TEHRAN, Oct.8-- Iran’s wrestling coach Alireza Heydari has decided to give up training and himself wrestle in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, reported Mehr News Agency.
Following the failure of Iranian wrestlers in 2007 world Championship in Baku, Heydari met the head of the Iranian wrestling federation Sunday to announce his resignation and test his skills once again in the Olympics.
The former prominent wrestler was appointed as coach early this year despite warnings that his inexperience could be detrimental for the team.
The wrestling federation will announce its decision on the issue in the near future.

Barcelona's Argentinian Messi (l) shoots the ball next to Athletico Madrid's Fabiano Eller during the Liga football match Barcelona against Athletico Madrid at the New Camp in Barcelona on Sunday.

PARIS, Oct. 8--Lionel Messi scored for the sixth game in succession as Barcelona overpowered Atletico Madrid 3-0 on Sunday to stay in touch with leaders Real Madrid, reported AFP.
The 20-year-old Argentine was sensational at Camp Nou, scoring his sixth league goal to stay at the top of the goalscoring charts. It was Barcelona’s fourth straight league win, but they still trail Real Madrid by two points after the champions defeated Recreativo Huleva 2-0.
Dutch international Ruud van Nistelrooy, the league’s top scorer last season, scored on 72 minutes before Gonzalo Higuain netted in the final minute to keep Real at the summit.
Barcelona coach Frank Rijkaard drafted Ronaldinho back into the starting line-up with the Brazilian, who had missed the last three league matches with a calf injury, starting alongside Thierry Henry and Messi in attack. Barcelona had thumped Atletico 6-0 on their own ground towards the latter end of last season so the visitors were out for revenge, but their quest was not helped when they conceded twice inside four minutes.
On the quarter hour mark Italian goalkeeper Christian Abbiati let a routine Messi cross slip out of his hands and Deco could not believe his eyes as he rolled home into the empty net. Four minutes later Messi played a great one-two with Ronaldinho and rifled a shot past Abbiati and Xavi added a third late on.
Atletico had won their last three matches but Barcelona were streets ahead and Atletico’s promising Argentine striker Kun Aguero, 19, was overshadowed by compatriot Messi--as everyone was. Barcelona are playing scintillating football at the moment and that has turned the spotlight on Real coach Bernd Schuster who promised freeflowing football but is grinding out workmanlike results reminiscent of his predecessor Fabio Capello.
Real have made their best start since 1991 but Schuster’s rotation policy has been questioned with the German chopping and changing his team.

STUTTGART, Germany, Oct. 8--World number one Justine Henin showed her class by coming from a set down to beat France’s Tatiana Golovin 2-6, 6-2, 6-1 and win the final at Stuttgart’s WTA tournament on Sunday.
According to AFP, this was Henin’s 16th consecutive WTA win having won both the US Open and the WTA tournament in Toronto since her last defeat when she was beaten by France’s Marion Bartoli in the semifinal at Wimbledon last July.
Golovin, 19, had looked set to claim the winner’s prize of a brand new Porsche 911 Turbo Cabriolet and beat Henin for the first time in their third meeting as the teenager broke the Belgian twice to take the first set.
Having had a hard semifinal battle with Serbia’s Jelena Jankovic on Saturday, Henin looked jaded early in the game and
failed to find her rhythm.
Golovin was very strong on her fore-hand, winning the first set in 42 minutes and was clearly not fazed by her illustrious
opponent. But Henin showed her class by responding in style to take the second set 6-2 having broken Golovin immediately and dominated the Russian-born Golovin with a superb range of shots.
Last year’s finalist Golovin put up little resistance in the third and Henin needed just 29 minutes to claim a 6-1 win and her eighth WTA win so far this season.

ISFAHAN, Oct.8-- Esteqlal manager Nasser Hejazi has criticizedÊthe referee’s performance in “ignoring“ a penalty in which Arash Borhani was tripped by the Sepahan keeper during the Sepahan-Esteqlal matchÊat Fuladshar stadium on Sunday.
According to IRNA, Hejazi told newsmen“Sepahan was better off in the first half and netted the ball once.
But we were dominant in the second half and equalized. We could have beaten Sepahan, but could not take advantage of our chances as in previous matches.“
The former Iranian keeper went on to complain that “It is strange that Mr. Mozaffari-Zadeh did not award us a penalty when Borhani was pushed by the Sepahan goalie. Hopefully, a review of the game on video film will help clarify the matter. The referee not only failed to award us the penalty, he also ignored a Sepahan striker’s foul on our defender while scoring their winning goal in extra time.“
Esteqlal lost to Sepahan 2-1 in the 8th week of Iran Pro League(IPL).

