Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho portrays 5-0 thrashing by Barcelona as worst beat of his career

Jose Mourinho has tried to calm Real Madrid nerves after their 5-0 thrashing by Barcelona, labeling his most horrible ever defeat "a loss, not a humiliation."

Barcelona dominated the match at Camp Nou to claim the club's major win since the 1993-94 seasons and imposing on Mourinho his heaviest loss in a career that comprises two Champions League triumphs.

It is also Mourinho's first defeat in all rivalry since taking over the Bernabeu club.

Xavi and Pedro Rodriguez put the defensive champion 2-0 ahead inside 18 minutes before Villa scored a second-half brace. Substitute Jeffren Suarez scored in the 90th minute to seal victory in front of almost 100,000 fans.

To add insult to wound for Madrid, they ended the match with 10 men after Sergio Ramos pushed Carles Puyol in the face late on.

"It's the most awful defeat of my career. I've never lost by five goals to zero but it's simple to digest because it was a defeat with no possibility of winning - so it's not hard to believe," Mourinho said. "We are only two points behind the leader so we have to carry on working."

Barcelona are currently two points clear at the top of the league table, with 34 points from 13 games, subsequent a dominant show of one-touch, possession football.

"I leave let down both in my team and my players, independently," Mourinho said. "You have to have character, when you lose by five goals you can't leave weeping, you have to go and work harder. The season (has) not finished today."

Mourinho criticized Madrid's lack of care as Pedro capped a 22-pass build-up with an objective in the 18th minute to make it 2-0.

"I have to be anxious about my team that until now had been playing well and today played very badly," said Mourinho.

"One team played to the utmost of its potential and the other very poorly. It's a well-deserved succeed and well-deserved failure."

Tendulkar loses pinnacle Test spot to Sangakkara

Kumar Sangakkara, the Sri Lanka captain, has reclaimed the top spot in the ICC Test rankings for batsmen, ending Sachin Tendulkar's short-lived reside at the head of the table.

Sangakkara's acts in the first two Tests of the ongoing series against West Indies coincided with Tendulkar's modest returns against New Zealand, leading to a swap at the top. Sangakkara has so far scored 228 runs in the West Indies series, obtaining him to 882 rating points, 23 clear of Tendulkar who could run only one half-century in four innings against New Zealand. Virender Sehwag is in the third place, nine points behind Tendulkar, whereas Jacques Kallis is fourth, with 806.

South Africa's AB de Villiers and England's Jonathan Trott have broken into the top ten for the first time, next strong performances against Pakistan and Australia correspondingly. de Villiers amassed an unbeaten 278 in Abu Dhabi, the highest Test score by a South Africa batsman, forcing him to fifth. Trott's unbeaten 135 be a parts of England’s strong second-innings resistance in the Ashes-opener, serving his side earn a creditable draw, and lifting him to the eighth spot.

On the bowling front, India's fast-bowling spearhead, Zaheer Khan, surged to third in the Test ratings, his uppermost classification to date. South Africa seamer Dale Steyn and England offspinner Graeme Swann kept the top two positions. Australia's Peter Siddle, who picked up six wickets on the first day at the Gabba, as well as a hat-trick, rose to the 14th spot, while England seamer Steven Finn moved up to 19th on the back of his six-for.

Asian Games 2010: Indian men's & women's strike gold by Kabaddi team

Display great skill, both the Indian Men's & women's Kabaddi teams won Gold medals at the Asian Games. The men's team overcomes Iran while the Indian women overcome Thailand.

Gold medals in Kabaddi were a great deal expected for India as the country has been dominating the sport for a long time at the present. With the addition of this gold medal, India have so far won 12 golds, 15 silvers and 32 bronze medals at the 16th Asian Games 2010 in Guangzhou, China on Friday.

Indian Squash Team debut Medal

After men and women boxers displayed their guts when a number of them won medals and others advanced to finals ensure at least silver medals, it was the rotate of Indian women's squash team to grab their debutant medal in the ongoing Asian Games 2010 in Zhengzhou, China on Wednesday.

Indian women squash team when reached semi finals had 2 options among them – either carry on their chase for higher goal of silver of gold medal By advancing to finals or settling down with a bronze medal.

It was not an alternative but a display of hard work that ultimately did not work when the teams go defeated by a great deal stronger Malaysian women squash team in semi final. The Indian team could not win any of the games and lost by a clean sweep of 0-2 against Malaysian team.

