Quiros wins in Dubai after eventful final round

 Spain's Alvaro Quiros produced a bizarre final round which included a hole-in-one to capture the Dubai Desert Classic by one shot on Sunday.

The 27-year-old Quiros, celebrating his fifth European Tour success, also chipped in for an eagle and took a triple bogey after losing a ball up a palm tree in a final-round 68 to finish 11-under-par.
Denmark's Soren Hansen, needing to birdie the last hole to deny Quiros, posted a 70 to end with a 10-under-par tally, the same as South African James Kingston.
Struggling Tiger Woods ended his desert campaign with a final-hole double bogey in a closing 75 for a four-under-par score.
Briton Lee Westwood dropped three shots in his closing two holes and posted a 72 but remains world number one after nearest ranking rival Martin Kaymer of Germany ended in a share of 31st place.
Quiros's ace, his fourth on the European Tour, came at the 11th.
"I played a three-quarter wedge shot and it was the perfect shot, but that happens just once a year," he said.
"I had fallen back to second or third so that hole-in-one was the positive point of the round. It gave me a good advantage." Starting his final round a shot behind the leaders, Quiros began with a bang after chipping in from five yards off the back of the green for an eagle at the second.
But he lost the lead when his drive at the eighth landed in bushes forcing him to take a penalty drop. However, Quiros's ball plugged in the waste sand from where he skied the ball some 30-yards into a palm tree.
A pair of binoculars was required before Quiros, in the company of Chief Referee John Paramour, could confirm that the ball in the tree was his. Quiros took a penalty drop but walked off with a triple bogey.
He quickly shook off his misfortune to birdie the ninth and the hole-in-one then put him back in front for good.
Woods misfortune
Woods heads home still seeking a first win since November, 2009. "It was a very frustrating day," the American said.
"But I got off to such a poor start, to be two-over through three holes and I just couldn't make it up from there.
"When it was calm this week, I hit the ball pure, and that's the thing. When the wind blows,
I have to shape shots and hit shots differently and all of my old feels are kind of out the window.
"That's the thing about making changes, as I've said, I've been all through this before with my last two instructors, and it will come around. I just need more work and more practice."
Source: 234next

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Chelsea just need to win

With Tottenham's 2-1 win over Sunderland, Chelsea were shoved into fifth place and out of Champions League spot. So there is just one goal for today's match at Craven Cottage - the Blues must take three points! But it will not be easy because during the first leg in November, it was a nervy 1-0 win for Chelsea over their London neighbours.

Michael Essien scored the goal but was sent off late in the second half for a dangerous tackle on Clint Dempsey. At that time, Chelsea were still in first place, four points ahead of Manchester United but things are a lot different now.
Chelsea manager, Carlo Ancelotti, is happy to have extra days to prepare for today's encounter but the Italian admits that his side have to be at their best today to beat a Fulham side that is playing well and getting results.
"It is perfect to be able to play on this Monday, the players have more time for recovery after the international matches but we can still prepare for Fulham, which will not be easy because I think Fulham now are having their best moment of the season," Ancelotti said.
"They are playing well with confidence so for us to be able to take more time and play on Monday is good."
Taking on former players
They will also be coming up against a former Chelsea player in Steve Sidwell, who was transferred from Aston Villa in January. Sidwell has been like a nomad since he left Chelsea three years ago but seems to be settling well after his move to Fulham.
"The reason I left Chelsea was to go and play football but it didn't work out at Villa and the same situation occurred. I left Villa to come and play football and it's working out," Sidwell, who made a handful of appearances for the Blues said.
Fulham coach Mark Hughes, also a former Chelsea player will try to nullify the Chelsea midfield and that could mean dropping one of his two strikers, possibly, Moussa Dembele, into the hole and mandating Adam Johnson, to run the channels behind Chelsea's full backs, who are pseudo-wingers.
Hughes has already ruled out his former team from challenging for the league title. "It's hard to see how they can win the title.
They've lost seven matches at this point.
"They're in a very difficult position and historically losing no more than six games has been the benchmark. Even if they don't lose again, I think it will be beyond them to put together a run that will overcome the teams above them."
Fulham's Ghanaian right back, John Pantsil has scored two own goals in his last three matches and Chelsea could target that channel in the hope that his gaffes will continue.
Brazilian midfielder, Ramires is back in the squad but Jose Bosingwa will face a late fitness test. Ancelotti is happy with the additions and believes his side now possesses more power.
"Now we have a strong squad with David Luiz and Torres, we've improved our ability and we have more power.
The squad was good, but now it is even better."
Fitting Drogba and Torres together
Ancelotti is also looking for a formula to fit in both Didier Drogba and Fernando Torres, who had a subdued debut against Liverpool, as a two pronged attacking unit.
"In attack we can choose whether to play with two up front or with the Christmas tree, it depends on the game that we want to play. When we play with two strikers Nicolas Anelka can be in the number 10 position, in the hole, but with one striker he can play on the right," he said.
"Florent Malouda can also play there, and sometimes we tried last year Frank Lampard at the beginning of the season which was not bad.
Malouda can also play in the Christmas tree, but I don't need to think of him as a central midfielder because we have a lot of options there."
Chelsea midfielder Gael Kakuta, on loan to Fulham cannot face his parent club, while Nigerian holding midfielder, Dickson Etuhu is a doubt with a hamstring problem. Bobby Zamora is still recuperating from a broken leg while former Arsenal defender, Philippe Senderos is a long-term absentee with an Achilles' tendon complaint. Former Chelsea and Barcelona striker, Eidur Gudjohnsen could also make a first start, after arriving on loan from Stoke City.
Whatever formation is employed in today's game by Ancelotti, Chelsea owner, Roman Abramovich will be expecting a good result.
Source:234net

