[football] Atletico Defeats Liverpool, Man City Wins

Liverpool lost once again to a Spanish team after being thrashed 0-3 in the hands of Espanyol. Atletico Madrid defeated the Reds 2-1 in the pre-season friendly in Madrid. The match lively with both sides going on attacks one after other, though Liverpool had greater share for them. However, they could not produce the thing that mattered the most till the 81st minute.

Atletico took the lead through a Sergio Aguero strike in the 12th minute and Diego Forlan doubled it at the 32nd minute. Former Atletico player Fernando Torres got the best chance for the Anfield side when he got in a one-on-one with goalkeeper Sergio Asenjo. Torres did beat the goalkeeper but was thwarted by the goalpost. The attacking football of Liverpool reaped some fruit at the 81st minute when Leiva got their only goal.

Manchester City got a win to cheer at last when they defeated Scottish giants Celtic 2-1. Gareth Barry put the English side forward as early as 15th minute but Celtic paid it back through Killen at 24th minute. The Citizens got their winning goal from Craig Bellamy at the 53rd minute.

[football] Inter Loses Super Cup to Lazio 1-2

Despite producing great piece of attacking football, Inter Milan lost the Super Cup match played against Lazio in the "Bird's Eye" stadium in Beijing. Inter dominated the proceeding throughout the match but they could not score the much needed goal. Eto'o and Milito attacked relentlessly throughout the first half and the beginning of second half. But Lazio goalkeeper Muslera stood like a wall in front the goalpost. Eto'o came closest to scoring when he intercepted a backpass to goalkeeper but could not control the last tap on the open post.

On 63rd minute Lazio got a freekick from a counter attack which got deflected by the wall to Matuzalem whose shot towards goal ricocheted off the goalkeeper Julio Ceaser but hit his head and got in. 3 minutes later Rochhi got a through ball that caught Inter defence unaware and shot it past Ceaser to tilt the match in their favour. However Inter coach Jose Mourinho put more stress on attack as he put in Balotelli in place of Stankovic and Viera for Thiago Motta and they got the result at the 79th minute when Samuel Eto'o scored a goal. They almost got their second goal when Diego Milito's shot went to the net but was disallowed because it touched Eto'o who was offside. The amount of pressure that they put can be inferred from the number of corner kicks which was more than 12. Hwever inspite putting all their effort they could not break the defence of Lazio once more and lost the match.

[tennis] Sharapova in Semis of LA Open

Maria Sharapova reached the semi finals of the LA Tennis Open in Los Angeles. The Russian, currently ranked 61, came back from a long injury break this spring. Sharapova defeated Urszula Radwanska 6-4, 7-5 in the quarter final match and will face Flavia Pennetta in the semifinal. The Italian defeated 2nd seed Vera Zvonareva 6-4, 6-2. In the earlier round she upset 5th seed Nadia Petrova. In the pther semi final Samantha Stosur will face Sorana Cirstea. Stosur won against Zheng Jie 4-6, 6-3, 6-4. Jie earlier defeated top seed Dinara Safina. On the other hand Cirstea got the better of Agnieszka Radwanska 7-6(4), 1-6, 7-5.

semi final line up:

Maria Sharapova vs Flavia Pennetta H2H: 2-0

Samantha Stosur vs Sorana Cirstea H2H: 1-0

[tennis] Roddick Makes His Way To The Semis

American top seed Andy Roddick reached the semifinal of the Legg Mason Tennis Classic in Washington. He got the better of big serving Croat Ivo Karlovic 7-6(5), 7-6(4) in the quarters winning both sets in tiebreakers. Roddick will meet countryman John Isner in the semis who defeated 8th seed Thomas Berdych 6-3, 6-7(10), 6-2 in the other quarter final. Second seed Juan Martin Del Potro will meet 4th seed Fernando Gonazalez the other semi final. Gonzalez defeated Tommy Haas 7-5, 6-4. Del Potro reached the final as Ron=bin Soderling withdrawn from the tournament because of a serious elbow injury.

semi final line up:

Andy Roddick vs John Isner H2H: 1-0

Juan Martin Del Potro vs Fernando Gonzalez H2H: 0-3

[football] Celtic Interested in Indian Striker Sunil Chhetri

Scottish Premier side Celtic Glasgow is interested in Indian striker Sunil Chhetri. The Scottish giants may lift the striker this summer only. The head scout of Celtic was present in the last practice match of the Indian team against Spanish third division football club Santboia FC where Sunil scored the only goal in India's 1-0 win.

