Phone Calls Threats To Haider’s Family

Pakistan Wicket Keeper’s family is under threats after he said that he will expose the person who takes money. In his message on Face Book he said that he will unveil the name of person who takes money and so fixings. He left Pakistan in Dubai and fly to UK and also applied for asylum.

His family is in Pakistan and he was insisting them to leave Pakistan based on threats given to him. His family was insisting to stay in Pakistan as they are on right. Zulekernain’s family report police that they are receiving threat calls.

Aqeel Haider brother of wicketkeeper said that they received threatening phone calls in which caller intimate them to be ready to bear consequences after Zulkernain exposes the name. They received three phone calls from different numbers and one of them was from Greece.

The caller was talking in Urdu. The threats come after Zulkernain wrote in his Face Book that he will expose all who take money and who didn’t take money. While talking to his family he said that he will open all in media and he has concrete evidence of all he said. He is also in contact with ICC and ICC assured him full protection. He has also announced retirement from cricket after threats.

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Squad for NZ Series to Be Announced today

Squad for New Zealand cricket series would be announced on Tuesday (today) while the training camp would commence on Dec 8 in Lahore.
The players who are likely to be placed in the 19-member team are: Misbah-ul-Haq, Tanveer Ahmed, Umar Gul, Abdul Rehman, Saeed Ajmal, Shoaib Akhtar, Umar Akmal, Adnan Akmal, Younus Khan, Asad Sahfique, Tofeeq Umar, Muhammad Hafeez, Shahzeb Hassan, Abdul Razzaq, Shahid Afridi, Shoaib Malik and Muhammad Yousuf. Kamran Akmal could have been dropped from the team

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Daryl Tuffey Return Home After Injury

New Zealand fast bowler Daryl Tuffey is having bicep strain and he is going back home as he is not able to continue the series. 2nd ODI between India and New Zealand will start tomorrow. Fast bowler gets injury in the first ODI against India.

Mark Greatbatch, New Zealand’s coach and selector has confirmed that he is injured and will not able to continue the series and is going back home. He added that proper attention is required to him as he can bowl but feel problem while throwing so better treatment will be provided to him back home.

Mark Greatbatch said that team is ready to respond well to India as they will try to make positive come back. In the first ODI V Kholi’s century was the difference and lack of consistency in NZ middle order was all a big factor in the defeat. He added that Dan and Brendon will play next match and they will try hard to get the win for NZ. NZ lost series from Bangladesh and against India they lost 1st encounter.

The final team will be announced before the match and both teams will try to win the contest. G Gambhir is ready to take his men out against Vetorry’s men

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India Vs New Zealand Live Streaming, New Zealand Sets 259 Runs Target To India

India won the toss in the 2nd ODI against NZ and they decided to field first. NZ lost their opener early in the inning but MJ Guptill played well and scored 70 runs. SB Styris played 59 runs inning and his half century also provide stability to the New Zealand’s total. New Zealand played 50 over and scored 258 runs.

After losing 8 wickets New Zealand able to set 259 runs target to India. India having won the first match is now looking to win the 2nd match. S Sreesanth was the most successful bowler as he took four wickets. MM Patel, R Ashwin and YK Pathan got 1 wicket each.

Bowling was good for India as and they took 4 wickets in the last 5 over. 39 runs were scored in the final five over of the inning. India opened the chase well and both openers are going to get win for India. 12 over has been bowled by New Zealand and they went for 59 runs. 200 runs required by India in 38 over with all wickets in hand. Gambhir is not out on 44 and he faced 39 balls. M Vijay is on 15 runs. The chase is going on and Indian team must have due factor in mind too.

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Zimbabwe Won First Match Against Bangladesh

First ODI between Zimbabwe and Bangladesh was played at Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur. It was an important opening matches fro both teams. Bangladesh elected to field first after winning the toss. Zimbabwe opened the inning well and scores 53 runs in 10 over. RW Chakabva scored 45 runs and he remained the top score for Zimbabwe team.

