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Agbonlahor apology to injured singer

Aston Villa striker Gabriel
Agbonlahor is to apologise for the
tackle on Louis Tomlinson that left
the One Direction singer sick on
the touchline.
The pair were playing in a charity
match at Celtic Park organised by
former footballer Stiliyan Petrov.
"It was one of those things," said
Agbonlahor. "I'll apologise to Louis
when we meet up.
"I know he enjoyed playing in the
game and it's fantastic that he took
time out to be here."
Agbonlahor, who was a team-mate
of Petrov's at Aston Villa, received
abuse from One Direction fans on
Twitter after the game for the
tackle.
Tomlinson this season signed for his
local club Doncaster Rovers on a
non-contract basis to play reserve
games after impressing in another
charity match.
Boy band One Direction last year
became the first British group to
debut on top of the Billboard 200 list
when their Up All Night album sold
more than 175,000 copies during the
first week of release in the United
States.
They have recently been promoting
their own movie and fragrance, with
their third album due out in late
November, but the singer's football
injury should not affect tour plans as
their next concert is not scheduled
until May 2014, in Dublin.
Tomlinson's participation, along with
Westlife singer Nicky Byrne and other
celebrities, helped boost the
attendance to a capacity 60,000 in
Glasgow for a game organised to
raise money for the Stiliyan Petrov
Cancer Foundation, set up by the
former Bulgaria international who
retired in May having been
diagnosed with leukaemia in 2012.
But the 21-year-old's appearance,
with the number 1D on the back of
his shirt, ended prematurely when he
was left hobbling from a tackle and
was sick on the sidelines as he was
substituted.
Martin O'Neill, the former Aston Villa
and Celtic manager who was his
boss for the day, said: "Agbonlahor
smashed into him and he picked
himself up and then was ill in the
dressing-room area, but he's not too
bad now I think.
"He had to rush off, but I think he's
fine.
"He doesn't know where he is, but
he's fine. He was genuinely ill, but
he's OK now."
Actor Martin Compston also took
part and said he was glad he was not
on the receiving end of any heavy
tackles.
"I was feeling a bit rough before the
game, but everyone put an arm
round me and I think I fared a wee
bit better than the guy from One
Direction by the look of it," said the
Celtic fan.
"I've never seen Agbonlahor tackle
anyone in my life, but he went fair
through the wee boy because, when
he walked off, he looked in a bit of a
state.
"I hope he's all right, but I'm sure his
management were worried."
Byrne scored for the Stiliyan Petrov
XI, who won 5-3 thanks to a hat-trick
from Fulham striker Dimitar Berbatov
and another from former Bolton
Wanderers and Manchester City
midfielder Martin Petrov.
Actor Warren Brown scored for
Tomlinson's Celtic XI along with
former Hoops strikers Henrik Larsson
and Pierre van Hooijdonk.

Tokyo's 2020 vision excites IOC

In the end it was a comfortable win
- Tokyo beating Istanbul 60-36. In
fact Tokyo were so far out in front
they almost won in the first round.
It was all very different four years
ago. Then Tokyo polled just 20 votes
as they went out in the second
round of the race for 2016 - a contest
won by Rio de Janeiro.
Here in Buenos Aires they showed
they had learned the key lesson from
that campaign - that presenting a
sound and safe technical bid
wouldn't be enough. They also had
to inspire.
Their slick presentation on Saturday
did just that, emphasising the
economic and political strengths [not
enjoyed by their rivals Madrid and
Istanbul] but at the same time setting
out an ambitious and exciting vision
for the 2020 Games.
Although the presence of Princess
Hisako charmed the members of the
International Olympic Committee,
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe
was the star turn.
His speech to the members tackled
head on the one issue which could
still harm Tokyo's bid - the potential
for further leaks from the crippled
nuclear power plant at Fukushima.
His emphatic declaration that the
situation was under control clearly
settled any last-minute nerves
among the IOC.
So what else helped swing the vote
Tokyo's way?
There is no doubt that after all the
problems the IOC has been
experiencing in Sochi and Rio, they
were looking for a safe pair of hands.
Tokyo's bid was ranked number one
in the technical assessment carried
out by the IOC evaluation
commission in June.
Add to that the commercial allure of
Japan's well-established sports and
media market and it's easy to see
why they were such a popular
choice.
There was also a feeling that this was
Asia's turn. By the time the Games
come to Tokyo it will have been 12
years since the Beijing Olympics.
The support of the influential Sheikh
Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah, a
member of the Kuwaiti Royal Family,
also helped. An IOC member since
1992, he is chairman of the powerful
Association of National Olympic
Committees and the Olympic council
of Asia.
His influence in the IOC is said to be
growing all the time - his support is
thought to be one of the main
reasons why the German Thomas
Bach is favourite to become the new
IOC president next Tuesday.
And he made a very public
appearance at the Tokyo 2020 victory
party at the Sheraton Hotel in
Buenos Aires, hugging senior
members of the bid team and posing
with them for pictures.
When asked why Tokyo had won he
would only say: "It was the will of the
house and you have to respect the
will of the house."
It is hard to know just how significant
the Sheikh's support for Tokyo was.
But as one trained IOC observer said,
"it's much better to have him on your
team working for you than on the
outside working against you."
Tokyo was also helped by Madrid's
failure to convince the IOC that the
Spanish economy was ready for the
demands of staging the Olympics.
They were unable to escape from the
shadow of the Eurozone crisis which
has left Spain with huge debts.
By slashing the budget for the
Games to under $2billion they were
doing the right thing by the Spanish
people, but they were limiting their
ability to excite the IOC.
Madrid were also hampered by the
fact that some major European cities
are lining up for Olympic bids in 2024
- in particular Paris and Rome. A
number of European IOC members
wanted to avoid ruining their
chances by electing Madrid now.
As for Istanbul, for so long the front
runner, they couldn't recover from
the damage caused by the recent
street protests and doping scandals.
Turkey's appeal was that it could
unite two continents - Europe and
Asia. They failed to win enough
support in either.

