Two-time Olympic gold medalist is preparing for the 2008 Olympic in Beijing.

TEHRAN, Nov. 18--Hossein Rezazadeh, Iran’s Hercules, looks set to participate in Iran Weightlifting League on Monday as member of Manateq-e Naftkhiz team.Ê
Rezazadeh missed previous weightlifting championships after he was injured in a car accident and was forced to stay aside two months ago, Mehr News Agency reported.
Manateq-e Naftkhiz’s lifter will take part in heavyweight class against Khorasan-e Shomali team at Shahrak-e Naft Stadium in the 6th week of Iran Weightlifting League.
The match was originally scheduled last week but following Manateq-e Naftkhiz’s request to assess the lifters, it will be held on Monday.
Two-time Olympic gold medalist is getting prepared for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.
Rezazadeh will also attend the Asian Clubs Weightlifting Championship to be held in Syria next month.
“I am perfectly ready to lift the weights and hope to do my best in the competition. I am concentrating on Olympic Games and these events can help me to be in better shape,“ he said.

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil, Nov. 18--Iran’s 7-a-side football team lost 2-1 to Russia on SundayÊin the World Championship held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
According to IRNA, referee gave Iran’s striker, Karimizadeh, the opportunity to kick a penalty, but he failed to score.
Iran went all the way to the final without a loss in the tourney. The team had already defeatedÊSpain, the US, Netherlands, Scotland and Brazil (host) in the tournament.
Ukraine finished third after beating Brazil in third-fourth placement match.
It is for the first time that Iran has become second in the world championship.

BUDAPEST, Hungary, Nov. 18--After beating Turkey 6-5 in the Hungary Futsal Tournament, Iran ranked second in the table on Saturday.
Brazil was at the top with 9 points and Hungary, as host, ranked third and finished the tournament with just one win, IRNA reported.
Iran defeated Hungary 4-2, but was thrashed 7-2 by powerhouse Brazil.
Iran had already lost to Brazil 4-0 in the Mini World Cup in Rio de Janeiro in early November.
Iran is set to participate in the Asian Futsal Championship in the next Iranian year to be held in Thailand while four top teams will book a place in the Futsal World Cup.

Roger Federer of Switzerland hits a return to David Ferrer of Spain during their final match at the Masters Cup tennis tournament in Shanghai, Nov. 18.

SHANGHAI, China, Nov. 18--World number one Roger Federer beat Spain’s David Ferrer 6-2 6-3 6-2 with a vintage display to win his fourth Masters Cup title on Sunday.
Federer’s victory at the season-ending eight-man tournament put him level with Ilie Nastase and one behind the record of five titles held by Ivan Lendl and Pete Sampras, according to Reuters.
“It’s been a fantastic season,“ Federer told reporters, his black signature “RF“ cap pulled low over his eyes. “It was a nice victory, proving to myself and the world that I can do it over and over again.“
The Swiss, appearing in his fifth successive Masters Cup final, had never lost to Ferrer in seven previous matches and he simply had too much firepower again for the Spaniard.
Ferrer had been a revelation in his tournament debut, reaching the final with a perfect record but he quickly crumbled against Federer in the biggest match of his career.
Federer had been jolted into life in Shanghai after a stunning defeat by Chile’s Fernando Gonzalez in his opening round-robin match.
But the warning signs were there for Ferrer following Federer’s clinical 6-4 6-1 demolition of world number two Rafael Nadal in Saturday’s semi-final.
The constant ringing of Swiss cow bells appeared to have a soporific effect on Ferrer, who never got going as Federer swept through the first set in 26 minutes.
Ferrer’s resistance effectively collapsed in the second, a wild forehand leaving Federer in total control.
Ferrer never looked like emulating Argentine David Nalbandian’s amazing fightback from two sets down against Federer in the 2005 final as the third set followed the same pattern.
The world number one continued to drill winners past his dazed opponent, breaking for 3-1 with a superb running forehand that was too hot for a lunging Ferrer to handle.
He put Ferrer out of his misery with another sizzling forehand pass after 98 minutes to capture his eighth title of the year and the 53rd of his career.
“I surprise myself at times obviously,“ smiled the 12-times grand slam champion after another successful season.
“Once I get on a roll it’s so hard for my opponents to come back. I don’t allow them.“

