By Michael Church
July 19 (Reuters) &#8211; Fifty-three years since winning their first and so far only Olympic medal, Japan&#8217;s male footballers have their sights set on making history on home soil under Hajime Moriyasu.
Kunishige Kamamoto&#8217;s brace in 1968 famously earned Japan a bronze with victory over hosts Mexico, but since then there have been near misses and no medals.
Confidence, however, is growing that Moriyasu&#8217;s team could finally break Japan&#8217;s medal hoodoo after a series of impressive results since the turn of the year.
A 1-1 draw with Spain on Saturday came after successes against Argentina, Ghana, Jamaica and Honduras and has many dreaming of a podium return for the country&#8217;s footballers.
&#8220;We came in with a focus on winning this game and it&#8217;s unfortunate that we didn&#8217;t,&#8221; said Moriyasu after facing Spain, highlighting his ambition against a team whose core featured in the semi-finals of Euro 2020.
The Japanese are due to kick off their campaign against South Africa on Thursday followed by meetings with Mexico and France as they seek a place in the quarter-finals.
Hopes, though, have been high before only for heartbreak to ensue.
As the Japanese prepared for their co-hosting of the World Cup, Philippe Troussier led a talented squad to Sydney in 2000, missing out on the medal rounds when they were eliminated on penalties in the quarter-finals by the United States.
Twelve years later the country went closer still, reaching the last four but falling short with a loss to eventual gold medallists Mexico before losing to neighbours South Korea in the third place playoff.
That 2-0 victory for the South Koreans was the first medal won by an Asian men&#8217;s team at the Olympics since Japan&#8217;s 1968 success, and Kim Hak-bum&#8217;s team will also be hoping to make an impact in Tokyo.
While Tottenham Hotspur&#8217;s Son Heung-min was not included as one of three permitted overage players, Kim has one of the most talented young squads in Asia at his disposal.
His team won the Asian Under 23 Championship last year to qualify and they are banking on a strong team ethic to help them make an impact in the group phase against New Zealand, Honduras and Romania.
&#8220;We have to sacrifice for each other. Then we can compete against the best of them,&#8221; overage player Kwon Chang-hoon said.
&#8220;We&#8217;re all chasing the common goal. Most of the guys will only get one chance to play in the Olympics, and I am not here just for my own good. We&#8217;re all in this together.&#8221;
Saudi Arabia and Australia will also represent Asia, with the west Asians supplementing their team with World Cup veterans Yasser Al Shahrani, Salem Al Dawsari and Salman Al Faraj as they face off against Brazil, Germany and Ivory Coast.
Graham Arnold&#8217;s Olyroos take on Spain, Argentina and Egypt in a challenging assignment in the country&#8217;s first appearance at the Olympics since 2008. (Reporting by Michael Church, Editing by Michael Perry)
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Olympics-Soccer-Japanese lead Asian challenge with eyes on podium

By Sangmi Cha
SEOUL, July 19 (Reuters) &#8211; South Korea&#8217;s military has recorded in biggest cluster of COVID-19 infections to date, with more than 80% of personnel aboard a destroyer on anti-piracy patrol in the Gulf of Aden testing positive.
While the 247 cases are not directly linked to new domestic infections, with the destroyer having left South Korea to start its mission in February, the surge comes as the country battles its worst-ever outbreak of COVID-19 cases at home, with another 1,252 new infections reported for Sunday.
The country&#8217;s Joint Chiefs of Staff said on Monday that just 50 of the ship&#8217;s complement of 301 personnel have tested negative in an outbreak first reported on July 15. Authorities have begun an operation to airlift them home, while a replacement team will steer the vessel back home.
Sunday&#8217;s number meant new cases in South Korea, which has so far fared better than many industrialised nations in case numbers and deaths, have topped 1,100 a day for nearly two weeks in an outbreak stoked by a surge in highly transmissible Delta variant cases.
So far, South Korea has recorded 179,203 cases and 2,058 deaths. Some 31.4% of its 52 million population has received at least one dose of vaccine, while 12.7% have been fully vaccinated.
Helped largely by vaccinations of the elderly and the vulnerable, the latest surge in case numbers has yet to be accompanied by a significant increase in hospitalisations or deaths, with a mortality rate of 1.15% and the number of severe cases at 185 as of Sunday.
Citing military sources, Yonhap news agency reported none of the affected personnel aboard the destroyer were classified as severe cases, though one person has developed conditions that require close observation.
The defence ministry had said noone aboard the destroyer had been vaccinated as the unit had left the country in February, before a vaccination campaign began for military personnel. (Reporting by Sangmi Cha; Editing by Kenneth Maxwell)
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S.Korea military suffers worst COVID-19 outbreak aboard anti-piracy ship off Africa

