Salimi Wins 2012 World Weightlifting Title

Iran’s super heavyweight Behdad Salimi has been named the world’s best weightlifter of 2012 in an online poll conducted by the International Weightlifting Federation.
The Iranian star, who won the gold medal in the men’s +105-kilogram category of the weightlifting competition of the 2012 Olympic Games in London, topped the list as the world’s best weightlifter in 2012, Press TV wrote.
He was followed by 24-year-old Kazakh weightlifting champion Ilya Ilin, and Polish weightlifter Adrian Edward Zielinski gained the third place.
On August 7, 2012, Salimi lifted a total of 455 kilograms at ExCel Arena to snatch the gold medal for super weight category of the London Olympic Games.
The 23-year-old, who lifted 208 kilograms in snatch and 247 kilograms in clean and jerk, secured the gold medal with his first clean and jerk lift of 247 kilograms.
The strongman attempted a clean and jerk world record of 264 kilograms, trying to beat the 263 kilograms mark set by Iran’s Hossein Rezazadeh, the two-time Olympic and four-time world champion, at the Sydney Games in 2000.
However, Salimi failed in his second attempt and abandoned a third lift.
Iran’s weightlifting prodigy Salimi won the world title in his first attempt in 2010 by lifting a total of 453 kilograms and retained his title in 2011 by lifting 464 kilograms.
The lifter set a new world record of 214 kilograms in the snatch, breaking the previous record of 213 kilograms.

Ferguson Denies FA Misconduct Charge

Sir Alex Ferguson has denied a Football Association charge over comments he made about an official after Manchester United’s Premier League game at Spurs.
The Manchester United boss, 71, accused assistant referee Simon Beck of failing to give Wayne Rooney a “clear” penalty.
The FA asked Ferguson to explain his comments and charged him on Tuesday, BBC wrote.
He has requested a paper hearing, which means he will send a written submission rather than appearing in person. The FA is yet to decide the hearing’s date.
When it charged Ferguson with misconduct the FA stated, “It is alleged the Manchester United manager breached FA Rule E3 in that he implied that the match official was motivated by bias.”
Ferguson had until Friday afternoon to reply to the charge, which came as a result of comments made during a post-match interview on 20 January at White Hart Lane.
The Scot had appeared incensed after his side had their request for a spot-kick turned down prior to Clint Dempsey striking an injury-time equalizer for Spurs in the 1-1 draw.
“There was no way the linesman was going to give that--he gave them everything,” said Ferguson after the game.
“It was a clear decision. And he was 10, maybe 12 yards away from the incident and he doesn’t give it. And yet he gave everything else.”
The Scot also referred to a previous incident involving Beck in the 2-1 defeat by Chelsea in April 2010.
Despite Chelsea striker Didier Drogba looking offside, Beck allowed the winning goal and it proved a pivotal moment in the Premier League title race, which Chelsea eventually won.
“I am disappointed with him [Beck]--we have not had a good record with him,” Ferguson told BBC Sport after the Spurs match.
“With Chelsea a couple of years back, he gave onside to Didier Drogba and he was three yards offside. You remember these things because it is in important games and that was an important game.”

Anelka Completes Juventus Move

Italian champions Juventus have completed the signing of Shanghai Shenhua striker Nicolas Anelka on an initial six-month contract.
Anelka, 33, passed a series of medical tests in Turin last week but the deal--which includes an option for a further year--has only now been concluded, BBC wrote.
“It’s nice to get back to a big club,” the well-travelled player said. “I’m proud to put on the shirt.”
Anelka, who left Chelsea for China in 2011, had been linked with QPR.
The move sees the former France international depart after an underwhelming spell during which he scored only three goals in 22 games as Shenhua finished ninth in the 16-team Chinese Super League.
Anelka - who also counts Arsenal, Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain, Liverpool, Manchester City, Fenerbahce and Bolton among his former clubs--joins a Juventus side who are three points clear at the top of Serie A and face Scottish giants Celtic in the next round of the Champions League.
“The Champions League is a very difficult competition to win, but a team like Juventus has the players and qualities needed and will do everything to win the cup,” he said.
“I know that Serie A is a very difficult, physical, hotly contested and very demanding league. I’ve never played in Italian football, the English style corresponds more to my style but I appreciate other leagues.”

Canada Push Spain to Brink of Shock Exit

Canada raced to a 2-0 lead over Spain in their Davis Cup world group first round tie, pushing the five-times champions to the brink of defeat and moving to within a doubles victory of a maiden win at this level.
With top-ranked Spain missing big guns Rafa Nadal, David Ferrer and Nicolas Almagro, the Canadians seized their chance when Milos Raonic and Frank Dancevic dominated the clay-loving Iberians on the lightning fast Vancouver hard courts, Reuters wrote.
Raonic, the world number 15, delivered as expected to tame feisty Alberto Ramos 6-7 6-4 6-4 6-4 before Frank Dancevic, ranked 161, destroyed world number 34 Marcel Granollers 6-1 6-2 6-2.
Spain looked determined to make it a difficult day for Canada when Ramos, making his Davis Cup debut, fought off three break points on his opening serve then forced the first set tie-break, which he won 7-5 when rattled Raonic sent his forehand long.
There would be few other miscues, though, as Raonic broke Ramos to open the second set and then collected the decisive break at 4-4 in third on his way to a 2-1 lead.
At 4-4 in the fourth, Raonic broke Ramos again before serving out the match with two thundering aces.
“It wasn’t always the prettiest but thankfully I’m through,” Raonic told courtside television as the celebration erupted around him. “I just put everything aside and focused on winning.
“I was hoping to turn the match in the first set, I had three early chances on his serve, three forehands into the net, I couldn’t change it around there.
“But as soon as I got that first break right away in the second it let me play a little more freely.”
Dancevic, still chasing his first career ATP Tour title, dropped to his knees and clenched his fists to celebrate the biggest win of his career when a Granollers return hit the net.

