8th August 2009 - Happy 1st 080808 Anniversary!

SQUASH: Nicol Reclaims WORLD OPEN



Nicol David, who has become one of the most honoured squash players of all time, completed the recapture of both major titles by winning the World Open for a third time on Sunday. Nicol beat surprise finalist Vicky Botwright of Britain 5-11 11-1 11-6 11-9 with a performance of great variety and tenacity, to regain a title she lost in Madrid a year ago.

It followed her recapture of the British Open in Liverpool in May and was a fitting sequel to a phase of her life in which she has been given the Order of Merit and awarded the title of Datuk -- two of Malaysia's most prestigious awards.

"It felt so different because I lost it last time, but I learnt so much in defeat," said the 25-year-old Malaysian, who has been world number one for more than two years and also been made Asian sportswoman of the year.

"It's wonderful what's happened, but I have so many mixed emotions that I'm a bit stunned. I'm not sure what I feel," added Nicol, who has now won the world title three times in four years.

There was a new champion in the men's event when Ramy Ashour, who won the Super Series title here last year, succeeded his Egyptian compatriot Amr Shabana.

The 21-year-old, who eliminated the top-seeded title holder in the semi-finals, overcame another Egyptian, Karim Darwish, 5-11 11-8 11-4 11-5 thanks partly to his increasing capacity for finishing rallies off in the front court.

FORMULA 1: Hamilton wins Chinese Grand Prix



Britain's Lewis Hamilton won the Chinese Grand Prix on Sunday but was denied the world championship by title rival Felipe Massa, who finished second. McLaren's Hamilton led throughout for a straight forward win but he remains just seven points ahead of Massa, taking the championship to a dramatic final race in Brazil next month.

Ferrari's outgoing champion Kimi Raikkonen was third after conceding second place to Massa late on. Two-time world champion Fernando Alonso of Renault was fourth. BMW Sauber's Nick Heidfeld finished fifth ahead of his teammate Robert Kubica, the only other title contender, who finished sixth to end his slim world championship hopes.

Hamilton, 23, is bidding to become both the youngest and the first black driver to win the world title after throwing away a commanding lead in the standings in his rookie season last year.

CHINESE GRAND PRIX RESULTS


DRIVERS TABLE

FOOTBALL: BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE



Hull City 1 West Ham United 0

Londoner Michael Turner emerged as the latest hero of Hull's remarkable Barclays Premier League ascent as his 51st-minute header at the KC Stadium proved enough to inflict more capital carnage. Following stunning wins at Arsenal and Tottenham, the Lewisham-born Turner struck to sink Gianfranco Zola's ailing West Ham and send the Tigers roaring back up to third place.

Confidence oozing from every pore, the home side deserved their latest win for their attacking intent and Phil Brown's men looked dangerous on the counter-attack right up to the final whistle. The optimism and belief surging through the home side is in stark contrast to the Hammers, who were left to rue two Carlton Cole misses but summoned little by way of their quest for an equaliser.

Cole hit a simple first-half effort straight at Hull goalkeeper Bo Myhill when he should have scored, then scythed an even better chance against the underside of the bar moments after the restart from Turner's goal.




Stoke City 2 Tottenham Hotspur 1

Juande Ramos endured fresh horrors as Tottenham's nightmare start of the season plumbed new depths at the hands of Stoke. Spurs sunk to their sixth defeat in eight games to increase up the pressure on their Spanish manager. It was the worst of matches for Tottenham - a bitter defeat, two red cards and, not least, Croatian defender Vedran Corluka suffering a serious-looking head injury.

It started badly and rarely looked up for the visitors: Gareth Bale conceded a penalty and was red-carded 17 minutes into the game. Danny Higginbotham scored from the spot and although Darren Bent equalised, Rory Delap grabbed the winner to leave Tottenham with two points from eight matches, their worst ever start to a season - worse still than 1912, the year the Titanic sunk, when they at least had three points from the opening eight games.

FOOTBALL: SERIE A

Inter trashes Roma



AS Roma 0-4 Internazionale

Zlatan Ibrahimovic netted twice as champions Internazionale romped to a 4-0 win over struggling Roma at the Stadio Olimpico. The Sweden striker swooped early in each half with Dejan Stankovic and Victor Obinna completing the evening's scoring within just 11 minutes of the second period.

The result saw Jose Mourinho's side go back to the top of Serie A, two points clear of nearest rivals Udinese, who were held to a 2-2 draw at Lecce earlier in the day. For Roma - Chelsea's next opponents in the Champions League - it was their fourth defeat in seven games and left last year's runners-up nine points off the pace set by Inter.