CR Ervine scored 41 runs in the middle of the inning which helped Zimbabwe in reaching 209 runs. The tail of Zimbabwe collapsed again and they all got out in 49 over. Bangladesh got 210 runs target in 50 over. Bangladesh came to this series after getting series win from New Zealand side. Abdur Razzak took 4 wickets and he shacked the middle bating order of Zimbabwe.

Bangladesh chase was not up to the mark as the lost 5 wickets before 100 runs. Shakib Al Hasan scored 61 runs and remained the top score. No other batsmen could able to rescue Bangladesh. It was proud moment for Zimbabwe team when they got Bangladesh all out on 200 runs. CB Mpofu took 3 wickets for Zimbabwe and his hard work brought victory to his team. This was very close contest as if Bangladesh had wickets in hand then they could chase the target.

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No UDRS in South Africa Vs India Series

Gerald Majola, chief executive of Cricket South Africa confirmed that there will beno umpire decision review system will be used in South Africa in the series against India. He also said that Indian team is also not willing to use it.

Many players’ wants to have this review system in the series as it can help to rectify some wrong decisions of the umpires. South Africa’s AB de Villiers also has shown his disappointment on not adopting the review system in the series. He said that this system can prove helpful in making right some wrong decisions of umpires. He added that UDRS is very important technology and it should be used in all king of crickets and should declare compulsory in cricket.

UDRS has been used in Australia, South Africa, England, New Zealand and West Indies. Players and different captain favor this system. In 2008, in the series of India Vs Sri Lanka India was not able to get any benefit from review system and that was the only time they use this technology. Sri Lanka got 11 reviews in their favor. In the home series against NZ, Indian captain hesitate to use this technology. They have a point of view that standing umpires will be the best judgers

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Pakistan Announced Squad For New Zealand’s Tour

Pakistan has announced squad for T-20 and test match for the New Zealand’s tour.Shahid Afridi is still Pakistan limited over captain while Misbah ul Haq will be the test team captain. The team was announced by chief selector Mohsin Hasan Khan.

Twenty20 squad includes Shahid Afridi , Mohammad Hafeez, Ahmed Shahzad, Younis Khan, Umar Akmal, Fawad Alam, Adnan Akmal (wk), Saeed Ajmal, Abdur Rehman, Abdul Razzaq, Umar Gul, Shoaib Akhtar, Tanvir Ahmed, Sohail Tanvir and Wahab Riaz.

Test squad includes Misbah-ul-Haq , Mohammad Hafeez, Taufeeq Umar, Younis Khan, Azhar Ali, Asad Shafiq, Umar Akmal, Adnan Akmal (wk), Saeed Ajmal, Abdur Rehman, Umar Gul, Tanvir Ahmed, Sohail Tanvir and Wahab Riaz.

Kamran Akmal is not able to find his place in the team despite of clearance from ICC and scored double century in the domestic cricket. Spinner Danish Keneria is also not selected. Shoaib Malik is out from Pakistan team since England’s tour and he also failed to get selection in Pakistan team. Muhammad Yousaf is also not selected and Wahab Riaz will be along with the team depends upon his fitness.

Pakistan is schedule to play three T-20, two test and six ODI matches in New Zealand. The series will start from 23rd December.

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India Vs New Zealand 2nd ODI Result

India has won the 2nd ODI against New Zealand by 8 wickets. India won the toss and elected to bowl first and Indian bowlers responded to their new captain’s call and they took early wicket of JM How. New Zealand batsmen played well and they scored 258 runs in their 50 over. The wicket was batting paradise and it was accessed that New Zealand should have score more runs on the batting track.

India opened the chase with full batting strength side and they opened the inning well. Openers provided them 87 runs start and the start helped Indian captain in scoring century and he went on playing good shots and eventually completed his century. V Kholi also played well and scored half century before he got out on 64 runs.

