Maria Sharapova wins Italian Open crown in Rome

Maria Sharapova recovered from a set and 4-0 down to beat Li Na and retain her Italian Open crown in Rome. At 6-6 in the third and final set, the match was interrupted for more than two hours by rain, but Sharapova returned to win the decisive tie-break. The 4-6 6-4 7-6 (7-5) win over the French Open champion gave the Russian her 26th career title. Sharapova now heads to Roland Garros looking for the title that would complete a career Grand Slam.

Yuki wins first ever ATP Challenger singles title

New Delhi: A resurgent Yuki Bhambri won the first ever ATP Challenger singles title of his career after scoring a facile straight-set win over Israeli fourth seed Amir Weintraub in Fergana, Uzbekistan today.

Maria Sharapova's seven-year wait to wimbledon 2011final

Seven years after a surprise victory at Wimbledon at age 17, Maria Sharapova is back in the final, this time as a three-time winner in grand slams and the heavy favourite on Saturday.

Petra Kvitova is preparing for her first slam final. The 21-year-old Czech might be dreaming of a debut like that of her Russian rival, who overpowered the top-seeded Serena Williams 6-1, 6-4 in 2004 to establish herself as a precocious star of the women's game.

The seven-year gap between Wimbledon finals might surprise some, but it is not something that troubles Sharapova.

"You obviously hope that you can be in the final stages every single year, but I guess it's just not meant to happen," she said yesterday. This is the year I'm supposed to be back in the final. I don't know why. I'm not going to question it."

Since 2004, Sharapova has added the 2006 US Open and the 2008 Australian Open titles.

She also has recovered from shoulder surgery in October 2008 that took her off the singles court for nearly 10 months and necessitated a change in her service motion when she returned to action.

Her first slam final since the surgery is the sort of moment Sharapova visualised while nursing her shoulder back to health.

"I had time to reflect on my career and things that I've achieved," she said.

"But I think I was always looking towards the future more than anything than in the past because that's where I was trying to envision myself at some point, to be getting back out there."

Looking back to the 2004 final, Sharapova said she spent the day trying to recover from illness.

As she looked ahead to the biggest match of her career, Kvitova dismissed talk of nerves.

"No, I'm not nervous," she said. "I'm looking forward to tomorrow, for sure. I slept well. It's OK."

If Kvitova can hold her nerve, the final could come down to her serve. The left-handed Kvitova has hit 35 aces in her six matches so far and it was her serve that was a determining factor in her semi-final win over the fourth-seeded Victoria Azarenka.

Sharapova managed to beat Sabine Lisicki despite 13 double faults and a first-serve percentage of 48.

Martina Navratilova, the last left-handed women's champion at Wimbledon, in 1990, said Kvitova "matches up well" against Sharapova.

"It's such a toss-up. It basically comes down to who serves better," Navratilova said. "Once the ball is in play, Sharapova has an edge with Petra. I think Petra will return better [than did Lisicki] and it will be easier for her to hold serve."

Kvitova has described the nine-time Wimbledon winner Navratilova as her idol.

"She's very sweet," Navratilova said. "It's funny because I haven't had that many players that said, 'You're my hero.' It's nice. I thought she was too young for that."

Kvitova had not won a match on grass before her run to the semifinals at the All England Club last year where she was beaten by Serena Williams.

Since then, she has won three WTA Tour titles and surged into the top 10.

She trained at the same club in the city of Prostejov as 2010 Wimbledon men's finalist Tomas Berdych. Martina Hingis, the 1997 women's champion, also practised there.

Kvitova said her parents are flying over from Prostejov to watch her attempt to become the first Czech woman to win Wimbledon since Jana Novotna in 1998.

Sharapova will again be supported by her fiance, the New Jersey Nets basketball player Sasha Vujacic, who has been at the championships throughout.

Seven years on from her 2004 victory, when she played like a carefree teenager, the 24-year-old Sharapova will go into the final with a far more nuanced perspective.

"I'm a few years older, more mature. I hope so at least," she said, smiling.

"You develop, not only as a player, but as a person as well.

