it would be different if felt like was playing rubbish and then was
expected to do well
but feel like started the year well and physically feel good just need
to make sure play my best tennis
because murray elected not to defend the title he had won in doha the two
previous years in favour of the mixed teams hopman cup in perth to open his
season he dropped down one spot in the rankings to fifth
the penalty could be quarter final clash with spanish champion rafael nadal
it makes no difference unless get to the quarters so try and take care of
the results before then he said
if have to play rafa then it obviously very very tough match but one
that feel like could win
but need to focus on the matches before then sure he ll be doing the
same thing as well
murray had no regrets about the change in preparation saying the hopman cup
offered much better foundation for his australian open campaign than playing
in doha again
the year old won his first three singles matches in perth in imperious
fashion before stumbling in the final against spaniard tommy robredo and losing
in three sets
in terms of being acclimatised and what not feel lot better in that
respect he said
got good practice over in perth played eight matches practiced outdoors
there on all the days off
it was nice and hot so feel lot better in that respect
murray elected not to play another tournament after perth and has been in
melbourne practicing since monday
he opens his australian open against south african qualifier kevin anderson on
monday
ski jump world cup ski jump results
sapporo japan jan afp
results from the world cup ski jump here on sunday the th leg of the round
series
large hill individual
simon ammann sui pnts
noriaki kasai jpn
martin koch aut
antonin hajek cze
andreas wank ger
daiki ito jpn
michael neumayer ger
stefan thurnbichler aut
david zauner aut
taku takeuchi jpn
overall standings after rounds
simon ammann sui pnts gregor schllerenzauer aut andreas
kotler aut thomas morgenstern aut wolfgang loitzl aut
martin koch aus janne ahonen fin bjoern einar romoeren
nor adam malysz pol daiki ito jpn
tennis asian hopes face early disappointment
melbourne jan afp
asian players go into the opening grand slam of the season with plenty still to
prove and at least one will be going home on monday
the region best hopes at the australian open lie with li na and zheng jie
while japanese veteran kimiko date krumm lurks as dark horse
but their numbers have been boosted with china han xinyun coming through
qualifying
there are now asian women in the tournament two more than last year but
only taiwan lu yen hsun in the men
once again li and zheng carry the baton for asia
li has crept up to in the world and needs good run to reinforce her
reputation but zheng has slipped down the rankings to after abandoning the
chinese state sports system to manage her own career
others making the grade include china peng shuai indian underachiever
sania mirza and japan year old date krumm at
the veteran who was once four in the world made comeback last year after
more than decade in retirement and has been showing some solid form recently
beating two top players virginie razzano and nadia petrova
other asian women in the main draw are fellow japanese ayumi morita
taiwanese pair chan yung jan and chang kai chen and evergreen thai
star tamarine tanasugarn
but there is no ai sugiyama who called it quits last year after successive
australian open campaigns leaving just two japanese to carry the flag next
week
li has long been asia most high profile player and continued her steady rise
last year winning through to the fourth round at roland garros and making her
second grand slam quarter final appearance at the us open
first round exit at the asb classic in auckland didn bode well but she
bounced back with an impressive victory over us open finalist caroline
wozniacki now world number four at the sydney international last week
she opens her tournament on tuesday against new zealand marina erakovic
zheng who has won three tour singles titles and doubles titles including
the australian open and wimbledon doubles trophies made the fourth round
last year but has been drawn against peng in the first round
while one of them will be going home on monday zheng is confident that chinese
players will continue improving
think people can see the improvement in our ranking in the last few years
she recently told reporters
they can see more chinese players active on the tennis scene so think there
will be top player from china
mirza who won the mixed doubles title partnered by mahesh bhupathi last year
has tough first round tie against french th seed aravane rezai
she said her key focus this year was staying fit
it not that easy to win grand slam singles title she said
my target this year will be to stay fit for as long as possible and to play in
as many matches as possible
once again there is little hope for the asian men who have been in the
doldrums for years
while japan hottest new prospect kei nishikori climbed the rankings last year
he has since faded after an elbow injury forced him onto the sidelines
he has yet to fully recover and has withdrawn from the australian open
it leaves taiwan lu as asia only men hope
he opens this year against ireland louk sorensen
rescuers battle to reach haitians still alive in rubble
port au prince jan afp
hearing jules strained voice pushes on adrenaline fueled israeli rescue
workers racing against time to pry him from the ruins as hopes fade of finding
more survivors after haiti devastating earthquake
the quake may have came and gone days ago but the urgency here remains palpable
this team has pulled out all the stops to save someone whose life is hanging in
the balance
and the clock is ticking
with hearts set racing by the slim chance they could help pull off miracle