Sunil Chhetri was sidelined due to an injury and could not play the first two matches. Now he is back with the team to India to play in the Nehru Cup which ends on 31st July. However the problem is, even if Celtic seriously think of signing the Indian it is almost impossible for Sunil Chhetri to go for trials as the summer transfers end by 31st august.

However the ineterest from such a big club is some achievement for Indian football. It might be remebered though, the same player was called for trial for Coventry City last winter and after the trial he was told that they did not need to sign a striker that urgently.

[football] Villareal Downs Juventus

Villareal thrashed Juventus 4-1 in a pre season friendly. Santi Cazorla opened the goal mouth for the Spanish side in the 31st minute. Then Nilmar increased the lead at the 51st minute. The scoreline was improved by Roberto Pires twice while Amauri pulled one back in between.

Elsewhere, Everton defeated Malaga 2-1 with goals from Luis Saha and Osman.

Real Madrid faces Toronto FC where Pellegrini may play Kaka for the first time.

[football] Wolfsburg Starts Title Defence in Style

VFL Wolfsburg started their defence of the Bundesliga title with a win over VFB Stuttgart in the opening match of German Bundesliga. The defending champions won the match 2-0. However it took them 71 minutes before finding the net in front of the home crowd. It was at the 71st minute that Misimovic scored with a brilliant touch to befool Stuttgart goalkeeper. 11 minutes later in form Brazillian Grafite scored the second one placing the ball to the left side of the approaching golakeeper.

This was the only match played in the Bundesliga on the opening day. Rest of the matches of the first matchday will be played tomorrow.

[hockey] World Cup 2010 Rescheduled One Week Earlier

The Hero Honda FIH World Cup 2010 is being shifted a week to prevent it clashing with other sporting activitites, especially IPL. The FIH has said in a recent press release that the World Cup will now be held from 28th february to 13th march, thus ending just at the beginning of the IPL which is scheduled to start from 12th march. The earlier it was scheduled exactly one week later.

[hockey] India Wins the Series Against Belgium

Indian hockey team won the 3-match series against Belgium 2-1 with a 2-0 win the third and the final match on friday. The goals were scored by Arjun Halappa and Dhanajay Mahadhik. India played this match with some urgency after losing the series against Britain and did not give any space to the Belgian team in the midfield. Halappa scored the first goal for India at 31st minute when he tapped in a pass from left side where Tushar Khandekar and Prabhjot disoriented the Belgian defence. At the 60th minute, Dhananjay Mahadhik scored form a low flick when he was fed by captain Sandeep on a penalty corner.

Belgium got two penalty corners but could not convert any of them.

India now travel to Spain to play 3 more matches there before travelling to Netherlands.

[football] Champions League Qualifiers: Arsenal Faces Celtic

Arsenal will face Celtic and Atletico Madrid will face Panthanaikos in the final qualifiers of the UEFA Champions League. In the draw decide today the teams had two different groups depending upon the way they have reached the qualifiers. The champion teams of lower ranking federations were in the Champions Route. They were drawn as follows:

FC Sheriff (Macedonia) vs Olympiakos (Greece)

FC Salzburg (Austria) vs M Hafia FC (Israel)

FK Ventspils (Latvia) vs FC Zurich (Switzerland)

FC Copenhagen (Denmark) vs APOEL FC (Serbia)

PFC Levskki Sofia (Bulgaria) vs Debrecan (Hungary)

The non-champion teams from higher ranked federations who had to play the qualifiers were in the non-champions route. The draw is as follwed:

Olympique Lyon (France) vs RSC Andrelecht (Belgium)

Celtic FC (Scotland) vs Arsenal FC(England)

FC Timisoara (Romania) vs VFB Stuttgart (Germany)

Sporting CP (Portugal) vs Fiorentina (Italy)

Panthanaikos (Greece) vs Atletico Madrid (Spain)

The matches will be played on 18, 19 and 25, 26 th of august.

