The Morung ExpressSPORTSSaturday26 February 201110 Dimapur

LIVERPOOL, FEBRUARY 25 (AGENCIES): This was an un-comfortable step back in time even before Kenny Dalglish paid tribute to Roy Hodgson for Liv-erpool's lasting involvement in the Europa League. Chris-tian Poulsen was jeered o , Joe Cole continued his forlorn bat-tle against conspiring fates and a Sparta Prague team led by a 37-year-old Thomas Repka fu-elled Anfield frustrations. For-tunately for Liverpool in Europe, there is always Dirk Kuyt.

From putting Liverpool into the 2007 Champions League fi -nal at the expense of Chelsea to preserving the club's interest in Europe against Standard Lige, the Dutch international has de-veloped an invaluable habit in continental competition that eas-ily surpasses his fi rst touch. Kuyt was at it again against the Czech champions, heading home an 86th-minute winner and his 15th European goal for Liverpool to secure Dalglish's team a place in the last 16 of the Europa League. But no one should start saving for the cost of a pint in Dublin, the stage for the fi nal in May, just yet. With Steven Gerrard, Luis Surez and Andy Carroll watching from the stands Liverpool served up a second unconvincing display against Sparta that demonstrat-ed their lack of invention, inspi-ration and quality without their leading men.

"It was a di cult game," con-ceded the Liverpool manager, whose side were disrupted by several injuries in fairness. "We knew from the first game they were going to be a physical side but we deserve credit for the way we fought. Our determination and e ort to get the result was

superb. The pride they take in themselves and the club was re-warded in the end with a goal and we are delighted to go through."

The goalless fi rst leg left both sides with an incentive to at-tack and mercifully they took it. There was more incident in the opening 85 seconds at Anfield than for the duration of that non-event in Prague, with the Sparta left-back, Manuel Pamic, escap-ing with a clear handball inside his own penalty area following a free-kick from Raul Meireles.

The card-happy Serbian ref-eree, Milorad Mazic, did have the excuse of peering through a crowded penalty area at the inci-dent but the additional assistant referee was only yards away yet allowed play to continue.

Liverpool continued to press, albeit with Martin Kelly provid-ing the only consistent threat with his rampaging runs and quality deliveries from right-back, but it was Sparta who moved the ball more accurately and constructed better open-ings on the counter-attack. Kelly made a vital interception to stop the former Reading midfielder Marek Matejovsky breaking into the area while Jos Reina saved Vaclav Kadlec's header after Kamil Vacek and Libor Sionko had prised apart the Liverpool left. There was a mass intake of breath when Reina completely missed a Sparta corner with a punch through thin air, a true collector's item, but Sionko and Kadlec failed to apply the fi nish-ing touch at the back post.

Sparta were frequently un-dermined by a poor final touch while Liverpool's weakness in front of goal was their ruthless-ness, or lack of. Sotirios Kyrgia-

kos could not be faulted on that score, having forced a fine save from Jaromir Blazek after beat-ing three opponents to a Meire-les corner and taking a smack to the mouth for his troubles. That's the Vogue shoot ruined. Meireles, however, skied over when Kelly's cross fell at his feet six yards from goal and, worse still, Cole pulled out of a 50-50 with the Sparta goalkeeper after he had parried David Ngog's shot towards the England international.

Cole did force Blazek into an awkward save when cutting in from the left but that was a rare end product from the midfi elder who, while looking sharp despite a recent knee problem, was again isolated on the margins. His night was encapsulated late on when, first, the ineffective and weak Ngog spoiled a good run by tak-ing a shot off his toes and then, in stoppage time, Cole raced half the length of the fi eld to convert a breakaway but shot inches wide.

Fortunately for Liverpool and Cole, Kuyt had already con-verted a training ground routine he has perfected many times be-fore. Standing next to the goal-keeper for a Meireles corner to the six-yard line, he peeled away from his marker to glance a header beyond the stranded Blazek. Game over. Thankfully.

