Youzhny pulls out of Paris Masters

Paris - Russian tennis player Mikhail Youzhny will not appear on the last ATP tournament in London this month after failing to continue the match on her second round at Paris Masters tennis against Latvian Ernests Gulbis on Tuesday.

It requires ninth seed reached the final in Paris to be displayed on the season-ending ATP season, but he withdrew in the second set 0-3 when left behind after losing the first set 4-6.

Ranked 10th in the world before Youzhny back in the early second babgak at Valencia Open tournament last weekend because of back problems. (I015/Z002/S026)

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Chelsea: Drogba Recovering from Malaria

London - Chelsea striker Didier Drogba has almost recovered from malaria diagnosis, coach Carlo Ancelotti said on Tuesday.

The player from Ivory Coast was absent at last month's match against Aston Villa and Spartak Moscow, because of illness before down the field.

Drogba also only played as a substitute in the second round on Sunday when they lost 0-2 at Liverpool, because of illness and the results showed he was hit by a virus.

"The medical team told me Didier suffered from malaria and about 48 hours after that he'll be back," said Ancelotti told a news conference.

"One time (malaria) is a very serious disease, but now different and it is possible to treat it in a short time will heal. He is all right now," said Ancelotti ahead of home games against Fulham on Wednesday.

"Tomorrow he will appear again (since the beginning of the game)," said the coach of the Italian by adding, midfielder Michael Essien will also appear again after all this time had to rest at Anfield.

Previous Ancelotti talked about the sick strikernya.

"He lost his physical initial condition, he could not join the exercise, he lost power. Didier feel like not powered so it can not join the exercise," he said.

"We do not know about where and when he was stricken with malaria virus. Maybe it happened some time ago. He can not go down the field when his health has not recovered 100 percent," he said.

The defender Alex (foot) and striker Nicolas Anelka (back) has recovered to match Wednesday, while midfielder Frank

Lampard, who injured since last August, is expected back from the village halamnnya at Sunderland on Sunday. (A008/A023)

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Raul scores twice as Schalke beat St Pauli 3-0

Berlin - Raul struck twice and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar also got on the scoresheet as Schalke 04 beat St Pauli 3-0 on Friday to move out of the relegation zone after only their second Bundesliga win this season.

Former Real Madrid striker Raul grabbed his first after 14 minutes when Japanese Atsuto Uchida cut the ball into the box, Huntelaar failed to connect at the near post and the Spaniard slid the ball home from five metres.

The 33-year-old Raul took his tally to three for the season, again from close range, nine minutes from time after Dutchman Huntelaar headed his sixth of the campaign after the break.

Only days ago Raul was told by coach Felix Magath to stop dropping back into midfield to pick up the ball and to spend more time in the box where his natural scoring instincts have made him the Champions League`s all-time top scorer.

"I`m glad he scored in the Bundesliga again," said Magath, whose team has struggled in the league this season but can still advance in the Champions League. "I`m happy for him and I think it was a kind of redemption for him."

Schalke`s first home victory in the league this season moved them up two places to 15th with nine points from 11 games after last season`s runners-up endured a bad start to the campaign.

Mainz 05 can provisionally go top of the table on Saturday with a win at Freiburg while Borussia Dortmund, a point ahead on 25, are in action at Hanover 96 on Sunday. (A016/B002/S026)

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President cancels seeing off Asian Games contingent

Jakarta - President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono canceled his plan to see off the country`s contingent to the Asian Games earlier scheduled at the presidential palace on Friday due to the Mount Merapi eruptions.

"The President is concentrating his mind and energy on dealing with the impact of the eruptions of Mount Merapi. He will temporarily operate from an office in Yogyakarta.

Therefore he has canceled his plan to meet and see off members of the Indonesian contingent to the Asian Games," Sports and Youth Affairs Minister Andi Mallarangeng said here on Friday.

The minister made the statement when confirming the country`s Asian Games contingent consisting of 296 athletes and officials who would compete in Guangzhou, China, as of November 12.

He said the cancellation was actually a mere postponement but he could not say when the president would meet the athletes.

"Consider it just a postponement. However we cannot as yet tell when the President will be able to meet with them because of his tight schedule. While concentrating on the Merapi problem the President also has to prepare himself to meet US President Barack Obama and others. So I cannot as yet tell when the meeting would be held," he said.

Andi called on all athletes to perform as well as they can in the Games and keep their spirits high despite all the disasters happening in the country.

He called on them to also take lessons from the events for their preparation for the Southeast Asian Games next year.

The contingent will leave for Guangzhou on November 10 while the minister plans to depart on November 11. (H-YH/A014/S026)

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Robin Van Persie

By: Steven Yates

Following in the footsteps of Dennis Bergkamp as Arsenal’s Dutch striker is an unenviable task. But, at the moment, Robin van Persie is making a good job of it.

It didn’t always look like that, though. There has never been any question of the young Dutchman’s ability but, for a time, it looked as if a succession of niggling injuries and what appeared to be a distinctly questionable attitude might lead to him never really fulfilling his potential. Most people, when thinking about the Van Persie of that era, will remember the Daily Telegraph’s description of him as being ‘twenty one going on nine’!

And when Arsene Wenger remained insistent that he wasn’t going to replace the departed Adebayor with another striker, many people questioned the great man’s judgement. Robin van Persie, though, has revelled in the extra responsibility and is arguably playing the very best football of his career.

