India's tennis stars enjoyed comfortable wins in the Australian Open on Thursday as Sania Mirza eased into the second round with partner Martina Hingis while Rohan Bopanna also registered a straight sets victory in the men's doubles first round.
Midfielder Santi Cazorla gave the home side the lead in the fourth minute of the game, which was rescheduled due to Real's participation in last month's Club World Cup, by bending a wonderful shot into the bottom corner.
Former champions and Indian veterans Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi blew away a strong start to make a shock exit from the men's doubles event of the Wimbledon championships after a second round 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 (1), 4-6 loss to Arnaud Clement and Lukas Dlouhy in London on Saturday.
Images from the English Premier League matches played on Sunday.
Asian Games gold medallist Sudha Singh set a new meet mark in the 3,000m steeplechase, while leading middle distance runner Tintu Luka made a glorious return after an injury lay-off on the concluding day of the Senior Inter-State Athletics Championships in Bangalore on Tuesday. Sudha, representing Uttar Pradesh, ran a solo race in the women's 3,000m steeplechase to win gold in a new meet timing of 10:01.24 seconds at the Sree Kanteerava stadium.
American Sam Querry became the latest Wimbledon giant slayer on Saturday as he beat defending champion Novak Djokovic 7-6(6) 6-1 3-6 7-6(5) in the third round. The defeat ended Djokovic's run of winning 30 consecutive grand slam matches. The world number one had arrived at the All England Club as the reigning champion at all four grand slam tournaments.
Barcelona finally made a statement of intent in what has been a chaotic season as they came from behind to beat La Liga leaders Real Sociedad 2-1 at home on Wednesday.
Yuki Bhambri, the country's No 1 singles player, will open India's Davis Cup campaign when he takes on world No 85 Lukas Rosol in the first singles of the World Group play-off match against the Czech Republic, in Delhi, on Friday. The second singles will be played between Somdev Devvarman and Czech No 1 Jiri Vesley.
Inter Milan coach Roberto Mancini says a major reshuffle of his squad is not needed in the January transfer window as they firmly sit on top of the Serie A table.
Sumit Nagal lived a dream when he took on one of the greatest players of all time at a packed Arthur Ashe stadium in a US Open first-rounder.
The win increased Zinedine Zidane's side's advantage at the top of the standings to six points
Adding to the joy of India's World Cup triumph, tennis players Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi won their second title of the season by clinching the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami to become number one in the ATP World Tour Doubles Team Rankings.
Sergio Ramos made amends for his untimely own goal last week at Sevilla by scoring twice as Real Madrid bounced back from two successive defeats by beating Malaga 2-1 on Saturday to go four points clear at the top of La Liga.
Leander Paes and Lukas Dlouhy overcame two rain interruptions and a strong challenge from Swede Johan Brunstrom and Jean-Julien Rojer of the Netherlands Antilles 6-3, 6-7 (8-6), 7-5 to enter the second round of the men's doubles match at the French Open in Paris on Thursday.
Indian men's hockey team witnessed a disappointing start to its campaign at the six-nation Invitational tournament, losing 0-4 to Germany in their opening match in Valencia on Monday. In a first quarter blitz, Germany took the lead in the fifth minute via Mats Grambusch. Grambusch doubled Germany's lead minutes later before Moritz Furste scored a third in the 14th minute to take a 3-0 lead into the first break.
Hurdlers Ashwini Chidananda and Joseph Abraham stole the limelight with gold medals while the Indian men's hockey team and talented middle distance runner Tintu Luka bagged the bronze as India added four more medals to their kitty on the 13th day of competitions in the 16th Asian Games in Guangzhou on Thursday.
India's Leander Paes and his Czech partner, Lukas Dlouhy, advance into the next round of the US Open.
Striving hard to secure a place in the season-ending World Tour Finals, India's Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna have got a first round bye in the Paris Masters event along with their respective partners.
Madrid recovered from an early goal by Anthony Lozano to take a 2-1 halftime lead thanks to a Lucas Vazquez strike and a cheeky 'Panenka' penalty from captain Ramos but were pegged back by Alex Granell's penalty midway through the second half.
Yuki Bhambri was well on course of an upset win over world number 51 Lukas Rosol but squandered three match points and made a first round exit from the Dubai Duty Free Tenis Championships, on Tuesday. The Indian wild card had three match points in the 12th game of the second set but could convert none and went on to lose seven games on the trot to bow out of the ATP 500 event. He lost 6-2 6-7(2) 0-6 in one-hour and 51 minute contest.
