Leander Paes and Lukas Dlouhy edged towards back-to-back titles as they advanced to the finals of the AIG Open in Tokyo.
Top seeds Leander Paes and Lukas Dlouhy entered the semi-finals with a 6-2, 7-6 (4) win over Alexander Peya and Philipp Petzschner.
The second seed is in the same half of the draw as Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic of Serbia and Argentine sixth seed David Nalbandian. World number one Roger Federer faces a first round test against American Sam Querrey and a possible fourth-round encounter with Argentine Juan Monaco, the world number 14.
New Zealand skipper Brendon McCullum smashed the fastest fifty in the history of the World Cup during the Group A match against England in Wellington.
Formula One world champion Kimi Raikkonen said on Wednesday he needs a miracle to retain his title following a disappointing Italian Grand Prix. With four races left, the Ferrari driver is fourth and 21 points behind McLaren's championship leader Lewis Hamilton after trailing in ninth at a rainswept Monza on Sunday.
McLaren's double world champion Fernando Alonso will join the Finn on the front row with Brazilian Felipe Massa qualifying third for Ferrari.
Striker Mirolsav Klose scored a hat-trick as Germany were held to a surprising 3-3 draw by Finland in their Group Four World Cup qualifier in Helsinki on Wednesday. Finland led three times, but Klose replied each time to deny the Finns, who have never reached the World Cup finals, a first win over Germany for 85 years. Klose's final goal came just seven minutes from time.
Ferrari's world champion Kimi Raikkonen stretched his Formula One lead to nine points with a dominant win from pole position in the Spanish Grand Prix on Sunday.
Ferrari's world champion and Formula One leader Kimi Raikkonen took his first pole position of the season at the Spanish Grand Prix.
Ferrari's world champion Kimi Raikkonen made a strong start to Formula One's European season by dominating Spanish Grand Prix free practice on Friday. The Finn, championship leader after the opening three long-haul races, set a best time of one minute 20.649 seconds in the morning and then topped the afternoon timesheets in 1:21.935.
England have won nine of their last 12 ODIs and head coach Trevor Bayliss said there was never any doubt Morgan and Hales would return despite deciding not to go to Bangladesh.
England have recalled Yorkshire batsman Gary Ballance for the first Test against Pakistan at Lord's next week, but paceman Jimmy Anderson misses out with a shoulder injury. Uncapped Middlesex seamer Roland-Jones Ball was named in their 12-man squad, announced on Thursday.
India witnessed another fruitful day at the Canada Open as all its shuttlers, including Ajay Jayaram and H S Prannoy, entered the third round of the $55,000 Grand Prix badminton tournament, in Calgary, Canada.
Kimi Raikkonen made a forgettable start to his world title defence when a fuel pump problem ruined his chances of securing pole position at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix. The Finn will start Sunday's race from the unfamiliar place of 16th on the grid after his Ferrari broke down at the end of Saturday's first qualifying session at Albert Park.
"What an incredible finale, what a thrilling finish!" the former Ferrari driver said in a statement on his Web site (www.michael-schumacher.de) after Raikkonen and Felipe Massa took the first two spots for Ferrari to clinch the championship.
His unexpected title triumph ended 22-year-old Briton Lewis Hamilton's dreams of becoming the youngest champion in his debut season with McLaren.
Pre-season testing times suggest that Ferrari and McLaren, who won all the races between them last year, are still in a class of their own.
McLaren's Heikki Kovalainen seized the first pole position of his Formula One career at the British Grand Prix on Saturday.
Saurabh Tiwary scored an unbeaten 98 as India rallied from the loss of three early wickets to win their final warm-up match by six wickets.
Lewis Hamilton seized pole position for the Austrian Grand Prix on Saturday in a damp qualifying session that saw both the Formula One world champion and his Mercedes team mate Nico Rosberg skid off on their final laps.
Lewis Hamilton will have to pay $335,700 for his licence to race in Formula One in 2008.
India's Surinder Singh pipped Finnish rival Jitsi Utiranen in thrilling fashion to win the 21-km race at the Mumbai Marathon.
Lewis Hamilton led a Mercedes 1-2 at the top of the timesheets for the first free practice session at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix on Friday, while McLaren's hopes of a clean start were tempered by reliability issues.
Roger Federer began the defence of his Hamburg Masters title with an effortless 6-1, 6-3 victory over Jarkko Nieminen.
The Finn will race for McLaren next year in a straight swap with Spaniard Fernando Alonso, who has taken his place at Renault.
Ferrari's world champion Kimi Raikkonen will lead the way when Formula One returns to Barcelona this weekend for the first race of the season in Europe. The Finn is top of the standings after the first three long-haul races, a novel sensation for a driver who won his title by clawing back a 17-point deficit in the last two rounds of 2007.
Ferrari's world champion Kimi Raikkonen will lead the way when Formula One returns to Barcelona this weekend for the first race of the season in Europe. The Finn is top of the standings after the first three long-haul races, something of a novel sensation for a driver who won his title by clawing back a 17-point deficit in the last two rounds of 2007. Only once before, with McLaren in 2003, has he returned to Europe in such a position of strength.
Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen won the Malaysian Formula One Grand Prix on Sunday, with BMW Sauber's Robert Kubica second and McLaren's Heikki Kovalainen third.
Roger Federer beat Finn Jarkko Nieminen 6-3, 6-4 to defend his title in Basel and top the year-end rankings.
The world No 1 will face unseeded Finn Jarkko Nieminen, who defeated 2006 Australian Open finalist Marcos Baghdatis 7-6 6-2 in the other semi-final.
Raikkonen was in third place when he suddenly slowed, allowing Spaniard Alonso past. The Finn nursed his car back to the pits and climbed out.
Fernando Alonso believes this year's world title race ended when stewards decided not to punish McLaren team mate Lewis Hamilton.
Team mate Sebastian Vettel was second fastest to complete the front-row sweep, with championship leader Lewis Hamilton third for Mercedes.
Bernard Tomic's on-court commitment has come under renewed scrutiny after the Australian played match point holding his racquet backwards in defeat to Fabio Fognini at the Madrid Open.
Kimi Raikkonen took pole position on an all-Ferrari front row for the Belgian Grand Prix.
The Finn revived Ferrari's spirits with the fastest laps in free practice for Sunday's Bahrain Grand Prix.
Nico Rosberg ended the Formula One season on a winning high in Abu Dhabi on Sunday with team mate and triple world champion Lewis Hamilton following him home in a record 12th one-two finish for dominant Mercedes.
Ferrari's Formula One title contender Kimi Raikkonen escaped injury when he crashed at high speed in Saturday's final practice for his team's home Italian Grand Prix.
James Anderson set the tone for England's win with a wicket in the very first over of the match.
The Russian was embroiled in a betting controversy after he retired from his match against Vasallo Arguello in Sopot last week.
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