New Delhi, Feb 2: Veteran Leander Paes and debutant Purav Raja kept alive India’s hopes in the Davis Cup with a stunning win the doubles but the host still trail South Korea 1–2 after the second day of the Group I Asia/Oceania first round tie at the R.K. Khanna Tennis Stadium Complex here on Saturday.

Cheered by a huge crowd, Paes and Raja beat Lim Yong–Kyu and Nam Ji ...

New Delhi, Feb 2: Taking a dig at the rebel tennis players including his estranged partner Mahesh Bhupathi, Leander Paes on Saturday said that it was not the priority of the players to get into governance and selection matters.

Paes said he never interfered in selection matters but when pointed out that before the London Games he had made choices who to play with, the veteran clarified ...

Steyn: 8.1 – 6 – 8 – 6
JOHANNESBURG, Feb 2: South Africa fast bowler Dale Steyn took six for eight as Pakistan collapsed to their lowest Test total of 49 on the second day of the first Test at the Wanderers on Saturday.
Pakistan’s previous lowest innings total was 53 against Australia in Sharjah in 2002.
Steyn, the world leading paceman, recorded his best Tes...

NEW DELHI, Feb 2: With attendance dwindling at major Test match venues across the country, some BCCI working committee members are batting in favour of staging Tests in smaller centres, a formula which seems to have worked with One–day Internationals.

According to sources, a proposal to this effect is already with the BCCI, with Rajkot and Cuttack being proposed as additional Test...

MUMBAI, Feb 2:Sachin Tendulkar is to be re–instated as captain of Mumbai Indians ahead of IPL 2013 which starts on April 3. Harbhajan Singh has reportedly quit the captaincy and there were reports that Rohit Sharma would take over in his place. Sachin was tha captain of Mumbai Indians for the first three seasons of the IPL since its inception in 2008. Harbhajan took over as skipper in 2011 a...

Kalyani, Feb 2: Ten–man East Bengal weathered a determined performance from Pailian Arrows before nudging out the latter 2–1 in the 19th round of the I–League here at the Municipal Stadium on Saturday.

Arrows started the brighter of the two and took the lead through Alwyn George. However goals from Nigerian Edeh Chidi, who scored a penalty, and Lalrindika Ralte helped ...

Madrid, Feb 2: FC Barcelona travel to Valencia’s Mestalla Stadium on Sunday night for one of the most difficult games they have left in the Spanish Primera Liga football season.

Looking at the league calendar, Barca have a handful of difficult away matches: away to Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid, a potentially complicated visit to Athletic Bilbao’s San Mames Stadium and Sun...

Berlin, Feb 2: Germany head coach Joachim Loew has announced the 23–man squad for the upcoming friendly against France.
Except the comeback of Mario Gomez and goalkeeper Rene Adler, the rest of the squad is composed of familiar faces, as Loew puts trust into proven personnel.
Loew called up Gomez, who has been sidelined for three months due to an ankle injury, for the friendly agai...

The Hague, Feb 2: Ajax has signed Isaac Cuenca on loan from FC Barcelona in the final hours of European January transfer window, while the Amsterdam–based club sent Eyong Enoh on loan to Fulham. The 21–year winger will stay in Amsterdam for five months until June 30, 2013. He has been out for eight months with a knee injury and just returned in January.
Cuenca is a product of the ...

Rio de Janeiro, Feb 2: Fluminense midfielder Jean has been included in the Brazilian squad for Wednesday’s football friendly against England after Italian club Lazio’s Hernanes withdrew due to injury. Hernanes was taken to hospital suffering concussion after a collision with Luca Marrone during Lazio’s 2–1 victory over Juventus in their Coppa Italia match on Tuesday.
H...

Moscow, Feb 2: Russia had spent 1.1 trillion rubles ($36.7 billion) on preparatory events for the 2014 Winter Olympic Games by the start of 2013, according to documents prepared for a first meeting of the state commission responsible for preparing for the Games. Investors spent 737 billion rubles ($24.6 billion) of that sum on preparations for the Games, due to be held in the southern Russian reso...

Rio de Janeioro, Feb 2: Former Liverpool and Brazil goalkeeper Doni has revealed he almost died after suffering a heart attack last year. Doni made the revelation upon announcing his free transfer to Brazil’s Sao Paulo state league club Botafogo de Ribeirao Preto on Friday.
The 33–year–old said the incident occurred during a routine medical test at Anfield last July.
&l...

