Urawa Reds of Japan and Iran's Sepahan players vie to take the ball in the AFC Champions League final at Saitama Stadium in Tokyo, Nov. 14, 2007.

TOKYO, Dec. 9--Luka Bonacic is relishing the chance to revenge Sepahan’s AFC Champions League final defeat by Japan’s Urawa Reds in Monday’s FIFA Club World Cup quarterfinal match.
According to AFC, Sepahan eased through their opening Club World Cup meeting with Oceania champions Waitakere on Friday as two early goals from Iraqi striker Emad Mohammed set up a comfortable 3-1 victory.
Mohammed fired a quickfire early double in the third and fourth minutes to give the Asian Champions League runners-up the perfect start while leaving the New Zealand part-timers with an insurmountable task.
Abdul Wahab Abu Hail added a third for Sepahan two minutes into the second half before an own goal from Hadi Aqili with 16 minutes remaining gave Waitakere some reward for their hard work.
“We won, so finally we can talk about the match against Urawa,“ said Croatian Bonacic. “We lost to Urawa in the final of the AFC Champions League so therefore Urawa are Asian champions and we are honored to play against Urawa one more time. I’m happy that we can do so.“
Waitakere Captain Danny Hay laid the blame for his team’s exit on their abysmal start to their quarterfinal playoff against the Iranians.
“We had five minutes of madness at the start of the game and at this level you can’t make the errors that we did,“ said the former Leeds United defender.
Urawa’s Japan and Sepahan of Iran clash at Toyota on Monday.
Milan will face either Asian champions Urawa Reds or runners-up Sepahan in the semifinals on Thursday at the Yokohama stadium.

TEHRAN, Dec. 9--Iran’s Greco-Roman wrestlers will participate in three international tournaments ahead of the Asian Wrestling Championship.
“The team will attend the Russian tournament in late January 2009, while we are looking forward to take part in the two events which will take place in Hungary in February. We hope our wrestlers are tested in the tournaments prior to the Asian Wrestling Championship in South Korea,“ Reza Simkhah, Greco-Roman head coach, told Mehr News Agency.
Iran will head for the Hungary tournament with a team of senior and junior wrestlers.
The Asian Greco-Roman Wrestling Championship will be held in South Korea in March 2009.

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Dec. 9--Khosrow Yusefi, Iranian cyclist, carrying the message of peace and friendship arrived here on Sunday.
The cyclist has already traveled to 19 countries during three years to convey Iran’s message to the people of the world, IRNA reported.
He collected the children’s paintings emphasizing on “making a good world for the kids“ and intends to display them in the exhibition to be held in Geneva, Switzerland within the next two years.

Floyd Mayweather Jr. (l) throws a punch at Ricky Hatton of England during their WBC welterweight title fight at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Saturday.

LAS VEGAS, USA, Dec. 9--Floyd Mayweather Jr retained his World Boxing Council welterweight title with a 10th round stoppage of Ricky Hatton on Saturday, the American setting up the win with two knockdowns.
In the biggest match-up of undefeated welterweights since Oscar de la Hoya and Felix Trinidad clashed in 1999, a big left hook from the champion pitched Hatton face first into the ring post and then on to his back in the corner, Reuters said.
The Manchester fighter hauled himself to his feet at the count of nine but Mayweather unleashed a combination of punches to send Hatton sprawling back toward the ropes.
Referee Joe Cortez moved in to stop the contest as Hatton collapsed on to his back again.
“He walked right into it and never saw it coming,“ Mayweather told reporters of the left hook which sent Hatton to the canvas.
“I felt alright,“ Hatton said. “I felt really good and really strong. But I left myself open.“
Hatton began strongly, rocking Mayweather with a left hook in the opening round.
He pressed forward relentlessly for the next several rounds, swarming the American and keeping him pinned against the ropes.

