By DPA, Rome : Inter Milan snatched a 2-1 win over hosts Siena as Brazil defender Douglas Maicon scored a brace to give his side a nine-point lead over second-place Juventus in the Serie A football. Inter now have 42 points from 17 games as the Serie A gears up for a three-week winter break. Maicon put the champions ahead before Frenchman Houssine Kharja levelled for the Tuscany hosts late into the first half and secured the Serie A champions' win with seven minutes left.

By IANS, Lucknow : Players at the Uttar Pradesh Table Tennis Academy (UPTTA) here in Lucknow are learning the skills of the game from a robot. "The new coach, the robot, is teaching the players about strokes, styles, techniques and drills to make them learn more about the wonderful sport of table tennis," said Parag Agarwal, a coach with UPTTA. UPTTA officials said the China made robot, costing about Rs.85,000, was best suited for practice sessions as it acted like a second player of the game, responding to its opponent's backhand and forehand strokes with different styles.

By Alkesh Sharma, IANS, Chandigarh : Dipak Patel and Jeetan Patel played for New Zealand in cricket, and now Priyesh Bhana, also of Indian origin, made his international debut for the national hockey team in the four-nation Punjab Gold Cup tournament here Saturday against India. Born and brought up in Auckland, Bhana's ancestors hailed from Machaad in Gujarat and he is planning to visit his ancestral village.

By IANS, Dhaka : Bangladeshi swimming hero Arun Nandi, who set a record by swimming for 90 hours in a Kolkata lake in 1971, has died at age 68. A leading daily has paid tributes to him and said his feat had drawn world attention to the country's freedom movement that year. The Daily Star newspaper, in an editorial Tuesday, said the legendary swimmer has left behind "the glorious saga of a man's unflinching determination to endure any ordeal to uphold the cause of his nation".

By TCN News

By TCN News,

By IANS, New Delhi : Former Davis Cupper and Asian Games medallist Shyam Minotra died Tuesday after a prolonged battle with cancer, the All India Tennis Association said. Minotra, 62, was a widower and left behind his only son. A tennis player of great talent, Minotra could beat any top star on his day, and his scalps included the great Romanian Ille Nastase. He was a part of the Davis Cup team in the 1960s, and gave India the Asian Championship doubles title along with S P Mishra defeating Premjit Lal and Jaideep Mukerjea.

By IANS, Chandigarh : Poverty and lack of opportunities forced aspiring cricketer Ravi Varma to leave his home here in 2004 and go to the United Arab Emirates (UAE). After years of juggling a job at an Abu Dhabi car rental shop with playing for a local cricket team, he has now been chosen for the Gulf nation's official squad. "I have no words to express my happiness. Ravi playing international cricket is a dream come true for all of us. We are praying that he will help his team win all the matches," Ravi's father Kishori Lal, who runs a small cycle repair shop, told IANS.

By A.M. Aarif Jokatte for TwoCircles.net, Jeddah: Indian Consul General Sayeed Ahmed Baba inaugurated the Healthy Life Happy Life football tournament, which is part of the ongoing health awareness campaign, run by India Fraternity Forum Jeddah. Ten teams representing different states of the country will be vying for the supremacy in the six-week-long tournament held in three grounds, Kaki, Madaen Fahd and the one near Bader Bakery. Final matches will be played on 19th March.

By IANS Chennai : Teenager Ashwin Sundar yet again underlined his versatility with three podium finishes in two classes as the first round of the JK Tyre National Racing championship kick-started the 2008 motor sports season here Sunday. Making his debut in the Formula Rolon-Chevrolet class, Ashwin, the 18-year-old from Chennai, won the first race with a command performance and finished third in the next round for which the grid was reversed for the top six finishers of the previous outing.

By TCN News, Aligarh : A formula racing car prepared by the 22-member engineering student team of Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) has been judged as...

By Mutaz Alshabrawi, KUNA, Kuwait : A law passed in 404 BC stipulated that sportsmen and their coaches had to participate naked in the Olympic Games, to force women to stay away after Kalipatera disguised herself as a man to enter the stadium and watch her son compete. Women found violating this order were thrown off the mountain, and as this sixth part of the KUNA report will show, women were not only banned from participating in the games, but also from entering the city of Olympics -- all except the priestess of the temple and her virgins.

By Alkesh Sharma, IANS, Chandigarh : It has been a long term investment and now the Chandigarh Football-Hockey Academy is beginning to show results. Started in 2000 by the government for children from all over northern India who are talented in sports, the academy is now producing players who can compete at national and international levels.