this long after tuesday devastating temblor the team of men toils on to
save just one person sweating through the back breaking work hour after hour
inch by inch amid the stench of rotting corpses
today is the last day that think we will be able to find survivors mainly
because of dehydration said rami peltz one of the rescue workers on the
israeli team
facing the real possibility that what remains of this collapsed tax office could
come crashing down on them the rescuers grimace as they chip dig saw and
drill their way slowly painstakingly inching closer to the person trapped
beyond their sight
it is grueling exhausting work we work centimeter by centimeter said one
team member soaked with sweat after minutes in an cavity where the team is
hacking and drilling toward their target
the survivor has made it this far four days after the magnitude quake
felled thousands of buildings across the capital of the poorest country in the
americas
but he is trapped with steel reinforcement cable around his neck and huge
piece of ceramic flooring pinning his legs said one team member moshe sadir
all around them there are dead bodies and more dead bodies some of the people
survived the building collapse but then expired in the days that followed no
rescue team made it their way in time
that is what happened to nadine the wife of adras belly haitian man who
brought the israelis to this spot to search but it was bad news for him
rescuers called and called she did not answer and dogs found no trace of her
foreign rescue teams are spread out across the sprawling caribbean capital of
two million even as the clock ticked down on chances for miracle
they take their cues from various sources un staff sent some to locations where
survivors were believed to remain and desperate relatives dispatched others to
spots where loved ones were still missing and voices and moaning could be heard
inside
very few of the stories have happy ending
most end in sorrow and the discovery of tangle of dead bodies
the first hours are so important after that the chances just drop off
dramatically that is why it is so important to hurry early on said jose
ignacio bugella yudice here from the civil protection service in the spanish
city of getafe
the spanish team worked with colleagues from iceland in half collapsed
building where rescue dogs can detect any lucky if unlikely survivors
only the dogs can tell us if there is life in there then we pinpoint the spot
and we secure it the rescue operation can take minutes or several hours
said magnus hakonarson with the icelandic rescue team icesar
at the port au prince telecoms building rescue team from costa rica had no
luck as it called and called but got no answer from inside the flattened
building
when the dogs do not confirm somebody is alive in there we have to move on to
another spot swiftly so now we are going to school but would say there is
less than three percent chance of finding survivors in this city said
william hernandez leader of the costa rican rescuers
but surviving building collapse and then degree celsius daytime
temperatures without drop of water for days on end is unlikely and less
likely by the minute
some people end up dying of their injuries or from dehydration or brain
trauma said andres madrigal with the costa rican team
but for jules his will to live help him beat the longest odds
he just kept saying when we finally saw him at the bottom of the hole
want to live don leave me member of the israeli team said
meanwhile off the haitian coast haitian woman gave birth to boy on board
of us coast guard cutter as she prepared to take us navy helicopter bound
for the aircraft carrier carl vinson the baby and mother are in good condition
the carrier is currently off the coast of haiti providing humanitarian aid to
victims of the quake
golf allenby palmer in two horse race at sony open
honolulu hawaii jan afp
robert allenby who is coming off year end wins in australia and south africa
fired three under to grab share of the lead after the third round of the
pga tour sony open
the year old australian is tied with american ryan palmer at the million
dollar tournament
scoring was tough this afternoon especially on those greens said allenby
just went out there with game plan to just hopefully keep it on the fairway
and keep it on the green and try and make few putts
allenby who is seeking his first uspga tour win in almost nine years played
through the pain of sprained ankle that he hurt on monday before the
tournament started
he tested the ankle in wednesday pro am and then decided to give it go for
real on thursday so far the decision has paid off he has gone holes without
bogey
whenever got into trouble seemed to make up and down said allenby
managed my way around the golf course and tried not to make any mistakes
didn make any bogeys which is good
palmer who is protecting just the second hole lead of his career shot
two under to join allenby at the top of the leaderboard
if you have told me have shot two under par today would have said
great let go home palmer said it was actually very solid day of
golf
the pair at under for three stroke lead over steve stricker davis
love troy matteson and defending champion zach johnson
five more players including sbs championship runner up rory sabbatini and
tom lehman were another shot back at seven under
tennis djokovic plan to close gap on federer
melbourne jan afp
australian open contender novak djokovic said sunday he was looking to add
variety to his game by developing his serve and volley to close the gap on top
pair roger federer and rafael nadal
djokovic scored stunning win over federer in the semi finals of the
australian open on the way to winning his first grand slam but he has not
played in the last seven major finals dominated by federer and nadal
