International Olympic Committee : News

Boxing: Calls in Philippines for Pacquiao to resign

12/11/2012 5:06:24 AM

Philippine media commentators have put pressure on boxing great Manny Pacquiao to retire after his heavy defeat in Las Vegas, with one comparing him to Parkinson's disease sufferer Muhammed Ali.

The southpaw who turns 34 next Monday has vowed to fight on. But many suspect that 17 years of pro ring combat are now taking their toll on the man once seen by many as the world's finest pound-for-pound fighter.

Pacquiao, a national hero, was knocked out by Mexican rival Juan Manuel Marquez in Las Vegas on Saturday in his second consecutive defeat.

"Pacquiao got hit hard but in the end, he was conquered by Father Time after it turned out he could no longer take a solid punch," wrote sports columnist Recah Trinidad in the Philippine Daily Inquirer newspaper.

Pacquiao, who fought his way out of poverty as a teenager and is now immensely wealthy, had earlier controversially lost his World Boxing Organisation welterweight crown to unbeaten US fighter Tim Bradley on July 9.

Boxing television analyst Ronnie Nathanielsz said that while Pacquiao wants a shot at redeeming himself, there was always the danger that too many punches could condemn him to the fate of his US coach, ex-fighter Freddie Roach.

"The sight of Roach himself riddled by Parkinson's disease and the great heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali, wracked by the disease, sends shivers among many who care deeply for Pacquiao," Nathanielsz wrote in the Manila Standard.

Philippine Olympic Committee vice-president Joey Romasanta said Pacquiao should have quit after his last winning title defence in 2011, when he retained his WBO welterweight crown against his old foe Marquez, now 39.

"It would have been nice if he had retired while he was ahead. In boxing, there will always be somebody better. After this loss, Manny should read the signs and consider these things," Romasanta told the Manila Bulletin newspaper.

Pacquiao, a former eight-division world champion, has parlayed his boxing fame into a film and television career. He was also elected to parliament in 2010 and even become a Bible-quoting preacher.

Critics say this has led him to lose his focus on boxing.

But despite their misgivings, many more Filipinos still want Pacquiao to go out on a high note by winning everyone's dream match before retiring.

To many, that would pit him against undefeated American fighter Floyd Mayweather Jnr, even though earlier efforts to set up the dream match have failed.

"He shouldn't retire. He has to recover and redeem himself. Then he can retire," Roel Velasco, a bronze medallist at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, told the Bulletin.

Even London-based Boxing News blogger Daniel Welling questioned whether Pacquiao should find a better way to bid boxing goodbye.

"It would be a huge shame if one of the greatest fighters of the modern era ends his career face down on the mat," he wrote.

mm/cgm/sm

Football: Scottish Football League result

12/11/2012 9:31:58 PM

Scottish Football League result on Tuesday:

Second Division

Alloa 1 Queen Of The South 0

afp

Squash: World championship results

12/11/2012 4:21:44 PM

Men's world championship results on Tuesday (x denotes seeding):

3rd rd

Borja Golan (ESP x15) bt Peter Barker (ENG x6) 11-7, 4-11, 11-3, 11-3

Mohamed El Shorbagy (EGY x8) bt Cameron Pilley (AUS x16) 11-13, 11-6, 11-2, 11-7

James WIllstrop (ENG x1) bt Saurav Ghosal (IND) 11-6, 11-7, 11-2

Karim Darwish (EGY x4) bt Daryl Selby (ENG x11) 11-9, 13-11, 10-12, 11-9.

afp

Football: French league results - collated

12/11/2012 9:55:00 PM

Collated French league results on Tuesday:

Nice 1 (Cvitanich 66-pen) Rennes 0

Valenciennes 0 Paris Saint Germain 4 (Ibrahimovic 28, 49, 54, Lavezzi 82)

Lille 2 (Basa 55, Payet 83) Toulouse 0

Wednesday

Ajaccio v Reims, Lorient v Sochaux, Evian v Troyes, Brest v Montpellier, Lyon v Nancy, Bastia v Marseille

Thursday

Bordeaux v Saint Etienne

afp12

Football: Spanish Cup result

12/11/2012 9:09:53 PM

Result from Spanish Cup last 16 first leg game played on Tuesday:

Osasuna 0 Valencia 2

Wednesday

Cordoba v Barcelona

Real Mallorca v FC Sevilla

Atletico Madrid v Getafe

Celta Vigo v Real Madrid

Thursday

Levante v Real Zaragoza

Las Palmas v Real Betis

Wednesday, December 19

Eibar or Athletic Bilbao v Malaga

Return legs from January 9

afp12

Basketball: NBA results and standings

12/11/2012 8:42:31 AM

Results and standings after Monday's National Basketball Association games:

