PSG favourites
PARIS - Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) are the overwhelming favourites to win a first French soccer crown since 1994 after narrowly missing out on the Ligue 1 title last season. The bottomless pockets of the French capital club have allowed them to build one of the strongest squads seen in Ligue 1, at a time when the rest of the country has been busy tightening their belts. There have been five different champions in the past five seasons and few would bet against PSG making it six in six after a summer spending spree.
Rain mars Test
LEEDS - South African opening batsmen Graeme Smith and Jacques Rudolph resisted some hostile bowling yesterday before a second rain stoppage on the fourth day of the second Test against England at Headingley. Only an hour of play was possible between lunch and tea as South Africa 0-39 - a lead of 33 at stumps. There had been an earlier stoppage of two hours, which included the lunch break. England wicketkeeper Matt Prior earlier gave his team a six-run first innings lead with a fluent innings of 68 off 89 balls.
Bradley wins
AKRON - Jim Furyk has handed the World Golf Championship Bridgestone Invitational to Keegan Bradley after a disastrous double bogey on the final hole. Having led the first three rounds, Furyk appeared to be cruising to victory for most of the day only to make a mess of the 72nd hole, allowing Bradley to take a one-stroke win. Playing in the final group with Furyk, Bradley made a clutch up and down from a buried lie in a greenside bunker, holing a putt from almost 16 feet to finish at 13-under-par 267, while the leader produced his calamitous finish.
Vettori in doubt
WELLINGTON - New Zealand captain Ross Taylor says spinner Daniel Vettori is unlikely to recover from injury in time for the Black Caps' upcoming two-Test series in India. Vettori picked up a groin injury in New Zealand's nine-wicket loss to the West Indies in the first Test and missed the second Test. The Windies cruised to a five-wicket win over the Black Caps early on the fourth day at Sabina Park in Kingston yesterday for their first Test series win over New Zealand in 16 years.
Pilley eyes Open
SYDNEY - Two-time runner-up Cameron Pilley is full of confidence heading into next week's Australian Open squash championships in Canberra. Pilley has been training the house down during an off-season spent at his European base at The Hague in the Netherlands. The 29-year-old has been working alongside Dutch No.1 LJ Anjema and fellow Australian Steve Finitsis and said he was feeling in top shape ahead of his national championship.
Blown away
SYDNEY - Veteran winger Matt King admits he's been blown away by South Sydney's strength in depth and compared the mood around the camp to what he experienced during his time at Melbourne. A hard-fought 22-18 win, the team's sixth in succession, over an in-form Gold Coast on Sunday virtually assured the Rabbitohs a top-four finish and a first NRL finals appearance in five seasons. King, who spent five years at Melbourne and appeared in two grand finals, revealed Souths' coach Michael Maguire has forbidden his players from talking about playing in the finals.