Sports

DUBAI: Pakistan paceman Wahab Riaz was ruled out of the remainder of the on-going first and next week's second Test against South Africa after straining a muscle, team manager Intikhab Alam said on Saturday.
The 25-year-old took 2-61 off 18 overs on the opening day of the first Test on Friday before suffering the muscle injury on his right side and could not bowl on Saturday.
"Riaz has suffered a side strain on the right side and needs four to five weeks for recovery before

SINGAPORE: Australia's Adam Scott clung on to a one-shot lead over defending champion Ian Poulter of England and South Korea's Kang Kyung-Nam after the third round of the Barclays Singapore Open Saturday.
The Australian, twice a winner here, carded a two-under par 69 for a total of 14-under 199 in humid conditions at the Sentosa Golf Club's par 71 Serapong course.
US Open champion Graeme McDowell also remained in strong contention for the title with a solid round of 68 to

LONDON: Carlo Ancelotti has endured one of his most troubled weeks as Chelsea manager following the dismissal of assistant manager Ray Wilkins and another injury setback for Frank Lampard.
The sacking of Wilkins - who has a 37-year connection with the club - less than six months after last season's FA Cup and Premier League double has prompted surprise and dismay.
Ancelotti confirmed the decision had been taken by the club's chief executive Ron Gourlay but declared he

GUANGZHOU: Indian glamour girl Sania Mirza blamed four days of sickness for withdrawing from the Asian Games women's team tournament, a decision which she blamed for her country's defeat on Saturday.
Mirza, who said she had been suffering from a sore throat and an ear infection, was forced to watch from the sidelines as India lost 3-0 to Indonesia in the first round.
"I was sick for four days and a lot of things changed because of that," said the Indian star. "We didn't

GUADALAJARA: US Women's Open champion Paula Creamer carded a 6-under par 66 on Friday to claim a one-shot lead over Norwegian Suzann Pettersen in the LPGA Lorena Ochoa Invitational.
Creamer birdied two of the final three holes at Guadalajara Country Club for a 10-under total of 134. Pettersen posted a 65 for 135, one shot in front of Stacy Lewis who carded a 69 for 136. "Consistently, I'm rolling the putts the way that I want to, and that's all I can ask for is to give myself as

PARIS: Roger Federer broke his ATP Paris Masters hoodoo by beating Austrian 11th seed Jurgen Melzer 6-1, 7-6 (7/4) here on Friday to reach the semi-finals at the Bercy arena for the first time in his career. The 16-time Grand Slam champion will contest a place in the final with French 12th seed Gael Monfils, last year's beaten finalist, who upset British third seed Andy Murray 6-2, 2-6, 6-3.
Federer served and returned with breath-taking efficiency in the first set against

LAHORE: The Pakistan Hockey Federation maintains that it has given the senior members of the team the one last chance to deliver and leave the arena on a high note.
But the PHF and its selectors have ostensibly shown faith in these tried, tested and failed many times over seniors because it believes that their presence would enhance the team's prospects in the Asian Games, which have already rolled into action from Nov. 12 and would continue until Nov. 27 at Guangzhou, thus

ADELAIDE: Opening batsmen Alastair Cook and Andrew Strauss hit centuries but rain thwarted England as their three-day tour game against South Australia ended in a draw at the Adelaide Oval on Saturday.
Cook made an unbeaten 111 and Strauss smashed 102 off 121 balls to put the tourists in a position to declare their second innings at 240 for one early on the last day.
But England, building up to the opening Ashes Test against Australia in Brisbane on November 25, only bowled

GUANGZHOU: Hosts China made clear who was boss on the opening day of the Asian Games Saturday by claiming 19 of the 28 gold medals on offer, including its 1,000th since first competing in 1974.
The sporting extravaganza, the most ambitious Asiad so far with some 10,000 athletes from 45 countries and territories vying for gold in 42 sports, kicked into gear after a spectacular ceremony opened the massive showpiece.
China's Yuan Xiaochao took the first honours, ensuring his

Zulqarnain Haider's unannounced flight from Dubai has added yet another episode in Pakistan cricket's sordid run of recent scandals.
It must have been something that was said to him that scared the living daylights out of him. He did not even consult with the management, leave alone the players.
Perhaps he had seen enough in his brief stay in international cricket, that he was not able to trust anyone at all. To be fair, the boy had been known to complain about mysterious

DUBAI: Graeme Smith struck a fighting century to put South Africa on track for a big total against a hapless Pakistan attack on the opening day of the first Test here on Friday.
Smith hit eight boundaries in his 152-ball 100 and shared a 153-run opening stand with Alviro Petersen (67) before Hashim Amla (80) built on the good work to help South Africa, who won the toss and batted, reached 311-3 at close.
Jacques Kallis, who shared a 117-run third wicket stand with Amla, was

LAHORE: The International Cricket Council has constituted a three-member tribunal to hear the alleged spot-fixing charges against three suspended Pakistani players - Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamir.
Reports attributing from the Pakistan Cricket Board confirmed that the head of the ICC Code of Conduct Commission, Michael Beloff QC would head the tribunal that also includes LB Siege of South Africa and Sharad Rao of Kenya.
The hearing of the tribunal would be

LAHORE: Pakistan wicketkeeper Zulqarnain Haider has claimed to turn down lucrative offers from the media to give details of his decision to desert his team in Dubai midway through an ODI series and flee to London after receiving death threats for refusing to fix matches.
The 24-year-old wrote on his Facebook account that the News of the World tabloid had offered him lots of money for an interview but he spoke to them without taking a penny.
"They offered me lots of money

GUANGZHOU: The Asian Games opened with a spectacular water-themed gala ceremony on Friday, culminating years of planning for an event that is set to reinforce China's regional sporting dominance.
The extravaganza heralds the most ambitious Asiad so far with some 10,000 athletes from 45 countries and territories vying for gold in 42 sports.
The Games run until November 27, with hosts China heavily favoured to top the medal table, and South Korea and Japan battling for second

ABU DHABI: Briton Lewis Hamilton topped the times for McLaren in Friday's second free practice session for Sunday's Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. The 2008 world champion outpaced his three rivals in this weekend's championship showdown by more than two-tenths of a second.
Hamilton, 25, who claimed pole position and then led last year's race for 19 laps until forced to retire with a braking problem, clocked a day's best of one minute and 40.888 seconds. It was a bold statement of intent

HYDERABAD: Opener Tim McIntosh struck a fine 102 to steer New Zealand to 258-4 on the first day of the second Test against India on Friday.
The left-hander hit 10 fours and a six during his nearly seven-hour innings before being bowled by Zaheer Khan in the penultimate over of the day at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium, hosting its first Test.
McIntosh added 147 runs with Martin Guptill (85) for the second wicket and 55 for the third with Ross Taylor (24) to steady the New Zealand

MADRID: Nilmar has vowed that Villarreal will go out and attack Barcelona when they meet on Sunday, as they seek to confirm their place in the fight for the championship.
There were complaints last season that the Spanish top flight had become a two-horse race between eventual champions Barca and runners-up Real Madrid, but so far this season Villarreal have managed to keep in touch.
Barcelona will be without the suspended Gerard Pique in the heart of defence but they have a