Spanish duo upset Bryan brothers in London finale

American duo Bob and Mike Bryan`s incredible year ended in disappointment when they were beaten by Spain`s Fernando Verdasco and David Marrero in the ATP Tour Finals doubles final on Monday.

Verdasco and Marrero, the sixth seeds, upset the favourites 7-5 6-7(3) 10-7 as the title went to a Spanish pair for the second successive year following the triumph of Marcel Granollers and Mark Lopez 12 months ago.

The Californian Bryan twins were looking to win their 12th title of 2013 and surpass the 11 they won in 2007 and 2010, but the world`s top-ranked pair were edged out in a match tiebreak.

They did at least end the year at No. 1 for a ninth time in 11 seasons having won the first three majors of 2013 before their "calendar" grand slam hopes ended at the U.S. Open where they lost in the semi-finals.

5th ODI: South Africa Beat Pakistan By 115 Runs, Win Series 4-1

Pakistan was defeated by South Africa in fifth One-day International to give the Proteas 4-1 lead in the five match series here on Wednesday.

De Villiers scored 115 from 102 balls with ten boundaries and three sixes, his 15th one-day hundred, to lift South Africa to an imperious 268-7 before bowling Pakistan out for 151 in 35.3 overs.

Sohaib Maqsood top-scored with a solid 53 but otherwise Pakistan failed to capitalise on a weakened South African bowling attack, with spearheads Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel, and spinner Imran Tahir rested for the meaningless match as the series had already been decided.

Pakistan captain Misbah-ul Haq rued another batting failure.

Pakistan were 8-2 with Ahmed Shehzad (two) and Mohammad Hafeez (six) by the fifth over, once again highlighting their top-order failure in the series.

It was Maqsood, who hit 56 on his debut in Abu Dhabi on Friday, who gave some consolation to another lackluster batting effort with a 63-ball half-century before he became one of two victims for Jean-Paul Duminy, who finished with 2-14. Wayne Parnell finished with 3-36.

Umar Akmal made 30 while Misbah managed 18. Shahid Afridi (nine) and Umar Amin (five) failed once more as South Africa took the last six wickets for a mere 41 runs.

South Africa won the toss and batted on a slow Sharjah stadium pitch.

De Villiers lifted the tempo in the final overs, hitting Sohail Tanvir's final over for 25 runs, reaching his hundred with a four towards mid-wicket, which came off 99 balls. He then hit the left-armer for six, four and four to help South Africa add 114 in the last ten overs.

At 105 he also completed 6,000 one-day runs, becoming the fifth South African batsmen to reach the milestone. Jacques Kallis (11,469), Herschelle Gibbs (8094), Graeme Smith (6976) and Gary Kirsten (6798) were others to score 6,000 or more one-day runs for South Africa.

De Villiers was initially slow, reaching his fifty off 70 balls, with a big six off Saeed Ajmal towards mid-wicket. He added an invaluable 83 for the sixth wicket with Ryan McLaren (27) before lashing out in the final overs.

De Villiers had built the innings with an invaluable 62-run stand for the fourth wicket with Faf du Plessis, who made an 89-ball 46 with the help of two boundaries.

Quinton de Kock (34) added 50 with Du Plessis after Hashim Amla fell in the first over of the innings for three. Ajmal finished with 3-45 while Khan took 2-57.

South Africa won the first match by one run in Sharjah before Pakistan levelled the series with a 66-run win in Dubai. South Africa then won both the matches in Abu Dhabi by 68 and 28 runs respectively.

Website selling tickets for Tendulkar’s farewell Test crashes

The website selling tickets for Sachin Tendulkar’s farewell Test here that starts from Thursday crashed few minutes after the start of the sale on Monday.

KyaZoonga.Com is the Official Ticketing Partner of Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) for the second Test between India and West Indies, the 200th and final Test of batting legend Tendulkar.

Commenting on the occasion, PV Shetty and Nitin Dalal, joint secretaries of MCA said: "In keeping with MCA`s tradition of making access to international cricket as easy, safe and democratic as possible, we have made tickets available online.”

"On this historic occasion of the final Test match of our local cricket legend and global icon Sachin Tendulkar, we`re thrilled to appoint KyaZoonga in this crucial role, given their impressive ticketing track record, world class ticketing services and previous experience with cricket ticketing in the Indian subcontinent.”

"Their service delivery over the last several matches including the ICC CWC 2011 hosted by Mumbai make them the natural choice to deliver our objectives to fans. We look forward to a full house," the MCA said in a statement.

Neetu Bhatia, chairman and CEO of KyaZoonga.Com added: "We are incredibly proud and excited to be continuing our long-standing partnership with MCA in ticketing all their hosted matches, especially as it prepares to host the final Test of the local hero Sachin Tendulkar."

The prices of the tickets are Rs 500, Rs 1000 and Rs 2500. Only two tickets per person can be booked online. 

Pakistan wins Asian Champions Trophy

Defending champion, Pakistan, on Sunday retained its title defeating host Japan by a margin of two goals in the final match of the third Asian Champions Trophy field hockey tournament being played in Japan's Kakamighara city.

