World Sport Briefs

TennisSpanish top seed Rafael Nadal beat France’s world number eight Gilles Simon 6-2, 7-5, 7-5 to reach the Australian Open semi-finals for the second year running yesterday. Nadal broke Simon three times in the first set and survived a set point in the second to go into the Open’s first all-Spanish semi-final with 14th seed Fernando Verdasco.GolfHenrik Stenson is hopeful that familiarity will breed success when the 20th anniversary edition of the Dubai Desert Classic brings the curtain down on the European Tour’s three-leg Gulf swing this week.The big Swede has been resident in Dubai for several years now benefitting from the year-round sunshine and the spectacular growth in golfing facilities and already he has reaped the benefits.He won the region’s premier title in 2007 and was in contention again last year until a closing 74 let him down.CricketBatting legend Javed Miandad quit his post as Pakistan Cricket Board director general Wednesday following disagreements within the crisis-hit governing body of the country’s national sport.’The PCB (Pakistan Cricket Board) wanted to restrict me to domestic affairs and I don’t want any interference in my work. I have therefore resigned,’ Miandad told AFP. His resignation comes just a day after the PCB replaced Shoaib Malik with Younus Khan as captain of the Pakistan team following a humiliating defeat to Sri Lanka that sparked huge criticism in the cricket-mad country.RugbyFiji rugby hero Waisale Serevi, regarded as one of the world greats of sevens rugby, has been sacked as Fiji’s sevens coach just four months into his contract, officials confirmed yesterday.Fiji Rugby Union (FRU) acting chief executive officer Keni Dakuidreketi told a press conference they had difficulty working with the sevens maestro and accused him of not following procedures.’The board reached the decision (to sack Serevi) yesterday afternoon after a lengthy board meeting and it was a unanimous decision and is of immediate effect,’ he said.The FijiLive website said differences over the team selected for the New Zealand round of the IRB Sevens series next week prompted the dismissal.BasketballMo Williams scored a career-high 43 points and LeBron James added a triple-double as the Cleveland Cavaliers defeated the Sacramento Kings 117-110 on Tuesday.Williams, who will learn whether Eastern Conference coaches have selected him as an All-Star reserve prior to tomorrow’s game in Orlando, was 15-of-24 from the field and added eight rebounds and 11 assists.He got plenty of help from James, who completed his triple-double before the third quarter ended and finished with 23 points, 15 rebounds and 11 assists.CricketMahendra Singh Dhoni and Gautam Gambhir cracked half-centuries to upstage Sri Lanka’s Sanath Jayasuriya as India posted a six-wicket win in the opening one-dayer yesterday.Opener Gambhir made 62 and skipper Dhoni an unbeaten 61 to help India achieve the 247-run target with 11 balls to spare for a 1-0 lead in the five-match series.Gambhir set up the win with a 113-run stand for the second wicket with Suresh Raina (54) before Dhoni completed the job with his 26th half-century. Rohit Sharma remained unbeaten with 25.
– All reports by Nampa-AFP