The 23-year-old Higa finished tied-second at the Palm Resort Golf and Country Club last week but made sure he would not take another runner-up finish when he cruised to a six-shot victory at the same venue with his four-day winning total of 22-under-par 266.

Compatriot Naoki Sekito signed for a 67 to share second place with overnight leader Shintaro Kobayashi who closed with a disappointing 72 at the RM225,000 (approximately US$54,000) event.

Malaysian’s Ben Leong was the highest-placed local when he ended his campaign with a 72 to finish in tied-fourth with four other players.

Starting the day one shot off the pace, Higa dropped a shot on his second hole but recovered quickly with a birdie on hole three. He went on to nail birdies on holes six, eight and nine to make the turn in 33.

“I wasn’t happy with how I was hitting it yesterday so I did some work at the range after my game and it really helped my round today. I stayed consistent and was hitting shots exactly how I wanted to,” said Higa, who claimed his maiden ADT victory last April in Bangladesh.

The Japanese trusted his abilities and extended his advantage with further birdies on holes 11, 12, 16 and 18 for a 32 in his homeward nine.

“I knew I was so close to getting a win last week and that really gave me the motivation I needed to get the job done today. I just told myself to trust myself and not think about how other people were playing,” added Higa, who moved up to third place on the Merit rankings.

He took home the winner’s prize purse of US$9,627.23 and received six Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) points while the other top six players and ties earned points based on a sliding scale.

The 21-year-old Sekito took pride in his joint runner-up finish which was also his personal-best finish on the ADT since his tied-fourth result in October last year.

“I was hitting my driver and long irons really well and was pretty consistent all week. I only missed three greens today and my only two mistakes were on holes five and 15 when I three-putted for bogey,” said the Japanese, who resides in Hiroshima.

Focusing on the ADT this year, Sekito aims to finish inside the top-seven on the final ADT Order of Merit to earn playing rights on the Asian Tour for the 2020 season.

“This week really boosted my confidence. I am glad that all my hard work that I did back home is paying off and now my goal is to finish inside the top-seven on the ADT,” added the Japanese, who traded eight birdies against three bogeys.

For more information, visit www.asiandevelopmenttour.com

Leading final round scores:

266 – Kazuki Higa 68 65 68 65

272 – Naoki Sekito 69 67 69 67, Shintaro Kobayashi 71 67 62 72

275 – Itthipat Buranatanyarat 69 69 71 66, Kwanchai Tannin 71 70 67 67, Joohyung Kim 68 70 68 69, Suttijet Kooratanapisan 68 66 70 71, Ben Leong 65 69 69 72

276 – Kasidit Lepkurte 70 69 68 69, Kerry Sweeney 67 66 71 72

United face a two-legged quarter-final against Barcelona in April after staging a dramatic comeback from a 2-0 first-leg deficit to knock out Paris Saint-Germain on away goals in the last 16.

Solskjaer scored the dramatic winner in the 1999 final as United struck twice in injury-time to beat Bayern Munich 2-1 in Barcelona and become champions of Europe for the second time in their history.

United, having won the trophy in 1968, lifted it again in 2008 by defeating Chelsea on penalties in Moscow but have not reached the final since 2011, when they were beaten 3-1 by Barcelona.

Solskjaer has acknowledged that his team benefited from a significant decision in their favour to beat PSG, with Marcus Rashford scoring the decisive goal from a penalty awarded for handball with the help of VAR in the dying minutes.

The caretaker manager recognises that United had to come through similarly tight situations to win the Champions League 20 years ago, having to come back from two goals down in the away leg to defeat Juventus in the semi-final before their dramatic late recovery against Bayern.

“I think we’ve shown against PSG that on any given day we can beat a top team,” said Solskjaer, who has turned United’s fortunes around since he took over from the sacked Jose Mourinho in December.

“Then again, there are so many variables and these games will be decided by margins.

