Golf: Fernandez-Castano leads in Doha

 

Spain s Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano overcame a desert storm to grab the lead away from American John Daly on the opening day of the Commercialbank Qatar Masters in Doha.

 

Daly s return to form – he is 543rd in the world – with a five-under-par 67 looked an unreachable target for the later starters as conditions worsened.

 

But Fernandez-Castano, on course for a Ryder Cup debut later this year, birdied four of the last five holes for a brilliant 66.

 

The 31-year-old from Madrid, wearing sunglasses to limit the amount of sand blowing in his eyes, had a remarkable nine birdies during his round, but also bogeys on the fourth, long 10th and 13th.

 

Three months after walking out of the Australian Open saying he had run out of balls – several of them had just been hit into a lake – 45-year-old Daly surprised even himself with five birdies and no dropped shots.

 

“It s one of the best rounds I ve ever played in a wind like that,” said the American. “You feel like you are eating a lot of sand – it was brutal. I m pretty shocked myself. I had five-and-a-half weeks off and really didn t touch a club much.”

 

Ryder Cup captain Jose Maria Olazabal was another to reach five under, but then came four bogeys in the last seven holes for a 71.

 

Korean KJ Choi tucked in just behind with a 68, while Scot Paul Lawrie – another ex-Open champion, of course – England s Richard Finch, Belgian Nicolas Colsaerts and Swede Peter Hanson were one further back.

 

World number four Martin Kaymer, who missed the cut in his defence of the Abu Dhabi Championship last week, shot one under along with Lee Westwood, one better than Sergio Garcia.

 

Graeme McDowell had to settle for a 73 and defending champion Thomas Bjorn needed a par on the last just to break 80.

Federer beats Nadal in a charity match in Switzerland

Roger Federer took the upper hand against Rafael Nadal on Tuesday with a two set to one win in a charity exhibition match in the Swiss city of Zurich.

After losing the first set 4-6, Federer broke back against the world number one early in the second set to take a 6-3, 6-3 lead, watched by a capacity home crowd including Formula One champion Sebastian Vettel, ski-ing champions Lindsey Vonn and Didier Cuche.

The 10,500 tickets for the Match for Africa were sold out within a few minutes when they went on sale on September 1.

The world’s top two in tennis this year move on to Madrid for another exhibtion match on Wednesday, this time to raise money for the Spaniard’s charity.

Both of us realise we are in a very privileged position, where we have everything in life, the least we can do is to help people who are in difficulty, said Nadal.

Federer has been hoping to raise around one million dollars from the event for his foundation to support projects for African children in education and sport.

You have to look at the long term, said Federer.

When you can help 1,500 children to go to school, it’s great but you need a lot around it: how do the children get to school, what do they eat at school, do they have toilets… and that’s where we come in, he added on Swiss television TSR.

The 29 year-old Swiss player remains on the wrong end of an 8-14 career record on the professional circuit against Nadal, breaking a six match losing streak against the Spaniard this year.

Worldwide demos called to release Assange

Supporters of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange planned to hold protests in the capitals of Spain, Colombia, Argentina, Mexico, Peru and the Netherlands to demand Assanges release, the re-establishment of Wikileaks domain and restoration of Visa and Mastercard services to the website.

A statement on the Spanish website Free Wikileaks said: We seek the liberation of Julian Assange in United Kingdom territory. It called on protesters to gather in Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Seville and other Spanish cities. The rally in Amsterdam was sponsored by the Dutch Pirates Party to call for protection of freedom of the press and to express displeasure with the attempt to silence sites such as WikiLeaks.

The 39-year old Australian hacker is jailed at the Wandsworth isolation unit in London after he was arrested for charges of rape and sexual molestation of two women Sarah and Jessica, early this month.

The publishing website WikiLeaks insists that the allegations against Assange are politically motivated attempts in retaliation for the release of more than 250,000 confidential cables, believed to have been passed to WikiLeaks by a US Army private. A spokesman for Wikileaks spokesman said the arrest and detention of Assange was an attack on media freedom. They pledged to continue publishing the controversial US cables.