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Kean to stay on as manager of Blackburn

 Steve Kean has been handed control of first team affairs at Blackburn for the remainder of the season
English Premier League side Blackburn Rovers have confirmed the appointment of Steve Kean as manager for the remainder of the season.
Blackburn's new owners sacked former manager Sam Allardyce, and his assistant Neil McDonald, last week and placed coach Kean in temporary charge of first team affairs.
And despite Rovers only drawing 1-1 at home to bottom club West Ham on Saturday, Kean has now been told he will remain in the hot seat until June 2011.
Indian-based owners Venky's released a statement on the club's official website saying: "Following the departure Sam Allardyce, Steve Kean was appointed as manager of Blackburn Rovers.
"Venky's have now decided to continue with Steve as manager until the end of the season in June 2011."
Rovers currently lie 12th in the table, six points above the relegation zone, and speaking to reporters after the draw with West Ham at the weekend, Kean revealed he wanted to remain as manager.
The Scotsman told reporters: "I want to take the club forward. It's an interim period, there's been no games or period of time put on it. I will work with the lads and try and take us forward."

Meanwhile, British media are reporting that Blackburn captain Christopher Samba is considering his future with the club following Allardyce's dismissal. 

Source:http://edition.cnn.com/2010/SPORT/football/12/22/football.blackburn.kean.manager/index.html

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Bayern through after nine-goal thriller

Bayern players celebrate their opening goal in the thrilling 6-3 German Cup win at Stuttgart.

Holders Bayern Munich are through to the quarterfinals of the German Cup after a thrilling 6-3 victory at nine-man Stuttgart.
The Bavarian giants had beaten the same opponents 5-3 at the weekend, but they went one goal better on Wednesday, thanks to three late goals.
Andreas Ottl and Mario Gomez gave the visitors a two-goal lead in the first eight minutes, but the home side fought back to level 2-2 at the interval thanks to a double strike from Pavel Pogrebnyak.
A frantic second 45 minutes saw Miroslav Klose put Bayern back into the lead before Stuttgart had Dutch defender Khalid Boulahrouz sent off for a second yellow card offense.
Remarkably Stuttgart then missed a penalty before Mattieu Delpierre levelled matters with 13 minutes remaining.
However, the man advantage began to tell, and late goals from Thomas Muller and a second from Klose put Bayern in control.
Delpierre was then shown his marching orders before an injury time goal from Franck Ribery put the gloss on an extraordinary match.
Meanwhile, on a night of shock results, 2009 Bundesliga champions Wolfsburg were beaten 3-1 at home by second division side Energie Cottbus.
The visitors scored all their goals in a one-sided first-half with Nils Peterson scoring twice and Shao Jiayi adding a third.
Wolfsburg stemmed the tide after the break and in-demand striker Edin Dzeko pulled a goal back.
However, Cottbus held on for a deserved win as Wolfsburg made it eight matches without a victory to increase the pressure on under-fire coach Steve McClaren.
Elsewhere, Bundesliga strugglers Cologne were also dumped out by a second division club, with Duisburg claiming a 2-1 victory.
Stefan Maierhofer put the visitors ahead in just the second minute and Julian Koch doubled their lead.
Simon Terodde pulled a late goal back for the home side, but it is Duisburg who go into the hat for the last eight of the competition.

And Eintracht Frankfurt made it three Bundesliga sides to lose to lower division opposition as Alemannia Aachen beat them 5-3 in a penalty shoot-out after the match finished 1-1 after extra time.