“And of course with that VAR decision, even though for me it’s a penalty, you can still be unlucky and not get it in the last minute and then we’d be out and no one would really remember the PSG performance.

“So yes, we can go all the way but you’ve got to be lucky and good along the way.”

– Treble winners –

This year is the 20th anniversary of United’s treble-winning season, when they won the Premier League and FA Cup as well as the Champions League, with difficult moments on the way to all three trophies.

“To win trophies, you’ve got to win at least one or two really tough games,” said Solskjaer. “They’re like defining moments.

“So comparisons? Well we’re not challenging to win the league this year but we are challenging for the other two trophies.”

Solskjaer is aware of the comparisons between United’s current run and that enjoyed by the treble winners of 1999.

It has even been suggested to him that they are fated to be successful under him this season, as it is 20 years since the treble, and he used to wear the number 20 as a player at Old Trafford.

However, he argued that hard work is more important than historical coincidence in the pursuit of trophies.

“There have been a couple of comments about ‘You used to wear the number 20’ and blah blah blah, but I believe that you get what you deserve in life, in sports.

“If you put the work in, I believe, if you work hard, show the right attitude, if you go in every single day and do the right things, you can maximise your chances.”

World number two Nadal, the highest seed left in the draw after the early ouster of No. 1 Novak Djokovic, dominated both tiebreakers to beat the towering Russian 7-6 (7/2), 7-6 (7/2).

He booked a 39th career meeting with Federer, a five-time champion at Indian Wells who breezed past 67th-ranked Hubert Hurkacz of Poland 6-4, 6-4.

“Hopefully I will be ready for it,” said Nadal, who recovered an early break in the opening set and powered through the tiebreaker, but called for the trainer to have supportive tape applied below his right knee three games into the second.

Although he wasn’t moving as well, Nadal gained the first break of the second set to lead 3-2, but was immediately broken himself.

He saved a set point in a fierce 10th game that went to deuce three times before Nadal held to make it 5-5. He couldn’t convert a break chance in the 11th game as they went to another tiebreaker which the Spaniard again controlled.

“I just had to give my best and that’s what I did,” said Nadal, who has battled tendinitis in his knees throughout his career. “I’m very happy to be in the semi-finals.”

Khachanov, who peppered Nadal with 17 aces in the two-hour, 17-minute match, has now lost all six of his career meetings with the Spaniard.

He’ll be gunning for a chance to claim a fourth Indian Wells title while Federer is seeking to break out of a tie with Djokovic with a record sixth.

Nadal leads the head-to-head rivalry with Federer 23-15, but Federer has won 11 of their 20 hard-court meetings, including their last five.

However, they haven’t met since October of 2017, when Federer triumphed in straight sets in the final of the Shanghai Masters.

– Extra energy –

Federer said he might not feel quite the same tingle of anticipation as fans at the prospect of facing Nadal, but he acknowledged that their clashes always raise the stakes.

“If I play Rafa there’s extra energy in the building — there’s always a lot on the line,” said Federer, who added that so much time has passed since their last meeting that his own current five-match winning streak is of little significance.

“I don’t think those five matches matter that much, to be honest,” he said. “A lot of time has gone by.

Federer, a 20-time Grand Slam champion who captured his 100th career title at Dubai last month, overcame breezy conditions on stadium court and a hungry Hurkacz — a 22-year-old ranked 67th in the world who was playing in his first Masters 1000 quarter-final and just the second quarter-final of his career.

Hurkacz settled his early nerves to produce some entertaining rallies, but he couldn’t make a dent in Federer’s serve.

One break in each set was all Federer needed to seal the win after an hour and 14 minutes.

“Overall I’m very pleased with that performance,” said Federer, who has reached the final four without dropping a set, winning 38 of his 39 service games.

“I feel good,” he said. “I’m holding my serve comfortably, I’m in a good place mentally when I go into my service games. I think it showed this week thus far, so I hope I can keep that up.”