"Obviously, a big part of my life is tennis, but at the end of the day I'm not going to be playing for my whole life. Next page

Sharapova's off day good enough for final return

Maria Sharapova, the glamour girl of women's tennis, showed she is not averse to winning ugly as she overcame some jitters to set up a Wimbledon final against Petra Kvitova on Thursday.

The 24-year-old Russian served 13 double faults on her way to a 6-4 6-3 defeat of Germany's Sabine Lisicki to reach the final for the first time since she burst into the spotlight by winning the 2004 title as a carefree 17-year-old.

Eighth seed Kvitova silenced the wailing Victoria Azarenka 6-1 3-6 6-2 to reach her first grand slam final.

Neither match will live long in the memory though after a day that did little to alter the perception that the women's game is struggling without the rivalries that have fuelled interest in the men's game.

Not that Sharapova was too concerned.

"It's a great feeling. It's been many years, but it's a really great feeling," said Sharapova, who has filled the vacuum left by the fourth-round exits of champion Serena Williams, five-times winner Venus Williams and top seed Caroline Wozniacki.

"Today wasn't my best match of the championships so I was real happy to get through in two sets. So yeah, it's pretty amazing to be back on that stage."

Czech Kvitova and Belarussian fourth seed Azarenka thrashed around for an hour and 44 minutes on the hallowed turf but their "heavy metal" variety of tennis hardly captivated a Centre Court liberally sprinkled with empty green seats.

The famous arena was still not full either when Sharapova, the only genuine A-lister to survive until the semis, strode out under cloudy skies to take on wildcard Lisicki.

For three games the fifth seed could hardly get the ball in court, struggling on serve, lashing forehands into the net and shooting panicky glances to fiance Sasha Vujacic as he tried his best to offer encouragement from the players' box.

She improved steadily but her progress to the final was helped by an opponent whose belief drained away as quickly as Sharapova ramped up the volume on the "grunt-o-meter".

When the ninth service break ended the contest, the long-limbed Russian blew kisses to all four stands and added an extra one for her boyfriend before aiming another at the sky in gratitude for the looming rain clouds staying away.

After storming through the draw without losing a set to reach her first grand slam final since her career was threatened by shoulder surgery in 2008, Sharapova will be odds-on favourite to collect her fourth major title.

"But the next match starts from scratch. Everything that kind of went before, that doesn't really matter," said the Florida-based Russian, who gets to enjoy a few of the perks of being a member of the All England Club.

Azarenka's defeat will at least help keep the volume down on Saturday as left-handed Kvitova is relatively quiet when she smites the ball over the net.

The Belarussian, whose sound effects again brought giggles from the crowd, was briefly drowned out by an alarm blaring across Centre Court at one point of the match but it was Kvitova's accuracy that was the real danger.

The first set whizzed by in 27 minutes with hardly a rally to speak of but Azarenka got a foothold with an early break in the second and went on to level the contest.

With similar playing styles, both smashing the felt off the ball from the baseline, there was a muted atmosphere in the stands as Kvitova pulled away again in the decider.

Kvitova completed victory on her second match point when Azarenka served a double fault.

"I think it was a nervous match for sure," Kvitova, the first left-hander to reach the women's final since Czech-born American Martina Navratilova in 1994, told reporters.

"It was tough mentally but it's something unbelievable to be in the final at Wimbledon."

Andy Murray's quest to become the first British man to win Wimbledon for 75 years takes centre stage on Friday when he takes on world number one and holder Rafa Nadal in the men's semis after Novak Djokovic plays Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

Sania-Vesnina in Wimbledon quarterfinals

India's Sania Mirza and Russian Elena Vesnina advanced to the quarterfinal of women's doubles in Wimbledon Championships with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia and Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland Tuesday.


The Indo-Russian pair, seeded fourth, will next take on Spain's Nuria Llagostera and Arantxa Parra Santonja.


Sania and Vesnina had also made it to the title round of French Open.