Gotham Gambhir played well and scored 138 runs on 116 balls. He hit 18 fours in his inning and remained not out on 138 runs. Indian team achieved the target in 43 over. India lost only 2 wickets and it was 8 wickets win for the Indian team. Previously 0S Sreesanth bowled well from Indian side and he took 4 wickets and helped India in restricting NZ team to 258 runs.

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Malik And Kamran Questioned PCB

After the team announcement yesterday for New Zealand series wicket keeper Kamran Akmal and Shoaib Malik questioned PCB for not selecting them in team. Both players are important for Pakistan and dropping them from New Zealand series gives indication that they might be droped from world cup squad too.

Kamran Akmal said that it was shocking for him as he forward the email received from ICC which clearly states that he is clear for selection in Pakistan team. He added that he was issued with notices from ICC in which they asked for world cup matches and after investigation his name was cleared and PCB should tell him why he was not selected for the New Zealand tour.

Shoaib Malik former Pakistan captain is also not selected in any squad. He also said that he don’t know why his name is not conceder in Pakistan squad. He added that PCB has asked him to play domestic and enhances his performance and he played domestic crickets and also performed well but don’t know why he is not selected.

Kamran said that Mazhe Majeed was his marketing manager but he didn’t involve in any wrong doing. He also denied his links in helping Mazher Majeed in spot fixing. He performed well in domestic and scored double century but still not conceder in Pakistan team.

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PCB committee submits report on Haider

1st Dec, 2010 14:44:08 PM

Top Stories Strauss wants to remain focused Aussies mix up Cook, Anderson Pakistan overlook Yousuf, Malik and Kamran Balanced team in current situation, says Sallu Test, T20 squads for New Zealand tour: Malik, Kamran and Yousuf face shock omission Spot-fixing scandal: Mazhar Majeed reveals four more names Zulqarnain’s family receives ‘threats’ PCB starts inquiry against employees Yousuf leaves domestic side after fallout with Rana Naved India beat NZ in first ODI KARACHI: Pakistani officials submitted a report Monday into former wicket-keeper Zulqarnain Haider`s dramatic escape to London, abandoning his team ahead of a match with South Africa, the cricket board said. The 24-year-old fled the team hotel in Dubai on the morning of the fifth and final one-day against South Africa on November 8, claiming he received death threats from unknown people to influence the results of matches. After flying into London, Haider retired from international cricket and sought asylum in Britain. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) terminated his contract and formed a three-man committee, headed by team manager Intikhab Alam, to establish the facts surrounding Haider`s disappearance. The committee finalised and submitted its report to the PCB, the PCB said, declining to make any further comment Monday. Team security manager Khawaja Najam and PCB official Subhan Ahmed were the other two members of the committee. On Sunday, Haider posted a message on Facebook, threatening to name several players in the next five days who took money to fix matches. His family in Pakistan`s eastern city of Lahore have told local media that they received death threats. The International Cricket Council (ICC) said its anti-corruption staff met Haider in London and offered support to the former wicket-keeper. Haider faces severe punishment for violating ICC ethics by not telling the council he was asked to influence match results for money. PCB chairman Ijaz Butt says the Board`s decision on the Haider affair will be based on the committee`s report. Several former players criticised Haider for merely trying to get political asylum in Britain. End.

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Federer and Roddick reach Miami Masters quarters

Swiss world number one Roger Federer and American fourth seed Andy Roddick safely negotiated fourth round matches at the Miami Masters Series event on Tuesday.

Federer cruised past unseeded Russian Dmitry Tursunov 6-3 6-3 in only 58 minutes, but former world number one Roddick needed 93 minutes to oust German qualifier Simon Greul 6-3 3-6 6-2.

Federer will next face American James Blake, who defeated Argentina's Juan Ignacio Chela 4-6 6-1 6-0.

It is a repeat of the Masters Series final in Indian Wells last Sunday, won by Federer.