Now 49, Kahn won the Champions league (2001) and eight Bundesliga titles with Bayern Munich, plus the European Championships (1996) with Germany, with whom he reached the World Cup final in 2002, when they lost to Brazil. He was also named World Goalkeeper of the Year three times (1999, 2001 and 2002).

The Bundesliga have teamed up with Oliver Kahn and his goalkeeper training Academy, Goalplay, for four days of events, from March 15 to 18, designed to inspire Thai football fans. This will include opportunities to meet the German legend, take part in a Bundesliga fan festival and watch the world’s greatest league live on TV.

Following a number of media activities, Kahn will make a guest appearance at the Bundesliga Fan Festival on Saturday, March 16. Thai fans are encouraged to head down to Central World, where there will be a Bundesliga branded set-up, filled with activities and a 5-a-side futsal tournament.

On Saturday evening, Bundesliga matches will be broadcast to Bundesliga fan club members and Khan himself will be available for photo opportunities with the ‘Bundesliga Meisterschale’ Trophy during this event. On Sunday, he will attend a Toyota Thai League 1 match in Bangkok.

Khan will be putting the excellence of Goalplay to good use in Bangkok and introduce the first digital goalkeeper coach mobile application. At the same time, the Academy, which specialises in training goalkeepers and educating goalkeeper coaches, will pass on their expertise to a selected group on Monday, March 18. This will include a unique ‘Coach the Coach’ session, at theThailand FA’s High Performance Centre at Bangkok Thonburi University.

Speaking about this visit, Kahn said: “I have many happy memories from playing in the Bundesliga, and I’m delighted that I can share them with my fans in Thailand. I’m also very thankful that I can share my knowledge and experience as a goalkeeper playing for Germany and in the best football league in the world.”

Peter Leible Head of Global Audio Visual Rights, added: “Oliver Kahn is a legendary footballing icon, synonymous with Germany and the Bundesliga. As a player, his performances epitomised pure, authentic football – ‘Football As It’s Meant To Be’, therefore this collaboration is a perfect fit. His involvement will be key to building a much closer connection between Thai fans and the Bundesliga.”

Oliver Kahn is one of the most renowned German goalkeepers of all time. Since playing his first professional game at Karlsruhe SC in 1987 he played a total of over 630 games for Karlsruhe and FC Bayern München. In 2002 he was the first and only goalkeeper to receive the Golden Ball for Best Player of a World Cup.

Follow all the latest Bundesliga action on Bundesliga.com and via the official Facebook, Twitter and Instagram channels.

The former Asian Games national player carded a one-under-par 71, the only player out of 46 who made the cut to shoot red figures, and finished with an even-par three-day total of 216.

Kultida, who hails from Pathum Thani, traded two birdies with two bogeys before she sank her last birdie on the 17th hole that was enough to seal a one-stroke victory over Kusuma Meechai and her first Thai LPGA crown.

“This is far beyond my expectations,” said Kultida of her biggest win to date. “I came here hoping to finish in the top five or ten. Winning my first professional is like a bonus,” added the teenager who walked off with winner’s cheque for Bt142,500.

The youngster also revealed that her familiarity with the lay-out was a key factor in her success, while the rest of the field struggled to beat par.

“I’ve played here several times during the junior years,” she said. “So I know which holes are tough and I tried to play it safe when I needed to.

“I decided to turn pro quite fast as I think I’m already done with the national team. Being part of the Asian Games team was already the highlight of my amateur career.”

Kultida plans to compete on a local tour until the end of the season to gain more experience before she starts playing overseas Q School events later.

Meanwhile, in Lumphun,  24-year-old Tawan Phongphun won the Singha SAT Lumphun Championship when the third and find round had to be scrapped due to bad weather and organisers were forced to use players’ scores after 36 holes.

Tawan won his first title on nine under-par-131 at the par 70 Gassan Khuntan Golf & Resort as organisers cancelled the last two rounds in fear of serious air pollution in the northern city.