Source:http://edition.cnn.com/2010/SPORT/football/12/22/football.bayern.stuttgart.cup/index.html

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Rampant Madrid hit eight past Levante

Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo scored six goals between them as Real Madrid crushed Levante
Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo both scored hat-tricks as Real Madrid thrashed Levante 8-0 in the first leg of their Spanish Kings Cup last 16 tie on Wednesday.
Jose Mourinho's side, who have not won this competition since 1993, scored four goals in each half to make the second leg in January a formality.
Mezut Ozil and Pedro Leon, who added the final goal in the 90th minute, were also on target as Mourinho's a near full-strength side ouclassed their opponents.
Real could well face Atletico Madrid in the quarterfinals and their city rivals take a narrow 1-0 first leg lead into their second leg against Espanyol, despite the first-half dismissal of former Spanish international Jose Antonio Reyes.
Atletico secured the win courtesy of a 33rd-minute penalty from Portuguese midfielder Simao Sabrosa, who is expected to join Turkish club Besiktas in the January transfer window.
However, they had to play most of the match with just 10 men after Reyes was sent off three minutes before the interval for a head-butt.
On a night of plenty of goals, Romaric scored twice as Sevilla beat Malaga 5-3 in their first leg match. while a hat-trick from Argentine striker Leonardo Ulloa helped Almeria edge Real Mallorca 4-3 in another thiller.

The night's other match saw Getafe take a 2-1 advantage from their first leg match at Real Betis.

Source:http://edition.cnn.com/2010/SPORT/football/12/22/football.real.madrid.levante/index.html

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In short, Lochte sets the gold standard

Ryan Lochte powers his way to the 200 meter backstroke title at the world short course swimming championships in Dubai
Ryan Lochte doubled his gold medal haul on the final day of the 10th FINA world short course swimming championships in Dubai on Sunday. The American added gold in the men's 200 meter backstroke -- setting a new championship-best time -- and the men's 100 meter individual medley.

The 26-year-old also claimed a team gold as the U.S. won the 4x100 medley relay event, taking his gold medal tally to six in Dubai.
Sunday's results take his overall medal tally in all short course world championships (which are held in 25 meter pools) to 21, four more than the previous record of 17 held by Sweden's Therese Alshammar.
Lochte's tally of seven medals at the 2010 championships is also a record.
In the women's events, Rebecca Soni secured a clean sweep in the breaststroke after adding the 200 meters title to the 50 and 100 meter she won earlier in the week. All her victories came in championship record times.
But it was Mireia Belmonte Garcia who was crowned the most successful female swimmer at the championships with four medals.
The Spaniard claimed three gold medals (200 meter butterfly, 200 meter and 400 meter individual medley) and one silver in the 800 meter freestyle.

The United States led the final medal's table with 25, which included 12 golds. Russia finished second on 10 (four golds). Spain were in third place with eight (four golds), while China finished fourth with 14 medals (three golds).

Source:http://edition.cnn.com/2010/SPORT/12/19/swimming.short.course.lochte/index.html?hpt=C2

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Chelsea v United falls foul of English freeze

 Traffic queues in the snow on the A3 near Guildford, in southern England December 18, 2010.

The sporting weekend was decimated by heavy snow and sub-zero temperatures with Sunday's Premier League showdown between Chelsea and Manchester United among the hundreds of fixtures to be called off .

The hugely anticipated top-of-the table clash was one of six weekend Premier League games to be postponed as conditions around stadiums were often deemed too dangerous even if the under-soil heated pitches were in playable condition.

Only Sunderland against Bolton Wanderers and Blackburn Rovers against West Ham United were given the go-ahead on Saturday.

West Bromwich Albion v Wolverhampton Wanderers was still due to be played on Sunday while no decision has yet been made about Manchester City's Monday night game at home against Everton.

Arsenal had been due to play Stoke City on Saturday when a win would have taken them top of the table but after heavy snow began to fall in the morning the game was called off.

"Further to a huge deluge of snow in north London starting over Emirates Stadium at 11.38am, the match referee Lee Mason made the decision at 12.07pm to postpone today's match," the club said in a statement.

"Approximately three inches of snow fell over this half hour period and there continues to be heavy snowfall with no apparent let-up."

Liverpool's evening kick-off at home to Fulham was also a victim of the Arctic conditions with temperatures predicted to drop to minus six Celsius.

"The safety of all fans attending the game is paramount and although the Anfield pitch is playable, the conditions around the stadium and further afield for people travelling to the match are such that the decision was taken, following police advice on safety grounds, to postpone the game," the club said.

Wigan Athletic's game against Aston Villa also went after what the club described as "freak snow."

Eight of the 11 scheduled Championship (second division) matches survived but Exeter City against Sheffield Wednesday was the only game from Leagues One and Two to go ahead while only a handful of games survived in Scotland.