CHICAGO, USA,
Dec. 9--The rampaging Boston Celtics won for the 17th time in 19 games, holding off the Chicago Bulls for a 92-81 road victory on Saturday as Ray Allen overcame a poor shooting night to lead all scorers with 21 points.
Rajon Rondo matched his season high with 18 and Kevin Garnett added 16 points and nine rebounds and rookie Glen “Big Baby“ Davis came off the bench with eight points and 12 rebounds, Reuters wrote.
Allen was just 6-for-16 shooting.
The Bulls made a late run to close to 86-81 in the final minute but the Celtics would not let the game get any closer.
“It was a great game, number one,“ Celtics coach Doc Rivers told reporters. “It was a very competitive game.“
Most of the games the Celtics have played so far this season have not been this competitive.
“We knew it was going to be one of those tough games,“ said Boston’s Paul Pierce.
“The Bulls have been playing very well as of late and we knew coming in here it was going to be difficult because we haven’t beaten them in a while.
“It was one of those grind it out games but we found a way to get it done.“

TEHRAN, Dec. 9--Iran’s under-21 futsal team will play against Russia, Netherlands and Moldavia in Group A in St. Petersburg International Futsal Tournament.
The tournament will be held on December 11-17 in Saint Petersburg, Russia.
“The futsal team has been put in a tough group. Russia and Netherlands are strong teams. We expect to have difficult matches ahead,“ IRNA quoted Ahmad Taheri, futsal technical manager, as saying.
A total of 12 teams will be attending the event in three groups and the top team in each group along with the best second team will qualify for the semifinal round.

BANGALORE, India, Dec. 9--Britain’s Lisa Hall took third place in the inaugural EMAAR-MGF Ladies Masters in Bangalore, three shots behind winner Gwladys Nocera of France.
Nocera led from the first round and held off Virginie Lagoutte-Clement’s final-day challenge to win by a stroke on seven-under par, BBC reported.
Trish Johnson finished tied for sixth place and Laura Davies was joint ninth.
Hall closed with a 69. “I birdied three of the last five holes so that was a nice way to finish,“ she said.
The 2007 Northern Ireland Open and Nykredit Masters winner added: “It was an enjoyable week.
“I didn’t have a three-putt all week and I think I might have been one of the few players who didn’t.“
Nocera, 32, was delighted after sealing her fifth Ladies European Tour victory.
“I feel happy to win and now I want to do it again,“ she said. “I knew it was going to be tough today. I knew Virginie was playing well and I knew she could hit the ball a long way and make a few putts.“

YOKOHAMA, Japan, Dec. 9--Brazilian playmaker Kaka has brushed aside reports that Real Madrid president Ramon Calderon is making a fresh attempt to prise him away from AC Milan.
“Let’s forget it, it’s something that does not concern me,“ the 25-year-old Kaka said about Calderon’s plan to travel to Japan and meet Milan president Silvio Berlusconi and vice-president Adriano Galliani, AFP wrote.
Milan, the European Champions League winners, and Argentina’s Boca Juniors are in Japan to play in the Club World Cup, contested by continental champions.
Calderon was seen likely to convey Real’s refusal to consider selling Sergio Ramos to Milan and try again to convince Galliani to name their price for Kaka, who last week won the prestigious French Ballon d’Or award for the player of the year.
Meanwhile, the Japanese sports daily Sankei Sports reported that Kaka has agreed to continue playing for AC Milan until 2012 with a record-matching annual salary of 13 million dollars.
The sum equals the basic annual salary paid to fellow Brazilian striker Ronaldinho by Spain’s Barcelona, the daily said quoting Milan officials.
The 25-year-old Kaka’s annual salary at present is six million euros, the highest in Italian football, the daily said.

BANGKOK, Thailand, Dec. 9-- Thailand’s Prayad Marksaeng came out top in a nail-biting three-way battle to clinch the golf Volvo Masters of Asia title on Sunday.
According to Reuters, Prayad, who started four strokes adrift of overnight leader Juvic Pagunsan of the Philippines, birdied the tricky 18th to finish on 13-under-par and sealed victory when Pagunsan failed to make par after finding the bunker on the same hole.
Prayad shot a three-under 69 and Pagunsan carded a miserable 75. England’s Chris Rogers fired a four-under 68 to share second.
The win was the first of the season for Prayad and the sixth of his career.