In the US, President Barack Obama expressed his regrets for Wikileaks deplorable documents dump as he assured Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan that it will not influence the diplomatic relations between US and Turkey. Obama offered similar statements to Mexican president Felipe Calderon. The latest comments were Obamas strongest condemnation so far against the website. Assange is due to appear in court for the second time on Tuesday. He was denied by a London court to post bail due to risk of fleeing.

This week, hacktivists and supporters of Wikileaks, Assange launched Operation Payback and Operation Leakspin, the start of the so-called first global cyber war.

Euro, stocks rally, Spain gets respite but Portugal hit

LONDON: The euro and European stocks rallied strongly on Wednesday and pressure on Spain eased, but the eurozone debt crisis weighed heavily with a credit watch for Portugal and Germany struggling to sell bonds.

Leading EU figures warned that financial markets were underestimating the will of EU leaders and institutions to defend the euro and the eurozone.

But in a new sign of the extent of anxiety among investors, a German bond issue was undersubscribed.

“Markets are still concerned about the debt crisis spreading to other countries,” said Commerzbank analyst Ulrich Leuchtmann.

The euro shot above 1.31 dollars in trading here, a day after hitting a two-month low point under 1.30 dollars. The Madrid stock market meanwhile surged more than 3.0 percent in early afternoon trading.

“For all of the woes around at the moment the equity markets

Jimi Hendrix Updates

Although Jimi Hendrix died 40 years ago in mysterious circumstances surrounding his death and left by the real estate value – including warehouses music stand – and means his name has gone from barely news in all the years since then.

The last person to see Monica Hendrix was alive Dannemann, a skater and actress German figure who was sitting with Hendrix in the Samarkand Hotel in Notting Hill neighborhood in London. Her stories about what happened the night that changed over the years, but the autopsy ruled that Hendricks overdose of a mixture of red wine and sleeping pills and drowned in his vomit.

In the aftermath, it was alleged she Hendrix and Monika Dannemann involved, that he’d planned to leave his girlfriend for three years, Kathy Etchingham. Thus began the so-called / / Independent / 1 “26 years old cat fight” between Dannemann and Etchingham.

Dannemann had tons of media interviews and met with Hendrix’s family in Seattle, and traveled to many conventions Hendrix and publish a book in 1995 entitled the inner world of Jimi Hendrix: Jimmy and Real Madrid – and explore the facts about his death – and revealed his fiancee. Etchingham, who produced her own memories (through the eyes of Gypsies), and maintains at the same time that Hendrix was known Dannemann maybe a few days only.

Criticized the contradictions in the stories about Hendrix Dannemann night died, and in 1993, compiled a dossier raised troubling questions enough to ask Scotland Yard to reopen the investigation into his death.

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Jimi Hendrix Updates was first posted on September 18, 2010 at 7:33 am.
Copyright @ A Pakistan News.Com

Spain grab World Cup with extra-time goal

JOHANNESBURG: Spain stunned the Netherlands to win their first World Cup on Sunday in sensational fashion with a goal in the last minutes of extra time.

With the scoreless match inching toward a penalty shootout, and the Netherlands down to 10 men, Andres Iniesta collected a pass from Cesc Fabregas to fire home from close range and break Dutch hearts four minutes from the final whistle.

It was the first time the European champions had reached a World Cup final and a bitter disappointment for the Netherlands who finished runners-up for the third time after previously losing the 1974 and 1978 finals.

It was also the first triumph by a European side outside their continent.

The result caused agony in the Netherlands and ecstasy in Madrid where fans shed tears of joy and fireworks went off all over the city. More than 10O,000 people had gathered to watch on giant screens and many went hoarse with screams of joy.

In contrast, Dutch cities became deadly silent as their dream of finally winning the trophy evaporated. Some 180,000 fans trudged away quietly from Amsterdam”s museum square.

The game was far from the classic final to Africa”s first World Cup that many had hoped for from the two most impressive teams in the tournament.

Spain looked dominant for long passages but a ferociously physical Netherlands broke up their rhythm and their renowned precision passing in midfield, often reducing the game to a sterile stalemate.

