TEHRAN, July 9--Iran’s volleyball team has defeated the European Champion Bulgaria, in 3 sets on the opening day of the Men’s Junior World Championship, PressTV reported.
Iran’s team started the match using the strong spiker Mohammad Mousavi to perform a series of attacking tactics. With the good performance of Tsvetan Sokolov, Bulgaria rearranged its defense block to narrow the gap, AFC reported.
With the Professional performance of team captain Mansour Sadvan-gabe, Iran regained its attacking rhythm and ended the first set 25-19.
In the second set Bulgaria started more actively on the net by the spiker Martin Ivanov, but the more disciplined Iran regained the lead and easily won 25-17. With Ali Najafi’s powerful spikes and the good setting actions of Saber Narimanazhad the Iranian attackers finished the third set 25-12.
Iranian Coach Mostafa Karkhaneh told journalists at a press conference after the match that his team is in a very good physical and mental condition. “We took advantage of Bulgaria’s mistakes at the beginning of the game. We are playing in a very good group and I think we can succeed to the next round,“ said the winner coach.
Iran’s Next match will be against Italy on Sunday.
Bulgarian coach Viktor Karagiosov blamed the loss on his team’s bad start and poor defense, adding that they were not prepared well but would improve for their Sunday match against Morocco. The preliminaries between the 12 teams will be played from July 7-11.
The Semifinals and play-off rounds consists of 6 matches to be played on July 14 and the Finals and play-offs for the gold medal, will be played on July 15.

Iranian national footballers run laps around the field during a training session in Kuala Lumpur for the Asian Football Cup which began July 7.

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, July 9--Iran are a different proposition after dumping World Cup coach Branko Ivankovic and are now ready to reclaim their title as kings of Asia, officials said.
According to AFP, Ivankovic was shown the door in a reshuffle which also saw the removal of the elected football chief, prompting a FIFA ban which almost ruled Iran out of the Asian Cup. But with some fresh faces in a team united behind the new leadership, Iran are ready to bounce back from their winless World Cup campaign in Germany, said their technical director.
“Half our players from the previous World Cup and Asian Cup have changed,“ Nasser Ebrahimi told AFP. “There is a good relationship and unity between the players and we have a good team. “Some of our players play in Europe and some of them in United Arab Emirates. In football a lot can happen but this team should be champions.“
Ebrahimi said there was grave concern in December when Iran, barred from international competition for political interference, faced missing the Asian Cup draw. “We just continued preparing our team and kept on practicing,“ Ebrahimi said. “It was difficult because of what was going on but we had to continue what we were doing.“ FIFA eventually relented just days before the draw, allowing the three-time champions another shot at breaking their Asian Cup jinx.
Iran owned the trophy between 1968 and 1976 but have not made the final since, going out three times on penalties--a point which is not lost on new coach Amir Qalenoei.
“We’ve been practicing penalty kicks every day, in Tehran and now here,“ said Ebrahimi, also a coach and adviser to Qalenoei.
“I have some bad memories of penalty shoot-outs because we have lost a lot of important games on penalties. But now we are well drilled.“
Chief among Iranian absentees is hulking striker Ali Daei, who hung up his boots with a world record 109 international goals--more than even Pele or Ferenc Puskas. But Qalenoei has a host of European-based players at his disposal, including Bundesliga regulars Mehdi Mahdavikia and Vahid Hashemian, Bolton’s Andranik Teymourian and new Leicester City signing Hossein Ka’bi.
Javad Nekounam is at Osasuna in Spain and Ali Karimi, once known as the ’Asian Maradona’, recently left Bayern Munich for Qatar Sports Club. Iran have a chance to avenge their 2004 semifinal penalties heartache against China on July 15. The Group C favorites play Uzbekistan on Wednesday and will also face co-hosts Malaysia.

Mexican footballer Gerardo Torrado (r) vies for the ball with Paraguayan Carlos Bonet during their Copa America quarterfinals match in Maturin, Venezuela on Sunday.