NEW YORK, Dec. 9-- Florida quarterback Tim Tebow became the first underclassman to win the Heisman Trophy on Saturday.
The trophy, which was first awarded in 1935 and is considered the most prestigious in collegiate American football, had only ever been won by seniors and juniors prior to Saturday, Reuters wrote.
The left-handed sophomore led Florida to the national championship as a freshman last season and this year became the first major college player to throw at least 20 touchdown passes and also run for at least 20.
He threw 29 touchdown passes and ran for 22 more.
“It’s an honor to be the first one to accomplish that,“ Tebow told a national television audience.
Arkansas running back Darren McFadden finished runner-up for the second successive year. Hawaii’s Colt Brennan was third, while Missouri’s Chase Daniel finished fourth.
As he took the stage, Tebow embraced 1996 winner Danny Wuerrfel, who also played at Florida and who Tebow considered as a role model.
Tebow thanked his team mates for helping him.
“I’m accepting the trophy in behalf of them,“ he said. “We think of it as a team award.“

KORAT, Thailand, Dec. 9--Vietnam and the Philippines dominated the track-and-field events here Saturday while Singapore and Vietnam reached the semifinals of the SEA Games football competition.
Vietnam and the Philippines shared seven golds between them in a day that saw four Games records fall, AFP wrote.
In the football tournament, Malaysia drew 1-1 with Singapore and Vietnam beat Laos 2-1, meaning Vietnam top group B with six points, followed by Singapore on five.
Vietnam won four golds--both the men’s and women’s 800 meters, the men’s decathlon and the women’s high jump.
The Philippines took the men’s hammer throw, the men’s 3000m steeplechase and the women’s long jump.
In the men’s decathlon, Vietnam’s Van Huyen Vu set a new Games record, scoring a total of 7457 points.
Dinh Cuong Nguyen, who won the men’s 800 meters for Vietnam, was happy with his tactics in the race, biding his time before hitting the front.
In other results, Malaysia took the men’s 4x400m relay gold and Thailand won the women’s race.
The Philippines’ Marestella Torres won the long jump, leaping 6.31m and Vietnam’s Bui Thi Nhung jumped 1.88m to win the women’s high jump. The women’s discus was won by Indonesia’s Dwi Ratanawati, who threw 50.05m.
Bidding for 150 golds, Thailand currently top the table with 43, ahead of Vietnam on 23 and Singapore on 16. The host nation dominated the first day of track and field action Friday, winning six out of nine golds on a day when five Games record were broken.
In their football match with Singapore, Malaysia took the lead through Mohammed Amirulhadi Zainal midway through the second half, but Singapore hit back through substitute Agu Casmir and Malaysia could not force the winner that would have taken them through.

Marion Jones

ATHENS, Greece, Dec. 9--The International Olympic Committee is expected to strip disgraced US sprinter Marion Jones of her medals this week and bar her from future Games.
However, the far trickier task of reallocating her medals may not take place during the December 10-12 IOC executive board meeting, Reuters wrote.
“The reallocation itself may not be decided during this meeting,“ said an IOC official.
Jones, who two months ago admitted to using banned substances before the Sydney 2000 Olympics where she won five medals, including three golds, has already returned the medals and her results were recently annulled by the International Association of Athletics Federations.
She now faces a prison sentence for lying to federal agents.
IOC president Jacques Rogge has said that only clean athletes will get the medals stripped from Jones and that will not be straightforward.
Greek sprinter Katerina Thanou won silver in the 100 meters in Sydney but was at the centre of a drugs scandal in Athens four years later.
Many IOC members have publicly objected to Thanou, who was suspended for two years following the missed test on the eve of the Athens Olympics, getting the Sydney gold.