137,500
T41  Charl Schwartzel -2 $129,375
T41  Danny Lee -2 $129,375
T41  Jinichiro Kozuma -2 $129,375
T41  Kalle Samooja -2 $129,375
T45  Lee Westwood -1 $124,167
T45  Matthew Wolff -1 $124,167
T45  Branden Grace -1 $124,167
T48  Mito Pereira E $90,000
T48  Thomas Pieters E $90,000
50  Anthony Kim 3 $60,000
51  Jason Kokrak 6 $60,000
T52  Hudson Swafford 8 $50,000
T52  Phil Mickelson 8 $50,000
54  Kieran Vincent 9 $50,000

Team prize money

Position Team Score Earnings
1 Crushers GC -35 $3,000,000
2 Torque GC -33 $1,500,000
3 Ripper GC -23 $500,000

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Photos: Best shots from 2024 LIV Golf Hong Kong

Check out some of the best shots of the week from Hong Kong.

LIV Golf is back in action this week as the league makes its first trip to Hong Kong.

Hong Kong Golf Club will play host to 2024 LIV Golf Hong Kong, the fourth event of the new season. The club hosts the Hong Kong Open each year on the Asian Tour and plays to a par 70 at 6,710 yards.

Joaquin Niemann has won two of the first three events so far this season and sits atop the individual standings while Bryson DeChambeau’s Crushers GC are first in the overall team standings after three top-five finishes, including a win, so far this year.

Check out the best photos of the week from 2024 LIV Golf Hong Kong at Hong Kong Golf Club.

LIV Golf’s biggest hitters describe the unique test that is the 6,700-yard Hong Kong Golf Club

“It’s a golf course where you hit all your clubs in your bag, and there’s a lot of different ways to play every hole.”

This week’s LIV Golf stop is unique on a few different levels.

As the league makes its first-ever trip to Hong Kong, its players will be teeing it up at Hong Kong Golf Club, a par-70 track that measures to just 6,710 yards. It’s one of two courses that LIV will visit this season that plays less than 7,000 yards in addition to Real Club Valderrama in Spain, where the league will be July 12-14. It’s rare for the pros to play such a short course. For comparison, TPC River Highlands will be the shortest course on the 2024 PGA Tour schedule and played at 6,852 yards for the 2023 Travelers Championship.

“Realistically like in competition? Probably never,” said Bryson DeChambeau of the last time he played a course this short. “In tournament competition, it’s definitely a unique test. There’s a lot of shot shaping you’ve got to have out here, and your iron play has to be on point.”

But don’t get it twisted, just because the holes aren’t as long as usual, some of the league’s biggest hitters are still planning on using driver.

“What’s funny is I can use a driver a couple times out here, actually,” added DeChambeau. “No. 9, 3, 1 if it’s into the wind. There’s a few places where I can actually use it, surprisingly.”

“It kind of all depends on the wind, but I hit quite a few drivers,” echoed Dustin Johnson. “I think it’s a golf course where you hit all your clubs in your bag, and there’s a lot of different ways to play every hole. If you want to hit a lot of drivers you can or you can lay back. It kind of just depends. Like I said, just depending on the wind really.”

A handful of players have history at Hong Kong Golf Club seeing as it has hosted the Asian Tour’s Hong Kong Open since 1959 and will do so once again this year, Nov. 21-24. Cameron Smith was runner-up in 2023, reserve player Wade Ormsby is a two-time winner in 2017 and 2020 and Ian Poulter won way back in 2010.

“I love how this golf course plays. It is really a smart person’s golf course,” said Smith. “It’s a golf course, although it presents a lot of opportunities, you have to be really patient around here, particularly if you’re off the fairway. It can bite you in the bum pretty quick around here, and just need to be smart.”

“The thing is it plays longer than this just because on a lot of tee shots you’re simply not allowed to be hitting drivers, so you’re playing it to a spot. It plays a little bit longer,” explained Jon Rahm. “You have the option of hitting driver if you want, but you’re going to have to be extremely accurate.

“But I’m in the belief that as a player, you have to adjust to the golf course and adjust to the conditions and shoot low, and whoever does that obviously the best is going to succeed. If anything, this type of golf is some of my favorite.”

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Myles Powell, Andrew Nicholson to Hong Kong

Speaking on a panel at the 2021 Hong …

Speaking on a panel at the 2021 Hong Kong FinTech Week conference, Tsai said the direct-to-consumer trend has led to an “explosion” of data collection by companies across sectors as they try to provide more tailored customer experiences and shorten their manufacturing cycles. Alibaba owns the Post. “The trend really drives the whole movement towards digitisation of the business world. When you talk to senior management of various companies, they say they use data to drive decision-making,” said Tsai, who took part virtually. “Getting closer to the customer is no longer a need. It is a necessity.”

Artificial intelligence (AI) also is …

Artificial intelligence (AI) also is helping companies better understand and address their risks – another necessity for companies who want to offer financial services, Tsai said. For example, AI can help identify potentially fraudulent activity in the payment space, as well as help identify risky behaviour that is not worth underwriting when it comes to lending to consumers of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), he said. “Every tech company that purports to be ‘techfin’ or get into financial services, your risk management is different from chat or short-form video,” Tsai said. “It is very, very hard to do.”

Daryl Morey, Tilman Fertitta say Hong Kong tweet didn’t cause exit

Both Houston’s owner and outgoing GM denied that the Twitter controversy had anything to do with the decision by Morey to move on.

Both outgoing Rockets GM Daryl Morey and owner Tilman Fertitta are denying that Morey’s infamous Twitter controversy in October 2019 had anything to do with his recent decision to leave Houston.

Here’s what Morey said about the situation to local media on Thursday, as transcribed by Tim MacMahon of ESPN:

It was just personal. I think it was an intense season for everyone in the league, but that didn’t factor in.

