VERNOUX-EN-VIVARAIS, France: Twice Tour de France runner-up Andreas Kloeden won the 193-kms fifth stage of the Paris-Nice cycle race on Thursday by outsprinting Olympic champion Samuel Sanchez on the line.
MUMBAI: West Indies bowlers Kemar Roach and Sulieman Benn will be out to cause some damage to the Irish batting line-up when they clash in their World Cup match in Mohali on Friday.
KANDY, Sri Lanka: Soon after Ross Taylor butchered Pakistan’s bowling attack to play the innings of his life at Pallekele on Tuesday, questions were asked whether the Greenshirts have enough firepower to go all the way to the World Cup title.
BIRMINGHAM: Titleholder and world No.1 Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia survived a stiff second round task at the All England championships on Thursday to oust seasoned battler Bao Chunlai of China 21-16, 21-16.
CHENNAI: Malaysia edged France 2-1 to book a semifinal berth in the squash World Cup on Thursday.
INDIAN WELLS: Bethanie Mattek-Sands overcame illness to beat Vera Dushevina of Russia 6-4, 6-4 in the opening round of the BNP Paribas Open at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden on Wednesday.
DETROIT: The Los Angeles Kings kept up their surge in a tight playoff race in the NHL Western Conference by beating the Detroit Red Wings 2-1 on Wednesday.
LONDON: Everton playmaker Mikel Arteta faces several weeks on the sidelines after limping out of the Toffees 1-1 draw with Birmingham at Goodison Park.
The minnows have had their moments of glory, the big guns their frustration, but if there is one particular aspect of the World Cup 2011 that is bugging the teams and umpires alike, it is the implementation of half-baked decision review system.
MANILA: Smart-Gilas taking on an Air21 team should be a match-up that’s easy to predict. So when the Nationals tried to pull away entering the final five minutes, it was practically all over. Right? Wrong.
LONDON: Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger and midfielder Samir Nasri are to face disciplinary proceedings following comments made to the referee following their club’s Champions League defeat by Barcelona, UEFA said on Wednesday.
NUITS-SAINT-GEORGES, France: Australia’s Matthew Goss has won the third stage of the Paris-Nice race, beating Heinrich Haussler and Denis Galimzyanov in a sprint finish in which several cyclists crashed.
CHENNAI, India: Title favorite Egypt started strongly in the squash World Cup in winning both of its matches on the opening day Tuesday of the mixed team competition that has been revived after 12 years.
NEW DELHI: India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni sprang to the defense of his misfiring frontline bowlers on Tuesday, saying he does not mind if "part-timers" win World Cup matches for the team.
CHITTAGONG: Fast bowler Stuart Broad was ruled out of the World Cup on Tuesday with a side strain, his exit delivering a second body blow in as many days to England's hopes.
TUCSON, Arizona: This was no ordinary split-squad game in spring training. The Chicago White Sox and Arizona Diamondbacks traveled two hours to Tucson on Monday to honor Christina-Taylor Green, the 9-year-old girl killed in the attack on congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. Chicago beat the Diamondbacks 12-1 in the exhibition to benefit the Christina-Taylor Green Memorial Fund. “A lot of guys wanted to come here because of the cause,” White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said.
LONDON: Tottenham will maintain the attacking principles that have helped the team sweep impressively through to the brink of the Champions League quarterfinals when it hosts AC Milan in the last-16 second leg on Wednesday.
AMILLY, France: New Zealand's Greg Henderson has won the second stage of the Paris-Nice cycling race on Monday, outsprinting Australia's Matthew Goss and Russia's Denis Galimzyanov.
PARIS: Human beings: clever enough to land Neil Armstrong on the Moon but seemingly not yet capable of inventing a foolproof method for telling when a football crosses a goal line.
CHITTAGONG: Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan was banned on Monday from writing his newspaper column after a public row with former players over the team's World Cup performance.
CHENNAI: England batsman Kevin Pietersen has been ruled out of the Cricket World Cup with a hernia operation which needs immediate attention.
LONDON: Arsenal will man the barricades on Tuesday in anticipation of a Barcelona backlash while hoping that their second Champions League visit to the Nou Camp in less than a year will be less harrowing than the first.
NEW YORK: Ryan Callahan scored a career-high four goals and five points and the New York Rangers finally found some success at home in a dominating 7-0 victory over the sliding Philadelphia Flyers on Sunday.
CLEVELAND: Chris Paul left the court on a stretcher and suffered a concussion in the New Orleans Hornets’ 96-81 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Sunday night.
JEDDAH: Al-Ahli and Al-Hilal drew 1-1 in the main match of round 19 in the Saudi Professional League at Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Stadium here on Sunday.
LONDON: Liverpool forward Dirk Kuyt's hat trick dealt a body blow to Manchester United's Premier League title hopes as the leaders were beaten 3-1 at Anfield on Sunday.
MILAN: Inter Milan showed they are not going to give up their Serie A title without a ferocious fight after coming back from 1-0 down to hammer Genoa 5-2 on Sunday with striker Samuel Eto'o grabbing a brace.
HOUDAN, France: Belgian Thomas de Gendt overwhelmed the sprinters to secure a surprise victory in the 154.5-km first stage of the Paris-Nice on Sunday.
PARIS: Portugal's Francis Obikwelu upset defending champion Dwain Chambers and home favorite Christophe Lemaitre to seize the 60 meters title at the European indoor championships on Sunday.
BERLIN: Late goals from Peruvian Claudio Pizarro and Marko Marin gave Werder Bremen a 3-1 win at mid-table Freiburg in the Bundesliga on Sunday to lift them out of the relegation zone.
LONDON: Sweden, Spain and Argentina rolled into the Davis Cup quarterfinals on Saturday with a day to spare.