The only lasting memory of the night will be the 137th Euro-pean appearance for Liverpool by Jamie Carragher, a record for a British player in Europe. "That is a great credit to him and to the success the club has had over the years," said Dalglish who added "it is down to the good work of the players and Roy" that he was finally managing Liverpool in Europe.

Dirk Kuyt breaks Sparta Prague resistance to take Liverpool to last 16

Liverpool's Dirk Kuyt, left, celebrates after scoring a goal against Sparta Prague during the second leg of their round of 32 Europa League soccer match at An eld, Liverpool, England, Thursday, February 24. (AP Photo)

DUBAIL, FEBRUARY 25 (AP): Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic, winners of six of the previous eight Dubai Championships, re-mained on course to meet in the final with straight-sets quarterfinal wins on Thursday. Federer was broken for the fi rst time in three matches but handled his debut meeting with Ser-giy Stakhovsky of Ukraine 6-3, 6-4, while two-time defending champion No-vak Djokovic beat Florian Mayer of Germany 7-5, 6-4.

Federer will play Rich-ard Gasquet, who over-came Gilles Simon 5-7, 6-2, 6-4 in an all-French match. Djokovic will next meet To-mas Berdych in a rematch of their Australian Open quarterfi nal. Djokovic won that, then beat Federer in the semis and Andy Murray in the fi nal.

"Yeah, tough one. (Berdych is) playing really well in the last year and a half," Djokovic said. "He's a quite consistent player right now. He has a very powerful serve, very fast baseline strokes, very flat, so I guess I need to be pa-tient and wait for my chanc-es." Stakhovsky saved three match points but Federer fi -nally won when Stakhovsky hit a return wide.

"I thought it was a tough match, tougher than the last couple," Feder-er said. Djokovic trailed Mayer 5-3 in the fi rst set but the unseeded Ger-man's serve abandoned him and Djokovic wasn't troubled again.

"The ball was going fast-

er today, and he took it to me from the start," Djokov-ic said. "Already fi rst game he was on the net, twice, three times. I was not mov-ing my legs well. I was mak-ing lots of unforced errors." Djokovic finished better than he started, however, winning the last four games in the fi rst set and the last five in the second. Next up was Berdych, who beat Phillip Petzschner of Ger-many 7-5, 6-4 in just under two hours. The third-seed-ed Czech broke Petzschner three times in the fi rst set but dropped serve twice. Berdych wasted six set points, closing it out when Petzschner hit a forehand long. The second set was just as close, with Berdych making the decisive break for 5-4. Berdych conceded he had trouble with the big-serving Petzschner, whom he lost to last year.

"Philipp likes to play big serves, sometimes come to the net, a lot of slice in the backhand side and then he just makes a winner like that," Berdych said. "He does not give you a rhythm on court at all."

Gasquet improved his record against Simon to 5-0, but he'll carry a seven-match losing streak against Federer into their semifi-nal. "I know I have to play my game, not try to play too good," Gasquet said. "When I played him in Bercy last year, I wanted to play very good, to play all the lines, and I made a lot of mistakes. So I just have to try to play my game. For sure, he's the favorite for the match."

Federer, Berdych, Djokovic in Dubai SF

SINGAPORE, FEBRUARY 25 (AFP): Japan's Chie Arimura maintained her clubhouse lead Friday at the HSBC Women's Golf tournament in Singapore, fi ring a six-under par 66 to hold a two-stroke advantage over Australia's Karrie Webb. The 23-year-old Japanese, ranked 19th in the world and playing in her fi rst event of the year, overcame a rough start to the second round where she bogeyed the fi rst hole followed by a birdie and another bogey. She soon steadied the ship with an eagle on the fi fth and followed up with fi ve more birdies to reach the halfway mark of the $1.4-million event at the Tanah Merah Country Club on 10-under par 134, extending her overnight lead.

