Michel Fabrizio on the move after FP1

The first round of the season has finally got underway, as World Superbike riders got on track for Free Practice 1. Michel Fabrizio (Red Devils Roma Aprilia) showed immediate speed and confirmed the good indications of early week's official testing by topping the timesheets of the 45 minutes session. The competitive 1'31.218 lap-time set onboard his RSV4 was 0.5 second faster than 2nd place Leon Haslam (Pata Honda World Superbike) and Leon Camier (FIXI Crescent Suzuki) in 3rd.

The last rider to get into the 1'31 bracket is Sylvain Guintoli (Aprilia Racing Team), fourth ahead of BMW Motorrad GoldBet SBK Team duo of Chaz Davies and Marco Melandri, Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) and Jonathan Rea (PATA Honda World Superbike).

An unfortunate session for Team Ducati Alstare as both Carlos Checa (9th) and Ayrton Badovini (18th) crashed between a matter of a seconds at different parts of the circuit. The 2011 World Superbike Champion had an high-side at Turn 5, while the former BMW rider fell off his 1199 Panigale R at Swan Corner.

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Ronaldinho sets up Atletico victory

Rio de Janeiro: Ronaldinho set up both his team’s goals as Atletico Mineiro opened their 2013 Copa Libertadores campaign with a 2-1 victory over Brazilian rivals Sao Paulo.

Playing in South America’s leading club competition for the first time in 13 years, Atletico dominated the first half at their Estadio Independencia in Belo Horizonte on Wednesday.

The first goal came when an unmarked Ronaldinho pounced on a long throw-in before crossing for former Manchester City striker Jo, whose first-time finish left goalkeeper Rogerio Ceni with no chance.

Rever made it 2-0 when he headed in another Ronaldinho cross from the right in the 72nd minute before Sao Paulo’s Aloisio gave his side a flicker of hope late in the match when he struck with a low shot after Luis Fabiano’s defence-splitting pass.

Atletico coach Cuca lavished praise on Ronaldinho, who returned to Brazil’s national team for the first time since February last year in the Selecao’s 1-2 defeat to England at Wembley Stadium earlier this month.

“Ronaldinho made the difference with his two crosses,” Cuca said. “He is intelligent. You can’t expect him to do some things, like track back in defence, but his quality makes him a match winner.”

In other Libertadores matches on Wednesday, Boca Juniors suffered a 2-1 home defeat to Mexico’s Toluca, Fluminense overcame Caracas away 1-0 and Penarol defeated hosts Iquique 2-1.

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Everton on the road to Moyes’ first silverware

Match to catch
After shocking Liverpool 3-2 at home in the previous round of the FA Cup, Oldham Athletic are back in the spotlight again this weekend. The Latics, who are in the relegation zone in English football’s third tier and who will be managed by caretaker boss Tony Philliskirk following the resignation of Paul Dickov earlier this month, this time get to take on the Reds’ Merseyside rivals Everton at Boundary Park. The Toffees always take this competition seriously as it gives them a realistic chance of winning the first silverware of David Moyes’ 11-year reign — the closest they have come previously is FA Cup runners-up to Chelsea in 2009 — and they can be expected to learn from their bitter rivals’ mistakes. Prediction: Everton.

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Maradona acknowledges ‘Dieguito’ is his son

Buenos Aires: Argentine football great Diego Maradona says the baby born to his former partner earlier this week — named Diego Fernando at birth — “won’t lack for anything”.

The former Al Wasl boss was criticised because he was in Dubai when Veronica Ojeda gave birth on Wednesday in the Argentine capital Buenos Aires.

He acknowledged on Friday in a statement that he is the father of the baby being referred to in Argentina as ‘Dieguito’, or Little Diego.

The child is the fifth known to be fathered by the 52-year-old Maradona. He has two daughters from his marriage with Claudia Vallafane — Dalma and Giannina and has two other children he has never recognised as his, although courts in paternity cases have ruled he is the father.

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We’re stronger than in 1999: Ferguson

Manchester: Sir Alex Ferguson believes the 1999 treble-winning squad was not nearly as strong as his current Manchester United group, and said he could have played a different XI at Real Madrid on Wednesday and achieved the same result.

