Suzuka, Oct 7: Sebastian Vettel put in a dominating performance in his Red Bull to win the Formula One Japanese Grand Prix here on Sunday and close in on Ferrari’s championship leader Fernando Alonso.

The German led from the front to cross the chequered flag ahead of Felipe Massa in the Ferrari and local hero Kamui Kobayashi of Sauber.

The retirement of Alonso (194 points)...

BEIJING, Oct 7: World number two Novak Djokovic overcame Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France in straight sets on Sunday to win the China Open for a third time.

The 25-year-old Serb defeated the world number seven 7-6 (7/4), 6-2 to maintain his unbeaten record at the ATP 500 tournament in Beijing and take the the winner’s prize of $530,570.

Little separated the players throughout ...

Berlin, Oct 7: A brace by Frenchman Franck Ribery was enough for Bayern Munich to defeat Hoffenheim while Hamburg’s Heung Min Son scored the only goal of the match against newly promoted Fuerth in German Bundeliga football.

Among other clubs, Schalke also cruised to a comfortable 3-0 win over struggling Wolfsburg, reports Xinhua.

German record champions Bayern Munich Satu...

London, Oct 7: Chelsea extended their lead at the top of the Premier League to four points with a 4-1 win against Norwich on Saturday, while champions Manchester City got back on track by crushing Sunderland 3-0.

Roberto Di Matteo’s unbeaten Chelsea have made a flying start to their title challenge and this was the European champions’ sixth win in seven league matches.

BEIJING, Oct 7: World no.1 Roger Federer, who received a death threat by a blogger, who called himself ‘Blue Cat Polytheistic Religion Founder 07’, wanting to assassinate the 17-time Grand Slam champion for the purpose of ‘tennis extermination’, will face a different kind of threat on the tennis court.

While authorities have taken note of the death threat, securi...

TOKYO, Oct 7: Kei Nishikori stunned big-serving Milos Raonic 7-6, 3-6, 6-0 with an electrifying display of attacking tennis to become the host country’s first Japan Open champion on Sunday.

It was the eight seed’s second career title after winning in Delray Beach in 2008 and will elevate the 22-year-old from 17th to 15th in the world rankings.

Nishikori took the firs...

Tashkent, Oct 7: Indian Davis Cuppers, Vishnu Vardhan and Sanam Singh scored contrasting victories to make it to the final round of the qualifying of the Tashkent ATP Challenger here today.

In the second round qualifiers, third seeded Vishnu came back from a set down to register 6-7(5) 6-3 6-3 win in an hour and 51 minutes against Germain Gigounon of Belgium. Vishnu hammered 16 aces dur...

Bangalore, Oct 7: Australian golfer David Gleeson hopes to turn the corner with a successful title defence at the $1.25 million Hero Indian Open to be held here from Oct 18 to 21.

Gleeson struggled with a stomach infection late last year resulting in an unusual string of 10 missed cuts from Nov 2011 into this year’s Asian Tour season.

“My form fell off completely bec...

COLOMBO, Oct 7: West Indies outclassed hosts Sri Lanka by 36 runs in a low-scoring finale to lift the 2012 World Twenty20 title at R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on Sunday.

West Indies bowlers were on a roll as they dented Sri Lankan chase by removing seven batsmen within 70 runs in 15 overs in the final clash of the World T20.

Chasing 138, Sri Lanka lost Tillakaratne Dilshan, ...

COLOMBO, Oct 7: Australian Simon Taufel on Sunday stood down from international umpiring after officiating in the World Twenty20 final between Sri Lanka and West Indies at the R Premadasa Stadium.

It was an emotional moment for Taufel as he took the field to officiate for one last time. The 41-year-old had already announced that he would retire after World Twenty20 to become the Umpire ...

Colombo, Oct 7: Australian women produced an impressive performance to edge out their English counterparts by four runs in an exciting final of the ICC Women`s World Twenty20 here today.