[football] Somdev Loses in Third Round

Somdev Devvarman couldnot continue his dream run in the Leg Mason Tennis Classic in Washington DC. He lost his third round match against Ivi Karlovic 5-7, 1-6. The big serving Croatian who has the impressive record of winning 92 per cent of first service game on the ATP tour did not let the India stand in the match as he faced no break point in the match. The resistance that Somdev showed in the first set was also blown away in the second set.

This third round appearence will help Somdev to gain around 10 positions in the ATP tour.

[football] India Opens Nehru Cup Campaign Against Palestine

India will play the opening match of the Nehru Cup against Palestine on 19th of August. While the debate was going on about the quality of the opponents, one of the best ranked teams, Thailand, was dropped from the tournament as they preferred to send their u-19 team to New Delhi. Palestine, ranked 177 in the world will replace the Thais in the tournament to be held from 19th to 31st of august.

The teams are divided in two pools. The defending champions India are grouped with Lebanon and Palestine while runners up Syria will play with Sri Lanka and Kyrghyzsthan with two teams from each group qualifying from both the groups.

Schedule:

Group A: India, Lebanon, Palestine
Group B: Syria, Kyrgyzstan, Sri Lanka

Aug 19: India vs. Palestine
Aug 20: Syria vs. Sri Lanka
Aug 21: Palestine vs. Lebanon
Aug 22: Kyrgyzstan vs. Sri Lanka
Aug 23: India vs. Lebanon
Aug 24: Syria vs. Kyrgyzstan

Aug 27: 1st semi-final
Aug 28: 2nd semi-final

Aug 30: 3rd place match

Aug 31: Final

[hockey] India Lose First Match, Win Second in Belgium

India lost their first match of the Belgium tour on 4th 3-6. However the team came back to win 4-3 in the second match. The third match will be played on 7th august.

The performance of the team is far from encouraging in this Europe tour.

Though coach Jose Brasa said this tour is for development and not winning, but still losing the series against Britain and conceding 6 goals against Belgium in the first game doesn't give much hope of a drastic change in the next one year, when they are to play commonwealth games and world cup both to be hosted in India and the Asian Games later.

However the more difficult thing than the players performing on the pitch seems to be find out any news about Indian hockey. There is almost no information about this series anywhere in the web. The Belgian hockey website gives this minimum news about the results.

[football] Barca Drubs Seattle Sounders, Manchester United Defeats Valencia

Barcelona thrashed MLS side Seattle Sounders 4-0 in a pre season friendly match in Seattle. With another sublime performance Messi scored 2 goals in first half before being substituted at the break. In the second half Barca continued to roll and Pedro and Jeffren scored for them once again. Iniesta, Valdes and Zlatan were rested for their injuries and the rest of the members of the squad played in this match. Goals were scored at 21st, 41st(both messi), 75th(Jeffren), 89th(Pedro). Barcelona next plays Guadalajara on saturday night(US) before coming back to Spain for the Super Cup matches.

In another match last night, Manchester United defeated Valencia 2-0 with goals from Wayne Rooney and Tom Cleverley in either half. The weight of no. 7 seems to being heavy on Michael Owen as he could not perform upto the mark after having a good Asia tour.

Liverpool defeated FC Lyn Oslo 2-0 thanks to goals from Voronin and N'gog.