(The opinions expressed here are those of the author, a columnist for Reuters.)
By Clyde Russell
LAUNCESTON, Australia, July 19 (Reuters) &#8211; The OPEC+ deal to boost crude oil output from August was always the most likely outcome to the producer group&#8217;s earlier impasse, and it should be enough to end market talk of $100 a barrel oil, at least for now.
OPEC+ ministers agreed on Sunday to boost production by 400,000 barrels per day (bpd) from August to December, adding a total of 2 million bpd to global supply by the end of the year.
Additionally the group, which includes the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies such as Russia, agreed to new production allocations from May 2022, resolving the dispute sparked by the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which had wanted the baseline for its output quota raised.
The UAE will see its baseline gain by about 332,000 bpd from May, while Saudi Arabia and Russia will enjoy increases of 500,000 bpd each, with Iraq and Kuwait getting jumps of 150,000 bpd each.
OPEC+ also plans to end all output restrictions by September 2022, but this will depend on the state of the global oil market around that time.
With the impasse resolved, and more crude returning to global supply, the question for the market is now simple, but difficult to answer.
Will the increase in supply overwhelm the recovery in demand, leading to a lower crude price?
The bullish narrative remains that the world economy is recovering from the coronavirus pandemic, with more countries opening back up as populations receive vaccines against COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.
The bearish narrative is that this process may be happening, but it isn&#8217;t happening fast enough and is unevenly spread, with North America and Europe recovering faster and Asia and the developing nations of Africa and South America lagging.
So far the evidence from crude oil demand appears to favour the bearish narrative, especially in the top oil-importing region of Asia.
Asia&#8217;s crude imports for July are estimated at 22.59 million bpd by Refinitiv Oil Research, which is down from 23.78 million bpd in June and 23.04 million bpd in May.
While this estimate may be revised higher as the end of the month approaches, it is early evidence that crude oil demand is far from an upward trajectory in Asia.
July&#8217;s weakness is largely down to falling demand in India, the region&#8217;s number two importer behind China, with Refinitiv forecasting the South Asian nation will bring in 3.33 million bpd, down from June&#8217;s 4.14 million bpd.
The drop can largely be ascribed to India&#8217;s renewed coronavirus outbreak in recent months, which cut fuel demand as parts of the economy were locked down in a bid to halt the spread of the disease.
But China&#8217;s July imports, forecast at 9.55 million bpd, are also down from June&#8217;s 9.81 million bpd, while Japan is expected to bring in 2.01 million bpd, down from 2.27 million bpd.
Among the top four importers in Asia, only South Korea, which is likely to overtake Japan as the number three oil buyer in the region, is predicted to bring in more crude in July than in June, and even then the gain is relatively small, 3.17 million in July compared with 2.76 million for the prior month.

PRICE DISCORD
There is also something of a disconnect in Asia between prices for paper crude futures, such as global benchmark Brent and physical cargoes sold out of the main exporting region of the Middle East.
One such measure is the Brent-Dubai exchange for swaps &lt;DUB-EFS-1M&gt;, which measures the gap between Brent futures and physical crude in Dubai.
The premium of Brent futures over Dubai swaps ended at a relatively wide $3.79 a barrel on July 16, not far off the recent peak of $4.38 on July 7, which was the highest since April 2018.
In effect this means that paper Brent, and the physical crudes priced off it such as those from Angola and Nigeria, are trading at a historically high premium to cargoes from the Middle East.
With the OPEC+ deal now in place, it&#8217;s likely that investors in the paper market will be forced to confront the reality that for much of the world physical crude demand remains soft, and well below pre-pandemic levels.
Brent futures lost some ground in early Asian trade on Monday, dropping as low as $72.60 a barrel, down 1.3% from the close on July 16.
The OPEC+ agreement doesn&#8217;t necessarily end the bullish case for oil demand, but it does alter the supply part of the equation, and it means predictions of $100 a barrel oil in coming months, made by some investment banks and market participants, are less likely to materialise. (Editing by Richard Pullin)
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COLUMN-OPEC+ deal should end $100 a barrel crude oil predictions: Russell

