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/ 8 February 2008
Australia crushed Sri Lanka by 128 runs in a surprisingly lopsided tri-series one-day international at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Friday. The Australians racked up a respectable total of 253-6 from their 50 overs then bowled the Sri Lankans out for just 125 in the first meeting between the sides since last year’s World Cup final in Barbados.
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/ 6 February 2008
The cash-strapped Australian Rugby Union said on Wednesday it was shocked at a government decision to scrap funding for a national rugby academy in Queensland state. Former prime minister John Howard committed Aus-million to the project last June but the new Labour government of Kevin Rudd said it was now being axed under a cost-cutting programme.
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/ 6 February 2008
BHP Billiton launched a hostile ,4-billion bid for rival Rio Tinto in a move that could trigger a Chinese-led counterbid in the world’s second biggest corporate takeover. Combined, BHP and Rio would create the world’s third-richest company, with a market capitalisation eclipsed only by Exxon Mobil and General Electric.
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/ 5 February 2008
Torrential rain forced the abandonment of Tuesday’s tri-series limited-overs match between Sri Lanka and India at the Gabba in Brisbane. It was the second match in a row that had fallen victim to the foul weather after Sunday’s opening game between India and Australia was also washed out.
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/ 4 February 2008
Crusaders and Wallabies coach Robbie Deans says players from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa should be free to play in any of the three countries’ Super 14 rugby franchises. He is also supporting Australian Rugby Union chief executive John O’Neill’s view that the competition should be increased to two rounds.
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/ 2 February 2008
African author Ishmael Beah is under intense pressure to admit that his best-selling memoir of child soldiering in Sierra Leone is a mix of fact and fiction. A Long Way Gone has sold almost 700 000 copies and transformed Beah from penniless orphan to millionaire writer and the United Nations Children’s Fund poster boy.
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/ 1 February 2008
Australia captain Michael Clarke steered his side to a nine-wicket victory over India in their Twenty20 international at a packed Melbourne Cricket Ground on Friday. After skittling the world champions out for just 74, with Nathan Bracken taking three wickets, Clarke then scored 37 of Australia’s runs needed for victory.
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/ 31 January 2008
International Cricket Council chief Malcolm Speed said on Thursday the organisation accepted the blame for the administrative blunder that enabled Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh to escape a stiffer penalty in his racial-abuse case. Harbhajan’s three-Test suspension for allegedly racially abusing Australian Andrew Symonds was overturned on Tuesday.
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/ 30 January 2008
The Australian Rugby Union’s (ARU) chief executive, John O’Neill, has called for major changes to reinvigorate the game or it will slip into irreversible decline here. Amid falling attendances, ratings, revenues and performances, O’Neill said the ARU is in serious financial trouble.
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/ 30 January 2008
The exoneration of Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh on racial-abuse charges was heavily criticised in Australia on Wednesday as a blatant demonstration of India’s power in world cricket. Harbhajan pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of abusive language at the appeal in Adelaide and was fined about Aus 000.
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/ 28 January 2008
Australia earned a 2-1 series victory over India on Monday after the fourth and final Test ended in a draw at Adelaide Oval. With neither side in any position to push for a result, India opted to bat out the last day before their captains agreed to an early finish.
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/ 28 January 2008
Novak Djokovic stood toe-to-toe with Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and soaked up everything the Muhammad Ali of tennis could throw at him before delivering a knock-out blow to clinch the Australian Open title on Sunday. Tsonga, nicknamed Ali for his resemblance to the former heavyweight boxing champion, was the crowd favourite to win his first Grand Slam but Djokovic was too solid and too steely.
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/ 27 January 2008
Australia and India are both hoping history will repeat itself and allow them to conjure a win out of nothing on the last day of the fourth and final Test. The match was evenly poised at the end of the fourth day on Sunday with India leading by just eight runs with nine second innings wickets in hand.
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/ 27 January 2008
Australian captain Ricky Ponting equalled Sunil Gavaskar by notching up his 34th Test century on the fourth day of the fourth Test against India on Sunday. But retiring wicketkeeper-batsman Adam Gilchrist fell cheaply in what is likely to be his last Test innings as the home side went to tea at 509 for six.
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/ 26 January 2008
Australia vice-captain Adam Gilchrist stunned the cricketing world on Saturday when he announced he was retiring from all forms of the game. Gilchrist said he was quitting Test cricket after the current match against India ends at Adelaide Oval on Monday.
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/ 26 January 2008
It was to be the Glam Slam, the squealer versus the squeaker. Instead, Saturday’s Australian Open women’s final was a battle of brinkmanship and jangling nerves. Ana Ivanovic blinked first and Maria Sharapova was the champion. Russia’s tennis Tsarina beat Ivanovic 7-5 6-3 to make amends for last year’s final defeat by Serena Williams.
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/ 25 January 2008
Roger Federer’s invincibility was pierced, then pummelled and finally pulled apart at Melbourne Park on Friday, the world number one being brutally ejected from the Australian Open semifinals by Novak Djokovic. The Swiss champion and top seed fell 7-5 6-3 7-6, ending his bid to reach an 11th consecutive Grand Slam final.
