Saturday, 31 March 2012 18:27
Posted by Asad Naeem
PERTH: The Western Force capitalised on the faltering Queensland Reds to notch an emphatic 45-19 win in their Super 15 rugby clash on Saturday.
The defending champions were never in the contest, as the Force dominated the early stages to ensure the Reds could not build back any confidence after their thrashing in Pretoria.
The Force ran in two first-half tries and three penalties to lead 21-5 at half time. From there the result was never in doubt, the Reds dropping their third game in a row for the first time since 2009.
The home team were on the board within moments of the start through a David Harvey penalty and alarm bells must have been ringing for the Reds when James Stannard crossed in the corner in the eighth minute.
Harvey missed the conversion, but added two more penalties in the 16th and 18th minutes for a 14-0 lead.
With the Force pressing, veteran ...
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TOKYO: Series leaders New Zealand and nearest challengers Fiji rumbled into the quarter-finals of the Tokyo Sevens on Saturday, but they did not have it all their own way.
New Zealand, who kicked off the tournament by beating the United States 26-5, thrashed Hong Kong 40-0 and saw off Australia 22-10 to finish top in Group B. They take on Argentina in the quarters on Sunday.
"It was a good start. Playing in Japan is always pleasing, ...
RANCHO MIRAGE: Five-time major champion Yani Tseng seized a one shot lead by firing her second consecutive 68 at the LPGA Tour's Kraft Nabisco Championship on Friday.
Taiwan's Tseng is chasing her third-straight LPGA tournament victory and her fourth the last six events.
"You never get tired when you want to win a tournament," Tseng said. "I just figured out I'm tired after the last two wins when you come into this week, but after (Thursday), I ...
DORTMUND: Top seeds China and hosts Germany booked their places in Saturday's semi-finals of the men's world team table tennis championships by recording commanding last eight victories.
China's Zhang Jike, Ma Lin and Ma Long showed Austria no mercy in Friday's quarter-final as the defending champions romped to a 3-0 victory while Germany also blasted past Sweden with a clean-sweep.
For a place in Sunday's final, the Germans will now play Japan, who beat Singapore 3-1 in ...
BERLIN: VfB Stuttgart earned a dramatic 4-4 draw at German league leaders Borussia Dortmund on Friday as striker Christian Gentner hit the equaliser in the 92nd minute.
In a breath-taking final 15 minutes, the lead changed hands three times.
After Stuttgart scored three goals without reply to take the lead, Dortmund went back ahead in the 87th minute when Croatia midfielder Ivan Perisic scored, less than three minutes after coming off the bench.
But Stuttgart's Gentner broke Dortmund ...
MIAMI: Rafael Nadal withdrew from the Miami Masters prior to his scheduled semi-final against Andy Murray on Friday with a knee injury, the ATP tour said via Twitter.
"Rafael Nadal has been forced to withdraw from today's match at the SEOpen due to a knee injury," a posting on the ATP's Twitter feed said.
"Andy Murray advances to the final."
Later Friday, world number one Novak Djokovic was to face Juan Monaco for a place in the final.
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LONDON: London Olympics chiefs said Friday they are willing to meet Indian activists who have called for Dow Chemical to be dropped as a sponsor of the 2012 Games because of the 1984 Bhopal disaster.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has previously stated there is no prospect of Dow being axed from the London Games despite calls from activists in India calling for a boycott.
A handful of protestors shouted slogans against Dow's involvement in the Olympics ...