AIS is partnering with several organisations to promote the growth of the sector; these include the eSports Association of Thailand, leading universities, Thai and foreign game publishers and smartphone manufacturers. It has also announced an exclusive partnership in Thailand with PUBG Mobile.

Its work with the tertiary education sector – Bangkok University, Khon Kaen University, Chulalongkorn University, Dhurakij Pundit University and Sripatum University ¬– aims to support knowledge, an in-depth curriculum and training for employment in eSports.

It is also creating an online platform for organizing eSports competitions on campus in order to further develop students’ skills.

The partnership with the Thailand eSports Federation is designed to support the selection of competitors for the Thailand team at the SEA Games 2019 in the Philippines and the the “11th IESF eSports World Championships 2019.

Pratthana Leelapanang, AIS’s Chief Consumer Business Officer, said: “This year, AIS is determined to push the eSports industry seriously. We see eSports as a digital sport that meets the lifestyle of millennials. eSports is useful in developing skills in planning, thinking, analysing and language.

“Moreover, Thai gamers have enough skill and potential to prevail against other nations. We, therefore, want to promote and upgrade Thai eSports on the international stage. At present, the value of he eSports business in Thailand in 2018 is more than 22,000 million baht, and there are [altogether] 27.5 million gamers on all its platforms.

Its overall dream, Pratthana says, is “to provide the best experience for eSports followers through tournaments, Academies, events, marketing activities to level up the eSports community in Thailand actively so it becomes the pride of Thailand”.

Kobayashi marked his card with two bogeys, eight birdies and two eagles to lead by one shot with his three-day total of 16-under-par 200 at the RM225,000 (approximately US$54,000) Asian Development Tour (ADT) event.

Overnight co-leader compatriot Kazuki Higa dropped to second place following a 68 while Malaysia’s Ben Leong trails two shots in third place after posting a 69 at the Palm Resort Golf and Country Club.

Starting the day five shots off the pace in tied-ninth, the 32-year-old Kobayashi was thrilled to shoot his career-best round that has now put him in a good position for his maiden victory since turning professional in 2012.

“This is the best round of my professional career. I was making a lot of putts and only needed to make 10 putts in total in my back nine. I hit some pretty great shots today too like on hole 11, I had a 190-yard approach and struck it perfectly to two metres before rolling the putt in for eagle,” added Kobayashi.

The Japanese, who struggled to adapt to the firm greens at the ADT event held at the same venue last week, made the decision to purchase a new wedge over the weekend, after finishing in tied-37th.

“The greens here are much harder compared to what I am used to in Japan and I needed a higher loft. I am glad my decision is paying off this week,” added the Japanese, who plays mostly on the AbemaTV Tour.

Higa, a one-time ADT winner, lamented his poor iron-shots but took pride in his performance as he managed to meet his personal goal of shooting a 68 on moving day thanks to his solid putting.

“My goal today was to play four-under or below so I am glad to have hit that goal. I wasn’t hitting it well today but my distance control with my long putts helped me save a lot of pars,” said Higa, who traded six birdies against two bogeys.

Coming off a joint runner-up finish on the ADT last week, the 23-year-old Japanese remains confident ahead of his final-day challenge.

“I have enjoyed three wins since I turned professional and all of them were because I was leading after three rounds. This will be the first time I am chasing for a win from behind and I hope I can get the job done tomorrow,” said Higa, who claimed his breakthrough on the ADT in Bangladesh last April.

The leading seven players on the final ADT Order of Merit will earn playing rights on the premier Asian Tour for the 2020 season.

All ADT events offer Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) points. The winner will receive a minimum of six OWGR points while the top six players and ties will also earn points based on a sliding scale.

