Neymar made it five goals in two games

Neymar made it five goals in two games as Barcelona went three points clear at the top of La Liga with a hard-earned win over Villarreal at the Nou Camp.

The 21-year-old Brazil forward followed up his Champions League hat-trick against Celtic by scoring a penalty after Mario had handled.
Villarreal stunned the Nou Camp by levelling, Mateo Musacchio heading home from a corner.

But Neymar rounded off a week to remember with a close-range finish.

Barcelona move clear of nearest rivals Atletico Madrid, who entertain Valencia on Sunday, after a 23rd successive home league win, a run stretching back to October 2012.
But Gerardo Martino's side were made to work hard by a Villarreal side who will be disappointed they did not come away with a point.
Alex Song had already hit the woodwork when Mario was harshly adjudged to have handled Jordi Alba's 30th minute cross, Neymar sending the goalkeeper the wrong way from the spot.
Sergio Asenjo had little to do until then but the Villarreal keeper produced a fine stop to frustrate Alexis Sanchez five minutes before the interval.
Villarreal, who are fifth in the table after winning promotion last season, levelled three minutes into the second half when Musacchio took advantage of slack marking to head home from a corner. Barcelona were rattled.
Former Tottenham forward Giovani dos Santos went close to giving the visitors the lead before Neymar restored Barca's lead with a simple tap-in after a delightful move involving Alexis and Cesc Fabregas.
The hosts, who are now five points clear of third-placed Real Madrid, finished strongly, with Andres Iniesta denied by another fine save from Asenjo.

Osasuna vs Real Madrid match draw by 2-2

Real Madrid fought back from 2-0 down with 10 men to rescue a point in a thrilling 2-2 draw at lowly Osasuna.

Two headers from Oriol Riera put the hosts in command before Real defender Sergio Ramos was sent off before half-time for two bookable offences.
Isco halved the deficit moments after Ramos' dismissal to give Madrid hope.
Osasuna also played the final 12 minutes with 10 men after Francisco Silva was sent off before Pepe headed in the equaliser.
But Saturday's draw saw Carlo Ancelotti's team, who are third behind leaders Barcelona and Atletico Madrid, drop more points in the title race.

They are five points adrift of arch rivals Barca, who won 2-1 against visitors Villarreal.

Madrid have now only won once in their last six visits to Pamplona, but having scored 24 goals in their previous five league games, they started the game confidently.
Cristiano Ronaldo dragged an early shot wide before the hosts went ahead with virtually their first attack of the game.
Marc Bertran's excellent in-swinging cross was met by the unmarked Riera at the back post.
The Osasuna striker doubled their advantage six minutes before half-time by nodding into an empty net after a fine save from Real goalkeeper Diego Lopez.
Ramos was sent off for the 18th time in his Madrid career after clashing with Osasuna midfielder Roberto Torres, but his team pulled a goal back when Isco blasted into the bottom corner from 20 yards.
As his side toiled after the break, Ancelotti decided to withdraw Gareth Bale before the hour mark as Argentina winger Angel di Maria replaced the Welshman.
Osasuna were also reduced to 10 men when Silva dived in on Ronaldo and was rightly shown his second yellow card of the match.
And his team were punished from the resulting free-kick as Pepe climbed highest to power Isco's cross into the bottom corner.

India win Kabaddi World Cup 2013 by beating Pakistan

LUDHIANA: India beat Pakistan 48-39 to emerge champions of the fourth World Cup Kabaddi played at the Guru Nanak Stadium here tonight.

Defending champion India retained the title fourth consecutive term defeating arch-rival Pakistan with a margin of nine points.

Besides, the winner's trophy, the hosts bagged a cash award of Rs two crore while Pakistan got the runners-up trophy and Rs one crore.

The best raider and stopper of the game, both from the Indian team, were awarded tractors.

In the first-half it was a tiff battle between the two sides. However, as the match progressed India slowly started dominating and finally outsmarted the Pakistani outfit.

Braving cold weather, chief guest of the final -- Pakistan's Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal and other dignitaries were present till the match concluded close to midnight.

Sharif, Badal and Sukhbir Singh distributed prizes to the teams.

Chase dreams as they come true- Sahin Tendulkar to youth

NEW DELHI: Indian batting legend Sachin Tendulkar on Saturday advised youngsters in the country to chase their dreams to excel in their respective fields, but discouraged them from wasting too much time on modern gadgets.

Tendulkar, speaking at an NDTV programme to honour 25 Greatest Global Living Indians, said that dreams come true if one chases them hard.

