Real Madrid's Ruud Van Nistelrooy celebrates after scoring against Zaragoza during a Spanish league football match at the La Romareda Stadium in Zaragoza on Saturday.

MADRID, Spain,
June 10--David Beckham’s hopes of finishing his Real Madrid career with a Spanish league title remain alive after an extraordinary Saturday in La Liga, reported AFP.
With two minutes left Barcelona led Espanyol 2-1 at the Nou Camp and Real trailed 2-1 at Real Zaragoza.
But Ruud van Nistelrooy’s second equalizer of the game, his 33rd goal of the season, secured Real a 2-2 draw.
Then Espanyol equalized in the final minute at Barcelona to leave Real still on top going into the final round.
Sevilla, who were held 0-0 at Mallorca, also remain in title contention but trail Real and Barca by two points.
The two leaders have the same points tally but Real, despite an inferior goal difference, are ahead because of their superior head-to-head record.
Victory in their final match at home to Mallorca next Sunday will see Real clinch their first title in four years, while Barcelona travel to relegated Gimnastic and Sevilla host Villarreal.
Beckham, who started the game despite the ankle injury he suffered on England duty against Estonia, appeared to aggravate the problem and required treatment on the pitch at one point.
But he continued to the end despite enduring a frustrating game until Van Nistelrooy’s late intervention.
Real went behind after half an hour when defender Ivan Helguera impeded Pablo Aimar to concede a penalty which Diego Milito tucked away.
Van Nistelrooy was denied by Zaragoza keeper Cesar Sanchez just before the interval as Real trailed 1-0 at half-time, but the Dutchman equalized with a precise downward header after 56 minutes.
It was the former Manchester United striker’s 14th goal in his last 14 games, equaling Real legend Hugo Sanchez’s record of scoring in seven consecutive matches in the process.
Madrid appeared to be heading for defeat when Milito, set up by Aimar, cooly slotted home his second after 63 minutes. But Van Nistelrooy’s predatory instincts, forcing the ball home with two minutes left for his 10th goal in his last seven games, secured Real a point.
One more goal against Mallorca next Sunday would give the Dutchman a share of the Golden Boot, awarded to Europe’s most prolific domestic goalscorer, with Roma’s Francesco Totti.

PARIS, June 10--Justine Henin claimed her third consecutive French Open title and her fourth overall Saturday, taking advantage of 19-year-old Ana Ivanovic’s shaky play to win 6-1, 6-2, said AP.
Henin closed out the victory with a forehand volley winner, then flipped her racket, buried her head in her hands, leaned on the net and exhaled.
“It’s surreal to win for the third time in a row,“ the Belgian said. “I am struggling to take it in.“ She became the first woman since Monica Seles in 1990-92 to win three consecutive Roland Garros titles, and only the second since 1937.
Ivanovic, a Serb playing in her first Grand Slam final, started well before her play deteriorated. The first sign of trouble came when she awkwardly hit a serve 10 feet long, prompting groans from the crowd. She double-faulted to fall behind 3-1, and the unforced errors came in flurries after that.
“I started getting nervous,“ Ivanovic said. “I couldn’t control the serve, and she used that well.“ Ivanovic committed 26 unforced errors to 13 for Henin and also double-faulted five times.
On Sunday, top-ranked Roger Federer will bid for the only Grand Slam championship to elude him when he plays Rafael Nadal, who will try to become the first man since Bjorn Borg in 1978-81 to win three consecutive French Open titles.
Federer is seeking his fourth consecutive major title, something last accomplished by Rod Laver in 1969. The women’s final was tight at the start. Henin trailed in each of the first four games, which took 24 minutes, but won 18 of the next 22 points.
Pumping her fist after nearly every point she won, Henin kept up the pressure in the second set with a vast repertoire that ranged from delicate backhands to overhead smashes.
During the final changeover she opened an envelope and pulled out a note bearing the word ’Allez’--French for ’Let’s go’.
Then she finished the job. Ivanovic shanked consecutive shots during one rally to fall behind 30-0, and Henin closed out the victory two points later.
Henin has won all four of her French Open finals in straight sets, never losing more than eight games. She has reached the final of the past five majors she has played, but she missed this year’s Australian Open because she was separating from her husband.