Put into bat, Australia put up a competitive 142 for four in 20 overs with almost all the batswoman getting runs.

Jess Cameron with 45 was the top scorer but openers Meg Lanning (25), Alyssa Hea...

Tokyo, Oct 7: India’s Leander Paes and his Czech partner Radek Stepanek lost to Alexander Peya and Bruno Soares in the men’s doubles final of Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships here on Sunday.

For Peya and Soares it was the second ATP World Tour doubles title in as many weeks. The fourth seeds added the silverware to their Malaysian Open trophy with a 6-3, 7-6(5) win ov...

New Delhi, Oct 7: Fourth seeded Indo-Spanish pair of Sania Mirza and Nuria Llagostera Vives lost to Russian pair of Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina in the women’s doubles finals of the China Open.

Mirza and her partner Nuria lost 5-7, 5-7 to their third seeded opponent after a bright start leading the first set 3-1.

The Russians, however, came back and wrapped up the ...

BEIJING, Oct 7: World number one Victoria Azarenka thrashed second seed Maria Sharapova of Russia in straight sets on Sunday to win the $4.8 million China Open.

The Belarusian dispatched Sharapova, ranked number two in the world, 6-3, 6-1, in the final of the Beijing tournament -- the last Premier Mandatory event of the women's calendar.

Azarenka, 23, sped to a 4-0 lead in the f...

AHMEDABAD, Oct 7: It’s not just Sachin Tendulkar who does not want to give retirement a thought. Another sporting legend, Leander Paes, seems to be in no hurry to throw in the towel yet so much so that the 39-year-old might don India colours at the 2014 Asian Games to be held in Incheon, South Korea, said Dr Vece Paes, father of the 13-time Grand Slam winner.

Although age is not o...

Karachi, Oct 7: The 2009 Lahore terror attack is yet to become even a distant memory but Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapakse has reportedly given his consent to the country‘s cricket team touring Pakistan again.

According to a report in a daily, the Sri Lankan President told the media that his government was ready to send the team to Pakistan.

But Rajapakse reportedly ma...

NEW DELHI, Oct 7 :Even as the Congress party nominated its “disgraced” Lok Sabha MP Suresh Kalmadi, accused in the CWG scam, to the parliamentary standing committee on external affairs, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has barred him from contesting election to the Indian Olympic Association (IOA). Also barred are two confidantes of Kalmadi, Lalit Bhanot and Vishwa Kumar Ve...

Shanghai, Oct 7: Andy Murray can build on his breakthrough year by becoming the number one player in the world, top-ranked Swiss rival Roger Federer said on Sunday.

Federer said the Scot, who became Britain's first men's singles Grand Slam champion since the 1930s when he won the US Open last month, had bounced back strongly after losing the Wimbledon final.

"He's saying the rig...

Chennai, Oct 7: Paras Dogra struck a strokeful half century as North Zone piled on a big total of 484 in their first innings to place themselves in a commanding position on the second day of the four-day Duleep Trophy quarter-final match against West Zone in Chennai on Sunday.

Dogra’s 77 pushed North’s overnight score of 251 for three to 484 all out in 174.4 overs shortly be...

Mumbai, Oct 7: D Y Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai, which has hosted two IPL finals in the past, will be hosting its first-ever first class cricket match when Mumbai take on West Zone rivals Gujarat in their final Ranji Trophy Group A fixture at the end of this year.

The December 29 to January 1 Ranji tie between Mumbai and Gujarat could not be held at the Wankhede Stadium as some other ev...

Kolkata, Oct 7: A 10-man Prayag United showed great understanding and resilience to crush a full-strength Air India 5-1 in a first round match of the I-League football at the Salt Lake Stadium here on Sunday.

Nigerian striker Ranti Martins, playing his first I-League match after his switch-over from Dempo SC, scored the first hat trick of the tournament while K. Asif and C.K. Vineeth co...