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Chelsea hit five as `Big Four` all win
The results mean the Premier League now looks more familiar with the `Big Four` filling the top four slots.
Chelsea`s lunchtime demolition job gave the leaders 20 points from eight games but Liverpool joined them on the same total after scoring twice in the last 10 minutes against 10-man Wigan to snatch a 3-2 victory.
Arsenal moved up to third on 16 points after netting three second-half goals to record a 3-1 victory against Everton.
In Image: Uliano Belletti of Chelsea is congratulated after he scores the his teams second goal of the game during the Barclays Premier League match between Middlesbrough and Chelsea at the Riverside Stadium on October 18, 2008 in Middlesbrough, England
Argentina coach quits after Chile loss
Buenos Aires: Argentina coach Alfio Basile quit on Thursday, the day after an embarrassing 2010 World Cup qualifying defeat to Chile, the Argentina Football Association (AFA) said.
Basile’s sudden decision to end his second stint in the job came after his repeated failure to galvanise a team that boasts some of the world’s most talented players, including Lionel Messi and Sergio Aguero.
"Basile spoke to the AFA president (Julio Grondona) and quit for personal reasons," spokesman Ernesto Cherquis told reporters.
"The national teams committee tried to persuade him to postpone his decision but Basile was very decided, very determined…..and against a man who has made up his mind and has Basile’s dignity, we were swimming against the tide.
"The resignation has been accepted," added Cherquis. "He had pain in his heart."
Basile, who with his slicked-back hair and gravel-voice appeared to have stepped out of a 1950s tango club, was seen as a romantic who wanted his team to play with style.
However, critics said in recent matches his team had lost their way and were over dependent on Juan Roman Riquelme, a gifted but inconsistent playmaker.
Appointed in July 2006, Basile quit just after the halfway mark in the 18-match South American 2010 World Cup qualifying campaign with Argentina third in the 10-team group on 16 points, ahead of Chile on goal difference, but seven behind leaders Paraguay.
HIGH POINT
The top four teams qualify directly for South Africa and the fifth plays off against the fourth-placed team from the North and Central American CONCACAF region.
Basile, appointed in July 2006, was in charge for 28 games, winning 14, drawing eight and losing six.
The high point was a run of five stylish wins at last year’s Copa America. However the campaign ended with a crushing 3-0 defeat to arch-rivals Brazil in the final as Argentina extended their 14-year wait for a trophy.
Things began to go wrong this year with a run of six successive draws, four in the qualifiers and two in friendlies.
The team appeared to have weathered the storm with a 2-1 World Cup qualifying win over Uruguay on Saturday.
However, media said that Basile appeared shocked by the angry reaction to Wednesday’s 1-0 defeat when Argentina were outclassed by a Chilean side led by their former coach Marcelo Bielsa.
Messi said in an interview that Argentina played badly and were at sixes and sevens.
During his previous stints, Basile won the Copa America in 1991 and 1993 but was also in charge for a historic 5-0 home defeat by Colombia in a World Cup qualifier.
His team reached the second round at the 1994 World Cup where they lost to Romania.
BCCI told us to close ICL for talks: Kapil Dev
Ahmedabad: Kapil Dev, Chairman of the Indian Cricket League, on Sunday revealed that their talks with the BCCI failed because the Indian Cricket Board wanted them to close their Twenty20 tournament before initiating a dialogue on the matter.
"BCCI told us to first close down Indian Cricket League and then only they shall talk to us," an agitated Kapil Dev said when asked why the ICL-BCCI meeting failed.
"There was hardly any meeting. They told us to close down ICL first before they begin talks," the former Indian skipper told reporters here.
The ICL had applied for recognition to the International Cricket Council (ICC) but a decision on the issue was deferred during its Board meeting.
Instead, the ICC had asked the BCCI president Shashank Manohar to meet the representatives of ICL and submit a report on the discussions.
Following ICC’s directives, both parties met in New Delhi last week but failed to make any headway on the contentious issue.
"We have again applied to ICC as we have hopes from the world body. They have asked us to wait for 21 days. We shall wait for their decision," Kapil said.
When asked if they have plans to take legal action against the BCCI, he said, "Of course, but it will be the ultimate step."
Kapil went on to compare the South African cricket team, during the apartheid period, with the BCCI, saying the latter is acting in the same manner
Ponting can break Sachin’s records: Lara
Mumbai: Brian Lara on Thursday wished Sachin Tendulkar the very best as the Indian maestro prepares to break the West Indies legend’s world-record run-aggregate in Tests.
"I wish Sachin all the best. Records are meant to be broken. It’s a pleasure to be counted in the elite list of players like Sachin and (Sunil) Gavaskar. We should appreciate Sachin for whatever he does", the retired West Indian batsman said here.
We are looking at a 400-plus total: Katich
The 39-year-old left hander amassed 11953 runs in 131 Tests and 232 innings, and Tendulkar is on the verge of overhauling it, having so far tallied 11877 runs in 150 matches and 244 innings.
Tendulkar needs 77 more runs to go past Lara and is playing in his 151st Test at Bangalore against Australia.
Tension simmers again between Oz and India
Lara, on a promotional visit here, said he would not be going to Bangalore to witness his great contemporary in action.
"I would have loved to be at Bangalore to watch him when he breaks my record, but I’m flying off to Australia on Friday,” he said.
Morning session will be crucial: Ishant
Lara felt that if at all anyone can break Tendulkar’s records it will be Ricky Ponting, the Australian captain.