The Japanese team took an aggressive start scoring one goal to take the lead in the first half.

Pakistan replied with a comeback in the second half scoring three goals before the 66th minute.

The green-shirts had remained unbeaten in the tournament defeating Omman, Malaysia, China and India in the group stage matches.

The previous match played between Pakistan and Japan, during the group stages, had ended in a 1-1 draw.

Malaysia secured the third position in the tournament.

World Chess Championship

In the much hyped match, Viswanathan Anand and Magnus Carlsen shared points after their first round game ended in a draw on Saturday.

Anand who was playing with black pieces drew the first game with Carlsen who hails from Norway.

The competition between the two class players is believed to be the most high-profile clash in chess history in more than 40 years. 

The experts have been comparing the tournament with the historic clash between Bobby Fischer and Boris Spassky in 1972. The two players took on each other in the opening game at the Hyatt Regency Hotel. In total, 12 games will be played between the duo in a tournament that will end on November 28.

Anand, who has won World Championship matches in 2000, 2007, 2008, 2010 and 2012, is used to open with black pieces in World Championship matches.

Michael Clarke has dismissed the idea of retiring

Australian captain Michael Clarke has dismissed the idea of being driven into retirement by a degenerative back problem and believes he could play three more Ashes series over the next five years.

Clarke will start his sixth Ashes series on Nov. 21, but with the back problem certain to return at some point and his captaincy the subject of a media debate, there has been speculation he might soon call time on his test career.

“I won't be retiring, not for a long time,” the 32-year-old told Sydney's Daily Telegraph.

“I feel as fit and healthy as I've been for a long time and my love and drive to have success and be a part of this Australian team and New South Wales team is as strong as ever.

“As long as I'm performing, I think I've got a good four or five years left in me.”

There has been little wrong with his performances with the bat in the two years since Clarke took up the captaincy.

Although his record against England (1,746 runs at an average of 46 per innings) does not quite match up to his overall stats (7,656 runs at 52), Australian cricket fans will be delighted their best batsman is going nowhere.

Another five years would take Clarke through the 2015 tour of England as well as the 2017-18 series Down Under and to an age close to that of his predecessor Ricky Ponting when the Tasmanian retired.

“My love of the game is stronger than it has ever been. The older you get, the more you experience the highs and lows,” Clarke said.

“It makes you enjoy the good times and enjoy the wins, and also realise that when you're not winning hard work will turn that around.

After losing the last Ashes played in Australia 3-1 in 2010-11 and going down 3-0 in England just a few months ago, Clarke's team are in the rare position of going into a home series as underdogs.

Roger Federer fightback to reach the semi-finals of the ATP World Tour

Roger Federer staged a superb fightback to reach the semi-finals of the ATP World Tour Finals with a 4-6, 7-6 (7/2), 7-5 victory over Juan Martin del Potro on Saturday.

Federer had only once failed to reach the last four in 11 previous appearances at the season-ending event and he recovered from a set and a break down, and then 3-0 down in the final set, to subdue the Argentine fourth seed and maintain his impressive record.

The six-time Tour Finals champion qualified in second place in Group B behind defending champion Novak Djokovic and will face world number one Rafael Nadal in Sunday's semi-finals at London's O2 Arena.

“A lot of coming from behind, trying to get back into the match, and it was amazing that I was able to pull it off,” Federer said.

“I could never play free flowing tennis. I fought hard, maybe got a bit lucky at times.”

After a disappointing year saw his ranking tumble to seventh in the world, Federer remains in with a chance of finishing the season on a high with a fourth successive appearance in the final of the Tour Finals.

“I don't get a day off, I've got to back it up and be ready to go again tomorrow,” Federer added ahead of the 32nd instalment of his epic rivalry with Nadal.

“I'll try to make his life a bit difficult.”

Federer, a 17-time Grand Slam winner, had beaten del Potro in the quarter-finals of the Paris Masters last week, one of 14 victories in 19 previous meetings with the Argentine.

But del Potro got the better of the Swiss great in the Basel final last month and famously beat him in the 2009 US Open final.

Del Potro earned three break points in Federer's opening service game and converted the third when the 32-year-old drove a forehand wide.

Del Potro broke again for a 4-1 lead when Federer blew a 40-0 advantage before tamely netting with a forehand from the baseline on break point.

Federer managed to get one of the breaks back and reduced the gap to 4-5, but it wasn't enough as del Potro held his nerve, staving off two more break points before to closing out the set.

It was Del Potro who remained on top at the start of the second set and he broke for a 3-1 lead after Federer drove a lacklustre backhand into the net.

But Federer then sprang to life, earning three break points in the sixth game and taking the first of them thanks to a del Potro double-fault.

That came in the midst of run of 12 successive points for Federer as the momentum swung toward the Swiss, who levelled the match with a dominant display in the tie-break.

Federer made a sluggish start to the decider and once more del Potro capitalised, breaking en route to a 3-0 lead.

But remarkably del Potro again couldn't hold on as Federer roared back with a break in the fifth game and then landed another to move 6-5 ahead.