Robin van Persie had already been a member of the Feyenoord team that had won the UEFA Cup in 2002 by the time he joined Arsenal but his time at his home town club had not always been as successful. Frequent disciplinary problems and disagreements with manager Bert van Marwijk earned him a reputation as being ‘difficult’ to manage. His 15 goals in 59 first team matches, though, and his clearly apparent talent, attracted interest from Arsenal and although the negotiations seemed to stretch on for months, eventually he signed for the Gunners for a fee of around £2.75 million - a figure which, yet again, shows Arsene Wenger’s incredible eye for a bargain.

Wenger made it clear quite early that he envisaged his young Dutch player, who at that time was considered to be more of a winger, eventually moving to a more central role - similar to the transformation that Thierry Henry had previously undergone. So successful has this transition been that the manager of the Dutch national team - for whom Robin has made 40 appearances - announced that he would be performing the same job for them. Ironically, the manager making this promise is the same Bert van Marwijk who had had such difficulties with the younger van Persie.

During his time at Arsenal, Robin van Persie has developed into a mobile, intelligent striker and, most impressively, he has also become a much more focussed team player. Indeed, last season he was at the top of the statistics with ‘goal assists’ in the Premier League. His skill on the ball and eye for a pass to colleagues are now simply outstanding. A recent first time lay off into the path of Cesc Fàbregas, with whom he has built an almost telepathic understanding, in the away match against Wolves was symptomatic of Arsenal at their best.

Away fans might still suspect van Persie of tumbling rather theatrically in the penalty area under rather minimal contact, and it remains to be seen whether he has finally both his injury problems and his temper. But, with 46 goals for the Emirates’ team already, in just 126 matches, and with every prospect of Arsenal really challenging for all the major honours this season, comparisons with the great Dennis Bergkamp are no longer in the slightest bit fanciful.

Robin van Persie has become a very, very good player indeed - and , unlike the illustrious Bergkamp, he doesn‘t mind flying to away games.

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Stoner tops Valencia GP qualifying; Rossi 4th

Valencia, Spain - Casey Stoner will start the season-ending Valencia Grand Prix from pole position after edging Moto GP champion Jorge Lorenzo in qualifying on Saturday.

The Australian Ducati rider brushed off a run-off from earlier in the session to set a quickest lap of 1 minute, 31.799 seconds. That was 0.331 seconds faster than Spanish rival Lorenzo, who led for most of the session on his Yamaha.

Lorenzo is vying for his ninth victory of the season and first at the Cheste circuit. Stoner, who won here two years ago, goes for his fourth win of the season, with the other three coming in the past five races.

Marco Simoncelli starts third for Honda while Valentino Rossi will start fourth in his final race for Yamaha after seven seasons with the team. The Italian rider - who won four championships with the Japanese manufacturer - has a slim chance of overtaking Dani Pedrosa to finish the season second before his switch over to Ducati next year.

Marc Marquez put himself in prime position to win the 125cc championship after topping closest rival Nicolas Terol by just over one-tenth of a second in qualifying to start from pole Sunday. Marquez leads Terol by 17 points.

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Capsules of venues for the 2010 Asian Games

Venues for the Asian Games include 12 that were built for the event and 58 that were renovated.
Mayor Wan Qingliang estimates the city spent 6.3 billion yuan (US$950 million) on venue construction and maintenance, though it's not clear whether funding also came from other sources.

The opening and closing ceremonies will be held in a special venue located on Haixinsha Island in the Pearl River, at the heart of downtown Guangzhou. The half-stadium with gill-like side openings is flanked by the city's UFO-like opera house and the latticed Guangzhou TV Tower.

Competition venues are scattered around Guangzhou and nearby cities, but two man clusters are the Guangdong Olympic Sports Center in the eastern part of the city and the Tianhe Sports Center in the central business district.

The Athletes' Village, Technical Officials' Village and Media Village are located in the purpose-built Asian Games Town, about 40 minutes southeast of downtown Gangzhou.

A look at the main venues for the Nov. 12-27 Games:
--- Guangdong Olympic Stadium=
Built in 2001, this 80,000-seat stadium is topped by a ring of "ribbon." The structure is meant to resemble the petals of a flower, a nod to Guangzhou's nickname as the "Flower City." It is mostly use for football matches and will host athletics competition during the Asian Games.
--- Guangzhou Asian Games Town Gymnasium=
Just south of the Athletes' Village, this venue built for the games features flowing lines meant to evoke "dancing ribbons." It will host gymnastics, billiards and squash. Environmentally friendly features include rainwater collection and a water recycling system. After the games, the gymnasium will become a multipurpose complex with sports, commercial and public uses.
--- Aoti Aquatics Center= (pronounced ow-tee)=
Located in the Guangdong Olympic Sports Center, the natatorium will host swimming, diving and modern pentathlon. The building features a blue-and-white spiral shape and is set to become a national training base following the Asian Games.
--- Aoti Tennis Center=
Also part of the Olympic Sports Center, this venue has elements of the "ribbon" concept as well and can seat 12,000. It will be a major center for tennis in China, where interest in the sport is growing rapidly.
--- Nansha Gymnasium=
The competition venue for wushu and kabaddi, the rounded building is made up of two halves to resemble the traditional Chinese yin-yang symbol. The building can accommodate more than 8,000 spectators, but seating can be reconfigured to cater for various events in future.
--- Huangpu Sports Center Gymnasium=
This cubic structure with about 5,000 seats will host basketball matches. It is covered with a unique "skin" with a design based on traditional Chinese blue-and-white porcelain and lattice windows.
--- Guangzhou Velodrome=
Built in the shape of an aerodynamic bicycle helmet, this will be the site of track and BMX cycling as well as roller sports.

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