TEHRAN, Dec. 26--Tehran will host the four-team boxing tournament in mid-January.
Iran, Turkey, Armenia and Tajikistan will attend the tourney that starts from January 13, IRNA reported.
Iranian boxers are preparing for Thailand’s King Cup and the competition will be a preparatory match.
The Thai event is also recognized as a qualifying match for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. Morteza Sepahvand has already earned an Olympic berth in the 64-kg class during the Chicago tournament in November.

TEHRAN, Dec. 26--The third volleyball preparatory camp will be held with 20 players in January.
The team is set to participate in the 2008 Beijing qualifiers, Mehr News Agency reported.
The three-day preparatory camp will start from January 4 at Tehran’s Azadi Sports Complex.
Zoran Gaji?, Iran’s volleyball head coach, will travel to Iran a day before the camp starts work. He will be accompanied by Hossein Ma’dani, Steel Azin’s head coach.

MASHHAD, Khorasan Razavi, Dec. 26--Qazvin won the Blind Chess Championship held in Mashhad on Wednesday.
According to IRNA, Qazvin’s Blind Chess Team chalked up 19 points ahead of Khorasan Razavi with 16.5 points and Isfahan with 15.5 points respectively.
Thirty-nine players from seven provinces, namely Khorasan Razavi, Qazvin, Gilan, Hormuzgan, Isfahan, Golestan and Qom, attended the seven-round Swiss-style tournament.

TEHRAN, Dec. 26--Iran’s Wushu Federation has invited 25 countries for the First International Wushu Championship named ’Pars Cup’.
According to IRNA, the three-day tournament will kick off in Tehran’s
Shahid Shiroudi Sports Stadium on February 21.
Two domestic wushu teams, namely South Pars and Refah Chain Stores, will represent Iran.
Several outstanding wushu artists are expected to attend.

LONDON, Dec. 26--Brazilian club Flamengo have said that AC Milan have allowed them to start negotiating with striker Ronaldo over a possible move, La Gazzetta dello Sport newspaper reported.
“Flamengo have received Milan’s authorization to negotiate with Ronaldo.
“We have already had contacts with the player and we are certain that he can revive himself here,“ the newspaper quoted Flamengo vice-president Kleber Leite as saying.
“We have not spoken about money yet and about how much we will have to give his current club but in the meantime we have had a useful exchange of ideas because we have perceived that Ronaldo has an enormous desire to change the course of his life and the interest is mutual.

Manuel Almunia

LONDON, Dec. 26--Spanish goalkeeper Manuel Almunia has refused to rule out switching his national colors to England.
The 30-year-old Arsenal keeper was born in Pamplona but is yet to receive a call from Spain’s national team boss Luis Aragones, and in a year he will qualify for England, AFP wrote.
One of the first tasks for new England coach Fabio Capello will be to solve his own goalkeeping conundrum with Paul Robinson and Scott Carson having committed expensive errors during the doomed Euro 2008 qualifying campaign.
Almunia is currently the in-form goalkeeper in the Premier League after his penalty save in the 2-1 win over Tottenham at the weekend, but Capello will have to wait another year to pick him.
“I will study my situation,“ said Almunia.
“Spain have never called me. And, if other people want me, I have to study my situation and take a decision because it is good for me, I will not close myself to anything.
“I would be very pleased to take a decision that would make me happy and my family happy.
“I always say I have to wait until that moment to see what is happening at that moment, or which goalkeeper England has, or which goalkeeper Spain has - look at the situation and take a decision.“
Almunia admitted it would be a tough decision to turn his back on his country.
“But that’s football,“ he said. “It would be a big decision but I wouldn’t care if I had two days to take it.“

BANGALORE, India, Dec. 26--Anil Kumble took five wickets as India fought back in the final session to restrict Australia to 337-9 on the opening day of the series in Melbourne.
According to Skysports, Matthew Hayden’s 28th Test century looked to have set the platform for a formidable total from the hosts before India claimed six wickets after tea to put the match back in balance.
Ricky Ponting opted to bat after winning the toss on the occasion of the 100th Test to be held at the MCG - despite a green pitch, it appeared a sound decision as Hayden and Jaques rode their luck to bat throughout the morning.
Kumble finally made his side’s first breakthrough during the afternoon when he had Jaques stumped for 66 after enticing the left-hander out of his crease with a googly.
Ponting (4) lasted just 13 deliveries before having his off-stump uprooted by a beauty from Zaheer Khan, and in the next over Michael Hussey (2) fell lbw to another Kumble googly to reduce Australia to 165-3.
Michael Clarke joined Hayden in a 60-run, fourth-wicket partnership either side of tea.

