SPORT TODAY MONDAY ALL SPORTS START HERE 24 AUGUST 2012

Jones out followingsurgery

- more on pg : 4

Kubica race for firsttime since crash- more on page : 5

Revenge of The Blade Runner!

Oscar Pistorius arrived at these Paralympics a fort-night ago as the poster boy of the Games and in

the final sporting event to be held in the Olympic Stadium during this extraordinary London summer, he crowned the festival of sport by storming to gold in the T44 400 me-tres in a Paralympic record.He obliterated a high-class field to wipe away any doubts that he remains a superior talent, crossing the line to a cacophonous roar yards ahead of his closest pursuer.It was a sight to behold and some 80,000 people cheered their approv-al as Pistorius wrapped himself in a South African flag and jogged a lap to honour to a rapturous reception. Pistorius clocked 46.68 seconds, which made him 3.46 seconds faster than the man who finished in second place, Blake Leeper of the United States, who ran 50.14sec. Leeper’s compatriot, David Prince, took the bronze and Alan Oliveira,

of Brazil, who stunned Pistorius last week in the 200m — and provoked controversial comments from the Blade Runner over the length of the young Brazilian’s blades — finished in fourth place and apparent pain.‘It was a very special race for me,’ said Pistorius, for whom this was a first in-dividual gold medal of these Games. ‘This summer has been a dream come true. This is one of the biggest high-lights of my life. I was very nervous before today’s race. I was quite tired but the crowd just really kept me go-ing.’Pistorius and Oliveira struck out to-gether as the starting pistol fired and were reasonably close over the first 200m.What happened next was as breath-taking as it was brilliant in execution. With an utterly devastating blast of place in what Lord Coe described afterwards as the ‘killing zone’ of the third 100m, Pistorius was away, and then some. Coe said: ‘He has that star quality. He was absolutely majestic

tonight.’Pistorius, in turn, paid tribute to Coe, who led the organisers of this sum-mer’s Olympics and Paralympics, and to London, for staging such a won-derful Games.The 25-year-old South African has done more than any other athlete to put the Paralympics on the global map since he first won medals aged 17 in the Athens Games of 2004. Fa-mously, he has overcome the loss of both his legs when he was 11 months old to reach athletic levels never matched before by a double ampu-tee, including competing against able-bodied athletes at the Olympics. And while the Blade Runner has dashed into unexpected controver-sy this past week, he has still been a major star in an extraordinary show. ‘This was a very, very special race for me, said Pistorius. ‘It was the last event of my season, the last event of the London 2012 Games. Just so special. -more on page ; 2

TENNIS

GOLF

Djokovic trails Ferer asTornado halts US open -more on pg : 6

Storm lets five shotlead slip at KLM Open - more on pg : 7

PARALYMPIC PAGE 2

Pistorius destroys opposition as he takesgold in the Olympic Stadium’s final event

- From page : 1

‘It was my 11th time I was able to come out on to the track and I just wanted to give the crowd some-thing they would appreciate and take home with them.’ After winning a 200m gold medal at Athens in 2004 as well as a bronze in the 100m, Pistorius followed up in Beijing with a hat-trick of top podi-um finishes in the 100m, 200m and 400m.Here in London his first final was in the 200m, where he finished a shock second to Oliveira, and then accused rivals, including his young conquer-or, of running on blades that were too long. It was an uncharacteristic outburst, for which Pistorius quickly apologised. ‘I just think it was distasteful to say it at the time,’ he said afterwards. ‘I’ve had some time to reflect, and I think everyone makes mistakes. I’ve obvi-ously had to deal with the backlash of that. It was a bad time for me to bring up that topic. I was very frustrated.’The defeat and the outburst were followed by a

measure of re-demption when Pistorius anchored his country’s 4 x 100m relay gold in a world record time on Wednes-day, with Oliveira vanquished in the home straight.Then Pistorius had to settle for fourth place in the 100m individual event on Thursday when the glory – and the headlines – went to Britain’s new track icon, Jonnie Peacock.

Before his race last night, Pistorius sent a Twit-ter message to his 192,000 followers on the mi-cro-blogging site, saying: ‘My 400m tonight will be the last event of the London 2012 Games. Whatever happens I’d like to thank you for the support!’It was not such a good evening for Britain’s big medal hopeful of the night, Nathan Stephens, in the F57/58 javelin.The 24-year-old Welshman, who is the reigning world champion and had high hopes of a gold med-al, fouled his first two attempts and his third throw – at just 33.10m – proved to be his last as it was not good enough to reach the last eight.The infringement was a technical one: sitting com-petitors must not rise from their chairs as they throw. It was adjudged that he did, and video evi-dence backed the call.Stephens’s story is of a stirring recovery from losingboth his legs on his ninth birthday when he slipped trying to jump aboard a slow- moving freight train

during a game. He fell under the wheels, losing his left leg completely, and his right leg was amputated below the knee.Nonetheless, he continued to play a variety of sports, and took up new ones, including ice-sledge hockey, even representing Britain in that sport at the Turin Winter Paralympics. He switched to field events, in which he now competes in the discus as well as the javelin. But his dream of London glory was not to be. - Dailymail,2012

PARALYMPIC PAGE 3Golden boy Weircompletes stunningquadruple with sprintfinish in marathon