BRUISING ENCOUNTER

In a bruising encounter in the huge Soccer City stadium, referee Howard Webb showed 13 yellow cards — a record for the final — and sent off Dutch defender John Heitinga in extra time.

Despite the disappointing quality of the match, it was a triumphant end to a highly successful tournament for South Africa who confounded years of pessimistic predictions that it would be ruined by violent crime and chaos.

To cap their pride, Nelson Mandela, much loved father of post-apartheid South Africa, briefly toured the pitch waving to the 85,000-strong crowd just before the match began.

Mandela, 91, who is in frail health, was driven around in a golf cart surrounded by bodyguards and greeted by an adoring crowd chanting his clan name Madiba.

The former president, who led South Africa out of apartheid in 1994, was unable to attend the opening ceremony because of the death of his great grand-daughter in a car accident the night before.

Spanish coach Vicente del Bosque told television: “It was a very difficult match. We have fantastic players. We could have scored another goal or two. But I think the result was deserved. It”s a very happy day for me.”

Dutch coach Bert van Marwijk said the better team had won in the end: “It is very sad. These three or four final minutes and then you lose. I really had thought even with 10 we would be able to do the penalty shoot out.

“It is bitter but that is sport. It is harsh.”

Both sides missed good goalscoring opportunities, most notably Dutch winger Arjen Robben who was twice denied by brilliant saves from Spanish goalkeeper Iker Casillas.

TELEVISION AUDIENCE

FIFA said a worldwide television audience of more than 700 million had been expected to watch the final.

The victory will raise spirits in Spain which is torn by bitter political infighting over how to address Europe”s highest unemployment and crippling debt.

Despite being the first host nation knocked out at the group stage, South Africans have remained enthusiastic spectators, helping this tournament to be the third best attended, with three million seats sold, behind the United States in 1994 and Germany in 2006. President Jacob Zuma dubbed them true champions.

Chief local organizer Danny Jordaan said the tournament had brought the races together and enabled South Africans to walk tall after being told for years they were inferior.

But African joy at a tournament credited with rebranding both South Africa and the continent was blighted by two bomb blasts in the Ugandan capital Kampala that killed at least 23 people watching the final in bars, police said. There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

Uruguay striker Forlan gets shock best player nod

JOHANNESBURG: Uruguay striker Diego Forlan was on Sunday surprisingly awarded the Golden Ball as the best player of the 2010 World Cup.

Atletico Madrid striker Forlan grabbed five goals at the tournament as his country finished in fourth place after losing Saturday”s third-place play-off to Germany.

The former Manchester United player polled 23.4 percent of the votes awarded by media covering the tournament with Wesley Sneijder, of runners-up Holland, on 21.8 percent, and David Villa, of newly-crowned champions Spain, taking 16.9 percent.

“This is award which I won thanks to my teammates,” wrote Forlan on his Twitter account, a post accompanied by a photograph where the striker is standing with other players.

“It was taken before they threw me in the swimming pool,” he explained.

Uruguay”s performance at the World Cup was the country”s best in 40 years.

Forlan succeeds Zinedine Zidane who was named top player of the 2006 World Cup despite his infamous red card in the final defeat to Italy.

Forlan”s victory was a surprise as five players who featured in Sunday”s final (Villa, Xavi, Andres Iniesta of Spain and Holland”s Arjen Robben and Sneijder) all figured in the list of 10 nominees.

The 31-year-old Forlan also won the Europa League last season with Atletico Madrid.

Thomas Mueller was given two reasons to celebrate after the German starlet was named Young Player of the World Cup and picked up the Golden Boot for the tournament”s top scorer.

The 20-year-old Bayern Munich forward finished the tournament with five goals, the same number as Forlan, Sneijder and Villa.

He was awarded the Golden Boot because he had supplied three assists, which was more than any of his rivals.

Mueller was elected the tournament”s outstanding young player by FIFA”s Technical Study Group, beating off competition from Ghana winger Andre Ayew and Mexican forward Giovanni dos Santos.

Spain”s Iker Casillas was voted the best goalkeeper after his side won the trophy by beating Holland 1-0 in the final.

