SINGAPORE: Australia’s Karrie Webb used four straight birdies on the back nine Sunday to surge past Japan’s Chie Arimura for a one-shot victory at the HSBC Women’s Champions.
NEW DELHI: Zimbabwe will seek to cash in on Canada's inexperience in Monday's Group A battle featuring the whipping boys of the World Cup.
NEW DELHI: A depleted West Indies look vulnerable in Monday's match against the Netherlands, who will be hoping to create the first upset of the World Cup that they threatened to pull off against England on Tuesday.
MARANA, Arizona: Germany’s Martin Kaymer reached the final of the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship on Saturday to ensure he will take over as world No. 1 when the new rankings are issued on Monday.
ROME: Udinese moved within one point of a Champions League spot with a 7-0 rout of nine-man Palermo on Sunday in the Italian league.
HOUSTON: Kevin Martin scored 30 points, Chase Budinger added 27 and Houston beat the New Jersey Nets 123-108 on Saturday night in the Rockets’ first game since trading away Shane Battier and Aaron Brooks.
COLOMBO: Buoyed by an 11-run victory over co-host Sri Lanka, Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi reckons his side are now firmly among the title contenders at the World Cup.
MANILA: Sol Mercado saw up close and personal how his former team Rain or Shine survived a close game against Derby Ace.
COLOMBO: As his teammates rested after their morale-boosting World Cup triumph over Sri Lanka here at the R Premadasa Stadium on Saturday night, vice-captain Misbah-ul-Haq headed to a local hospital Sunday afternoon to undergo tests for a suspected hamstring injury.
BANGALORE: India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni says he plans to unleash three pace bowlers against England in Sunday's World Cup clash, despite the temptation to use an extra spinner instead.
MARANA, Arizona: Martin Kaymer of Germany is one match from claiming the No. 1 ranking.
DOHA: Vera Zvonareva denied Caroline Wozniacki a Middle East double by winning their Qatar Ladies Open final 6-4, 6-4 on Saturday.
NEW DELHI: India's national team coach Bob Houghton has denied reports that he made a racist remark to a match official after the country's soccer federation said it was seeking legal advice over the matter.
LONDON: Striker Javier Hernandez's double helped move Manchester United four points clear at the top of the Premier League with a 4-0 win at Wigan Athletic on Saturday.
TAMPA, Florida: Martin St. Louis and Simon Gagne scored early second-period goals as Tampa Bay beat New Jersey 2-1 in the NHL on Friday, ending the Devils' eight-game winning streak.
CLEVELAND: Carmelo Anthony scored 27 points but missed a key free throw late in the game as the New York Knicks were beaten 115-109 by the lowly Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA on Friday.
COLOMBO: As Pakistan prepared for their crunch Group A game against Sri Lanka here at the R Premadasa Stadium on Friday, questions were being asked whether they will be able to tackle the ‘M-factor’ to keep intact their unblemished World Cup record against the co-hosts.
ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Cricket Board has banned and fined batsman Yasir Hameed for his comments on match fixing. PCB spokesman Nadeem Sarwar says Hameed has been banned from playing in the ongoing domestic first class Pentangular Cup and the Twenty20 tournament to be played after the World Cup.
NEW DELHI: A West Indies team spokesman says all-rounder Dwayne Bravo has been ruled out of the World Cup by the left knee injury he sustained in his side's seven-wicket loss to South Africa.
BANGALORE: England have been playing a new brand of cricket under coach Andy Flower which has put them on course to win their first ever World Cup, according to pace bowler Stuart Broad.
MANILA: Marcus Douthit’s first-ever PBA game turned out to be a big bang.
