Maradona sacked as Argentina's football coach

Published>Wed, Jul 28 10 12:08 PM

Washington, Jul 28 (ANI): Argentine Football Association has decided not to renew Diego Maradona's contract, showing him the door as the country's football coach before he could resign.

The Argentine Football Association decision on Tuesday comes three-and-half-weeks after Maradona coached team led by ace playmaker Lionel Messi was eliminated from the World Cup.

"Diego shut himself off to any change. Diego has all the right to do what he wants. But so does AFA," said executive committee member Luis Segura on Argentine television.

The federation had offered Maradona a four-year contract through the 2014 World Cup, but Maradona said he would do so only if his entire staff remained.

That was unacceptable to AFA president Julio Grondona. He had asked for several assistants to be replaced, including Maradona's close friend Alejandro Mancuso.

The federation said its executive committee unanimously decided to not keep Mardona, The Washington Post reports.

AFA spokesman Ernesto Cherquis Bialo called the decision "very painful," but said there was no way to solve the impasse.

"The president said that there was a significant difference between what AFA wanted to achieve and Maradona's aspirations for the future. There was a wide gap, and it was impossible to narrow it," Cherquis Bialo said.

Bialo said there might be a role in the future for Maradona.

Youth team manager Sergio Batista was appointed interim coach for the August 11 exhibition match at Ireland, followed by a September 7 home exhibition match against world champion Spain. (ANI)

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Woman sets world record, slowest to swim English Channel

Published>Wed, Jul 28 10 11:18 AM

London, July 28 (IANS) A woman shattered a nearly 90-year world record for swimming across the English Channel - by being the slowest person ever.

Jackie Cobell took 28 hours and 44 minutes to cross the channel. She was forced off course and she ended up swimming 64 miles, which is nearly three times more than the 21-mile direct route from Dover to Calais.

In 1923, Henry Sullivan set the slow record of 26 hours and 50 minutes.

'I had no idea of the time. I kept seeing the beach and thinking I was nearly there, then the tide would sweep me along the coast. My arms were packing up, one of my muscles in my arms ripped, but I was determined to make it,' Daily Express Wednesday quoted Cobell as saying.

Cobell, from Tonbridge, Kent, said: 'I thought I would do the channel in about 18 hours. When I reached the shore, my body was black and blue from the waves pounding me.'

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Somdev enters ATP Farmers Classic 2nd round

Wed, Jul 28 10 10:52 AM

Los Angeles (USA), July 28 (PTI) Somdev Devvarman advanced to the second round of the USD 619,500 Farmers Classic singles event with a straight set victory over local qualifier Steve Johnson here. Somdev, who made it to the main draw through a qualifier, beat his American opponent 6-4 6-4 in the first round match which lasted one and half hours. The Indian, currently ranked 103rd in the world, was clearly the dominating player but had to dig deep into his reserves to win long rallies against his opponent, ranked outside the 1000 bracket. He faces sixth seed and world number 45 Serbian Janko Tipsaveric in the second round. Indian Davis Cupper Rohan Bopanna is competing in the doubles draw along with Pakistani partner Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi. The fourth seed pair will open its campaign against British combination of Colin Fleming and Ken Skupski.

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All smiles for Blake after crushing win at LA Open

Published>Wed, Jul 28 10 10:18 AM

American wildcard James Blake was all smiles after winning his first match since March with a crushing 6-1 6-4 demolition of Argentina's Leonardo Mayer at the LA Open on Tuesday.

Sidelined for two months with an injured right knee before returning to the ATP Tour in June, Blake broke Mayer three times before wrapping up victory in just over an hour.

The 30-year-old, a losing finalist when he last played here in 2007, fired seven aces and saved all five break points on his own serve to ease into the second round.

"I'm really happy with the way I played," Blake told reporters after winning for the first time since the opening round of the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami.

"I went into the match with the goal of just controlling my side of the court and playing with the right kind of energy.

