Very interesting news today. Jose Mourinho has refused to be drawn on Chelsea’s transfer targets and insists he will be happy with his squad if he fails to sign another player before Tuesday’s deadline. The Premier League champions have seen three bids rejected by Everton for defender John Stones and have been heavily linked with […]
Rafael Nadal has jumped the to the defence of Andy Murray after recent criticism over his back injury. The Scot struggled during his second-round win over Jarkko Nieminen during the French Open, which prompted Virginia Wade to brand him a “drama queen”. German pro Tommy Haas has also hit out at the world number four […]
What do you think : Bernard Tomic has insisted that his father is the right man to coach him after their on-court spat. The Australian appeared to fall out with his dad John during the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami and asked the chair umpire to have his father removed from courtside because he was […]
Good news: Venus Williams has pulled out of the ASB Classic in Auckland next month due to ongoing health issues. The 31-year-old has played a number of exhibition matches recently but is still suffering from Sjogren’s syndrome, which causes fatigue and joint pain. The seven-time Grand Slam champion has not played in a tournament since […]
Serena Williams has defended her verbal outburst at umpire Eva Asderaki during last year’s US Open final. The former world number one reacted angrily after Asderaki had ruled that her shout of “come on!” following a forehand shot was a hindrance and awarded a point to her opponent Samantha Stosur. However, Williams has played down […]
LONDON – Lance Armstrong’s televised doping confession has done nothing to restore his shattered reputation, a study of responses posted to the Twitter social media site showed. “What was particularly noticeable in our analysis of the Armstrong revelation was the sheer lack of sympathy out there,” said Charlie Dundas of sports market research company Repucom. […]
Winning an Olympic gold medal is the pinnacle of sporting achievement, according to Andy Murray. The 24-year-old has ranked victory in this summer’s Games in London on the same level, if not bigger, than a Grand Slam title. Murray believes that the added importance attached to playing for your country makes the tournament extra special. […]
Champions League favourites Barcelona will play big-spending Paris Saint-Germain in the pick of the quarter-final matches after the draw was held in Nyon, Switzerland on Friday. Last year’s losing finalists Bayern Munich, will play the first-leg at home against Italian giants Juventus, while record nine-time champions Real Madrid will take on a Galatasaray team attempting […]
MELBOURNE – Practice makes perfect, in theory, but not for Maria Sharapova. The second-seeded Russian walloped Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium 6-1 6-0 on Sunday to reach the quarter-finals of the Australian Open in record time. Sharapova, the champion in Melbourne in 2008, has dropped just five games in her opening four matches, an Australian Open […]
Napoli striker Edinson Cavani has been priced at 60 million pounds by the Naples foobtall club. The 26-year-old Uruguay international, who scored 29 goals in 35 games for Napoli, has become one of the most sought-after players in Europe, Xinhua reports. He has been linked with Manchester City, Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain, but Napoli club […]
INTERNATIONAL Master Jan Emmanuel Garcia and FIDE Master (FM) Paulo Bersamina claimed back-to-back wins in the Asian Youth Chess Championship 2013 in Sari, Iran on Saturday. Garcia beat Fang Yuxiang of China and Ismailov Mukhit of Kazakhstan in the Open 18-under open while Bersamina outlasted Kalikov Temirlan of Kazakhstan and Mosadeghpoor Masoud of Iran in […]
Dutch Guido Van der Valk humbled the revered men of the tour, including Davao’s top guns, as he turned in a five-under 66 to emerge the surprise solo leader – one shot ahead of amateur LJ Go at the start of the P1 million ICTSI Rancho Palos Verdes Classic here on Wednesday. Van der Valk, […]
East Bengal’s I-League aspirations received a big blow when Air India struck through Henry Ezeh in the dying minutes for a 1-1 draw in their round 21 fixture in Kalyani on Saturday. Leading 1-0 after Edeh Chidi’s 60th minute strike, the last year’s runners up got the shocker in the 90 + 1st minute when […]
West Ham manager Sam Allardyce on Wednesday claimed he is close to signing a new contract with the Premier League club. Allardyce’s current deal with the Hammers expires at the end of the season and his team’s poor form in recent weeks has seen QPR boss Harry Redknapp and former West Ham striker Paolo Di […]
Rafael Nadal has described his decision to pull out of the Olympics through injury as ‘one of the saddest days’ of his career. The Spaniard, who took Gold in the men’s singles at the 2008 Beijing Games, has failed to recover from an ankle problem in time for the tournament at the All England Club. […]
MELBOURNE – Novak Djokovic must have been relieved to have given his weary legs a relatively quick workout on Tuesday with 6-1 4-6 6-1 6-4 victory against Czech fifth seed Tomas Berdych in the Australian Open quarter-finals. The world number one, bidding to become the first man to win three successive Australian Open titles since […]