Wimbledon tennis championships 2011 in London - Female stars

Wimbledon tennis championships 2011 in London - Female stars







Tennis Fashion

Tennis: Russian Nikolay Davydenko wins title in ATP World Tour Finals

Russian defeats del Potro in final: Nikolay Davydenko of Russia won the biggest tournament of his career Sunday, beating U.S. Open champion Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina 6-3, 6-4 to take the title in the season-ending ATP World Tour Finals in London.

Davydenko, who beat top-ranked Roger Federer of Switzerland in the semifinal round, dominated his service games against del Potro, losing five points on serve in the first set and eight in the second.

"Maybe I had good concentration," said Davydenko, who has reached four Grand Slam tournament semifinals but never made a final. "I was surprised."

Del Potro had three chances to break, but Davydenko saved the point in each case.

"He's very fast," del Potro said. "He plays like PlayStation."

Each player was distracted at least once by a crying baby.

"Maybe he's bored watching our match," del Potro said.

In the doubles final, Americans Bob and Mike Bryan defeated Max Mirnyi of Belarus and Andy Ram of Israel 7-6 (7-3), 6-3 to win their third season-ending title and earn the year-end No. 1 world ranking for the fifth time.

Gay clocks stunning 100m in China

Tyson Gay equalled the second fastest time ever over 100m with 9.69 seconds at the Shanghai Golden Grand Prix.

The American has struggled with a groin injury of late but still won a Worlds silver medal behind Usain Bolt.

At China's end-of-season meet, Gay, 27, equalled the world record Bolt set when he won Olympic gold last year before he reduced it to 9.58 secs in Berlin.

American Carmelita Jeter ran 10.64 secs to overtake Marion Jones as the world's second fastest woman over 100m.

Only the late Florence Griffith-Joyner has run faster having run 10.49s.

Gay, who has been suffering from a strained groin and is set to have an operation, admitted at the start of the month he had been "running on one leg".

After running the third-fastest 100m in history, 9.71, at the World Championships, where he had to pull out of the 200m, Gay beat Jamaican Asafa Powell by 0.16s in China with American Darvis Patton in third (9.89).

Gay revealed afterwards he intends to challenge Bolt's world record when he returns to full fitness.

"I'm not too motivated because I've not been fully healthy," he said. "I ran my run so well, even though my groin hurts."

The Chinese crowd saved their biggest cheer for former world and Olympic champion hurdler Liu Xiang as he returned to action for the first time since limping out of the Beijing Bird's Nest last year.

"Being back on the track is a pivotal step for me," Liu said ahead of the 110m hurdles race.

The 26-year-old 2004 Olympic gold medallist had an operation in the United States in December to repair the Achilles tendon that forced his agonising Olympic withdrawal during qualifying.

However, the local superstar was pipped on the line by American Terrence Trammell with both men clocking 13.15s.

"I didn't expect I could run so fast, but once I stepped on the track I could not hold back," Liu said.

Meanwhile, Russian Olympic champion Yelena Isinbayeva failed in three attempts to improve her own pole vault world record of 5.06m.

There were other victories for Wallace Spearmon in the 200m, while Britain's Rob Tobin impressed in second place behind Lashawn Merritt in the 400m.

Yelena Isinbayeva breaks pole vault world record

Russia's Yelena Isinbayeva broke her own women's pole vault world record at the Weltlklasse Golden League meeting after clearing 5.06

Isinbayeva, who last week failed to register a vault in a shock defeat at the world championships in Berlin, beat her previous record of 5.05 metres set at the Beijing Olympics.

Entering the contest at 4.71 metres, Isinbayeva easily cleared the bar at her first attempt and also had no trouble with her next jump at 4.81.

The 27-year-old won the competition when Poland's world champion Anna Rogowska failed at 4.86, then sent the stadium into uproar by clearing 5.06, again at the first attempt, to break the outdoor record for the 15th time.

"In Berlin, I only had three jumps so I felt fresh. This is unbelievable, crazy," she said.

Before her defeat in Berlin, Isinbayeva had won the last four global titles, claiming gold at the 2004 and 2008 Olympics and 2005 and 2007 world championships as well as a host of European and indoor titles.