but under american coach todd martin the serbian third seed is working on
creating more rounded game to push his way into grand slam contention
starting with this week australian open
think ve improved on my net play and my physical strength djokovic said
maybe because of the work ve put into some variety in the game some volleys
and serve that ve changed some things
djokovic said he had lost some confidence playing from the baseline which was
one of his strengths in his grand slam triumph
might not play as well as did in from the baseline but still have
lot of belief that have great game he said
ve worked lot on the serve and volley game todd martin had an influence on
that
know it process and it cannot happen overnight and cannot learn all the
things as soon as try to practice them
so going slowly taking things step by step
martin who reached number four in the world in and was finalist in
the australian open before he retired from the atp tour in took over
as djokovic coach last august
the serb said the breakthrough australian open victory changed his life giving
him lot more self confidence along with increased expectations
winning grand slam opened lot of doors for me gave me lot of
opportunities and of course lot of self confidence he said
but on the other hand it took lot of responsibility pressure and
expectations it was all new for me
ve been through ups and downs mentally and experienced some things that
never did before
still feel that enjoy tennis and love what doing love playing
traveling around competing
just can take that and last year as big lesson to my life
djokovic opens against spaniard daniel gimeno traver on tuesday
cycling evans plays down tour chances
adelaide australia jan afp
australian world champion cadel evans on sunday played down his chances of
rousing tour down under win and said he was content to play second fiddle to
cycling legend lance armstrong
evans returning to his home country signature race for the first time since
said he did not begrudge armstrong seven time tour de france winner
the enormous popularity that has eclipsed his fellow riders here
lance has won seven tours ve only lost five he said
evans has kept low profile in the race build up compared to armstrong who
has attracted intense media interest and drew some amateur cyclists to an
impromptu ride announced on twitter
the year old who became australia first road cycling world champion in
september said he was focused on bedding in with new team bmc and building
towards the tour de france where he has frustratingly finished second twice
it not suited for my capacities here at tour down under he said
just happy to be here and get my season started and get to know my team
mates that probably the most important thing for me
longer tour specialists evans and armstrong have both eased expectations of
winning the australian race which is held over six relatively short flat
stages and favours sprinters
but evans defended the course saying tougher layout could scare off top
riders looking to ease their way into the season
think part of why the tour down under has been so successful is riders can
come here and they can start the year off well if it was any harder riders
wouldn want to come he said
you would scare away good riders and better teams they become disinterested
in the race
race director mike turtur also said he had no plans to change the layout of the
race which is held at the height of the australian summer
ve got no problem whatsoever that it sprinter style race we re just
one of those races that suits certain type of rider he said
we design the race to suit the teams and the athletic requirements at this time
of year turtur added think we ve got it right
riders will take part in separate street race around adelaide later on sunday
before the tour first stage on tuesday
pakistanis furious as winter power shortages grip nation
rawalpindi pakistan jan afp
sagheerullah khan huddles before small fire outside his shop in northwest
pakistan struggling to stay warm and keep his business alive despite five days
without electricity
other shopkeepers join him and gather around the flames in the poor badhber
neighbourhood on the outskirts of northwest capital peshawar lamenting crushing
power outages and gas shortages that have plunged them back in time
long power cuts and lack of natural gas have made life miserable for us
during the extremely cold season khan tells afp as he sets the flame of his
ageing kerosene lamp to try and light up the pitch black night
we had power cuts of between to hours since electricity load shedding
resumed in december but there has been no electricity in the area for the last
five days he said from city where the mercury can drop below freezing
pakistan faces catastrophic energy crisis suffocating industry making life
unbearable as cold winter weather grips the country and fuelling anger at
government already suffering plummeting approval ratings
queues snake from petrol stations as cars stock up on dwindling natural gas
generators rumble loudly at households that can afford them and protesters spill
into the streets furious at the disruption to their lives
since late december pakistanis have been suffering at least six hours day
without power as lack of rain to run hydro power plants exacerbates long
running power shortage
in rural areas and poorer city neighbourhoods blackouts can last for most of
the day
when go to work early in the morning there is no electricity and when come
back after sunset the darkness welcomes me again said razia khatoon maid
who lives in one room house in islamabad twin city rawalpindi
compounding her woes is shortage of natural gas with supply unable to keep up
with demand in the frigid winter months and gas pressure so low in crowded