All three earned unbeatable 3-0 leads by winning the doubles.
PALLEKELE, Sri Lanka: After spending a couple of weeks in the humidity of Colombo and Hambantota, Pakistan find themselves in the pleasant environ of the Sri Lankan hill-country to play their next two World Cup games against New Zealand and Zimbabwe.
PALM BEACH GARDENS, Florida: Rory Sabbatini had a good round with his new putter for a second day, making five birdie putts to shoot a 4-under 66 and take a five-stroke lead in the Honda Classic on Saturday.
WASHINGTON: Those optimistic about the NFL’s labor talks with the players’ union will point to the sides’ decision to push back the bargaining deadline by a week and think, as Commissioner Roger Goodell put it:
MANILA: In its five-year existence in the PBA, Rain or Shine never had a start this good.
Yeng Guiao, the Elasto Painters’ coach of a little more than two months, is chiefly responsible for this.
MILAN: Gennaro Gattuso finally had fans talking about his talent rather than his temper after his rare goal gave AC Milan a 1-0 win at beleaguered Juventus and stretched their Serie A lead to eight points on Saturday.
COLUMBIA, Missouri: Marcus Morris and Thomas Robinson had double-doubles and No. 2 Kansas wrapped up its seventh straight Big 12 championship by holding on for a 70-66 win over No. 22 Missouri on Saturday.
HAIL: Abdul Latif Jameel (ALJ), the exclusive dealer for Toyota cars in Saudi Arabia and main sponsor was honored for its support at the Baja International Hail Rally 2011.
CHICAGO: Ryan Johnson, Dave Bolland and Patrick Kane scored in a 4:32 span early in the third period to break open a tight game as the Chicago Blackhawks beat the Carolina Hurricanes 5-2 on Friday to extend their season-high winning streak to seven games.
CHENNAI: ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat has reacted to the outcry in India over the Umpire Decision Review System at the World Cup by saying the technology is still a “work in progress.” Indian cricket authorities wrote to the ICC to protest at what they said were inadequacies in the system when England's Ian Bell was given not out on review against India - despite the system indicating he would have been lbw.
LONDON: Arsenal handed the Premier League initiative back to leaders Manchester United on Saturday with a limp performance in a goalless home draw against a Sunderland side who had lost their previous four games.
NEW DELHI: India put one foot into the World Cup quarter-finals with a five-wicket win against Netherlands on Wednesday but the margin of the victory revealed little of their discomfort.
MIAMI: Shortly after LeBron James called LaMarcus Aldridge one of the top All-Star “snubs” in NBA history, he scored 26 points and led the Portland Trail Blazers to a 105-96 win over Miami — sending the Heat to their fifth straight loss.
EUGENE, Oregon: Rafael Nadal beat Roger Federer 7-5 in an exhibition match Tuesday to warm up for the upcoming BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California.
BARCELONA: Lionel Messi ended 10-man Arsenal’s Champions League hopes for the second season in a row when he netted a brilliant goal and a penalty to send Barcelona through to the quarter-finals 4-3 on aggregate on Tuesday.
PALLEKELE, Sri Lanka: It took a series of match-winning spells from their captain Shahid Afridi to put Pakistan on the right track. But it took just two appalling pieces of wicketkeeping by Kamran Akmal to make it all fall apart.
BLACKPOOL: Two goals from Frank Lampard and another from John Terry gave Chelsea a 3-1 win at Blackpool on Monday to renew its hopes of retaining the Premier League title.
CHATTANOOGA, Tennessee: The Wofford Terriers are ready for their moment in the NCAA tournament this time around and made sure nothing got in the way of a return trip.
JEDDAH: Continuing its strong support for sports activities that benefit the Kingdom’s youth, Pepsi, the leading brand of carbonated drinks, represented by SIPCO in the Western Province, has signed a partnership agreement with Jeddah United Sport Company (JUSC) to sponsor events organized by JUSC.
NEW YORK: Carmelo Anthony scored 34 points, Amare Stoudemire added 31, and the New York Knicks showed how dangerous they can be when their superstars are rolling, beating the Utah Jazz 131-109 on Monday night.
GENEVA: Italian rider Franco Pellizotti was found guilty of doping and banned for two years Tuesday in a landmark victory for cycling's blood profiling program.
NEW DELHI: Canada overcame some early jitters with the bat to eventually win the battle of the associates by beating Kenya by five wickets and register their first win in the World Cup on Monday at the Feroz Shah Kotla.
MADRID: Karim Benzema scored twice as Real Madrid survived without Cristiano Ronaldo to win 3-1 at Racing Santander and close the gap on La Liga leaders Barcelona to seven points on Sunday.
PALLEKELE, Sri Lanka: It's a brand new day and a brand new pitch and the smart money is on Pakistan, who are confident that they will continue their winning streak in the potentially high-voltage World Cup game against New Zealand on Tuesday.
PALM BEACH GARDENS, Florida: Rory Sabbatini began the day with a big lead, turned back a challenge on the back nine and shot an even-par 70 Sunday for a one-stroke victory in the Honda Classic.
COLUMBUS, Ohio: In the midst of a raucous locker room after No. 1 Ohio State’s 93-65 payback victory over 10th-ranked Wisconsin, Jon Diebler said he was sorry to his teammates. Diebler lived up to his “3-bler” nickname Sunday by hitting 7 of 8 shots behind the arc while scoring 27 points.
NEW ORLEANS: Jarrett Jack hit three free throws to complete an unlikely 8-0 New Orleans run inside the final 1:13, as the Hornets completed a stunning late 110-108 win over Dallas Mavericks in the NBA on Wednesday. The Hornets trailed 92-85, then Marco Belinelli hit a 3 and Emeka Okafor put back Belinelli's missed reverse layup.