MANAMA, Bahrain, June 10--Rashid Jamal doubled up as Al Najma beat Al Hala 2-0 to retain the King’s Cup here on Saturday.
According to AFC, Jamal scored his two goals in the space of 10 minutes (80th and 90th) to inspire Al Najma to the title for the fourth time.
The first goal materialised when Al Hala goalkeeper Salah Salman fluffed his lines by misjudging a long ball which was duly headed in by Jamal. The 29-year-old striker cemented Al Najma’s position in the final minute from the spot.

GLASGOW, UK,
June 10--China has won the Sudirman Cup five times and it is difficult to look beyond the reigning champions delivering again when the tenth staging of the world team championship takes places in Glasgow from Monday.
According to AFP, world Champion Lin Dan and Olympic Champion Zhang Ning are both the current world No.1s in singles, while all-round doubles expert Gao Ling emphasises the strength in depth of a country that already held the Thomas and Uber Cup before claiming the Sudirman in Beijing two years ago.
It was the first time that all three trophies were in the same hands.
China opens the campaign on Monday evening against Thailand, whose strongest hope of an upset will be from world No.3 mixed doubles pair of Sudket Prapakamol and Saralee Thoungkongkam, and also share Group 1A with England and Malaysia.
Group 1B throws up an interesting first day encounter between South Korea, the three-time former winners, and the beaten finalists from two years ago, Indonesia. The winners will have high hopes of going on to reach the final.
The South Koreans, three-time former winners, are struggling to find a top-class singles player. Park Sung Hwan is the highest man at No.17 in the latest world rankings, while Hwang Hye Youn is the leading woman at No.15.
Indonesia were the first winners 18 years ago and have Olympic Champion Taufik Hidayat in the men’s singles and can also call on doubles stars Nova Widianto, Natsir Lilyana and Flande Limpele.
The Indonesians have sent a huge squad to Glasgow, but strength in depth could still be a problem for the hopes of taking the title for a coveted second time. Denmark, former semifinalists and Hong Kong are the other teams in Group 1B.
Malaysia are a fast improving badminton nation, although maybe not quickly enough to do damage this week. But, having earned promotion from Group 2 two years ago, consolidation of a place among the top flight will be the goal.
The Danes and the English, who will have a strong support, carry European hopes, and either side would be delighted to go home with a bronze medal.
The ever-reliable Peter Gade heads the Danish line-up, while leading lady Tine Rasmussen will be hoping for better fortune than at the Sudirman Cup in China two years ago when she suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon and is only now fighting back to full fitness.

KOMAKI, Japan, June 10--Asian champions Japan posted their first win in four matches when they edged past reigning Olympic silver medalists Italy in the World League men’s volleyball tournament on Sunday.
According to AP, the Japanese spikers scored a 26-24, 25-22, 22-25, 31-33, 15-13 win in the four-team Group B preliminary round in just over two hours, leaving them with a 1-3 record.
The Italians, who defeated Japan in four sets on Saturday, now have a 2-2 record in group play, following a 1-1 split against France last weekend.
Italy will take on the United States in Chicago next weekend, while Japan will challenge France in Strasbourg.
Sixteen countries are divided into four groups. The top team from each group will reach the final round to be held from July 11-15 in Katowice, Poland.

McLaren Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain on the back stretch during practice at the Formula One Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal on Saturday.

MONTREAL, June 10--Lewis Hamilton wore a grin from ear to ear on Saturday after securing pole position for Sunday’s Canadian Grand Prix with a dazzling qualifying performance in the Montreal sunshine, said AFP.
It will be the first pole position of Hamilton’s fledgling career and the rookie Englishman beamed: “It has been a fantastic day and a fantastic weekend, the team have done a fantastic job.“
Hamilton’s McLaren teammate, Spanish double-world champion Fernando Alonso, will start second after the 22-year-old stole past him to record the fastest lap of the session on his very last attempt.
“For the final lap the car was sweet, the tyres were perfect and I had to pull it all out. The important thing was to be consistent,“ Hamilton remembered.
While Hamilton was understandably thrilled to qualify on pole position he was typically already focused on the next challenge--staying ahead of his rivals at the start of the race.
“It’s obviously a great feeling, it’s another step I’ve taken in my steep learning curve coming into my first season in Formula One,“ he said. “I have to get to the first corner first and then after
that we have to stay consistent.“ McLaren team principle Ron Dennis said he was not surprised by Hamilton’s performance, the latest landmark of a glittering rookie campaign.
After the controversy caused by his team strategy in Monaco, Dennis said that his two drivers would be allowed to battle one another from the start of Sunday’s Grand Prix, stating: “They will be allowed to race, full stop.“
Alonso was rather more sour-faced than Hamilton but he maintained that he was satisfied with his day’s work. “The front row is good enough,“ he said. “I think it has been a good qualifying for the team again, a good job from everybody; first and second. The team should be very happy.“
When asked if he had any words of advice for Hamilton on starting from pole the Spaniard broke into a rare smile and joked: “Don’t be too aggressive in the first corner and let me go through.“