[football] Liverpool Finds Replacement Quickly, Milan Gets Huntelaar

It seems Liverpool found out the replacement for Madrid bound Xabi Alonso very soon. The Reds' official website confirmed today they have reached a deal for the Roma star Alberto Acquilani. It is thought that the deal is around 20 million pounds. The 25 year old captained the u-19 and u-21 national sides before proving his mettle with the senior people in both the national and club teams. How good can he fill up the space vacated by in-form Spaniard Xabi Alonso that remains to be seen.

In another interesting story, Italian newspaper Corriere Dello Sport claims that AC Milan has successfully signed Real Madrid's Dutch striker Klaas Jan Huntelaar today. They said that the Rossoneri found an agreement with Real Madrid for an amount of 15million euros which will be paid in three years. Huntelaar is expected to sign a deal of 4 years tomorrow. The deal is subject to medical check up by Milan, as usual. Milan had been hunting for a player in this position for a long time and was linked with Luis Fabiano Edin Dzeko earlier.

[football] India Down 9 Places in FIFA Rankings

India lost nine places to reach 156 in the latest FIFA rankings. India did not play any international matches after the practice matches against Hong Kong in February, the last of which India lost 1-2. The lack of matches put India in a worse situation in the ranking list. However, in recent past India's results in the few matches they played had been encouraging. India won Nehru Cup and the AFC Challenge Cup and lost in the final of the SAF Cup.

At present India is practising in Barcelona for the Nehru Cup to be held later this month where they will face Syria(95), Thailand(117), Lebanon(148), Sri Lanka(156) and Kyrghyzstan(160).

The good news among all this is that BCCI is thinking of fundung AIFF on their preparations for the AFC Cup 2009 for which India has qualified by virtue of being the champion in the AFC Challenge Cup last year.

However AIFF should now think of playing more international matches in future as the interest in Indian Football will come back if there is a sudden increase in India's ranking.

[football] Van der Sar Out For Eight Weeks

According to a report in the English newspaper the Sun, Manchester United goalkeeper Edwin Van der Sar will have to sit out the starting months of the EPL. The Dutchman suffered an injury during their tiebreaker loss in the Audi Cup final against Bayern Munich in end July. A scan has revealed that he has two fractures in his left paw. Possibly it will take around eight weeks for him to come back to save the Red Devils goal post. The veteran dutchman has one more year left in his contract.

It is thought that British goalkeeper Ben Foster will have the chance to take the responsibility of protecting the Man U fort during his absence.

[football] Xabi Alonso Deal Confirmed

The transfer of Xabi Alonso from Liverpool to Real Madrid is confirmed by the official Liverpool site. Though the actual amount paid for the transfer remained undisclosed but it is rumoured that the deal was agreed at around 34 million euros by the Anfield site.

Now Xabi will appear for the medical tests in Real Madrid and if he is declared fit he will be wearing all whites from the current season.

Though Rafa Benitez was extremely reluctant to let Xabi go, but it seems the will of the Spanish player to go back to his homeland was strong enough to force the move. It appears Liverpool are tryin to buy Albert Acquillani from Roma or Chritian Poulsen from Juventus to fill the void created by Alonso.

While Manchester United are trying to lure David Silva in the opposite direction, with the Man U official meeting with Valencia today during their pre season practice match. However the deal seems to be difficult as Valencia do not want to part with Silva or Villa currently.

[hockey] India Wins Second Match 6-0 in Junior World Cup

India defeated Belarus 6-0 in the second match of the group league in the BDO Junior World Cup in Boston. India now leads the group with 2 wins from as many matches. Earlier India defeated Australia 3-2 in the first match. India plays the third match on thursday at 1:00 am local time(Boston).