LEEDS, UK, Dec. 26--New Leeds coach Brian McClennan is keen to finally see his players in action for the first time in the Boxing Day friendly against Wakefield.
According to BBC, McClennan, who replaced England coach Tony Smith, will lead the Super League champions into their first match since october’s Grand Final.
“I am excited to see what we have been working on in training being put together on the field,“ said McClennan.
Warrington play Leigh and Castleford face Featherstone in the other action.
McClennan has a tough act to follow at Headingley, with Smith going out on a high after a remarkable 33-6 demolition of St Helens in the Grand Final.
But the Kiwi, who led New Zealand to victory in the 2005 Tri-Nations, said his focus was on getting the basics right against Wakefield.
“We have been preparing for this match for a number of weeks now,“ he said.
“I have had a good look at everyone in the squad during training but it is the performance that we all like best-watching the guys carry through what they have been doing on the training field out onto the pitch.
“That is the exciting part as a coach, to see how the team interacts and I am sure that is what all the fans are looking forward to seeing as well.“
McClennan has opted to rest the Leeds players involved in the Test series between Great Britain and New Zealand, but he has still named six of the title-winning squad in his line-up.
Wingers Scott Donald and Lee Smith will play out of position, at full-back and center respectively, while forwards Matt Diskin, Ryan Bailey, Carl Ablett and Ian Kirke all start.
Wakefield include five of their seven close-season recruits, including ex-Hull and Castleford half-back Danny Brough and veteran full-back Paul Reilly.

BARCELONA, Spain, Dec. 26--Barcelona midfielder Deco has no doubts that Cristiano Ronaldo will become the best player in the world.
According to Skysports, Deco is a Portuguese international team-mate of Ronaldo and is convinced that the Manchester United winger has the ability to reach the very top.
Ronaldo finished second in the European Footballer of the Year awards and third in the World Player presentations, with both titles going to Milan star Kaka.
However, Deco feels that the publicity the Brazilian received prior to the ceremonies was a key factor behind him picking up the awards, and that if Ronaldo had been given an equal amount of press attention then the results may well have been different.
“Cristiano Ronaldo will soon be the best player in the world,“ Deco told O Jogo.
“This year the role of the media was decisive for Kaka.
“I have experienced how the media can alter decisions in 2004 when I finished runner-up to Andrei Shevchenko.
“I am convinced that if I had been at Barcelona at that time then I would have won the award.
“Manchester United is a big club, but the clubs in Spain and Italy work the promotional aspects very well.
These are the things which influence the prizes.
“(Lionel) Messi is a fantastic player but after the year that Cristiano had I do not understand how he came third and not second.
“Cristiano and Messi are both quality and they will be fighting for the prizes over the next few years.
“I believe that Cristiano will not be too upset at missing out, because he knows that he will be No.1 in time.“

Lee McConnell

GLASGOW, UK, Dec. 26--Commonwealth Games bronze medalist Lee McConnell has been forced to quit the 400m hurdles but has set her sights on Olympic glory on the flat.
The 29-year-old Scot returns to her old event following specialist medical advice received after recurring back and hamstring problems.
“It was a traumatic decision for me,“ McConnell told The Herald.
“Can I win the Olympic title? I think I have as good a chance as anyone. It comes down to one race on one day.“
McConnell, who was part of Britain’s bronze medal-winning relay team at the World Championships in September, topped the country’s 400m rankings in 2002 and 2003 before her switch to hurdles.
But she now finds herself behind World Championship gold and silver medalists Christine Ohuruogu and Nicola Sanders in her battle to be one of three Britons selected for next year in Beijing.
“Seeing them win these medals actually gives me more confidence,“ said the Scot. “If they can do it, so can I.
“I know there’s only one spot up for grabs. I’d better make sure it’s mine.“

Arsene Wenger

LONDON, Dec. 26--Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger says he ’completely agrees’ with Sol Campbell’s opinion that verbal abuse of players and managers is a growing problem in the game.
Portsmouth defender Campbell, Sunderland manager Roy Keane and Pompey boss Harry Redknapp have all recently voiced their concerns at the treatment players and managers receive from supporters.
And Wenger has now hit out at the behavior of some fans, slamming their lack of respect.
“Sol has a big point,“ Wenger said in The Independent. “Why should we not be respected just because we are on the pitch? I agree completely with him.
“Most of it is abusive but why do people get away with it? I personally, I think I have a long and heavy experience of it [verbal abuse].
“Because they are in the mass of people. Sometimes the best [thing to do] is to film them and show the DVD to their family at home. That is the way to deal with it.“

Los Angeles Lakers Kobe Bryant goes up to score against the Phoenix Suns during their NBA basketball game in Los Angeles, December 25.

LOS ANGELES,
Dec. 26--The surging Los Angeles Lakers scored a 122-115 win over the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday, with Kobe Bryant knocking down 38 points and Andrew Bynum adding a career-high 28.
The victory was the third in a row for the Lakers and their ninth in their last 11 games. They moved to within one game of first-place Phoenix in the Pacific division. “We are aware of the standings, but we also know that last year we were 10 games over .500 and moving along--then injuries slayed the dragon, so to speak,“ Lakers coach Phil Jackson told reporters. “We just have to play every game and not think about anything else, just what’s ahead of us.“
Bryant, who on Sunday became the youngest player to reach 20,000 points, scored 26 of his 38 in the second half to help the Lakers improve to 18-10, Reuters said.
“I think we are a solid team,“ said Bryant, who also had seven assists and five rebounds.
“When you play against Phoenix, you have to be solid. You can afford a couple of mistakes here and there but ultimately your defensive execution has to be there, and your offensive execution has to be there. We’re able to get it done consistently.“