On Thursday, Isinbayeva blamed her Berlin flop on over-confidence and said competing had become like a daily job for her.

Venus Williams Joins Women’s Seeds Exodus at U.S. Open Tennis

Venus Williams became the latest women’s seed to be eliminated from the U.S. Open, losing in three sets to former champion Kim Clijsters after sister Serena advanced to the quarterfinals.

Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal avoided any mishaps in the men’s draw yesterday, winning in straight sets to reach the fourth round of the year’s final Grand Slam tennis tournament at the National Tennis Center in New York.

Wildcard entrant Clijsters, in her first major since ending a two-year retirement last month, won 6-0, 0-6, 6-4 to send Williams to her earliest exit in five years at the tournament she won in 2000 and 2001. Only six of 32 women’s seeds remain.

“I feel I’m at a point where, if I play good and if I stay consistent, I can make it tough for the other girls,” Clijsters told reporters.

It was the first meeting between Williams and Clijsters since the Belgian beat the American in the quarterfinals four years ago en route to the title. Clijsters, who has won 34 singles titles and spent 19 weeks ranked No. 1 in the world, returned after a 28-month break during which she got married and had a daughter.

Clijsters will play China’s Li Na, the No. 18 seed, for a place in the final four, where she could face Serena Williams. The defending champion cruised past Daniela Hantuchova 6-2, 6-0 to set up a quarterfinal with 10th-seed Flavia Pennetta of Italy, who defeated No. 7 Vera Zvonareva of Russia 3-6, 7-6 (8-6), 6-0.

“I just want to keep this level and just stay focused,” said the second-seeded Williams, who’s seeking a 12th Grand Slam singles title.

Oudin Upsets

The next highest-seeded woman remaining is No. 6 Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia, who seeks a spot in the quarterfinals today against No. 9 Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark. American Melanie Oudin, who upset former champion Maria Sharapova and 2004 runner-up Elena Dementieva her past two matches, is also in action against another Russian in No. 13 Nadia Petrova.

The top four men are all into the round of 16 after second- seeded Murray raced to a 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 win over American Taylor Dent and No. 3 Nadal beat fellow Spaniard Nicolas Almagro 7-5, 6-4, 6-4.

Britain’s Murray next faces 16th-seeded Marin Cilic of Croatia, while Nadal meets No. 13 Gael Monfils of France.

Also moving into the fourth round yesterday were No. 6 Juan Martin Del Potro of Argentina, No. 7 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France, No. 11 Fernando Gonzalez of Chile and No. 24 Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain.

Federer Streak

Five-time defending champion Roger Federer is back in action today against Spanish No. 14 seed Tommy Robredo.

The top-seeded Swiss hasn’t lost a match at the U.S. Open since 2003 and is trying to become the first man to win six consecutive titles since tennis turned professional in 1968.

Serbia’s Novak Djokovic, seeded fourth, plays in today’s final scheduled match against No. 15 Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic. Elsewhere in the men’s draw, No. 8 Nikolay Davydenko of Russia takes on No. 12 Robin Soderling of Sweden and No. 10 Fernando Verdasco of Spain faces unseeded American John Isner.

The 6-foot-9 Isner was a five-set winner in his third-round match against Andy Roddick, who was the last American man to win a major at the 2003 U.S. Open. This is the just the second time in seven Grand Slam appearances that Isner got past the first round. Roddick, at No. 5, is the highest men’s seed to be eliminated so far, as only two of the top 10 have lost.

Sharapova brushes aside Petrova

Maria Sharapova thrashed fifth seed and world number 10 Nadia Petrova to reach the quarter-finals of the Bank of the West Classic in California.

The three-time Grand Slam champion is continuing her comeback, having returned in May after nine months out because of shoulder surgery last year.

And the 22-year-old Russian hammered compatriot Petrova 6-1 6-2 in Stanford.

There were also wins for third seed Elena Dementieva, Daniela Hantuchova and Samantha Stosur.