When Collin Morikawa won the 2020 PGA Championship in his home state of California, pandemic restrictions meant that no spectators were in attendance to celebrate with him.
More than 5,000 miles away, to bookend a stretch of seven majors in 12 months, Morikawa received his due from British fans at the Open Championship as they lauded the emergent American star.
Morikawa&#8217;s final-round 66 Sunday wrapped up a 15-under 265 at Royal St. George&#8217;s in Sandwich, England, lifting him past South Africa&#8217;s Louis Oosthuizen for his second major title.
Morikawa, 24, became the first player in golf history to win his debuts at two different majors and the first player since Bobby Jones in the 1920s to win two majors in eight starts or fewer. As he accepted the Claret Jug, Morikawa called it one of the best moments of his life.
&#8220;At 24 years old, it&#8217;s so hard to look back at the two short years that I have been a pro and see what I&#8217;ve done because I want more,&#8221; Morikawa later told reporters. &#8220;I enjoy these moments and I love it, and I want to teach myself to embrace it a little more, maybe spend a few extra days and sit back and drink out of this (the Jug).&#8221;
Jordan Spieth shot 66 to finish second at 13 under. Oosthuizen (71) and U.S. Open champion Jon Rahm of Spain (66) tied for third at 11 under. South African Dylan Frittelli carded a 68 to take fifth at 9 under, and Brooks Koepka soared up the leaderboard with a 65 to finish T6 at 8 under with Canada&#8217;s Mackenzie Hughes (69).
Oosthuizen led the Open after each of the first three rounds, yet failed to convert a major opportunity once again. Earlier this year, he was a 54-hole co-leader at the U.S. Open and finished second after he also took runner-up at the PGA Championship.
Playing in the final pairing, Morikawa opened with six straight pars while Oosthuizen gave a shot back on No. 4 to create a tie for the lead at 11 under. Everything pivoted at No. 7, a reachable par-5 hole where Oosthuizen came undone.
Oosthuizen skulled his third shot out of a greenside bunker, over the green and into a different bunker. His recovery from there wasn&#8217;t much better, landing on the green but too far from the hole to have any hope for par. Morikawa, meanwhile, landed a chip shot right next to the hole for a tap-in birdie and a two-shot swing.
That propelled Morikawa forward. He hit a perfect approach at the eighth to set up a birdie, dunked a long birdie putt at No. 9 and saved a mid-range, downhill par putt at No. 10. The run took him to 14 under and established a three-shot lead over Spieth at the time, while Oosthuizen remained stalled at 10 under.
&#8220;The seventh hole was definitely the turning point,&#8221; Morikawa said. &#8220;I was hitting good shots to give myself chances for birdie. But to get a good break off the drive, I thought I pulled it left, hit it up short, was about to putt it, hit it to tap-in range. At that point, I kind of got the round started.
&#8220;Saw what happened to Louis. I&#8217;m not sure what happened with his first bunker shot, if he had a tough lie or anything, but just to have that little switch of a two-shot swing kind of got that round started and into another gear in a sense.&#8221;
Spieth, who wrapped up his third round in frustrating fashion with two poor bogeys, went 2-over for his first six holes Sunday before capitalizing on the seventh with an eagle putt. With momentum on his side, he poured in four birdies between Nos. 9 and 14 to rise to 13 under.
But like a handful of players Sunday, Spieth found his groove a bit too late. Morikawa sank another lengthy birdie putt at No. 14 to reach 15 under, and Spieth missed a birdie chance at No. 17 to keep apace.
&#8220;I really felt like I 100% played well enough to win this week,&#8221; Spieth said on the Golf Channel broadcast. &#8220;I felt that way, and I haven&#8217;t felt that way in a major in quite a while. Under pressure, under major championship pressure on the weekend, it felt like my swing held up really nicely and I&#8217;m gonna take that as a lot of confidence moving forward for sure.&#8221;
Morikawa played his final 31 holes of the championship without a bogey. Oosthuizen, who totaled only three bogeys from Thursday to Saturday, made three bogeys and two birdies Sunday for a disappointing T3 finish.
Rahm nearly holed out an albatross on the par-5 seventh, where his approach rolled and missed the cup by a few inches, leaving him a 5-foot eagle.
The world No. 2 then strung together four birdies on Nos. 13-16 to climb up to 11 under, with his tee shot on the par-3 16th stopping a few feet shy of the pin.
Frittelli, overshadowed by bigger names throughout the day, snuck into the top five with two of his five birdies coming at Nos. 15 and 17.
Earlier in the afternoon, Koepka polished off a bogey-free 65 with three birdies and an eagle, a round that could have been lower with some more converted birdies on the home stretch.
Morikawa went 67-64-68 over the first three rounds to set himself up for Sunday. His second-round 64 featured seven birdies that briefly put him in the hunt for a 62, which would have been a course record and tied the single-round record for a major.
Germany&#8217;s Matthias Schmid tied for 59th at 2 over and won the Open Championship Silver Medal as the low amateur.
&#8211;Field Level Media
(c) Copyright Field Level Media. All Rights Reserved. 2021
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Collin Morikawa wins Open Championship for second major title

When Collin Morikawa won the 2020 PGA Championship in his home state of California, pandemic restrictions meant that no spectators were in attendance to celebrate with him.
More than 5,000 miles away, to bookend a stretch of seven majors in 12 months, Morikawa received his due from British fans at the Open Championship as they lauded the emergent American star.
Morikawa&#8217;s final-round 66 Sunday wrapped up a 15-under 265 at Royal St. George&#8217;s in Sandwich, England, lifting him past South Africa&#8217;s Louis Oosthuizen for his second major title.
Morikawa, 24, became the first player in golf history to win his debuts at two different majors and the first player since Bobby Jones in the 1920s to win two majors in eight starts or fewer.
Jordan Spieth shot 66 to finish second at 13 under. Oosthuizen (71) and U.S. Open champion Jon Rahm of Spain (66) tied for third at 11 under. South African Dylan Frittelli carded a 68 to take fifth at 9 under, and Brooks Koepka soared up the leaderboard with a 65 to finish T6 at 8 under with Canada&#8217;s Mackenzie Hughes (69).
Oosthuizen led the Open after each of the first three rounds, yet failed to convert a major opportunity once again. Earlier this year he was a 54-hole co-leader at the U.S. Open and finished second after he also took runner-up at the PGA Championship.
Playing in the final pairing, Morikawa opened with six straight pars while Oosthuizen gave a shot back on No. 4 to create a tie for the lead at 11 under. Everything pivoted at No. 7, a reachable par-5 hole where Oosthuizen came undone.
Oosthuizen skulled his third shot out of a greenside bunker, over the green and into a different bunker. His recovery from there wasn&#8217;t much better, landing on the green but too far from the hole to have any hope for par. Morikawa, meanwhile, landed a chip shot right next to the hole for a tap-in birdie and a two-shot swing.
That propelled Morikawa forward. He hit a perfect approach at the eighth to set up a birdie, dunked a long birdie putt at No. 9 and saved a mid-range, downhill par putt at No. 10. The run took him to 14 under and established a three-shot lead over Spieth at the time, while Oosthuizen remained stalled at 10 under.
Spieth, who wrapped up his third round in frustrating fashion with two poor bogeys, went 2-over for his first six holes Sunday before capitalizing on the seventh with an eagle putt. With momentum on his side, he poured in four birdies between Nos. 9 and 14 to rise to 13 under.
But like a handful of players Sunday, Spieth found his groove a bit too late. Morikawa sank another lengthy birdie putt at No. 14 to reach 15 under, and Spieth missed a birdie chance at No. 17 to keep apace.
Oosthuizen, who totaled only three bogeys from Thursday to Saturday, made three bogeys and two birdies Sunday for a disappointing T3 finish.
Rahm nearly holed out an albatross on the par-5 seventh, where his approach rolled and missed the cup by a few inches, leaving him a 5-foot eagle.
The world No. 2 then strung together four birdies on Nos. 13-16 to climb up to 11 under, with his tee shot on the par-3 16th stopping a few feet shy of the pin.
Frittelli, overshadowed by bigger names throughout the day, snuck into the top five with two of his five birdies coming at Nos. 15 and 17.
Earlier in the afternoon, Koepka polished off a bogey-free 65 with three birdies and an eagle, a round that could have been lower with some more converted birdies on the home stretch.
Morikawa went 67-64-68 over the first three rounds to set himself up for Sunday. His second-round 64 featured seven birdies that briefly put him in the hunt for a 62, which would have been a course record and tied the single-round record for a major.
He played his final 31 holes of the championship without a bogey.
&#8211;Field Level Media
(c) Copyright Field Level Media. All Rights Reserved. 2021
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By Ange Aboa
ABIDJAN, July 18 (Reuters) &#8211; A World Bank programme to help medical clinics in Ivory Coast procure equipment from General Electric and Philips could spur the cocoa-producing country&#8217;s development into a regional medical hub, Prime Minister Patrick Achi said on Sunday.
As in other African countries, many smaller clinics in Ivory Coast, the world&#8217;s largest cocoa producer, struggle to obtain the bank loans necessary to buy or rent essential medical equipment.
A $300 million financing agreement signed on Friday by Ivory Coast and the World Bank&#8217;s International Finance Corporation (IFC) aims to remedy that situation by providing credit to clinics hoping to get supplies from Philips and General Electric.
&#8220;If we do not solve the problem of equipping our private clinics and hospitals, this goal of seeing the private (health) sector grow and create jobs will be a failure,&#8221; Achi told Reuters.
The programme is part of the IFC&#8217;s Africa Medical Equipment Facility, which partners with African financial institutions and global medical supply firms to give local currency loans to small- and medium-sized clinics for equipment purchases.
As part of the agreement, Philips and General Electric will become the only two companies from which Ivorian private and public medical facilities procure medical equipment, Achi said.
Achi sees the agreement&#8217;s exclusivity clause as a reason for optimism. By limiting options to just two suppliers, Achi said that clinics will be able to secure their equipment at lower costs and with easier access to spare parts.
But the programme&#8217;s greatest impact will be on clinics seeking to grow into larger medical facilities, Achi said. If smaller institutions can finance their own expansions, so too can the country expand its regional medical footprint.
&#8220;One of the strong axes of the project &#8230; is to ensure that Ivorians who have created clinics have the possibility of becoming hospitals and sub-regional hospitals, so that Ivory Coast becomes a hospital destination &#8211; a medical hub,&#8221; Achi said. (Reporting by Ange Aboa; Editing by Cooper Inveen and Jane Merriman)
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Ivory Coast to become regional medicine hub with $300 mln IFC loan, PM says