Happy days: Weir Celebrates winning the marathon

David Weir made it a fantastic four gold medals at London

2012 by racing to an imperious T54 marathon victory on The Mall.The ‘Weirwolf ’, released on to the sunny streets of the capital after a week of track domina-tion, timed his sprint finish to perfection to take the title in one hour 30.20 minutes.With thousands of people lining the route to cheer him on, the home favourite was in a leading group of six racers which broke away early on, content to sit just off the front.Weir was second behind Switzerland’s Marcel Hug in a leading pack of three, also in-cluding Australian defending champion Kurt Fearnley with three miles to go.The 33-year-old came into view of the finishing straight in the lead and pulled away from his rivals to complete a glorious end to a spectacular week.Victory gave the British wheel-chair racing champion a clean sweep of four gold medals after earlier winning the T54 800, 1500 and 5,000 metres titles.‘It’s a dream come true,’ Weir told Channel 4. ‘Obviously I dreamt about winning all my

races but it was going to be a tough order. I really had to dig deep.‘I did have lots of dreams of winning four gold medals but I think everybody has those dreams. I knew I was capable of doing it.‘The reason I say I only want one gold is because I don’t want to put myself under pres-sure. I want to go into every race not feeling pressured.‘To tell you the truth, every race I did in that stadium I didn’t feel under pressure because the crowd was behind you if you won, lost or any-thing.‘It didn’t matter what position you came in, they were still behind you and they still loved you.’London 2012 chairman Se-bastian Coe was thrilled with Weir’s win.He said: ‘He has just had a ma-jestic Games. He is a phenom-enal athlete.‘Britain did not manage to win on the road on the first day of the Games (Mark Cavendish in the Olympic road race) but I am very happy that David managed to win for us on the road on the last day.’

-DailyMail,2012

Weirwolf of London: The man they call ‘The Animal’ is going for his fourth gold medal of the Paralympics

Javier Weir, muscles popping, veins bulging, teeth bared and chest exposed, threatened to live up to his ‘Weirwolf ’

nickname and burst clean through his vest. The man they call ‘The Animal’ had com-pleted the first part of a challenge set eight years ago by the woman he calls ‘The Beast’. After covering more than nine miles in sev-en days, he roared across the line for a third gold in the Olympic Stadium, a T54 800m title, to add to the 5,000m and 1,500m golds he won in the week. The second part of the challenge begins at 11.30am today, as he wheels down The Mall to begin a 26.2-mile assault on the streets of London in the marathon.If he wins, it would surely propel him above Bradley Wiggins, Jess Ennis and Mo Farah as the greatest achiever of this finest sum-mer of sport.Only then will Jenny Archer, a grand-mother, coach and ‘The Beast’ behind his success, allow him to reflect upon his achievements. ‘After his first gold I said, “one down, three to go”,’ she revealed. ‘Then it was, “two

down, two to go”. And on Thursday I said, “you’ve done your job on the track, now for the road”.’ Archer is a relentless taskmistress. She has put in place a rigorous training regime, in-volving former professional cyclists as pace-makers and a back-up team of physiothera-pists and sports psychologists, to ensure the man she first coached as an eight-year-old delivers on their pact.‘I’ve always kept an eye on his progress after getting him into sport as a kid,’ said Archer. ‘He came back to me just before the Athens Paralympics where he won one bronze and I asked him what his goals were. He said he wanted to be No1 in the world, break world records, win gold medals, European titles and, most of all, to win in London. I prom-ised to take him there.‘I knew once he got the 5,000m [his first final, last Friday] out of the way he could win them all.’

-Dailymail,2012

Javier the Goliath: Javier Weir captures his third Paralympic gold medal in the Olympic Stadium

FOOTBALL PAGE 4

Jones out following injuryManchester United

have confirmed that versatile

defender Phil Jones has been ruled out for two months af-ter undergoing knee surgery. Jones, who has yet to make an appearance for United this season after picking up a back complaint in preseason, sustained the injury during training and is now set to be sidelined until early Novem-ber.A statement on the United website said: “Phil Jones has had surgery on a knee menis-cus tear sustained in training that will require six to eight weeks of rehabilitation.”The 20-year-old’s extend-ed absence leaves manager Sir Alex Ferguson short of

defensive options, with mid-fielder Michael Carrick being deployed at centre-back earlier in the season.

England international Jones joins defender Chris Smalling on the sidelines, who is suffering from a bro-

ken metatarsal.Until either player returns, Ferguson will have to rely on the trio of Nemanja Vidic, Rio Ferdi-nand and Jonny Evans as his three senior centre-back options.The surgery means Jones will miss a succession of key league fixtures, including matches against Liverpool, Chelsea and Arse-nal. In addition, he will miss at least the Red Devils’ opening

three Champions League group matches.Even when he has recovered,

Jones’ lack of match fitness may prove a significant problem in regaining the form which at one stage saw him compared to Duncan Edwards during an excep-tionally encouraging debut campaign following his big-money move from Black-burn in 2011.“The doctors said a lot of players could have fainted [with the injury]. They tried to cover it up from me in the dressing room and put something in to stop it being infected, but I told them I wanted to watch.Jones really sorry to the fan, and want to return to the field as soon as possible