Tursunov, 23, had never faced Federer before but learned quickly why the "Federer Express" is the defending champion and won January's Australian Open.

Federer won his 45th consecutive match in the United States and 21st Masters match in a row.

"I always feel like it's more difficult to play somebody you haven't played," Federer said. "We also haven't practiced, so you never get to know where he serves on big points and stuff like this.

"But I feel I did very well. He's a very dangerous player and I really had to play a solid game, and I thought I did, so I'm pleased."

Roddick, who fired nine aces and won 86 percent of his first-serve points, qualifies for a quarterfinal against Spain's David Ferrer, who eliminated Belgian Olivier Rochus 6-7 7-6 7-5

Roddick, who has reached only one semifinal in a disappointing year, took the first set in 29 minutes, promptly lost the second, but dominated the decider, breaking Greul in the second game on his way to victory.

"If I would have let it go a little further in the third set, he would have had a lot of momentum and it would have been tough for me," Roddick said.

Greul had earlier ousted Thailand's Paradorn Srichaphan, Slovakia's Dominik Hrbaty and Britain's Tim Henman, who blitzed the 25-year-old from Stuttgart in the first set only to drop the last two.

Two Croatians also won fourth-round matches. Sixth seed Ivan Ljubicic defeated Belgian Christophe Rochus 6-3 6-1 and Mario Ancic eliminated Russian fifth seed Nikolay Davydenko 7-5 6-4.

Third-seeded David Nalbandian of Argentina will face Ancic after beating Czech Radek Stepanek. Argentina's Agustin Calleri will play Ljubicic after downing Nicolas Kiefer of Germany 3-6 6-3 7-5.

In the WTA event at the same venue, women's world number one Amelie Mauresmo of France dispatched fifth-seeded Russian Nadia Petrova 6-, 6-1 to book a semifinal date with Russia's Svetlana Kuznetsova.

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David Beckham suffers from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

Real Madrid soccer star David Beckham has admitted, during a short interview with the British channel ITV, that he suffers from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. This condition drives him to carry out odd rituals such as putting items in exactly the right spot or persistently organizing things.

"I've got this obsessive compulsive disorder where I have to have everything in a straight line or everything has to be in pairs. I'll put my Pepsi cans in the fridge and if there's one too many I'll put it in another cupboard somewhere. I'll go into a hotel room, but before I can relax I have to move all the leaflets and books and put them in a drawer. Everything has to be perfect."

In the ITV interview, partially published in the Sunday Mirror, he says although he has kept the condition secret from his Real Madrid teammates, it was common knowledge among the players at Manchester United.

Beckham told how Paul Scholes, Nicky Butt, Ryan Giggs and Gary and Phil Neville would tease him by messing up his clothes and magazines when staying in hotels.

I thought they were just coming in for a chat, but then they'd go out and I'm thinking 'something's different here'. And then all the magazines would be all wonky. They'd have been in my wardrobe and all my trousers and my shoes would be all over the place.

Even his wife, Victoria, is giving him a hard time about this behaviour. She calls me a weirdo, he said.

OCD is listed by the World Health Organisation as one of the ten most debilitating illnesses in existence. Other stars known to be living with the condition include Billy Bob Thornton and Alec Baldwin.

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Reid shares lead in Korea

Melissa Reid retained a share of the lead at the Korean Ladies Masters after the 23-year-old carded a second-round 69.

Starting the day in an eight-way tie at the top of the leaderboard, Reid took control with three birdies in her first four holes at Haevichi Country Club and was two shots clear at the turn after draining a 40-foot birdie putt on the ninth.

However, she three-putted for bogey on the 13th and was then reeled in by Yang.

“I played quite well on the front nine and hit a few shots pretty close. Then the back nine was a little bit slow so I lost a bit of momentum,” said Reid.