It was hard also for the Indian team as the Malaysian team was much more experienced, strong and higher in team ranking. Malaysian team is already being anticipated to grab the final title and gold medal.

1st match was between Joshna Chinappa & Nicol Ann David. Nicol is world number1 women player. Joshna got defeated by a clean sweep edge of 0-3 against Nicol.

The same story frequent in the 2nd match also that was between Anaka Alankamony & Wee Wern Low. Anaka from India lost against Wee by the same margin as Joshna.

The Indian team comprising of Anaka, Dipika Pallikal, Anwesha Reddy & Joshna had to finally agree to the defeat against their hard opponents from Malaysia and rest with Bronze medal for India.

In the other semi final match Hong Kong defeated Korea with the same score of 2-0 thereby assures to meet Malaysia in finals to be held in Town Gymnasium on Thursday.
In men's section Indian squash team will be fighting against Pakistan team later in the day.

Graeme Smith fracture fingers may miss India series

Smith, the South Africa team captain, has continued a fracture to the fourth finger of his left hand that could put him out of the future home Test series against India. He is continued the injury when he was hit by a Shoaib Akhtar bouncer in the 1st ODI against Pakistan previous month and has aggravated it by playing in the last 2 ODIs of the same series and the 2-Test series in the UAE.

"It is the same hand that was injured through the ODI series against Pakistan 3 weeks ago," South Africa's team manager Mohammed Moosajee said. "It was aggravated by the continuous wear and tear concerned with fielding and batting and flared up while he was fielding during the present Test match." Smith was unable to bat in South Africa's 2nd innings in the second Test against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday.

The injury has put Smith's contribution in the 1st Test against India, which starts in Centurion on December 16, in doubt.

The crack is a non-displaced one but Smith has a history with hand injuries having suffered 4 separate injuries to his hands in the last two-and-a-half years. Moosajee said the team doctor had advised Smith three weeks rest but because of his history, the team management was not certain when he would be fit again.
"It will be a race next to time to get him fit for the Test series against India," Moosajee said.

"In our experience with Smith, there have been times we said he would need a 6-week lay-off and he was ready in four, and other times we said three weeks and it took him longer." Smith broke his right center finger during the 2010 Indian Premier League, while a cracked little finger on his left hand kept him out of the ODI series in India in February.

Mitchell Johnson broke his right hand twice during South Africa's home and away series next to Australia in 2008-09.

Michael Vick talks to New Haven students

Chinese chess debuts at Asian Games

Army Vet, Hockey Player Puts Iraq War Injuries ‘On Ice’

Bowser met with a number of Washington Capitals professional ice hockey team players and coaches when they paid an April 6 visit to the Pentagon last year. Later, he got to skate with some Capitals players during a team practice.

Today, the 48-year-old Iraq veteran still plays ice hockey, despite the loss of the lower portion of his right leg four years ago during a rocket attack on Camp Anaconda, in Balad, Iraq.

Bowser, then a truck driver with 283rd Transportation Company based in Fairfield, Conn., recalled that the enemy attack occurred on April 12, 2004, soon after he returned to Camp Anaconda after delivering a 5,000-gallon load of jet fuel.

Bowser credits Connecticut Army National Guard Maj. Michael McMahon, a physician assistant, for saving his life. McMahon, he said, used his fingers to slow the bleeding from a gashed artery on Bowser’s injured right leg.

“He reached up on my leg to clamp off my artery so I wouldn’t ‘bleed out,’” Bowser recalled.

McMahon, now 45, recalled during a recent phone interview from his home in Hamden, Conn., that his military training kicked in when he saw the stricken Bowser bleeding profusely.

“You just react,” McMahon said. “We took care of him and got him stabilized. There was a combat surgical hospital in Balad.

“Once we got the bleeding controlled, … I thought he was going to make it,” McMahon recalled. Bowser and McMahon keep in touch; they met up in February when Bowser was in Connecticut to play a hockey game.

Wearing body armor probably also saved his life, Bowser said, noting his armored vest was riddled with shrapnel damage. The then-staff sergeant also suffered shrapnel injuries to his left hand.

Bowser said he arrived at Walter Reed Army Medical Center here about a week after being wounded. The doctors thought he would have more mobility with a prosthetic leg, he recalled, rather than by keeping his mangled limb.

“The first thing that I thought of was that I wanted to play hockey again,” Bowser said. “So, I said I wanted to have it amputated.”

