SECOND SEED Andy Murray flirted with disaster before beating nemesis Marcos Baghdatis 7-6 2-6 6-4 in a cliffhanger to reach the last 16 of the Japan Open yesterday.Briton Murray, fresh from winning his third title of the year in Bangkok, left it late to avoid a fourth defeat in five meetings against the Cypriot on his return to Tokyo."In the first two sets he definitely played better than me," Murray told reporters. "I did a lot of the running and I was lucky to win the first set on a tiebreak."They were very different conditions to last week in Thailand and with the roof across it's also different. It took me longer to find my range.“He is a tough guy to play against. He has a big serve. He can hurt you in many ways on the court... Read on

By Mike CollettARSENALand Tottenham Hotspur have put their intense on-field rivalry to one side by taking the unusual step of issuing a joint statement condemning the chants of some of their supporters at Sunday's north London derby at White Hart Lane.Arsenal fans were offensive towards their former striker Emmanuel Adebayor who now plays for Spurs, mocking the gun attack on his Togo team bus during last year's African Nations Cup tournament in Angola which left three members of the Togo party dead.The Arsenal fans chanted: "It should have been you, it should have been you, killed in Angola, it should have been you."Spurs fans targeted Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger with their own offensive insult as they have done for much of the last decade... 1 comment

Spain's David Ferrer produced a clinical 6-4 6-3 victory over local hope Kei Nishikori to reach the last 16 of the Japan Open on Tuesday.Third seed Ferrer had lost his only previous meeting with Nishikori at the 2008 U.S. Open but slammed the door quickly on the Japanese number one under floodlights on a chilly Tokyo evening.Fierce pressure from 2007 Japan Open champion Ferrer took its toll on Nishikori, who dumped a simple backhand into the net from mid-court to surrender the first set.Ferrer, who has won in Auckland and Acapulco this year, wrapped up a comfortable win in an hour and 29 minutes with another huge forehand too hot for Nishikori to handle... Read on

THE intensity level at the rugby World Cup was ratcheted up a notch today as the surviving eight teams began their preparations for the knockout phase, while England and New Zealand asked the public to 'move on'.The quarter-finalists had settled their Auckland or Wellington bases, the venues for next weekend's encounters, to take stock of the state of their squads and assess injuries from the final pool matches."Teams just have to adapt with injury and setbacks," Australia's coaching co-ordinator David Nucifora told reporters in Wellington."The games are played at high intensity. Even the ones against the lower ranked teams (in the pools) have been played at huge intensity so injuries will always be a part of it... Read on

Manchester City's tough week ended on a high note on Saturday when they won 4-0 at Blackburn Rovers to maintain their unbeaten start in the Premier League and stay level on points with Manchester United at the top of the table.Champions United also maintained their unbeaten start with a 2-0 home win over Norwich City thanks to a second half goals from Anderson and Danny Welbeck. They stay top on goal difference from City with both teams taking 19 points from their opening seven games.In the day's lunchtime kickoff, Liverpool won 2-0 at Everton in the 185th Merseyside league derby with late goals from Andy Carroll and Luis Suarez. Everton played for more than an hour with 10 men after Jack Rodwell was sent off in the 23rd minute... Read on

Marcos Baghdatis has beaten World No. 15 Viktor Troicki of Serbia 6-3, 6-1 in the semifinals of the Malaysian Open in Kuala Lumpur.The Cypriot number one snapped a five-match losing streak against Top 20 opponents with a straight set victory over Troicki who was looking to boost his outside chances of qualifying for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals.Two service breaks were exchanged in the opening stages before Baghdatis broke the Serbian in the eighth game to clinch the opener. He then broke Troicki three times in the second set to wrap up the victory in 84 minutes... Read on

England needed a late try from winger Chris Ashton to overcome a fired-up Scotland 16-12 and creep into the quarter-finals of the World Cup as Pool B winners on Saturday.The 2003 champions, who just needed to avoid defeat by seven or more points to progress, looked like losing before Ashton crossed two minutes from time to give them a perfect four wins out of four matches.They now face another familiar foe in France in a quarter-final clash back at Eden Park next Saturday after the French earlier reached the last eight in even more ignominious fashion with a loss to Tonga in Wellington."It was incredibly difficult and full credit to Scotland, they played a fantastic match," England captain Lewis Moody said in a pit... Read on

Honda's Casey Stoner set a lap record with a time of one minute 45.267 seconds in Saturday's qualifying to take pole for the Japanese Grand Prix as the Australian closes in on a second MotoGP world title.The 2007 world champion was more than two tenths quicker than defending title holder Jorge Lorenzo's Yamaha at Motegi's Twin Ring circuit, with Italian Andrea Dovizioso third on the grid after clocking 1:45.791 for Sunday's race.It was Stoner's 10th pole of the season and he holds a 44-point lead over Lorenzo in the standings with four races remaining this season."Everything has gone fantastically very well so far this weekend," said Stoner, winner of last year's race for Ducati... Read on

The Cypriot top-flight resumes after a busy midweek round of action in Europe, as the defending champions travel to Limassol to face struggling Apollon, while three city derbies also feature in Round 5 of the national football championship.Apollon’s manager Didier Ole Nicole was criticised after an apparently defensive approach to their last league game against Olympiakos in Nicosia when he fielded three central defenders. But the Frenchman has a very good explanation for his actions: “I just wanted to help my team psychologically by trying not to concede goals. Our psychology is not at the bets level at the moment, and I thought it was wiser to deploy a defensive tactic. It was the first time after 18 years of being a football manager that I did so... Read on

 AEK Larnaca coach Ton Caanen was “proud but disappointed” as his side missed a golden opportunity to grab a maiden Europa League Group stage win on Thursday, following a 1-1 draw against Steaua Bucuresti.The Larnaca team looked to be on their way to a first victory of their debut appearance in the group stages of a major European competition as they led 1-0, with Serbian striker Miljan Mrdaković missing a great chance to double his side’s advantage.  However, it was a costly defensive error on 65 minutes that allowed the Romanians to draw level and prevent AEK from what would have been a dream win. “You can see a coach who is pleased on the outside but disappointed inside,” Caanen told reporters after the game. ... Read on