“I haven’t played great the last couple of weeks so I’m not really expecting anything but I did a great couple of days’ work coming into this event and I guess things have fallen into place. My swing wasn’t feeling right last week at all and I figured it out a bit too late.”

Yang, meanwhile, returned a five-under-par 67 built on a blistering start that saw the Korean pick up four birdies in her opening six holes.

Bogeys at the 10th and 12th sandwiched a birdie at the 11th before Yang collected two more birdies to share the lead going into the final round in Jeju.

“Today I hit pretty good putts and iron shots,” she said.

“Everything was good, especially the front nine which was very nice, but on the back nine I struggled. But somehow I coped, I am satisfied with the round.”

Three Koreans – Seo Kyung-hee, Jo Ran-Young and Moon Soo-young – are tied for third on three-under following rounds of 69, 70 and 71 respectively while eight players lie joint-sixth on two under par.

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CWG Closing Ceremony Live-2010

WG Closing Ceremony Live-2010 | CWG Delhi Closing Ceremony Live Telecast

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The bitter-sweet final countdown of the Delhi Games, which finally ended up delighting many despite the early scandalous hurdles, has officially begun.

The sporting event, which began with a bang with an electrifying opening ceremony on Oct 3, will culminate with what is expected to be an even bigger and better closing ceremony.

CWG Closing Ceremony Live-2010

The ceremony, scheduled to begin at 7 pm, promises to a spectacle that no one can afford to miss with a 30 minute light and sound show, cultural and marshal arts programmes, and the awaited performance of 2010 children singing ‘Vande Mataram’ to culminate the 2010 multi-discipline sporting event.

Delhi’s celebration will reach a crescendo at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium on Thursday as the XIXCommonwealth Games flag comes down to begin its journey to Glasgow for the next meet in 2014.

The 2-hour-15-minute show featuring 7,000 performers from all over the country, who trained hard for 25 days, will spread the message of universal love as the athletes from participating nations and territories march out as a one big family after 11 days of exhilarating action.

“The closing ceremony is divided into five broad segments starting with Agni that will showcase all the martial arts that originated in India.

Next on stage, enthralling the capacity crowd of 60,000 lucky spectators and millions around the globe, will be the Military Martial music, a segment which will remind the Delhiites of the ‘Beating the Retreat’ after the Republic Day celebrations. It will be followed by the ‘Tribute to the Motherland’

Tickets for the closing ceremony of the Commonwealth Games were sold out Tuesday night – nearly 48 hours before the actual event Oct 14, an official at the ticketing helpline said.

CWG closing ceremony tickets sold out

“The tickets in the Rs.750 bracket were sold out quite a long time back. After that, the ones in the Rs.4,000 category were also sold out. Until Tuesday morning, there were only eight tickets available in the Rs.20,000 bracket and around 240 in the Rs.50,000 bracket,” the manager said.

“But last (Tuesday) night everything was sold out,” he added.

The closing ceremony, to be held at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium Thursday, promises to be a spectacular celebration of song and dance with a colourful laser show.

The helpline manager further said that after the great success of the opening ceremony of the Games, they have been bombarded with enquiries about tickets for the closing ceremony.

Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa will be the chief guest at the event.

The sale and availability of the Games tickets have been mired in controversy from the beginning. Spectators have often been told that the tickets have been sold out while the venues remained half-empty.

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Pakistan sends 15 member hockey squad to Asian Games

Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) selection committee on Wednesday announced a 16-member hockey squad for the Asian Games scheduled on November 12-27 in the Chinese city of Guangzhou.

PHF selection committee, headed by former Olympian Hanif Khan, had also recalled penalty corner specialist and world-record holder hockey star Sohail Abbas in the national squad for this month’s Asian Games. Zeeshan Ashraf, full-back, will lead the outfit as captain while Muhammad Imran will be his assistant, according to PHF officials.

Goal keeper Salman Akbar has also been included in the team.