For more information, visit www.asiandevelopmenttour.com

Leading third round scores:

200 – Shintaro Kobayashi 71 67 62

201 – Kazuki Higa 68 65 68

203 – Ben Leong 65 69 69

204 – Suttijet Kooratanapisan 68 66 70, Kerry Sweeney 67 66 71

205 – Reo Hiruta 68 68 69, Naoki Sekito 69 67 69

Welcoming runners from as young as three years old (competing in the 2 km Kids Run) up to more than 70 years old, Laguna Phuket Marathon is a key event on Phuket’s annual sporting calendar and the largest mass participation event in Phuket, and will again shine the light on the island’s sports and tourism credentials on the 8th and 9th June, 2019 at Laguna Phuket.

“We have broken our own entry record every year and still with nearly three months to go we have surpassed last year’s entry numbers,” commented Roman Floesser, General Manager of the event’s organiser, GAA Events. “Runners of all abilities and nationalities are set to compete and what is particularly encouraging for us and for the island is that more than 80% of the runners are from outside of Phuket; travelling from overseas and around Thailand to take part in the event and enjoy Phuket’s famed hospitality.”

Phuket is a world-class tourism destination welcoming a record of more than nine million arrivals through Phuket International Airport in 2018, and as the island’s appeal continues to grow sports tourism has become one of the fastest growing tourism sectors. Laguna Phuket Marathon has been at the front of that growth and has helped to put Phuket on the map as a running mecca, delivering an event to the highest international standards that is a qualifier for the Boston Marathon, is professionally timed by Sportstats Asia, and is certified by AIMS (Association of International Marathons and Distance Races).

And independent study of the 2018 event found that its economic impact was 146,818,481THB with international participants staying an average of 10 days over the period and their top three areas of spend were meals/ food & beverage, accommodation and local transportation.

With the largest international fields of any running event in Thailand, and the attraction to “Run Paradise”, Laguna Phuket Marathon has become a leading destination marathon in South East Asia and a significant revenue generator for the local economy.

“It’s delightful to have witnessed the steady growth of the running community in Thailand, especially in the past few years. Sport promotes a healthy lifestyle and running events can help to raise awareness and funds for meaningful causes. Laguna Phuket Marathon leads the way in both endeavours, very much in sync with Laguna Phuket’s aspirations,” said Anthony Loh, Vice President of Laguna Phuket.

“I believe Laguna Phuket Marathon’s success as a leading mass-participation sporting event in Asia Pacific and a fund raising platform that has a positive impact on the local community, together with Laguna Phuket’s outstanding hospitality capacity, has significantly contributed to the resort’s ultimate recognition as Best Sports Event Venue in Thailand last November.

“This June, Laguna Phuket will once again welcome thousands of runners and spectators to our beautiful destination resort. We encourage all to join us in raising awareness and funds towards Laguna Phuket Foundation’s Children First Fund (CFF) to support more than 400 underprivileged children in seven orphanages in Phuket. You can help them now by making a direct donation upon event registration or contact us at CSR@lagunaphuket.com.”

Laguna Phuket Marathon is more than a sports event, it is part of the local community. In addition to supporting Laguna Phuket Foundation’s Children First Fund, this year the event is supporting the UNHCR (the UN Refugee Agency) and their efforts to build a better future for refugees, forcibly displaced communities and stateless people.

“Running has become very popular in recent years and it’s great to see more and more people enjoying a healthy activity. At the same time, we are seeing runners supporting charitable causes through raising funds and profiles, and we are proud that Laguna Phuket Marathon continues to support Laguna Phuket Foundation’s Children First Fund, and for the first time this year the UNHCR,” added Floesser.

Laguna Phuket Marathon 2019 offers six distances: 2 km Kids Run, 5 km and 10.5 km will take place on Saturday 8th June in the afternoon while the Half Marathon (21.0975 km), Marathon (42.195 km) and Marathon Relay (42.195 km) will take place on Sunday 9th June in the morning. For the full race schedule, visit http://www.phuketmarathon.com/race-schedule.