Sport Line News

Zenit St. Petersburg won the European Super Cup for the first time, upsetting Manchester United 2-1 Friday night on goals by Pavel Pogrebnyak and Danny.
Pogrebnyak scored in the 44th minute from close range after Igor Denisov flicked on a corner kick from Alejandro Dominguez. Danny made it 2-0 in the 59th when he drifted past two defenders and beat goalkeeper Edwin Van der Sar with a low shot.
Nemanja Vidic scored in the 73rd for United when his shot went past three Zenit players and into the net. Paul Scholes was ejected in the 90th after leaping and slapping the ball into the net.
Manchester United is the defending Champions League winner and Zenit won last season's UEFA Cup.

News Courtsey: International Herald Tribune

2004 US Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova became the latest upset victim in the tournament, beaten by 28th-seeded Katarina Srebotnik of Slovenia 6-3, 6-7 (1-7), 6-3 in the third round Friday.

A day after No. 1 Ana Ivanovic of Serbia lost to 188th-ranked Julie Coin of France, the third-seeded Kuznetsova was eliminated.

"She played her top game," Kuznetsova said. "For me, like, she played unbelievable."


No. 12 Marion Bartoli of France defeated No. 23 Lindsay Davenport of the United States 6-1, 7-6 (7-3), and No. 15 Patty Schnyder of Switzerland beat Magdalena Rybarikova of Slovakia 7-6 (7-4), 6-4. Former Open champion Marat Safin of Russia lost to No. 15 Tommy Robredo of Spain 4-6, 7-6 (7-4), 6-4, 6-0.

American Andy Roddick, seeded eighth, lost the first set and was down 5-3 in the second before rallying to defeat Ernests Gulbis of Latvia 3-6, 7-5, 6-2, 7-5.

World number one Ana Ivanovic was knocked out of the US Open in the second round when she was beaten 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 by French qualifier Julie Coin on Thursday.

Ivanovic suffered the earliest exit by a women's top seed at the US Open since tennis turned professional in 1968.

Ranked 188th in the word, 25-year-old Frenchwoman Coin recorded eight aces and benefited from 34 unforced errors by Ivanovic to bounce the Serb from the tournament.

Its been reported in the press that Sunderland's Michael Chopra has gone in to rehab for personal issues.

He has had problems with his marriage having spilt from his wife Heather after only a month.

Sunderland manager Roy Keane has pledged the club's full backing to striker Michael Chopra as he "deals with some personal problems".

The Daily Mirror reported on Thursday that the £5million 24-year-old former Newcastle and Cardiff player had been checked into the Sporting Chance clinic.

Keane said: "We are helping Michael as he deals with some personal issues and he has the full support of everyone at the club. We would ask that his privacy, and that of his family, is respected at this time and the club will not be commenting further on this matter."

News Courtsey: The Press Association

Former Pakistani and Sussex legspinner 38-year-old Mushtaq Ahmed has retired from cricket because of his persistent knee injury.

Mushtaq Ahmed, who played his last Test in October 2003, made the decision after six seasons and three county championship titles with English side Sussex.

According to The Argus in Brighton yesterday, Mushtaq is the greatest player to have represented the county in their 169 years. The instinct was to snort and think of Maurice Tate, John Snow, Ranjitsinhji and Ted Dexter. Yet it took the arrival of Mushtaq for Sussex to win the championship for the first time in 2003.

They succeeded again in 2006 and 2007 and Mushtaq's hauls of wickets for each season before this one - 103, 82, 80, 102 and 90 - reads more like the sequence of an in-form batsman than a bowler in the age of 16 championship matches. He could be the best overseas signing made by any county.

"This is a very hard decision for me to make, as I feel that I could possibly play one more year, but out of respect I would only do that if I felt 100 percent," Mushtaq said.

"I am going to miss playing for the club greatly," Mushtaq said. "I am truly honoured to have spent six wonderful years here. There are not enough words to express my gratitude to the club."

Mushtaq took 185 wickets in 52 Tests for Pakistan between 1990 and 2003, with a best of 7-56 against New Zealand in Christchurch in 1995. He fared less well in one-day internationals, with 161 wickets in 144 matches.

He ends his career with a total 1,407 wickets, 598 of them for Sussex.

After long hours of wait, fans at the Myer department store in Melbourne were disappointed as Stephanie Rice and Eamon Sullivan told that they would only sign Davenport branded underwear. Some angry and upset fans then left quickly, while others rushed to grab pairs of the Davenport underwear to be signed by the two.

The pair admitted to being exhausted after the Beijing Olympics but are committed to a national tour selling underwear together - a deal made before the Olympics and before they broke up as a couple.

Harry Kewell has been recalled to the Australian squad for next month's World Cup qualifier against Uzbekistan in Tashkent on Sept. 10 in the opening Group A fixture of the final round of Asian qualifiers for the 2010 World Cup. Japan, Bahrain and Qatar are the other teams in the group.