"Two more days to go, I need to control my pace," said Arimura, who plays mainly on the Japanese tour and has won six titles since turn-ing professional in 2006. "Today has been a per-fect example, I had a rough start but I controlled myself so it got better in the end," said the leader, who is seeking her maiden victory outside Japan.

Australian veteran Webb, lying in second spot, is nicely poised to make a charge for the title after carding a 66 for an eight-under total of 136 at the par-72 Garden Course. "I feel great about it. You know, fairly solid round. I putted really well today," said Webb, a seven-time Major winner who has than $15 million in career earn-ings. The 36-year-old Australian, who has won 36 titles on the LPGA Tour, fancies her chances to lift the trophy on Sunday after a solid second round in the sweltering heat.

"Yeah, it's nice to be up there on Friday with a chance and making up a little bit of ground to even give myself a chance," said the Hall of Famer. "You know, I'm looking forward to the

weekend and we'll see what happens," she said. World number one Yani Tseng's hopes of lifting a trophy for the fourth time in fourth weeks took a dent with her round marred by four bogeys to leave her eight shots behind the leader.

"I fi nished pretty bad I think, number nine, ten, feel very disappointed especially number nine," said the 22-year-old Taiwanese star. "That was an easy birdie for everybody and I just hit it into the water. But still have two days to go and I will do my best, try my best," she said. Tseng was the hottest player coming into the tournament, having won the season-opening LPGA Thailand event in Pattaya on Sunday. Before her victory in Thailand, Tseng also chalked up two consecu-tive wins on the Ladies European Tour in Aus-tralia and took top honours at a small pro event in Taiwan in January. Defending champion Ai Miyazato of Japan is tied in 12th position along with eight others including American star Mi-chelle Wie after carding a two-under 70 and is even at 144 after 36 holes.

American Cristie Kerr, ranked fi fth in the world, shook o the e ects of stomach fl u to card a fi ve-under par 67 for a three-under to-tal of 141 and is tied in sixth with South Korea's Hur M.J. The American had a near-perfect round with four birdies and an eagle at the par-four 16th hole, the only blemish on her score-card being a bogey on the 15th. "I played really well today, hit the ball very solidly, hit a lot of greens," said the 33-year-old American, who won last year's LPGA Championships by a re-cord 12 strokes to add to her other Major win in 2007. "Gave myself a lot of chances and I putt-ed very well today. I felt much better today like with my health," said Kerr.

Arimura holds lead in Singapore golf

Chie Arimura of Japan lines up a putt as Choi Na Yeon of South Korea walks on the 10th green during the second round of the HSBC Women's Champions Golf tournament, Friday February 25 in Singapore. (AP Photo)

CARSON (CALIFOR-NIA), FEBRUARY 25 (AP): David Beckham said he was in great shape after reporting to the Los Ange-les Galaxy's training camp on Thursday, two weeks late following an extended stay to train with Totten-ham. The former England captain started training with the Premier League team last month so he could work on his fi tness follow-ing an injury-riddled year which saw him miss the World Cup and the major-ity of the Major League Soc-cer season.

"I could have been sit-ting on the beach some-where, which obviously was an option," the 35-year-old Beckham said. "But at my age, and at this stage in my career, I can't a ord to take three months holiday." The Galaxy had initially been re-luctant to allow him play in Europe for a third consecu-tive o season after he dam-aged his Achilles' tendon at AC Milan last year and was sidelined for six months.

The team agreed to let him go, but Beckham was unable to secure a loan with Spurs, preventing him from suiting up for

David Beckham returns to LA Galaxy

games and relegating him strictly to practice. "My main objective was to get fit for the Galaxy and the MLS season," Beckham said following his fi rst full practice session with the Galaxy on Thursday. "My

objective wasn't to play for a Premiership team. Even if I would have been on loan and even if I would have played the games, this was the time I was al-ways going to come back. That was agreed and noth-

ing was going to change." Beckham said he is now at-tempting to develop a rap-port with his teammates before the team's season opener on March 15. "All we care about is that when he is here, he wants to be

here and he wants to play," Galaxy midfi elder Landon Donovan said. "And today he showed that he wants to be here and he wants to help this team. You can tell the guys are excited, and he's excited to be back."

