IN BRIEF (Page 24)
Tennis
Masters Cup moves to London's Dome
LONDON: The money-spinning Masters Cup will move to London in 2009 and be staged at one of London's most controversial venues, it was announced here yesterday.
The end-of-season championship, currently staged in Shanghai, will be held at the old Millennium Dome, now rebranded as the O2 Arena, on the banks of the Thames from 2009-2012 and will boast prize-money of $4.5 million.
"The Masters Cup in London is something that I thought would never happen but it has happened and it's a remarkable story," said ATP chief executive Etienne de Villiers.
Major prize money stuns Austrian teenager
LONDON: The look of shock on 16-year-old Tamira Paszek's face was not because she had just knocked out Wimbledon 12th seed Elena Dementieva - it was because she had just found out how much prize money she had won for doing it.
The Austrian teenager beat the Russian 3-6 6-2 6-3 to book a place in the fourth round which means she will take home at least 47,250 pounds ($95,010) but the first she had heard about it was at a news conference on Monday.
"Actually I didn't know that yet," she said with the wide-eyed look of someone more used to pocket money than serious cash. "I don't play for the money. I just play because I love the game."
Soccer
Torres cuts short holiday, set to join Liverpool
MADRID: Atletico Madrid striker Fernando Torres is poised to complete a record-breaking move to Liverpool after cutting short a holiday to give the go-ahead to a reported 36 million euros ($48.90 million) deal.
"We are in conversations, but nothing has been signed yet," Atletico President Enrique Cerezo told Onda Cero on Monday.
"The deal has not yet been finalised and Fernando Torres remains an Atletico Madrid player but that might change tomorrow."
Spanish media reported that the 23-year-old international would undergo a medical on Tuesday prior to signing a six-year deal with the English Premier League club.
Sheffield United lose appeal in Tevez affair
LONDON: Sheffield United's appeal against a Premier League decision which they believe led to their relegation was dismissed by an arbitration panel yesterday.
Sheffield United had challenged the decision of an independent Premier League commission to fine West Ham United, rather than dock them points, for breaking rules when they signed Argentine pair Javier Mascherano and Carlos Tevez last August.
In a tense finish to last season, West Ham stayed up winning seven of their last nine league matches with Tevez scoring six goals in that spell, while Sheffield United won only two of their last nine games and went down on the final day.
Golf
McDowell heads list of British Open qualifiers
LONDON: Britain's Graeme McDowell led the way in 36-hole international final qualifying for the British Open at a wet and windy Sunningdale on Monday.
The 27-year-old from Northern Ireland fired rounds of 67 and 64 to finish with a nine-under-par tally of 131, two shots better than Swede Peter Hanson, Miguel Angel Jimenez of Spain and Briton Nick Dougherty.
"I think I have the right mind-set for these qualifiers," McDowell told reporters. "Some of the guys go out and try to play very aggressively, I play very conservatively."
(China Daily 07/04/2007 page24)