By IANS,

By IANS,

By Yang Qingchuan, Xinhua, Washington : The 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles was probably the most impressive of the many Olympics the US has hosted. That's not only because it was the first Olympic Games that really made profits, but also because it was congestion-free in a city that had been notorious for its traffic snarls. It was a miracle because when the 1984 Games were to start, Los Angeles had more motor vehicles than any other metropolises around the world.

By IANS Ludhiana : The Jagatjit Cotton Textile (JCT) Mills football club will shift base to Hoshairpur from Phagwara, home to the team from almost three decades. New practice facilties, expected to be ready by the month end, have come up as part of JCT's stadium project at their Hoshiarpur plant, close to Himachal Pradesh. Finishing touches are being given to the players' residential quarters before the team makes the move.

By IANS, Thiruvananthapuram: After a nearly three-year-long legal battle, the Kerala government Saturday took over the Trivandrum Golf Club (TGC) and its 9-hole course situated in the heart of this capital city. Armed with an interim Supreme Court judgment, Thiruvananthapuram Tahsildar Madhu Janardhanan led a team of revenue department officials to take possession of the club. The officials had given a notice to the club's office bearers Friday to vacate the premises.

By IANS, Nalchik (Russia) : As Koneru Humpy progresses towards the women's world title, Indian chess is on the cusp of a unique record of having all four world champions at the same time. She has played superbly and is coming to form as was evident with her 2-0 win over China's Shen Yang to move into semi-finals. Humpy, who says she has grown up dreaming of becoming a World Champion is now close to realising it.

By IANS, Kazan (Russia) : Rani Rampal scored four goals as Indian women crushed Belgium 6-3 to win the inaugural Champions Challenge II hockey tournament here Saturday. Rani, who emerged as the tournament's top scorer with eight goals, struck in the 17th, 38th, 44th and 54th minutes. Besides, Saba Anjum (20th min) and Thokchom Chanchan (49th min) scored a goal each. Skipper Valerie Vermeersch (40th, 52nd) and Boon Jill (55th) scored for Belgium.

By Pervez Bari, TwoCircles.net,

By IANS,

By Qaiser Mohammad Ali New Delhi, Jan 25 (IANS) Delhi should thank their unsung physiotherapist Prathi Badrinath as much as their players for winning the Ranji Trophy last week. The physiotherapist worked for long hours daily throughout the season, often well past midnight, to keep the players physically fit and mentally relaxed. Badrinath had to work on some serious injuries to key players Virender Sehwag (groin), Gautam Gambhir (shoulder and groin), Ishant Sharma (shoulder) and the latest pace bowling sensation Pradeep Sangwan (ankle) and ensure that they were match-fit.

By IANS, New Delhi : India's young talent Vishesh Bhriguvanshi was named the 'Most Valuable Player' of the Basketball without Borders Asia camp, which concluded here Sunday. Dong Hanlin from China won the Frequent Flyer Award, recording the highest jump amongst all campers while the DHL Playmaker award went to Joseph Zaloum from Lebanon. Xu Tao from China was given the sportsmanship award. The three-day camp of National Basketball Association (NBA), the first such event in India concluded with the All Star Game.

By IANS, New Delhi : They had the audience in splits with their inimitable humour at the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) awards last year in Bangkok and they are set to do it yet again. This year too, Bollywood actors Boman Irani and Riteish Deshmukh will play hosts to the glitzy cine event that will be held in Macau. Apart from their witty jokes and spoofs on popular movies, Boman had even donned a Scottish skirt during the show much to the amusement of the viewers.

By IANS, Shimla : An army expedition has traversed the Manirang Pass at a height of 18,600 feet in Himachal Pradesh after a gap of 10 years, an official said Wednesday. The pass connects the tribal belt of Pooh in Kinnaur district with Kaza in Lahaul and Spiti district. The 14-member expedition of the 24th Battalion of the Punjab Regiment was led by Major Rajeev Kumar and Naib Subedar Baldev Singh. Covering a distance of 117 km, the pass was scaled from the southern side in 10 days.

By IANS, New Delhi : Mahendra Singh Dhoni was conferred the nation's highest sporting honour Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna while eleven sportspersons received the Arjuna award from President Pratibha Patil at the Rashtrapati Bhavan here Friday. Dhoni, who is leading the team in Sri Lanka one-day series, was not present at the award ceremony and his father Pan Singh accepted the honour on his behalf. The Khel Ratna carries a medal, a ceremonial dress, the scroll of honour and a cash prize of Rs. 500,000.

By Zehra Shafi, IANS,

By IANS, New Delhi : India's legendary goalkeeper Peter Thangaraj passed away in Bokaro Monday night following a heart-attack. He was 74. Thangaraj, nicknamed 'lamp post' during his playing days, is survived by his wife, a son and three daughters. He belonged to the golden era of India football and was part of the team that won gold in the 1962 Asian Games in Jakarta and finished runners-up in the 1964 Asia Cup in Tel Aviv. Thangaraj also played in the 1956 Melbourne and 1960 Rome Olympics. India finished fourth in Melbourne, which remained its best performance in the mega event.