For India goals were scored by Roselin Dung Dung(11 min), Poonam Rani(38 min), Ritu Rani(51 min) and Rani Devi( 53, 54 and 58 min).

other Results:

09	12:30	A	Korea	:	England	2:2 (1:2)
10	14:45	A	France	:	Chile	0:2 (0:1)
11	17:00	D	India	:	Belarus	6:0 (1:0)
12	19:15	D	Australia	:	USA	2:1 (1:0)

source:FIH

[tennis] Somdev Devvarman Defeats Marin Cilic

India Tennis pro Somdev Devvarman defeated sixth seeded Croatian Marin Cilic in the second round of Leg Masson Tennis Classic in Washington DC. The 153rd ranked Indian defeated 15th ranked Croatian 7-5, 6-4. It was a sweet revenge fo Somdev as he was defeated by Cilic in their earlier match at his own backyard in Chennai in the final of Chennai Open in January this year. The Indian completely outplayed Cilic as he saved 5 of 7 break points while converting 4 of the 7 he got.

Somdev now will face the winner of Rainer Schuettler and Ivo Karlovic in the third round.

In doubles Mahesh Bhupathy and his partner Mark Knowles defeated Max Mirnyi and Andy Ram 7-6(6), 2-6, 10-7 .

Among others Juan Carlos Ferrero and Tommy Haas qualified to the next round while Roby Gunepri sufferd a loss in the hands of Banjamin Becker.

[hockey] India Defeats Australia in the Women's Junior World Cup

India sprang up a big surprise defeating Australia in the first day of the BDO Junior Cup in Boston. India won the match 3-2 against the mighty Australian side. Australian team, one of the favourites here, boasts of a few players with experience in the senior national sides. The Australians were up 1-0 in the first half of the match. But the Indians came up strongly in the second half and won the match by a last minute goal by Devi Asem.

In another match, New Zealand upset another favourites Netherlands 3-1. However, defending champions Korea and hosts USA started their campaigns with thumping wins.

Goal Scorers for India: Poonam Rani(45), Monika Badra(53), Asem Devi(70,PC).

Results(half time scores in barckets):

Pool A:

Chile-Korea 1:6 (0:3)
England-France 5:0 (1:0)

Pool B:
Argentina-Germany 1:2 (0:0)
South Africa-Lithuania 3:2 (1:1)

Pool C:
New Zealand-Netherlands 3:1 (1:1)
China-Spain 3:0 (1:0)

Pool D:
India-Australia 3:2 (0:1)
USA-Belarus 3:1 (0:0)

source:fihockey.org

[tennis] Somdev Devvarman Wins in First Round in Washington

Somdev Devvarman won the first round match in the Leg Mason Tennis Classic in Washington. He defeated Yulchi Sugita of Japan 6-0, 7-6(6) in the first round clash. He now meets Croatian sixth seed Marin Cilic in the second round.

Somdev started the year well with a final of the Chennai Open on the way of which he defeated top seed Carlos Moya, but after he failed to achieve something big. 3 weeks ago he reached the semifinals of Apton challenger. Last week he qualified for the LA Tennis Open but lost in the first round to 5th seed Igor Kunyitsin. Somdev is currently ranked 153 in the ATP Tour.

In the other matches in Washington, Lleyton Hewitt, Mikhail Youzhny and Frank Dancevic won their matches.

[tennis] WTA Tour: This Week Preview

LA Women's Tennis Championship Presented by Herbalife

Tier: Premium

Prize Money: $700,000

Surface: Hard

Top Seeds:

1. Dinara Safina, 1

2. Vera Zvonareva, 7

3. Victoria Azarenka, 8

Other Top Players:

Caroline Wozniacki, Ana Ivanovic, Nadia Petrova, Samantha Stosur, Marion Bartoli.

Defendiing Champion:

Dinara Safina.

Official Website:

http://www.latennischamps.com/

At stake:

winner: $107,000; 470 points

Finalist: $55,500; 320 points

Semis: $28,750; 200 points

Quartes: $14,825; 120 points

3rd Rd: $7,600; 60 points

2nd Rd: $3,830; 40 points

1st Rd: $1,965; 1 points

[tennis] ATP Tour: This Week Preview

Leg Mason Tennis Classic

Category: ATP World Tour 500

Place: Washington, USA

Date: 02.08.2009-09.08.2009

Surface: Hard

Prize Money: $ 1,402,000

Top Seeds:

1. Andy Roddick, 5

2. Juan Martin Del Potro, 6

3. Jo Wilfried Tsonga, 7

Other Top Players:

Fernando Gonzalez, Robin Soderling, Marin Cilic, Tommy Robredo, Thomas Berdych, Tommy Haas, Ivo Karlovic.