Milan 3-0 Sampdoria

In Milan, the match turned on a decision early in the second half when Samp defender Stefano Lucchini was sent off for handball in the penalty area - his second bookable offence. Ronaldinho stepped up to convert the 55th minute penalty before doubling the Rossoneri's lead - and his own personal tally for the day - by finishing off a slick passing move 10 minutes later. Substitute Pippo Inzaghi completed the scoring, the veteran striker rounding Samp keeper Luca Castellazzi before slotting home in the last minute.

Bologna 3 Lazio 1

Midfielder Sergio Volpi curled in a free kick and forward Marco Di Vaio struck twice in the first 27 minutes to end Bologna's run of five consecutive defeats. Lazio captain Tommaso Rocchi pulled one back for the visitors, who were joint leaders at the start of the weekend, six minutes after halftime.

Catania 2 Palermo 0

A Jorge Martinez header and Giuseppe Mascara's late penalty gave the home side a taste of top place after Palermo had defender Moris Carrozzieri sent off for a second yellow card just before the break.

Chievo 1 Atalanta 1

Defender Andrea Mantovani climbed high to head Chievo in front in first-half stoppage time. Adriano Ferreira Pinto dribbled past Mantovani and scored with a right-footed shot just past the hour to give the visitors a share of the spoils from an entertaining encounter.

Genoa 1 Siena 0

Giuseppe Biava headed in a corner to give the home side a deserved lead on 20 minutes. Siena midfielder Daniele Galloppa hit the post with a powerful left-footed strike in the second half.

Lecce 2 Udinese 2

Lecce's Simone Tiribocchi opened the score in the 32nd minute after Udinese's Andrea Coda was careless with possession at the edge of the box and goalkeeper Samir Handanovic floundered. The home side doubled the lead at the start of the second half with a Maurizio Domizzi own-goal. Udinese came back with an effort from substitute Alexis Alejandro Sanchez and a seemingly inoffensive Gaetano D'Agostino free kick that was allowed to drift into the net.

Torino 0 Cagliari 1

Robert Acquafresca came off the bench to find the net in the 86th-minute and earn Cagliari their first win of the season. Torino paid the price for wasting many chances, especially in the first half.

MotoGP: Sepang Grand Prix

The Champion Wins Again



Valentino Rossi has taken his ninth win of the 2008 MotoGP season - and 150th grand prix podium - after a cool, calculating victory in Sunday's Malaysian GP at a scorching hot Sepang. The Italian, who wrapped up the 2008 title two rounds previously in Japan, dropped from second to third at turn one, whilst pole sitter Dani Pedrosa blasted into an early lead.

Rossi put his Fiat Yamaha ahead of countryman Andrea Dovizioso to claim second by the start of lap two, and was soon locked onto Pedrosa's rear wheel. The pair circulated together for lap after lap as they pulled away from Dovizioso, who had a queue of riders backed up behind him. The only difficulty for Rossi was that his Fiat Yamaha couldn't match Pedrosa's Repsol Honda along the straights, even in the slipstream, forcing the Italian to plot a braking move.

That eventually came at the halfway mark of the 21 laps, and saw the eight time world champion dragging his inside foot on the asphalt as he successfully dived inside Pedrosa into a left hand hairpin. The Italian's biggest threat thereafter was from the weather; with six laps to go white flags were waved, indicating that bike swaps were now permitted due to the threat of rain. That didn't materialise and Rossi cruised to a comfortable four-second victory over Pedrosa.

TENNIS: Andy Murray wins Madrid Masters



Fourth-ranked Andy Murray defeated Gilles Simon, 6-4, 7-6 (6), Sunday to win the Madrid Masters in Spain. The U.S. Open finalist became the first tennis player from Great Britain to win four titles in a season. He will be the first Brit in the Open era since Fred Perry in 1936 to finish the year at No. 4.

"Gilles was hitting much better from behind the baseline, but I got a lot of free points from my serve," Murray said. "That was probably the key to my win today."

Murray, who was born in Scotland, never faced a break point and converted one in the fifth game to take the first set when Simon hit wide. Murray saved two set points in the tiebreaker before closing out the match when Simon hit into the net for his 30th unforced error. Simon had won five consecutive three-set matches.

"I couldn't move like I'm used to and Andy knew it, so he tried to kill me by making me run," said Simon, barely able to walk the step up to the microphone. "Often I missed two easy shots, one after another. That's why I lost today; I couldn't focus on every point. It was too much effort. . . . "

The 16th-ranked Simon is within reach of qualifying for next month's Masters Cup in Shanghai. He is ninth in the race to qualify for the season-ending tournament, six points behind Juan Martin del Potro for final qualifying spot.

