Adrian Mutu netted twice to push Fiorentina up to fifth in Serie A with a 3-1 win at Bologna on Monday.
Chile, Austria, Croatia, Israel, Romania and the Netherlands secured places in the World Group of the Davis Cup for 2009 after completing playoff victories in the reverse singles on Sunday.
Victor Hanescu mercilessly crushed India's hopes to make the Davis Cup World Group as he knocked out Prakash Amritraj in the first reverse singles to give Romania an unassailable 3-1 lead in the five-match playoff tie in Bucharest on Sunday.
Rafael Nadal survived a spirited early attack from American Sam Querrey on Friday, before beating the Davis Cup debutant 6-7, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 in the opening semi-final rubber in Madrid.
Romania's CFR Cluj shocked AS Roma 2-1 on their Champions League debut on Tuesday but there were no surprises for Chelsea, Liverpool, Barcelona or Inter Milan who all won their opening group games.
Serena Williams shook off the rust and a feisty challenge from Serbia's Ana Ivanovic to open the defence of her WTA Finals title with a 6-4, 6-4 victory in the opening match of the elite eight-player tournament on Monday.
National Geographic's new travel photography competition is entering its third week and is attracting stunning pictures from across the globe. Some of the jaw-dropping pictures show the famous "Firefall" of Yosemite National Park to a sunset at the Taj Mahal. The annual competition is accepting entries until May 3 at 12pm and asks for pictures in three categories: nature, cities and people.
The India-Japan joint naval exercises are a strategic signal for China, observes Dr Rajaram Panda.
Defending champion Serena Williams is the top seed in the women's draw. The American will be looking to equal Steffi Graf's Open era record by sealing a 22nd Grand Slam triumph.
Former Davis Cup player S P Mishra, manager of the team in the tie against Japan in April, has been appointed non-playing captain for the World Group play-off match against Romania in September.
CFR Cluj will create the upset of the season if they avoid defeat against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday and help stop last season's beaten finalists advancing to the last 16 of the Champions League. Chelsea have already failed to beat Cluj in the competition having drawn 0-0 in their first meeting in Group A in Romania in October.
India's M C Mary Kom (46kg) re-asserted her status as the world's most successful woman boxer, clinching an unprecedented fourth successive gold medal, but India failed to retain the team crown at the fifth AIBA World Championships in Ningbo City, China, on Saturday. In a repeat of the previous World Championship final in New Delhi, the 25-year-old Indian out-punched Romania's Steluta Duta for a 7-1 verdict to grab India's only gold medal at the event.
Even as domestic passenger car sales declined 29.4 per cent between April and August this year, exports grew 6.5 per cent, partially cushioning the blow from slowing sales.
Spain go into the quarter-final against Italy on a roll, looking to extend their unbeaten run to 20 games after winning all three group matches.
Girondins Bordeaux ended the unbeaten Champions League run of surprise package CFR Cluj with a 1-0 win over the Romanian side.
The Champions League burst into life on Tuesday with 36 goals in eight matches, including 24 in just three games, to equal a competition record.
Italy and France face the unpalatable prospect of being eliminated from Euro 2008 on Friday.
Spain, Germany and England all chalked up victories in their qualifiers for the 2010 World Cup on Saturday.
Substitute Lionel Messi scored two late goals, including one in stoppage time, to lead 2006 winners Barcelona to a 2-1 victory at Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League on Wednesday. Last season's runners-up Chelsea were held to a 0-0 draw at surprise packages CFR Cluj, who were playing in Romania's third division just six years ago.
Romania coach Victor Piturca dropped Dinamo Bucharest striker Florin Bratu on Wednesday when he named his final 23-man Euro 2008 squad.
Bigger than ever, the European Championship kicks off in Paris next month with a four-week feast of football that promises to elevate the game above the corruption scandals and security fears that have overshadowed its build-up.
Somdev Devvarman expresses confidence of a good showing ahead of India's Davis Cup match against Romania.
Mahesh Bhupathi on Thursday tipped Prakash Amritraj and new kid on the block Somdev Devvarman as ideal players for India's upcoming Davis Cup tie in Romania.
The Indian youngster took world No 18 Spaniard Nicolas Almagro to three sets before bowing out in the first round of the Euro 370000 BCR Open in Bucharesh.
With an eye to the large and growing market for their products, Indian auto component and tyre companies are making a beeline to set shop in Europe (especially Eastern Europe). Just last month Apollo Tyres announced that it was setting up a euro 200 million green field venture outside Hungary. And Delhi based Amtek Auto will set up a production base which will come in to operation in 2009 in Romania.
Andy Murray overcame a sluggish start to reach the third round of the Monte Carlo Masters with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Romania's Victor Hanescu on a bad Tuesday for French players. The fourth-seeded Briton was 2-1 down in the opening set after dropping serve in the third game but he woke up to take four games in a row. He clinched victory when Hanescu netted a forehand on the fourth match point.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Monday
China upstaged a hobbling United States team to surge to their first gymnastics women's team title at the Olympics.
Juan Martin del Potro's summer renaissance continued on Monday as the unseeded Argentine advanced into the US Open quarter-finals when Austrian eighth seed Dominic Thiem quit their match with an injury.
Djokovic is clubbed with Federer, Juan Martin Del Potro, David Goffin and Alexander Zverev.
Images from Day 4 of the French Open, at Roland Garros, in Paris.
Schuerrle hits treble for the world champs; Lewandowski helps Poland thrash Georgia
Spain goalkeeper Iker Casillas said he was keen to carry on racking up the international accolades after equalling the record for most caps by a European player but acknowledged he was closing in on retirement.
World Cup winners Italy and runners-up France were in danger of tumbling out of Euro 2008 at the group stage.
Netherlands qualified for the quarter-finals of Euro 2008 with a 4-1 win over France which left the hopes of the World Cup runners-up hanging by a thread on Friday.
All you must know about soccer's return to action after coronavirus
Serbian Jelena Jankovic battled into the second round of the French Open with a 7-6, 6-2 win over Romania's Monica Niculescu on Monday.
Move the slider on the map above to see the change in percentage of population using an improved drinking water source over 1990 to 2015.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Friday.
India's agriculture sector is heading for doom. And, if the government is not doing anything to change its faulty subsidy policy, the disaster may happen too soon.
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