LONDON: Only Manchester United or Arsenal can win this season's Premier League title, United manager Alex Ferguson said on Friday, four days before his side face champions Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
NEW YORK: The NBA’s trade window closed with a flurry of activity on Thursday, with the Cleveland Cavaliers, Boston Celtics, Houston Rockets, Oklahoma City Thunder and Charlotte Bobcats all swinging a pair of deals. The trade deadline did not produce the type of blockbuster deal that generated the massive buzz Carmelo Anthony did with his move from Denver to the New York Knicks or Deron Williams’ jump from Utah to New Jersey on Wednesday.
MANILA: Marcus Douthit’s first-ever PBA game turned out to be a big bang.
LONDON: Only Manchester United or Arsenal can win this season's Premier League title, United manager Alex Ferguson said on Friday, four days before his side face champions Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
MUMBAI: The competition in the 2011 World Cup is hotting up, with the minnows playing their they-also-serve role quite significantly. The tournament could not have got off to a better start than with the co-hosts India and Bangladesh clashing at the jam-packed stadium at Mirpur in Dhaka.
LONDON: Sebastien Squillaci's early goal gave Arsenal a 1-0 win over Stoke to move within one point of Premier League leader Manchester United on Wednesday.
PITTSBURGH: Patrick Marleau scored his second goal of the game at 4:56 of overtime to extend the San Jose Sharks' winning streak to five games with a 3-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday.
MARANA, Arizona: Tiger Woods, Steve Stricker and holder Ian Poulter made early exits as the opening round of the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship lived up to its reputation of wild unpredictability on Wednesday.
NEW YORK: Carmelo Anthony had 27 points and 10 rebounds, hitting a pair of vital baskets in front of a crowd that cheered his every move as New York beat the Milwaukee Bucks 114-108 on Wednesday in his Knicks debut.
NAGPUR: Ricky Ponting was still amused on Thursday at the furor he caused after his flying groin protector damaged a television in the Australian team's dressing room during a World Cup match.
MANILA: The final score implied Alaska had an easy time. Coach Tim Cone felt no part of the game against Powerade was effortless.
LONDON: Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone will not charge organizers of the Bahrain Grand Prix cancelation fees for calling off the season-opening event.
PHILADELPHIA: Shane Doan scored an overtime power-play goal as the Phoenix Coyotes won their eighth straight game by beating the Eastern Conference-leading Philadelphia Flyers 3-2 on Tuesday.
DUBAI: Third-seeded Tomas Berdych reached the quarterfinals of the Dubai Championships on Wednesday, overcoming a gritty challenge from former No. 3-ranked Nikolay Davydenko 6-3, 7-6 (5).
MARANA, Arizona: Nestled in rugged mountain foothills heavily dotted by saguaro cactus, The Ritz-Carlton Golf Club could double as a Western movie set.
MADRID: Real Madrid’s 1-1 Champions League draw at Olympique Lyon on Tuesday went some way toward ending their jinx against the French club but the players were frustrated at their failure to secure a decisive victory.
NEW DELHI: The government of the western Indian state of Maharashtra has asked the International Cricket Council to pay for the extra security it has requested for players at World Cup matches in Mumbai and Nagpur, a top official said Tuesday.
HAMBANTOTA, Sri Lanka: Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi is determined to avoid any early upsets in the World Cup and will field his strongest team in its opening Group A match against Kenya.
LONDON: Carlton Cole scored twice in three minutes Monday to help West Ham rout Burnley 5-1 and reach the quarterfinals of the FA Cup.
ST. LOUIS: Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane led a four-goal second period with a goal and assist each, and goalie Corey Crawford had a strong game for the second straight day as the Chicago Blackhawks beat the St. Louis Blues 5-3 on Monday.
DUBAI: Roger Federer won his first match since losing in the Australian Open semifinals by comfortably beating Indian wild card Somdev Devvarman 6-3, 6-3 in the first round of the Dubai Championships on Tuesday.
DELRAY BEACH, Florida: Fourth-seeded John Isner was bundled out of the Delray Beach Tennis Championships in the first round Monday after a 6-4, 5-7, 7-6 (13) loss to 76th-ranked Teymuraz Gabashvili of Russia.