MONROVIA, July 18 (Reuters) &#8211; At least seven people are missing after a cargo ship that had been barred from sailing sank off the coast of Liberia, the country&#8217;s Maritime Commissioner said on Sunday.
The Liberian-registered Niko Ivanka left the capital Monrovia on Saturday morning for a port in the country&#8217;s south, despite being under a Liberia Maritime Authority detention order for failing to meet basic safety requirements.
The vessel sent out a distress signal that afternoon notifying the coast guard that it had taken on water, Maritime Commissioner Eugene Nagbe told a news conference. By the time authorities arrived, it had already partially sunk.
&#8220;We are commissioning an investigation into how a vessel that was detained for failure to meet rudimentary safety requirements managed to get on the sea with passengers and cargo,&#8221; Nagbe said.
&#8220;But that investigation is subsidiary to the ongoing search and rescue effort,&#8221; he added.
The search continued on Sunday afternoon as teams from Liberia&#8217;s coast guard scoped nearby shores and riverbanks in collaboration with a ship from anti-whaling organization Sea Shepherd, Nagbe said.
The precise number of missing passengers remains unknown, Deputy Information Minister Jarlaywah Tonpoe told Reuters.
The ship&#8217;s manifest showed 18 people on board at the time of departure but authorities suspect that more could have been on board, given that the vessel was not licensed to carry passengers in the first place, Tonpoe said.
Among those listed on the manifest was a Swedish captain, a Chinese crew member, and nine members of West Africa&#8217;s regional school examinations body.
&#8220;The vessel was not a passenger-authorized vessel and yet it had passengers on board,&#8221; Tonpoe said. &#8220;So in the coming days, investigation will establish how many people were on board.&#8221; (Reporting by Alphonso Toweh and Lucinda Rouse; Writing by Cooper Inveen;)
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At least seven missing after ship sinks off Liberian coast

VATICAN CITY, July 18 (Reuters) &#8211; Pope Francis called on Sunday for peace and dialogue in Cuba after unprecedented, nationwide protests rocked the communist-run country.
&#8220;I am also close to the dear people of Cuba in these difficult times,&#8221; Francis said in his weekly address to the faithful in St. Peter&#8217;s Square, his first public appearance since returning to the Vatican after an 11-day hospital stay.
The pope also urged an end to the recent violence in South Africa and called the deadly floods in Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands a &#8220;catastrophe&#8221;. (Reporting by Philip Pullella; Editing by Crispian Balmer)
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Pope Francis calls for peace, dialogue in Cuba

