New Delhi, Oct 12: Double Olympic medalist wrestler, Sushil Kumar rejected a Rs 50 lakh-offer to feature in a surrogate ad for a liquor brand. Kumar, who his himself a vegetarian and a teetotaler, feels that featuring in such activities will send a wrong message to the youth and encourage them to drinking habits.

In a time when hottest sporting property in the country, the IPL, is laced...

Hyderabad, Oct 12: Kamla Landmarc Real Estate, a Mumbai-based real estate firm, has bought Indian Premier League team Deccan Chargers for an undisclosed amount.

Deccan Chronicle Holdings Limited (DCHL) on Friday informed Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) that the board of directors of the company at its meeting held Thursday decided “to sell, transfer/dispose off the Deccan Chargers fra...

JOHANNESBURG, Oct 12: After an eventful ICC World T20 in Sri Lanka cricket world is ready to witness  another  T20 clash in South Africa.  Champions League Twenty20 will kick out tomorrow. After their not so memorable outing in the just-concluded ICC World T20 in Sri Lanka, it will be a test of character for the Indian boys in the Champions League Twenty20 which enters the busine...

Shanghai, Oct 12: It was a good day for the Indians at office as men's doubles seventh seeds Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna and fourth seeds Leander Paes and Radek Stepanek advanced to the semifinals of the Shanghai Masters here on Friday.

The seventh seeds saved all five break-points they faced to defeat second seeds Max Mirnyi and Daniel Nestor 7-6(7), 6-4 in one hour and 24 minute...

Shanghai, Oct 12: Swiss legend Roger Federer has consistently ripped up the record books during his glittering career but his latest landmark - 300 weeks at number one - is one of his proudest achievements.

The 31-year-old was forced to dig deep to reach his triple century, coming back from the brink of defeat to beat Davis Cup team-mate Stanislas Wawrinka on Thursday to make the quarte...

Bilbao, Oct 12: World champion Viswanathan Anand‘s hunt for an elusive victory continued as he was held to a draw by Fabiano Caruana of Italy in the eighth round of the fifth Final Masters here at the Alhondiga.

The eighth draw in as many games means that Anand is now out of any real title contention in the six-player double round-robin tournament barring a miracle that seems pret...

JOHANNESBURG, Oct 12: Former South African opener Herschelle Gibbs says he is ready to “explode” during the Champions League Twenty20 main tournament which starts on Saturday in Centurion. Gibbs said he was looking forward to letting local fans see his unique brand of cricket again as he turns out for Australian side Scorchers in the when they take on South Africa’s Titans in ...

NEW DELHI, Oct 12: Sauber’s newly-appointed Indian-origin Team Principal Monisha Kaltenborn, the first woman to reach this position in Formula One, says she is well aware of the competition her outfit faces from Sahara Force India.

Sauber (116), overall seventh in the standings, are leading the Indian outfit by 35 points with five races remaining in the season.

The way out...

Hyderabad, Oct 12: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Friday terminated the contract of the Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Deccan Chargers after their failure to pay the stipulated bank guarantee of Rs.100 crore.

The BCCI in a statement stated that concerns over players' payments and a "sudden change of stance by the franchise" had precipitated the decision.

BELEK, Oct 12: Justin Rose drew on memories of last month's Ryder Cup singles defeat of Phil Mickelson to also defeat fellow England golfer Lee Westwood by a stroke and capture the World Golf Final on Friday.

The World No. 5 ranked Rose shot a round of a five-under par 66 to defeat Westwood who birdied the last hole in a score of 67 on the Sultan Course at the Antalya Club.

Rose...

Shangai, Oct 12: Britain's Andy Murray booked his place in the semifinals of the $3.5 million Shanghai Masters here on Friday with a come-from-behind win over Czech player Radek Stepanek.

Third seed and reigning champion Murray, who improved to 11-0 in Shanghai, will now face World No.1 Roger Federer in the final four after beating Stepanek 4-6, 6-2, 6-3.

Federer beat Croatia's ...

Macau, Oct 12:Gaganjeet Bhullar of India maintained his overnight advantage in the early stages of the second round in the 2012 Venetian Macau Golf Open here on Friday, shooting a three-under-par 68 to lead 144 players.