-ESPN,2012

Atletico president denies Falco is on verge of move to Premier League

Atletico Madrid president Enrique Cerezo is confi-dent Radamel Falcao will

shun the advances of Premier League clubs Chelsea and Man-chester City.The striker has been heavily linked with a move to England while his father Radamel Garcia also claimed his son dreams of playing for Real Madrid.But Falcao, who scored a hat-trick against Chelsea in last week’s UEFA Super Cup, took to Twitter to deny the reports.‘I do not give him (Garcia) any importance,’ Cerezo told a Span-ish radio station. ‘The player himself is not saying it, so there is nothing wrong. A

father can say whatever he wish-es about his sons, but Falcao has clearly explained that he is happy and content at Atletico and will be here for four years.’Falcao signed for Atletico for €40million (£31m) from Porto last summer and scored 36 goals in his debut season.Atletico’s chief executive Mi-guel Angel Gil Marin suggested earlier this week that he would be sold at some point given the club’s precarious financial situa-tion, but Cerezo has since con-tradicted those sentiments.‘We are in a fantastic moment, a happy moment,’ he added. ‘We have a fantastic team and coach and I do not see Falcao’s father’s

statements as destabilising. Ev-erything is very calm. Falcao is not leaving.’Perhaps embarrassed by his father’s unexpected confession, Falcao took to his official Twitter account to express his commit-ment to his current club.He tweeted: ‘Just so the whole world is clear: my dream is to win titles with Atletico Madrid and to qualify for the World Cup with Colombia.’

‘Of course he wants to go to the 2014 World Cup, but most of all, he wants to go to Real Madrid.’

- Dailymail,2012

FOOTBALL PAGE 5I’m off! Everton star Fellaini says this season will be his last at Godisson Park

Key man: Fellaini is considered to be one of the best midfielders in the Premier League

Everton star Marouane Fellaini has dropped a bombshell by claiming that this season will

be his last at Goodison Park.The all-action Belgian has emerged as one of the best midfielders in the Premier League since his £15million move from Standard Liege in 2008, and he has started the season in blistering form.But, speaking to a newspaper in his homeland, the 24-year-old has re-vealed that he wants to leave the club at the end of this season, or perhaps even during the January transfer window.‘I am just starting my fifth season at Everton, this will be one of my last. I have seen everything. In January or at the end of the season I will turn to another club or championship,’ Fellaini is quote as saying in Het Nieuwsblad.Fellaini is contracted to the Toffees until 2016 but, as displayed by the

recent sale of Jack Rodwell to Man-chester City, manager David Moyes would be willing to cash in should a significant profit be made from the transfer.Chelsea have been consistently linked with the 35-cap international over the last few years, while Real Madrid were also tracking Fellaini in the summer and could be tempted to make a move.The 24-year-old appeared com-mitted to David Moyes’ plans after penning a new contract through to 2016 as recently as November but in an interview with a Belgian news-paper published today Fellaini said he was now looking for a way out of Goodison Park.In January or at the end of the season I will turn to another club or championship.”

-Dailymail,2012

Crouch backs Owen to earn England recall after completing Stoke move

Back in action: Micheal Owen (left) joined stoke on free transfer

Peter Crouch believes Michael Owen’s move to Stoke could propel him back into the En-

gland squad.Owen completed his move to the Premier League club last week and will link up with his former interna-tional team-mate.And Crouch insists both strikers can catch Roy Hodgson’s eye.‘If Michael stays fit he will score,’ Crouch told The Sun. ‘If he’s playing regularly for Stoke and scoring in the Premier League, I don’t see why he can’t force his way into the England set-up.‘Stoke’s profile is about to be raised just by the fact Michael is here and the gaffer has made a lot of shrewd summer signings. The future looks bright and, if we’re scoring regularly in the Premier League for a success-ful team, why shouldn’t we be con-sidered again?’Crouch and Owen scored 16 goals

between them in as many games together for England after first being paired together against Colombia in 2005.‘I made my England debut in that match, up front with Michael, and he scored a hat-trick. I set up a couple and we just clicked straight away,’ he said.‘The fact we’re so different is defi-nitely a strength of ours - it’s the old little and large act. Whenever I’ve played with that sort of striker, Jermain Defoe, Kevin Phillips or Michael it has always gone well.’Crouch missed out on a place in Hodgson’s squad for Euro 2012 and has been overlooked for the World Cup qualifiers against Moldova and Ukraine.Stoke just by the fact Michael is here and the gaffer has made a lot of shrewd summer signings. -Dailymail,2012

Hodgson faces defensive crisis as crocked Terry is ruled out of Ukraine qualifier

John Terry has been ruled out of England’s World Cup qualifier with Ukraine at Wemb-ley on Tuesday due to his ankle injury.

Terry suffered the setback during Friday night’s 5-0 win in Moldova and England finished the game with 10 men after the Chelsea defender limped out of the action in the closing stages.He continued to have treatment on Saturday after returning to England but it has been de-cided, an FA spokesman said, that Terry will not recover sufficiently in time to face the Ukraini-ans.Gary Cahill is likely to replace Terry and part-ner Joleon Lescott at centre-back in the second qualifying match of the campaign.It would be Cahill’s first appearance at Wembley since he suffered the broken jaw against Bel-gium which ruled him out of Euro 2012.Phil Jagielka, who partnered Lescott when they were team-mates at Everton, is the other player

Terry was one of England’s most consistent performers at the European Championship and helped his country overcome Ukraine in a group encounter.Left-back Ashley Cole had already been ruled out with the ankle injury which prevented him from playing in Chisinau and remains on 98 caps.But Leighton Baines proved a capable deputy against Moldova and scored England’s final goal.England midfielder Frank Lampard has de-scribed the absence of Terry as ‘a big blow’.The defender’s Chelsea team-mate said: ‘He is a top player and he is experienced at playing these qualifying games. It is a big blow.‘We are blessed with fantastic back-up, whoever comes in. We need someone in the squad to step up and I am sure they will do just that.’-Dailymail,2012

FORMULA 1 PAGE 6Kubica races for first time since crash andreveals hope of F1 return.