Rugby was similarly hard hit with widespread cancellations in the English leagues, the British and Irish Cup and the Heineken Cup.

Even though conditions in France were not so bad, Toulouse's Heineken Cup game against Newcastle on Saturday was postponed for 24 hours because of the travel difficulties faced by the English club.

In racing even the all-weather surface at Kempton Park struggled to cope with the volume of snow and Sunday's meeting at the Surrey course is subject to a morning inspection.

Source:234next.com

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Fire from lightning strike kills 7 at nursery party in South Africa

A fire caused by a lightning strike killed seven people -- including a 4-year-old child -- at a nursery school Christmas party in South Africa, a government minister said Saturday.
Forty others were injured when the lightning struck a tent set up outside the school in KwaZulu-Natal Friday afternoon, sparking a fire, said Bonginkosi Meshack Radebe, minister of social development in the province.
Earlier reports said the deaths were caused by the lightning.
At least 29 of those injured remained in the hospital Saturday night, including 23 in critical condition. Eleven of the injured are children, Radebe said.
Two parents, two teachers, a gardener and a nursery school director also were killed, said Mashu Cele, a spokeswoman for Radebe.
The government set up meetings with psychologists for the children and their families, and also is offering to pay for all medical and hospital bills.

The rental tent was destroyed.

Source:cnn.com

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Share this on: Mixx Facebook Twitter Digg delicious reddit MySpace StumbleUpon LinkedIn Viadeo Beijing awarded top athletics event

Beijing's iconic "Bird's Nest" national stadium will host the 15th edition of the World Athletics Championships

China will host the World Athletics Championships for the first time in 2015, when Beijing will become the fourth Asian city to stage the biennial event.

Beijing, which hosted the 2008 Olympic Games, will follow in the footsteps of Japan's Tokyo (1991) and Osaka (2007), and South Korea's Daegu -- which will host next year's 13th edition.
"To help build up our sport and the culture of athletics in a country of 1.6 billion inhabitants is a great opportunity," International Association of Athletics Federation president Lamine Diack said in a statement on Saturday.
"As we sometimes say, China is not a country, it's a continent. So this is a fantastic opportunity for our sport and for the sport in China."
China, which hosted the 2006 World Junior Championships in Beijing, has targeted top athletics events since the 1980s.
"This is the most important sporting event for China since the 2008 Olympic Games," Beijing's Vice-Mayor Liu Jingmin told the IAAF website.
"We thank you for your trust. We will deliver a high standard event in Beijing which will open a new chapter in the Championships' standards."
Meanwhile, China continued its dominance of the Asian Games it is hosting in Guangzhou on Saturday, extending its gold medal tally to 138.
South Korea remained second with 52 golds, while Japan has 29 ahead of Iran on eight and Hong Kong and Thailand (both seven).
China completed a clean sweep of the seven table tennis titles, with No. 1 Ma Long coming from behind to beat compatriot and defending champion Wang Hao 9-11 11-8 11-7 11-3 4-11 12-10 in the men's final.
Li Xiaoxia won the women's gold, beating her doubles partner and defending champion Guo Yue after saving a match-point in the sixth game.
Wang Shixian won the women's badminton singles title in another all-Chinese final, upsetting top-ranked Wang Xin.
But China was denied gold in the men's snooker, with Hong Kong's Marco Fu beating two-time defending champion Ding Junhui 4-2 in the final.
And its women's football team will not contest Monday's title match after losing 1-0 in the semifinals to Japan, with Shinobu Ohno scoring an extra-time winner.

Japan will face North Korea, who also needed extra-time before beating South Korea 3-1.

Source:http://edition.cnn.com/2010/SPORT/11/20/athletics.world.china.asian.games/index.html

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DeMerit signs with new MLS franchise Vancouver Whitecaps

Jay DeMerit is swapping English side Watford for new Major League Soccer team the Vancouver Whitecaps
U.S. defender Jay DeMerit became the first Major League Soccer signing of the Vancouver Whitecaps on Thursday, with the Canadian club set to join the lucrative North American football franchise at the start of the 2011 season.

The Whitecaps were unveiled as part of the MLS in March 2009, one of three clubs from across Canada who bid for a place in the league as part of its ongoing expansion program.
New signing DeMerit has spent the last six years at English Championship side Watford, but his contract at the London-based club -- who played in the Premier League in the 2006/07 season -- expired in June.
The 30-year-old -- who has played 23 times for his country, including at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa where the U.S. reached the last 16 of the competition -- told the official MLS website that he was excited about playing for a new team.
"Vancouver ticked pretty much every box that I could think of as to what I wanted. An aspiring club trying to be a part of something new and something special," Wisconsin-born DeMerit told the official MLS website
"There's something inspiring about being a part of something new and having ambition to make it even bigger. I feel I'm in the right place and I'm looking forward to getting started."
Awarded top allocation ranking, the Vancouver-based team had priority in signing any U.S. international returning to the country to play in MLS and club president Bob Lenarduzzi was quick to express his delight at having snapped up DeMerit on the Whitecaps official website
"Jay is the type of player we are looking to build our team with," he said.
"He has excelled both at the club and international levels, and we are thrilled that Jay has joined Whitecaps FC as our first Major League Soccer player signing."