"Ricky Ponting is the guy who can break Sachin’s records," he indicated.
Hamilton wins Chinese Grand Prix
Shanghai: McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton put himself on the brink of the Formula One world title with a nerveless pole to flag victory at the Chinese Grand Prix on Sunday.
Felipe Massa kept the championship alive with second place after his Ferrari teammate Kimi Raikkonen let him pass but Hamilton just needs to finish in the top five in Brazil on November 2 to become the sport’s youngest champion at the age of 23.
Robert Kubica’s slim hopes of winning the title disappeared despite the Pole making a sterling effort to get his BMW-Sauber up from 11th on the grid to sixth at the finish.
Formula One 2008
Hamilton’s fifth win of the season, and ninth of his 34 race career, gave the Briton 94 points with Massa seven behind and Kubica third with 75. Just 10 points remain on the line at Sao Paulo’s Interlagos circuit.
Hamilton had been subjected to barrage of criticism after a wild getaway from pole position and clumsy attempt to retake the lead from Raikkonen at Fuji last weekend.
There were no mistakes on Sunday, and no repeat of the Shanghai nightmare of last season when the rookie skidded off into the gravel at the pit lane entry in a race that could also have handed him the title.
Hamilton made a clean start, sweeping into the first corner and keeping Raikkonen well behind before wrapping up a day of domination with the fastest lap.
McLaren’s Heikki Kovalainen tried to help his team mate with a vain attempt to force his way past Massa on the first chicane after overtaking Spain’s Fernando Alonso at the start.
Twice world champion Alonso, who won the last two races, quickly regained fourth place from Kovalainen and held it to the finish.
Hamilton, meanwhile, never looked back and was nearly seven seconds clear of Raikkonen after the first round of pit stops.
By the time of his second stop, he had built up a sufficient advantage to comfortably return to the track with his lead intact and he crossed the line nearly 15 seconds ahead of Massa.
Brazilian Massa had been running third a substantial distance behind Raikkonen but the world champion slowed to let his team mate past seven laps from the end.
Kubica’s German team mate Nick Heidfeld was fifth, his compatriot Timo Glock seventh for Toyota and Renault’s Brazilian Nelson Piquet claimed the last point in eighth.
Kovalainen’s 27th birthday was ruined by a run onto the grass on lap 35 which resulted in puncture to his front right tyre and he retired in the pits a few laps later.
Federer tops all-time career earnings’ list
Madrid: World number two Roger Federer has surpassed Pete Sampras to become the all-time leader in career prize money earnings in men’s tennis, the ATP said on Thursday.
The five-times US Open champion took his career earnings to over $43.3 million (24.98 million pounds) at the Madrid Masters this week.
American Sampras earned $43,280,489 in a glittering career that included 14 grand slam titles. Federer is one behind that record too with 13.
"Obviously it’s nice to have records. I didn’t play tennis because of money, that was never my drive but I have been very successful," Federer said after beating Jo-Wilfried Tsonga to reach the quarter-finals on Thursday.
"I’ve had an incredible run in slams lately that racks up the money and also the Masters Cup, there is a lot of money involved there.
"I guess this is also the moment when you can thank the all-time greats from back in the day when it was still amateur to have brought the game to where it is today. They have created the platform for us players today."
Federer meets Argentine Juan Martin del Potro in the last eight of the Madrid Masters on Friday
Murray beats Simon to win Madrid Masters
Madrid: World number four Andy Murray outwitted France’s Gilles Simon 6-4, 7-6 to win the Madrid Masters on Sunday and take his second successive Masters Series title.
Neither player matched their heroics in Saturday’s semi-finals when Murray beat Roger Federer and Simon defeated Rafael Nadal and, in an attritional baseline battle, Murray’s superior serve and more consistent ground strokes frustrated the wiry Frenchman.
The 21-year-old Scot struck 10 aces to just one from Simon, who failed to produce one break point on Murray’s serve in a match lasting 93 minutes.
The Scot broke Simon once in the first set thanks to a wide passing shot from the 23-year-old Frenchman who was playing his first Masters Series final.
Simon held two set points in the second set tiebreak but Murray held on and at 6-6 clubbed a savage cross-court return to bring up championship point which he took as Simon dumped his volley into the net
Ballesteros stable after tumour operation
Madrid: Ballesteros was in a stable condition after an operation Tuesday to remove a brain tumour, the Spanish golfer’s doctors said on Wednesday.
"The operation, with the objective of a resection of the detected brain tumour, started at 9 am and concluded without complications," a statement from Madrid’s La Paz hospital said.
A resection refers to a procedure to remove as much of a brain tumour as possible before radio – or chemotherapy.
The statement added that Ballesteros was conscious, in a stable condition and had been transferred to intensive care.
The 51-year-old was taken to the hospital last week after suffering dizziness and a brief loss of consciousness. Sunday the five times major winner said he had a brain tumour.
Wednesday’s sports daily Marca reported that the operation lasted 12 hours but did not say if the tumour was malignant or benign.
Ballesteros’s office in his native Santander declined to comment and the spokeswoman for his family was not immediately available.
Ballesteros is one of the most gifted and charismatic players to grace the game, known for conjuring flamboyant rescue shots that saved him from often wayward drives.
When he won the British Open in 1979, he was the youngest player to do so in the 20th century. He won the title again in 1984 and 1988 and twice captured the US Masters
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