Dementieva swept past fellow Russian Maria Kirilenko 6-1 6-2, the unseeded Hantuchova upset seventh seed Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland 4-6 7-6 (8-6) 6-1, and Australian Stosur beat Monica Niculescu of Romania 6-1 7-5.

Sharapova, ranked 62nd, was playing just her 17th match since returning from injury and enjoyed her second win in that time over Petrova, having also won their second-round encounter at the French Open.

"I knew what I had to improve upon," said Sharapova, who beat Japan's Ai Sugiyama in the first round in Stanford. "I started that first match lousy. This time the goal was to get a better start.

"I was aggressive the whole way through. I didn't have many letdowns and even when I made unforced errors I stayed with it."

Sharapova will next play the winner of the match between Venus Williams and Alla Kudryavtseva of Russia, and the former world number one would relish the chance to face Williams.

"Its always great to come back and play someone who's at the top of the game and playing pretty well. I always relish playing the top players," she said. "I'd love to play against her."

India grouped with US in U-21 World Volleyball

Hosts India, ranked tenth in the world, have been drawn in Pool A along with with the mighty United States of America, Tunisia and Belarus in the 16-nation fifth FIVB Mens Under 21 World Volleyball Championships to be held at Pune from July 31 to August 9.

The hosts were among the eight seeded teams for the tournament, which is to be held at the Shiv Chatrapati Sports City in Balewadi.

The other seeded teams in the fray are three-time winners (1993, 2001 and 2007) and defending champions Brazil, currently ranked third, their arch-rivals from South America Argentina (rank 2), top-ranked Iran, last editions losing finalists Russia (rank 4), France (rank 5), China (rank 6) and USA (rank 7).

The draw of lots assigning the preliminary groups were held here last night by the international volleyball federations technical delegate Shanrit Wongprasert in the presence of organising committee chairman and Maharashtra's Finance Minister, DilipValse Patil.

K Murugan, Secretary-General of the Volleyball Federation of India, assured the international volleyball federation (FIVB) representatives that top-class facilities would be offered to the teams during the championship.

Who Will Be No.1 Now?

Jelena Jankovic's run at No.1 will come to an end - at least for now - when the next Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Singles Rankings are published this coming Monday, February 2, 2009.

Following the results at the Australian Open through the semifinals, it is projected that Jankovic will fall to No.3 and Zvonareva will reach a new career-high of No.5. By virtue of her semifinal loss, Elena Dementieva will remain at No.4. But who will be the Top 2?

Whoever wins Saturday's singles final - Serena Williams or Dinara Safina - will be No.1. For Williams it would be a return to the top spot, having spent 61 non-consecutive weeks of her career there; Safina is aiming to become the 19th player in Tour history - and second Russian, after Maria Sharapova - to become the world No.1. Should Safina win and become No.1, it would also be the first time in history that a brother and sister are No.1 on their respective tours (Marat Safin was ranked No.1 on the ATP World Tour for nine non-consecutive weeks between December 2000 and April 2001).

Williams vs. Safina final
Champion will be No.1 and runner-up will be No.2.

Rounding out the Top 10 will be Venus Williams at No.6, Svetlana Kuznetsova at No.7, Ana Ivanovic No.8, Agnieszka Radwanska No.9 and Nadia Petrova No.10.

Looking a little lower down the projections, Zheng Jie is expected to rise to No.20, making her just the second Chinese player ever to crack the Top 20 (after Li Na); Carla Suárez Navarro is expected to rise to No.30 (her Top 30 debut); and Jelena Dokic is expected to surge into the Top 100 (approximately No.91).

Top world athletes to run for Gandhi

Thirty international and about one hundred top-Indian athletes will participate in the maiden Nagpur International Marathon, which has been organised here on January 30 to commemorate the death anniversary of the father of the nation Mahatma Gandhi.

The event offers a total prize money of Rs 36,56,000. Top marathon runners from Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia, Russia, Ukraine and Nepal have been extended invitation in
both men and women section for this first ever event, its organising committee said.

"We run for culture of peace and non-violence," organising committee chairman, Vilas Muttemwar, said at a press conference here.