By Kashif-ul-Huda, TwoCircles.net, Miami: Chia-Jung Chuang and Sania Mirza defeated eighth seeded doubles pair of Maria Kirilenko of Russia and Flavia Pennetta of Italy in the second round doubles match at Sony Ericsson Open in Miami. It was a hard won victory by the Taiwanese-Indian pair who came up from behind to win 4-6,7-6,(5) 10-4.

By IANS Chennai : North Bengal will face Andhra Pradesh in the cadet girls' title clash of the 69th Junior National and Inter-State Table Tennis Championships. In the semis here Wednesday, Andhra defeated Tamil Nadu 3-0 while North Bengal thrashed Kerala by a similar scoreline. The following are the results of the matches played: Cadet Girls (Semi Finals):

By IANS Kolkata : An emergency working committee meeting of East Bengal club Wednesday appointed Monoranjan Bhattacharya as Subrata Bhattacharya's successor as the team coach, to resurrect the team which is currently languishing in the ninth spot in the 10-team I-League football tournament. The meeting, which was called to stem the rot in the club in the relegation zone, began at 5.30 pm and lasted over two hours before the formal announcement was made.

By IANS Mumbai : Vijay Mallya's Kingfisher Airlines will pay the Indian Premier League (IPL) Rs.106 crores (Rs.1.06 billion or $26.17 million) to sponsor the umpires for five years for the Twenty20 tournament beginning next month. While announcing the deal here Thursday, Lalit Modi, IPL chairman and commissioner, said that the airline would be known as the Umpire Partner for the eight-team tournament.

By IANS, Kolkata : The play in the fourth One-dayer between India and Sri Lanka was disrupted for 26 minutes after lights of one of the four floodlight towers at the Eden Gardens went off during the Sri Lankan innings here Thursday. Sri Lanka were 307 for six in 49.2 overs (5.58 pm) when the floodlight tower at the High Court end went off, halting play. A spokesman of the Calcutta Electric Supply Corporation (CESC) told IANS that it was not their fault and power supply was uninterrupted.

By IANS, Panaji : Goa will host the first round of the MRF National Supercross Championship Sunday, which is expected to see nearly 100 riders spread over six categories participating in the event. Speaking to reporters Friday, chairman of the Federation of Motorsports Clubs of India (FMCI) Shyam Kothari said that the event was being held for the eighth year in succession and the Goa edition would be followed by legs in Hyderabad, Coimbatore, Bangalore, Pune and Jaipur.

By Cindrella Thawani,

By IANS, Ranchi: Delhi swimmer Richa Mishra Saturday bagged two silver medals to finish with a rich haul of 16 medals in the 34th National Games.

By IANS, New Delhi : A glorious chapter in Indian football ended as legendary goalkeeper Peter Thangaraj, nicknamed "Lampost" for his towering height, passed away Monday night in Bokaro following a massive heart attack. He was 74 and is survived by wife, a son and three daughters. "Monday morning he complained of chest pain and we got him admitted in the Bokaro General Hospital. By night the pain became accute and he suffered a massive heart attack and passed away at 11.30pm," Helen, Thangaraj's daughter, told IANS Tuesday.

By IANS, Mumbai : England were 298/4 at lunch on the third day of the second cricket Test against India at the Wankhede Stadium here Sunday.

By Qaiser Mohammad Ali, IANS New Delhi : The Mukesh Ambani-owned Reliance company will venture into more sports-related activities, possibly sponsoring the 2011 cricket World Cup to be co-hosted by India, after investing well over $117 million in the lucrative Indian Premier League (IPL). R. Balachandran, president and chief marketing officer Reliance Retail, told IANS that the IPL Twenty20 tournament, starting April 18, is the company's "first stop" on the way to getting into sports in a big way.

By Xinhua New York : Following are the title winners at the $19.6-million US Open tennis tournament that ended Sunday: Men's Singles: Roger Federer (Switzerland) Women's Singles: Justine Henin (Belgium) Men's Doubles: Simon Aspelin (Sweden) and Julian Knowle (Austria) Women's Doubles: Nathalie Dechy (France) and Dinara Safina (Russia) Mixed Doubles: Viktoria Azarenka (Belarus) and Max Mirnyi (Belarus)

By Paras Ramoutar

IANS

Port of Spain : Ramnaresh Sarwan has become the fourth player of Indian origin to captain the West Indies cricket since the game was introduced here more than 120 years ago.