US Open tennis championship

Who will win this year's US Open
tennis championship - Novak
Djokovic or Rafael Nadal?
Most pundits will have an opinion
on who will triumph in this year's
US Open men's final.

Williams 'needed' US Open title win

World number one Serena
Williams said she would have
considered 2013 a disappointing
year had she not won her fifth US
Open title on Sunday.
The defending champion, 31, beat
second seed Victoria Azarenka 7-5
6-7 (6-8) 6-1 to claim her second
Grand Slam title of the year following
her French Open win.
Williams has now won 17 Grand
Slam singles titles, seven short of
Margaret Court's all-time major
record of 24 titles and five from Steffi
Graf's Open era mark of 22.
She arrived at Flushing Meadows
having won eight titles and enjoyed a
career-best winning streak of 34
matches in 2013.
But a quarter-final defeat by Sloane
Stephens at the Australian Open and
a fourth-round loss to Sabine Lisicki
at Wimbledon meant Williams felt she
needed another major title in New
York.
"Absolutely," she said. "I felt almost
disappointed with my year, to be
honest.
"I won the French Open but I wasn't
happy with my performances in the
other two Slams - and not even
making it to the quarter-finals of one.
"So I definitely feel a lot better with at
least a second Grand Slam under my
belt this year."
Williams let a double-break lead slip
and failed to serve out the match
twice in Sunday's final, admitting: "I
think I got a little uptight, which
probably wasn't the best thing at that
moment.
"I wasn't playing very smart tennis
then, so I just had to relax and not
do that again. But I did it again."
Azarenka battled superbly to force a
third set, but Williams regained her
poise to dominate the closing stages.
She added: "I thought: 'This is
outrageous that I'm still out here,
because I had a great opportunity to
win already.'
"So I thought: 'You know what? I just
have to relax, calm down and play
smarter tennis.'"
Williams, who began working with
French coach Patrick Mouratoglou
last year, turns 32 later this month,
but retirement remains some way
off.
"I feel great," she said. "I have never
felt better. I feel really fit. I can play a
tournament like this, singles,
doubles, with tough, tough
schedules. For the most part, I felt
really good.
"I haven't felt like this in a number of
years - I'm excited about the
possibilities. I don't know what can
happen. I just keep playing and do
the best that I can."
Mouratoglou says Williams's
determination to prove her ability
every time she steps on court makes
her unique in tennis.
"She is a champion; it is difficult to
explain what is in the mind of a
champion," he said.
"She feels she is the best and this
self-confidence in her game gives her
the will to prove it to herself every
day on the court. She is Serena
Williams and there is only one."
Former US President Bill Clinton
described Williams as an inspiration
to others.
"She always wanted to be someone
who opened up new avenues for
girls and women," he said.
"She is able to play highly
competitive, high concentration
tennis and win, but always be
concerned about why she was really
doing it."
Azarenka, 24, fought valiantly to force
a decider but could not keep the
pressure on Williams as she had in
the previous set.
"I think it was the moment in the
third set that the momentum
changed a little bit and I kind of felt
like I lost that momentum," said the
Belarusian.
"It didn't happen just because I was
out of focus or something. She really
made it happen. In that particular
moment she was tougher today. She
was more consistent and she
deserved to win.
"The game overall, there are things
that could have been better, but I
gave my heart. I fought as hard as I
could.
"So that's what is important for me -
that I lost to a great champion - but
I'm still going to have my head up."