He said the men's race will cover 42.195kms while women will run a distance of 21.097 kms with a winning purse of rupees 2.50 lakh and 1.50 lakh respectively.

Besides, there will be races of 10km for both men and women, for boys and girls of under-18, under-16 and under-14 years of age, for veterans, handicapped and a celebrity run.

A total of Rs 25,80,00 will be given up to 25th position besides bonus money for Indian athletes upto third position in both section. The races will start from Kasturchand Park ground and finish at Yeshwant Stadium in Dhantoli.

Russian wildcard angers Bristow

Former world champion Eric Bristow has slated the decision by the Professional Darts Corporation to hand a wildcard to female player Anastasia Dobromyslova.

Russian Dobromyslova is the reigning BDO women's world champion and the PDC World Championships begin on Friday.

Bristow told BBC London 94.9: "There are a lot of top players who are not very happy about it.

"They are paying a lot of money to travel around the world and she's just been invited."

Five-times British Darts Organisation world title winner Bristow added: "I feel so sorry for Trina Gulliver who won the women's world title seven years in a row. The year she loses it we invite the winner over.

"If Anastasia wants to join the PDC, travel the world earning ranking points and earn her way through then we could have five women in it next year and no-one could complain.

"I don't think she's that good to be honest. People are saying she's the best woman player ever but Maureen [Flowers] would have killed her, Deta Hedman would have murdered her and Trina Gulliver has been a great ambassador."

Dobromyslova has been drawn against Remco van Eijden in the preliminary round at Alexandra Palace, Phil Taylor is odds-on favourite to win his 14th world crown.

Dobromyslova falls to early exit

Anastasia Dobromyslova, the first woman to play in the PDC world championship, went out in the preliminary round with a 5-3 defeat by Remco van Eijden.

The 24-year-old Russian had several chances against her Dutch opponent and won the first leg as the fans at Alexandra Palace cheered every dart.

But Van Eijden remained composed to take a 3-1 lead before eventually wrapping up the win in the eighth leg.

Former finalist Peter Manley fell to a shock 3-2 defeat by Mensur Suljovic.

Raymond van Barneveld and Wayne Mardle sealed first-round wins.

Dutchman Van Barneveld, ranked second in the world, beat Mark Stephenson 3-0, while Mardle had little trouble in seeing off David Fatum by the same scoreline.

World number seven Andy Hamilton had earlier booked his place in the second round with a 3-0 win over Michael Barnard.

Dobromyslova's arrival at the championship had drawn plenty of attention, but the women's world champion was not able to make the headlines with a famous victory.

"I'm disappointed but I wasn't good enough on the day," said Dobromyslova.

"I felt comfortable on stage but we were both nervous in the first few legs and I felt some pressure.

"But this is just the start for me and I'll be better for the experience. I'll be travelling to all the PDC tournaments next year and hopefully I will qualify again."

Van Eijden admitted: "I've played most of the best players in the game but that was the hardest match I've ever had.

"Everyone wanted to see me lose but I settled down after the first couple of legs and got the win.

"Anastasia is a world champion and a very good player, and she can play better than this, but she was under pressure and did well."

Mark Walsh beat Jamie Caven 3-2 but missed the chance to claim the first ever nine-dart finish in the history of the championships - and a £20,000 bonus.

"On the nine-darter, I was thinking about the £20,000," said Walsh. "The double 12 attempt was nearer the treble!"

The 2005 World Championship runner-up Mark Dudbridge was pushed all the way by qualifier Nick Fullwell before taking a 3-2 win, while Denis Ovens saw off Steve Maish 3-0.

Garry Kasparov coming to India

Garry Kasparov, considered the greatest chess players ever, will be visiting India soon. The former world champion, who retired in 2005, after spending nearly 20 years at the helm of the world chess, will be in New Delhi in mid-March. It will be his first ever visit to India.

Kasparov, 45, will be in the capital to deliver a keynote address for a Delhi-based media organisation. The exact nature of the address is not yet known but his recent activities have been more political than sporting. A staunch critic of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, Kasparov — after his retirement — had launched a political movement against Putin’s authority and has often used words like mafia when he talked about the Russian Government. He had also unsuccessfully tried to contest in 2008 elections.

