Golf

Storms wash out Open round

Severe winds wiped out the second round of the Women's British Open at Royal Liverpool Golf Club on Friday, but organizers insisted they were determined to finish the event by Sunday.

Play started at 7 am local time in the final major of the season but was stopped at 8.18 am as winds reached gusts of 60 mph and balls moved on several greens.

At 11 am it was decided, in accordance with Rule 33-2d, that the early day's play should be declared null and void. Three hours later it was decided to suspend play for the day.

In order to try and get play finished by Sunday, the cut has been reduced from the top 65 and ties to the top 50 and ties. The top 65 and ties will all receive prize money.

Rounds three and four will take place on Sunday with a two-tee start and no redraw after the third round.

South Korea's Ryu So-yeon, joint overnight leader on two under par, was one of the early starters on Friday and she had played one hole, taking a bogey six at the long 10th, her first hole.

Boxing

Pacquiao-Marquez 4 confirmed

Filipino superstar Manny Pacquiao will fight Juan Manuel Marquez for the fourth time on Dec 8, promoter Bob Arum confirmed on Friday.

Pacquiao and Mexico's Marquez will embark on a three-city international media tour touting the fight starting on Monday in Beverly Hills, California.

Between them Pacquiao and Marquez have won world titles in 12 weight divisions and they will add another chapter to their intense rivalry when they fight at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas - scene of their first and third fights.

Pacquiao (54-4-2, 38 KOs) was also in negotiations for a rematch against Tim Bradley, who claimed Pacquiao's welterweight world title with a controversial split-decision victory in Las Vegas on June 9.

Puerto Rican Miguel Cotto was also a possible opponent for Pacquiao, but he announced on Twitter last month that he would fight junior middleweight world champion Austin Trout on Dec 1 at Madison Square Garden in New York.

BasebaLL

Late rally gives Rangers 9-3 win

The Texas Rangers left it late against American League West rival Seattle on Friday but exploded for seven runs in the eighth inning to secure a 9-3 win over the Mariners.

Yu Darvish (15-9) won the battle of Japanese rookie pitchers against Hisashi Iwakuma, allowing just two hits and one run in seven innings for the division-leading Rangers.

Darvish struck out nine to take his season total to 205 strikeouts, becoming the 16th rookie to take at least 200 since 1900.

Dwight Gooden holds the rookie record with 276 in 1984 with the Mets.

Darvish is now 4-1 with a 2.32 ERA in his past six games and improved his season ERA to 4.02.

"It's not the same Darvish they saw earlier in the year," Rangers manager Ron Washington said. "It's a different pitcher. He has a different attitude. The difference is he's not trying to use everything he has."

Soccer

Ibrahimovic gives PSG first home win

Paris Saint Germain warmed up for the opening of its Champions League campaign with a 2-0 win over Toulouse on Friday, the big-spending team's first home victory of the season.

Argentine star Javier Pastore and Swedish international stiker Zlatan Ibrahimovic, with his fifth of the season, were on target for PSG, who moved into third place in Ligue 1 with nine points.

Defending champion Montpellier, who faces Arsenal in its European opener next Tuesday, slumped to its third defeat in five games when it lost 3-1 at Reims.

Pastore opened the scoring for PSG after 38 minutes.

He was put through by a clever ball from Marco Verratti, who had only just been booked, with the Argentine star chipping the ball over Ali Ahamada in the Toulouse goal.

PSG, who welcome Dynamo Kiev in the Champions League on Tuesday, made sure of the points in the 69th minute when Pastore released Jeremy Menez who crossed for Ibrahimovic to beat Ahamada at the far post.

Mourinho plays down Ronaldo row

Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho on Friday played down the significance of Cristiano Ronaldo's recent claims to being unhappy in the Spanish capital by saying all that matters are his on-field performances.

"If Ronaldo is sad but plays like he has been playing, that is perfect for me," Mourinho said at a press conference ahead of his team's trip to play Sevilla in La Liga on Saturday night.

It was the first time Mourinho had spoken of the controversy, which erupted in the wake of Madrid's home win against Granada two weeks ago when Ronaldo claimed he was "sad" at the club for "professional reasons".

The player has since been away on international duty, helping Portugal to wins against Luxembourg and Azerbaijan in its opening two qualifiers for the 2014 World Cup.

"Cristiano gives everything in training and when he plays," said Mourinho. "If he plays terribly (on Saturday) and is tired, then I will take him off after 75 minutes like I would with any other player.

Slovak stars punished for partying

Four Slovakia stars have been punished for partying before their nation's World Cup qualifier against Liechtenstein, local media reported on Friday.

Midfielders Marek Hamsik and Karim Guede, plus wingers Vladimir Weiss and Miroslav Stoch breached their squad's strict rules and went to a Bratislava disco last Saturday when they should have been resting a day after Slovakia's 1-1 away draw with Lithuania.

Joint coaches Stanislav Griga and Michal Hipp punished them with a salary cut and the four will also have to play for free in the eight remaining qualifiers, the Slovak tabloid Novy Cas said.

The stalwart players' night out did not leave Slovakia with red faces, however, as they beat minnow Liechtenstein 2-0.

The quartet are among the biggest names in Slovakia's squad and all ply their trade in the foreign top-flight leagues.

Hamsik and Weiss play for Italian clubs Napoli and Pescara, while Guede is at Germany's Freiburg and Stoch with Fenerbahce in Turkey.

FIFA extends Conte's 10-month ban

Juventus coach Antonio Conte had his 10-month corruption ban extended worldwide by FIFA on Friday.

Conte was suspended by the Italian authorities after being accused of failing to disclose knowledge of match-fixing during his time at Siena in the 2010-11 season.

"This suspension covers all types of matches, including domestic, international, friendlies and official," said a FIFA statement.

The world governing body said any appeal would be monitored by them, including the one about to be heard by an Italian arbitration panel.

FIFA's ban comes just five days before Juventus opens its Champions League campaign against Chelsea in London.

Agence France-Presse - Reuters

(China Daily 09/16/2012 page7)