Can Shaolin temple save Chinese footbal?

Beijing - China`s celebrated Shaolin Temple is training young kungfu disciples to play football in the far-off hope of reversing the flagging fortunes of the national team, state media reported.

In a case of life imitates art the initiative will likely draw comparisons with hit 2001 Hong Kong comedy "Shaolin Soccer" about a group of washed-up monks from the temple who apply their superhuman moves on the soccer pitch.

The temple, in central China`s Henan province, which is famed for the acrobatic exploits of its warrior monks, opened a soccer training centre in October that has more than 40 martial arts students learning the "beautiful game," the official Xinhua news agency said late Thursday.

Shi Yanlu, head coach at the training base, said the discipline and ethos of kungfu can translate into effective football.

"Chinese football is in the doldrums, and when some elements of Shaolin kungfu, particularly its spirit, are integrated into soccer, we hope it will help improve the training level of football," he said in the report.

The legwork and physical coordination of kungfu could also help future Chinese footballers, he added.

China`s national football team is a laughing-stock at home and a source of anguish for fans frustrated by the inability of the world`s most populous country to succeed in the world`s most popular sport.

China failed to qualify for last year`s World Cup, has performed poorly in the Olympic Games and recently failed to reach the Asian Cup`s knockout stages.

China`s pro league also is reeling from a match-fixing, gambling and graft scandal that has resulted in the arrests of two former national football association heads and a number of lower-level officials.

The young recruits at the temple`s training centre -- all around 10 years old -- are being coached by Alphonse Tchami, a retired Cameroonian national footballer, the report said.

The temple plans to attract more recruits among the 2,000 disciples who train at Shaolin, it added. (U.C003/P003)

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Lorenzo wins Spanish GP ahead of Pedrosa

Jorge Lorenzo won the Spanish Grand Prix on Sunday after Casey Stoner and Marco Simoncelli crashed on the wet track.

Yamaha rider Lorenzo, the defending MotoGP champion, was 19.339 seconds faster than fellow Spaniard Dani Pedrosa, who recovered his starting second place after falling to ninth early on. Pedrosa will undergo surgery on his collarbone on Monday.

American Nicky Hayden finished third, 29.085 seconds off the pace, at the 4.4-kilometer (2.7-mile) Jerez Circuit.

Pole-sitter Casey Stoner, who won the season-opening Qatar GP last month, led with 20 laps to go but could not continue after Valentino Rossi attempted to pass, leaving both out of the race.

Seven-time world champion Rossi finished over a minute behind in fifth.

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Nurdin predicted to prepare new PSSI chairman candidate

Indonesian Soccer Association (PSSI) chairman Nurdin Halid may prepare a new figure to replace him in the April 29 congress following widespread rejection over his nomination.

Soccer analyst Tondo Widodo said Sunday that Nurdin would not just give up in the PSSI chairman election.

“Let's wait to see who the nominee from Nurdin's side is,” he said as quoted by tribunnews.com.

So far, George Toisutta and Arifin Panigoro were the two strongest candidates for the PSSI chairmanship post.

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Pedrosa Under the Knife Again

Dani Pedrosa clearly struggled with strength in his left arm at the opening round of the 2011 MotoGP Championship at Qatar, although the Spaniard took the final podium spot behind Jorge Lorenzo and his teammate, Casey Stoner.

But Pedrosa is adamant about having another year of great performances on the Repsol Honda RC212V, and sought out some answers.

He went for additional tests, and his specialist in vascular surgery, Doctor Eusebio Sala Planell, diagnosed Pedrosa with intermittent compression of the subclavian artery, which causes the numbness and lack of strength in his left arm.

To fix this, Pedrosa will undergo additional surgery after the Spanish Grand Prix in Jerez, Round 2 of the MotoGP Championship that occurs this weekend. This will give Pedrosa a month to recover before the Portugese Grand Prix in Estoril May 1.

During this second operation, doctors are expected to take the titanium plate and screws out of Pedrosa's collarbone, which will release compression pressure that's causing the numbness.

Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda MotoGP) says: "It's never pleasant to have an operation, but we've been looking for an answer for a lot of time about the effects of this injury and I'm calmed because I finally know what has happened.

"Now, we are in Jerez and I want to concentrate on the race, working with my team in the best possible way to prepare the Grand Prix. This race is special, the fans are always there to give you an extra point and I hope it helps me, as always. I like the track, I've had always good results here and I face the weekend with the aim to do my best in my current conditions".

