Behzad Khodadad

MADRID, Spain, May 19--Iran is starring at the 9th World University Taekwondo Championship in the Spanish port city of Valencia, bagging two more medals Thursday, IRNA said.
Alireza Nasr-Azadani handed the country the fourth weight gold and his teammate Hamid Sar-Abadani snatched the silver in the fifth weight category.
Iran had already won one gold and one bronze.
On his way to the final showdown, Nasr-Azadani edged past his Italian, Kazakh, and Turkish rivals 2-1, 4-0, and 5-2 respectively.
He grabbed the glittering gold in the extra time of a hard-fought final against South Korea’s representative.
Sar-Abadani whitewashed a Colombian opponent 4-0 before his victories over players from Russia and the host country Spain, finishing runner-up after conceding a 8-5 loss to his powerful rival from South Korea.
Iran eyes more medals as title hopefuls Mohammad Baqeri-Mo’tamed and Mehdi Bibak are to represent the country in the third and sixth weights respectively.
On the opening day, Wednesday, Behzad Khodadad took the first gold for Iran.
Khodadad overcame his rivals from Benin, Thailand, South Korea, and China in the +54 kg competitions.
He took the first step firmly, thrashing Benin’s representative 5-0.
The Iranian, in his second clash, cleared his Thai opponent 3-1 and disposed of South Korea’s player
5-1.
Khodadad celebrated the title with a victory over the Chinese finalist Shu Chun-yang.
Iran also took a bronze medal in the day when Hamed Khamseh ranked third in the +78 kg class.
Khamseh demolished a Russian player 7-1 in their opening match and defeated his Dutch rival in the second round.
He bagged bronze as he was beaten by the Italian semifinalist.
Fifty-six countries have pitted 411 taekwondo players at the prestigious university event, which runs through May 20.
Iran finished runner-up in the previous edition that was held in Greece in 2004.

TEHRAN, May 19--Iran will dispatch the national beach football squad to Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, Saturday to compete at the world qualifying matches.
Under manager Farshad Falahatzadeh, the team makes debut in the world event.
The trainer, who talked to IRNA Friday, said his side like other national teams should be supported by media and officials.
Debutant Iran has been drawn with Japan and the Philippines in Group B while Group A comprises the UAE, China, and Bahrain.
Falahatzadeh added his players trained hard, expressing hope they will make success in the tournament.

Massoud Moradi

TEHRAN, May 19--Massoud Moradi will referee Iran’s League Cup final between Persepolis and Sepahan, announced the Football Federation here Thursday.
According to the federation, the finalists will fight for the title in Thamen ul-A’emmeh Stadium in the northeastern capital Mashhad on May 21, IRNA reported.
Linesmen Heydar Shakour and Davoud Raf’ati will assist former Asian Referee of the Year.
The League Cup winner will represent alongside the fifth Iran Pro League holder Esteqlal of Tehran the country in the AFC Champions League.

Luis Figo

LISBON, Portugal, May 19--A rejuvenated Luis Figo has come out of retirement to lead Portugal’s World Cup campaign in what promises to be an emotional last hurrah for the most prominent member of the “Golden Generation.“
According to AFP, the 33-year-old announced he was taking an indefinite break from international football in August 2004, just one month after he led hosts Portugal to the final of Euro 2004, where they lost 1-0 to Greece.
But Portuguese football chiefs never awarded his number 7 jersey, hoping for his return, and in May 2005 the Inter Milan midfielder came back to the national team in time for World Cup qualifiers against Slovakia and Estonia.
“I’m here to help Portugal win. After a pause it feels like my first day,“ Figo told reporters before the squad 2-0 home win over Slovakia where he was loudly cheered when he stepped on the pitch.
With his return, Figo became Portugal’s most capped player with 118 appearances since 1991 and is their third-highest scorer with 31 goals.
Like many of Portugal’s “golden generation“ who won the world under-16 tournament in 1989 and the world under-19 title in 1991, Figo has won top club honors and has been named both European and World Footballer of the Year.
But success at international level has eluded him and the June 9-July 9 World Cup in Germany is his last chance to win a major title.
At Euro 2004 Portugal coach Luiz Felipe Scolari regularly substituted Figo but is delighted to have him back.
“He’s a great player and a great leader. He still has a lot to give, not only on the pitch,“ Scolari said shortly after Figo returned to the squad.