Defending Champion:

Juan Martin Del Potro.

Official Website:

http://www.leggmasontennisclassic.com/

At Stake:

winner: $300,000; 500 points

Finalist: $126,000; 250 points

Semis: $55,500; 180 points

Quartes: $25,750; 90 points

3rd Rd: $12,250; 45 points

2nd Rd: $6,400; 20 points

1st Rd: $3,950; 0 points

[tennis] Bartoli, Dushevina Win Titles

Marion Bartoli shocked Venus Williams to win her fifth Sony Erricson WTA tour title at the Bank of West Classic in Stanford. Bartoli won the match in 3 sets 6-2, 5-7, 6-4 in two hour and 47 minutes.

Venus and Serena took the doubles title.

In Istanbul, Vera Dushevina won her first tour title appearing in fourth final when she defeated Lucie Hradecka 6-0, 6-1 in just 41 minutes. Hradecka's final record now goes to 0-3 with her being runners up in Bad Gaastein last year and Strousbourg this year. Vera lost in the finals of Eastbourne in 2005 and in Stockholm in 2007 and 2008 before winning the Istanbul Cup yesterday.

[tennis] Davydenko, Querry and Bellucci Are The Winners

Top seed and world no 9 Nikolay Davydenko defeated fifth seed Juan Carlos Ferrero 6-3, 6-0 to win ATP Studena Croatia Open on sunday. It was Davydenko's second straight win after he won in Hamburg last week. It was his 16th ATP tour title in 21 finals.

Sixth seeded Sam Querry claimed the LA Tennis Open defeating qualifier Carsten Ball in the final. Querry won 6-4, 3-6, 6-1. Earlier he failed to win the match that mattered the most in last two weeks in Newport and Indianapolis. It was Querry's second title in 5 final appearences with the previous one coming in Las Vegas in 2008.

Brazillian Thomaz Bellucci won the Allianz Suiss Open in Gstaad, Switzerland defeating fellow first-time finalist Andreas Beck 6-4, 7-6(2). It is Bellucci's first ATP tour title and he became the fifth to do so this year.

[hockey] India Loses Series to Britain

India lost their 3-match test series against Britain losing the third and decisive match 2-3 on sunday. India were leading 2-0 at one stage of the game but let in 2 goals at the end of the match to lose the match. Vikram Pillay scored the first goal for India at the 3rd minute and SV Sunil increased the lead at the 18th minute. But after that the visitors lost control of the game and ended first half with a 2-1 lead Ashley Jackson scoring at the 30th minute. Jackson scored again to draw level at the 50th minute and at 64th minute Ian Mackay scored the winner for them. India lost the firat match 1-3 but came back to win the second one 4-3.

Next India move on to Belgium for another 3 match series before facing tougher opponents like Spain and Netherlands.

[football] Aston Villa Wins Peace Cup

aston villa 0(4)-0(3) Juventus

Aston Villa came out as the unlikely winner in the Peace Cup which boasted of teams like Real Madrid and Juventus both bolstered by their new summer signing. Juventus who reached the final defeating Real in the semis could not score a single goal in the full 120 minutes. Aston Villa came out with reply to everything that the Italian side had to attack and used their wings well to test their goalkeeper. Iaquinta missed a golden chance for Juventus when he headed wide. Del Piero came in near the end of 90 minutes but in the next half hour he could not provide any spark to the dull Italian side.

In the penalty Alessandro Del Piero hit the ball straight but the goalkeeper was clever enough to save that. And in the next shot he made the decisive save off Legrottaglie. ASton Villa won the shootout 4-3.