The Whitecaps will start their inaugural MLS season playing at Vancouver's Empire stadium, before moving into the new BC Place stadium on the outskirts of the western Canadian city. 

Source:http://edition.cnn.com/2010/SPORT/11/19/football.mls.demerit.whitecaps/index.html

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Massa and Formula One champ Vettel impressed with new Pirelli tires

Ferrari's Felipe Massa road tests the new Pirelli tires at Abu Dhabi's Yas Marina circuit

Formula One world champion Sebastian Vettel declared himself impressed after road testing the new Pirelli tires that are to be used for the 2011 season.
The Red Bull driver was back at the Abu Dhabi circuit where he clinched his first ever drivers' championship crown last weekend, after edging out teammate Mark Webber and Ferrari's Fernando Alonso.
The Yas Marina track played host to all 12 Formula One teams as they began a two-day tire test on the Pirelli rubbers, set to replace Bridgestone from next year. A total of eight sets of tires are available to teams during testing.
Ferrari's Felipe Massa, who finished a disappointing sixth in the drivers' standings, was quickest in the unofficial timings on Friday, with Vettel in second.
"I think the tires behaved well, better than expected given the short amount of time Pirelli have had and they've done a good job," Vettel told the official Formula One website.
"Pirelli are obviously in the middle of their development and what we used today is not what we will race with, but it was a good start."
Massa was three-tenths of a second faster than Vettel, and completed 94 laps of the circuit using two different types of tires.
"It was a positive start to begin to understand the behavior of the Pirelli tires. I felt at ease right from the start and there were no unpleasant surprises," Massa added.
"We acquired a lot of data which will be useful for the Italian company to develop the tires still further for the start of the 2011 season.
"On the harder tires, there were some difficulties over a long run while the softs worked well both on the very first lap and also after they had done a larger number of laps."
McLaren test driver Gary Paffett claimed third place while Kamui Kobayashi of BMW Sauber was fourth.
"We have to hand it to Pirelli, the tyres are already on a good level and we feel it was a very positive day," said BMW Sauber technical director James Key.

"We feel we learned a lot about the way the tyres are behaving and responding to different set-up changes."

Source:http://edition.cnn.com/2010/SPORT/motorsport/11/19/motorsport.pirelli.tire.massa/index.html

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Blatter: No damage to England 2018 World Cup bid

FIFA president Sepp Blatter says British newspaper allegations have done no harm to England's 2018 World Cup bid
FIFA president Sepp Blatter believes England's bid to host the 2018 World Cup has not been harmed by allegations of corruption that resulted in the suspension of two executive committee members on Thursday.
Amos Adamu of Nigeria and Reynald Temarri of Tahiti were banned by football's world governing body after British newspaper The Sunday Times claimed they had asked for money in exchange for their votes.
Four other officials from the organization were also suspended after an investigation by its ethics committee, but some FIFA members were angered by the newspaper's conduct.
Speaking at a press conference at FIFA's headquarters in Switzerland, Blatter said the scandal would not affect England's chances ahead of the December 2 vote to decide who hosts the 2018 and 2022 tournaments.
"Why should this have an influence on the English bid?" the 74-year-old told reporters in Zurich.
"Human beings taking decisions don't look so much at the documents in front of them so I don't think they [the executive committee] will take into consideration what has been published or not."
Blatter acknowledged the situation had given FIFA the chance to clean-up football but added that he thought the way The Sunday Times had conducted their investigation was "not fair".
"No, I'm not pleased about that because this is not very fair but now we have a result it gives us an opportunity to clean a little bit whatever has to be cleaned," he said.
"But I cannot say that it is very fair when you open traps to entrap people. But if the objective is to have a clean sheet in football then I can understand it."
However, Blatter denied that there was a wider corruption problem in football and said those who had been suspended by the association were the exception rather than the rule in a sport he described as a "family of 300 million people."

"In this case there are six people that have been found guilty -- six out of 300 million does not mean that the whole of football is corrupt."