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver had previously said that the backlash from Chinese interests over Morey’s tweet — which was in support of a Hong Kong protest movement — could cost the NBA up to $400 million. However, both the league and the Rockets consistently declined to issue any discipline to Morey, citing freedom of expression.

Per Mark Berman of Fox 26 Houston, Fertitta also said Thursday that the Chinese controversy had no role in the decision.

“Absolutely not,” Fertitta said.

Morey and Fertitta have had a strong working relationship since the latter’s purchase of the team, which was finalized in October 2017. Morey will be replaced in Houston by previous No. 2 executive Rafael Stone, who appears likely to continue with Morey’s analytics-driven approach.

In Morey’s 13 years at the helm, the Rockets ranked No. 2 in the entire NBA in total wins. As such, he would likely have a strong market for his services, should he eventually decide to return to the league.

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Today in 2019: Daryl Morey’s Hong Kong tweet ignites firestorm

It was October 4, 2019, when the Houston Rockets GM tweeted an image with the words “Fight for Freedom: Stand with Hong Kong.”

Sunday represents the one-year anniversary since Houston Rockets GM Daryl Morey unintentionally sparked a firestorm with a tweeted image in support of a Hong Kong protest movement related to China.

On Oct. 4, 2019, Morey tweeted an image that read “Fight for Freedom, Stand with Hong Kong.” Within an hour, Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta clarified with his own tweet that the team is “NOT a political organization,” but that wasn’t enough to stop the backlash from China.

By the end of the weekend, Chinese officials had asked NBA Commissioner Adam Silver to fire Morey for his remarks. However, both the league and the Rockets stood by the GM, citing a right to freedom of expression. Many prominent U.S. politicians of both major parties jumped in the fray, as well, with a bipartisan movement of support for Morey.

The NBA’s decision to back Morey’s freedom of expression initially led to an apparent boycott of the league in China. In February 2020, Silver said the NBA could lose $400 million as a result of the fallout.

As the 2019-20 season moved along, the initially icy relationship between China and the NBA did show signs of thawing. However, as of the 2020 playoffs, Chinese networks still did not air Rockets games — even against LeBron James and the star-studded Los Angeles Lakers. By contrast, playoff games involving all other teams were shown.

Since drafting Yao Ming as the No. 1 overall pick in the 2002 NBA Draft, the Rockets have been arguably the most visible NBA franchise in China. Meanwhile, with 16 total NBA titles, the Lakers are probably the most prestigious basketball franchise in the world. The fact that a Rockets-Lakers matchup in the playoffs — the first since 2009 — wasn’t shown in China offered a strong signal as to the extent of the discord.

One year later, here’s a look back at key dates in this ongoing storyline.

October 4, 2019: Fertitta distances Rockets from Daryl Morey’s Hong Kong tweet

October 6, 2019: Chinese groups suspend ties with Rockets after Daryl Morey’s tweet

October 6, 2019: Report: Rockets have discussed removing Morey over China fallout

October 6, 2019: U.S. presidential candidate Yang blasts Chinese response to Rockets

October 6, 2019: Sam Amick refutes report of Daryl Morey’s job being in jeopardy

October 6, 2019: Rockets GM Daryl Morey, NBA issue statements on China incident

October 6, 2019: U.S. Senator Ted Cruz joins wave of politicians to support Daryl Morey

October 7, 2019: NBA commissioner backs Daryl Morey’s freedom of expression

October 7, 2019: China cancels planned G League exhibition with Rockets’ affiliate

October 7, 2019: James Harden, Russell Westbrook show support for Chinese fans

October 7, 2019: Democratic favorite Warren slams NBA’s response to Morey tweet

October 8, 2019: Chinese backlash expands beyond Rockets as NBA stiffens statement

October 8, 2019: James Harden, Mike D’Antoni downplay questions about China

October 9, 2019: U.S. lawmakers call out China’s selective treatment of Rockets

October 9, 2019: Report: China fallout could cost Rockets $10 million to $25 million

October 10, 2019: NBA objects to Rockets’ handling of media question about China

October 13, 2019: James Harden on Rockets’ China controversy: ‘I’m staying out of it’

October 14, 2019: Report: At least two Rockets had sponsorship talks stall in China

October 14, 2019: LeBron James blasts Rockets’ GM Daryl Morey over Hong Kong tweet

October 17, 2019: Adam Silver said ‘no chance’ when China asked to fire Daryl Morey

October 22, 2019: Shaquille O’Neal says Rockets GM Daryl Morey was right on China

October 24, 2019: Rockets GM Daryl Morey returns to Twitter after lengthy hiatus

October 25, 2019: Poll: Americans back Rockets’ GM Daryl Morey on Hong Kong, China

November 12, 2019: Report: Chinese backlash costing Rockets over $7 million this season

January 17, 2020: James Harden, Houston Rockets move up NBA merchandise lists

January 18, 2020: Former Rocket Dwight Howard avoids questions on Morey, China

February 16, 2020: Adam Silver: NBA could lose up to $400 million from China fallout

May 18, 2020: President Donald Trump on Rockets GM Daryl Morey: ‘He must be pretty good’

June 6, 2020: Tilman Fertitta sees nothing wrong with Morey’s Hong Kong tweet

July 25, 2020: Steve Kerr regrets his initial comments about Daryl Morey, China

September 4, 2020: Report: Rockets-Lakers series not expected to be shown in China

September 15, 2020: Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta: ‘Morey’s job is safe’

 

Now 48 years old, Morey has worked as Houston’s GM since 2007, and he’s one of the league’s most respected executives. Morey was voted Executive of the Year by his peers in 2018, and his Rockets now have the NBA’s longest streak of consecutive playoff appearances, at eight years.

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