Beckham is entering the final year of the five-year, $32.5 million deal he signed upon joining the Galaxy, leaving his future up in the air. Some have speculated that he will take one last shot at playing with a top club overseas, with Totten-ham coach Harry Redknapp already extending an open invitation for him to return. Yet, Beckham downplayed any signifi cance of this pos-sibly being his last season in the MLS."It's not about validating my time here at the Galaxy, it's about the club being successful," he said. "Of course I want to win trophies, I want to win championships, but the most important thing is the club." The Galaxy are head-ing into the season seeking redemption following a dis-appointing loss in last year's Western Conference fi nals, marking the fourth year without an MLS Cup victo-ry since Beckham's arrival.

Los Angeles Galaxy mid elder David Beckham (23) and teammate Chris Birchall (8) and others practice during a team training session at the soccer team's facility in Carson, Calif., Thursday, February 24. (AP Photo)

KOHIMA, FEBRUARY 25 (MExN): Nagaland has participated at the 3rd Na-tional Level Rural Tour-nament Wrestling under PYKKA (Panchyat Yuva Krida Aur Khel Abhiyan) 2010-2011, sponsored by

the department of youth resources and sports.

The state team bagged fi ve medals in as many cat-egories. Kedizin of Peren district - bronze (85 kgs), Medievono of Kohima district - bronze (50 kgs),

Khrnezol of Phek district - bronze (52 kgs), Ihangbe of Peren district - bronze (50 kgs) and Vevoh Swro (Phek district) - bronze (76 Kgs). The team was led by manager Chisazo and coach Kikhwesl.

CRPF inter-range volleyball tourneyDIMAPUR, FEBRUARY 25 (MExN): The Central Reserve Police Forces North East Zone Inter Range Volleyball Tournament is underway. The 173rd bat-talion of the CRPF is organizing the tournament at the forces Transit Camp in Dimapur which had begun on February 24 last. A press release from the commandant of the 173rd battalion stated that DIGP (Ops), Kohima PM Ramalingam was the chief guest during the inau-gural. The chief guest while congratulating all the eight participating teams urged the players to play with dis-cipline and in true sportsmen spirit, the release stated. A knock-out event the opening match between Imphal Range and Bongaigaon Range was won by the former. The fi nal on February 26 will be graced by the Special Director General, CRPF, North East Zone.

Wozniacki, Zvonereva through to Qatar semi- nalsDOHA, FEBRUARY 25 (AGENCIES): World number one Caroline Wozniacki reeled o 12 successive games to ease into the semi-fi nals of the Qatar Open after a 6-2, 6-0 demolition of Italian Flavia Pennetta on Thursday. Second seed and world number three Vera Zvonereva was made to work harder for her semi-fi nal spot after a 7-5, 6-7, 7-5 win over Slovakia's Daniela Hantuchova in a match that lasted more than three hours. Having lost the opening two games, Dane Wozniacki did not drop another in a ruthless display to remain on course for a second straight title after winning the Dubai champion-ships on Sunday. Wozniacki next faces Marion Bartoli af-ter the Frenchwoman swatted aside China's Peng Shuai 6-2, 6-2. "I thought I played well. It could have been 6-1 in the second set instead of 6-2, even 6-0. But it was a great performance overall," said Bartoli. Russian Zvonereva will play Jelena Jankovic for a place in the fi nal after the Serb downed Czech Klara Zakopalova 6-2, 6-4 despite being troubled with a knee injury during the second set.

Nagaland bags medal at rural national tourney

Nagaland team at 3rd Level Rural National Tournament Wrestling.