Back in action : Kubica

No sooner had Robert Kubica got back behind the wheel of a rally car in Italy - 18 months after a near-fatal

accident - than the Pole was discussing his hopes of a return to Formula One.The former Renault driver, now out of con-tract after missing all of last season following his crash in February last year and enduring repeated surgery, told Sky Italia that he had unfinished business.‘Being here is already a good step, but I would have preferred to be somewhere else,’ the 27-year-old said before he won the first stage of the Rally Ronde Gomitolo di Lana in a Subaru on the weekend of the Italian Grand Prix.‘I have still got a long road to travel and will probably never be at the same physical level as before,’ he added. ‘But I don’t intend to give up. ‘The aim remains to return to Formula One and the next few months will tell me whether I can do it next year already or will have to

wait until 2014.’Kubica, who suffered severe arm and leg in-juries in the 2011 accident, was a race winner with BMW-Sauber and Renault’s lead driver. He had been linked to Ferrari before the crash as a possible replacement for Brazilian Felipe Massa.Fernando Alonso, Ferrari’s championship leader, is one of his best friends in the For-mula One paddock.Renault team boss Eric Boullier said this week that his team now had little contact with the Pole.‘I did read in the press, like you, that he was doing some rallying and actually he’s supposed to do a rally next weekend or something like this, but we don’t have much contact,’ said the Frenchman.‘I have contact with his management but nothing else. I’ve not been updated about his current state for a long time.’-Dailymail,2012

Lewis does talking on the track:Hamilton in pole position with his future on the line

Job done: Hamilton will start Sunday’s Italian Grand Prix from pole-position

Lewis Hamilton gave his Mc-Laren team a taste of what they would be missing if they decide

to part company by snatching pole position for the Italian Grand Prix. Hamilton, a target for McLaren rivals Mercedes, had been adamant all weekend that the uncertainty over his future would not affect him here.And it was difficult to argue with the 2008 world champion after he pro-duced a superb lap to finish narrowly ahead of team-mate Jenson Button.Qualifying at the historic Italian track added yet more elements to the con-tract saga. Before Hamilton had headed out to secure the 23rd pole position of his career, he was warned by McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh that his contract, which runs out at the end of the season, would be renewed only if he demonstrates 100 per cent commitment to the team.

Afterwards, Hamilton sounded like the consummate team player. Asked whether having his teammate on the front row was a help or hindrance, he replied: ‘It means we can score maxi-mum points for the team.’ Even so, a move to Mercedes for Hamilton is very much a possibili-ty, with the German outfit’s offer of up to £60million over three seasons believed to be well in excess of what McLaren have put on the table.What better way for Hamilton to show he is worth every penny than by claiming pole position, with McLaren group chief executive Ron Dennis looking on from the garage and sig-nificant shareholder Mansour Ojjeh also in attendance. Hamilton would do well to consider when deciding his job

-Dailymain,2012

Hamilton admits future is uncertain as Mercedes ready60m bid for star

Questioning: Hamilton refused to be drawn on speculation surrounding his future

Lewis Hamilton has refused to rule out leaving McLaren at the end of the season and

joining Mercedes. When asked at a press conference for Sunday’s Italian Grand Prix whether he knew where he would be driving next year, the 27-year-old replied curtly: ‘No.’ Mercedes are so anxious to land the former world champion they are prepared to offer him a deal worth £60million over three years.But Hamilton said his desire to win will be the decisive factor in deciding which team he drives for next season, adding: ‘You always want to win, that’s why most drivers exist and that’s why teams exist. ‘I don’t have a deadline but obvi-ously I need to decide before the end of the season. I’m in a great position and I need to focus on

preparing for these races. ‘Jenson (Button) and I have shown there’s good potential in the cars and the team, so that’s what I’m focusing on.’Hamilton has won two races this season - Hungary and Cana-da - but has finished only one of the last three and has been em-broiled in a number of incidents, including last weekend’s Belgian GP, where he was caught up in a multi-car, first-lap crash and also upset his team by tweeting sen-sitive data about his car’s perfor-mance. McLaren are second in the con-structors’ championship, having won the past two races. Mercedes trail by 106 points after just one win this season. -DailyMail,2012

TENNIS PAGE 7Murray handed slam boost after Djokovic and Ferrer clash delayed by storm evacuation

Under a cloud: Djokovic walks off the court

Andy Murray will have to wait until Monday to try and win his first grand slam title after

adverse weather conditions forced play to be abandoned for the day at Flushing Meadows.With Murray safely in the final after a four-set victory over Tomas Berdych, the second semi-final between Novak Djokovic and David Ferrer began amid the same strong wind in which Murray had played.Ferrer opened up a 5-2 lead but with a tornado expected in New York, play was called off with tournament officials confirming on the competition`s web-site that the match would be finished on Sunday.With the women’s final between Vic-toria Azarenka and Serena Williams already put back a day to Sunday, the men’s final will now be played on Mon-day.The weather warning was so severe that Arthur Ashe had to be evacuated on a day which had already been disrupted by heavy rain.Andy Murray was forced to battle the elements as well as Tomas Berdych in New York on Saturday night, but he kept both at bay to book a place in the US Open final.In a match delayed by a heavy down-pour, a vicious wind ripped around Ar-thur Ashe throughout the Scot`s four-set win, with chairs, rackets and rubbish flying in the air.Murray`s cap also blew off at one point, an incident which caused a heated debate between the two players after Berdych claimed it put him off. But Murray held it together to come from a set down and secure his place in