With the cricketing extravaganza in the air and to reach where it is now, it had to pass through various phases. From its nascent stage, in 1975, when critics and pessimists were still debating its viability, to 1992, when the event donned a new colourful look, the World Cup has developed at a rapid pace. Number of teams increased and with every passing edition, there were more stories to tell: of failures, of successes, trials and tribulations… But, if you haven’t followed it all, or would like to relive these moments, just read on…for we bring you the past here in a nutshell.
WASHINGTON: At least one person participating in the federally mediated NFL labor negotiations was willing to say something — anything — about how he felt after more than 25 hours of meetings over four days.
LAWRENCE, Kansas: Marcus Morris had 27 points and No. 3 Kansas brushed off the suspension of point guard Tyshawn Taylor, romping past Oklahoma State 92-65 on Monday night.
HAMBANTOTA, Sri Lanka: Pakistan coach Waqar Younis dismissed any idea on Monday that his team would let the recent spot-fixing case affect its World Cup campaign when it opens against Kenya this week.
NAGPUR: England takes on the Netherlands in the teams' World Cup opener on Tuesday with a bold selection suggesting it may finally be getting to grips with the demands of one-day cricket.
NYON: AC Milan midfielder Gennaro Gattuso was banned by UEFA for four matches on Monday after he headbutted a Tottenham coach at a Champions League match.
DURHAM, North Carolina: Nolan Smith scored 28 points and No. 5 Duke made its case to return to the top of the national rankings by routing Georgia Tech 79-57 on Sunday night.
PACIFIC PALISADES, California: Australian Aaron Baddeley ended a four-year title drought on the PGA Tour with a gritty two-shot victory at the Northern Trust Open on Sunday.
LYON: Jose Mourinho ended Chelsea's half a century wait for an English title, he brought European Cup glory back to Inter Milan after 45 years and now he battles Olympique Lyon's mesmeric hold over mighty Real Madrid.
COPENHAGEN: The one positive from Chelsea's FA Cup defeat by Everton on penalties is that Carlo Ancelotti's faltering side can now focus solely on the trophy that has proved agonizingly elusive in recent years.
CHENNAI: New Zealand thumped Kenya by 10 wickets in a lop-sided Group A match of the World Cup on Sunday that appears to justify bids to trim the 2015 edition of the showpiece event by leaving out the whipping boys. The sparse crowd at the MA Chidambaram Stadium witnessed a total mis-match as New Zealand.
MUMBAI: The mystifying art of swinging the ball in an unconventional way to bamboozle batsmen will be in huge demand on the placid pitches of the subcontinent during the Cricket World Cup.
LONDON: Manchester City scored three times in the closing minutes as England’s richest club beat the country’s oldest league club Notts County 5-0 in an FA Cup fourth-round replay on Sunday.
DUBAI: Caroline Wozniacki took just 75 minutes to defeat 16th seeded Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-1, 6-3 in the final of the Dubai Championships on Sunday.
LOS ANGELES: Aaron Baddeley played with composure through the rain and cold Saturday to post a 4-under 67 at the Northern Trust Open, taking a one-shot lead over Fred Couples and Kevin Na going into the final round.
MUMBAI: Australia will unleash their hungry pacemen against Zimbabwe in their World Cup opener on Monday in the first step to re-establish themselves as the undisputed dominant force in the one-day game.
NEW DELHI: Shiv Shankar Prasad Chowrasia of India endured a nervous one-hour wait to win his second professional tournament after setting the clubhouse target of 15-under 273 at the Avantha Masters at the DLF Golf and Country Club Sunday.
HAMBANTOTA, Sri Lanka: Sri Lanka will take its World Cup campaign step by step as it tries to cope with the weight of expectation as co-host, according to captain Kumar Sangakkara. Sri Lanka's bid to win the world title for a second time starts on Sunday against Canada in Group A, which also features three-time reigning champion Australia, Pakistan, New Zealand, Zimbabwe and Kenya.