Pedrosa sustained a double fracture to his left collarbone after a crash at the Japanese Grand Prix in Motegi last season. He underwent surgery, having the plate and screws inserted.

He missed the subsequent three races, returning for the final two 2010 MotoGP rounds. This year, Pedrosa is part of the only three-man team in MotoGP; the Repsol Honda team features Pedrosa, Casey Stoner and Andrea Dovizioso. (Sam Sims)

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Jerez MotoGP: Winning Circuit for Lorenzo

With his second-place finish at the opening round in Qatar, Jorge Lorenzo has a strong start to defend his title in the 2011 MotoGP Championship.

And the Jerez circuit in his homeland of Spain may easily add some big points as Lorenzo chases the title; he has much luck there. Lorenzo won at Jerez in 2006 and 2007 while in the 250cc MotoGP class; he also took the 250cc titles both of those years.

And last year Lorenzo had a spectacular win after passing his then teammate Valentino Rossi, and then taking Repsol Honda's Dani Pedrosa at the end of the race to take the win.

As for Lorenzo's teammate Ben Spies, the 2010 MotoGP "Rookie of the Year" has shown promise on the factory Yamaha M1, taking sixth at Qatar after battling with Rossi for the position. In 2010, during his second MotoGP race on the Monster Yamaha Tech 3, Spies had a DNF after 20 laps.

Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha Factory Racing MotoGP) says: "I am ready to come back to Jerez. We started the Championship so well in Qatar and I believe it is a great moment to ride for my people and my Fan Club here in Spain.

"Last year the situation was quite similar and perhaps I got the best victory of my career, closing a big gap in the last few laps. We can't make predictions for Sunday, but my crew and I will work as much as possible to be in front. Jerez is a special place for me, maybe the best track in the world. When I was only 15, the day right after my birthday, I raced for the first time in front of 100.000 people here."

Ben Spies (Yamaha Factory Racing MotoGP) says: "I have unfinished business here at Jerez. I really enjoyed riding here last year and was disappointed not to be able to take some points from the race. Now I'm back with a full factory machine so I believe the outcome should be a little different!

"We have track knowledge from last year so we can focus straight away on getting the 2011 M1 set up and we'll see what we can do. It's my team mate's home race so I'm expecting a great atmosphere."

Wilco Zeelenberg (Yamaha MotoGP Team Manager) says: "After a great first race we are actually quite keen to get to Jerez because we know Jorge has good speed here, especially compared to Casey. He won his first ever Spanish MotoGP race here last year so we can't wait to see if we can fight like we did in Qatar, maybe even a little better! The results from the first race give us extra confidence, we know we can be fast and Jorge has the talent to fight with the best for the podium."

Massimo Meregalli (Yamaha MotoGP Team Director) says: "I think Jerez can be a good circuit for Yamaha, after seeing what we achieved in Qatar we are going there with good optimism. It's the home race for Jorge and a great victory for him here last year, when you ride in front of your fans it can give you an additional boost.

"Last year was unfortunate for Ben during the race but during the practice and qualifying the times weren't so bad. For sure he knows the circuit so he can be immediately focused on finding the right set up and concentrating on a decent tyre choice. The fast corners of Jerez are good for us, our bike works well and we have always had good results here with the M1." (Sam Sims)

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Mercedes Improvements Excite Michael Schumacher

At age 42, and after an inglorious return to Formula One last year, few would have guessed that Michael Schumacher and Mercedes would be touted as a potential championship team for the upcoming season.

Schumacher, who came out of retirement after three years to join Mercedes last season, ended ninth in the 2010 standings, without a single podium finish.

But ahead of Sunday’s season-opening Australian Grand Prix, and after an impressive winter of testing, Schumacher may soon get a taste of the glory that drew him back to the sport.

Schumacher struggled to adapt to the durable Bridgestone tires on his return to racing and said on Thursday he had high hopes of performing better with the more degradable Pirelli rubber introduced this year.

“What’s most important is what I want to prove to myself,” he said. “Whether it was only the tire. Whether it was me after three years out, not knowing all the switches and positions, and what I had to do to make the whole package work together, I don’t know.

“I just know that now I do feel it and I’m back on it.”

