Bradley takes lead with new course mark

ROME: World number one Novak Djokovic crashed out of the Rome Masters at the hands of big-serving Tomas Berdych yesterday while Maria Sharapova withdrew from the women's event through illness.

MANCHESTER, UK: Alex Ferguson says the fire to win is still burning ahead of his last ever game as manager of Manchester United against West Bromwich Albion this weekend.

DUBLIN: Iconic English fly-half Jonny Wilkinson will seek to add a continental crown to his honours when his Toulon club take on French rivals Clermont in the European Cup rugby final today.

OAKLAND, California: Slow at the start of the series and strong at the end, the San Antonio Spurs beat the Golden State Warriors 94-82 on Thursday to clinch a 4-2 victory and progress to the NBA Western Conference finals.

The Bahrain Olympic Committee (BOC) will today launch its strategy for the next electoral cycle 2013/2017 and reveal its all-new brand during a gala ceremony at the Bahrain Disabled Sports Federation Gym at Isa Town Sports City.

A CALL to increase the total allocated budget for the GCC Sports Committees was made following the 77th meeting of the Executive Office of GCC National Olympic Committees' presidents at the Ritz Carlton yesterday.

LONDON: Arsenal have made no approach for Manchester United's Wayne Rooney but are in "advanced talks" with French side Auxerre to sign 20-year-old striker Yaya Sanogo, manager Arsene Wenger said yesterday.

BERLIN: With two Bundesliga clubs in the Champions League final, Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund supporters are clamouring to get to London for the Wembley showdown on May 25 with England's capital set to be painted black, red and gold for the weekend.

PARIS: Retiring David Beckham will feature in Ligue 1 champions Paris St Germain's match at home to Stade Brest today, coach Carlo Ancelotti said yesterday.

LONDON: The Football Association (FA) is to introduce a minimum five-match ban next season for players found guilty of racially abusing an opponent.

HYDERABAD: Already under fire over spot-fixing controversy, Rajasthan Royals faced another embarrassment last night as they lost their last IPL encounter against Sunrisers Hyderabad by 23 runs to stay third in points table.

ISA TOWN last night booked the sixth and final berth to this year's playoffs in the Zain Bahrain Basketball League.

SYDNEY: Australian fast bowler Shaun Tait has strongly denied any link to the arrest of three Indian teammates allegedly involved in spot-fixing during an Indian domestic Twenty20 cricket tournament.

LONDON: Ross Taylor's fluent 66 lifted New Zealand to 153 for four in reply to England's 232 on a fluctuating second day of the first Test at Lord's yesterday.

LONDON: Premier League club Stoke have launched an internal investigation into reports of a dressing room prank featuring a bloody pig's head and a smashed car windscreen.

TOP seed Khalifa Rashdan marched on to the quarter-finals of the men's singles division in the 27th GPIC Open Tennis Championship, being played at Bahrain Tennis Club in Juffair.

PARIS: Reigning champion Ding Ning of China cruised into the quarter-finals of the World Table Tennis Championships in Paris yesterday with a whitewash of South Korea's Park Seonghye.

SITRA were last night crowned champions of the Bahrain Second Division Football League.