Kewell, now with Turkish club Galatasaray, missed Australia's 2-2 friendly draw against South Africa in London last week but returns to the side after overcoming a minor injury.

The Australians will play a friendly against the Netherlands in Eindhoven on Sept. 6 to help prepare of the Uzbekistan match.

Defending Turkish football champion Galatasaray has signed Czech striker Milan Baros from Lyon.

The 27-year-old Baros agreed to a three year contract, the Istanbul-based club said on its Web site Tuesday. He was expected to join the team on Thursday.

It was not clear how much Galatasaray would pay French club Lyon as a transfer fee.

Baros joined Lyon in 2007 after five years in the Premier League with Liverpool and Aston Villa.

17-years-old Asia Muhammad, is about to embark on a professional tennis career at the U.S. Open and her pink tennis racquet will be adorned with Diamonds.

Las Vegas tennis sensation Asia Muhammad is making her professional debut this week at the U.S. Open as a wild card. She is a product of Andre Agassi's Las Vegas Academy and has been consistently ranked in the top 10 throughout her junior career.

But it is a famous Las Vegas jeweler that is making this debut extra special, as he adorned Asia's signature pink racquet with grand Diamond initials before her father took it to New York to present it to his daughter before she plays in the tennis tournament of her life and begin her professional career.

"I've known and watched Asia develop for several years now," said Michael E. Minden, owner of Michael E. Minden Diamond Jewelers in Las Vegas. "We are all so proud that she is representing Vegas and wanted to mark this very special occasion with something that has never been done before."

Image Courtsey: marketwatch.com/news

Joining the ranks of Eamon Sullivan, Stephanie Rice and teammate Michael Clarke, Lee launched his own line of men's underwear - ACESTAR in Sydney, reports news.com.au.

The AceStar range was created by Australian designer Bruno Schiavi.

"I think it's very healthy, the fact that other guys are doing it. That's great, we're very happy and very, very proud of our product. We think we'e on a winner now, Brett Lee said.

Some of Lee's pals turned out to support him including Deni Hines, Dieter Brummer and his brother Shane Lee.
Currently sidelined after having an operation on a persistent ankle injury, Lee is struggling to return in time to gain fitness for the ashes 2009.

He should have plenty of time to concentrate on hsi new underwear range, after surgeons removed floating fragments and a small bone spur from Lee's left ankle.

Image Courtsey : news.com.au and cricinfo.com/australia

Argentina on Saturday successfully defended their Olympic football title when they beat Nigeria 1-0 in the gold medal match.

Benfica's Di Maria collected a through ball from Lionel Messi in the 58th minute to give 2004 winner Argentina another gold medal in the football.


Brazil won the bronze on Friday by beating Belgium 3-0 in Shanghai.

Image Courtsey: BBC Sport, Reuters and Usatoday.com

Don Fox, who was assured a place in Rugby League folklore for missing a last-minute conversion in Wakefield's 11-10 defeat by Leeds in the 1968 Challenge Cup final, has died after a long illness, aged 72.

The former Featherstone, Wakefield and Great Britain player won the Lance Todd Trophy as man of the match despite fluffing his chance to convert Ken Hirst's try from in front of the posts.

Fox was one of three rugby-playing brothers from the pit village of Sharlston along with Peter – a former Featherstone, Bradford and Great Britain coach – and Neil, a former Test centre Neil who holds the world record of 6,220 points during his career with Wakefield, York, Bramley, Huddersfield and Bradford.

Nigel Wood, the Rugby Football League chief executive, said: "The entire game of Rugby League will mourn the loss of Don."

News and Image Courtsey: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/rugbyleague/

Brett Lee has confirmed he'll miss Australia's one-day series against Bangladesh because he is splitting up with his wife Liz Kemp.

"We have been caught by surprise as to how quickly our situation has become public. It is with regret that I confirm today's media reports are correct and that Liz and I have decided to separate," Lee said in a statement.

"Given the personal nature of the matter,I ask that you please respect our privacy as we attempt to deal with this sensitive situation," Lee said.

Brett Lee, 31, and his wife Liz Kemp, 31, have separated after just two years together. They have a son Preston.

Acting Cricket Australia chief executive Michael Brown yesterday said Lee had been granted short-term leave, allowing him to miss the three-match series in Darwin starting on August 30.

His place in the Australian squad will be taken by uncapped Tasmanian Brett Geeves.

Image Courtsey : Theage.com.au

The US men's 4 x100 meters relay team failed to qualify for the Olympic final after dropping the baton in their heat on Thursday.
Victory seemed a formality as Darvis Patton approached Tyson Gay on the final changeover but the pair made a mess of it and the baton tumbled to the floor.

