Beast from the East Puts Off WBA Title Defense Due to Knee Injury: Russian heavyweight boxer Nikolai Valuev has postponed the defense of his WBA title from April 1 to May 27 due to knee surgery he underwent three weeks ago, All Boxing News web-site reported. The operation was successful, but the boxer said he needed more time to recover.
posted by jennifer to boxing at 04:48 AM - 16 comments
Sharapova Out of Australian Open Final: Sharapova dictated play in the opening set, but became increasingly frustrated as Henin-Hardenne chased every ball with excellent baseline coverage.
posted by jennifer to tennis at 04:00 AM - 17 comments
Marat Safin’s Knee Injury Makes Him Quit Tournament, Doubt Australian Open Participation: Safin is suffering from tendonitis in his right knee, which also caused him to pull out of the Masters Cup in Shanghai last month.
posted by jennifer to tennis at 02:43 AM - 7 comments
Spartak Moscow Sells Vidic to Manchester United: Manchester United have agreed an undisclosed fee with Spartak Moscow for defender Nemanja Vidic, the Premier League club announced.
posted by jennifer to soccer at 02:24 AM - 5 comments
Russian Heavyweight Valuev Returns Champion’s Belt to Ruiz: The agency said that one of Ruiz’s ringside team tried to keep the belt which did not fit the Russian boxer, but was prevented from doing so. However, a short time later, Valuev agreed to give the old belt to his defeated opponent as a souvenir.
posted by jennifer to boxing at 02:55 AM - 16 comments
Boxer Valuev Wins Russia’s First World Heavyweight Title: Nikolai Valuev won the World Boxing Association (WBA) heavyweight title with a controversial majority decision over American John Ruiz on Saturday to become the first Russian champion in boxing’s most glamorous division.
posted by jennifer to boxing at 04:15 AM - 19 comments
Russia’s Tennis Star Maria Sharapova on Promotional Tour in Japan: The darling of the tennis world, Maria Sharapova, will grace Japan from Dec. 20-24 for a three-city promotional blitz that will include singles matches against Japan's top-ranked player, Ai Sugiyama, Asahi Shimbun wrote Monday.
posted by jennifer to tennis at 01:30 AM - 2 comments
NHL’s Fedorov Won’t Play for Russia at Turin Olympics: Hockey player Sergei Fedorov said he will not play for Russia at the Turin Olympics. Fedorov, a forward for the Columbus Blue Jackets and six-time NHL All-Star, was quoted by AP as saying he needed time to recuperate from a nagging injury and to adapt to his new team. He joined the Jackets in a Nov. 16 trade with Anaheim.
posted by jennifer to hockey at 03:10 AM - 5 comments
Ukraine’s Klitschko to Enter Political Ring: Recently retired heavyweight boxing champion Vitali Klitschko said Saturday he would run in Ukraine’s parliamentary elections in March. Klitschko, who has been wooed by numerous political factions since his surprise retirement last month, is to top the party list of a newly formed bloc that includes a party headed by the country’s finance minister and the Pora youth movement, which helped organize last year’s Orange Revolution mass protests.
posted by jennifer to boxing at 04:11 AM - 7 comments
Russian Star Anna Kournikova Says May Return to Tennis: The 24-year-old Russian, who hasn’t played professionally since 2003 because of back problems, said she doesn’t have any plans to return to the WTA Tour any time soon, but added that "the possibility is not completely out of the question."
posted by jennifer to tennis at 01:42 PM - 21 comments
Russian Billionaire Abramovich Starts Probe into Chelsea’s Defeats: Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich shas ent a delegation to the club’s Surrey training ground to find out what has gone wrong, despite losing just three times all season, daily newspapers reported Thursday.
posted by jennifer to soccer at 05:09 AM - 8 comments
Vitali Klitschko Ends Boxing Career Ahead of Rahman Fight: Ukrainian boxer, reigning heavyweight WBC world champion, Vitaly Klitschko, has announced he is quitting the boxing arena.
posted by jennifer to boxing at 04:10 AM - 20 comments
Maria Sharapova Defeats Lindsay Davenport at WTA: ...Sharapova, the defending champion, needed three match points before closing out the match after 2 hours, 8 minutes with a 107-mph ace. The 18-year-old Russian dropped her racket, raised her arms and soaked in the crowd’s applause. Davenport walked off the court, shook the umpire’s hand and had her back turned by the time Sharapova caught up to her on the sideline for a halfhearted handshake...
posted by jennifer to tennis at 03:15 AM - 8 comments