United drew the opening leg of the Champions League last-16 tie 1-1. With Reading on Monday at Old Trafford in the fifth round of the FA Cup, and a 12-point lead in the Premier League, United’s tilt at winning a second treble is on course.

Asked about similarities between the 1998-99 campaign and the current one, Ferguson said: “We lost to Middlesbrough in December and we never lost again. It was a tough FA Cup run that season, really tough. We were up against Premier League teams in every round. It’s nice to look back at these things and how it was done with the squad of players I had, which is not nearly as strong as the one I have now.”

Ferguson believes the current group has more depth than the squad in 1999. “Yes, numbers wise,” he said. “When we went to the final, [Roy] Keane and [Paul] Scholes were suspended, but Henning Berg was the only injury and I had to pull in Jonathan Greening, who had only played once or twice, and he actually got a winner’s medal for sitting on the bench. That gives you an idea of the respective strength of the squads.

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Spanish cyclist wins third stage of tour de Singkarak

Tanah Datar, West Sumatra - Spanish racer Oscar Pujol Munoz won the third stage of Tour de Singkarak (TdS) 2012, which started at Payakumbuh and ended in front of the Istano Basa Pagaruyung, Tanah Datar district, on Wednesday.

The rider, who is part of the Iranian Azad University team, won the third stage in two hours, 37 minutes and 40 seconds.

He was followed by Joel Pearson from Genesys Wealth Advisers, who clocked two hours, 37 minutes and 48 seconds.

Meanwhile, Mohammad Saufi Mat Senan from Malaysia`s Trengganu Cycling Team reached the finish line in two hours, 37 minutes and 48 seconds.

Indonesian racer Robin Manulang from the Araya Team only ranked seventh, clocking in at two hours, 37 minutes and 47 seconds.

On Tuesday (June 5), Taiwan racer Hsiao Shihhsin won the second stage after he reached the finish line in three hours, eight minutes and 43 seconds.

The racer from the Action Cycling Team defeated two Australian cyclists, Alexander Edmonson from the Australia National Team and Alexander Smyth from Australian Plan B Racing.

The Indonesian racers who ranked among the top ten during the second stage include Nunung Burhanudin and Putra Perjuangan, followed by Bambang Suryadi from Polygon Sweet Nice; the third position was taken by Budi Santoso from WSP Management, whose time record was three hours, eight minutes and 43 seconds.

The international event of TdS will continue from June 4 to June 10, 2012, and altogether extend over seven stages, during which the participants will cover 856 kilometers.

The first stage of TdS was held at Sawahlunto-Sijunjung; the second, at Muara Sijunjung-Lembah Harau; the third, at Payakumbuh-Istana Basa Pagaruyung; the fourth will cover Sicincin Anai Golf-Bukittinggi; the fifth, Padang Panjang-Singkarak; the sixth, Pariaman-Painan; and the seventh stage will include the Padang Circuit Race. (B003)

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Asrelawandi wins bronze medal at WBPF in Thailand

Jakarta - Body builder from Riau province Asrelawandi won a bronze medal at the World Body Building Physique Federation (BBPF) championship in Bangkok, Thailand, on December 7-9.

The Indonesian Weight Lifting, Power Lifting and Body Building Association (PABBSI) said in a press release received here on Sunday Asrelawandi won the medal from the 60kg category.

"The gold and silver medals went to Thailand and Vietnam respectively," PABBSI deputy chairman for body building Julia Zuhardiman said in the release.

Julia said Asrelawandi`s target in the championship was actually a gold medal but due to the tight competition he finally could only win a bronze.

Indonesia sent two athletes to the championship namely Asrelawandi and M Edeng Sambas. Sambas who competed in the 80kg class could only finish fourth.

"The class was dominated by contestants from Uni Arab Emirates and Europe," she said.

PABBSI general chairman Adang Dorodjatun hailed Asrelawandi`s achievement. He said the achievement was encouraging in the midst of concerning national sports achievement at present.

"I am optimistic Indonesia could compete at world levels in the the sport branch as has also been shown in the recent Olympic Games by weight lifting athletes," he said.

Indonesia won the only silver and bronze medals from weight lifting in the Olympic Games in London recently. (T.A020/H-YH/A014)

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