Source:http://edition.cnn.com/2010/SPORT/football/11/19/football.blatter.bid.corruption/index.html

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Finalists meet British PM; Federer says Murray can win multiple Slams

British PM David Cameron (4th from left) with the eight ATP World Tour finalists at Downing Stree
Roger Federer said Andy Murray can claim multiple Grand Slam titles after the eight ATP World Tour finalists were introduced to British Prime Minister David Cameron.

Ahead of the season-ending event in London, Mr Cameron invited Federer, Murray, world number one Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Andy Roddick, David Ferrer, Tomas Berdych and Robin Soderling to a reception at Downing Street.
The week-long tournament gets underway on Sunday when British number one Murray takes on Soderling in the opening match at the O2 Arena.
Top eight ready for London showdown
"It's fantastic that the ATP World Tour Finals tournament is back in London for the second year running. It's great for London and great for the country," Mr Cameron was quoted as saying by the ATP Tour website.
"I hope that seeing the world's top players compete right on our doorstep, including Britain's very own Andy Murray, will inspire our next generation of sporting heroes."
Murray, who has yet to win a Grand Slam title, said: "It's the second time I've been here. It was nice. He [David Cameron] likes tennis, which we knew beforehand. We spoke about tennis and some of the past players. It was good fun, I really enjoyed it."
But on the eve of the tournament, Federer, who has 16 Grand slam titles to his name, said Murray had the potential to dominate the sport if he can clinch his first major crown.
"If Murray wins a first grand slam title, that could possibly open the floodgates," Federer told British newspaper The Daily Telegraph. "And he could start dominating and winning slams, but I guess you just never know until he does it.
"It's important that you believe that you can do it, and Murray clearly has the game to do it, as otherwise he wouldn't have a winning record against me or so many titles already."
Murray will play Federer in the round robin stage and boasts a good record against his opponent, winning eight of their last 13 meetings.
But Federer rejected suggestions that Murray holds a psychological edge over him. "I never really thought about it from that perspective about having a psychological advantage," Federer said.
"He has very strong things on his side, and I have very strong things on my side, and that's why these days when we play each other it comes down to who has the better day.

"I don't feel as though necessarily he or I have an advantage over the other. I just think he's become a really good player." 

Source:http://edition.cnn.com/2010/SPORT/tennis/11/19/tennis.cameron.federer.murray/index.html

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Indian firm complete takeover of English club Blackburn

Poultry firm Venky's have become the first ever Indian owners of an English Premier League club after they completed a $36 million takeover of Blackburn Rovers.
The deal was confirmed on Rovers' website Friday as the club's board announced it had sold its 99.9% shareholding to Venky's London Limited, a newly formed company owned by the Rao family of India.
Venky's paid 17.17 pence (27 cents) a share and will now make an equivalent offer to the minority shareholders. They have a range of business interests in India and overseas but their flagship company is Venkateshwara Hatcheries Private Limited.
The takeover ends Rovers' long association with previous owner Jack Walker, who died in 2000. He turned the club into a top flight force, culminating in their Premiership title victory under Kenny Dalglish in the 1994/95 season.
Walker established a trust in his own name to take over the running of the club after his death but the sale has now allowed an Indian firm to make their Premier League debut.
Paul Egerton-Vernon, Chairman of the Jack Walker Settlement Trustees, told the club's website: "We are very pleased to be passing on the Rovers to the Rao family.
"We have been impressed with their enthusiasm for the club and their plans and ideas for future investment to develop it further as well as their wish and commitment to preserve the legacy of Jack Walker.
"Over the last 10 years, the global appeal of the Premier League has grown significantly and it is only natural that, as we have seen at other clubs, international ownership and investment should increase."
Anuradha J Desai, the Chairperson of Venky's, said: "We are delighted, proud and humbled to be associated with Blackburn Rovers, a team with whom we share many values and ambitions.
"Going forward we plan to focus on leveraging the global influence in establishing Blackburn Rovers as a truly global brand. We will absolutely respect the Jack Walker legacy and will be actively supporting the organization to ensure that Blackburn Rovers remains one of the best run clubs within the Premier League.

"Blackburn Rovers is an historic institution that has won the Premier League and we want the fans to embrace us so that we are able to do our best in the interests of the club."

Source:http://edition.cnn.com/2010/SPORT/football/11/19/blackburn.india.venkys.takeover/index.html

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Poulter faces final-round showdown with McDowell in Hong Kong

Ian Poulter, 10th in the Race To Dubai standings ahead of next week's finale, is seeking to win his 10th European Tour title
Ian Poulter will take a two-shot lead over Ryder Cup teammate Graeme McDowell into Sunday's final round of the Hong Kong Open.