After the fireworks of his opening round where he shot a superb 63, Bhullar was a bit more subdued in his second round with four birdies overcoming an opening bogey.

Linz, Oct 12: Top-ranked Victoria Azarenka and two-time former champion Ana Ivanovic had straight-set wins Thursday to reach the quarterfinals of the Generali Ladies.

Azarenka beat Simona Halep of Romania 6-1, 6-1, and Ivanovic defeated Andrea Petkovic of Germany 6-4, 6-3.

Azarenka dominated play from the baseline and hit 20 winners.

“My game was more fluent than i...

Bangalore, Oct 12: India’s rising star Anirban Lahiri will be hoping to cap a hat-trick of home victories next week when he tees up at the $1.25 million Indian Open golf tournament.

A win at the Karnataka Golf Association (KGA) in Bangalore will cap a sensational finale to Lahiri’s last appearance on home soil this season.

The event will be staged Oct 18-21.

...

OSAKA, Oct 12: Top-seeded Sam Stosur of Australia moved into the Japan Open semifinals with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Jamie Hampton of the United States on Friday.

Stosur, the 2011 U.S. Open champion, broke her unseeded opponent's serve seven times in the quarterfinal while never facing a break point herself.

Stosur, ranked ninth in the world, will meet Kai-chen Chang of Taiwan on...

Korean GP

Yeongam, Oct 12: Sebastian Vettel set the fastest time in Friday’s practice for the Korean Grand Prix, edging Red Bull teammate Mark Webber and Formula One championship leader Fernando Alonso.

Vettel, who has won the previous two races to move within four points of Ferrari’s Alonso in the drivers’ standings, was 0.032 seconds faster than Webber...

Beijing, Oct 12: The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has again thrown its support behind US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) released a lengthy report with evidence to prove cyclist Lance Armstrong used performance enhancing drugs.

USADA issued the report Thursday explaining its reasons for stripping Armstrong of his seven Tour de France titles and banning him for life from Olympic sports.

Madrid, Oct 12: The Spanish Olympic Committee (COE) confirmed it had paid 11.50 euros (9.30 pounds) for damage to two apartments in the Olympic Village in London caused by members of the Spanish basketball team.

The damage was caused following Spain’s 100-107 defeat by the US in the final of the basketball competition, a result that condemned Spain to the silver medal for the seco...

WELLIONGTON, Oct 12:Former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson has been refused a visa to visit New Zealand as part of a series of motivational speeches for the second time, the country’s government said on Friday.

The 46-year-old Tyson, who served three years of a six-year US jail sentence for rape, needed dispensation under New Zealand immigration laws because of his convicti...

MALMO, Oct 12: Kaka scored on his Brazil comeback after a two-year absence and Oscar notched a brace as the 2014 World Cup hosts demolished Iraq 6-0 in a one-sided friendly in Sweden on Thursday.

Chelsea midfielder Oscar set the South Americans on their way to an easy win in Malmo with two goals in a five-minute spell midway through the first half against opponents who are coached by fo...

LISBON, Oct 12: Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho has said it would be a travesty if Cristiano Ronaldo did not win the 2012 FIFA Ballon d’Or, as competition heats up between the Portuguese striker and Barcelona’s Lionel Messi.

“If Cristiano doesn’t win the Ballon d’or this year, it’s only because he’s not nice, because he doesn’t sell his im...

Shizuka, Oct 12 : India were held to a goalless draw by Bangladesh in their last match of the U-14 SAARC Tournament at Tokinosumika Sports Centre here Friday.

India dominated right from the kick-off and stretched the game to the flanks where Bedeshwor and Zonunmawia kept up the pressure.

Bedashwor came close to scoring in the 11th minute but his shot from inside the box narrowly...

BERLIN, Oct 11: Former Germany striker Helmut Haller, who scored in the 1966 World Cup final and was one of the first German footballers to carve out a career in Italy, has died at the age of 73, his home club Augsburg said on Thursday.

He had been suffering from dementia for some years.

Haller, who gave Germany a 1-0 lead in the 1966 World Cup final that was eventually won by E...