Hulk of Porto was the top scorer in the Tournament with 3 goals. Iaquinta(juventus), Ronaldo(real madrid) and Vera(LDU quito) scored 2 goals each.

Juventus Staring XI (4-3-1-2): Buffon; Zebina, Legrottaglie, Chiellini, Molinaro; Camoranesi, Melo, Marchisio; Giovinco; Iaquinta, Trezeguet.

Aston Villa Starting XI (4-4-2): Guzan; Lichaj, Cuellar, Davies, Shorey; Albrighton, Reo-Coker, Sidwell, Young, Weimann, Carew.

source:goal.com

[football] Liverpool Loses 0-3 to Espanyol

Liverpool lost their practice match against Espanyol 3-0 on sunday. Luis Garcia opened the scoring for the Catalan side at the 19th minute. Former Chelsea striker Bev Sahar then added 2 more goals in the 63rd and 89th minutes to complete the scoreline. For Liverpool Gerrard came close to scoring with hitting the framework twice, on the second time from a freekick earned by Fernando Torres. Sahar was close to complete hattrick at the dying minutes of the game but it was somehow thwarted from the goalline.

[football] Arsenal Defeats Rangers 3-0

Arsenal defeated Rangers 3-0 in the secind match of the Emirates Cup on Sunday. Wilshere scored 2 goals for the gunners while Eduardo De Silva scored the other. Wilshere ticked the score board within 3 minutes of start if the match and Eduardo doubled their lead in the 10th minute. Arsenal kept up their momentum throughout the match but had to wit till the 72nd minute till they increased their lead by another goal by Wilshere.

In the other match of th Emirates Cup, Atletico Madrid drew their game against Paris Saint German 1-1. A. Banning of PSG was sent off at the 39th minute. Atletico scored their first goal by a penalty conversion by Kun Aguero at the 41st minute. But the 10-man French side hit back at the 71st minute by a strike through L. Giuly.

IN other matches of the day Villareal lost their match against Bordeaux 0-2. Liverpool face the challenge of Espanyol later in the night.

[tennis] WTA Tour Finals: Preview

Bank Of The West Classic:

Venus Williams vs Marion Bartoli

semis:

Venus d Demntieva 6-0, 6-1

Bartoli d Stosur 6-3, 1-6, 6-1

history:

Venus: 41 titles.

Bartoli: 4 titles.

head-to-head:

1-0.

at stake:

470/320 ATP tour points.

$107,000/56,000

Istanbul Cup:

Vera Dushevina vs Lucie Hradecka

semis:

Vera d Bascinzsky 6-2, 6-4

Hradecka d Petkovic 6-7, 7-5, 7-5

history:

Venus: 0 titles.

Bartoli: 0 titles.

head-to-head:

0-0.

at stake:

280/200 ATP tour points.

$37,000/19,000

[tennis] ATP Tour Finals: Preview

ATP Studena Croatia Open:

Nikolay Davydenko vs Juan Carlos Ferrero

semis:

Davydenko d Melzer 6-1, 6-1.

Ferrero d Seppi 6-1, 6-7(1), 7-5

history:

Davydenko: 20 finals; 15 wins.

Ferrero: 28 finals; 12 wins.

head-to-head:

2-2.

at stake:

250/150 ATP tour points.

$71,700/37,700

LA Tennis Open:

Sam Querry vs Carsten Ball

semis:

Querry d Tommy Haas(1) 6-3, 7-5

Ball d Leonardo Mayer 7 -5,7-6(3)

history:

Querry: 3 finals; 1 wins.

Ball: first final.

head-to-head:

0-0.

at stake:

250/150 ATP tour points.

$31,900/16,050

Allianz Suiss Open:

Thomaz Belluci vs Andreas Beck

semis:

Bellucci d Igor Andreev 6-4, 7-5

Beck d Marcos Daniel 7-6(3), 6-3

history:

Bellucci: 1 finals; 0 wins.