Red Bull’s Mark Webber was quick to identify Mercedes as a race-winning team this season. “Mercedes have had a good finish to the winter testing and they’re going to be winning some races for sure this year,” Webber said.

“The car’s improved, to our predictions,” Schumacher said on Thursday. “We knew we weren’t on the pace for the first tests, but we were focusing on a particular package … it was only in the last tests that we were able to see that everything works out.”

Tires aren’t the only changes to F1 that Schumacher has had to adapt to since making his debut with the Jordan team back in 1991. “In the time that I’ve been racing I’ve gone through many different development phases,” he said.

“From the very standard days of manual gear shifting when I started, there has been the days of active suspension, traction control, ABS and so on.

“And there have been all the electronics you can adjust on the steering wheel. … Now we have this year [adjustable] rear wings and KERS.

“I can only say that anything that makes me go quicker, and I can adapt and adjust in the car, that’s what I like.”

Now Schumacher is looking forward to ending the speculation and seeing exactly what the new car and new tires can do in Sunday’s race.

“We get on with it this weekend and see what is the reality,” he said. “Testing is one thing and racing is another thing.” AP

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McLaren, Ferrari Right on Red Bull's Bumper

Melbourne - McLaren and Ferrari threw down the challenge to the world champion Red Bull team in Friday's practice for this weekend's season-opening Australian Formula One Grand Prix in Melbourne.

The Red Bull pair of Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel dominated first free practice with Webber clocking a best lap of one minute 26.831 seconds, before Jenson Button led a McLaren one-two in the late afternoon hit-out.

Button, bidding for a hat-trick of Melbourne victories in Sunday's race, clocked 1:25.854, just 0.132secs ahead of 2008 world champion Lewis Hamilton.

Ferrari's Fernando Alonso was lurking with the third quickest time in both practice sessions, indicating that the 16-time constructors' champion team will be thereabouts in the first race.

"We were able to complete a lot of laps today, but the weather was a bit difficult," said Vettel, who at 23 became the youngest F1 world drivers' champion last year.

"Despite that, I think we got a good idea as to where we are compared to our competitors.

"All in all, I think we can be pleased, it seems we are not too bad, but we have to wait and see."

Local hope Webber, bidding to improve on his best placing of fifth in a 12th attempt at winning his home GP, said Ferrari and McLaren looked in good shape.

"McLaren look quick, but with Ferrari you can never tell, as they always run a bit more fuel on a Friday," Webber said.

Button, who is bidding to equal Michael Schumacher's record of three consecutive Australian victories at Albert Park, was encouraged by McLaren's advanced showing.

"Today showed that we?ve got reliability, which is great," Button said.

"That?s something we?ve not had all winter so to have a car that runs for as many laps as we want it to is very satisfying. It also means we can get stuck into our set-up work and improve the car.

"We?re encouraged by the step we?ve made today."

Alonso, a winner here five years ago with Renault, looks Ferrari's best hope of landing their seventh Australian GP in 12 years.

"I am happy with the way the car is going," Alonso said. "At the start there was a bit of understeer and we still are a way off from having perfect grip at the front, but it went better than I was expecting."

Vettel said the first use of the abrasive Albert Park street circuit gave all the teams a better sense of how the faster-degrading Pirelli tyres will perform in the first race.

"We expected worse conditions here in terms of how long the tyres would last, but this morning and this afternoon was quite useful in helping us to understand what to do in the race on Sunday.

"So far everything is positive, we can't race with one stop only, I think we will have to come in a couple of times.

"Melbourne is a rough track with a lot of bumps and a lot of corners, and you really feel the speed here in some corners and you don't have much time in between the corners and everything follows up quickly. It keeps you busy."

Seven-time world champion Schumacher had a best lap of 1:26.590 in his Mercedes, which gave him the sixth best time in the second practice session.

"My first impressions are quite positive. We learned a lot today, and are more or less where we thought we would be," Schumacher said.

"We will sort out some issues on our car for the rest of the weekend but I am still happy with what we have seen here so far."

At the other end of the spectrum, Hispania Racing Team mechanics slaved all day to try to get their cars out on to the track but all they could manage was to squeeze half a lap for Vitantonio Liuzzi just in the final minutes of second practice to ironic applause in the media room.

Qualifying for Sunday's Melbourne race takes place on Saturday. AFP (Robert Smith)

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