Indian cricket captain Rahul Dravid (r) slides a shot past West Indies wicketkeeper Carlton Baugh Jr during the first One Day International between India and the West Indies at Sabina Park in Kingston, Jamaica, Thursday. (AFP Photo)

KINGSTON, Jamaica, May 19--India captain Rahul Dravid cracked 105 off 102 balls to lead his team to a thrilling five-wicket victory in the rain-hit first one-dayer against West Indies on Thursday, Reuters reported.
Dravid scored his 12th one-day hundred and shared in a 123-run fourth wicket partnership with Mohammad Kaif, who struck the winning boundary with one ball to spare to finish unbeaten on 66 after being dropped twice.
India reached 254 for five in 44.5 overs chasing the hosts’ total of 251 for six. West Indies were put into bat in a game reduced to 45 overs-a-side after rain delayed the start.
India extended their world record for most consecutive one-day international victories chasing a target to 17.
West Indies opener Chris Gayle stroked 123 studded with 18 fours and two sixes, dominating India’s largely inexperienced pace attack in the morning.
The Jamaican left-hander mixed caution with brute power on a Sabina Park pitch affording early seam movement, adding 87 runs for the first wicket with Runako Morton (23) and 82 with captain Brian Lara (35) for the third.
“It was too tense for the heart,“ said Dravid, who was named man of the match.
Left-arm seamer Irfan Pathan got India off a poor start to their tour, bowling three wides and two no balls in his 11-ball first over which cost 14 runs.
Gayle and Morton were cruising at more than seven runs an over until the experienced Ajit Agarkar, included as a fourth seamer, had the latter caught behind.
Agarkar (two for 38) and off-spinner Harbhajan Singh (one for 34) bowled tightly to leave their team chasing 5.6 runs an over.
Dravid said his team had been prepared for a tough fight against a struggling West Indies.

TEHRAN, May 19--Iran will compete at the World Under-17 Boxing Championships in Turkey, reported the federation here Friday.
Thirty boxers, who started their training last week, will clash in the qualifiers at Shahid Shiroudi Sports Complex, IRNA said.
According to the federation, the qualifying bouts will kick off Saturday.
The world event will begin on August 3.
Manager Gholam-Reza Karimi and coaches Ebrahim Ebadi and Asghar Sharafi are to accompany the team.

LONDON, May 19--Thierry Henry has decided to stay at Arsenal and is expected to sign a new four-year contract with the north London football club on Friday, Reuters quoted Britain’s Sun newspaper as saying.
“I hope to stay as long as I can keep running,“ the tabloid quoted the club’s 28-year-old captain as saying.
“I could not face leaving the fans,“ he said. “They are like my family.“
“My team showed me I didn’t have to leave, they showed me they had heart,“ Henry continued. “I hope to finalize all the details today.“
The announcement is likely to give the club’s dejected fans a glimmer of hope following their side’s defeat in the Champions League final on Wednesday.
There had been much speculation that, after Arsenal’s 2-1 defeat by Barcelona in Paris, their captain would accept a transfer to the Spanish giants worth a reported 35 million pounds (52 million euros, $66 million).
Henry broke the Gunners’ all-time goal-scoring record this season, getting 214 goals in 341 matches--35 of them in the 70 Champions League matches he played.
He was also crowned best scorer in the English Championship this year, shooting 27 balls into the net. It was the fourth time he had won that accolade, after 2002, 2004 and 2005.
The French forward has been selected 76 times to play for his home team, for whom he has scored 31 goals, and was part of the French team that won the 1998 World Cup.
He will play for France in the World Cup finals which starts in Germany on June 9.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said after Wednesday’s debacle he hoped Henry would stay in north London in order to lead out the Gunners’ promising young team at their new 60,000-seat stadium at Ashburton Grove.