NEW DELHI: Pablo Larrazabal of Spain eagled the 18th hole in fading light to take the clubhouse lead of the third round in the Avantha Masters on Saturday.
JEDDAH: Target Guys defeated Al Jazeera Ford by seven wickets to lift the TCF Champions Trophy for the first time at Baghdadiya grounds here recently.
LONDON: Phil Neville scored the decisive spot kick to give Everton a 4-3 penalty shootout win over holders Chelsea after their FA Cup fourth-round replay ended in a 1-1 draw after extra time at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.
DUBAI: Caroline Wozniacki reached the final of the Dubai tennis championships by beating Serbian sixth seed Jelena Jankovic 7-5, 6-3 on Saturday.
BIRMINGHAM: American sprinter Michael Rodgers ran a personal best to win the 60 meters and Britain's Mo Farah broke the European 5000 record at the Birmingham Indoors on Saturday.
CHENNAI: Kenya coach Eldine Baptiste has warned the likes of defending champion Australia, Pakistan and Sri Lanka that the African nation is ready to spring a few upsets at the World Cup.
JEDDAH: Al- Nasr and Al-Hilal set up a semifinal clash after beating their quarterfinal opponents in the Crown Prince Cup football tournament. The big match is set for March 10 in Riyadh.
BARCELONA: Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull was quickest on the first day of Formula One's penultimate testing session before the start of the new season.
DUBAI: Kenyan Mary Keitany smashed the women's world half marathon record by 35 seconds in Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates, on Friday.
DHAKA: India's star batsman Sachin Tendulkar is heading into a record sixth World Cup, still looking for an elusive title victory to cap his outstanding career.
NEW DELHI: Rafael Cabrera-Bello was glad he had kept a spare driver handy when he carded a three-under-par 69 in the second round to take the clubhouse lead at the Avantha Masters on Friday.
COLOMBO: Under normal circumstances, Shahid Afridi would have been elated over the fact that his under-rated team has begun the World Cup with two impressive wins including an 11-run victory over co-hosts Sri Lanka.
ROME: Bologna continued its rise up the Serie A table with a 2-0 win away against Juventus on Saturday.
COLOMBO: Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi grabbed 4-34 as Pakistan recorded a nervy 11-run win over co-host and favorite Sri Lanka in the World Cup on Saturday. Misbah-ul-Haq and Younis Khan scored successive World Cup half centuries in a challenging Pakistan total of 277-7 in the Group A match.
SINGAPORE: Japan's Chie Arimura shot a 1-under 71 to maintain a one-stroke lead over Australia's Karrie Webb after the third round of the HSBC Women's Champions on Saturday.
ROME: Wales made it two wins from three in Six Nations rugby by holding off Italy 24-16 in an error-strewn match at Stadio Flaminio on Saturday. Wales was matched by Italy in the try count with two each, and recalled flyhalf Stephen Jones made the difference with his boot, kicking over four of five attempts.
DUBAI: Defending champion Novak Djokovic won his third consecutive title at the Dubai championships when he defeated top seed Roger Federer 6-3 6-3 in just 71 minutes on Saturday.
NAGPUR: Openers Shane Watson and Brad Haddin hit half centuries to take World Cup holder Australia to a resounding seven-wicket win over New Zealand on Friday.
MIRPUR, Bangladesh: Pace bowler Shafiul Islam claimed four wickets while skipper Shakib Al Hasan and Mohammad Ashraful took two apiece to steer Bangladesh to a 27-run win over Ireland in their World Cup match in Group B on Friday.
CARSON, California: David Beckham said he was in great shape after reporting to the Los Angeles Galaxy's training camp on Thursday, two weeks late following an extended stay to train with Tottenham.
DUBAI: Roger Federer will face Novak Djokovic in the final of the Dubai Championships after continuing his dominance over Richard Gasquet with a 6-2, 7-5 victory Friday. Djokovic earlier beat a hobbling Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic, who retired with the score 6-7 (5), 6-2, 4-2.