BAMAKO, July 18 (Reuters) &#8211; Three Chinese nationals and two Mauritanians were abducted from a construction site in northern Mali on Saturday when gunmen raided the site for equipment and took hostages, the army said.
The raid took place 55 kilometres (34 miles) from the town of Kwala, a regular transit point for companies moving through Mali&#8217;s desert north, the army said in a statement.
No group has yet taken responsibility for the attack.
Parts of Mali have been mired in violence since 2012, when several insurgent groups launched campaigns against the Malian government for greater autonomy.
The conflict, which has since been co-opted by jihadist militants linked to al Qaeda and the Islamic State, has displaced hundreds of thousands.
Those kidnapped on Saturday are employees of Chinese construction firm Covec and Mauritanian road-building company ATTM, which had been developing the site while under the protection of a private security company, the army statement said.
The attackers also made off with five pick-up trucks before setting fire to much of the site, destroying a crane, dump trucks and other equipment owned by the companies, the statement said.
Kidnappings are a common fixture of the war in Mali, with foreign nationals in particular regularly targeted by militants hoping to obtain ransoms for their release.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres asked the Security Council to authorise additional troops for Mali&#8217;s peacekeeping mission in response to rising violence by Islamist militants, according to a report seen by Reuters on Friday.
Meanwhile, former colonial power France has announced plans to begin drawing down its 5,100-strong taskforce that targets the militants across West Africa&#8217;s Sahel region. (Reporting by Tiémoko Diallo; Writing by Cooper Inveen;Editing by Elaine Hardcastle)
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Three Chinese, two Mauritanians kidnapped from construction site in northern Mali

TOKYO, July 18 (Reuters) &#8211; South Africa have confirmed three positive COVID-19 cases in their soccer squad to take part at the Olympic Games in Tokyo, including players Thabiso Monyane and Kamohelo Mahlatsi.
Video Analyst Mario Masha also tested positive on arrival in Tokyo as the team prepares to face hosts Japan on Thursday. (Reporting by Nick Said; Editing by David Dolan)
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Olympics-South Africa soccer team at the Olympics report three COVID-19 cases

LAGOS, July 18 (Reuters) &#8211; Nigeria has put six states on red alert after seeing a &#8220;worrisome&#8221; rise in COVID-19 infections, a government official said, urging people to curb gatherings and hold prayers outside mosques during this week&#8217;s Muslim festival Eid-el-Kabir.
Nigeria, Africa&#8217;s most populous nation, is like most parts of the continent now facing a COVID-19 third wave after detecting the more transmissible Delta variant.
The head of the presidential steering committee on COVID-19, Boss Mustapha, said Lagos, Oyo, Rivers, Kaduna, Kano, Plateau and the Federal Capital Territory had been placed on red alert as part of preventive measures against the pandemic.
A red alert allows authorities in the states to restrict celebrations and gatherings to a minimum.
&#8220;These steps are critical as we begin to see worrisome early signs of increasing cases in Nigeria,&#8221; Mustapha said in a statement.
Mustapha said there was potential for wider spread of the virus during the Eid-el-Kabir gatherings and said Friday prayers should be held outside local mosques.
He also suspended Durbar, an annual Muslim festival in northern Nigeria, which is marked by colourful horse riding events watched by large gatherings.
Last week, Nigeria, which has recorded 169,329 cases and 2,126 deaths said it expected to receive nearly 8 million additional doses of COVID-19 vaccines by the end of August, including from a U.S. government donation. (Reporting by Felix Onuah, Writing by MacDonald Dzirutwe)
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Nigeria puts six states on COVID-19 red alert, curbs gatherings

Jul 18 (OPTA) &#8211; Scores from the LPGA Tour Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational on Friday -24 Ariya Jutanugarn (Thailand) 67 59 71 -21 Jasmine Suwannapura (Thailand) 65 65 65 -19 Pajaree Anannarukarn (Thailand) 65 63 67 A Lim Kim (Korea Republic) 69 62 66 -18 Minjee Lee (Australia) 69 65 66 -17 Brittany Altomare (USA) 72 61 67 Cristie Kerr (USA) 69 62 69 Jeong-Eun Lee6 (Korea Republic) 67 62 68 Amy Yang (Korea Republic) 70 61 70 -16 Brittany Lincicome (USA) 68 64 68 -15 Hee Young Park (Korea Republic) 69 65 66 -14 Carlota Ciganda (Spain) 66 64 66 Stacy Lewis (USA) 69 65 66 Sarah Schmelzel (USA) 69 62 69 Lauren Stephenson (USA) 65 67 70 Lexi Thompson (USA) 69 63 69 -13 Brooke Henderson (Canada) 71 62 69 Hyo Joo Kim (Korea Republic) 71 61 71 Nelly Korda (USA) 65 69 66 Jeong-Eun Lee5 (Korea Republic) 71 65 66 So-Yeon Ryu (Korea Republic) 67 65 70 -12 Nuria Iturrios (Spain) 68 63 73 Danielle Kang (USA) 68 63 74 Lindsey Weaver (USA) 69 63 70 -11 Caroline Masson (Germany) 68 68 71 Jackie Stoelting (USA) 71 63 69 -10 Wei-Ling Hsu (Chinese Taipei) 76 60 68 Bronte Law (England) 69 67 71 Wichanee Meechai (Thailand) 66 63 74 Ryann O&#8217;toole (USA) 70 64 69 -9 Megan Khang (USA) 70 63 69 Jodi Ewart Shadoff (England) 72 64 70 -7 Kristen Gillman (USA) 72 61 74 Alena Sharp (Canada) 72 64 72 -6 Katherine Hull-kirk (Australia) 73 63 68 Caroline Inglis (USA) 69 66 72 Mo Martin (USA) 69 66 70 Paula Reto (South Africa) 69 67 69 -5 Linnea Strom (Sweden) 71 65 73 Kelly Tan (Malaysia) 69 67 72 -3 Sophia Popov (Germany) 71 65 71 
(c) Copyright Opta Sports Data 2021. All Rights Reserved
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LPGA Tour Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational Scores