The Russian is likely to take part in a simultaneous chess exhibition. As of now, he is expected to spend two days in New Delhi. However, his other programmes in India are being kept under the wraps. “I’m looking forward to the visit,” Kasparov told DNA through his agent.

Born in Baku, Azerbaijan, in April 1963, Kasparov had scaled to an unthinkable Elo rating of 1851 at the peak of his career. He had become the youngest ever world champion in 1985 at the age of 22. He went on retain the official title till 1993 when he split the world chess and formed his own Professional Chess Association. But in an interview to DNA last year, he admitted that splitting the world chess was his biggest blunder.

The world chess finally got united after Indian Grandmaster Viwanathan Anand won the United world title in Mexico in 2007. Kasparov was, in fact, among the first few to congratulate Anand after the Indian maestro beat Vladimir Kramnik in the Bonn World Championship recently.

Alexandre Gaydamak ready to sell Portsmouth

Portsmouth owner Alexandre Gaydamak has put the club up for sale.

The 32-year-old Franco-Russian businessman cited growing business commitments for his decision.

He told the Sunday Mirror: "I have come to realise over a period of time that I can no longer invest the time required to oversee the running of the club."

However, Gaydamak said he will not sell to anyone without a guarantee they will commit to funding a new stadium and training ground for the club.

Gaydamak became co-owner of Portsmouth, alongside then-chairman Milan Mandaric, in January 2006.

He bought out Mandaric at a cost of about £32m to solely take the helm at Fratton Park in July that same year, and set out his strategy to find a new stadium and training facilities for the club.

Gaydamak insists he will now seek assurances that any potential buyer will ensure those ambitions become reality.

He said: "As regards the new stadium and training ground it is sensible to re-evaluate things in the current market, but I stress that it is imperative that they go ahead.

"And until I find a buyer who will give me cast iron assurances that this will be the case, I will remain at the club.

"I have already rejected two offers for the club because I didn't feel the buyers' motives were in the best interests of the club's long-term future.

"Making money from the sale of the club does not interest me. Finding the right buyer is far more important."

Anna Kournikova Pictures - 2008 YouthAIDS Gala

2008 YouthAIDS Gala Anna Kournikova

FIFA satisfied with meeting of the sports ministers of the European Union

Following the meeting of the European sports ministers that took place in Biarritz, France on Thursday 27 and Friday 28 November, to which the Olympic and sporting movement was also invited, FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter said: "I am satisfied with the coming together of viewpoints and the strong support for the notions of specificity, autonomy and self-regulation of sport that was demonstrated by the 27 European ministers during the meeting in Biarritz. The unanimous support of the ministers and their desire for dialogue point towards a bright future for the Olympic and sporting movement."

The unity and desire for structured dialogue with the European authorities shown by the Olympic and sporting movement, led by Jacques Rogge, President of the International Olympic Committee, who made an impressive speech at the meeting, coupled with the backing given among others by the Association of International Olympic Winter Sports Federations, the International Ice Hockey Federation, the International Basketball Federation, the International Rugby Board and UEFA, give cause for great satisfaction at the progress of the discussions.

A private meeting between the FIFA President and the European Commissioner Jan Figel allowed both parties to allay certain doubts regarding the application of the specificity and autonomy of sport.

Blatter is equally delighted by the unanimous agreement voiced by the 27 European sports ministers on the need for dialogue and discussion of the "6+5" rule while respecting its compatibility with EU law.

The 27 European sports ministers issued the following joint statement with regard to the "6+5" rule: "... the ministers express their interest in and want to encourage further discussions on the initiatives of international federations to encourage the teams of professional clubs in each country to develop the presence of athletes capable of qualifying for national teams, in compliance with EU law, to strengthen the regional and national rules of professional clubs."

The FIFA President also spoke about the measures being taken by FIFA to protect minors and training clubs. These met with the appreciation of the European ministers.