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico, May 19--Unless the United States team of National Basketball Association stars wins at August’s World Championship in Japan, their road to the 2008 Beijing Olympics will be through Venezuela.
FIBA Americas on Thursday selected Venezuela as the host nation for next year’s Tournament of the Americas, the basketball qualifying tournament for North and South American countries for the Beijing Summer Olympics, AFP said.
NBA scoring champion Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers, Cleveland star LeBron James, Miami guard Dwyane Wade and Denver’s Carmelo Anthony are among the NBA players who have made three-year commitments to the US team.
The Americans, trying to bounce back from a disappointing bronze-medal showing at the Athens Olympics, open training camp at Las Vegas in July for the World Championships. Only the champion will qualify for the Beijing Olympics.
If the Americans, whose most recent world title came in Canada in 1994, fail to win in Japan, they will have to battle against nine rivals from North and South America in Venezuela in August of 2007.
Reigning Olympic champion Argentina joined the US team and host Puerto Rico in qualifying for Athens from the 2003 tournament here.
FIBA Americas officials selected Venezuela over Chile and boosted the hopes of South American Basketball Confederation president Jose Carmelo Cortez that the nation will win bidding for the 2014 worlds after Turkey hosts in 2010.
“This is the beginning of a dream, as we’ll be fighting to host the 2014 World Championship,“ Cortez said. “We have an obligation to show Venezuela is a country with the ability to organize this kind of event.

RIGA, Latvia, May 19--Titleholders the Czech Republic scored a dramatic 4-3 victory over Russia and Finland blanked Belarus 3-0 to reach the world championship semifinals on Thursday, Reuters reported.
Zbynek Irgl scored at 7:58 of the 10-minute sudden-death extra period to clinch the win for the Czechs, who will meet Finland in Saturday’s semifinal.
Canada will take on Olympic champions Sweden in the second semifinal after both nations booked their places in the last four on Wednesday.
Irgl got a nice feed from Czech captain David Vyborny before evading two defensemen and beating Russia goalie Maxim Sokolov with a neat stickhandling move to knock previously unbeaten Russia out of the tournament.
“I got a really nice pass from David, then I tried to fool the goalie by going to my backhand and after he went down I just finished the move by putting the puck into the net,“ said Irgl.
The Czechs looked on their way to victory in regulation time until Alexei Mikhnov leveled the score for Russia with just 65 seconds left to send the game into extra time.
Mikhnov slipped in a rebound from close range following Vitaly Atyushov’s shot from the point.
“I must admit we were a bit lucky to score that goal,“ said Russia coach Vladimir Krikunov.
“But it didn’t matter in the end. We paid the price for missing so many clear chances early in the game,“ added Krikunov before confirming that he was quitting his job.
“This was my last game as Russia coach. We had a very young team here and hopefully the players would learn from their mistakes. I still believe Russian hockey has a great future.“

BEIJING, May 19--Media will have the same freedom they have enjoyed in other Olympic host cities when they cover the Beijing Games in 2008 but will have to respect Chinese law, the head of the IOC’s inspection team said on Thursday.
The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) this week called on the International Olympic Committee to address the “Chinese government’s continuing crackdown on the media“ with the authorities during this week’s inspection visit.
Hein Verbruggen, whose IOC coordination commission has just concluded its inspection, said chief Beijing organizer Liu Qi--a member of the governing politburo--had last year reaffirmed China’s commitment to allow journalists to work freely.
“It’s a very important part of our discussions, a very important subject because the media is the largest group of people we’re going to have here,“ he told Reuters.
“Including the technical people, it’s going to be more than 20,000 people, double the number of athletes.
“We’ve demanded this by the host city contract; the media have to be able to work as they have at other Olympic Games.“
Verbruggen added that just as in the United States and his native Netherlands, there was no escaping obedience to local laws for reporters.
“In this country there are laws and they have to be respected,“ he said. “That is something we have to accept and everybody has to accept.
“As long as the media behaves in the normal way, then I’m sure there will be no problems ... If it’s in the law, then it is in the law.“