neighbourhoods that cooking is impossible
earn rupees dollars month after working in five houses as
maid how can buy cooked food from market on daily basis said khatoon
pakistan is only able to produce about percent of the electricity it needs
officials from the main power regulatory authority the pakistan electric power
company pepco say
production shortfall has been blamed on issues such as corruption short
sightedness debts creaking distribution system and lack of money to
invest in renewable energy as demand grows
last july during the sweltering summer months chronic power cuts triggered
riots in financial capital karachi and the most populous province of punjab
mild weather and rains offered brief respite in the last three months of
but power cuts resumed in december
rumbles of discontent have followed police baton charged crowd of people
protesting power cuts in eastern lahore city in mid january
it comes with the government reputation dented as ministers face court cases
after the scrapping in november of corruption amnesty
pakistan is also grappling with taliban led insurgency that has killed
thousands of people
we were already facing the brunt of suicide attacks and bomb explosions and now
the government has dropped the bombs of power cuts and natural gas load
shedding said fazal karim an auto rickshaw mechanic
pepco official told afp that power cuts are not expected to ease until the
winter snows melt providing water for the hydro power plants
naeem khan spokesman for state body the sui northern gas pipeline said
pakistan can only supply about percent of gas demand right now
two projects to pipe gas from iran and turkmenistan to try and alleviate the
shortage have long stalled while investment and exploration for new fields in
impoverished pakistan remain limited
the impact on the economy has also been immense with independent analyst
shahid estimating that power outages have forced about small manufacturing
businesses to shut down in the past six months alone
the energy shortages have made pakistani products expensive and less
competitive in the global markets he said
waiting for natural gas in queue of cars at rawalpindi gas station
businessmen mohammad ehsan said he has not seen such chaos in years
am really fed up with the performance of government they are supposed to
mitigate our suffering but instead they have become source of quadrupling the
problems he said
cricket bangladesh ask india to bat in first test
chittagong bangladesh jan afp
bangladesh captain shakib al hasan won the toss and sent india in to bat in the
first cricket test here on sunday
virender sehwag was leading india in the absence of mahendra singh dhoni who
was ruled out with back spasms leading spinner harbhajan singh was also missing
due to stiff neck
the start was delayed by minutes because of fog and murky weather over this
coastal city
bangladesh shakib al hasan capt mushfiqur rahim tamim iqbal imrul kayes
mohammad ashraful raqibul hasan mohammad mahmudullah shahriar nafees
shahadat hossain rubel hossain shafiul islam
india virender sehwag capt gautam gambhir rahul dravid sachin tendulkar
venkatsai laxman yuvraj singh dinesh karthik zaheer khan shanthakumaran
sreesanth amit mishra ishant sharma
umpires billy bowden nzl and marais erasmus rsa
tv umpire enamul haque ban
match referee andy pycroft zim
figure skating denney and barrett shock field to win us pairs
spokane washington jan afp
caydee denney and jeremy barrett continued their meteoric rise saturday
capturing the pairs competition at the us figure skating championships saturday
to qualify for the upcoming olympics
denney and barrett were easy winners in the free skate programme over the
second place pairing of amanda evora and mark ladwig
our free skate today was one of the best programmes we have ever done denney
said it was just so much fun and will remember that forever
the winners also placed first in the short programme friday for combined score
of well back in second was evora and ladwig who finished with
points
that put denney and barrett the us team for next month winter games while
the other olympic spot went to evora and ladwig
two time reigning national champions keanua mclaughlin and rockne brubaker were
the favourites going in but they stumbled to disappointing fifth overall and
missed out on the olympics
they got off to horrific start with seventh in the short programme and then
followed it with fifth in the free skate after three key errors
sometimes things don work out the way you would like them to brubaker said
rena inoue and john baldwin were runner up in the free skate and placed third
overall inoue and baldwin competed for the us at the turin olympics
caitlin yankowskas and john coughlin finished second in the short program but
ended up distant sixth in the free skate saturday to finish sixth overall
nfl colts saints advance with ease in nfl playoffs
indianapolis indiana jan afp
top seeds indianapolis and new orleans each moved within one home victory of
advancing to the super bowl with lopsided national football league home playoff
triumphs on saturday
peyton manning threw for two touchdowns in the last two minutes of the first
half to power indianapolis past baltimore while drew brees threw for three
touchdowns and reggie bush ran for two in new orleans rout of arizona
on january indianapolis will host the winner of sunday game between san
diego and the new york jets and the saints will entertain sunday winner
between minnesota and dallas to decide berths in the super bowl on february
the colts and saints faltered late in the season after sensational starts that
earned first round playoff byes and home field playoff edge new orleans
losing the last three games and indianapolis dropping the final two
no team that lost its final three games has ever reached the super bowl and the
