Football * A consortium of South African businessmen was yesterday reported to be interested in purchasing crisis-ridden Premier League side Newcastle. Newcastle have already been in talks with a group of Nigerian tycoons trying to put together enough funds to meet owner Mike Ashley’s 400 million pound asking price. Now it’s emerged that a second white knight may be on the horizon in the shape of a group of British-based tycoons whose fortune has been made from rescuing and rejuvenating household brands around the world.
Tennis
* Andy Roddick held off a fierce challenge from Israeli underdog Dudi Sela to win the China Open final yesterday to take his third ATP title of the year.
Big-serving Roddick, the second seed at the 524 000-dollar Beijing tournament, overcame 92-ranked Sela, playing in his first ATP final, 6-4, 6-7 (6/8), 6-3.
Rugby
* Former International Rugby Board chairman and international referee Roger Vanderfield has died aged 80, the Australian Rugby Union said yesterday.
Vanderfield was also a past ARU president and was considered one of the architects of the Rugby World Cup, established in 1987, the Union said.
Tennis
* Jo-Wilfried Tsonga stunned Novak Djokovic to win the Thailand Open yesterday and help erase his loss to the Serbian in the final of this year’s Australian Open.
Tsonga, ranked 20 in the world, fell to his knees after the 7-6 (7/4), 6-4 victory against the world number three in only his second tournament back at the top after missing three months from knee surgery.
Athletics
* Ethiopia’s Haile Gebrselassie was delighted to put his recent calf injury behind him to break his own world record yesterday at the Berlin Marathon for the second consecutive year in the German capital. The 35-year-old brushed off a calf injury he suffered in training two weeks ago to come home in a time of 2hrs 03min 59sec. – Nampa-AFP
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