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Published: 07 May. 2017, 19:29

GOLF

Kim Ha-neul comes from behind to win Salonpas Cup

Kim Ha-neul shot nine under-par to win the World Ladies Championship Salonpas Cup at Ibaraki Golf Club in Tsukubamirai, Japan on Sunday.

Kim shot three under par on the final day to win three shots ahead of Lexi Thompson of the United States, the defending champion.

It was an impressive win for Kim as she was far from the lead after the first round, shooting 74 to be tied at 30th.

But in the second round, Kim shot a six-under-par and another under-par round of 70 put her in the lead heading into the final round.

The win marks Kim’s fifth JLPGA tour victory and her second victory of the 2017 season, having also won the Cyber Agent Ladies Golf Tournament last weekend.

Along with Thompson, Ko Jin-young finished tied for second in the event.

By Kang Yoo-rim

FOOTBALL

Yongin hopes to attract pro football to new stadium

A satellite city of Seoul is trying to land a professional football club at a brand new stadium scheduled to open this fall, its officials said Saturday.

Yongin, located some 50 kilometers (31 miles) south of the capital in Gyeonggi Province, is building a 37,000-seat multi-purpose stadium as part of its new municipal sports park, set for completion in November.

And according to city officials, Mayor Jung Chan-min recently ordered his staff to look into the feasibility of hosting a pro football team as the new stadium’s main tenant.

“We have the conditions to bring in a pro club,” one official said. “And we hope to make the best use of the new stadium and create a buzz for football.”

The official noted that other cities in Gyeonggi of that are a similar size to Yongin, Suwon and Seongnam, already have football teams.’

Suwon actually is home to two clubs: Suwon Samsung Bluewings in the top-flight K League Classic, and Suwon FC in the second-tier K League Challenge. Seongnam has Seongnam FC, a once-proud franchise that has fallen on hard times as the worst team in the K League Challenge this year.

Yongin, with a population of about 1 million, has apparently contacted several existing clubs about possible relocation.

The K League Classic has 12 clubs and the Challenge has 10. The worst team from the top division is automatically relegated to the lower competition the following season, while the second-to-last club must survive a relegation playoff.

Yongin founded a third-division club in 2010 but it folded in January this year, citing hefty operating costs.

The city is home to 15 elementary, middle and high school teams, as well as 82 amateur clubs.

Yongin currently has one professional sports team, the Samsung Life Blue Minx in the Women’s Korean Basketball League.

Yonhap