a fifth slam final. ‘It was brutal,’ he told Sky Sports of the conditions. ‘It is hard to describe. You have to focus on every point, get your-self in position because the ball was stopping. ‘Chairs were flying and it was hard to serve. It was not about aces, it was about getting your serve in.‘They were some of the hardest condi-tions I have ever played in, and I come from Scotland!’Berdych, having collapsed in the sec-ond and third sets, looked set to slump all together when he went 3-0 and two break points down in the fourth. But with the wind behind him he took the set to a tie-break, only for Murray to snuff him out. ‘It was tough. From the end of the first set I was in control, but when he served and volleyed in the fourth, I missed a passing shot and then I was up against the wind,’ Murray said. ‘It was hard to dictate and I tried to hang in. I did a good job in the end.’ Murray has lost his four grand slam fi-nals to date, three against Roger Federer and one against Novak Djokovic.The latter is involved in the second semi-final against David Ferrer, which organisers are hoping will take place tonight. If the weather intervenes, though, a Monday final may be on the cards. ‘It`s a quick turnaround if it`s tomor-row,’ Murray added.‘You don`t get that extra day. I`ll do all the right stuff tonight and make sure I`m in the right shape.’

-Dailymail,2012

TENNIS PAGE 8Serena keeps her cool to hold off world No 1 Azarenka and claim fourth US Open Title

Serena Williams staged a brilliant fightback to win her 15th grand slam singles title at the US Open in a thrilling final against world

No 1 Victoria Azarenka.The fourth seed dominated the first set but Azarenka fought back superbly and served for the match in the decider only for Williams to reel off four games in a row to win 6-2 2-6 7-5.It was a fourth Flushing Meadows crown for the 30-year-old Ameri-can, who looked amazed as she lay flat on her back on Arthur Ashe Stadium before going to celebrate with her friends and family.‘I honestly can’t believe I won,’ she said at the post-match ceremony. ‘I really was preparing my run-ners-up speech. She’s playing so great. I’m really shocked and so happy to have gotten so far.’Azarenka was gracious in defeat, and said she would leave Flushing Meadows with no regrets.‘At the moment it’s tough, but Serena deserved to win,’ the 23-year-old said. ‘She showed how true a champion she is. I’m just honoured standing with such a champion here.‘I definitely gave it all today and stepping out of this court today I will have no regrets.’For Williams it was also redemp-tion of a kind after last year’s final defeat by Sam Stosur, which was marred by an altercation be-tween Williams and umpire Eva Asderaki over a hindrance call, for which she was later fined.Williams is only the world No 4 but she was a clear favourite going into the match after a stellar summer that included her fifth Wimbledon title and two Olympic gold medals.The 30-year-old, meanwhile, had beaten

Azarenka in nine of their 10 previous meetings and had dropped only 19 games on her way to the final.Williams had not had the toughest path, playing only one player in the top 10, while Azarenka had had to battle her way past Stosur and Maria

Sharapova, but the American looked in supreme form as she blasted her way through the first set.But the tables turned completely in the second set as Williams began to make errors and Azarenka, who won her first grand slam title at the Aus-tralian Open as part of a brilliant opening to the season, capitalised.Not since Steffi Graf beat Monica Seles in 1995 had there been a three-set women’s final, and this

one was now very much in the balance.The intensity from both women was there for all to see and Azarenka, one of the sport’s great fight-ers, did very well to stave off two break points in the second game.She got her reward in the next game when Wil-

liams hooked a backhand just wide to hand the lead to her opponent for the first time in the match.Azarenka had not lost a three-set match all year and she looked a lot more solid than Williams, whose unforced error count was well into the 30s.But the American is also a natu-ral-born battler and she broke back in a lengthy fourth game with two huge forehands, letting out a scream that was as long as it was loud.Williams sent down one ace at 125mph but she always seemed liable to falter at any moment and it was Azarenka screaming when four errors from her opponent gave her the lead back at 4-3.Williams smacked her racquet on the ground in frustration as an Azarenka shot hit the baseline to prevent the fourth seed breaking back and sud-denly the Belarusian had a 5-3 lead.But she could not serve it out, Wil-liams breaking back to the delight of the American crowd and in particu-lar her sister Venus watching in the

stands.The 30-year-old was moving her feet much better and the next time Azarenka served it was to stay in the match.Williams was a woman on a mission and, alshe took her second match point when the world number one fired a backhand long.-Dailymail,2012

Pure delight, Serena celebrates victory

Broady falls in US Open boys’ final but a bright future calls

Liam Broady got close, but on Sunday night he failed to emulate Andy Murray and last year’s winner Oliver Golding when he narrowly

lost the final of the US Open junior event.The 18-year-old from Stockport, playing in what was his last age group tournament, went down 6-2, 2-6, 7-5 to Wimbledon boys’ champion Filip Peli-wo of Canada before a large crowd in the shadow

of the giant Arthur Ashe Stadium.Now he sets off on the hard and uncertain slog to make the difficult transition from a successful junior career, which also saw him make the Wimbledon junior final of 2011, into the higher ranks of the profes-sional game.Broady could have made it a dream depar-ture if he had taken a break point at 4-4 in the decider against the kind of hardwork-ing baseliner who will try to block his am-bitions as he attempts to climb the foothills of the ATP Tour.Golding is a measure of how hard that will be. He is reckoned to be progressing well