Casillas, who twice crucially denied Robben with the score at 0-0, gets FIFA”s Golden Glove award after conceding just two goals in seven matches.

Capping a fine night for Spain was the award for fair play for having the best disciplinary record.

Germany rout Argentina to march into semi-finals

CAPE TOWN: Striker Miroslav Klose celebrated his 100th cap with two second-half goals to help Germany reach the World Cup semi-finals with a 4-0 demolition of Diego Maradona”s outclassed Argentina on Saturday.

Germany now face either Spain or Paraguay, who meet later on Saturday, in Durban next Wednesday with a place in the final at Johannesburg”s Soccer City on July 11 at stake.

A third-minute goal by Thomas Mueller gave Germany a 1-0 lead, before the three-time champions turned the screw after the interval.

Klose netted in the 68th minute, centre-back Arne Friedrich scored his first for his country six minutes later before Klose completed the rout with an 89th-minute volley which gave him a 14th World Cup goal, just one behind Ronaldo”s record of 15.

German coach Joachim Loew got the better tactically of a bewildered Maradona as the men in black defended doggedly and attacked in numbers.

World footballer of the year Lionel Messi was tightly marked by Mueller and Bastian Schweinsteiger as Argentina”s star-studded side failed to shine.

The only blot on Germany”s copybook was Mueller”s first-half yellow card which sees him suspended for the semi-final.

Klose was lucky not to receive a yellow card in the opening minute, when he fouled Argentina captain Javier Mascherano, but the Germans were soon in front.

They took the lead after just three minutes when Mueller headed home a Schweinsteiger free-kick for his fourth goal of the tournament, the ball deflecting in off goalkeeper Sergio Romero”s leg.

Argentina right-back Nicolas Otamendi earned the first yellow card of the game on 11 minutes for a foul on Friedrich.

The South Americans” first sight of goal came when Messi slid a pass through the German defence to Carlos Tevez, but goalkeeper Manuel Neuer raced from his line to deal with the threat.

Mueller”s bright start then suffered a setback when he picked up his yellow card for handling the ball on 35 minutes.

Argentina had an encouraging start to the second-half as Real Madrid new boy Angel Di Maria fired a long-range shot which had Neuer at full-stretch on 48 minutes and Per Mertesacker blocked a shot from Tevez on 54 minutes.

But Germany extended their lead when Podolski found space on the left flank and passed back inside for Klose to score on 68 minutes.

Schweinsteiger helped make sure of Germany”s place in the last four when he darted through the Argentinian defence to give Friedrich a simple tap in on 74 minutes to claim his first international goal on his 77th appearance.

Argentina”s defence crumbled as Klose completed the demolition with his 52nd goal for Germany as he volleyed home a cross from Mesut Ozil just before the final whistle.

Brazil defeat Chile 3-0, face Dutch in last eight

JOHANNESBURG: Brazil set up a mouth-watering World Cup quarter-final clash against the Netherlands with a convincing 3-0 win over Chile on Monday at Ellis Park.

First-half goals by centre-back Juan and striker Luis Fabiano gave Dunga-coached Brazil a 2-0 lead before Robinho made sure of their quarter-final berth with the third goal after an hour.

Brazil will face the Netherlands, who earlier saw off Slovakia 2-1, in Port Elizabeth on Friday.

This was Brazil”s 47th win in 66 matches against Chile, who have only seven wins – and third in three World Cup meetings after 1962 and 1998.

“We are on the right road and we played well, but we still have to iron out a few minor things,” Robinho said afterwards.

Chilean keeper Claudio Bravo said Chile had given it their best shot but came up short.

“We have been beaten by one of the best teams in the world. We gave everything but we came up against a team that was very solid and played good football.

We are good going forward but we have a fair bit of progress to make when it comes to defending,” Bravo admitted.

Chile made a bright start, but Brazil quickly got into their stride as Luis Fabiano and Gilberto Silva both forced goalkeeper Claudio Bravo into early saves.

Brazil had a loud appeal for a penalty on 27 minutes when defender Pablo Contreras took away Lucio”s legs, but referee Howard Webb waved play on.