"I would encourage the youth of India to dream because dreams come true if you chase them hard," he said after accepting the award from President Pranab Mukherjee at the Rashtrapati Bhawan.

"I also at times had to face defeat but the most important thing I learnt from my sport was when you are defeated you stand up to face another challenge.

"I am extremely honoured to receive this award. I was asked to give a message to youth of India and I could not think of anything than the advice I got from my grandmother who said 'Health is wealth, take care of your health'," said Tendulkar, who recently retired from international cricket after an illustrious career spanning 24 years.

He asked the youth to engage in outdoor activities to keep themselves fit and in good health so that they can focus on their respective fields.

"When today, I look at the current generation, they are so much into videogames, laptops, computers, mobile phones which unfortunately only exercises your thumbs. I would urge our youngsters to engage themselves in outdoor activities, play some sport, find some passion in life where you could be competing against your friends," he said.

"It is about fitness and good health which will allow you concentrate longer, focus harder in whatever you want to be in life," said Tendulkar who retired with almost all batting records in his kitty.

Tendulkar, who hit a phenomenal 100 international centuries, said he had always played the game in the right spirit.

"For me, when my career started 24 years ago, my sport got me lot of things. To play the game in the right spirit, respect the opposition, not to take things for granted, have strategies as the standard of playing got better and better, to be able to execute your plans," he said.

The other 24 eminent persons honoured were Kapil Dev, Leander Paes, Ela Bhatt, Hariprasad Chaurasia, CNR Rao, Amartya Sen, SS Badrinath, Fali Nariman, Indra Nooyi, M S Swaminathan, Anish Kapoor, AR Rehman, Amitabh Bachchan, Rajinikanth, Shah Rukh Khan, Waheeda Rehman, Mukesh Ambani, NR Narayana Murthy, Ratan Tata, Syed Haider Raza, Venkatraman Ramakrishnan, Vikram Seth, Yusuf Khwaja Hamied and Zubin Mehta.

Saina wins after two defeats in Superseries Finals

KUALA LUMPUR: After two successive defeats, Saina Nehwal finally managed to post a hard-fought win over Yeon Ju Bae of Korea in her last Group B match but it was not good enough to ensure a semifinal berth for the Indian ace shuttler in the BWF World Superseries Finals on Friday.

The 23-year-old Indian registered a 21-11, 17-21, 21-13 win over Bae in a match that last for one hour. It was Saina's sixth victory over Bae, who had an upper hand against the Indian recently in French Super Series and World Champioship.

World number six Saina had suffered back-to-back defeats at the hands of Minatsu Mitani of Japan and world number one Chinese shuttler Li Xuerui in her two matches of Group B, which had put her in a must-win situation on Friday to salvage any hope of a semifinal qualification.

A straight-game victory over Bae would have brightened her chances but after the Korean snatched the second game away, it dashed the hopes of the Olympic bronze medallist to reach the semis.

Later in the day, Xuerui packed off Mitani 21-11, 21-14 to make it a three-way tie among Saina, Bae and Mitani for the second place in the group.

However, according to the tournament rules, when the difference of games won and games lost was calculated, Bae was found ahead of Saina and Mitani and the Korean joined Xuerui as the runners-up from Group B.

After lying low for the last two days, Saina came out with all cylinders blazing against Bae. She moved well across the court and played an aggressive game.

In the opening game, from 6-6, Saina registered six straight points to gather a healthy lead. The six point run was broken when Saina hit long but the Indian continued to dominate and reached 15-7. But a series of unforced errors saw Bae trim the lead to 10-15.

Saina then engaged her rival in an aggressive rally and finished it with a good net play. The left-handed Bae found it difficult to negotiate Saina's better net play and allowed the Indian to take a 18-10 lead.

A couple of points more and Saina was sitting comfortably on a 10 game points but the Indian rushed into a net shot as Bae saved one game point but the Hyderabadi didn't make any more mistake and nosed ahead when the Korean hit wide.

The second game was a tight battle as Saina had to dig deep into her reserves to keep her nose ahead. Both the shuttlers played out of their skin and engaged in some amazing rallies and net duel but it was Bae who enjoyed a narrow 11-10 lead at the break.

Saina was more aggressive after the interval but Bae still managed to win points with the help of her repertoire of strokes - first a drop at the fore court and then a powerful smash.

Bae soon reached 15-12 but Saina tried to stay close with her baseline smashes.

As the game wear on, Saina hit harder and harder to make it 16-17 but Bae was not ready to take it lying low. The Korean made Saina run back and froth in the court and changed the pace to slowly reach 20-16. Saina saved a game point but the Indian served long to allow Bae come back into the contest.

