International Sport Mirza shocks Chinese star Li

DOHA – Indian favourite Sania Mirza stunned Chinese top seed Li Na with a 6-2, 6-2 victory on Tuesday to secure her place in the Asian Games women’s singles tennis final.

Li, the top seed and highest ranked player here at 21 in the world, seemed rattled by the large, cheering Indian crowd and never had a grip on the match. World number 66 Mirza said she kept expecting Li to come powering back.”I kept thinking she is 21 in the world so she can definitely come back here at any second.But I just tried to do what I knew I had to do,” she said.Curbishley keen for West Ham job LONDON – Alan Curbishley has said he would be delighted to take over as West Ham coach following the sacking of Alan Pardew.Curbishley, who has been biding time since he stood down as manager of Charlton in the summer to take a break from football, is believed to be the Hammers’ first-choice replacement.He has already been installed as the bookmakers’ favourite to take over at the club he previously played for and Curbishley is keen to talk to West Ham’s new chairman Eggert Magnusson.”I’d love to know what they want to say – of course I’m interested,” he told the Daily Express.Don’t muck with the Duck, Inter warn TOKYO – South American champions Internacional yesterday warned the media to stay away from teen prodigy Alexandre ‘The Duck’ Pato at the Club World Cup.The 17-year-old, hailed as the next big thing in Brazilian football, has been kept under tight wraps here and coach Abel Braga urged the press not to put him under pressure.”He’s got the ability and he answers in a positive way every time we ask him to do something,” said Braga.”But it’s not good to put all the pressure on him.We don’t want him to have all the responsibility.”We’re a team.He’s very important but he’s just 17 years old at the moment.”Interest from foreign clubs, including Arsenal, prompted Inter to give him a new three-year contract at five times his previous wages and to insert a 20 million dollar buy-out penalty.Ponting disappointed by Martyn PERTH – Australian captain Ricky Ponting yesterday admitted to being disappointed by the timing of veteran batsman Damien Martyn’s shock retirement from international cricket.Martyn stunned the entire cricket community, not least his Australian team-mates, when he quit the game on the eve of the third Ashes Test.He did so on the morning he was to be announced in the squad for the match, his home Test.Speaking as his side prepared for the third Test, Ponting said he would have liked for Martyn to at least play a farewell Test at home.”When I sat back and digested that he had retired, I thought why didn’t he give it one more week,” Ponting said.Sprinter debunks myth on track DOHA – In an age when Muslim women come under increasing scrutiny for wearing head-covering scarves, Bahrain’s Ruqaya al-Ghasara has proved that a hijab is no hindrance to sprinting round a running track.Ghasara, who won bronze in the 100m on Saturday after a false start, made sure of gold in Monday’s Asian Games 200m, producing a gutsy final 10 metres to clinch the race in 23.19sec.The crowd at the Al-Khalifa Stadium roared with approval at Ghasara’s final lunge for the line, her head rocking from side-to-side and shoulders rolling as she gave every ounce of her 65kg frame to win the race.Nampa-AFPWorld number 66 Mirza said she kept expecting Li to come powering back.”I kept thinking she is 21 in the world so she can definitely come back here at any second.But I just tried to do what I knew I had to do,” she said.Curbishley keen for West Ham job LONDON – Alan Curbishley has said he would be delighted to take over as West Ham coach following the sacking of Alan Pardew.Curbishley, who has been biding time since he stood down as manager of Charlton in the summer to take a break from football, is believed to be the Hammers’ first-choice replacement.He has already been installed as the bookmakers’ favourite to take over at the club he previously played for and Curbishley is keen to talk to West Ham’s new chairman Eggert Magnusson.”I’d love to know what they want to say – of course I’m interested,” he told the Daily Express.Don’t muck with the Duck, Inter warn TOKYO – South American champions Internacional yesterday warned the media to stay away from teen prodigy Alexandre ‘The Duck’ Pato at the Club World Cup.The 17-year-old, hailed as the next big thing in Brazilian football, has been kept under tight wraps here and coach Abel Braga urged the press not to put him under pressure.”He’s got the ability and he answers in a positive way every time we ask him to do something,” said Braga.”But it’s not good to put all the pressure on him.We don’t want him to have all the responsibility.”We’re a team.He’s very important but he’s just 17 years old at the moment.”Interest from foreign clubs, including Arsenal, prompted Inter to give him a new three-year contract at five times his previous wages and to insert a 20 million dollar buy-out penalty.Ponting disappointed by Martyn PERTH – Australian captain Ricky Ponting yesterday admitted to being disappointed by the timing of veteran batsman Damien Martyn’s shock retirement from international cricket.Martyn stunned the entire cricket community, not least his Australian team-mates, when he quit the game on the eve of the third Ashes Test.He did so on the morning he was to be announced in the squad for the match, his home Test.Speaking as his side prepared for the third Test, Ponting said he would have liked for Martyn to at least play a farewell Test at home.”When I sat back and digested that he had retired, I thought why didn’t he give it one more week,” Ponting said.Sprinter debunks myth on track DOHA – In an age when Muslim women come under increasing scrutiny for wearing head-covering scarves, Bahrain’s Ruqaya al-Ghasara has proved that a hijab is no hindrance to sprinting round a running track.Ghasara, who won bronze in the 100m on Saturday after a false start, made sure of gold in Monday’s Asian Games 200m, producing a gutsy final 10 metres to clinch the race in 23.19sec.The crowd at the Al-Khalifa Stadium roared with approval at Ghasara’s final lunge for the line, her head rocking from side-to-side and shoulders rolling as she gave every ounce of her 65kg frame to win the race.Nampa-AFP