Two brilliant goals scored by defender Henry Monsang in each half helped defending champions Pune FC retain the U-20 I-League title as they outplayed East Bengal 3-0. Meanwhile, Tata Football Academy (TFA) had to sweat it out to finish runners-up beating Mohun Bagan 3-2 in the final round of the 6th Under-20 I-league tournament that […]
Antonio Cassano has named his newborn son after “the greatest player of all time”, namely Lionel Messi, according to the Inter Milan striker. Cassano’s wife Carolina gave birth to the couple’s second son on Monday. Cassano said he had named his son Lionel “in honour of the greatest player of all time, my idol.” Cassano, […]
MELBOURNE – Korean youngster Lee Duck-hee dreams of life at the top of the tennis world. It is a dream shared by elite junior players the world over, but what makes Lee different is that he is deaf. In a sport in which players lean heavily on their hearing to calibrate their timing, gauge levels […]
THE Department of Education (DepEd) on Friday announced it will send 115 Filipino athletes that won gold, silver, and bronze medals in the 2013 Palarong Pambansa to the 5th Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean) Schools Games in Hanoi, Vietnam slated on June 22 to 30. “We wish our athletes good luck and remind […]
MIAMI: His legacy now intact, LeBron James’s second championship ring validates his decision to join the Miami Heat and sets the stage for a possible three-peat performance next season. “I came here to win championships,” James said. “To be able to go back-to-back and win two championships in three years so far is the […]
World champions Spain retook control of 2014 World Cup qualifying Group I on Tuesday with a 1-0 win over France, Pedro Rodriguez scoring the only goal of the game in the second half at the Stade de France. Pedro’s scrambled effort just before the hour mark was Spain’s reward for dominating possession and assured play […]
Lovelynn Guioguio charged home with late birdies to shoot a two-under 70 in driving rains yesterday and emerge the surprise leader by three at the start of the second leg of the ICTSI Ladies Philippine Golf Tour at the North course of the Canlubang Golf and Country Club in Laguna. Guioguio, last year’s Philippine Amateur […]
MOSCOW: A Russian former Olympic wrestler was found dead after being strangled with a whip and buried in a Siberian forest, Russian investigators said Wednesday. The sportsman turned trainer, Chechen-Ool Mongush, 40, was apparently murdered by a rural herdsman who choked him to death with the lash of his whip and then buried the body […]
NEW YORK – The San Francisco 49ers and the Baltimore Ravens won their National Football League championships in stunning fashion on Sunday to set up an extraordinary sibling rivalry in next month’s 47th Super Bowl. The 49ers, coached by Jim Harbaugh, overturned a 17 point deficit to beat the Atlanta falcons 28-24 in the NFC […]
Ken Duke AFP PHOTO CROMWELL, Connecticut: Ken Duke sank a two-foot birdie putt on the second playoff hole on Sunday to defeat fellow American Chris Stroud and win the $6.1-million Travelers Championship for his first US PGA title. The 44-year-old from Hope, Arkansas—hometown of former US President Bill Clinton—took the $1.08-million top prize and became […]
Rafael Nadal has said that he will take a several-week absence from tennis after the Australian Open to rest and practise. The world number two will take the time off in February to recover from a recurring shoulder problem which he picked up at the ATP World Tour Finals in London in November. “I had […]
Hosts Meghalaya won their second consecutive match in group A of the fourth Dr T Ao memorial football tournament beating Nagaland 4-0 at the JN Stadium, here on Wednesday. In another match in the same pool, Arunachal Pradesh defeated Assam 2-0. Meghalaya are on top while Assam are second, Arunachal Pradesh third and Nagaland last. […]
BETHESDA, Maryland: Masters champion Adam Scott will play alongside fellow Australians Jason Day and Marc Leishman in the first and second rounds of the US PGA National, his final event before the British Open. World number four Scott, third in last year’s event at Congressional Country Club, became the first green-jacket winner from Australia by […]
MELBOURNE – A teary Stanislas Wawrinka was adamant there was nothing more he could have done to beat Novak Djokovic after going down to the defending champion in a late-night thriller at the Australian Open on Sunday. In a fourth-round match that finished at 1.40am local time, the Swiss, who took an early 6-1, 5-2 […]
THREE-consecutive year champion San Beda College Red Lions will test their mettle against host College of Saint Benilde Blazers while archrivals San Sebastian College Stags and Collegio de San Juan Letran Knights will renew their battle in the opening day of the 89th season of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) seniors basketball tournament at […]
