The Bryan brothers captured the ATP World Tour Finals doubles crown with a straight sets win at London's O2 Arena on Sunday. US second seeds Bob and Mike Bryan beat Belarusian Max Mirnyi and Israel's Andy Ram, the seventh seeds, 7-6 (7/5) 6-3 in an hour and 20 minutes. It is the third time the California-born Bryan twins have won the season-ending championship, having won the 2003 and 2004 titles. The Australian Open champions' victory ensures the 31-year-olds finish the season as the number one-ranked doubles side. It was the fourth year-end championship final appearance for the Bryans and their second in a row, ...
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Wolves may be only 13 games into their first season back in the Premier League but that has not prevented Mick McCarthy from warning his players that they are already embroiled in a grim scrap to avoid the drop. Former Ireland coach McCarthy has hit his players with a fierce reality check following two humbling defeats to Arsenal and Chelsea and warned them to embrace the pressure of a relegation battle. To mention the dreaded expression 'six-pointer' in the vicinity of most managers at such an embryonic stage of the campaign is running the risk of a snappy reaction. But McCarthy is not like ...
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South Korea came from a goal down early in the second half to beat Olympic champions Germany 5-3 at the men's field hockey Champions Trophy here Sunday. The Koreans cut Germany's defence to ribbons five minutes into the first half with Soo-Kyuk Yang latching on to a pass from Hyo-Sik You to score. A brilliant effort by Matthias Witthaus, flicking into the top of goal from 10 metres out, and Jan-Marco Montag's conversion of Germany's second penalty corner put the world champions 2-1 up three minutes into the second half. But the Koreans' superior fitness and ability to counter-attack with long passes into Germany's ...
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Austrian Guenther Weidlinger upstaged Olympic champions to take out the Great Australian Run over 15 kilometres (9.3 miles) here on Sunday. Weidlinger kicked clear in the final stages of the mass public run to win in 43 minutes and one second and 17 seconds ahead of Australian Collis Birmingham with Kenya's Beijing Olympic marathon champion Sammy Wanjiru in fourth. Australian Martin Dent was third in 44:00 and Wanjiru finished in 44:20. Wanjiru, 23, only arrived in Australia late Friday because of health problems with his daughter and said his tiredness had affected his form. The Athens 2004 Olympic marathon champion Stefano Baldini from Italy ...
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Six Nations Grand Slam champions Ireland ended their year on a suitably high note here on Saturday with a commendable 15-10 victory over world and Tri-Nations champions South Africa for their third successive home win over the visitors. Ireland's young fly-half Jonathan Sexton - preferred to 93-times capped Ronan O'Gara - kicked all their points while Schalk Burger got the only try of the match for the Springboks, who ended their long season on a low note with just one win in five matches on their northern hemisphere tour. The opening few minutes saw more action than both England and Argentina managed in a ...
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Police prepared to interview golfing superstar Tiger Woods Saturday to determine whether charges will be filed for a single-vehicle crash that left him facial cuts and bruises. The world's number one golf player was treated and released from hospital after he crashed his 2009 Cadillac SUV outside his luxury Florida home early Friday, hitting a fire hydrant and then ramming into a nearby tree. "Tiger Woods was in a minor car accident outside his home last night. He was admitted, treated and released today in good condition," the Florida Health Central Hospital said in a statement. The golfer, who was resting at home, also ...
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Golfing superstar Tiger Woods suffered facial cuts and bruises when he crashed his 2009 Cadillac SUV outside his luxury Florida home. The world's number one player was treated and released from hospital, following the single-vehicle smash early Friday in which he hit a fire hydrant and then rammed into a nearby tree. "Tiger Woods was in a minor car accident outside his home last night. He was admitted, treated and released today in good condition," the Florida Health Central Hospital said in a statement. Woods was resting at home Saturday and police are expected to interview him to see if charges will be laid. ...
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Italy will aim to end two losing runs when they host Samoa in an international test match in Ascoli on Saturday. The hosts have not won in their last 13 matches while they have never beaten the Samoans in four previous attempts. Added to that, on Thursday Italy lost their captain and best player Sergio Parisse to a knee ligament injury that could also see him miss next year's Six Nations as he faces four to six months on the sidelines. It does not bode well for the European minnows, however a closer look at their statistics doesn't make such bad reading for Italians. ...
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Six Nations Grand Slam champions Ireland take on world and Tri-Nations champions South Africa here on Saturday in what is essentially a mini World Cup final two years away from the real thing in New Zealand. However, if there needed to be any added spice to the fixture is that it will be the first time that the Springboks face a national side that includes several of the British and Irish Lions side that lost a bitterly fought series in the summer that South Africa won 2-1. Irish defence coach Les Kiss was frank about what some of his players thoughts were on - ...
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Disgraced German speedskate star Claudia Pechstein, suspended for two years over anomalies in her biological passport, said Friday she still hoped to clear her name in Germany. "All work of investigation will clear me," said Pechstein on her website. The Court of Arbitration of Sport (CAS) on Wednesday upheld the two-year doping ban against the five-time Olympic champion in a case which sets a precedent. Pechstein never failed a drugs test but sport's highest court accepted the validity of the biological passport in the fight against doping. The 37-year-old has vehemently disputed the case against her and appealed to the CAS, claiming laboratory errors ...
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