MONDAY, DECEMBER 10TH RESULTS

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

GOLDEN STATE 104, CHARLOTTE 96

PHILADELPHIA 104, DETROIT 97

MIAMI 101, ATLANTA 92

SAN ANTONIO 134, HOUSTON 126 (OT)

DALLAS 119, SACRAMENTO 96

PORTLAND 92, TORONTO 74

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION SUBSTANDINGS

THROUGH MONDAY, DECEMBER 10TH

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

EASTERN CONFERENCE

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

ATLANTIC DIV. W L PCT GB

------------- - - --- --

NEW YORK 15 5 .750 -

BROOKLYN 11 8 .579 3 1/2

PHILADELPHIA 12 9 .571 3 1/2

BOSTON 11 9 .550 4

TORONTO 4 18 .182 12

CENTRAL DIV. W L PCT GB

------------ - - --- --

CHICAGO 11 8 .579 -

MILWAUKEE 10 9 .526 1

INDIANA 10 11 .476 2

DETROIT 7 16 .304 6

CLEVELAND 4 17 .190 8

SOUTHEAST DIV. W L PCT GB

-------------- - - --- --

MIAMI 14 5 .737 -

ATLANTA 12 6 .667 1 1/2

ORLANDO 8 12 .400 6 1/2

CHARLOTTE 7 13 .350 7 1/2

WASHINGTON 2 15 .118 11

WESTERN CONFERENCE

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

NORTHWEST DIV. W L PCT GB

-------------- - - --- --

OKLAHOMA CITY 17 4 .810 -

UTAH 12 10 .545 5 1/2

MINNESOTA 9 9 .500 6 1/2

DENVER 10 11 .476 7

PORTLAND 9 12 .429 8

PACIFIC DIV. W L PCT GB

------------ - - --- --

LA CLIPPERS 14 6 .700 -

GOLDEN STATE 14 7 .667 1/2

LA LAKERS 9 12 .429 5 1/2

SACRAMENTO 7 13 .350 7

PHOENIX 7 15 .318 8

SOUTHWEST DIV. W L PCT GB

-------------- - - --- --

SAN ANTONIO 18 4 .818 -

MEMPHIS 14 4 .778 2

DALLAS 11 10 .524 6 1/2

HOUSTON 9 11 .450 8

NEW ORLEANS 5 14 .263 11 1/2

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 11TH SCHEDULE

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

NEW YORK AT BROOKLYN 7:00 PM

LA LAKERS AT CLEVELAND 7:00 PM

DENVER AT DETROIT 7:30 PM

WASHINGTON AT NEW ORLEANS 8:00 PM

LA CLIPPERS AT CHICAGO 9:30 PM

(ALL TIMES ARE EASTERN)

Football: English League Cup results

12/11/2012 10:25:11 PM

English League Cup results on Tuesday (aet denotes after extra time):

Quarter-finals

Bradford 1 (Thompson 16) Arsenal 1 (Vermaelen 88) aet

Bradford won 3-2 on penalties

Norwich 1 (Morison 19) Aston Villa 4 (Holman 21, Weimann 79, 85, Benteke 90)

Playing Wednesday

Swansea v Middlesbrough

Playing December 19

Leeds v Chelsea

afp

Racing: Nicholls upset as Kauto Star leaves stables

12/11/2012 7:04:04 PM

Champion trainer Paul Nicholls admits he was sad to see Kauto Star's time at his Ditcheat yard come to a sudden end on Tuesday after eight years of remarkable success.

Kauto Star, the winner of five King Georges and two Cheltenham Gold Cups, had been officially retired in late October but was expected to remain at Manor Farm Stables in Somerset until Boxing Day.

However, owner Clive Smith announced on Monday that the 12-year-old horse would be moved away to be prepared by European bronze medalist eventing rider Laura Collett for a new career in the world of dressage.

That decision has not been popular with Nicholls, who trained Kauto Star to victory in 19 races.

"It is with great sadness that I have to report that Kauto Star has left the yard for the last time," Nicholls told his Betfair column.

"It has been no secret that Kauto's future has been a great source of debate since we announced his retirement.

"And, to be brutally honest, this morning I felt the time had finally come for me to take control of the situation, and to start making the decisions.

"Now, I am fully aware that Kauto is Clive's horse and he can do as he wishes, even though I would personally have loved Clifford (Baker the head lad) to have looked after him for the rest of his years.

"But what upset me and my team here is when Clive announced that he had spoken to experts about the horse's future - but failed to consult and listen properly to the team that had looked after him here for the past nine years. That really upset us."

smg/pi

Football: Ibrahimovic hat-trick sparks PSG rout

12/11/2012 9:57:49 PM

Swedish superstar Zlatan Ibrahimovic fired a superb hat-trick to take his league leading scoring tally to 17 goals as Paris Saint-Germain closed within two points of leaders Lyon with a clinical 4-0 victory over Valenciennes here on Tuesday.