West Leads Pacers Past Heat

The Indiana Pacers proved one thing Friday night: Beating Miami last month was no fluke.
David West scored 30 points, Paul George added 15, and the Pacers never trailed after the first quarter as they pulled away from the defending NBA champs 102-89 in a game that was even more lopsided than the score, AP wrote.
‘’We want to be dominant at home, and we’re getting there,’’ Pacers coach Frank Vogel said. ‘’David West was spectacular. He has a way of giving us contagious confidence. He has that look that carries over to everyone else where we’re not going to lose tonight.’’
The rest of the Pacers (28-19) had that look, too, AP wrote.
They joined the New York Knicks as the only teams to beat Miami twice this season and have won three straight regular-season games over the Heat. Miami won the last three games in last spring’s Eastern Conference semifinals on their way to winning the NBA crown. And Indiana beat a team that promised to be more focused, more motivated and more physical than the first time around. None of it mattered.
Since ending a three-game losing streak Wednesday night, Indiana has won two straight by double digits and its 13-game home winning streak is the team’s longest since it won 14 in a row in 2002-03.
Not enough? The Pacers still haven’t played with former All-Star Danny Granger this season, though Vogel hopes to have him back on the court before the All-Star break and certainly before the next showdown between Indiana and Miami in March.

All Eyes on Tiny Cape Verde In Nations Cup Quarters

South Africa will receive all the home support for Saturday’s African Nations Cup quarterfinal against Mali while the international spotlight will be firmly focused on tiny Cape Verde Islands.
The islanders take on Ghana in the day’s other match at the start of the knockout phase of the tournament.
Cape Verde, with a population of just over half a million and a small playing pool to call upon, have confounded all expectations to claim a place among the last eight in their debut appearance at the finals.
A dramatic win over Angola in their final group game, following two draws, made the islanders the toast of world soccer.
Cape Verde have suddenly gone from newcomers seeking to avoid humiliation to a team who believe they can now reach the semi-finals.
“We are a serious team and we have grown in confidence since the tournament started. We are stronger,” said coach Lucio Antunes.
Ghana will have Mubarak Wakaso, who scored the only goal when they beat Cape Verde in a friendly in Portugal in November, back from suspension for the match in Port Elizabeth.
The tie is followed by the meeting in Durban of the home nation and Mali who finished third in last year’s edition.
“To play the hosts with their crowd behind them in a wonderful stadium is a prestigious occasion we are looking forward to,” said coach Patrice Carteron.

Zeman Feels Heat After Cagliari Loss

Roma coach Zdenek Zeman was left facing an uncertain future after his side were thumped 4-2 at home by Cagliari in Serie A in front of their angry home supporters.
Rumours of Zeman’s demise have been circulating in the Italian media all week after a terrible run of form has left Roma nine points off the third Champions League spot, Reuters reported.
They are without a win in five games since the winter break and remain in eighth place on 34 points, three behind AC Milan who occupy the second Europa League slot.
Hardcore fans in the Stadio Olympico’s curva sud began calling from the manager’s head after Cagliari’s fourth goal, unfurling a banner that read “Boemo (Bohemian, Zeman’s nickname) out”, before turning their backs on the game.
But Zeman was defiant after the match, saying he will not step down because of one bad result.
“I’m not even going to think about resigning over one game,” he said.
“I saw the directors after the game but we didn’t talk about specifics, only about a game that went very badly.”
Cagliari’s victory takes them up to 14th on 24 points after their impressive counter-attacking display.
Radja Nainggolan’s smart third-minute goal put them ahead but a thumping free-kick 10 minutes before halftime by Roma captain Francesco Totti leveled the scores.
A terrible mistake from Roma keeper Mauro Goicoechea gifted Cagliari the lead two minutes into the second half when, under no pressure, he dropped Danilo Avelar’s cross into the net.
“What can you say about the second goal? In football people make mistakes, and unfortunately this time we made them,” said Zeman.

Wenger Has Faith in Gunners’ Character

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has backed his team’s strength of character to overcome continually being “slaughtered” for defensive errors.
Wenger moved to bolster his defensive options with the deadline day signing of Spain full-back Nacho Monreal, which will cover for Kieran Gibbs’ enforced absence because of a thigh injury. However, the Arsenal manager maintains his men can pull together to come through what has been a testing campaign in the wake of plenty of harsh words in the media--and from some of their own supporters, PA Sport reported.
“Everyone of us is affected by criticism, I didn’t meet one person who loves absolutely to be slaughtered. All of us prefer to say ‘yes you are great’,” said Wenger. “You can never say you are completely unaffected, you can know it affects you and put that aside and focus on what you have done, but you cannot say you don’t care what people think about you.”
He went on: “The team has certainly been deeply affected by all the negativity and also by the fact they are highly focused to do well.
“They have fantastic focus, and want to do well, but sometimes that can be a bit inhibitive.
“I don’t believe that my players miss strength of character, they have plenty of character.
“They want to play in a bit more spontaneous way at home. We feel we have a bit of inhibition.
“We have to get rid of that and I think we have the strength of character needed to do it.”

Beckham Can Match Maldini

Paris St Germain coach Carlo Ancelotti has hailed the arrival of David Beckham, claiming the midfielder can match the longevity of Paolo Maldini and saying the former England captain can help the Ligue 1 club achieve great things.