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/ 25 January 2008
Captain Anil Kumble fell short of a second Test century as India’s tail wagged strongly to help the tourists post a big score in the fourth Test against Australia on Friday. After winning the toss and electing to bat, India were dismissed for an imposing 526 just after tea on the second day, Sachin Tendulkar top-scoring with a majestic 153.
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/ 25 January 2008
Defeat in the final of the 2007 French Open has not left a seed of doubt in the mind of Australian Open finalist Ana Ivanovic — quite the opposite. That painful loss to Justine Henin has in fact helped the 20-year-old Serb prepare for Saturday’s Melbourne Park showdown, Ivanovic told reporters on Friday.
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/ 25 January 2008
Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh completed half-centuries as India’s tailenders piled on the runs in the fourth and final against Australia on Friday. Kumble crafted an unbeaten 86 over more than four hours while Harbhajan blasted a quick 63 as India reached 525 for nine in their first innings when tea was taken.
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/ 24 January 2008
Unseeded Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga stunned second seed Rafael Nadal with an unbelievable display of tennis to storm into the final of the Australian Open on Thursday. In an astonishing performance of clean winners and aces, the 38th-ranked Tsonga claimed his fourth seeded scalp of the tournament, winning 6-2, 6-3, 6-2.
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/ 24 January 2008
Indian superstar Sachin Tendulkar posted a fairy-tale century to lift his side towards a challenging total on the first day of the fourth and final Test against Australia on Thursday. In what seems certain to be his last Test on Australian soil, Tendulkar shook off a personal hoodoo at Adelaide Oval to score his 39th Test hundred.
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/ 24 January 2008
Serbian fourth seed Ana Ivanovic staged a barnstorming comeback to down Slovak ninth seed Daniela Hantuchova 0-6, 6-3, 6-4 on Thursday and set up an Australian Open final against Maria Sharapova. Ivanovic looked like wilting in humid conditions with the roof of the Rod Laver Arena closed due to rain.
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/ 24 January 2008
Maria Sharapova’s father on Thursday escaped punishment for a throat-slitting gesture at the Australian Open, but the ”gutter behaviour” cemented his place in the club of infamous tennis parents. Yuri Sharapov has been a fixture courtside at the season-opening Grand Slam, often unshaven and wearing dark glasses.
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/ 24 January 2008
The tennis world has been yearning for someone to challenge Roger Federer’s record-breaking domination and Novak Djokovic is being touted as the one in Friday’s Australian Open semifinal. The peerless Swiss secured the number one ranking for an unprecedented 209th week after sweeping into a record 15th consecutive Grand Slam semifinal.
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/ 24 January 2008
Russian fifth seed Maria Sharapova crushed injured Serbian third seed Jelena Jankovic 6-3, 6-1 in a one-sided semifinal on Thursday to reach her second successive Australian Open final. It means Sharapova, a losing finalist here last year, will meet either Serbian third seed Ana Ivanovic or Slovak ninth seed Daniela Hantuchova in Saturday’s title decider.
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/ 23 January 2008
Roger Federer was at his dominant best on Wednesday to book a place in the Australian Open semifinals as Ana Ivanovic brought Venus Williams’s tournament to a juddering halt. The Swiss ace kept his cool in two close-fought sets against 12th seeded American James Blake before running away a 7-5, 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 winner.
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/ 23 January 2008
Australia captain Ricky Ponting has done some extra homework on Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh ahead of the fourth Test at the Adelaide Oval, starting on Thursday. Harbhajan was dropped by India for their third Test win, but expectations of a spin-friendly wicket are likely to see him return to resume his duel with Ponting.
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/ 23 January 2008
Europe tightened its stranglehold on the Australian Open when America’s sole survivor in the women’s singles, Venus Williams, was blasted out of the quarterfinals on Wednesday. Venus went the way of sister Serena, battered by a Serb baseliner, losing 7-6 6-4 to fourth seed Ana Ivanovic.
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/ 23 January 2008
Novak Djokovic survived a late bout of nerves to beat Spanish fifth seed David Ferrer 6-0 6-3 7-5 on Wednesday and reach the Australian Open semifinals. The Serbian missed four match points and was broken when serving for victory but recovered to set up a semifinal against either Roger Federer or James Blake.
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/ 22 January 2008
The death of Heath Ledger was a tragic accident, his Australian family said on Wednesday after the actor was found dead at his New York apartment. ”We, Heath’s family, can confirm the very tragic, untimely and accidental passing of our dearly loved son, brother and doting father of Matilda,” his father Kim said.
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/ 22 January 2008
Russian Maria Sharapova produced a blistering performance to overpower world number one Justine Henin 6-4 6-0 in the Australian Open quarterfinals on Tuesday. The fifth seed was in ebullient mood, smashing 30 winners as she took a tight first set and ripped through the second to line up a semifinal against Serbian third seed Jelena Jankovic.