MATURIN, Venezuela, July 9--Mexico cruised to a 6-0 rout of a shorthanded Paraguay squad, advancing to the semifinals of the Copa America on Sunday, reported AFP.
Mexico was in control from as early as the second minute when a woeful back-pass from Julio Cesar Caceres allowed Nery Castillo to get a clear run on goal which was crudely halted by Paraguay goalkeeper Aldo Bobadilla. Bobadilla was shown the red card and Castillo slotted home the spot-kick past replacement custodian Joel Zayas.
Mexico will face Argentina - which beat Peru 4-0 on Sunday--in Wednesday’s semifinal. The Guaranies went on making mistakes and it cost them a second
goal in the 26th minute when Juan Carlos Cacho burst through midfield without a challenge before laying the ball off to Gerardo Torrado and his rising drive flew past the helpless Zayas.
Twelve minutes later, Castillo proved why he has been one of the Copa America’s outstanding performers with his fourth goal of the tournament--a fine volley from the edge of the area. Castillo was taken off nine minutes into the second half with a leg injury but it is not expected to keep him out of the last four clash against either Argentina or Peru. Caceres threatened a consolation for Paraguay with a header which was well saved by Oswaldo Sanchez but it only spurred Mexico into action and they made it 4-0 when Fernando Arce fired a shot over Zayas from 20 yards.
Paraguay’s misery was not yet complete and Mexico added two more goals before the final whistle. In Sunday’s second game, Argentina continued the high-scoring
trend in the quarterfinals as a second-half salvo saw Alfio Basile’s side thrash Peru 4-0 in Barquismeto, Venezuela. Juan Roman Riquelme’s double plus goals from Lionel Messi and Javier Mascherano keyed the victory.
With Brazil beating Chile, 6-1, and Colombia ousting hosts Venezuela, 4-1, the last eight has certainly not been short on goals, although for a while that looked like it was going to be the case in Barquisimeto. A frustrating opening 45 minutes for Argentina ended scoreless as Diego Milito failed to make any impact against the Peruvian defense.

CANTERBURY, UK, July 9--Robbie McEwen bounced back from a late crash to win the first full stage of the Tour de France after an enthralling bunch sprint in Canterbury on Sunday.
The Australian looked out of contention with three miles left, but somehow snaked through the peloton to prevail.
Briton David Millar led a breakaway for much of the day, and was rewarded with the King of the Mountains jersey but he ran out of steam with 50km left, BBC reported.
Fellow Brit Mark Cavendish, hit by bike troubles, was 2’45“ behind the pack. Fabian Cancellara held onto the overall leader’s yellow jersey following his prologue win, while Millar jumped up to third in those standings after landing time bonuses on the road.
But the day belonged to McEwen, who also claimed the green jersey after holding off key rivals Thor Hushovd and Tom Boonen in the sprint.
“That was one of my best ever--I can’t believe I’ve won,“ said McEwen, 35. “The moment I crashed I thought that’s that, and even my Tour could have been over. “I stopped in the bunch, I was almost at a dead standstill, someone hit me from behind and flipped me over the handlebars. “At first I thought I had broken my wrist. It’s incredible.“
Millar was rewarded for his aggressive cycling with the polka dot jersey, becoming the first Brit since Robert Millar in 1986 to lead the climers’ standings.
But he was required to make one final effort to earn that, bursting out of the peloton to finish second on the fourth category climb of Farthing Common. “I wanted to say thank you to the British public for their support. I gave it everything I had,“ said Millar, exhausted after his efforts.
There was only disappointment for British sprint sensation Cavendish, however. Hopes were high that his T-Mobile team would set the 22-year-old Isle of Man rider up for a shot at a memorable home stage victory. But Cavendish encountered technical problems late on and was forced to change bikes, putting him out of the picture.
As on Saturday, British crowds supported Le Tour with gusto, giving it a perfect send off before it resumes from Dunkirk--on the other side of the English Channel--on Monday.
It is only when the race reaches the Alps next weekend that the overall favourites will start to take control.
But Alexandre Vinokourov, Alejandro Valverde, Andreas Kloden and the other team leaders all completed the Kent course safely and survive to ride another day. The same could not be said of Spaniard Eduardo Gonzalo Ramirez, who became the Tour’s first retirement of 2007 after smashing the windscreen of a Caisse d’Epargne car.

Roger Federer of Switzerland holds the trophy after defeating Rafael Nadal of Spain during the final of the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in Wimbledon, south London on Monday.