Bowser spent more than two years of inpatient and outpatient recovery at Walter Reed, and he was medically retired from the Army as a sergeant first class in July 2006. He rates the medical care he received at Walter Reed as “awesome.”

“You couldn’t ask for a better place,” Bowser said of Walter Reed.

Bowser now works at the Pentagon as an administrator for Army Secretary Pete Geren. In his spare time he plays pickup hockey games at Maryland rinks near his present-day home near Baltimore. He also occasionally travels to play in hockey tournaments.

Bowser plays right wing, one of the three forwards on an ice hockey team. The center and left winger make up the other two-thirds of the forward line, and their job is to harass the opposing team and score goals. Two defensive players are positioned rearward to protect the goalie.

Bowser said his artificial leg can be adjusted to accommodate his skating style, and that having a prosthetic limb actually has its advantages during a rough-and-tumble game of hockey.

“You don’t have to worry about getting a puck slapped on your foot,” Bowser said, noting he enjoys ice hockey’s speed of play and physical aspects.

Bowser completed as a member of the U.S. National Amputee Hockey Team during the 2008 Standing Amputee Hockey World Championships that were held April 2-6 in Marlborough, Mass. Team USA won the silver medal at that four-team tournament, beating out teams from Latvia and Finland. Canada won the gold medal, and Finland took the bronze.

Before he got his job in the secretary of the Army’s office, Bowser had volunteered to work with injured military veterans as part of an initiative administered through Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon R. England’s office.

The Capitals hockey club has sponsored several Military Appreciation Nights at the Verizon Center here for servicemembers and their families, Bowser noted.

Bowser, who got married April 12, said God gave him a second chance at life after being severely wounded in Iraq. Grateful for each day of existence, he strives to help his fellow wounded warriors.

£135m Lotto sports fund

Olympics chiefs will use £135million to get more people playing sport after the London 2012 Games. The lottery cash will be used to get better regional facilities and train 40,000 young sports leaders.

Bosses hope the Places People Play scheme will encourage 2 million Brits to be extra active.

Games chief Lord Sebastian Coe said yesterday: "Places People Play will harness the inspirational power of the Olympics to promote sport across the country and leave a lasting legacy."

Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) to name place after VVS Laxman

The Mumbai Cricket Association has stands named after batting legend Sunil Gavaskar and current genius Tendulkar at the Wankhede Stadium at Churchgate.

These two are the only Indian cricketers to have this honour conferred upon them while still playing active cricket.

Elegant batsman VVS Laxman is put to become the 3rd such cricketer after whom a stand will be named during his cricketing tenure.

The Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) has determined to name the North Stand of the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium, after Laxman. The stand is right opposite the pavilion, which is named following former India off-spinner and vice president of the HCA, Shivlal Yadav. In fact, HCA official wanted to name the stand after Laxman before the 2nd Test itself, but due to the political situation, they couldn't. However, they are confident they will be able to name it after Laxman once the Test ends.

Raina replaces Yuvraj Singh in BCCI's summit contract list

Raina has replaced Yuvraj in the Grade A level the highest of the BCCI's list of central contract for 2010 to 2011.

Virat Kohli, Murali Vijay and Ojha have moved up to Grade B, while Rohit Sharma has been demoted to Grade C.

RP Singh and Munaf Patel, who were previously in Grade B, have not been obtainable contracts.

The board has made several changes to the structure, reducing the total number of contracted players from 41 to 24, and doing away with Grade D.

The annual retainer has been increased from Rs.
60 lakh to Rs.1 crore ($135,594 to $225,990) for Grade A and from
Rs 40 lakh to Rs.50 lakh ($90,396 to $112,995) for Grade B.
The fees for category C remain at Rs.25 lakhs ($56,498).

Yuvraj has had an unmemorable 2010, with indifferent form and fitness dogging him through one of the toughest phase of the career.

He was unsatisfactory at the World T20 in the West Indies and was subsequently dropped for the Asia Cup other than returned for the Tests in Sri Lanka.

In the 1st Test, he scored 52 and 5 in Galle, before missing the 2nd with fever. He was declared fit to play in the third but was passed over from the final XI in favour of Suresh Raina, who had replaced him for the 2nd Test and scored a century on debut.

Gambhir has, on the other hand, been more fortunate and has retained his Grade A classification despite an indifferent year - he has missed 3 of India's last 6 Tests with injuries, and has bagged ducks in the 2nd innings in each of other three.