DENVER: Integrating five new players offensively will take time for the Denver Nuggets. Defense? That came right away.
LONDON: British sides Liverpool and Rangers grabbed late goals to sneak into the last 16 of the Europa League on Thursday, while Villarreal eliminated Napoli to end Italian representation in the competition.
MARANA, Arizona: Upsets and heavy defeats dominated the menu as top seed Lee Westwood, fourth seed Phil Mickelson and seventh-ranked Rory McIlroy tumbled out of the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship on Thursday.
NEW DELHI: AB de Villiers hit a rapid century to back up a promising performance from South Africa's spinners as the Proteas cruised to a seven-wicket win over West Indies at the World Cup on Thursday. De Villiers' lifted his team from 20-2 with his unbeaten 107 from 105 balls, sharing a 119-run partnership with skipper Graeme Smith (45).
MARSEILLE: Marseille and Manchester United canceled each out in a closely contested match of few chances on Wednesday, drawing 0-0 in the last 16 of the Champions League.
DUBAI: Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic, winners of six of the previous eight Dubai Championships, remained on course to meet in the final with straight-sets quarterfinal wins on Thursday.
NAGPUR: Australia has more to lose than New Zealand when it plays its near rival in the World Cup on Friday.
HAMBANTOTA, Sri Lanka: Shahid Afridi took his maiden five-wicket World Cup haul as Pakistan crushed sloppy Kenya by 205 runs in a one-sided Group A match played on Wednesday.
DENVER: For one night, the Denver Nuggets didn’t need Carmelo Anthony , Chauncey Billups or any of their new acquisitions. J.R. Smith’s 26 points helped short-handed Denver beat the Memphis Grizzlies 120-107 on Tuesday, only hours after the Nuggets finalized a blockbuster deal that sent Anthony and Billups to the New York Knicks.
NAGPUR: England's batsmen kept their nerve to take their team to a six-wicket win over the Netherlands on Tuesday and narrowly avoid a major humiliation at the World Cup. Ryan ten Doeschate had hit a career-high 119 to lead the unfavored Dutch to 292-6 but opener Andrew Strauss gave his team a platform with 88 from 83 balls, equaling the highest score by an England captain at a World Cup.
NEW YORK: The New York Knicks beat out the rival New Jersey Nets to win the Carmelo Anthony sweepstakes by agreeing to a trade with the Denver Nuggets on Monday, a person familiar with the deal told The Associated Press.
MADRID: Lionel Messi settled Barcelona nerves with a late goal to earn a thrilling 2-1 home victory over Athletic Bilbao in La Liga on Sunday, ending a turbulent week for the Catalans on a positive note.
LOS ANGELES: Kobe Bryant scored 37 points and equaled a record with his fourth All-Star game Most Valuable Player award, leading the Western Conference to a 148-143 victory over the East on Sunday.
AHMEDABAD: Champions Australia softened up a resolute Zimbabwe with fiery pace and bounce to kick start their World Cup campaign with a resounding 91-run victory on Monday.
MEMPHIS, Tennessee: Andy Roddick won the 30th title of his career in his 50th final Sunday, finishing off a thrilling 7-6 (7), 6-7 (11), 7-5 victory over Canadian Milos Raonic in the Regions Morgan Keegan Championships.
CALGARY, Alberta: Rene Bourque scored two goals and Miikka Kiprusoff stopped 39 shots as the Calgary Flames beat the Montreal Canadiens 4-0 Sunday in the Heritage Classic outdoors game at McMahon Stadium.
BLACKSBURG, Virginia: Terrell Bell scored 12 points, including five straight to give Virginia Tech the lead for good, and the Hokies beat No. 1 Duke 64-60 on Saturday night.
AVONDALE, Arizona: Kyle Busch became the first driver in a national NASCAR race to win wire-to-wire in nearly eight years.