PORT OF SPAIN, Feb 2: Trinidad and Tobago captain Denesh Ramdin is planning to use the regional cricket season to press his claim for a recall to the West Indies side after he was overlooked for the current tour of Australia.
Ramdin leads his team against Windward Islands in their opening four day and super 50 matches on the Feb 15 and Feb 21 respectively at the Arnos Vale playing field, repo...

Davis Cup

LONDON, Feb 2: Top seeds Spain moved to the brink of a shock Davis Cup exit on Friday when their weakened team slumped to a 2–0 deficit at the hands of Canada in a world group, first round tie played on lightning quick Vancouver hard courts.

Novak Djokovic was in no mood for upsets, however, and earlier got right back in the groove after his Australian Open trium...

SANTIAGO, Feb 2: Rafael Nadal arrived in Chile on Friday and will test his injured left knee in competition for the first time next week after sitting out for seven months – the longest break of his career.

The 26–year–old Nadal will soon head off to the nearby coastal resort city of Vina del Mar, where he will play in his first event since being eliminated in the seco...

Barcelona, Feb 2:  Real Madrid forward Jose Callejon confirmed Spanish media reports that Barcelona forward Lionel Messi called Madrid assistant Aitor Karanka “Mourinho’s puppet” after the game.
Karanka regularly speaks to the media for coach Jose Mourinho, and is widely known for sticking to Mourinho’s often abrasive strategy of launching barbs at opponents and r...

PORT ELIZABETH, Feb 2: A couple of the surprise teams at the Africa Cup of Nations, Burkina Faso and Togo, clash Sunday with a semifinals place at stake.
The Stallions of Burkina Faso are making only their second quarterfinals appearance, while Togo have not reached this stage of the competition in six previous attempts.
“I have told my players it’s a big moment — maybe...

Milan, Feb 2: Italian striker Mario Balotelli said, when he was unveiled to the press, that it is “a dream” to join Italian football giants AC Milan.

Baloteeli signed for the San Siro side on Friday in a deal worth around 21 million euros from Manchester City.

The 22–year–old has conceded that he is delighted to be home, whilst also commenting on his time...

Madrid, Feb 2: Spain coach Vicente del Bosque has named a 21–man squad for Wednesday’s friendly game against Uruguay. One of Del Bosque’s main tasks for the game, which will be played in Qatar, was to find a replacement for goalkeeper and captain Iker Casillas, who broke a bone in his left hand 10 days ago.

There are two new faces in the squad, with Cheslea right back ...

The Hague, Feb 2 : Wesley Sneijder and Arjen Robben were left out of the Netherlands squad for the friendly against Italy Wednesday in Amsterdam, Dutch coach Louis van Gaal announced.

The absence of these players was no surprise, because they were also not included in the provisional squad. All just returned from injuries or haven’t played much for their clubs.

Dutch capta...

PARIS, Feb 2: Italian top seed Sara Errani avenged her defeat to Carla Suarez Navarro at last month’s Australian Open, as she edged past the Spaniard to reach the semi–finals of the Paris Open on Friday. World number seven Errani was a first–round casuality in Melbourne following a straight sets loss to Suarez Navarro, but the Italian demonstrated her typical craft and determinat...

PATTAYA, Feb 2: Germany’s Sabine Lisicki reached her first semi–final in two years on Friday when she clawed her way past New Zealand’s Marina Erakovic 5–7, 6–3, 6–2 at the Pattaya Open. Lisicki’s last semi–final spot was at this same Thai venue in 2011, the same year she reached the Wimbledon last four.
That helped her to a ranking of 12 in the...

London, Feb 2: Jamaican–born footballer Raheem Sterling, who plays for England, is expected to make a court appearance later this month after he was charged with assaulting a woman.
The 18–year–old was summoned to Liverpool Youth Court Friday on a charge of common assault for an incident which is alleged to have happened when he was 17, reports CMC.
Police have said tha...

TOKYO, Feb 2: Yasutaka Uchiyama made a winning national team debut on Saturday, teaming up with Tatsuma Ito to give Japan an insurmountable 3–0 lead over Indonesia in the Davis Cup Asia–Oceania Zone Group I tie.
Uchiyama and Ito earned a berth for Japan in the second round as they struggled to beat Christopher Rungkat and Elbert Sie 6–4, 5–7, 2–6, 7–5, 6&nd...

KAOHSIUNG, Feb 2: Australia took an irreversible 3–0 lead over Taiwan by winning the doubles on Saturday in the Asia–Oceania zone Group I Davis Cup tie in the southern Taiwanese city of Kaohsiung.
Lleyton Hewitt and Chris Guccione defeated Lee Hsin–han and Peng Hsien–yin 7–6(8), 6–4, 6–2 to maintain their unbeaten record as a Davis Cup team, while boo...