Pakistani hockey team is aiming at winning the Asian Games gold medal after ending in a disappointing sixth position in last month’s Commonwealth Games and in the last position in the World Cup held earlier this yearin New Delhi of India.

Pakistan, once a motivating force in field hockey, has failed to win any medals since the World Cup in 1994 and the only gold medal it won at the Asian Games came in the 1990 when the Asian Games was held in China.

In the last Asian Games in Doha, Pakistan lost to China in the semifinals competing for the bronze medal.

Abbas, a 35-year-old player who holds the world record for most goals with 306, had quit international hockey matches in 2004, but members of PHF selection committee have pinned hopes on him in a bid to boost Pakistan’s hockey fortunes.

Because of the importance of the Asian Games, PHF selection committee had once again decided to use senior players like Sohail Abbas, Waseem Ahmad, Zeeshan Ashraf and Salman Akbar.

“Obviously we are hoping they will deliver the results for us in the Asian Games and if we do manage to win the gold medal it will guarantee us a direct spot in the 2012 Olympics in London,” said Chief of PHF selection committee Hanif.

The men’s hockey event of the Asian Games will take place from Nov 15 to 25. The ten participating teams have been divided into two pools. Pool “A” consists of South Korea, China, Malaysia, Singapore and Oman while Group “B” comprises Pakistan, India, Japan, Bangladesh and Hong Kong (China).

The Green-Shirts (referring to the Pakistani hockey team) will play its first match against Hong Kong on November 17, the second against Japan on 18, the third against India on 20, and the last against Bangladesh on 21.

Classification matches and semifinals will be played on 23 while position matches and final match will be played on Nov 25.

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Barcelona vs Real Madrid Live Stream Online | Barcelona vs Real Madrid | Spain La Liga | Live soccer Streaming

Barcelona vs Real Madrid Live Stream Online: You can Watch Barcelona vs Real Madrid live free stream online Here. A great match in Spain La Liga will played on 29 November between Barcelona vs Real Madrid. Both Teams Barcelona vs Real Madrid are strong and enough good in ground so there is a expected a good match in Barcelona vs Real Madrid.

Barcelona vs Real Madrid Live Stream Online

Barcelona vs Real Madrid Live Stream

03:00PM US/Eastern, November 29, 2010
Live from Camp Nou, Barcelona (Barcelona)
Spain La Liga

Barcelona are a great team. Lionel Messi, Xavi, Pedro… they were all phenomenal the other day. In fact, Barcelona are enormously competitive as a team. They’ve got quality players who can make the difference.
Real Madrid is growing more and more dependent on Cristiano Ronaldo as Argentine striker Gonzalo Higuain struggles to reach last year’s level. Angel Di Maria and Mesut Ozil, on the other hand, have shown to be perfectly capable of leading the attack. Real Madrid is a radically different squad this year.

Barcelona vs Real Madrid Live Stream is presented here when match start and all match is showed here Totally free live Stream and also live score card, you can watch whole Barcelona vs Real Madrid Live Stream Online on your PC on this page easily.

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World No. 1 Nadal beaten by Melzer in Shanghai | Tennis Updates

Rafael Nadal failed to reach a quarterfinal for the first time this year after a shock defeat by Jurgen Melzer in the third round of the Shanghai Masters on Thursday.

World No. 1 Nadal beaten by Melzer

The No. 1-ranked Nadal had never dropped a set to the Austrian in three previous meetings but went down 6-1, 3-6, 6-3. The Spaniard had most recently beaten Melzer in the semifinals of the French Open this year on his way to the title.

Nadal won the U.S. Open in September to become the seventh man in history to win all four Grand Slam tournaments and was bidding for his eighth title of the season in Shanghai.

He won the Japan Open title on Sunday before traveling to Shanghai and said his busy schedulecontributed to the loss.

“This isn’t a surprise for me. I didn’t play well, “said Nadal. “I felt slow on court and I made more mistakes than usual. In general, I am a little bit more tired than usual, physically and mentally.

