LPGA says China tournament cancelled

THE Ladies Professional Golf Association reacted with dismay on Tuesday after organisers of an upcoming tournament in China said it cannot go ahead as planned, forcing the cancellation of the event. The LPGA said it had been "blindsided" by the China Golf Association which, despite previous assurances, had now informed them the Imperial Springs event, scheduled for September 29-October 2, could not proceed.

Japan's Ishikawa fined for no-shows

JAPAN'S top golfer Ryo Ishikawa has been fined $26,000 for pulling out of two tournaments in August and September, the JGTO Tour said on yesterday. The 19-year-old withdrew from the Kansai Open and last week's Toshin tournament, which he missed for the second year running, citing a sore shoulder. But Japan's JGTO Tour took a dim view of Ishikawa's decision to pull out again and slapped him with the first such fines for three years on the men's tour as punishment. "Rules are rules," the tour's executive director Andy Yamanaka told Reuters.

WC forces Elissalde out of retirement

RETIRED Toulouse scrum-half Jean-Baptiste Elissalde is being forced to ditch his coaching duties with the French club and kit up for the first time in 15 months because of the Rugby World Cup in New Zealand. Former France international Elissalde has not played competitive rugby since June 2010, however the 33-year-old now a coach with the southern club has been called in to replace Jean-Marc Doussain.

'Tired' Nadal in Spain for Davis Cup semi

SPAIN'S Rafael Nadal arrived 'a bit tired' in Spain for his country's Davis Cup semi-final against France after his US Open final loss to Novak Djokovic. "I have played three weeks at the highest level possible. So I've arrived here a bit physically tired. We'll see in the coming days how I feel," he told a news conference yesterday.

Djokovic sets ATP prize money record

WORLD No 1 Novak Djokovic's US Open triumph on Monday ran his Grand Slam total for the season to three and earned him a record amount of prize money. Djokovic posted his 64th win in 66 matches and pushed his 2011 earnings past $10.6 million to set an ATP World Tour money record. The only other men to come close were Rafael Nadal in 2010 and Roger Federer four years ago.

Agencies