Jul 18 (OPTA) &#8211; Scores from the PGA Tour Barbasol Championship on Saturday -19 J.T. Poston (USA) 65 66 66 -18 Luke List (USA) 65 68 65 -17 Joseph Bramlett (USA) 65 67 67 James Hahn (USA) 69 70 60 -16 David Lingmerth (Sweden) 65 70 65 Seamus Power (Republic of Ireland) 65 68 67 -15 Ryan Armour (USA) 65 67 69 Jason Dufner (USA) 67 69 65 Derek Ernst (USA) 69 66 66 David Hearn (Canada) 67 67 67 Bo Hoag (USA) 66 68 67 -14 Jim Herman (USA) 67 70 65 Henrik Norlander (Sweden) 68 68 66 Taylor Pendrith (Canada) 65 68 69 Mito Pereira (Chile) 67 70 65 Patrick Rodgers (USA) 68 67 67 Adam Schenk (USA) 66 69 67 -13 Anirban Lahiri (India) 68 67 68 Sam Ryder (USA) 66 69 68 Brian Stuard (USA) 64 69 70 -12 Greg Chalmers (Australia) 66 71 67 Beau Hossler (USA) 67 68 69 Ben Taylor (England) 67 69 68 -11 Paul Barjon (France) 71 69 65 Lee Hodges (USA) 67 71 67 Mark Hubbard (USA) 66 69 70 Satoshi Kodaira (Japan) 68 69 68 Ted Potter Jr (USA) 69 68 68 Josh Teater (USA) 69 67 69 Bo Van Pelt (USA) 67 72 66 Nick Watney (USA) 69 66 70 Vincent Whaley (USA) 69 67 69 -10 Michael Gligic (Canada) 67 68 71 -9 Mark Anderson (USA) 69 69 69 Rafael Campos (Puerto Rico) 70 66 71 Austin Cook (USA) 69 68 70 Cameron Percy (Australia) 67 69 71 Davis Riley (USA) 68 70 69 Charl Schwartzel (South Africa) 71 68 68 Shawn Stefani (USA) 67 71 69 Kevin Tway (USA) 69 71 67 -8 Dominic Bozzelli (USA) 70 65 73 Bronson Burgoon (USA) 69 69 70 Wilco Nienaber (South Africa) 68 71 69 Greyson Sigg (USA) 68 71 69 Roger Sloan (Canada) 69 71 68 Davis Thompson (USA) 67 70 71 -7 Matthys Daffue (South Africa) 70 68 71 David Gazzolo (USA) 70 68 71 Will Grimmer (USA) 64 74 71 Ben Martin (USA) 66 69 74 J.J. Spaun (USA) 71 69 69 Vaughn Taylor (USA) 65 72 72 -6 Ricky Barnes (USA) 69 70 71 Jason Bohn (USA) 68 68 74 Robert Garrigus (USA) 69 70 71 Scott Harrington (USA) 65 75 70 Sahith Theegala (USA) 69 71 70 -5 Ryan Brehm (USA) 70 66 75 Brice Garnett (USA) 71 69 71 J.J. Henry (USA) 72 68 71 Michael Kim (USA) 69 71 71 Andrew Loupe (USA) 71 67 73 Rob Oppenheim (USA) 70 69 72 Wes Roach (USA) 71 69 71 Stephen Stallings Jr (USA) 67 73 71 Zack Sucher (USA) 70 69 72 -4 Jonathan Byrd (USA) 68 72 72 K.J. Choi (Korea Republic) 71 68 73 Richard S Johnson (Sweden) 69 70 73 Tom Lewis (England) 69 71 72 David Pastore (USA) 73 67 72 Trey Shirley (USA) 70 69 73 Nick Taylor (Canada) 71 69 72 Camilo Villegas (Colombia) 71 69 72 
(c) Copyright Opta Sports Data 2021. All Rights Reserved
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PGA Tour Barbasol Championship Scores

(repeats to more codes, no change to story)
SANDWICH, England July 17 (Reuters) &#8211; For most of the past three days South Africa&#8217;s Louis Oosthuizen made links golf look as easy as shelling peas as he plotted a smooth route through the sand traps and treacherous rough at Royal St George&#8217;s.
On Saturday, however, the first chinks appeared in his armour as the metronomic iron play that had seen him lead the British Open from round one suddenly went a little &#8220;all over the place&#8221;.
It was hardly a meltdown as the South African still managed a one-under 69 to follow the rounds of 64 and 65 that had set a new 36-hole low-scoring record for the British Open.
And Oosthuizen is still in great shape with a one-shot lead over Collin Morikawa ahead of the final round as he attempts to finally win another major after his 2010 triumph at the British Open.
His bogey at the 11th was only his second of the tournament but another followed at the 13th and with errors creeping in, he narrowly avoided another at the 15th before re-setting to birdie the par-three 16th and finish calmly to lead on 12-under-par.
The 38-year-old will be taking nothing for granted on Sunday though with sunny conditions and light winds likely to see some storming rounds from a high-quality chasing pack.
&#8220;I was 13 (under) at one stage and probably a good back nine I could have gone to 14 or 15,&#8221; Oosthuizen told reporters.
&#8220;I made a few bad swings there in the middle of the round, a horrible swing on the 14th, and that put me in some awkward positions and ended up making two bogeys.&#8221;
Since his romping 2010 win at St Andrews, Oosthuizen has come second or tied second at six majors and it is not a position he wants to find himself in again.
&#8220;Finishing second isn&#8217;t great, so I will play my heart out tomorrow and see if I can lift the Claret Jug again,&#8221; he said.
Oosthuizen has remained unflappable all week and even when things were going awry on Saturday he barely flinched.
It is a calmness that he will need on Sunday.
&#8220;I think all of us are just human to think of lifting the trophy, and that&#8217;s going to be in your mind,&#8221; he said. &#8220;But I think you just need to know it and how to handle it.
&#8220;I don&#8217;t really change my routine whether I&#8217;ve got a two-shot lead or I&#8217;m trailing by eight.&#8221;
Should Oosthuizen claim the title he would become the second South African to win at Sandwich after Bobby Locke won in 1949. (Reporting by Martyn Herman, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2021. Click For Restrictions &#8211; https://agency.reuters.com/en/copyright.html
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RPT-Golf-Oosthuizen blip offers hope to chasers