Dravid, who has been out of India's limited-overs plans since the 2009 Champions Trophy, also features in the A category, despite his recent dip in Test form. Karnataka seamers Abhimanyu and Vinay Kumar, who required their way into the national side through impressive shows in the 2009-10 first-class seasons, have been added to Grade C, along with Pujara, who scored a fluent half-century against Australia on Test debut.

Dinesh Karthik, who has been in and out of the one-day side as a back-up keeper and a make-shift opener, has been axed from the contract list, along with Ajinkya Rahane, Tiwary and Dhawal Kulkarni. Dhawan, Abhishek Nayar and Tyagi also find themselves out of contracts.

Team Grade A:
Sachin Tendulkar, MS Dhoni, Virender Sehwag , Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, Gautam Gambhir, Suresh Raina, Harbhajan Singh, and Zaheer Khan

Grade B:
Yuvraj Singh, Ishant Sharma, Ashish Nehra, Praveen Kumar, Virat Kohli, M Vijay and Ojha

Grade C:
Rohit Sharma, Sreesanth, Amit Mishra, R Ashwin, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ravindra Jadeja, Abhimanyu Mithun and Vinay Kumar

Ready women provide Tiger Woods come on over calls at Oz Masters!

Sex-scandal strike golfer Tiger Woods was taunted by 2 ladies during the opening round of the Australian Masters at Victoria Golf Club.

The 2 women, dressed in skirts white tops, and sun visors with their mobile phone numbers on them, caught 34-year-old Woods attention as walked from the 15th tee, the 6th hole for him.

"Call me Tiger!" the Sydney Morning Herald quoted one of the girls as saying as she got within earshot of Woods.

The additional woman added: "Meet me outside Crown!"

Woods did not seem overly pleased with the attention, and it is supposed an FM radio station had apparently put the women up to the task.

Information has been going around that any spectator who heckles Woods more than his well-publicised extra-marital affairs would be thrown out of Victoria Golf Club following just one warning.

But tournament director Marcus Gale denied there was a specific policy in place about taunting Woods.

"We expect all spectators to be polite as they have always been here, a fact that Tiger commented upon last year," he said.

"He won't be treated any differently from any additional player in this regard. We have the same policy for the 120th ranked player as for the top ranked player in this field," he stated.

Ashes doubt could mean large squad

Australia's squad for the 1st Ashes Test in Brisbane may be swollen to a lot of as 15 by a selection board still uncertain about the best team.
Next Monday, November 15, has been set down for months as the date on which the group will be named.

That deadline render the following round of Sheffield Shield matches, plus England's tour match against Australia an in Hobart, less significant than they might have been.

NSW will face Victoria and Tasmania play Queensland in two Shield matches beginning on Wednesday, while South Australia plays England from Thursday.

The first Test team of an Ashes summer is always the source of heightened interest, and in recent history 13 players have often been chosen to take to Brisbane previous to one is cut on match eve.

However the depth of conjecture about Australia's most excellent XI to face England at the Gabba may be established by chairman of selectors Andrew Hilditch naming an even better squad than that.

His choices have been difficult by numerous factors, the most pressing being the injury-affected arrangements of pace options Doug Bollinger and Ryan Harris and opener Simon Katich.

One more issue has arisen in the shape of a worrying lack of form established by the supposed first choices.

Mike Hussey and Mitchell Johnson in particular have yet to demonstrate enough evidence they are ready to face England, and will not play again before the announcement.

Among the younger aspirants, Callum Ferguson, Usman Khawaja and Indian Test debutant Peter George will also want to press their cases in those final Shield matches if included in an extended Australian squad.

The incumbent are well aware of the need to make runs for their states flanked by now and the first Test, lest a young upstart sense an opening.

Vice-captain Michael Clarke was on guard himself before his come back home from India.

"To me it's about picking your best 11 players for that Test match, and situation change as well, and I think we're in a great position with the amount of people who are in good nick around the country, to pick that best 11," said Clarke.

"I'm certain the guys who haven't played Test cricket will be trying to score as a lot of runs and take as many wickets as they can to push for selection.

"The guys in the Test team at the moment know we need to be at the top of our game, otherwise an important person will take our spot.

"There's always competition for spots, and I've openly said that you're never cemented in the Australian cricket team.

"It is important for all of us once we get back to Australia, to be performing, to have runs or wickets on the board, to put your hand up for the 1st Test."

Clarke was one such opportunist in 2006, going to Brisbane only after Shane Watson's late removal due to injury.