“You can’t expect to win every week. All the good work is done for me for the year.”

Melzer played aggressively from the start, hitting booming forehand winners and attacking Nadal’s secondserve to break the Spaniard twice and capture the opening set in 40 minutes.

“I felt he was uncomfortable after a few games,” Melzer said. “When the ball was in play, he sometimes missed and his backhand was just dying in the net. I felt if I kept playing like that and not give him too much rhythm, I’d have my chance.”

Nadal stormed back in the second set, getting his first—and only—break of the match with a running backhand down the line that the Austrian dumped into the net.

The two players held serve in the deciding set until the fifth game when Nadal badly shanked a forehand long and hit another one wide to give Melzer his third break of the match. The Spaniard saved three match points on his serve, but Melzer easily put the match away on his next serve.

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Rafael Nadal & Roger Federer set for ATP London final

Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer will meet in a potential blockbuster of a final between the world's two best players at the ATP World Tour Finals on Sunday.

Spaniard Nadal will attempt to win the year-end crown for the first time while Switzerland's Federer will be going for his fifth title when the pair meet at 1730 GMT.

It will be the 22nd meeting between two players already well established among the greatest the sport has ever produced, and their first in London since Nadal's epic Wimbledon victory in 2008.

"It's the same city, a few miles away," Federer said. "But honestly, I don't even think about that for one second preparing for Sunday's match. It's more of a broad approach thinking back over what has happened the last few months in my game."

606: DEBATE I'm a fed fan but I don't think he can do it. I see a lot of unforced errors from the great man Castor_Troy

Nadal and Federer's dominance is such that they have shared an incredible 21 of the last 23 Grand Slam titles, with the 29-year-old Swiss having won a record 16 major titles and the Spaniard, five years his junior, closing fast on nine.

Nadal has enjoyed an incredible year in which he picked up the French Open, Wimbledon and US Open titles, with the victory in New York completing his Grand Slam set, and another win on Sunday would bring him the last remaining significant title missing from his CV.

Federer has had a relatively ordinary season by his own extremely lofty standards but won the Australian Open in January and remains second in the world rankings.

And both men have been in tremendous form in London, Federer making the final without dropping a set and Nadal going unbeaten through the group stages after failing to win a single set on his O2 debut in 2009.

Playing indoors has always proved the biggest challenge for Nadal and, although he holds a commanding 14-7 lead against Federer overall, the Swiss has won both their previous matches under cover.

"The surface is not too slow, it's not too quick," Nadal added. "But here, when you play against the best players in the world, they are more specialists than me in these kinds of surfaces.

"I said before the tournament that here you don't have a big chance to defend if you are not playing very well, by playing higher balls to try and find a solution. The only way here is to play aggressive. You can play defensive for moments but you have to come back to the attack."

Murray falls to Nadal in final set tie-break

Nadal certainly proved he has made the necessary adjustments in his three-hour win over Murray on Saturday, and the Spaniard admitted that he was feeling the affects of that effort.

"I don't know what's going to happen tomorrow, how I'm going to feel," Nadal stated. "You can imagine, right now I am very tired. That's the truth."

Federer might have a losing record against Nadal but he expects to be as excited as the 17,500 spectators inside the O2 Arena for Sunday's final.

"I'm really looking forward to playing against Rafa," Federer said. "Who wouldn't? I'm no different.

"What he's achieved is amazing at his age, to win the career Grand Slam, and he already has three in a row again on another great streak. He's obviously a wonderful player, he's proven himself he can play on any surface. The ones who still call him a clay-court expert, they still don't know much about tennis."

The pair have met just once this year, with Nadal winning on clay in Madrid, and Federer knows he must take advantage of the indoor conditions on Sunday.

"We haven't played in a long time," Federer continued. "I'll try to take it to him, play aggressive, attack his second serve, see how it goes."

