Benitez takes heart from Liverpool display

STOKE-ON-TRENT, England: Rafael Benitez has insisted Liverpool can recover from their mid-season crisis, despite suffering another setback in a frustrating draw at Stoke.

United face Berbatov surgery dilemma

MANCHESTER, England: Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson will on Monday make a decision on whether Dimitar Berbatov (pictured), a scorer in the 3-0 win over Burnley, requires knee surgery.

Swimmers win Best Athletes of the Year

China's leading swimmers, Zhang Lin and Liu Zige, were named the Best Male and Female Athletes of the Year at the 2009 CCTV Sports Personality of the Year Awards ceremony on Saturday night at Peking University.

Dad Federer fired up by fatherhood

MELBOURNE: Doting dad Roger Federer is fired up for his first Australian Open as a father, saying having children has given him extra hunger to win Grand Slams.

IN BRIEF (Page 24)

Nadal shocked by 'Mr Invisible' again

DOHA: Rafael Nadal, who not so long ago was dominating the men's tour, is still without a title for more than eight months after an astonishing defeat in the final of the Qatar Open on Saturday.

Clijsters-Henin classic shows the Belgians are back

BRISBANE, Australia: One classic match was all it took for Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin to serve notice that the Belgians are back and looking to dominate women's tennis.

China's sports industry has bright future, say experts

Although the world is still emerging from the global financial crisis, many local businessmen are upbeat about the sports industry in China, according to the Annual Report on the Development of China's Sports Industry (2009-10), which was released on Saturday.

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Golf

Cowboys beat Eagles, end long playoff skid

Romo leads Dallas to wildcard victory over Philadelphia, 34-14

Ferguson tests FA's patience with new ref rant

BIRMINGHAM, England: Sir Alex Ferguson may have landed himself in further trouble with the Football Association (FA) after his latest withering assessment of a referee.

Togo team wants to play in Angola despite attack - L'Equipe

CABINDA, Angola: Togo's soccer team has decided to play in the African Nations Cup following a deadly attack on the squad, even though its government has withdrawn the side, French sports newspaper L'Equipe reported yesterday.