
Kavarna, Bulgaria: Britain's Graeme McDowell and South African Branden Grace set up a mouth-watering showdown in the semi-finals of the World Match Play Championship by winning on Saturday.
World number eight McDowell, the highest-ranked player in the field, avenged his defeat in last year's final by easing past holder Nicolas Colsaerts of Belgium 2 & 1.
Colsaerts was already trailing when his drive at the 10th hole found a hazard after flying over an on-course toilet.
To adhere to the rules he had to first drop his ball on the toilet floor before he was eventually given 'relief' from the immovable obstruction and he spared his blushes by pitching the ball on to the green and holing out from 15 feet for a par four....
more

09:22 AM, May 19, 2013

Rome: Rafa Nadal beat Czech sixth seed Tomas Berdych 6-2 6-4 to reach the Italian Open final on Saturday with a dominant performance that he described as emotional after his long injury absence. Nadal, who returned to action in February after seven months out with a knee problem, will have the chance to win his sixth title since his comeback when he faces either Roger Federer or Benoit Paire in...

11:49 PM, May 18, 2013

London: After two days of being oppressed by New Zealand, England broke the stranglehold in impressive style to take charge halfway through the first Test at Lord's on Saturday. First, New Zealand was dismissed for 207 to give England a first-innings lead of 25, a significant amount on a tricky, soft pitch. That lead was then boosted from 25 to 205, as Joe Root and Jonathan Trott found runs easy...

11:36 PM, May 18, 2013

Rome: Serena Williams is one victory away from winning her fourth consecutive title this year - with the French Open only one week away. The top-ranked American overcame an early break of her serve to ease past Romanian qualifier Simona Halep 6-3, 6-0 on Saturday and reach the Italian Open final, extending her career-best winning run to 23 matches. Williams is coming off consecutive titles in Miami; Charleston, South Carolina;...

05:26 PM, May 18, 2013

CLICK HERE for live ball-by-ball updates from day three of the first Test between England and New Zealand being played at Lord's in London. Day 2 Round-up: James Anderson took his 300th Test wicket and then ended a bold counter-attack by New Zealand's Ross Taylor as England fought back in the first Test at Lord's. The two players lit up a Lord's bathed in artificial floodlight to counter the overhead...

03:06 PM, May 18, 2013

Rome: Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna reached the semi-finals of the Rome Masters after getting a walkover from rivals Tomas Berdych and Radek Stepanek even as Sania Mizra and Bethanie Mattek-Sands crashed out of the women's event, here. Berdych, who shocked world number one Novak Djokovic in the men's singles in a gruelling three-setter, cited muscle fatigue as the reason for him withdrawing. Bhupathi and Bopanna will now fight it...

01:49 PM, May 18, 2013

Kavarna, Bulgaria: Ian Poulter was eliminated from the World Match Play Championship after losing another round-robin match on Friday. Poulter lost to Thomas Aiken, 1 up, at the Thracian Cliffs course when he bogeyed the last hole after missing the fairway. "I have no excuses," Poulter said. "There is no excuse for that display of golf over the last two days. It's disgusting, disgraceful and there's no explanation. I should...

12:23 PM, May 18, 2013

Cannes: A man was arrested at the Cannes film festival on Friday after firing a starting pistol during a live TV broadcast on the palm-lined waterfront, sending actors Christoph Waltz and Daniel Auteuil running for cover. French TV station Canal+ was interviewing Austria's Oscar-winning Waltz and French actor Auteuil live on its nightly news show from a beach-front set before a crowd of spectators when a man fired two shots...

12:02 PM, May 18, 2013

Sandnes (Norway): Riding high on confidence, world champion Viswanathan Anand outsmarted Jon Ludvig Hammer of Norway to jump to the joint second spot in the Norway chess 2013 super tournament, here. The penultimate round victory turned out to be an important one for Anand as it brought him within striking distance of winning the super tournament for which the Indian ace will need a victory against Wnag Hao of China...

11:24 AM, May 18, 2013

Rome: Czech Tomas Berdych snapped a run of 11 consecutive defeats by world number one Novak Djokovic to reach the semi-finals of the Rome Masters before Rafa Nadal was stretched to the limit against David Ferrer on Friday. Berdych clawed his way back from a 6-2 5-2 deficit to stun the Serbian top seed 2-6 7-5 6-4 and set up a semi-final meeting with Nadal, who for the second week...

07:52 AM, May 18, 2013

London: Former England captain Andrew Strauss said on Friday it was important for the side's Ashes prospects that star batsman Kevin Pietersen regained full fitness. Pietersen is currently sidelined with a knee problem and in his absence England struggled to 232 all out in the first innings of the first Test against New Zealand at Lord's. Strauss retired from all cricket following a 2-0 series defeat by South Africa last...

12:32 AM, May 18, 2013

London: James Anderson became only the fourth England bowler to take 300 Test wickets when he dismissed New Zealand's Peter Fulton on the second day of the first Test at Lord's on Friday. Lancashire seamer Anderson joined Ian Botham (383), Bob Willis (325) and the late Fred Trueman (307), the first man in history to take 300 Test wickets, in a select quartet of England bowlers. The 30-year-old Anderson started...

12:02 AM, May 18, 2013

London: James Anderson took his 300th Test wicket and then ended a bold counter-attack by New Zealand's Ross Taylor as England fought back in the first Test at Lord's. The two players lit up a Lord's bathed in artificial floodlight to counter the overhead gloom of Friday's second day which ended with New Zealand 153 for four in reply to England's first innings 232, a deficit of 79 runs. Anderson...

11:50 PM, May 17, 2013

Bangalore: Former World No. 1 Boris Becker on Friday said Rafael Nadal has good chances of winning the French Open this year but added the Spaniard will face competition from Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer. "Rafa's chances are looking good. But then you have others like Djocovic, who is world No. 1. You also have Federer, who is still very good. There is question mark about Andy Murrey though, who...

11:43 PM, May 17, 2013

Paris: Sharath Kamal took a game off World No.5 Timo Boll before going down 1-4 in the men's singles second round at the World Table Tennis Championships here, ending the Indian challenge in the mega event. Germany's Timo Boll got the better of Sharath 9-11, 12-10, 11-1, 11-5, 11-2 in a round of 64 match Thursday night. The two paddlers play for the same club in Germany, Borussia Dusseldorf. Sharath,...

08:32 PM, May 17, 2013

Rome: Top-ranked Novak Djokovic wasted a chance to serve out the match and was beaten 2-6, 7-5, 6-4 by sixth-seeded Tomas Berdych in the Italian Open quarterfinals on Friday. It's the second consecutive week that Djokovic has struggled, having also lost to Grigor Dimitrov in the second round of the Madrid Open, where he was bothered by a right ankle injury. Djokovic said he had been playing pain free this...

08:17 PM, May 17, 2013

Rome: Serena Williams is on the longest winning streak of her career. The top-ranked American beat Carla Suarez Navarro 6-2, 6-0 Friday to reach the Italian Open semi-finals and extend her victory run to 22 matches. Williams had twice won 21 in a row before, although both of those streaks came a decade ago, in 2002 and 2003. In the other half of the draw, two-time defending champion Maria Sharapova...

06:43 PM, May 17, 2013

New Delhi: The actress flaunted a stylish gown at the premiere of 'Jeune and Jolie' after making India-inspired statements in apparel by Anamika Khanna and Shehla Khan on the first day of the extravaganza. She is at the Cannes fest as the L'Oreal Paris ambassador. ...

06:17 PM, May 17, 2013