World number two Rafael Nadal will open his Davis Cup campaign for Spain with a clash against Juan Monaco on Friday. The former Wimbledon champion’s teammate David Ferrer will face Juan Del Potro in the early stages while Feliciano Lopez and Fernando Verdasco take on South Americans David Nalbandian and Eduardo Schwank in a doubles […]
Janko Tipsarevic has waded into the equal pay row in tennis by claiming that women should not be rewarded the same prize money as men at Grand Slams. The debate was recently reignited at Wimbledon when France’s Gilles Simon argued that the men deserved their money due to their popularity and physical endurance. His comments […]
Manchester United star Robin van Persie bagged a brace as the Netherlands continued their march to Brazil with a 4-0 win over Romania on Tuesday at the Amsterdam Arena. In so doing the 29-year-old reached 34 international goals, overtaking the legendary Johan Cruyff. Rafael van der Vaart scored the opener and Jeremain Lens added gloss […]
David Ferrer has defeated wildcard Nicolas Mahut in straight sets to claim a spot in the third round of the Paris Masters. The Spaniard claimed a 6-4 6-4 win over Mahut to progress to the next stage of the competition. The world number five, who has already qualified for the World Tour finals in London, […]
FOXBOROUGH, Massachusetts – John and Jim Harbaugh will turn a family reunion into a war of attrition in New Orleans early next month when they become the first coaching brothers to oppose each other in a Super Bowl. Last year, the siblings came within a game each of reaching the Super Bowl but lost in […]
British number one Andy Murray has claimed that he is determined to make his mark on this summer’s Olympic Games in London. The Scotsman has been selected for Team Great Britain in the men’s singles tournament but the 25-year-old is hopeful that he can do better than 2008’s first-round knock-out. “It’s great, I was part […]
PARIS: The inclusion of rugby sevens in the 2016 Olympic Games was a “defining moment” for a sport that continues to roll back boundaries in interest and growth, according to International Rugby Board chief executive officer Brett Gosper. Gosper said the abbreviated form of the game was a portal for many people in non-traditional markets […]
MELBOURNE – Gilles Simon is going to give it his best shot but accepts that he will probably not beat Andy Murray at the Australian Open on Monday after wrecking his body in a four-hour, 43-minute marathon against Gael Monfils. The extraordinary third round encounter between the French defensive baseliners on Hisense Arena on Saturday […]
FOXBOROUGH, Massachusetts – The New England Patriots tasted defeat for the first time at home when a Super Bowl berth was on the line and had no excuses after the 28-13 thumping at the hands of the Baltimore Ravens. The Patriots entered Sunday’s title game with an imposing 7-1 record in conference championship tilts, including […]
Germany is playing down World Cup expectations and battling complacency ahead of its second back-to-back qualifier against Kazakhstan on Tuesday. Joachim Loew’s side leads Group C with four wins from five games and is looking for another routine victory to follow Friday’s 3-0 result over winless Kazakhstan in Astana. “It is a bit unusual to […]
When England captain Steven Gerrard opined that Montenegro “have got certain individuals in the world-class category”, he did not have to name names. Marko Basa, of French club Lille, is a rugged presence at centre-back and his fellow defender Stefan Savic won the Premier League title at Manchester City last season, but the team’s lethal […]
World number one Novak Djokovic suffered a shock defeat to Japan’s Kei Nishikori in the Basel semi-finals. The Serbian player lost 2-6 7-6 (7-4) 6-0 in Switzerland as he went down to only his fourth defeat of the season. The tournament was the first Djokovic had played after six weeks out with a back injury […]
Japan’s footballing chiefs are to lodge a formal complaint with the sport’s governing body after lasers were shone in players’ faces during the team’s 2-1 loss to Jordan, a report said on Wednesday. Association president Kuniya Daini told reporters that goalkeeper Eiji Kawashima and midfielder Yasuhito Endo had the lights — which can cause eye […]
Tottenham manager Andre Villas-Boas is confident his side can hold on to a top-four position in the Premier League for the rest of the season despite suffering a third successive defeat. A goal early in the second half from Dimitar Berbatov was enough to earn Fulham a rare away win on Sunday, as Spurs slipped […]
Add former NBA-All Star guard Stephon Marbury to the list of big-named basketball personalities who will set foot on Philippine soil this year. Marbury, who now plays for the Beijing Ducks in the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA), will be stopping over in Manila on June 24 to touch base with his Filipino fans and finalize […]
Serena Williams has withdrawn from the Rome Masters with an injury to her lower back. The former world number one had been due to take on China’s Li Na at the semi-final stage this morning. However, the 13-time Grand Slam winner has decided to rest the complaint with the French Open just over a week […]