since his triumph here twelve months ago, but after playing a full senior schedule in the past twelve months is still only at 500 in the full world rank-ings.‘I’m going to play in Futures level events and hope-fully I will be back here before too long playing in the qualifying for the main event, but I know it’s

going to be tough,’ Broady said.‘I only changed my serving technique after Wim-bledon and I’ve changed my forehand as well so it hasn’t been easy. But I came here wanting to win the tournament. When I got to the Wimbledon final I was just happy to be there.‘I got myself in a rut after that and wasn’t putting in enough hard work, but I’m doing that now,’ add-ed Broady, who has since joined the Lawn Tennis Association system and moved to London after deliberately opting out.On Saturday Yorkshire’s Kyle Edmund teamed with Federico Silva of Portugal to win the boys’ doubles event, further adding to the recent successes of British juniors on the boys’ side.be. He is reckoned to be progressing well since his triumph here twelve months ago, but after playing a full senior schedule in the past twelve.fully I will be back here before too long playing in the qualifying for the main event,-Dailymail,2012

GOLF PAGE 9Storm lets five shot lead slip after back-to-back bogeys at KLM Open

Losing steam: Back-to-back bogeys from Storm allowed his rivals to catch up

Graeme Storm let a five-shot advantage leak away and will

embark on the final round of the KLM Open in a four-man tie at the top of the leader-board.The 34-year-old Englishman had negotiated his first two rounds and the first 12 holes of his third without dropping a shot, and at 14 under he held a handsome advantage over a cluster of rivals.But back-to-back bogeys after poor tee shots at 13 and 14 began to undo his good work, and with the field closing in Storm found himself sharing first place on 12 under with Spaniards Pablo Larraza-bal and Gonzalo Fernan-dez-Castano and Scotland’s Scott Jamieson.Storm signed for a one-un-der-par 69 on a day when low scoring was widespread, Larrazabal, Richie Ramsay and Henrik Stenson all post-ing 64s.‘I had two bad swings on 13 and 14,’ Storm told europe-antour.com.‘I had the tournament in the palm of my hand before that, but it should be a good day. I’ve only had two bogeys in 54 holes, which is quite im-pressive.‘It’s difficult leading like I was. I have a lot of things on my mind at the moment with keeping my card, so I’m just looking at getting the best result I can.‘Tomorrow, keeping my card will be in the back of my mind, but I have given myself

the chance to win and if I am in there with six holes to go I will go for it.’Larrazabal produced an in-spired finish, with five birdies in his final six holes, while both Jamieson and Fernan-dez-Castano played the back nine impressively in posting rounds of 66.Of the leading quartet, Storm is arguably the player needing the high finish most of all, given he stands 114th on the Race to Dubai money list, needing to stay in the top 115 to guarantee his place on tour next year.The Hartlepool man probably needs to win another 100,000 euros (£80,000) to safeguard his playing rights and a top-three finish in Holland could bring him a six-figure sum. First prize is 300,000 euros (£240,000).At the start of the day, Storm led by three from Fernan-dez-Castano, Jamieson and Sweden’s Peter Hanson.And when he picked up shots at the seventh, 10th and 12th to move to three under for the day and 14 under over-all, he was pulling away and looked sure to lead by the end of the day.Storm dropped his first shot of the week at the 13th, after failing to find the green off the tee.Rather than a risky chip over ad was in trouble that result-ed in another dropped shot. -Dailymail,2012

Mcllroy and Westwood lurk as Vijay takes lead into third round at Crooked Stick

Two years ago Lee Westwood lam-pooned the FedEx Cup play-offs, saying he would rather go on holiday

with his kids. Rory McIlroy played in them but finished so homesick he resigned his membership of the PGA Tour.Now look at them. Rounds of 68 and 65 at the third of the four FedEx events, the BMW Championship at Crooked Stick, have brought a gleam to Westwood’s eye, as he reached the halfway stage just two off the lead. McIlroy, meanwhile, is loving every minute of being the new darling of the American golfing scene and begins the sec-ond half of the event just one stroke off the lead held by the evergreen Vijay Singh.McIlroy didn’t play as well in his second round 68 as he had the previous day, but then who could, given the finest ball striker in the game felt his eight under par round on Thursday featured some of the best iron play of his life.As for Westwood, if he ends up being Eu-rope’s hero at the Ryder Cup in a fortnight’s time – and there’s every chance – then the whole continent will have cause to thank the Zimbabwean Tony Johnstone.He was bouncing off the sofa in frustration after watching the Englishman lead the field in greens hit in regulation at the USPGA last month and yet somehow still miss the halfway cut.So it was that the pair got together the fol-lowing week and began to work on a more natural method of putting for the 39-year-old, whose stroke often seems too mechan-ical.Whisper it softly, and with fingers and toes crossed at that, but it does look as if the pair have made a breakthrough. We all know Westwood’s long game is right up there with Rory’s as the best in the world. But if he can

just find some consistency on the greens it will be the missing piece.‘I do feel more comfortable on the greens,’ confirmed Westwood. ‘The ball is actually going where I intend it to, and that wasn’t the case for most of the season. Now if I miss a putt it is because I have misread it, and that’s a huge improvement. It is a mas-sive boost to my confidence.’What separates the elite from the rest is their ability to score well when their timing is a little awry. So it was that McIlroy was able to put himself in a great position to achieve a second successive victory, following his triumph in Boston on Monday that has left him leading the FedEx race to $10million.Similarly, his playing partner Tiger Woods has felt at odds with his long game for two days and yet here he is, right alongside McIl-roy to set up what promises to be an exciting weekend’s play.‘I wish I felt better about my long game, it has just been a grind these past two days,’ sighed Tiger. ‘My short game has given me a great shot but I will need to improve from tee to green over the final two rounds to take advantage. I certainly have some work to do before the third round.’Watching from afar, Europe’s Ryder Cup captain must be thrilled with the form being shown by some of his leading stars. After a couple of ropey weeks, Graeme McDowell worked diligently on Tuesday on the range with his coach Pete Cowen and has been rewarded with rounds of 68 and 67 to be just four adrift.Defending champion Justin Rose is six behind going into what promises to be a low-scoring weekend. Meanwhile world No -Dailymail,2012