In the decider, Saina opened up a 4-0 lead but she rushed to a net shot to allow Bae a point. Bae tried to tire out the Indian with a long rally but a right judgement allowed Saina to lead 6-1.

Bae slowly made it 4-8 but the Indian ensured that she enjoyed a six-point advantage at the break.

After the interval, Bae tried to get back into the match but Saina ensured that she kept her lead and eventually closed the issue comfortably at 21-13.

Leander Paes say,Franchise leagues need to learn from IPL

Paes was speaking at the Star Sports India Pro Leagues Forum on the subject of "Growing the Club Culture".    

NEW DELHI: Hailing IPL for successfully creating loyal followers, India tennis star Leander Paes on Friday said the city-based franchise league is the way forward to popularise other sports, which need to replicate the model of the popular cricket tournament.

In the USA, city-based franchise tennis tournament -- World Team Tennis (WTT) -- is extremely popular and Paes said something on those lines should be introduced in Indian tennis as well as other sports in the country.

"IPL is close relevant of the World Team Tennis (WTT). The stadia are packed with fans for entire 21 days. The format of the tournament makes it interesting for the viewers. Also there are great players participating in the league. That is what IPL has been successful in doing here and we have to learn from it to replicate it in other sports," said Paes, who plays for Washington Kastles franchise in WTT.

Paes was speaking at the Star Sports India Pro Leagues Forum on the subject of "Growing the Club Culture".

"Cricket may not be the fastest sport nor the most athletic one but it has successfully managed to get the community involved with it. Linking franchises with major cities of the country, the IPL has been able get supporters who identify with their teams. They believe they are a part of the team," the 14-time Grand Slam title winner said.

"The focus of a league is also very important. It should be an entire family packages. People from all age group should be attracted to it. It should offer people something tangible they believe in."

The 40-year-old veteran said the timing of hosting a league was very important as the event required lot of investment and focus should be on grabbing as many eyeballs as possible.

"A professional league brings like-minded people as a vehicle to popularise the game. Lot of efforts goes into it. The timing of any league is very important to garner maximum response. With so many tournaments happening in any sport, a league should be able to draw best players from across the world. The timing and the duration of the event is also very crucial as there is a large dependency on television viewerships," said the current US Open doubles champion.

Paes added that growth of league culture gives opportunity for budding players to learn from their role models and become future stars.

"Such leagues give chance to upcoming players to rub shoulders with some of the greats of the game, which in turn widens the talent pool of a country. I believe in 10 years we will have multiple medal winners at the Olympics," he said.

He said a league gives an opportunity to athletes, corporates to flourish, besides the sport gaining fans.

"IPL governance is so well done. IPL has been able to evolve rules, governance and involve communities. It has allowed athletes to flourish. The businesses also gain from it. It's a win-win situation for everyone," Paes added.

McGrath's prediction of a 5-0 whitewash by Australia

PERTH: Test great Glenn McGrath has hailed Australia's rediscovery of "bit of mongrel" in the Ashes series and said they were starting to resemble the top teams of the past.

Australia are 2-0 up in the five-match series against England and could take an unbeatable lead if they win the Perth Test starting Friday after humbling the tourists in Brisbane and Adelaide.

Since meekly losing the Ashes in England earlier this year, Australia's performances have been defined by fierce fast bowling, dogged batting and a more aggressive attitude.

McGrath said it was good to see. "Australia play best when they've got a bit of mongrel about them, when they play hard out in the middle, when they don't give an inch, when they play an aggressive brand of cricket," he said in a column for a betting website.

"It's something that has been missing for a little while and they're back there now. They are a team I'd be proud to be a part of."

McGrath, who took 563 Test wickets at 21.64, credited pacer Mitchell Johnson for "injecting Australia's psyche with a bit of confidence".

"What he must do is not get carried away and still execute his plans, but there is no reason that Mitch, alongside Ryan Harris and Peter Siddle, can't keep doing that," said McGrath.

"I've been saying for the last few months that Mitch was going to have a huge impact on this series, so I'm not surprised by the way he's played. I'm backing him again to have a big match in Perth.

"He had the English batsman jumping about on what was supposed to be a fairly docile track at Adelaide so I can't wait to see him on the speed gun at the WACA."

Ahead of the series, McGrath predicted a 5-0 whitewash of England and he is standing by his call.

"England continued to look like a rabbit in the headlights at Adelaide and I can't see a way back