MASON: World number two Roger Federer comfortably beat Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis 6-4 6-3 on Saturday to set up a meeting with American Mardy Fish in the final of the Cincinnati Masters.Fish had earlier pulled off a surprise turnaround win over fellow American Andy Roddick to claim a 4-6

LONDON: Pakistani captain Salman Butt believes the presence in the dressing room of former fast bowling great Waqar Younis as coach is inspiring his young players to try and replicate the country`s golden era.Waqar combined with Wasim Akram to form a fearsome pace bowling duo that carried

ROME: Inter Milan won their fourth trophy of the year as they added the Italian Supercup to their Champions League, Serie A and Italian Cup triumphs with a 3-1 win over AS Roma on Saturday.Inter may have changed coaches in the summer with Rafael Benitez replacing Jose Mourinho but there

LONDON: Theo Walcott was back to his scintillating best with a hat-trick as Arsenal thrashed 10-man Blackpool 6-0 to bring the promoted side crashing back to Premier League reality on Saturday.Walcott scored two in the first half before adding a superb third while an Andrei Arshavin

BARCELONA: Inspired by a Leo Messi hattrick, Barcelona landed the Spanish Super Cup on Saturday in thrashing Sevilla 4-0 to win the battle between Ligta and Spanish King`s Cup winners 5-3 on aggregate.The Catalan club dominated the encounter at the Nou Camp once Abdoulay Konko had put

LONDON: Pakistan beat England by four wickets in the third test at the Oval on Saturday but not before some nervous moments as they lost three quick wickets in their pursuit of a modest winning target of 148. The Pakistanis were earlier cruising at 124 for three after ending England`s

LAHORE: A tribunal has adjourned an appeal by allrounder Rana Naved-ul-Hasan against a one-year ban and heavy fine, an official said Saturday.Naved was one of seven Pakistani players who were handed bans and fines on March 10 following an inquiry into team defeats in Australia and

CINCINNATTI: Americans Mardy Fish and Andy Roddick posted quarter-final victories at the three million dollar Cincinnati Masters tournament on Friday.Former world number one Roddick defeated Serb second seed Novak Djokovic 6-4, 7-5 in a 83 minute match."Novak probably didn`t play his best

IRVINE: Park Tae-Hwan threw down the Asian Games gauntlet Friday with an impressive 400m freestyle victory at the Pan Pacific Swimming Championships.The 20-year-old swimmer, who won South Korea`s first Olympic swimming gold with a scintillating victory over China`s Zhang Lin in the 400m

GREENSBORO: India`s Arjun Atwal posted a three-under 67 to maintain at least a share of the lead after the second round at the USPGA Wyndham Championships on Friday.Former champion Brandt Snedeker, of the US, shot a five-under 65 and is tied with Atwal, the first-round leader, at 12-under

IRVINE: World champion Michael Phelps recovered from a slow start to win the 100 metres butterfly in a meet record of 50.86 seconds at the Pan Pacific Championships on Friday.A day after he failed to reach the final of the 400 individual medley, the world record holder led all the way

NEW YORK: Serena Williams announced on Friday that she has pulled out of this year`s US Open because she is still recovering from surgery to repair cuts on her right foot."It is with much frustration and deep sadness that I am having to pull out of the US Open," Williams said."My doctors

MONTREAL: Russian eighth seed Vera Zvonareva upset US Open champion Kim Clijsters 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 in the quarter-finals of the two million dollar Rogers Cup on Friday.Zvonareva advanced to the semi-finals where she will face Victoria Azarenka who beat France`s Marion Bartoli 6-2, 7-6 (8/6)

DAMBULLA: Sri Lanka`s captain Kumar Sangakkara did not breach the players` code of conduct during a tri-series match against New Zealand, the world governing body said on Saturday.Sangakkara was pulled up by match referee Alan Hurst after he collided with Black Caps` bowler Nathan

MUNICH: Bayern Munich`s Bastian Schweinsteiger scored an injury-time winner on Friday night as the German champions beat Wolfsburg 2-1 in the opening match of the new Bundesliga season.Ex-England manager Steve McClaren and his Wolves side were denied a point as Germany`s vice-captain

CINCINNATI: Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray were sent crashing out of the Cincinnati Masters, falling to a pair of unseeded players during a bruising day of tennis at the hardcourt tournament on Friday.American Mardy Fish and Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus played the role of giant killers,

LONDON: Paul the octopus, the oracle of the World Cup in South Africa, has become an official ambassador for England`s bid to host the tournament in 2018, organisers said Friday.Paul, who was hatched in England but has spent the last two years in an aquarium in western Germany, joins

London: Celebrities David and Victoria Beckham have made 14 of their 50 employees redundant around the world after a horrified accountant warned: “You’re pouring money down the drain,” the Sun newspaper reported on Friday.Celebrity footballer David Beckham and his wife Victoria ride

NEW DELHI: Telecom giant Bharti Airtel was on Friday named as the sponsor for all international cricket played in India after offering to pay 700,000 dollars per match, India`s cricket board said.The three-year deal covers all Test, one-day and Twenty20 matches, and with India scheduled

SYDNEY: Paceman Doug Bollinger says skipper Ricky Ponting`s claim that Australia could sweep this year`s Ashes series 5-0 has not heaped extra pressure on the team to beat England, reports said Friday.Ponting`s belief that routing England was "absolutely possible" riled the England team