Louis Oosthuizen emerged from a three-way tie late Saturday with a picture-perfect birdie on the 16th hole to move to 12-under par 198, securing the lead for the third straight round at the Open Championship.
After consecutive runner-up finishes at the PGA Championship and U.S. Open, the South African will return to Royal St. George&#8217;s in Sandwich, Kent, England, on Sunday looking to lock up his second career major title &#8212; 11 years after his 2010 victory at the Open.
Collin Morikawa (68) is a stroke behind at 11-under, with Jordan Spieth (69) in third at 9-under. Spieth tarnished another strong round by closing with two bogeys, including a muffed three-foot par putt on No. 18.
Scottie Scheffler and Canada&#8217;s Corey Conners are tied for fourth at 8-under. U.S. Open champion Jon Rahm of Spain, Canadian Mackenzie Hughes and South Africa&#8217;s Dylan Frittelli are T6 at 7-under.
Oosthuizen (69) landed his tee shot at the par-3 16th less than 10 feet in front of the cup and converted the birdie to regain the solo lead. Entering that hole, he was tied with Morikawa and Spieth.
&#8220;There&#8217;s lots of golf left, but it was so great with all the fans there,&#8221; Oosthuizen said of the birdie. &#8220;It felt like it was a Sunday afternoon, really, when I made the putt and I was taking the lead.&#8221;
Should Morikawa win Sunday, he&#8217;d be the first player in modern golf history to win two majors as a debutant. In his first crack at the 2020 PGA Championship last August &#8212; the first of a pandemic-delayed, seven-major stretch in the last 12 months &#8212; Morikawa came from behind by two to claim victory.
&#8220;I think the biggest thing I can draw from the PGA is just knowing I can get it done,&#8221; Morikawa said. &#8220;But I think confidence just comes from hitting good shots, quality shots, seeing putts go in. There is a lot to draw from, especially this week. I don&#8217;t have much experience on links golf, and pretty much all the highlights in my head are from this week.&#8221;
Royal St. George&#8217;s had no defense on Thursday and Friday without strong coastal winds, producing an uncharacteristically low scoring average. In response, the R&amp;A set up the course at its maximum length Saturday and chose more difficult pin locations.
Oosthuizen made it through the front nine bogey-free for the third straight day, touching 13 under with birdies on Nos. 7 and 9. Morikawa, meanwhile, recovered from two early bogeys with consecutive birdies on the seventh and eighth holes.
But after Oosthuizen recorded just his second bogey of the championship at No. 11, there was a two-shot swing at No. 13. Oosthuizen missed left of the green and failed to save par after Morikawa drained a long birdie, bringing the 24-year-old within a shot of the South African.
At No. 14, Oosthuizen again missed his approach left and went on to par, and Morikawa tied him and Spieth at 11 under with a two-putt birdie.
Spieth chased Oosthuizen early with four birdies and a bogey over his first eight holes. He walked in another birdie on the 10th to cut his deficit to one shot &#8212; then found a bunker off the tee at the par-3 11th and gave a shot back.
The Texan only continued backwards from there. He slipped out of the three-way tie with a bogey on No. 17, where his bump play on the second shot didn&#8217;t make it up over the false front and rolled back to him. Then came his surprise three-putt on the final hole.
After the gaffe, Spieth jogged out of the concourse area, declined a post-round interview and reportedly headed straight for the putting green.
Conners shot up the leaderboard with a 4-under 66. He opened with nine straight pars before doing the entirety of his damage with four birdies across Nos. 10-14. Scheffler&#8217;s quiet 69 featured 15 pars and kept him where he started the third round &#8212; in a tie for fourth.
Rahm muddled through the start of his day until he birdied Nos. 12, 14 and 17 and saved par at 18 to shoot a 68 and remain in contention.
&#8220;I don&#8217;t know if on TV you could appreciate it, but those are some of hardest pin locations collectively I&#8217;ve ever seen,&#8221; Rahm said. &#8220;On a golf course that&#8217;s not the easiest, it can get tricky. You can hit the right shots and give yourself chances, but even hitting the right shots you can have some funky putts with difficult breaks and difficult speeds.&#8221;
Frittelli (70) birdied Nos. 6 and 7 to get as low as 9 under and sniff around the leaders before a difficult back nine brought him back to where he started. Hughes (68) sank a 45-foot birdie putt on his final hole to join the tie at 7 under.
Dustin Johnson&#8217;s errant approach shot on No. 4 hit the rear end of a marshal who had his back turned to the course. His ball redirected back toward the hole but rolled off the front lip of the green.
It led to the first of five bogeys over Johnson&#8217;s first 11 holes. The World No. 1 took himself out of the hunt with a 73 that dropped him to 4 under after 54 holes.
Scotland&#8217;s Robert MacIntyre produced the low round of the day, a 5-under 65. From off the 18th green, he drained an incredible lag putt over multiple breaks for his sixth and final birdie.
Rory McIlroy came out hot with five birdies and one bogey on the front nine. But the star from Northern Ireland came apart after the turn, carding three bogeys and no birdies on the back. He hurled his iron to the ground after an errant tee shot on No. 14 and finished with a 1-under 69 to follow a pair of 70s.
&#8211;Field Level Media
(c) Copyright Field Level Media. All Rights Reserved. 2021
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Louis Oosthuizen leads Collin Morikawa by one at The Open