"I'm back to feeling healthy and I want to just play that way without the huge expectations or anything, just playing my game," added Blake, who missed the entire claycourt season because of his injury.

"I did it and it worked out well today."

In other matches, American Robby Ginepri brushed aside Serbian Ilija Bozoljac 6-3 6-4, Colombian Alejandro Falla beat Slovakia's Karol Beck 7-6 6-4 and U.S. wildcard Ryan Sweeting scraped past Belgian Kristof Vliegen 2-6 6-3 6-4.

South African qualifier Kevin Anderson powered through 6-3 6-2 against Ukrainian Illya Marchenko and will face second-seeded American and defending champion Sam Querrey in the second round on Wednesday.

British world number four Andy Murray is the top seed for this week's $619,500 event and is scheduled to play his opening match on Thursday against American qualifier Tim Smyczek, a 6-2 6-3 winner against Russian Teimuraz Gabashvili.

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Kerr sets sights on retrieving top ranking

Published>Wed, Jul 28 10 08:18 AM

SOUTHPORT, England - American Cristie Kerr goes into this week's Women's British Open at Royal Birkdale, the final major of the season, determined to fight her way back to the top of the world rankings.

The 2007 U.S. Women's Open Champion became the first American to hold the number one spot after she collected her second major title with a record 12-shot victory in the LPGA Championship in Rochester last month.

Having spent three weeks as the world's best woman golfer, she has now slipped to number three behind South Korea's Shin Ji-yai, who won the Evian Masters on Sunday, and Japan's Ai Miyazato.

"I definitely want to finish the year as world number one," said the 32-year-old Kerr ahead of Thursday's start. "It is very important to me. I am a proud American and I want to be the number one player but I know I'll need a couple more tournament wins.

"I love the British Open. The links courses are so different and it is a great challenge. I remember playing here at Birkdale in 2005 (she finished joint fifth) and the weather was really bad. I hope it is better this week, but the wind always helps to make it interesting."

Kerr's best finish at the British was joint second behind Sherri Steinhauer at Royal Lytham and St Annes in 2006, while she tied for eighth behind Scotland's Catriona Matthew, also at Lytham, last year.

Miyazato made her British Open debut at Birkdale in 2005 and finished joint 11th. A multiple winner in her native Japan, she says she struggled to fit into the U.S. way of life when she joined the LPGA Tour in 2006, but she got her breakthrough win in the Evian Masters last year and has added four more victories this season.

She was world number one before being knocked off top place by Shin this week, and showed her liking for links golf by finishing third at Lytham last year.

"I am really happy with my season and I always love the week at the British," said Miyazato. "The courses are so different and you have to conjure up different shots but it is good fun."

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Maradona dropped as Argentina coach

Published>Wed, Jul 28 10 08:16 AM

Diego Maradona's stormy spell as Argentina coach came to an end on Tuesday when the Argentine Football Association (AFA) voted unanimously not to renew his contract.

Maradona's future had been in doubt since Argentina's 4-0 thrashing by Germany in the World Cup quarter-finals in South Africa this month, less than two years since his headline-grabbing appointment.

"There needed to be some changes among Diego's staff ... and we couldn't come to an agreement," AFA chief Julio Grondona told reporters. "No one's being kicked out, a contract hasn't been renewed because we didn't have the conditions to do so."

An AFA spokesman cited "unbridgeable differences" with the flamboyant Maradona, who led Argentina to World Cup victory as captain in 1986 and is adored by many Argentines.

The team's earlier-than-expected exit from the tournament followed a shaky qualifying campaign, but the former player was still given a hero's welcome when the squad returned home and President Cristina Fernandez urged him to stay on.

Several dozen fans, some banging drums and chanting, gathered outside the AFA's headquarters after Tuesday's announcement.

Speculation had mounted ahead of the meeting that Maradona would not stay on as coach -- a position he had held since November 2008 -- because of the disagreement over his coaching staff.