TENNIS: Venus wins Zurich Open



Venus Williams of the United States captured the Zurich Open on Sunday with a straight sets win over Flavia Pennetta.

Williams topped the Italian 7-6, 6-2 in the Swiss final. Pennetta had beaten Williams for the third consecutive time last week early in the Kremlin Cup competition in Moscow.

The turning point was the first set tiebreak, with Williams storming into a 6-0 lead after forcing two early errors from her opponent with a couple of powerful ground strokes directly to Pennetta's feet.

Williams all but clinched a place at the season-ending WTA Championships in Doha, Qatar, where the top eight women in the game will compete.

FOOTBALL: PRIMERA LIGA Round-up



Athletic Bilbao 0 - 1 Barcelona

Barcelona remained within three points of Primera Liga leaders Valencia following a hard-fought 1-0 win at Athletic Bilbao on Sunday night. Samuel Eto'o struck the only goal of the game midway through the second half after a fine run by Thierry Henry. The duo conjured up a piece of collective brilliance worthy of winning any match.

Henry picked up the ball on the right of midfield, skipped past several challenges as he ran across the pitch and chipped the ball forward for the advancing Eto'o, who took a couple of touches to bring the ball down and away from Fernando Amorebieta before lashing a powerful left-footed shot past Gorka to give Barcelona the three points.

Sevilla 1 - 0 Almeria

Sevilla overcame an horrendous injury crisis to beat Andalusian rivals Almeria 1-0. Coach Manolo Jimenez was minus the services of nine players, a list that contained all four of his main strikers, but a goal from Brazilian midfielder Adriano shortly after half-time was enough for the visitors to land the spoils with a gutsy display at Estadio del Mediterraneo.

Valencia 4 - 0 Numancia

Valencia opened up a two-point gap at the top following a 4-0 victory over struggling Numancia at the Mestalla on Sunday. An early goal from David Villa put the hosts firmly in control and, though the Soria-based outfit held back the floodgates for more than an hour, late strikes from Juan Mata, Vicente and a second for Villa applied the gloss to an easy afternoon's work for Unai Emery's men.

Racing Santander 0 - 0 Deportivo La Coruna

Racing Santander and Deportivo La Coruna won a point apiece following a dull 0-0 draw at El Sardinero. Racing midfielder Peter Luccin was at the centre of the game's two stand-out incidents, as he struck the woodwork at the end of the first half and was given his marching orders late in the second, but neither side could break the deadlock.

Sporting Gijon 2 - 1 Osasuna

Jose Antonio Camacho could not inspire his new charges as 10-man Osasuna slipped to a 2-1 defeat at Sporting Gijon. Sporting took an early lead through Gonzalez Carmelo, but were pegged back courtesy of Santiago Ezquerro's leveller just three minutes later. Mate Bilic restored Sporting's lead from the penalty spot after being impeded in the box by Roversio, who was sent off for the foul.

Real Betis 3 - 0 Real Mallorca

Real Betis moved off the bottom of the Primera Liga with a fine 3-0 win at home to Real Mallorca. Three consecutive defeats had seen the Andalusians drop to the bottom of the table and the club were without a win all season before this encounter. Coach Francisco Chaparro was under pressure and claimed his side were obliged to beat Mallorca. And they got off to the perfect start as Damia gave the hosts the lead in the very first minute. Lone striker Mariano Pavone added a second shortly before half-time and Achille Emana struck a third late on to wrap up a much-needed win for Betis.

Malaga 2 - 1 Getafe

Getafe slipped to their first away defeat of the season as resurgent Malaga came from behind to win 2-1 at La Rosaleda. The visitors looked well set for their third road victory of the campaign when Roberto Soldado put them ahead after 10 minutes. But the home side, who have now won three games on the spin after a slow start, roared back and won it with first-half goals from Nabil Baha and Sergio Duda.

Real Valladolid 1 - 1 Recreativo Huelva

New Recreativo Huelva coach Lucas Alcaraz came within seconds of winning his first game in charge but a dream start was denied by a last-minute equaliser as they drew 1-1 at Real Valladolid. Alcaraz, who replaced the sacked Manolo Zambrano just before the international break, would have been forgiven for thinking Marco Ruben's stunning volley on the stroke of half-time was enough for a crucial win, but fellow strugglers Valladolid had other ideas and snatched a point thanks to Fernandez Victor in the second minute of injury time.