Defending champion Novak Djokovic was beaten 7-6(6) 6-1 3-6 7-6(5) by American Sam Querrey in the Wimbledon third round on Saturday. The Serbian top seed trailed by two sets overnight after the Court One match was interrupted by rain on Friday and there was no escape for the 29-year-old as Querrey, the 28th seed, completed a huge shock.
Roger Federer opened his Australian Open title defence in belligerent fashion on Monday, thrashing hapless Slovak Lukas Lacko in straight sets to stroll into the second round of the year's first grand slam.
Germany coach Joachim Loew hailed his young team's "magnificent" display in a 4-1 World Cup second-round demolition of England on Sunday before explaining exactly how they targeted a suspect English rearguard.
With no clear sense of direction being set by Deschamps' selections, it may be up to the players to find their own way to deal with Messi.
Former Wimbledon runner-up Eugenie Bouchard successfully negotiated the qualifying draw on Thursday, beating Colombian Mariana Duque-Marino 6-3, 6-2 to secure a spot in next week's main draw.
World number one Rafael Nadal suffered a rare second-set meltdown before recovering to beat plucky Slovakian Lukas Lacko and join rival Roger Federer in the Qatar Open quarter-finals on Wednesday.
Chaudhary was found hanging from the ceiling fan in his hostel room at the athletics academy of JLN stadium.
Croatia's euphoric media ran out of superlatives as they hailed the Balkan nation's stunning World Cup win over Argentina which propelled them into the competition's knockout stages for the first time since the 1998 tournament when they finished third.
Defending champions Leander Paes and Lukas Dlouhy have been seeded third for the men's doubles at the French Open. They open their campaign against Swede Johan Brunstrom and Jean-Julien Rojer of the Netherlands.
Croatia stayed on course to reach the 2018 World Cup after two superb strikes by midfielder Marcelo Brozovic gave them a 2-0 home win over Iceland in a Group I qualifier played behind closed doors in Zagreb on Saturday.
Discus thrower Vikas Gowda came a cropper once again outside the home environs while P T Usha's protegee Tintu Luka impressed by recording the best time among women's 800m finalists on yet another medal-less day for India in the Asian Games athletics in Guangzhou on Wednesday.
The winner of 11 ATP World Tour doubles titles, Poles Marcin Matkowski and Mariusz Fyrstenberg were off to a great start with a 6-3, 7-6 (3) victory over Indo-Czech duo of Leander Paes and Lukas Dlouhy at the opening day Round Robin match at the 2010 World Tour Finals in London on Sunday.
A first-half double from Gareth Bale helped Real Madrid cement their position at the top of La Liga with a 3-0 win at home to Leganes on Sunday. Reeling from a chaotic midweek 3-3 draw at Legia Warsaw in the Champions League, Real got off to a slow start against neighbours Leganes, but Bale put them in charge in the 37th minute. The Wales international, who netted a sensational half volley against Legia, raced onto a through ball from Isco that split the visiting defence and rounded goalkeeper Jon Serantes to tuck the ball inside the near post from a tight angle.
India's Test cricket captain Virat Kohli has been recommended for the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award, the nation's biggest sporting honour, by the Board of Control for Cricket in India.
India clinched a gold medal in women's 4x 400m relay in a sensational race to finish sixth overall as the curtains were drawn on the 20th Asian Athletics Championships in Pune on Sunday.
Barcelona forward Luis Suarez scored a hat-trick as his side thrashed arch-rivals Real Madrid 5-1 on Sunday in a highly entertaining 'Clasico' which surely will signal the end of hapless coach Julen Lopetegui's spell in charge of Real.
David Villa and Wesley Sneijder, with five goals each, head the list of the goal scorers at the 2010 World Cup.
David Villa and Wesley Sneijder, with five goals each, head the list of the goal scorers at the 2010 World Cup.
Beginning their partnership on a fantastic note, Leander Paes and Jurgen Melzer clinched the Shanghai Masters title with a 7-5, 4-6, 10-5 victory over Poles Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski in the final in Shanghai on Sunday.
David Villa and Wesley Sneijder, with five goals each, head the list of the goal scorers at the 2010 World Cup.
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