Tiger Woods leads US to Presidents Cup

Tiger Woods clinched the Presidents Cup for the United States for the third time in a row on Sunday, giving the Americans an insurmountable 18-14 lead over the Internationals at rain-soaked Muirfield Village.

World number one Woods edged 41st-ranked Richard Sterne of South Africa 1 up to secure the trophy, thwarting an Internationals fightback and boosting the Americans to 8-1-1 in the overall rivalry with their fifth win in a row.

Battling nagging back spasms over the final five holes, Woods won the par-3 16th with a par, chipped from the rough to inches from the hole at 17 and halved 18 for the victory.

"It feels good," Woods said. "It was a tough day, tough conditions, rain, wind all around.

"(My back) acted up from 14 on in. It keep getting worse, a little tight, but I think we can find something for it."

His victory put the hosts up by four with only two matches on a course that saw heavy rain for the fourth day in a row, forcing lift, clean and place rules to be used.

"We've all slogged it out and did our best," said 2013 Masters champion Adam Scott of Australia.

It was the third triumph for Fred Couples as the US captain, all having ended Woods taking the winning point.

"Three in a row and Tiger has the winning point all three times -- that's pretty good," Couples said.

Internationals captain Nick Price was proud of the rally, winning four matches in a row with the US on the brink of clinching to create some drama until Woods came through.

"Against the might of America, that was a tall order for us," Price said. "The all played incredibly well. They tried their hardest and I'm proud to be their captain."

Aussie Jason Day won the first singles point 6 and 4 over Brandt Snedeker. The Muirfield Village member won four of the first six holes and led all the way.

"I just wanted to finish off with a bang," Day said. Hunter Mahan answered for the hosts, beating Japan's Hideki Matsuyama 3 and 2. Mahan birdied six and seven to take the lead for good and prevent an Internationals run.

"It is critical. You can't give them momentum," Mahan said. "I got off to a good start and felt like I was in control from there."

Jason Dufner, who won the PGA Championship two months ago, edged the US closer by beating Zimbabwe's Brendon de Jonge 4 and 3.

Dufner led from start to finish and won after de Jonge hit his tee shot way left into trees at the par-5 15th.

Canada's Graham DeLaet chipped in from a bunker at the 18th hole to beat Jordan Spieth 1-up.

Zach Johnson beat South African Branden Grace 4 and 2 to put the US on the brink of victory.

But Scott edged Bill Haas 2 and 1 and South African four-time major winner Ernie Els outlasted Steve Stricker 1-up to keep Internationals hopes alive for a draw.

Aussie Marc Leishman made a 10-foot par putt at 18 to edge Matt Kuchar 1-up and South African Charl Schwartzel beat Keegan Bradley 2 and 1 before Woods ended the drama.

The US team won 2 1/2 key points in foursomes matches that ended Sunday morning.

A foursomes key was when Snedeker and Simpson, 3-down after 12 at nightfall, won four of the last six holes to beat Schwartzel and Oosthuizen 1-up.

"I can't believe we did it but I'm happy to get the win," said Simpson. Els and De Jonge won 1-up over Woods and Kuchar, delivering the US duo's first defeat when Els made a five-foot par putt at 18.

Stricker and Haas beat Scott and Matsuyama 4 and 3 while DeLaet and Day halved with Mickelson and Bradley.

CLT20 final 2013 Rajasthan Royals vs Mumbai Indians

One of the big holes in the Mumbai arsenal, Sachin Tendulkar's poor form, might not be as big a worry anymore after he hit a 31-ball 35 against T&T in the semifinal. Along the way, he also became the 16th man to score 50,000 runs in recognised cricket. "We're all thrilled for Sachin. It's good to make 50,000 runs ... maybe a few more," smiled Wright after the semis.

"Always pleased for players, whoever they are, when they achieve something special. We're very fortunate as a franchise to have him; it's great for us. Tomorrow is even more special for that reason - definitely."

