Safin ends career with Paris Masters defeat

PARIS, Nov 11 (Reuters) - Former world number one Marat Safin ended his playing career with a 6-4 5-7 6-4 defeat by U.S. Open champion Juan Martin del Porto at the Paris Masters on Wednesday.

The 29-year-old Russian, who had saved three match points to squeeze past French qualifier Thierry Ascione in the first round of his final tournament on Monday, fought bravely against the Argentine world number five.

“I knew there were not many chances I would beat him but I played pretty well, had pretty close calls,” said Safin, who was warmly cheered on by the crowd at the Bercy hall and greeted with rounds of the Mexican wave.

Showing glimpses of his old form, Safin, who has not won a title since the 2005 Australian Open, challenged Del Porto by taking a tight second set.

Safin, who held the number one spot for several weeks in 2000 and 2001 but has dropped out of the top 50, was broken in the third game of the decisive set and his opponent then stayed in control.

The Russian, who won the Paris event three times, saved a match point at 5-3 down with a forehand winner but Del Potro then served for the match, sealing victory with an ace.

“This is where it all started and this where it finishes,” said Safin, who burst into the limelight as a teenage qualifier at the 1998 French Open, posting wins over Andre Agassi and Gustavo Kuerten. “There was no better place to do this.”

REBELLIOUS SPIRIT

The gifted but erratic Russian, who also won the 2000 U.S. Open, defeating Pete Sampras in a memorable final, was once regarded as one of the world’s most spectacular players and will also be remembered for his rebellious spirit and dry humour.

The rise of Roger Federer, then Rafael Nadal, and a string of injuries meant, however, that the hugely talented Safin could not live up to high expectations.

“I was a decent player,” he said. “Just in general, I’ve been great to everybody, even if I had a few fights with chair umpires.”

Safin said he was not sure what he would do next but was delighted to be freed from the gruelling routine of competitive tennis.

“Now I have no schedule, no practices, no nothing,” he said. “I belong to myself. Tomorrow I’ll wake up and see what I want to do.”

Asked if he could emulate Agassi by coming up with a book of revelations, Safin said: “I’m not writing a book, no chance. All my memories, all my secrets will stay with me.”

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Ronaldo ruled out of Bosnia World Cup playoff

* Portugal tests conclude Ronaldo not fit to join squad

* Winger will miss World Cup playoff matches against Bosnia

* Ankle injury picked up in late Sept. still not healed

(adds background)

By Shrikesh Laxmidas

OBIDOS, Portugal, Nov 10 (Reuters) - Portugal winger Cristiano Ronaldo will miss the two-legged World Cup playoff against Bosnia, the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF) said in a statement on Tuesday.

Ronaldo has not recovered from an ankle injury and will not play in the game in Lisbon on Saturday and in Zenica four days later.

“After a clinical evaluation, it was concluded that the player does not meet the physical conditions to join the national squad training for the (Bosnia playoff) matches,” the FPF said.

Real Madrid’s world record signing suffered the injury in late September which was aggravated in Portugal’s 3-0 win over Hungary 10 days later and he has not played since.

Real had said earlier on Tuesday that Ronaldo would travel to Portugal to be examined by national team doctors, after complaining about coach Carlos Queiroz’s decision to call him up.

The club said last Friday that Ronaldo needed two more weeks of treatment. Director general Jorge Valdano had said playing him now would be a serious mistake.

Queiroz denied there was a row with Real over whether the winger should play.

“The steps are simple—there is a call up, an evaluation, a decision, and then life goes on,” Queiroz told a news conference.

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NBA: Refs' call correct after Nuggets-Bulls review

NEW YORK – The NBA says the review that overturned a winning shot by Chicago's Brad Miller was correct and handled appropriately.

Referees looked at video replay for about three minutes before determining that Miller's shot came after the final buzzer, giving Denver a 90-89 victory on Tuesday night. Though a review is supposed to be completed in a two-minute period, crew chief Mark Wunderlich then asked the truck if there were any additional angles.

He was provided with the overhead view that showed the ball was still on Miller's fingertips at the buzzer.

NBA spokesman Tim Frank says Wednesday "the replay was handled by the book and the referee made the right decision," adding there was no issue with the officials taking extra time

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pakistan beat japan in world cup and qualify for the world cup hockey 2010

Pakistan beat japan by 3-1 in world cup and qualify for the world cup hockey 2010. Sohail Abbas score 2 goal and Abdul Haseem khan score 1. Pakistan show his strength in starting of match Abdul Haseem Khan opened the scoring for Pakistan four minutes after the start before Sohail Abbas came into action with a 24th minute conversion of a short corner.Japan reduced the margin through Shibushi who found the target from a penalty corner in the 27th minute with Pakistan leading 2-1 at the halfway stage.



Sohail Abbas widened Pakistan’s lead with another successful strike in the second period of a fast-paced match.

Pakistan then missed a couple of sitters but their defence, particularly the goalkeeper, stood firm against the repeated Japanese attacks, according to reports available here.



With victory in the play-off match to decide the first position in this six-Nation qualifying tournament, Pakistan grabbed the lone qualifying spot for the final round of the hockey World Cup 2010 to be played at New Delhi (India) in February-March next year.



Pakistan, the four-times World Cup winners, will now join the nine other teams, with two places still up for grabs, which have already made it to the final round.



International Hockey Federation (FIH) will soon hold another two qualifying tournaments, one in New Zealand and the other in Argentina, to fill the vacant berths for the final round.



The final standings in the qualifying round at Lille were:1-Pakistan, 2-Japan, 3-Poland, 4-France, 5-Russia, 6-Italy.



Pakistan, which had to appear in the World Cup qualifiers for the first time ever, had beaten Japan 6-1 in the league, also defeating Italy, Russia, France before being beaten by Poland in the last league encounter.



Despite defeat by Poland, Pakistan topped the league points table, thus setting up a first-position duel against fellow Asians Japan.

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Aisam press conference before next match

" I am very happy after defeating Roger Federer in street set 6-3 6-4 . I have a dream to defeat him and which has comes mostly true. We will try to win this title. I want to defeat Federer in single match in a big Slam Of Tennis event."

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Phillies' Rollins yearns to be king of the hill, top of the heap

NEW YORK — The stage is the biggest. The lights are the brightest. The stakes are the highest.

This is New York City. And this, Jimmy Rollins says, is where the Philadelphia Phillies will win the World Series, for the second year in a row, and become one of the greatest teams in the past half-century.

The Yankees might be up 3-2 with Game 6 scheduled today at Yankee Stadium, but the Phillies shortstop packed his bags for two games. "Phillies in seven," Rollins says.

The Phillies would become the first visiting team to throw a party at the Yankees' new $1.5 billion crib.

"Wow, playing the Yankees in the World Series, and now to beat them at Yankee Stadium," Rollins says. "It doesn't get any better than that.

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