TEHRAN, Nov. 18--Under-19 soccer teams from Iran and Lebanon proceeded to the final roundÊafter ending as two top teams in group B of the Asian Qualifications held in Tehran.
Iran won 1-0 against struggling India to put itself at the top Saturday at Ekbatan Stadium while Lebanon succeeded to defeat Oman in the important match to book a place in the final round, IRNA reported.
Iran tops group B with 13 points while Lebanon and Oman have occupied second and third places, respectively.
Iran and Lebanon from group B, Syria and Tajikistan from group C, Uzbekistan and Yemen from group D, Japan and Thailand from group E, North Korea and China from group F and South Korea and Australia from group G, will take part in the final round to be held in Saudi Arabia next year.

Italy's Christian Panucci (r) celebrates scoring his sides 2nd goal during their UEFA Euro 2008 Group B qualifying soccer match at Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland, Saturday.

GLASGOW, Scotland, Nov. 18--Italian soccer went from tears to cheers in just a week.
According to AP, Christian Panucci scored on a header in second-half injury time to give Italy a 2-1 victory over Scotland on Saturday night, a result that qualified both the Azzurri and France for next year’s European Championship.
Attached to every Italian player’s white jersey was a black armband in memory of the 26-year-old Lazio fan shot killed by a police officer last weekend at a highway rest stop.
“It is our duty to dedicate the victory to Gabriele Sandri,“ forward Luca Toni said.
There were outbreaks of fan violence after last weekend’s death, and some games in Italy were postponed. Azzurri coach Roberto Donadoni said Italian soccer should pay attention to Scotland’s Tartan Army, which was magnanimous in defeat.
“The Scottish fans showed how to behave and get behind a team in a stadium,“ Donadoni said. “Their correctness on and off the pitch has given us all something we can learn from.“
Toni scored in 68 seconds in for Italy, which beat France in last year’s World Cup final, but Scotland tied the score on Barry Ferguson’s goal in the 65th.
Italy (8-1-2) leads Group B with 26 points with one game remaining and is one point ahead of France (8-2-1). The top two nations in each of the seven groups join co-hosts Austria and Switzerland at next June’s tournament.
“This is a close-knit team,“ Italy captain Fabio Cannavaro said. “When it knows it has to win, it goes onto the field as world champions.“
Scotland (8-4) completed its schedule with 24 points.
“We didn’t deserve to lose that game. We battered the Italians in the second half and they were dead men walking at the end,“ Scotland coach Alex McLeish said.

HONG KONG, Nov. 18--Spain’s Miguel Angel Jimenez won the Hong Kong Open by one stroke on 15-under-par after his playing partner and long-time leader Robert Karlsson of Sweden blew up on the final hole on Sunday, Reuters reported.
A three-putt bogey at the last hole for a final round three-under 67 was enough to give the 43-year-old Jimenez his second victory at the $2.25 million co-sanctioned tournament after his 2004 triumph.
Karlsson, who had a four-stroke lead at the start of the final round and topped the leaderboard all day, fluffed a chip up a bank from the rough and registered a double bogey at the 18th to drop to 14 under with a two-over 72.That reduced the former Ryder Cup player to a share of second with South Korea’s K.J. Choi, who hit a superb eagle in his 67, and Thailand’s Thongchai Jaidee, who bagged a 65 on the back of six birdies in his last seven holes.
“It’s been a long time and it’s a very good feeling to be here,“ Jimenez said after clinching his 14th win on the European Tour and a first since the 2005 Welsh Open.
Karlsson, who led or shared the lead from early in the second round until Jimenez sank a birdie putt at the 16th, said he was happy with how he had played.
“I did what I could but I don’t know what I could have done differently,“ said the 38-year-old.