Maradona, 49, said Sunday he wanted to stay on, but only if he could keep control over the choice of his assistants.

BEST-EVER PLAYERS

Maradona was widely seen as one of the world's best-ever players in his 1980s' heyday, but he battled drug addiction, obesity and alcoholism for years after retiring from the game in the 1990s.

That made his comeback as national team coach an even more remarkable personal achievement, especially because he had very little experience as a manager.

He had a patchy tenure as coach of Argentina, however, even though the team's convincing wins in their opening World Cup games propelled them into the list of favorites.

Maradona's exit means Argentina need to find a new coach for the Copa America regional tournament next year but Grondona said there was plenty of time to recruit a new training staff.

Local media said former Boca Juniors coach Carlos Bianchi, who led the Buenos Aires club to a string of national and continental titles in two stints between 1998 and 2004, was a popular favorite.

Other names circulating as possible successors include Estudiantes coach Alex Sabella, Independiente's former coach Americo Gallego, former Argentina coach Marcelo Bielsa and ex-River Plate, Inter Milan and Argentina striker Ramon Diaz.

Grondona said youth team coach Sergio Batista, Maradona's former 1986 team mate, was the logical choice as caretaker coach and he will lead the team for a friendly against Ireland in Dublin Aug. 11.

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PREVIEW - Weekley needs his compass at the Greenbrier Classic

Wed, Jul 28 10 06:58 AM

Playing good golf at this week's inaugural Greenbrier Classic in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia could be the least of Boo Weekley's worries as he prepares for Thursday's opening round.

The affable U.S. Ryder Cup player, like many of his peers, is staying on site at the luxurious Greenbrier resort where he fears he will be unable to locate the hosting Old White Course from the labyrinthine hotel.

"This hotel is amazing," a wide-eyed Weekley told reporters on Tuesday. "It's unreal how big this place is. It's like going to the White House. You get into a hallway and you can walk forever.

"I might have to get my compass out to find my way back to the golf course from where I'm staying at up there."

Weekley, a double winner on the PGA Tour who has struggled for form this season due to a shoulder injury, said he had already got lost three times trying to plot his way out of the hotel.

"I had to call my agent (manager)," he added with a broad smile. "I ask him: 'How in the hell do I get where I'm going?'

"He says: 'Just try to get downstairs.' I'm like: 'Well, where is the elevator at?' I couldn't even find that.."

A home-spun Florida native who relishes country pursuits such as hunting and fishing, Weekley would dearly love to regain form at The Greenbrier, which is located in the Allegheny Mountains.

GETTING JUMP-STARTED

"This would be a great place to get it jump-started," said the 37-year-old who has recorded only two top-10 finishes in 19 PGA Tour starts this season. "My game is starting to come around.

"I found me some drivers I can actually play now and found some irons I feel a little better with. The main thing is just getting out there ... seeing if the putter can get hot."

World number five Jim Furyk, who has won twice on the 2010 PGA Tour, is the highest-ranked player in the field but, in many respects, no one holds an advantage with this week's $6 million event being brand new.

"It's a little bit different," said Zimbabwe's Brendon de Jonge, a graduate of nearby Virginia Tech. "We go to the same venues every year and some guys have been there for 20, 25 years. So this will definitely even out the playing field."

The Greenbrier Classic has replaced the Buick Open, which was removed from the schedule last year when troubled Detroit automaker General Motors announced it had withdrawn its title sponsorships on the PGA Tour.

Asked what type of player was best suited to the Old White Course, de Jonge replied: "It's not gonna favour any one kind of player. The fairways are fairly narrow, so you got to drive it straight as well."

Other leading players at The Greenbrier include Spanish Ryder Cup player Sergio Garcia, former PGA Championship winner Davis Love III of the United States and Swede Carl Pettersson, winner of the Canadian Open on Sunday.

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