Miguel Cotto

NEW YORK, June 10--Puerto Rico’s Miguel Cotto defended his World Boxing Association title on Saturday, by overpowering American Zab Judah in a welterweight bout at Madison Square Garden, reported AFP.
Cotto (30-0, 25 knockouts) remained unbeaten by knocking Judah down in the 11th round of their fight before finishing him off with just 49 seconds left in the round as Judah turned away from Cotto and slumped against the ropes.
“I felt him weaken more each round and that is why I kept pressing,“ said Cotto, who landed a straight right hand, left upper cut combination in the final round that secured the victory.
It was the second defense of Cotto’s WBA title which he holds along with the World Boxing Organization junior welterweight crown. This was a classic take-no-prisoners prize fight that featured a couple of low blows by Cotto and accidental head butts from both fighters.
“I worked hard in the gym and on the track for this,“ Cotto said. “When I tried to hit him low he jumped and that is the reason for the low blows. I didn’t do it on purpose.“ Each boxer was bleeding early, Cotto from a cut on the right
side of his mouth and Judah from a cut over his eye.
Judah came out with more spark though, looking for the early knockout in the first round as he landed some solid rights. But his attack was halted when Cotto hit him with a low blow in the same round that sent Judah to the canvas.
After a brief reprieve, Judah got to his feet and continued trading punches with Cotto.
“I got hit with two low blows and that took a lot out of me,“ Judah said. “Miguel is a great fighter and I would love to fight him again in Puerto Rico.“
Cotto, who was bleeding heavily from a cut on his lip, hit Judah with an even more devastating and direct low blow in the third and was penalized by having one point taken away.
Cotto was the more aggressive of the two, powering his way forward in a classic boxing style with his hands up, head down, and pumping his jab as he consistently backed Judah up.
In the seventh, Judah came out boxing and using his right jab, eventually hurting Cotto with a wild left during a heated exchange.
Cotto rebounded in the eighth and hammered the challenger with heavy punches to the head as Judah began to grow weaker. “I expected a tough fight,“ Cotto said. “(Judah) sure did land some good punches. But I could tell round-by-round I was taking over the fight. I’m ready for anybody.“

LONDON, June 10--England have the chance to clinch a series win over West Indies with a day to spare at Old Trafford.
According to AFP, the tourists will resume on 22-1, with skipper Daren Ganga already having fallen lbw to Steve Harmison for the second time in the match.
They face a victory target of 455 after dismissing England for 313, but reaching it would be a new test record.
Alastair Cook top scored with 106 for England, his sixth Test century, while Darren Sammy took 7-66 for West Indies.
England will be looking to their seamers to produce the kind of nagging accuracy which brought Sammy his rewards.
But it may well be that the left-arm spin of Monty Panesar may be their most potent weapon on a wearing pitch which is offering turn and bounce.
“We’re in a really good position, but the thing about cricket is that anything can happen and we can’t be complacent--we’ve got to turn up expecting a tough battle, because that’s what Test cricket is,“ Cook said.
Following his lack of control in the West Indies first innings, fast bowler Harmison was more on target in the final half hour on Saturday, taking 1-7 from his four overs.
And his teammates are firmly behind him as he searches for the form which made him one of the most dangerous bowlers in the world.
“He’s having a tough time at the moment and it’s important that we as a team get behind him and give him all the support when needs.
“When Harmy’s bowling well, there’s no better sight in world cricket because he’s got something which no-one else has--tall bounce and quick,“ said Cook.
West Indies, meanwhile, refuse to accept the challenge is beyond them.
“We have Chris [Gayle] at the wicket and Shiv [Chanderpaul], [Dwayne] Bravo, [Runako] Morton and myself to come.
“Hopefully we can take it session by session and see how far we can get in this game in chasing down this total,“ Sammy commented.