The Englishman doubled his advantage on Saturday as he followed up his sensation 10-under-par 60 with a 64 in the third round.
Poulter began with a birdie and an eagle in his first three holes, then closed with a flourish as he picked up shots at his last two to move to 19-under 191 after 54 holes.
McDowell, who is seeking to reduce the absent Martin Kaymer's lead in the European Tour money-list standings ahead of next week's season-ending event in Dubai, went one shot better with a 63.
Three birdies in his first seven holes were then offset by a bogey, but the Northern Irishman then eagled the par-four 10th hole and fired three consecutive birdies from 13 before closing with pars.
England's Simon Dyson, who holed in one on Thursday, was third on 16 under after an eight-birdie 65.
"I saw the other guys get off to a good start and that kind of frustrated me not to convert some of the chances I had," Poulter, who is 10th in the Race To Dubai standings, told the European Tour website.
"With Simon and Graeme pressing, I wanted to make sure I went into tomorrow with a bit of a lead. That is key, really, making sure you go into Sunday with a nice advantage."
U.S. Open champion McDowell said his eagle, sinking a 20-foot putt after driving the green, was the turning point in his round.
"It really got me going. I birdied 13, 14 and 15 so it was a good back nine, but it was definitely the eagle on 10 that got me off and running," he said.
"I am very happy with that round. It was more of the same really because I have played great this week."
Another Ryder Cup winner, McDowell's compatriot Rory McIlroy, was tied for fourth with American Anthony Kang on 15 under.
McIlroy closed with his fifth birdie to shoot 66, while Kang completed a flawless 67.
First-round leader Mark Brown of New Zealand shot 65 to be tied for sixth on 196 with India's Jeev Milkha Singh (66).

Defending champion Gregory Bourdy was tied for eighth on 13 under after a 65, alongside Italian teenager Matteo Manassero (67) and Welshman Jamie Donaldson. 

Source:http://edition.cnn.com/2010/SPORT/golf/11/20/golf.poulter.mcdowell.mcilroy.hk/index.html

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Bayern Munich fall further behind leaders Borussia Dortmund

Bastian Schweinsteiger was left frustrated after Bayern Munich allowed Bayer Leverkusen to equalize on Saturday
Bayern Munich's hopes of retaining the German Bundesliga title suffered another blow on Saturday as Louis van Gaal's team were held 1-1 at third-placed Bayer Leverkusen.

The Bavarians now trail leaders Borussia Dortmund by 14 points after 13 rounds, having missed out on the chance to move into the top-five after conceding an equalizer right on halftime.
Germany striker Mario Gomez continued his hot scoring run to put Bayern ahead in the 34th minute from close range after Bastian Schweinsteiger flicked on Thomas Muller's cross.
But Danijel Pranjic brought down Sidney Sam, allowing Arturo Vidal to slot in the resulting spot-kick.
Van Gaal brought on France midfielder Franck Ribery in the 61st minute, but the closest Bayern came to a winner was when Gomez headed Philipp Lahm's injury-time cross over the bar.
"It was bitter to draw, because I could have scored in the last few minutes," Gomez, who has netted eight goals this season and five in the last four games, told AFP.
"Leverkusen were very strong in the second half, so we have to be happy with the point."
Borussia Dortmund came from behind to win 2-1 at Freiburg and maintain the club's seven-point margin at the top.
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Ibrahimovic strike sends Milan four clear

Zlatan Ibrahimovic hooks an overhead kick into the Fiorentina net to give AC Milan the lead at the San Siro
AC Milan moved four points clear in Italy's Serie A with a 1-0 win at home to Fiorentina on Saturday night, as Zlatan Ibrahimovic was again the hero.

The Sweden forward scored the winning penalty in last weekend's derby clash with Inter, and he settled this match with a spectacular effort in first-half injury-time.
He flicked the ball up and hooked it over his shoulder into the far corner to give Milan a ninth win in 13 league games, and put pressure on second-placed Lazio to win at Parma on Sunday.
Milan, who travel to French club Auxerre in the Champions League on Tuesday, earlier had the ball in the net through Robinho but the Brazilian forward was ruled offside.
Milan coach Massimiliano Allegri omitted Ronaldinho from his starting line-up, having been angry that the Brazilian was pictured out partying late at night during the week, but brought him on as a late substitute.
Fiorentina stayed in 12th place on 15 points after a sixth defeat this season.
Roma claimed third place in the table with a 2-0 win at home to Udinese, despite having Nicolas Burdisso sent off with 10 minutes to play.
Young French winger Jeremy Menez gave the capital club a 24th-minute lead with a fine solo effort as he took the ball from just inside the visitors' half, beat two opponents and curled a shot past goalkeeper Samir Handanovic.
The 23-year-old then provided Roma's second goal in the 56th minute, finding Marco Borriello inside the penalty area -- and the Italy striker beat the Slovenian at his near post.
Roma coach Claudio Ranieri took off both goalscorers with half an hour to play, ahead of Tuesday's Champions League visit by Bayern Munich.
Argentine defender Burdisso was sent off after an altercation in the penalty area, and Udinese's Chile midfielder Alexis Sanchez then hit the post before teammate German Denis had an effort ruled out for offside.
The defeat left Udinese in eighth place on 17 points.