The US were chasing their 16th gold medal in the 4x100m relay and were hoping to make up for Athens four years ago when they were surprisingly beaten by Britain.

Gay has endured a miserable Olympics after also failing to reach the 100 meters final.

Medal prospects Nigeria also failed to get the baton round along with South Africa and Poland.

Afghan sprinter Robina Muqimyar — who in 2004 broke the gender barrier on the Afghan Olympic team — was last in a field of 85 women in the 100 meters, with a time

of 14.80. She ran with a scarf covering her head. Robina wore a scarf covering her head, albeit one with black and white Cheetah spots and decorated with

sequins, and did not seem the least bit bothered that she was the slowest of the 85 runners.

“I’m very happy to compete in 2008 Beijing,” she said in broken English. “I am happy. I like this. I am champion for Afghanistan

Teammate Massoud Azizi finished 76th in the men's 100. He trains in Kabul's National Stadium, where the Taliban once staged regular public executions,wearing jogging shoes because his spikes won't dig into the track's cracked, concrete surface.

Image Courtsey: Leichtathletik.de

Rohullah Nikpai defeated world champion Juan Antonio Ramos of Spain on Wednesday to earn the bronze medal in the men's under 58-kilogram taekwondo competition. This is first-ever Olympic medal for Afghanistan.

President Hamid Karzai immediately called to congratulate Nikpai. He also awarded him a house at the government's expense, said Humayun Hamidzada, the president's spokesman.

"I hope this will send a message of peace to my country after 30 years of war," Nikpai said.


Afghanistan will get another chance at a medal in taekwondo. Nesar Ahmad Bahave is competing in a heavier weight class.

Image Courtsey: AP Pictures

Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt wins gold with a time of 19.30 seconds. He is the first person to break both the 100 and 200 world records in the Olympics.

He won the Olympic 200 meters in 19.30 seconds, breaking Michael Johnson's untouchable world record of 19.32 seconds.


Churandy Martina of Netherlands Antilles and Wallace Spearmon of the United States were disqualified for lane violations. Martina's time was 19.82, Spearmon's 19.95. The DQs moved defending champion Shawn Crawford of the U.S. up to the silver in 19.96. Walter Dix, also of the U.S., took bronze in 19.98. Dix also won the bronze in the 100 meters.
Image Courtsey: Timesonline.co.uk and Canada.com

India's Vijender Kumar beat Carlos Gongora of Ecuador 9-4 in the quarter-finals of the 75kg middleweight category of the boxing event on Wednesday to guarantee India another medal at the Beijing Olympics.
Vijender Kumar (India) in BLUE
Carlos Gongora (Ecuador) in RED

Scores by Rounds

Round1 Carlos Gongora 0 : Vijender Kumar 2
Round2 Carlos Gongora 1 : Vijender Kumar 2
Round3 Carlos Gongora 1 : Vijender Kumar 3
Round4 Carlos Gongora 2 : Vijender Kumar 2

Ukraine's Lyudmyla Blonska, the heptathlon silver medallist, has failed a drugs test, the IOC said on Wednesday.

The 30-year-old's A sample tested positive for a banned substance, but the results of the B sample are still awaited.
A test conducted at 2am on Sunday has shown traces of the anabolic steroid Methytestosterone. Blonska is still waiting for the results of the B Sample.


Lyudmyla Blonska had already served a previous ban for testing positive in 2003 for stanozolol.

Blonska now faces a life ban for the latest offence.

Should Blonska be stripped of her medal, the silver would go to American Hyleas Fountain while Tatiana Chernova of Russia would get the bronze.

Men's Fly Weight (51kg) : Quarterfinal : Georgy Balakshin (Russia) VS Jitender Kumar (India)

India's Jitender Kumar gave a tough fight but lost to 3 times European Champion Georgy Balakshin 11-15

Jitender Kumar in BLUE
Georgy Balakshin in RED

Scores by Rounds

Round1 Balakshin 2 : Jitender 1

Round2 Balakshin 5 : Jitender 5

Round3 Balakshin 6 : Jitender 2

Round4 Balakshin 2 : Jitender 3

Wrestler Sushil Kumar provided an unexpected boost to India's Olympic campaign by clinching bronze medal after beating Kazakhstan's Leonid Spiridonov in the repechage match of the men's freestyle wrestling 66kg class here on Wednesday (20th August 2008).

Earlier, India's Sushil Kumar lost ion the first round to Ukraine’s Andriy Stadnik in the men's 66 kg freestyle event.

Sushil also thwarted the challenge from American Doug Schwab and Belarrussian Albert Batyrov in the first two repechage rounds.

Sushil is only the second Indian wrestler to win the wrestling bronze after Kashabha Jadhav had returned with the medal in 1952 Helsinki Games.

Image Courtsey : AP Photo and Indiatimes.com