WIMBLEDON, UK,
July 9--When Roger Federer closed out his fifth straight Wimbledon title Sunday, he collapsed to his knees with emotion, just as Bjorn Borg used to do, according to AP.
Federer played--and won--his first five-setter in a Grand Slam final, beating nemesis Rafael Nadal 7-6 (7), 4-6, 7-6 (3), 2-6, 6-2 for his 11th major title. Federer is the first man to win five straight titles at the All England Club since Borg did it from 1976-80. The Swede watched the match from the Royal Box with other past champions, and applauded as Federer fell to the ground after hitting an overhead smash on match point.
After Federer left the court, he and Borg exchanged hugs and smiles in front of the board that lists tournament champions. Federer’s name had already been added to the list for 2007. “Thank you for coming out,“ Federer told Borg. “Not at all. Sure,“ Borg answered.
Federer stretched his record grass-court winning streak to 53 and his Wimbledon winning streak to 34. He is tied for third on the career list with Borg and Rod Laver at 11 major titles, trailing Pete Sampras’ 14 and Roy Emerson’s 12. “Each one is special, no doubt,“ Federer said. “To hold the trophy is always the best thing.“ Federer beat Nadal for only the fifth time in 13 meetings.
The Spaniard has defeated Federer in the past two French Open finals to spoil his bid to complete a career Grand Slam.
“Five titles in a row, so, fantastic,“ said Nadal, who also lost to Federer in last year’s final. “Well, anyway, I lose today, but I (played a) great two weeks.“ Federer saved four break points early in the fifth set, two at 1-1 and two at 2-2. Then, leading 3-2, Federer converted a break point with a forehand winner after a 14-stroke rally that produced some of the best shots of the match. It was Federer’s first break since the second game of the match. “If Rafael had won one of these, I think maybe now Rafael would be the champion,“ said Nadal’s coach, Toni Nadal. Nadal had been trying to emulate another of Borg’s feats by winning the French Open and Wimbledon in the same year. Nadal, who played two other five-set matches in a tournament plagued by rain, was on the court for the seventh straight day.

SYDNEY, Australia, July 9--An Australian weightlifter and a powerlifter have been banned for two years for doping offences, officials said Monday, less than a month after weightlifting coach Sevdalin Marinov received a life ban, said AFP.
Weightlifter Deborah Groves and powerlifter Damien Thompson had accepted the two-year sanctions, the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority (ASADA) said.
Groves failed to comply with an official request to provide a sample during an out-of-competition test in Sydney on March 7. “Under the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Code, refusing or failing to submit to a request for sample collection after official notification is an anti-doping rule violation and carries a maximum penalty of a two-year suspension for the first offence,“ ASADA said.
Chairman Richard Ings said athletes would continue to be subject to testing until they formally notified their sport in writing of their retirement.
“Groves stated that at the time of the test she was not actively seeking to compete and had retired,“ Ings said.
“However, at no stage had she attempted to meet the requirements of Australian Weightlifting to officially notify them of her intention to retire.“ Powerlifter Thompson was suspended for possession and use of a prohibited substance bought over the Internet.

SILVERSTONE, UK, July 9--Kimi Raikkonen won the British Grand Prix for Ferrari on Sunday, capturing his second straight Formula One race and the third this season, according to AP.
According to AP, the Finn finished the 59-lap race around the 5.1-kilometer (3.2-mile) circuit in 1 hour, 21 minutes, 43.074 seconds for his 12th career F1 win. He won the French GP at Magny Cours last week.
Two-time champion Fernando Alonso was second for McLaren, 2.459 seconds back, while teammate Lewis Hamilton extended his perfect streak of top-three finishes in his rookie F1
season to nine races.
After starting from pole position, Hamilton finished 39.373 seconds back from Raikkonen in third.
Hamilton leads the drivers standings with 70 points, 12 ahead of Alonso and 18 in front of Baikkonen with eight races remaining.
“It is important we gained some points on the other guys,“ Raikkonen said. “It is still a long season, but right now it is looking good for me.“ After coming over from McLaren to replace the retired
Michael Schumacher, Raikkonen struggled at times before the last two races and after winning the season-opening Australian GP in March.
“We seemed to get the car a bit better for me,“ he said. “It seems to go a bit better for me.“
Felipe Massa, who is fourth in the standings with 47 points, stalled his Ferrari on the grid and had to start from the pits, forcing one lap to be cut from the race.
Hamilton, Raikkonen and Alonso started in that order and remained so until the end of the 16th lap when Hamilton pitted, followed two laps later by Raikkonen to give Alonso the lead. Alonso stayed out until the 20th lap to add to his lead, ahead of Raikkonen and Hamilton with Massa up to seventh place. After 30 laps, Alonso led by 4.4 seconds over Raikkonen and 11.6 from Hamilton.
“In the middle stint, I knew I had to open a gap of 8-10 seconds--but it was only five,“ Alonso said.
Alonso went in for his second stop after the 37th lap, enabling Raikkonen to hit the front by not pitting until the 43rd. Last week at the French GP, Raikkonen moved ahead of Massa after the second stop. “Kimi ran six laps more,“ Alonso said of his rival’s pitting tactics. “I spent two laps overtaking cars, but I don’t think the result would have changed.
“We changed the stategy to be able to maintain the lead. Those six laps when Kimi had more fuel than me, I was not able to maintain the pace.“ Raikkonen decided against trying to overtake Hamilton in the openinf der Schnellabschaltung Krummels und des aufgetretenen Storfalls sowie
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