CASABLANCA, July 17 (Reuters) &#8211; Egyptian giants Al Ahly sealed a record-extending 10th African Champions League title after they beat 10-man Kaizer Chiefs of South Africa 3-0 in Saturday’s final.
The Cairo club have now won double the number of Champions League titles than the next most successful club &#8212; their neighbours Zamalek.
Mohamed Sherif opened the scoring eight minutes into the second half followed by goals for Magdi Afsha and Amr El-Sulaya in a dominant display at an empty Mohamed V Stadium in Casablanca.
Soweto club Chiefs, appearing in their first Champions League final, had to play the entire second half down to 10 men after Happy Mashiane was sent off on the stroke of halftime for a rash studs-high challenge. (Writing by Mark Gleeson in Cape Town; Editing by Pritha Sarkar)
(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2021. Click For Restrictions &#8211; https://agency.reuters.com/en/copyright.html
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Soccer-Egypt’s Al Ahly win African Champions League for record extending 10th time

The Canadian flag wasn&#8217;t always easy to spot atop the leaderboard at important golf tournaments, but it&#8217;s become a more familiar sight &#8212; almost an expected one &#8212; with the rise of players like Corey Conners and Mackenzie Hughes.
Just 12 days before they&#8217;ll represent Canada at the Tokyo Olympics, Conners and Hughes both had strong Saturday showings to finish the third round of the Open Championship inside the top 10.
Conners will play with Jordan Spieth in the penultimate Sunday pairing at Royal St. George&#8217;s in Sandwich, Kent, England, after a bogey-free 66 shot him up into a tie for fourth at 8 under. Hughes shot 68 to tie for sixth at 7 under; the Canadians are two of just eight players to score under par in all three rounds thus far.
Mike Weir&#8217;s 2003 Masters victory remains the only major title a Canadian male golfer has ever won. After they&#8217;ve knocked on the door all season, either Conners or Hughes could be next.
Each golfer is ranked inside the top 64 in the world, has one PGA Tour win to his name and has sat in the driver&#8217;s seat at a 2021 major. Conners, who&#8217;s claimed top-10 finishes at the last two Masters, also led after the first round of this year&#8217;s PGA Championship. A month later, Hughes was part of a three-way 54-hole lead at the U.S. Open.
Now they&#8217;re both in the hunt at the Open, where South Africa&#8217;s Louis Oosthuizen leads at 12 under.
Their career trajectories have sprung forth from similar upbringings in Ontario. Conners, 29, and Hughes, 30, started out as rivals on the Canadian amateur circuit and participated in Golf Canada&#8217;s junior development program.
&#8220;I was fortunate to be a part of that,&#8221; Conners said earlier this week. &#8220;It&#8217;s a great training platform, great development platform, and they provide all the resources that players need in order to get ready for NCAA golf, college golf or professional golf.&#8221;
They overlapped at Kent State, where they led the Golden Flashes to a top-eight finish at the 2012 NCAA championship, and were teammates again at the World Team Amateur Competition.
Conners and Hughes each mentioned watching one another&#8217;s rounds during the week. When Hughes began the championship with a 4-under 66, Conners said it &#8220;definitely motivated me to try and have a good round, as well.&#8221;
Conners has since surpassed his countryman. With a tougher, longer course layout awaiting the field Saturday, Conners made nine pars before taking advantage of some of the back nine&#8217;s easier holes &#8212; birdieing Nos. 10, 12, 13 and 14 to make his move.
At a links course where the fairways undulate and approach shots are key, Conners leads the field in greens in regulation with 81.48 percent.
Hughes, who&#8217;s making his Open debut, battled back from a pair of bogeys and made birdie at Nos. 14, 16, and 18, converting a 45-foot putt on the last hole to leave on a great note.
&#8220;I have the luxury of sort of coming from behind tomorrow, which is a bit &#8212; maybe call it a bit of an easier position to play in,&#8221; Hughes said. &#8220;I&#8217;ll try and use that to my advantage and hopefully get off to a good start and get myself in the mix.&#8221;
Conners was feeling the love Saturday from a certain subset of the gallery.
&#8220;There was a few Canadians out there, yeah,&#8221; he said. &#8220;They were the loudest of the bunch, I think, but it was cool to have a few smiles out there when they were yelling on words of encouragement.&#8221;
They&#8217;ll have even more to cheer in due time, whether it&#8217;s in the coming years, at the Olympics or, perhaps, Sunday afternoon.
&#8211;By Adam Zielonka, Field Level Media
(c) Copyright Field Level Media. All Rights Reserved. 2021
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Collin Morikawa wins Open Championship for second major title

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Olympics-South Africa soccer team at the Olympics report three COVID-19 cases

Nigeria puts six states on COVID-19 red alert, curbs gatherings

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PGA Tour Barbasol Championship Scores

RPT-Golf-Oosthuizen blip offers hope to chasers

Louis Oosthuizen leads Collin Morikawa by one at The Open

Soccer-Egypt’s Al Ahly win African Champions League for record extending 10th time

At The Open, Corey Conners, Mackenzie Hughes do Canada proud

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