saints have never played in the nfl championship spectacle but both hexes could
end next weekend to delight city still hurting from hurricane katrina
these fans they deserve championship we re going to try to give it to
them said brees who completed of passes for yards
indianapolis trying to match the super bowl champion green bay packers by
winning title after two season ending losses was criticized for resting
starters and squandering chance at perfect season
but manning credited the move with helping beat the ravens
being healthy was important manning said we had lot of guys back no
question guys used the off week we call it prepration week to get healthy
manning completed of passes for yards in an eight minute march that
ended with yard touchdown pass to austin collie with two minutes to play
then the colts forced punt and manning struck again on three yard touchdown
pass to reggie wayne three seconds before the end of the second quarter giving
the colts edge
we came out playing really well from the get go and that set the tempo of the
game manning said
the colts seeking second title in four years had been when playing after
bye
it about executing or whether you have had bye before manning said
there was this myth we can win at home after bye didn believe that we
didn win those games after bye because we just didn play well enough
brees and bush powered the nfl most potent offense past team that came
within seconds of winning last year super bowl ensuring new orleans would
host conference final for the first time in the club year history
saints coach sean payton was so concerned bout aggressiveness after the bye that
he had black wooden baseball bats made for players as souvenirs of the game
emphasizing their need to bring the wood against the cardinals
we knew this had to be physical game it was important we came out early
being physical payton said we played with lot of energy
only for special games do we do that bring the wood brees added this was
obviously special game
brees tossed his touchdown passes in the highest scoring first half in nfl
playoff history to give the saints half time lead new orleans setting
club record for most points in playoff game with half the contest to come
arizona seized the lead on tim hightower yard touchdown run just seconds
into the game but the saints answered on lynell hamilton one yard touchdown
run and brees flipped yard touchdown pass to jeremy shockey to give the
saints the lead for good
bush boosted the saints lead to with yard touchdown run but the
cardinals responded with beanie wells capping touchdown march on four yard
run
just later the saints faked run and brees took lateral and flipped
yard touchdown pass to devery henderson to give new orleans edge
brees found marques colston on two yard touchdown pass seconds before half
time
bush added an yard punt return touchdown and garrett hartley kicked yard
field goal in the third quarter boosting the saints lead to and the new
orleans defense shut down the cardinals from there
reggie really played well showed lot of dimensions brees said
haitian woman gives birth on us coast guard cutter
on board the uss carl vinson jan afp
haitian woman gave birth to boy on board of us coast guard cutter saturday
as she prepared to take us navy helicopter bound for the aircraft carrier carl
vinson navy official said
the woman whose name has not been released was part of group of six haitian
victims of tuesday earthquake picked up by the us coast guard
the haitians were about to board helicopter bound for the uss carl vinson when
she went into labor lieutenant tim williams told afp
as we were loading the patients onto the helicopter one of the female patients
gave birth williams said
after the baby was born the whole group including the infant and his mother
were transported to the aircraft carrier which is currently off the coast of
haiti providing humanitarian aid to victims of the quake
tennis aussie grand slam wide open says rafa
melbourne jan afp
defending champion rafael nadal believes this week australian open is
lottery with any one of dozen players capable of winning
the world number two spaniard who beat roger federer here last year in
gripping five set final admitted he was not the favourite this time after his
injury layoff but didn want to offer his choice
we will see what happens don know he said
lot of players can win right now don want to say everybody but like
players have good chance
federer is obviously one of them as is nadal andy murray and novak djokovic
with nikolay davydenko the form player having beaten the spaniard in the qatar
open final this month
djokovic also feels the tournament is wide open
well obviously federer and nadal as the best two players in the world are the
two biggest favorites to win it again this year he said
but then you have juan martin del potro murray andy roddick davydenko
they re all in great shape great form
think it getting very interesting men tennis it good for the sport
to have good group of the players that are able to win major event or
grand slam
think over the years this can be one of the most exciting grand slams
for nadal the pressure is on with the spaniard coming into the opening grand
slam of the season without title in eight months the last one coming on the
barcelona clay in april
nadal said he hadn had bad results but was just struggling to get back to
winning tournaments
didn have bad results in the last five months but didn have perfect
results he said
but played was there for all the tournaments sure it true playing
against the top players didn have very good results but wasn playing
bad just need little bit more
with injuries hampering the year old for much of last year he faces
telling time at the australian open which should provide guide as to his