CARDIFF, UK, Nov. 18--Welsh swimming star David Davies has revealed he plans to retire after the 2012 Olympics.
Davies will only be 27 when the Olympics come to London in five years’ time, but he believes that would be the ideal moment to end his career.
“I always wanted to bow out of swimming at the highest possible level I could,“ Davies told the BBC’s Sport Wales programme.
“I don’t want to finish in some rubbish little event.“
The Olympic bronze and Commonwealth gold medalist is one of Britain’s biggest hopes for success at the 2008 Games in Beijing.
Davies is among the favorites to take 1500m freestyle gold next summer, but he hopes London 2012 will represent the pinnacle of his career.
He said: “I wanted to bow out either at the very top - when I’ve produced my ultimate performance and I know I’m not going to do better-or at a home Olympics like London 2012, where the setting is going to be fantastic and the environment amazing.“
“I’ve had four years now of doing world competition swimming, and the fact I’ve been to the Olympics before will make Beijing very different. The experience I have will be different to Athens.
“My heart will be racing faster come the Olympics - because that’s the one. But the beat I have when I’m swimming for Wales is a different kind of beat, it’s very special and very patriotic.

PHILADELPHIA, USA, Nov. 18--Martin Brodeur became the second goaltender to record 500 victories in the NHL when he helped the New Jersey Devils record a 6-2 road victory over the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday.
According to Reuters, Brodeur joined Hall of Fames Patrick Roy as the only men to reach the milestone. Roy retired in 2003 with 551 wins.
“It means a lot,“ said Brodeur, who needed four attempts to climb off 499 wins.
“We both played for some great teams. You play to be successful and I’ve been fortunate to play on good teams.“
This season, however, the Devils have not been a very good team.
Saturday’s win lifted Brodeur season record to just 6-10-1, his worst mark ever after 17 games. The 35-year-old had lost twice to the New York Islanders and once to the New York Rangers since registering his 499th win.
He recorded the milestone in his 908th game and the win was his 38th over the Flyers, with Philadelphia matching the Rangers and Islanders for the top spot on Brodeur’s wins list.
He has also lost 20 games to Philadelphia, more than to any other team and is 38-20-7 against the Flyers.

Steven Gerrard

London, Nov. 18--Steven Gerrard has urged England to capitalise on their Euro 2008 lifeline in Wednesday’s showdown with Croatia.
Steve McClaren’s side find their destiny back in their own hands after Israel’s shock 2-1 win over Russia in Tel Aviv on Saturday, BBC wrote.
And England’s stand-in skipper Gerrard said: “We have been given another chance and that has to motivate every player on Wednesday evening.
“Everyone must give everything to try to be there next summer.“
“If we don’t get there it will be so frustrating and we have to make sure we have the right mentality on Wednesday,“ added Gerrard.
“Since we lost the game in Russia it has been difficult to be an England player to be honest.
“To be in a situation where it’s been out of our hands, and you are relying on other people, is not a situation you want to be in - and not a situation we should have been in.
“England want to be in the big tournaments and that’s where we need to earn the right to be by getting the right result on Wednesday.
“Now we are going to be looking forward to one of the biggest games of our lives.“

MADRID, Spain, Nov. 18--The newly-elected chief of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), Australian John Fahey, pledged on Saturday to forge stronger ties with governments in a bid to enforce a new doping code and crack down more effectively on cheats.
Minutes after winning a vote which European governments tried to block and then abstained from, Fahey, elected for a three-year term starting on January 1, said all the pre-election wrangling was now a thing of the past, Reuters reported.
Fahey won all but four votes--all abstentions from Europe--and said the time had come for governments to play a greater role in fighting doping in sport.
“I do not underestimate the task. I come from government and I hope to bring governments even more to the table than in the past,“ Fahey, a former Australian finance minister, told reporters as he sat next to outgoing president Dick Pound.

HOUSTON, USA, Nov.18--The explosive Phoenix Suns won their fifth straight game with a dominant 115-105 road victory over the Houston Rockets on Saturday.
According to Reuters, Amare Stoudemire and Leandro Barbose scored 21 points apiece, Stoudemire delivered 13 rebounds, Steve Nash had 19 points and 15 assists and Shawn Marion posted 18 points and 11 rebounds as the Suns raised their record to 8-2.
Grant Hill also had 18 points for the Suns, who beat the Rockets for the seventh time in the last eight meetings.
“We are a very good road team,“ Nash told reporters.
“We turned the ball over too much and we have to work on it. We don’t quite have the same flow (as last season) but we are playing well.
“I never felt the game was that close as we controlled the tempo all game.“