CHANDIGARH, India, Oct. 8--Sachin Tendulkar recovered from a shaky start to top score with 79, helping India post a solid 291 for four against Australia in the fourth one-day international on Monday, Reuters said.
Tendulkar added 91 runs for the first wicket with Saurav Ganguly, who made 41 on his return from injury, and 83 runs for the next wicket with Yuvraj singh, who made 39.
Indian skipper Mahendra Dhoni lashed 50 not out from 35 balls at the end of the innings after he won a crucial toss and chose to bat on a dry pitch with low bounce. Australia lead the seven-game series 2-0.
Australian bowlers were unusually sloppy, conceding 39 extras, 31 of them wides, just one short of the worst number of extras conceded by the team. Tendulkar hit seven fours in his 119-ball knock to anchor the top order batting until he was run out by a direct hit from Brett Lee at fineleg when he appeared set for his 42nd ODI hundred.
It was some relief for the Australian strike bowler, who was unlucky not to have removed Tendulkar twice before he reached double figures during a testing opening spell.
The batsman survived a caught behind appeal and replays hinted he had nicked the ball, and a close leg before appeal, both turned down by umpire Suresh Shastri.
He also awkwardly fended a rising ball from the bowler which just eluded the close-in fielders.

NEW YORK, Oct. 8--The New York Yankees avoided elimination from the playoffs with an 8-4 home victory over the Cleveland Indians on Sunday, while AL East rivals the Boston Red Sox eased past the Los Angeles Angels with a three-game sweep, Reuters said.
Johnny Damon belted a three-run homer as New York roared back from two straight losses in Cleveland to pull back to 2-1 in the best-of-five divisional series and help ease the pressure on veteran manager Joe Torre. In an interview published earlier in the day, Yankees owner George Steinbrenner said Torre would not return next season if New York were eliminated.
“We know our backs are up against the wall,“ Damon told reporters. “There’s a lot on the line. We’re playing for the manager we love.“ Game Four is in New York on Monday. Damon’s three-run homer capped a four-run fifth inning that gave the Yankees a 5-3 lead.
“Johnny is such a good pressure guy. He has a very clear mind, he has a plan,“ Torre said, describing how Damon looked for a pitch to drive after Cleveland starter Jake Westbrook fell behind him 2-0 in the count with two men on base.

SAN ANTONIO, USA, Oct. 8--They once decided a golf tournament among the wind-swept dunes of the British Isles. Justin Leonard and Jesper Parnevik were at it again, though this time the gorse of Scotland was replaced by the sun-baked cedar trees of the Hill Country.
According to AP, it was, however, the same result as Leonard won the Texas Open for the third time Sunday, beating Parnevik with a 10-foot birdie putt on the third hole of a playoff.
The finish brought back memories of the 1997 British Open when Parnevik began the final round at Troon five shots ahead of Leonard. But Parnevik shot a 71, and Leonard had a 65 to win.
Parnevik entered the round with a three-stroke lead over fellow Swede Mathias Gronberg and a four-shot margin over Leonard.
Leonard hasn’t won a major championship since, and he has made changes to get his game back to where it was.
“There’s no better way to validate (the changes) than to come out and win a golf tournament like this,“ Leonard said.
Leonard, also the 2000 and ’01 winner at LaCantera Golf Club Resort Course, closed with a 5-under 65 to match Parnevik at 19-under 261. Parnevik, who opened with a 61 and led after each of the first three rounds, finished with a 69.
Earlier this year, Leonard switched instructors from Butch Harmon to his old coach Randy Smith. He also changed caddies and is trying to move to a home closer to Royal Oaks Country Club, his old club in Dallas.
Leonard is the first three-time Texas Open winner since Arnold Palmer in 1960-62.
“That’s pretty special,“ Leonard said. “It’s great company to be in. I played pretty solid.“
Leonard had plenty of opportunities to win before finally finishing off Parnevik for his 11th PGA Tour title and first since 2005.
On the final hole of regulation, the Texan’s 14-foot birdie putt to win just slid by the hole. On the first extra hole, Parnevik took an unplayable lie after driving into the trees left of the fairway. But he hit a 153-yard approach to 3 feet to set up a par. Leonard chipped from the greenside rough to set up his par.
“That’s kind of the way Jesper plays,“ Leonard said. “He’s not going to hit every fairway. He’s not going to hit every green. But he’s very creative. He hit some gutsy shots.“