It promises to be a super game of Twenty20 cricket. Rajasthan's has been a fairy-tale story that probably deserves a happy ending, if only for the men, led by Rahul Dravid, who have come out and given such a good account of themselves. But Mumbai have looked so, so good when they have been on song and should be, keeping everything in mind, the favourites to add the CLT20 trophy, which they also won in 2011, to the IPL title they won earlier this year.

Teams:

Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma (capt), Sachin Tendulkar, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Harbhajan Singh, Pragyan Ojha, Ambati Rayudu, Aditya Tare, Rishi Dhawan, Abu Nechim, Akshar Patel, Kieron Pollard, Dwayne Smith, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Mitchell Johnson, Glenn Maxwell.

Rajasthan Royals: Rahul Dravid (capt), Ajinkya Rahane, Stuart Binny, Sanju Samson (wk), Ashok Menaria, Dishant Yagnik, Vikramjeet Malik, Harmeet Singh, Rahul Shukla, Pravin Tambe, Shane Watson, Kusal Perera, James Faulkner, Kevon Cooper.

Ryan Giggs Top 10 Goals

manchester united biggest win of all time

On 26 sept 1956, United scored a whopping 10 goals against Belgian side Anderlecht. The 10-0 result remains the Reds' biggest win of all time! And in honour of our club-record win

Liverpool chief says Suarez damaged club brand

LONDON: While pleased Luis Suarez is back in action following a biting ban, Liverpool is still concerned about the damage the striker caused for the club's brand globally.

The 10-match suspension for biting Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic during a game in April came after Suarez had been banned for eight games after racially abusing Manchester United's Patrice Evra in 2011.

"Any types of incident of that nature are damaging to a brand," Liverpool managing director Ian Ayre said on Thursday.

Suarez returned to action in a 1-0 loss to Manchester United in the League Cup on Wednesday, although the Uruguay striker hoped not to be playing in a Liverpool shirt again.

Throughout the offseason, rather than focusing on repairing his image, Suarez was publicly pushing for a transfer away from Liverpool in search of Champions League football. Liverpool, though, was steadfast in rejecting bids from Arsenal for the Uruguay international and put him through a rehabilitation process to try and ensure there are no further incidents that harm the club.

"Luis is a footballer, he's a street fighter, he's a larger-than-life character," Ayre said at the Sport Industry Group Breakfast Club in London. "Nobody is condoning any bad behavior but it's just something you have to deal with. He is what he is, he is the character he is, and we have to try and harness that.

"We have worked a lot with Luis since the last incident with Ivanovic and he has responded well to that. He has been prepared to commit to that sort of work on his character."

While Ayre said Suarez's misdemeanors haven't hit sponsorship revenue, the 121-year-old club wants to ensure its principles are upheld.

"We are very much an institution and we base ourselves on family values, and when your kids are naughty you tell them off and you try to teach them the error of your ways _ it's no different," Ayre said.

"Every time you have a negative issue like that particular one then of course it's damaging, but the important thing is to put it right and restore the integrity of the football club. And I believe that's what we did."

The club and its American ownership backed Suarez after the racist-abuse verdict, hitting out at the English Football Association process.

After Suarez sunk his teeth into Ivanovic during a Premier League game in April, Liverpool immediately condemned the player's actions, while still claiming he was being victimized with his hefty sanction.

But Liverpool, whose principal owner is sports tycoon John Henry, has learnt lessons from how it handled the Suarez cases.

"What's important at those times is to ensure we act respectively and professionally as a football club, and in the past we've got some of that wrong and more recently we got that right," Ayre said.

"We have a process now," he added. "It's not a Luis Suarez process _ it's a process for any crisis whether it's on the pitch or off the pitch."

For now, Suarez is back helping Liverpool's bid to return to the top four and qualify for the Champions League again.

"I'm here to help the team and help Liverpool and I'll try my best," Suarez said after the game at Old Trafford.

