Sports

KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC – Usain Bolt used the occasion of his acceptance speech for winning the Sports Personality-of-the-Year award to brush aside misconceptions about his relationship with World 100 metres champion Yohan Blake.

MELBOURNE, (Reuters) – World number two Petra Kvitova shrugged off the embarrassment of one of the worst missed shot of the tournament to advance to the quarter-finals of the Australian Open last night with a 6-2 7-6 victory over former world number one Ana Ivanovic.

(Reuters) – Mark Wilson clinched his fifth PGA Tour title by two shots at the Humana Challenge in La Quinta, California, yesterday, finishing in style with a 10-foot birdie putt at the last.

MADRID,  (Reuters) – Jose Mourinho refused to answer questions about a reported rift in the Real Madrid dressing room and said he was not affected by whistling directed at him by some Real fans during yesterday’s 4-1 home win against Athletic Bilbao.

NEW DELHI,  (Reuters) – With Pakistan shedding their notorious unpredictability and Australia coming to terms with a tricky transition, test cricket hierarchy in the next couple of months might look more like a banana republic… ripen for a coup.

MELBOURNE, (Reuters) – India have five days at the Adelaide Oval to show some fighting spirit, restore a modicum of pride and avoid a whitewash in the fourth and final test against Australia this week.

MADRID, (Reuters) – Lionel Messi netted two typically brilliant goals and a rare header as Barcelona closed to within two points of La Liga leaders Real Madrid, at least for a few hours, with a 4-1 win at Malaga yesterday.

MELBOURNE, (Reuters) – “Built Belgian tough” might become a badge of honour for future tennis generations after courageous Kim Clijsters’ win over Li Na yesterday, while Roger Federer dashed the dreams of home fans by crushing young gun Bernard Tomic.

JOHANNESBURG, (Reuters)- Kumar Sangakkara  compiled a well-paced century to help Sri Lanka to a two-wicket win over South Africa off the penultimate ball in the fifth one-day international at the Wanderers yesterday.

(Reuters) – Chris Bosh sparked the Miami Heat to a third home win in a row on Saturday, draining 30 points in a 113-92 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers.

ST. JOHN’S, Antigua, CMC – Merissa Aguilleira said West Indies Women will be looking to start the year the same way they finished last year, when they face India Women in three One-day and five Twenty20 Internationals between February 18 and March 4.

Pre-tournament favourites Trinidad and Tobago known as the “Red Fury” continued their dominance in Regional twenty20 cricket, defeating Jamaica by 63 runs in the final of the 2012 Caribbean Twenty20 tournament at Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados last night.

Women’s International Boxing Association (WIBA) bantamweight champion, Guyanese Shondell ‘Mystery Lady’ Alfred is scheduled to face Mexican Yazmin Rivas for her International Boxing Federation (IBF) female bantamweight title in Gimnasio de las Liebres, Rio Bravo, Tamaulipas, Mexico on February 4.

By Colin Benjamin in Barbados Jamaica defeated the Windward Islands by five-wickets in the first semi-final of the 2012 Caribbean Twenty20 tournament yesterday at Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados and advanced to the final scheduled for today.

Whatever happens over the final weekend of the Caribbean T20, even in last night’s tasty semi-final between Barbados and Trinidad & Tobago, the West Indies selectors should have had enough evidence from the preceding two weeks to immediately name a squad for the World tournament in Sri Lanka in September.

The Hadi’s World Inc Male and Female nationwide softball tournament begins today at various venues around the country from 09:30 hrs.

(Reuters) – The league-leading Bulls shrugged off the absence of Derrick Rose to outclass the Cavaliers 114-75 on Friday, handing Cleveland their worst home loss in franchise history as Chicago continued to dominate on the road.

The local rugby team engaged in a full practice yesterday at the National Park to work on some of their weak areas, while also trying to improve on their strong points ahead of their Las Vegas Invitational Sevens tournament.

The basketball season in Linden bounces off next Friday, January 27, with the Trophy Stall Basketball League, which is being held in collaboration with the Linden Amateur Basketball Association at the Mackenzie Sports Club hard court.

MELBOURNE (Reuters) – An emotional Lleyton Hewitt somehow dragged his battered body into the fourth round of the Australian Open yesterday with a 4-6 6-3 7-6 6-3 victory over young gun Milos Raonic.