BERLIN, Oct. 8--Bayern Munich striker Luca Toni struck twice as the German giants opened up a five-point lead at the top of the Bundesliga with a 3-0 win over Nuremberg on Sunday, according to AP.
Munich were without Miroslav Klose as the top-scorer at last year’s World Cup struggles with a knee injury, while Lukas Podolski has again missed his chance to stake a claim in the first-team as he missed the game with a fever.
But Toni kept up his impressive scoring record with two goals as the win puts Bayern clear at the top, while Nuremberg remain in the relegation zone and second from bottom having picked up just one win in their last ten games.
Coach Ottmar Hitzfeld was delighted with his side’s seventh win as they remain the only unbeaten side in the Bundesliga.
“We were in control from the first minute,“ said Hitzfeld whose side seemed destined to win their 21st crown as German champions.
“We kept our concentration and the players enjoyed the game. If we keep playing like this then we have a chance of winning the league.“ The home side took the lead in front of a full-house of 69,000 at the Allianz Arena when Luca Toni scored his seventh league goal of the season in the 31st minute. Ze Roberto added a second five minutes from the break and then Toni added a third nine minutes from time to take his tally to nine.
Toni is now level with Klose on eight goals as the pair have now got 16 Bundesliga goals between them after just nine games. Also on Sunday, Eintracht Frankfurt enjoyed a 2-1 win over Bayer Leverkusen which puts them seventh.
On Saturday, Armin Veh coach of defending champions VfB Stuttgart admitted his side are in crisis after they were beaten 2-0 at home by Hanover which leaves them 12th in the league. This was Stuttgart’s third defeat in a week after they were humbled 2-1 by Bundesliga minnows Hansa Rostock last weekend and beaten 2-0 at home by Barcelona in the Champions League in midweek.
Last season’s second-division champions Karlsruhe are up to second in the league thanks to their impressive 2-0 win with two goals by striker Christian Timm at Schalke 04, who are now fifth. Werder Bremen are back up to third thanks to their 3-1 win at third-from-bottom Duisburg on Saturday.

LONDON, Oct. 8--Michael Owen confirmed his fitness for England’s Euro 2008 qualifiers with Newcastle’s winner against Everton--but Andrew Johnson has been ruled out.
According to AFP, Owen returned only nine days after groin surgery with the final goal in Newcastle’s 3-2 victory.
Johnson scored his first goal for Everton since March in the game, but misses the matches with Estonia and Russia to undergo ankle surgery.
“I’m fine. I’m playing without pain and will only get better,“ Owen said.
“It’s only a minor thing and I have still got all the stitches in. I’ve put in a lot of hard work and I was disappointed not to actually start.“
England boss Steve McClaren was at St James’ Park to watch Owen, but he will be concerned about Johnson’s absence as he awaits the results of Dean Ashton’s scan on the knee injury sustained at Aston Villa on Saturday.
He did receive one boost, with Frank Lampard playing a full 90 minutes in Chelsea’s win at Bolton after recovering from a thigh injury.
Everton boss David Moyes said: “We have nursed AJ along, but now he will have surgery on Monday and will be out for four weeks.“
Ashton missed the whole of last season with a broken ankle but he has been in impressive form since returning to action and could have figured with Emile Heskey also ruled out.
His latest injury is a blow to McClaren, whose options up front will be limited if Ashton is absent.
McClaren has already revealed that he may be prepared to rest skipper John Terry against Estonia.
Terry was booked against Israel and another yellow card would put him out of the clash with Russia on 17 October.

TOKYO, Oct. 8--Brazilian striker Washington scored twice Sunday as J-League front-runners Urawa Red Diamonds bested Oita Trinita 2-1 to maintain their lead at the top of the table.
His first goal on four minutes was cancelled out by Yoshiaki Fujita’s second-half equalizer. But the Brazilian found the back of the net again on a cross from compatriot Ponte to seal his side’s fourth straight win, reported AFP.
The victory left Urawa on 64 points after 28 matches, still six points ahead of Gamba Osaka, who beat Kashiwa Reysol 2-1 on Saturday.
Kashima Antlers are third on 54 points, ahead of Shimizu S-Pulse on 50, Kashiwa on 46, and Albirex Niigata and Jubilo Iwata on 44 points with six games each left in the season.
Kashima kept themselves in contention with a 3-2 win over Vissel Kobe on Saturday.
A hat trick from South Korean striker Cho Jae-Jin led Shimizu to a 3-0 win over Nagoya Grampus Eight, while Niigata beat Omiya Ardija 1-0. Iwata downed Sanfrecce Hiroshima 1-0.
In the other game on Sunday, Kawasaki Frontale pipped bottom-dwellers Yokohama FC 1-0 thanks to a goal from Brazilian striker Juninho.