And when asked whether he expected Nadal to suffer physically after his lengthy semi-final, Federer responded: "I don't think it's going to have much effect on him, to be honest. He's been done a few hours now, he might be tucked up in bed already while I'm still doing my press conference here.

"That's his advantage, that he played early."

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The Blues went ahead in the sixth minute when Nicolas Anelka finished after Florent Malouda showed good strength in the area, and they were all but ho

Headteachers will launch a national revolt today against plans to cut school sport as Michael Gove comes under intense pressure from inside and outside government to rethink his plans.

Sixty headteachers from across England have expressed their outrage at his decision to end the entire £162m budget for School Sport Partnerships (SSPs) in a hard-hitting letter to the Observer.

Their intervention comes as the head of the Canadian Olympic Committee also raises his concerns in a letter to Gove, arguing that with the 2012 London games approaching, it was vital that the SSPs should be kept in place.

The heads, many in charge of specialist sports colleges, which use the funds to provide coaches and expert help to other schools in their areas, decided to act after the Observer highlighted the effects of the cuts last weekend.

They describe Gove's move as "an ignorant, destructive and (even in terms of coalition policy) a contradictory and self-defeating decision. It is entirely unjustified educationally, professionally, logistically and in terms of personal health and community wellbeing."

They say the national network of 450 SSPs "is the most universal, long-term, community-centred and sustainable that we could have devised; in microcosm, it is the 'big society' in action".

They add: "To lose the School Sport Partnerships would be disastrous both locally and nationally ."

The letter will be a huge embarrassment to Gove, who has said he no longer thinks funding is justified because the scheme is too bureaucratic and does not deliver results. Instead he says he will leave it to headteachers to decide what sport to provide.

The education secretary claims that only one in five state schoolchildren takes part in competitive sport against other schools, but heads say this misses the point. The number of children doing sport in their own schools or in clubs has increased hugely thanks to the SSPs.

One headteacher, Liz Prior, from Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic primary school in Rottingdean, East Sussex, writes: "I plead with you on behalf of my school community to help us do something about the threat to the School Sport Partnership from the present coalition government.

"The SSP has literally changed our lives here in our small primary school over the last six years… we have never had the resources or expertise to offer our children the quality and diverse sporting opportunities both in school and in the local community that the SSP has brought."

Yesterday in a speech to Labour's national policy forum, Ed Miliband said that Gove's decision to cut funding for school sport displayed an "arrogance" that had to be challenged.

David Cameron is known to be concerned about the uproar and has been lobbied by heads in his own Oxfordshire constituency. A series of ministerial meetings have been convened to try to find a solution that will allow Gove to maintain the SSP network.

Gove has said he wants the £162m for SSPs replaced by a Schools Olympics with a budget of £10m, details of which have yet to be announced. The culture, media and sport secretary, Jeremy Hunt, the deputy prime minister, Nick Clegg, and the health secretary, Andrew Lansley, have all raised serious doubts about Gove's approach. The issue will be debated in the Commons on Tuesday.

Andy Burnham, the shadow education secretary, said: "With over 90% of children taking part in at least two hours per week, we have seen a school sport revolution, delivered through collective local action, often by volunteers. It's the big society in action before David Cameron even thought up the phrase."

Baroness Campbell of Loughborough, chairman of the independentYouth Sport Trust, which devised the SSP idea and was not consulted by Gove over his plan, said last night: "The School Sport Partnerships have been a wonderful example of secondary and primary school collaboration. Headteachers have been central to driving whole-school improvement using high-quality physical education and sport as the catalyst."

Gove's difficulties mounted as it emerged that Jean Dupré, secretary general of the Canadian Olympic Committee, wrote to him expressing "great regret" at the decision. He said: "As London 2012 fast approaches I sincerely hope a suitable solution can be achieved in keeping the SSPs in place."

Gove's office refused to comment on suggestions from teachers and others that he had never visited a school running an SSP.

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