On Sunday, fourth-placed Napoli host Bologna in the late match, fifth-placed Juventus travel to Genoa in the early kickoff and defending champions Inter visit Chievo.

Source:http://edition.cnn.com/2010/SPORT/football/11/20/football.milan.roma.italy/index.html

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Chelsea caught by Manchester United after another defeat

Lee Bowyer's first goal this season condemned Chelsea to a fourth defeat in 14 Premier League outings
Chelsea crashed to a second successive English Premier League defeat for the first time in four years on Saturday, allowing Manchester United to draw level on points with the leaders.
The defending champions, beaten 3-0 at home by Sunderland last weekend, lost to lowly Birmingham for the first time since the Premier League's inception in 1992 thanks to a rare goal from the home side's veteran midfielder Lee Bowyer.
The 33-year-old, who last found the net almost a year ago, scored against the run of play in the 17th minute after striker Cameron Jerome headed Sebastian Larsson's right-wing cross into his path.
Chelsea surged forward in search of an equalizer, but Ben Foster pulled off a series off superb saves as the goalkeeper bounced back from his uncertain performance in England's 2-1 midweek defeat by France.
The closest the Londoners came to scoring was seven minutes before halftime, when striker Didier Drogba headed against the crossbar.
It was another blow for Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti, who lost his assistant Ray Wilkins last week when the former England midfielder's contract was not renewed -- and the Italian revealed on Friday that he had no say in the promotion of scout Michael Emenalo to replace him.
"We played good football, had a lot of chances, but we lost. It is a difficult moment but we don't have to lose confidence," Ancelotti told the club's website.
"I was really disappointed with the performance against Sunderland, but this is different -- just with the result."
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Ibrahimovic goal settles Milan derby; Bayern move up to sixth

Zlatan Ibrahimovic celebrates his penalty goal against his former team Inter in the San Siro
Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored the only goal from the penalty spot as AC Milan went back to the top of Serie A with a 1-0 home win over city rivals and reigning champions Inter on Sunday night.
Earlier, Lazio had briefly gone top as they beat Napoli 2-0 in Rome, but the defeat for European champions Inter drops them to fourth in the standings, six points behind their city rivals.
Milan won a fifth minute penalty when Clarence Seedorf released Swedish star Ibrahimovic and as he dragged back the ball had his legs taken from under him by Marco Materazzi.
Ibrahimovic got up to score from the spot and Milan might have gone further ahead as he volleyed just over while Robinho had the ball in the net on 22 minutes but was denied by a linesman's flag.
Inter had their best attacking moments through Wesley Sneijder and they looked set to come back into the match when Milan's Ignazio Abate saw red on the hour mark for a second yellow.
But they failed to take advance and Seedorf nearly added a second with a fierce shot from 18 meters.
In the German Bundesliga, reigning champions Bayern Munich moved up to sixth in the standings with a 3-0 win over Nuremberg.
Mario Gomez scored twice for the Bavarian giants, but they are still 12 points behind league leaders Borussia Dortmund, who kept up their relentless pace with a 2-0 win over Hamburg on Friday
But coach Louis van Gaal has not given up hope his team can retain the title despite the big gap.
"We have to try and get at least 30 points, then we will have a chance," the Dutchman told AFP.
"I think Dortmund are very lucky at the moment, but they have a good team, they are well organized, play well and have a good coach.
"Their players really want to win."
Germany captain Philipp Lahm scored the other goal for Bayern from the spot in the 75th minute before Gomez rounded off the scoring.

He then missed a penalty three minutes from time at the Allianz Arena which would have completed his hat-trick.

 Read more: http://edition.cnn.com/2010/SPORT/football/11/14/milan.derby.bayern.win/index.html Read more...

Vettel claims Formula One world title after Abu Dhabi triumph

Sebastian Vettel signals victory and the world title after his heroics in Abu Dhabi
Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel is the new Formula One world champion after winning the title-deciding race in Abu Dhabi on Sunday.
The German produced a peerless drive from pole position to take the checkered flag ahead of the McLaren pair of Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button.
Ferrari's Fernando Alonso, who led the championship standings going into the final race of the season, could only manage seventh place to see his title hopes ruined.
The 23-year-old Vettel is the youngest-ever world champion in motorsport's premier class, claiming his fifth victory of the year to take the lead in the standings for the first time in a topsy-turvy season.
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