And Ayre was glad to see him back "terrorizing defenders."

"He is a great team member," Ayre said. "The players are supportive of him and he is supportive of them. The most important thing is that he is on the football pitch, and most importantly committed to playing for Liverpool.

Martina Hingis accused of assaulting husband

The husband of former tennis champ Martina Hingis has accused his wife and mother-in-law of assaulting him and has left Switzerland fearing for his life, the Blick daily reported on Thursday.

Police in the northern Swiss canton of Schwyz confirmed that Thibault Hutin was in the process of filing a complaint following an incident at the couple's apartment in the village of Feusisberg.

The 27-year-old French equestrian had talked to police on Tuesday about "serious problems" at his home on Monday evening, police spokesman David Mynall said.

"He has started the process of filing a complaint, but it hasn't been finished yet," he said, not specifying the nature of the incident or who the complaint was being filed against.

Hutin, however, told Blick that his 32-year-old wife, the former world number one, her mother and her mother's boyfriend had "beaten and scratched" him.

The boyfriend had also struck him in the head with a DVD player, he said, adding that he was so "terrified" he had fled to Paris.

"I'm really afraid. What will be next, a bullet?" he asked in the interview.

Hingis, the winner of five Grand Slam singles titles, came back from six years of retirement in July this year to play doubles.

Hingis, who could not be immediately reached for comment, was reportedly in Tokyo to take part in a 30th anniversary celebration for the WTA tournament.

She had originally been set to take part in the Pan Pacific Open women's tennis tournament in Tokyo this week, but withdrew for "personal reasons," organisers said earlier this month.

India thrash South Korea 6-1 in Sultan of Johor Cup

JOHOR BAHRU (Malaysia): India thrashed Korea 6-1 in their penultimate round-robin match to virtually seal their place in the final of the Sultan of Johor Cup Under-21 hockey tournament on Thursday.

The Indian colts scored three goals each in either half at the Taman Daya Hockey stadium to continue their unbeaten run in the six-nation tournament.

It was India's fourth win on the trot in the tournament, having defeated England (2-1), Argentina (3-2) and Pakistan (4-0) in their previous matches.

For India, Amit Rohidas (7th minute), Satbir Singh (9th), Talwinder Singh (31st) netted three goals in the first half, while Amon Mirash Tikey (57th), Ramadeep Singh (62nd) and vice-captain Affan Yusof (65th) score three more on the other side of the break.

Korea's lone goal came from the stick of You Seung Ju in the 34th minute.

With 12 points in their kitty, India are at the top of the league standings and will play hosts and second-placed Malaysia in their last round-robin match on Saturday.

Against Korea, the Indians came up with a commanding performance and dominated the share of exchanges in the first half with a comfortable 3-0 lead.

It took India just seven minutes to open the scoring through drag-flicker Rohidas who converted a penalty corner with precision that Korean goalkeeper Lee Se Young had no answer.

India doubled their lead two minutes later through a field goal from Satbir after he was set up by Harjeet Singh.

Talwinder made it 3-0 for the Indians four minutes from half time through another field strike.

The Koreans, however, managed to pull one back three minutes later when You Seung Ju scored from a penalty corner.

India slowed down the pace after the lemon break and conceded a few penalty corners but the Koreans failed to utilise the scoring chances.

After a slow start to the second half, India gradually took control of the proceedings and scored three more field goals to run away with the match.

Amon Mirash Tikey scored India's fourth goal in the 57th minute before Ramandeep scored his fifth goal in the tournament five minutes later. Yusof completed the rout for Korea five minutes from the hooter.

India's chief coach Gregg Clark was full of praise for his wards after their sterling performance.

"It was a good performance and this surely gives me a welcome headache as we have several more players back in India that are fighting for a place in the final 18 to the Junior World Cup," Clark said.

"We are playing well and credit to the boys who are executing our tactics and plans well on the pitch. As a coach this is something we look towards hence the performance in the last two matches has been on the rise," he added.