MADRID, Oct 12: Real Madrid midfielder Sami Khedira accepts that it will not be easy for his side to catch current league leader Barcelona, but he is not giving up just yet.

The Spanish champions have been inconsistent in La Liga so far this season and they currently sit eight points behind their Catalan rivals, a gap Khedira believes will be tough to bridge.

"Of course, it is d...

LONDON, Oct 12: Uruguay's Luis Suarez, in the eye of a diving storm in England, has recognised that he needs to curb his volatile reactions to refereeing decisions to avoid more suspensions.

The Liverpool striker, set to play in Friday's World Cup qualifier against Argentina in Mendoza, was banned for last month's 4-0 defeat by Colombia and then booked for dissent on his return in the 1...

Kabul, Oct 12: After more than 30 years of war, extremism and ethnic infighting, Afghans might at last have found something everyone can agree on -- a passion for football.

The Afghan Premier League (APL), the country's first fully professional competition, is reaching its climax, with the final next Friday, after a month of gripping the war-torn nation from the presidential palace to t...

LONDON, Oct 12: Ashley Cole faces punishment from the Football Association after the Chelsea defender admitted a charge following his foul-mouthed outburst on Twitter.

Cole described the FA as a “bunch of twats” in an angry tweet last week after the English game’s governing body cast doubt on his evidence in an investigation into allegations his Chelsea team-mate John ...

Rio de Janeiro, Oct 12: Former Portugal international striker Liedson has criticized his club Flamengo amid revelations that the football outfit has not paid its players since August.

Flamengo, Brazil’s most popular team, slipped to 14th place in the league standings Wednesday following a 2-3 loss to Corinthians at Sao Paulo’s Pacaembu Stadium.

But it is the club&rsq...

LONDON, Oct 12: After a glittering career spent at European giants Barcelona, Juventus  and AC Milan, former Dutch international Edgar Davids has dropped to the basement of English soccer to join fourth tier side Barnet.

The tough-tackling midfielder, known for wearing protective glasses throughout most of his career, has agreed to become joint head coach of the north London  ...

YEREVAN,Oct 12: Forward Mario Balotelli has a fever and will sit out Italy's World Cup qualifier at Armenia later on Friday.

The Italian football federation made the announcement on its website.

Balotelli had been included in the starting lineup that coach Cesare Prandelli announced Thursday. He will be replaced by Juventus forward Sebastian Giovinco, who will pair with Roma's P...

MUNICH, Oct 12: Germany coach Joachim Low feels that Lukas Podolski's move to Arsenal has helped him grow as a player.

The 27-year-old joined the Premier League giant from Koln in the summer transfer window, and Low believes his decision to move abroad is already paying off.

"I always said it would be a good move for him. I think the progress he is making at Arsenal is very posi...

Kolkata, Oct 12: Prayag United erased a goal's deficit to beat Mohun Bagan 2-1 in a second round I-League tie here at Salt Lake Stadium on Friday.

Okolie Odafa put Mohun Bagan in the lead early in the first half but the team failed to retain the advantage and conceded two goals thereafter. Nigerian Ranti Martins and New Zealander Kayne Vincent found the target in tandem for United SC, w...

Mumbai, Oct 12: Just a few bad series and failure to reach the semi-final stage in the recently-concluded World T20 were enough to put Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s leadership ability under scrutiny.

While there is a hot debate already on whether Dhoni should be retained as India captain, yesterday Wasim Akram added more fuel to the fire by suggesting that the ice-cool skipper should be ...

Greater Noida, Oct 12: Fans attending the Oct 26-28 Indian Grand Prix will see a handful of track changes at the Buddh International Circuit (BIC) including at the ‘famous’ turn 8 which caused Felipe Massa’s accident during the inaugural edition.

The length of the kerbs at turn 6, 7, 8 and 9 have been increased from 5 to 15 metres, leaving little room for the drivers t...

Rajkot, Oct 12: A three-member committee of England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) visited the newly constructed Saurashtra Cricket Association (SCA) Stadium at Khandheri where the English team is scheduled to play an ODI against India in January next year.

John Carr (director of operations for ECB), Reg Dickson (security officer) and Ian Smith (press officer) on Thursday visited the sta...