Real Madrid”s Kaka, back in the side after serving a one-match ban for his red card against the Ivory Coast, picked up the first yellow card when he went for the ball, but caught Chile”s Arturo Vital on the ankle on 30 minutes.

Brazil took the lead on 34 minutes when Maicon swung in a corner and Roma defender Juan rose the highest to head past Bravo.

Luis Fabiano made it 2-0 four minutes later after Kaka took a pass from Robinho on the left wing and slid the ball through for the Sevilla star to draw Bravo and slot home.

Chile”s Vital repaid the foul on Kaka and earned a yellow card on 47 minutes.

Brazil then grabbed their third goal after Benfica”s Ramires ran from the halfway line to the edge of the penalty area where he laid the ball off for Robinho to fire home on 59 minutes.

Chile refused to give up and substitute Jorge Valdivia fired over the crossbar on 67 minutes before team-mate Ismael Fuentes was booked for a foul on Luis Fabiano moments later.

Ramires will miss the quarter-final with the Dutch after earning his second yellow card of the tournament for a foul on Alexis Sanchez on 71 minutes.

Suazo forced Brazilian goalkeeper Julio Cesar into a rare save on 75 minutes, just before Robinho had a second goal ruled out for offside.

With ten minutes left, Chile substitute Rodrigo Millar picked up a yellow card and Kaka earned a vuvuzela-fuelled fanfare of appreciation from Brazil”s fans when he went off.

Brazil defeat Chile 3-0, face Dutch in last eight

JOHANNESBURG: Brazil set up a mouth-watering World Cup quarter-final clash against the Netherlands with a convincing 3-0 win over Chile on Monday at Ellis Park.

First-half goals by centre-back Juan and striker Luis Fabiano gave Dunga-coached Brazil a 2-0 lead before Robinho made sure of their quarter-final berth with the third goal after an hour.

Brazil will face the Netherlands, who earlier saw off Slovakia 2-1, in Port Elizabeth on Friday.

This was Brazil”s 47th win in 66 matches against Chile, who have only seven wins – and third in three World Cup meetings after 1962 and 1998.

“We are on the right road and we played well, but we still have to iron out a few minor things,” Robinho said afterwards.

Chilean keeper Claudio Bravo said Chile had given it their best shot but came up short.

“We have been beaten by one of the best teams in the world. We gave everything but we came up against a team that was very solid and played good football.

We are good going forward but we have a fair bit of progress to make when it comes to defending,” Bravo admitted.

Chile made a bright start, but Brazil quickly got into their stride as Luis Fabiano and Gilberto Silva both forced goalkeeper Claudio Bravo into early saves.

Brazil had a loud appeal for a penalty on 27 minutes when defender Pablo Contreras took away Lucio”s legs, but referee Howard Webb waved play on.

Real Madrid”s Kaka, back in the side after serving a one-match ban for his red card against the Ivory Coast, picked up the first yellow card when he went for the ball, but caught Chile”s Arturo Vital on the ankle on 30 minutes.

Brazil took the lead on 34 minutes when Maicon swung in a corner and Roma defender Juan rose the highest to head past Bravo.

Luis Fabiano made it 2-0 four minutes later after Kaka took a pass from Robinho on the left wing and slid the ball through for the Sevilla star to draw Bravo and slot home.

Chile”s Vital repaid the foul on Kaka and earned a yellow card on 47 minutes.

Brazil then grabbed their third goal after Benfica”s Ramires ran from the halfway line to the edge of the penalty area where he laid the ball off for Robinho to fire home on 59 minutes.

Chile refused to give up and substitute Jorge Valdivia fired over the crossbar on 67 minutes before team-mate Ismael Fuentes was booked for a foul on Luis Fabiano moments later.

Ramires will miss the quarter-final with the Dutch after earning his second yellow card of the tournament for a foul on Alexis Sanchez on 71 minutes.

Suazo forced Brazilian goalkeeper Julio Cesar into a rare save on 75 minutes, just before Robinho had a second goal ruled out for offside.

With ten minutes left, Chile substitute Rodrigo Millar picked up a yellow card and Kaka earned a vuvuzela-fuelled fanfare of appreciation from Brazil”s fans when he went off.

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