Duelling it out: Woods and Mcllroy are hot on the heels of Singh who has a one-shot lead

BOXING PAGE 10Clerverly faces Uzelkov after Hopkins , Shumenov, Fronch and Bellew miss out

Back in action: Nathan Cleverly returns to the ring for thefirst time since February

Champ: Cleverly defends his WBO world title for the fourthtime next month

Nathan Cleverly will make the fourth defence of his WBO light-heavy-weight title against Ukrainian Vyacheslav Uzelkov at Cardiff ’s Mo-torpoint Arena on October 27.

The Welshman has been out of action since a unanimous points decision over American Tommy Karpency in February.Cleverly, 25, faces Uzelkov after fights with Bernard Hopkins, Beibut Shu-menov, Carl Froch and Tony Bellew all failed to materialise.Vyacheslav is currently ranked No 9 by the WBO, four by the WBA and sev-en by the IBF.As a professional he has amassed a record of 27 wins from 29 fights with 16 stoppages - ten going inside the first three rounds - and is the current WBO Intercontinental champion.He challenged current WBA world champion Shumenov for his title in July 2010, flooring him in the second round, although Shumenov recovered to win on points.As a standout amateur he faced David Haye at the 2001 World Champion-ships in Belfast, taking the future world heavyweight champion the distance in the semi-final to lose on points.Cleverly is looking to put on sparkling performance against Uzelkov to make up for lost time after he had to withdraw from a title defence against Robert Krasniqi in April because of illness.He said: ‘I had a brilliant reception at the Motorpoint Arena in February which was my first fight in Wales for over four years and the fans came out to support me so it’s great to return again for another big fight night in the capital.‘Uzelkov’s ranked in the top ten of three of the major governing bodies and has already mixed it with Shumenov for the world title so I know he’ll be a hard defence for me. I’ve seen some of his fights already and he looks strong and come forward which will be perfect for me.‘Every defence of my title is vital as I build towards a unification fight so I can’t afford to slip up against Uzelkov.’Promoter Frank Warren had originally agreed terms with Golden Boy Pro-motions for Bernard Hopkins to face Cleverly, but the American later with-

drew and is unlikely to fight again this year.Warren also offered the fight to Shumenov to put his WBA title on the line against Cleverly’s WBO belt in a unification contest in Las Vegas, but his team could not get a TV date until next year. A further offer was made for Shumenov to come to the UK which he declined.A huge purse was also put to IBF super-middleweight champion Froch to move up a weight division which he turned down, as did Bellew who rejected the offer of a rematch. The British champion fights Edison Miranda at Lon-don’s Alexandra Palace on Saturday.Warren said: ‘It’s proved frustrating as we had Hopkins lined up and then he pulled out and Shumenov didn’t want to come over here to fight Cleverly, plus Froch and Bellew didn’t want to know.‘While we look to make these fights Cleverly has got to keep busy as he hasn’t fought since February and Ulezkov is a tough title defence for him.’Nathan Cleverly is preparing for the biggest fight of his career ahead of his return to the ring in October.The WBO light heavyweight champion has been out of action since his facile win over American Tommy Karpency in February.A planned title defence against Robin Krasniqi at the Royal Albert Hall in April was called off after the Welshman took ill.And although Cleverly was unable to confirm his next opponent, he told Sportsmail: ‘It could be a unification fight.‘We’re going to announce it next week and I’m liking the sound of this one.‘I can’t say where the fight is going to be but it’s going to be good. It’s definite-ly going to be the biggest fight of my career.‘I’ve had a few months off freshening up. I’ve been on holiday and enjoying my life. Physically and mentally I’ve had a break. I went to Spain on two occa-sions, once to train and another with my friends.‘I’m in the gym and feeling the best I’ve ever felt to be honest’

-Dailymail,2012

Champ: Cleverly defends his WBO world title for the fourthtime next month

BOXING PAGE 11Rhodes Call it quits as former European champion retires from boxing

Former British and European champion Ryan Rhodes has retired from boxing.

