CINCINNATTI: Americans Mardy Fish and Andy Roddick posted quarter-final victories at the three million dollar Cincinnati Masters tournament on Friday.Former world number one Roddick defeated Serb second seed Novak Djokovic 6-4, 7-5 in a 83 minute match."Novak probably didn`t play his best

IRVINE: Park Tae-Hwan threw down the Asian Games gauntlet Friday with an impressive 400m freestyle victory at the Pan Pacific Swimming Championships.The 20-year-old swimmer, who won South Korea`s first Olympic swimming gold with a scintillating victory over China`s Zhang Lin in the 400m

GREENSBORO: India`s Arjun Atwal posted a three-under 67 to maintain at least a share of the lead after the second round at the USPGA Wyndham Championships on Friday.Former champion Brandt Snedeker, of the US, shot a five-under 65 and is tied with Atwal, the first-round leader, at 12-under

IRVINE: World champion Michael Phelps recovered from a slow start to win the 100 metres butterfly in a meet record of 50.86 seconds at the Pan Pacific Championships on Friday.A day after he failed to reach the final of the 400 individual medley, the world record holder led all the way

NEW YORK: Serena Williams announced on Friday that she has pulled out of this year`s US Open because she is still recovering from surgery to repair cuts on her right foot."It is with much frustration and deep sadness that I am having to pull out of the US Open," Williams said."My doctors

MONTREAL: Russian eighth seed Vera Zvonareva upset US Open champion Kim Clijsters 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 in the quarter-finals of the two million dollar Rogers Cup on Friday.Zvonareva advanced to the semi-finals where she will face Victoria Azarenka who beat France`s Marion Bartoli 6-2, 7-6 (8/6)

DAMBULLA: Sri Lanka`s captain Kumar Sangakkara did not breach the players` code of conduct during a tri-series match against New Zealand, the world governing body said on Saturday.Sangakkara was pulled up by match referee Alan Hurst after he collided with Black Caps` bowler Nathan

MUNICH: Bayern Munich`s Bastian Schweinsteiger scored an injury-time winner on Friday night as the German champions beat Wolfsburg 2-1 in the opening match of the new Bundesliga season.Ex-England manager Steve McClaren and his Wolves side were denied a point as Germany`s vice-captain

CINCINNATI: Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray were sent crashing out of the Cincinnati Masters, falling to a pair of unseeded players during a bruising day of tennis at the hardcourt tournament on Friday.American Mardy Fish and Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus played the role of giant killers,

LONDON: Paul the octopus, the oracle of the World Cup in South Africa, has become an official ambassador for England`s bid to host the tournament in 2018, organisers said Friday.Paul, who was hatched in England but has spent the last two years in an aquarium in western Germany, joins

London: Celebrities David and Victoria Beckham have made 14 of their 50 employees redundant around the world after a horrified accountant warned: “You’re pouring money down the drain,” the Sun newspaper reported on Friday.Celebrity footballer David Beckham and his wife Victoria ride

NEW DELHI: Telecom giant Bharti Airtel was on Friday named as the sponsor for all international cricket played in India after offering to pay 700,000 dollars per match, India`s cricket board said.The three-year deal covers all Test, one-day and Twenty20 matches, and with India scheduled

SYDNEY: Paceman Doug Bollinger says skipper Ricky Ponting`s claim that Australia could sweep this year`s Ashes series 5-0 has not heaped extra pressure on the team to beat England, reports said Friday.Ponting`s belief that routing England was "absolutely possible" riled the England team

MONTREAL: Reigning US Open champion Kim Clijsters cruised into the quarter-finals of the two million-dollar WTA Montreal Cup on Thursday by defeating Estonia`s Kaia Kanepi 6-2, 6-1.The Belgian fifth seed, who won her third title of the year last week at Cincinnati, took just 55 minutes to

SYDNEY: Opening batsman Simon Katich said Friday Australia still has weaknesses in its batting three months ahead of the Ashes Test opener with England.Australian batting collapses at the second Lord`s Test and the fifth Oval Test lost Ricky Ponting`s team the Ashes urn last year, and

LONDON: William Gallas, the former Arsenal captain who is now a free agent, has reportedly agreed terms to join the Gunners` north London rivals Tottenham.The 33-year-old French defender is due to undergo a medical on Friday after agreeing to cross from the Emirates to White Hart Lane,

MASON: World number one Rafa Nadal battled back to defeat Frenchman Julien Benneteau 5-7 7-6 6-2 at the Cincinnati Masters Thursday while Andy Murray needed a final set tiebreak to beat Latvia`s Ernests Gulbis.Third seed Roger Federer, coming off a runner-up finish in Toronto last week,

LONDON: Joe Cole`s undistinguished start to his Liverpool career continued on Thursday when he missed a penalty during his side`s 1-0 victory over Turkish club Trabzonspor in the Europa League playoff round first leg.On a night featuring 35 ties littered with some of the biggest names in

BERLIN: Germany Six out of ten Germans think Philipp Lahm should keep the captain`s armband for Germany`s national side, rather than see Michael Ballack regain the captaincy. German sports agency SID, an AFP subsidiary, authorised a poll which saw 60.3 percent of those surveyed say

PORTO ALEGRE: Internacional of Brazil won South America’s Libertadores Cup for the second time when they beat Guadalajara of Mexico 3-2 in the second leg of the final at the Beira Rio on Wednesday. Inter, also champions in 2006, won 5-3 on aggregate after a 2-1 first-leg victory on