Ball: first final.

head-to-head:

0-0.

at stake:

250/150 ATP tour points.

$71,700/37,700

[football] Barcelona Defeats LA Galaxy 2-1

Barcelona defeated LA Galaxy 2-1 in a practice match in Los Angeles in their USA tour. Barcelona gave their new signing Maxwell a place in the first eleven for the first time, while youth players like muniesa, Pedro and Dos Santos got the chance to play alongside the likes of Messi, Yaya Toure and Alves. Marquez came back for the first time since he was injured in the Champions League semifianl against Chelsea. Barcelona opened up the score line in the 11th minute when Pedro scored the first goal for the Catalans. Bojan came close to scoring at the end of first half when he got a great through pass from Dos Santos. However at the 45th minute David Beckham shot a world class freekick from just outside the box to level the score.

The second half saw thw comeback of Xavi, Henry, puyol and Busquets. In the 67th minute Jeffren scored the winner for the team. Henry put a few great passes but nice piece of defending from the Americans kept the scoreline unchanged after that.

Barcelona play their next match against Seattle Sounders FC on 5th of August.

barcelona squad:

Pinto (45 Valdés)

Alves (45 Puyol
Marquez(30 Henrique) (60 Pique)
Muniesa (45 Fontàs)
Maxwell (45 Abidal)

Toure (45 Busquets)
Dos Santos (45 Xavi)
Keita (45 Victor Sanchez)

Bojan (45 Jeffren)
Messi(45 Henry)
Pedro (45 Gudjohnsen)

[hockey] Hockey World Cup Date May Change

The rumours around FIH World Cup 2010 seems to not end. After it was cleared after so many days of rumour that India will host the World Cup, now the rumour is about the date. The tournament is scheduled to take place from March 7 to 20. But the fear os the FIH is that the IPL which is to be held from March 12 to April 25 and the T-20 world cup just 5 days after that.

In cricket crazy nation like India Hockey Wolrd Cup fears ending up at the 'news in brief' from the expected 'headlines' part.

The FIH said they would talk to IOC, BCCI and IPL to find out a solution to suit all the bodies. It is now expected that the event will be preponed by a few days.

It is not the first time hockey World Cup dates are being changed. The 2002 world cup in Malayasia was shifted to prevent a clash with the F-1 race in Sepang circuit. The close approximity of two big sporting events may even help the world cup gain a bit more popularity as some of the interested teams are common.

[hockey] India Wins the Second Match 4-3

India came back from a two goal deficit to defeat Britain 4-3 in the second of the 3-match series against Britain. India displayed dine quality of speed and skill after they got down 0-2 in the first 26 minutes. But then the visitors recovered and pumped in 4 goals in succession to take a 4-2 lead. At the end Brtish team put one back. Last match of the series is to be played on Sunday after which Indian team moves to Belgium to play 3 more matches there.

goal scorers:

India:

Arjun Halappa (35th minute),

Dhananjay Mahadik (41st),

Rajpal Singh (43rd)

Gurvinder Chandi (65th min)

Britain:

Ashley Jackson (22nd and 69th)

Jonty Clarke (26th min).

source:timesofindia.com

[football] India Draw Third Match on the Spanish Tour

India failed to win the third match of their Spanish tour when they drew 1-1 against Spanish Third Division club CE Europa 1-1. Skipper Bhaichung Bhutia gave Indians the lead at the half hour mark but Surkumar Singh conceded a penalty at the 72nd minute which was converted by the Spanish ream.

India started with the same lineup as the first two matches and made only 3 substitutions. The first one was important as it saw Sunil Chhetri coming in for the first time in this Spanish tour after tje half time. Later at the 70th minute Bhaichung and Steven Dias gave way to Abhishek Yadav and Renedy Singh. India could have los t the match had it not been the heroics of goalie Subrata Pal and so many misses by the Spanish side. India plays another match in this tour before coming back for the Nehru Cup.

source: goal.com