The Sheffield light-middleweight has called time on his 52-fight career following defeat to Belarusian fighter Sergey Rabchenko in June.Rhodes admitted the journey back to the top would be one step too far.‘I’ll be 36 in a couple of months and it’s going to take me 18 months to get up to a European title level,’ he told the BBC.‘I think it’s just the right time to bow out now.‘I’ve got all my faculties intact and I think I’ve enjoyed a terrific career.‘I considered going on but I have to think about a lot of things. My daughters are 13 and 10 now and it’s heartbreaking for me to see them upset after a fight hasn’t gone my way.‘I compared the positives to the neg-atives and the negatives outweighed the positives.’Rhodes, who trained at Brendan Ingle’s famous Wincobank gym in Sheffield, became the youngest post-war holder of the British title when he defeated Paul Jones in 1996, aged 20.He was unsuccessful in challenging for the world title against American Otis Grant the following year but

won the European title in 2009. His second attempt to win a world strap ended in defeat to Saul Alvarez in Mexico last year.Despite his retirement, Rhodes hopes to remain involved in the sport.‘I’m going to stay in the gym. I love training and working with the young-er lads and if I can pass on any of my knowledge then that would be bril-liant,’ he added.‘I’ve got a few options at the moment but it’s early days and I’m going to take some time to think things over.‘There are a lot of politics in boxing but I’d love to be in the corner with fighters, passing on what I’ve learned over my career.’Sheffield light-middleweight Ryan Rhodes saw his dreams of becoming a two-time European champion bru-tally dashed after he suffered a sev-enth-round knockout loss to Belarus’ Sergey Rabchenko in Manchester.The 35-year-old former two-time British titleist was undone by a chilling left hook to the body from Rabchenko, who moves his perfect professional record to 21 victories, with 16 of those coming inside the distance.-Dailymail,2012

Martinez planning early night after promising to KO Chavez Jnr in Vegas

Sergio Martinez has promised a knockout when he steps into the ring against the reigning

WBC middleweight world champi-on Julio Cesar Chavez Jnr.The two will clash on September 15 at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, in what is one of the most eagerly anticipated fights of the year. The build up has been fraught throughout with heated exchang-es between the pair, as they vie to prove who reigns supreme in the 160lb weight category.Argentine Martinez goes into the bout regarded as one of the very best pound-for-pound fighters in the world having beaten most of the top names in the middleweight division, including a knockout of British star Darren Barker last year.Now the man dubbed ‘Marvellous’

has added even more fuel to the fire by vowing to knockout a man whom he regards as living off the name of his father, and the greatest Mexican fighter of all time, Julio Cesar Chavez.‘He doesn’t deserve to be a world champion. He got there by his name and being the son of the leg-end. His mouth is bigger than his brain. He’s been talking too much and that is what really set me off,’ said Martinez.‘He’ll be fighting the best, but it doesn’t matter if he’s had the best training camp of his career. He’s go-ing to get knocked out anyway. I’m one of the best pound for pound. I believe that I am No 2 at this moment. That’s why I’ll win. I don’t really know what to look for, but I

-Dailymail,2012

RUGBY PAGE 12Robinson to leave Catalan Dragons at the end of season to take over at Sydney Roosters

Catalan Dragons coach Trent Robinson is to leave the Super League club at the end of the season to take charge of Sydney

Roosters.The 35-year-old Australian left his role as assis-tant coach at the Roosters two years ago to take over from Kevin Walters in Perpignan and will return to Sydney to succeed his old boss Brian Smith, who was sacked this week.‘I would like to thank (chairman) Bernard Guasch, the club, players and supporters for the two years I have coached at the Dragons,’ Robin-son said in a statement.‘The progression that we have as a club has permitted me the opportunity to be offered the highest honour as a coach in the NRL.’Robinson, who was Super League coach of the year in his first season with the Catalans in 2011 after guiding them from bottom to sixth in the table, has agreed a three-year contract with the Roosters.

Roosters chairman Nick Politis said: ‘We believe that Trent is the ideal candidate to take the Roost-ers forward with regard to what we aim to achieve in terms of success.‘Trent was a key contributor to the Roosters success in 2010 and, while he is still a relatively young coach, he already has pedigree and experi-ence gained over his time as an assistant coach in the NRL and head coach in the Super League.’A player with Roosters’ juniors from 1995-98, Robinson made a handful of appearances for Wests Tigers and Parramatta before joining the coaching ranks.He succeeded former Hull KR boss Justin Mor-gan at Toulouse in 2005 and was assistant coach with Newcastle Knights from 2007 to 2009 before joining the Roosters in 2010.he suceeded tu have more than one club under his management so dah he feel awesome.-Dailymail,2012

Craig Kopczak is set for a legal showdown with Bradford after quitting the Super League club on the eve of Saturday’s game

against Catalan Dragons in Perpignan.The 22-year-old prop made himself unavailable for the last match of the regular season after terminat-ing his contract.Kopczak, who was on Friday named in Wales’ squad for the end-of-season triangular tourna-ment involving England and France, is under con-tract to Bradford until the end of 2013 but opted to resign when the club’s takeover went through last weekend.The player’s agent, Martin Shuttleworth, con-firmed Kopczak had taken legal advice, drawing on legislation used in the recent Rangers case, namely the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) regulations 2006 (TUPE).In a statement, Shuttleworth said: ‘Craig was notified by the joint administrators by letter dated

September 3, 2012 that his playing contract had transferred with effect from August 31, 2012 to OK Bulls Ltd.‘He then served notice on the administrators that he objects to the transfer of his employment under the relevant TUPE legislation.‘The net effect of having served the notice is that he is deemed to have resigned with effect from August 31, 2012 and his employment with the club is automatically terminated.’It is thought the highly-rated Kopczak is on the wanted list of several clubs, with Wigan and Hud-dersfield understood to be among the front-run-ners.Bradford’s acting chief executive Gary Tasker be-lieves Kopczak has been approached by rival Super League clubs, contrary to a gentleman’s agreement not to do so, and says the matter has been put into the hands of the club’s solicitor.-Dailymail,2012

Kopczak quits Bradford on eve of Catalan clash with prop set for legal showdown with Bulls