Rafael Benitez insisted the ugly scenes sparked by Frank Lampard’s 200th goal for Chelsea in the 2-0 win over West Ham shouldn’t overshadow the England midfielder’s landmark achievement. Lampard finally reached his double century for the Blues after a month stuck on 199 with a first half header against his former club at Stamford Bridge […]
Sport England have reacted to disappointing tennis participation results by cutting funding for the sport by over ?500,000. A Sport England Active People survey revealed that the average number of adults playing tennis at least once a week has declined from 487,500 in 2007-08 to 375,800. The Lawn Tennis Association’s chief executive, Roger Draper, admitted […]
NEW YORK – Notre Dame football star Manti Te’o told ABC News’ Katie Couric that he had lied to keep up a hoax involving a nonexistent dying girlfriend once he learned he had been duped two days before the Heisman Trophy winner was announced. In a preview of the interview shown on Wednesday on “Good […]
The high-tech version of the game of darts attracts young players. AFP PHOTO HONG KONG: Picture your stereotypical darts player. Middle-aged and overweight, with a gut spilling over a waistband, cultivated through years of swilling beer during tense matches. But a radical transformation is taking place and the game that was once the preserve of […]
LONDON – Davis Cup champions the Czech Republic will not have to worry about facing Roger Federer in the opening round of their defense after he was left out of Switzerland’s team for the Geneva tie. The 17-times grand slam champion, still contesting the Australian Open where he will face Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the last […]
LONDON: Defending champion Roger Federer and Andy Murray take center stage at Wimbledon on Wednesday (Thursday in Manila) while Maria Sharapova has to settle for a spot away from the two major show courts. Federer, bidding to become the first man to win the title eight times, tackles Ukraine’s Sergiy Stakhovsky on Center Court. Murray, […]
KINGSTON, Jamaica: Reigning world 100-meter champion Yohan Blake has withdrawn from this week’s Jamaican national athletics championships with a right thigh injury, the runner’s manager said on Tuesday. Blake would still be eligible to run in the World Championships at Moscow in August because he won the 2011 world 100 title at Daegu, South Korea, […]
Tottenham suffered a fright before sneaking past Inter Milan on Thursday to reach the Europa League quarter-finals as they, Chelsea and Newcastle restored national pride following England’s Champions League misery. Fernando Torres struck the winner as Chelsea then joined their London rivals in the last eight after eliminating Steaua Bucharest whilst Papiss Cisse scored with […]
Goalkeeper Amer Sabbah pulled off a heroic late penalty stop on Tuesday as Jordan stunned Japan 2-1 to reignite their World Cup hopes and foil the Asian champions’ hopes of booking an early ticket to Brazil 2014. A headed goal on the stroke of half-time and a breakaway effort on the hour-mark put the hosts […]
World number three Roger Federer has set his sights on winning Olympic gold at next year’s London games. The 30-year-old Swiss triumphed in the English capital yesterday by winning the ATP World Tour Finals and is looking for a successful return to the capital when the games come around next summer. “I have been able […]
Rafael Nadal has reportedly threatened to pull out of next year’s Madrid Open if the clay courts remain blue following his shock defeat to Fernando Verdasco. The Spaniard went down in three sets against the world number 19 on Thursday afternoon to see him exit in the third round. The world number two described the […]
TORONTO – The struggling Los Angeles Lakers were unable to solve their mounting problems in the National Basketball Association’s most northern outpost on Sunday as the Toronto Raptors handed them a 108-103 defeat. With the offseason addition of Steve Nash and Dwight Howard, the Lakers created the NBA’s newest super team, rekindling fond memories of […]
Barcelona defender Carles Puyol could miss the rest of the season after undergoing surgery on an ongoing knee problem, club doctors confirmed on Saturday. Puyol finally had the surgery on Friday evening after suffering with the problem for seven months since being taken off injured in a match against Getafe back in September. “The time […]
A 56-year-old India-born football fan was beaten up badly by seven men and punched in the face and head more than 18 times on a packed tram in UK, as 200 onlookers did nothing to save him from the allegedly racist attackers. Prakash Patel, a bank officer, was travelling home alongwith his 21-year-old daughter Devyani […]
British hopeful Laura Robson has failed to progress into the second round of the Swedish Open after succumbing to a 6-4 7-6[4] defeat at the hands of Anabel Medina Garrigues. The 18-year-old headed into the tournament on a high after becoming the second British woman since 1992 to reach a WTA semi-final at the Italy […]
Ten-man Everton sounded a probable death knell on Manchester City’s title defence with a hard-fought 2-0 win over the Premier League champions at Goodison Park on Saturday. Despite the second-half dismissal of Steven Pienaar, Everton dug deep for a victory that means Manchester United can go 15 points clear at the top of the table […]