Elsewhere, Nice climbed to joint seventh place as they beat nine-man Rennes 1-0, thanks to a 66th minute penalty from Argentine striker Dario Cvitanich, ending a four game winning streak for the Brittany side.

Ibrahimovic, the former Barcelona, AC Milan and Inter Milan striker, was in inspirational form as he opened the scoring on 29 minutes before two second-half goals put the result beyond doubt and gave the capital side the ideal preparation for the visit of Lyon on Sunday.

It was the sixth time this season that the Swedish 31-year-old captain has scored two goals or more in the same match.

Valenciennes were the dominant team from the kick-off and piled pressure on the PSG back four that resulted in Italian 'keeper Salvatore Sirigu having to intervene on several occasions.

The capital side weathered the early storm and forced the opening goal on 29 minutes thanks to an inspirational pass from Javier Pastore that split the home defence wide open.

His angled pass down the right wing found Jeremy Menez whose shot was parried by Nicolas Penneteau, but it eventually fell to Ibrahimovic, who skilfully redirected the ball past the Valenciennes 'keeper.

Three minutes after the break, Menez again was the provider as Pastore fed the Frenchman down the left flank and when Penneteau could only push the ball in front of goal, Ibrahimovic gratefully swept home the rebound.

The lively Menez was at the heart of the third PSG goal when the French international stole in behind the defence, before intelligently squaring the ball for the big Swede to easily tap home his third goal in 53 minutes.

As the home side pushed up in a bid to get back into the game, Ezequiel Lavezzi took advantage of that, going on a 40 yard run that had Valenciennes at sixes and sevens and he tucked the ball away for his second league goal of the season.

PSG coach Carlo Ancelotti said that his side had performed well as they recorded their third successive win inside a week.

"After two matches at home, it was a good test for us to show our mentality away from home at a difficult stadium," said Ancelotti, who was under pressure at the beginning of the month after a poor run of form.

"Valenciennes have played well their last few matches at home but we showed good mentality and a good attitude. It was a good performance," added the 53-year-old.

Rennes were trying to make it five wins on the trot away from home as coach Frederic Antonetti took on his former club, now coached by Claude Puel, who had seen his side lose just once this season at home.

A tight match swung the way of the home side 20 minutes into the second half when substitute Yassine Jebbour was shown a straight red card after being on the pitch for just five minutes following a foul on Eric Bautheac.

Cvitanic, who won the 2011 and 2012 Dutch titles with Ajax before signing with Nice, stepped up to send Benoit Costil the wrong way from the spot and hand the home side maximum points with his eighth goal of the campaign.

In the late game second half goals from Marko Basa and Dimitri Payet earned Lille a 2-0 home win in their middle of the table tie against Toulouse.

gnf/pi

NFL: Results and Standings

12/11/2012 5:33:10 AM

Results and standings on Monday in the National Football League:

New England 42 Houston 14

Standings (w l t pct pf pa)

American Football Conference

East Division

y-New England 10 3 0 .769 472 274

NY Jets 6 7 0 .462 245 306

Buffalo 5 8 0 .385 289 352

Miami 5 8 0 .385 240 276

North Division

Baltimore 9 4 0 .692 331 273

Pittsburgh 7 6 0 .538 278 264

Cincinnati 7 6 0 .538 321 280

Cleveland 5 8 0 .385 259 272

South Division

x-Houston 11 2 0 .846 365 263

Indianapolis 9 4 0 .692 292 329

Tennessee 4 9 0 .308 271 386

Jacksonville 2 11 0 .154 216 359

West Division

y-Denver 10 3 0 .769 375 257

San Diego 5 8 0 .385 292 281

Oakland 3 10 0 .231 248 402

Kansas City 2 11 0 .154 195 352

National Football Conference

East Division

NY Giants 8 5 0 .615 373 270

Washington 7 6 0 .538 343 329

Dallas 7 6 0 .538 300 314

Philadelphia 4 9 0 .308 240 341

North Division

Green Bay 9 4 0 .692 323 279

Chicago 8 5 0 .615 308 219

Minnesota 7 6 0 .538 283 286

Detroit 4 9 0 .308 320 342

South Division

y-Atlanta 11 2 0 .846 337 259

Tampa Bay 6 7 0 .462 354 308

New Orleans 5 8 0 .385 348 379

Carolina 4 9 0 .308 265 312

West Division

San Francisco 9 3 1 .731 316 184

Seattle 8 5 0 .615 300 202

St. Louis 6 6 1 .500 236 279

Arizona 4 9 0 .308 186 292

x= clinched playoff berth

y= clinched division title