China eye Asiad badminton gold; India- Pakistan face-off in f.hockey

GUANGZHOU: Arch-rivals India and Pakistan face off in a combustible field hockey clash as Chinese women’s world number one Wang Xin guns for Asian Games badminton gold.

On Saturday, Day 8 of the multi-sport showpiece, hosts China have an unassailable lead at the top of the medals table with 127 gold to South Korea’s 43 and Japan’s 24.

Iran has jumped to eight after recent success in weightlifting and taekwondo, while Indonesia picked up its third gold Saturday in the 250m men’s dragon boat.

So far, 28 of the 45 nations and territories in Guangzhou have got themselves on the podium, including Iraq, Afghanistan, Lebanon and Laos.

Another 30 titles are up for grabs on Saturday, in synchronized swimming, badminton, billiard sports, road cycling, dragon boat, equestrian, fencing, golf, sailing, sepaktakraw, table tennis, and taekwondo

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Murray torches Tsonga to reach Shanghai semis

SHANGHAI: Britain’s Andy Murray brushed aside burly Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-2 6-2 to reach the semi-finals of the Shanghai Masters on Friday.

The fourth-seeded Scot looked sharp after a recent illness, taking command early in the first set and was hardly troubled in the second as he advanced to last four in just 54 minutes.

The error-prone Tsonga was no match for the 23-year-old world number four, whose stinging backhand returns forced the 12th seed into submission.

World number two Novak Djokovic plays Guillermo Garcia-Lopez for a place in the semis, while Jurgen Melzer, who beat world number one Rafa Nadal in the third round, plays Argentina’s Juan Monaco.

Roger Federer plays Robin Soderling for the last semi-final spot. AGENCIES

Pennetta, Suarez through to final in Marbella

MARBELLA: Second seed Flavia Pennetta needed less than an hour to crush fellow Italian Sara Errani 6-1 6-1 on Saturday and claim a place in the final of the Andalucia Open clay court tournament.

Pennetta faces Carla Suarez Navarro on Sunday after the Spanish eighth seed beat fifth-seeded compatriot Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez 2-6 6-3 6-2 to reach the final for a second straight year.

“I think Sara was more tense than normal but she”s young and plays well and will have many more chances to beat me,” world number 16 Pennetta said of her 22-year-old friend Errani.

“Matches against friends are very difficult, especially mentally,” she told a news conference.

Pennetta has played Suarez Navarro, who lost to Jelena Jankovic of Serbia in last year”s final, twice previously with each player winning once.

Saina Enters Malaysia Masters Semifinal

TrendPK.com Saina Enters Malaysia Masters Semifinal:Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal defeated Thai Porntip Buranaprasertsuk in straight games to advance to the semifinals of the World Super Series Masters Final in Johor Bahru, Malaysia, on Friday.

TrendPK.com Saina Enters Malaysia Masters Semifinal:Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal defeated Thai Porntip Buranaprasertsuk in straight games to advance to the semifinals of the World Super Series Masters Final in Johor Bahru, Malaysia, on Friday.
The world number eight Indian beat lower-ranked Porntip 21-13 21-19 in a 33-minute match to emerge as one [...]

Tiger Woods quits his event

Tiger Woods will not play in this week’s Chevron World Challenge, which he has hosted in Thousand Oaks, California, for the past nine years, because of injuries sustained in a car accident.

The American world number one, who has dominated news headlines since crashing his SUV outside his Florida home in the early hours of Friday (November 27) morning, said he would not attend “due to injuries sustained” in the accident.

The $5.75 million event, which has been won four times by Woods, starts Thursday with a strong field featuring 12 of the world’s top 20 players.

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Tiger Woods quits his event was first posted on December 2, 2009 at 8:25 am.