Formula 1: Hamilton took Singapore Grand Prix

After 61 punishing laps of the Marina Bay Street Circuit on Sunday, the podium featured not one team or driver in the running for the 2009 championship. Instead it was McLaren, Toyota, and Renault celebrating.However, Jenson Button and Brawn left Singapore quietly satisfied, the former having extended his championship lead to 15 points, the latter having all but wrapped up the constructors’ crown with three rounds remaining…Reproduced with kind permission of the FIA

Soccer: Beckham clashes anew with another fan

David Beckham has clashed with another fan just one week after an ugly confrontation with spectators during his first home match for the Los Angeles Galaxy after returning from Italy.The latest incident saw the 34-year-old exchange words with a male in the crowd, who was wearing an England shirt, during the Galaxy's 1-1 draw with the Kansas City Wizards on Saturday.

NBA: Gooden to sign 1-year deal with Mavericks

The Dallas Mavericks have struck a deal with unrestricted free agent Drew Gooden to make use of some of the money they got back when Orlando matched their offer sheet earlier this month to restricted free agent Marcin Gortat.

Formula 1: Massa to miss Hungarian Grand Prix after undergoing surgery

Ferrari’s Felipe Massa will not race in Sunday’s Hungarian Grand Prix following his high-speed qualifying crash at the Hungaroring, the team have confirmed. Massa was airlifted to AEK Hospital in Budapest, where he is in a stable condition.

Cycling: Lance Armstrong a favorite for 2010 Tour de France

Christophe Ena / Associated Press
Lance Armstrong, who finished third in the Tour de France on Sunday, is a favorite to win the race in 2010 with his new team.

NBA: Lamar Odom and Lakers resume talks

Is the table being set again? A week after the Lakers pulled a pair of contract offers to Lamar Odom off the table, the sides resumed talks Wednesday.The discussions were labeled productive, but there was nothing to report "at the moment," according to a source familiar with negotiations who was not authorized to comment publicly.

Formula 1: Massa’s condition improving says official

Injured Ferrari driver Felipe Massa’s condition is said to be improving, according to a Hungarian government official. Massa remains stable in a Budapest hospital following his high-speed crash at the Hungaroring on Saturday, in which his helmet was struck by a loose spring from the car of fellow Brazilian Rubens Barrichello.

Formula 1: Hamilton earns first victory in Hungary

Lewis Hamilton brought McLaren their first victory of the season after a surprise result in Hungary on Sunday afternoon, his dominant success also marking Martin Whitmarsh’s first as team principal and the first for a KERS-equipped car. Kimi Raikkonen was second for Ferrari, containing a challenge from Mark Webber’s Red Bull.

NBA: No. 1 pick Griffin sidelined with shoulder injury

LAS VEGAS (AP)-Blake Griffin has pulled out of USA Basketball's minicamp
because of a strained right shoulder, possibly hurting the No. 1 pick's
chances of playing next year in the world championships.

NBA: Bryant 'optimistic' Odom will re-sign with Lakers

SINGAPORE (AP)-Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant is optimistic the NBA
champions will re-sign key free agent Lamar Odom .

NBA: Timberwolves pick Rubio to leave Spanish club

GERONA, Spain (AP)-Ricky Rubio plans to part ways with Spanish basketball
club DKV Joventut even if the Minnesota Timberwolves cannot reach a deal to
bring their first round draft pick to the NBA.

NBA: Warriors' Randolph looks long on talent

WALNUT CREEK, Calif. - As Anthony Randolph tried to squeeze his long, lean
frame into a booth at P.F. Chang's this week, his fellow restaurant patrons
gave him little more than a he-must-play-basketball glance. A week removed
from his 20th birthday, Randolph can easily be mistaken for a local college
player. One season with the Golden State Warriors has hardly made him a
recognizable face, even in the Bay Area.

NCAA: Light Bomber Saret shoots 89 points

MANILA, Philippines - It was just one of those days when the rim looked
bigger than usual for Jose Rizal University high school guard Joshua Saret.

Boxing: Roach sets eight-week camp for Pacman

FREDDIE ROACH THINKS MANNY PACQUIAO is in for a tough fight against Miguel
Cotto on Nov. 14 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

But the famed trainer also feels that his prized ward will come out the
winner of the fight set at a catch weight of 145 pounds.

Pacquiao, the International Boxing Organization light welterweight titlist,
has been installed as an early 2-1 favorite over Cotto, the World Boxing
Organization welterweight champion.

Roach said he plans to conduct at least an eight-week training camp for
Pacquiao at his Wild Card Gym in Hollywood.

The serious buildup starts after the fight's press tour calendared in Los
Angeles (Sept. 9), New York (Sept. 10) and San Juan, Puerto Rico, (Sept.
12).

Noting Pacquiao's impressive wins in his last two fights, an eight-round
stoppage of Oscar De La Hoya and a two-round demolition of Ricky Hatton,
Roach told Brad Cooney of 8countnews.com via podcast on Tuesday that he's
very confident the world's best pound-for-pound fighter will emerge
victorious over the Puerto Rican.

Cotto was described by Roach as a "solid fighter and a game guy who likes to
fight," adding that Pacquiao has to deal with the Puerto Rican's perceived
built-in advantage in size and strength.

This early, Roach said he wants to watch tapes of Cotto's previous fights,
specifically his triumph over Shane Mosley, to come up with a game plan.

"We'll be ready for this fight," Roach said.

PBA: ROOKIE CAMP SLATED JULY 28, 30 & 31

PROSPECTIVE applicants for this year's Rookie Draft get to show both their
physical and mental skills when the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA)
hold its traditional rookie camp in two different venues at the end of the
month.

The camp is set on July 28, 30 and 31, with supervisor of officials Ramil
Cruz acting as camp director.

The first day of the event will be a whole-day affair at the Club 650 gym in
Libis, Quezon City from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Initial activities include measurement of the rookies' physical aspects from
height, wing span to current weight.

Then skills and strength evaluation follows, from the simple push ups, bench
press, sit ups, sprints to pull ups.

Finally in the afternoon, drills will be conducted, with participants
engaging in agility, shooting, dribbling and fastbreak activities.

The camp takes a break the following day, but resumes on July 30-31 with all
rookies seeing action in the four-game schedule to be played at the Caruncho
gym in Pasig City.

All participants will be split into four teams. Group 1 plays Group 3 in the
first game at 2 p.m., while Group 2 clashes with Group 4 at 4 p.m.

The final day of the camp is a crossover double header between Group 1 vs.
Group 2 (2 p.m.) and Group 3 vs. Group 4 (4 p.m.).

The official rookie team rosters will be sent out this Friday (July 24),
although coaching assignments are going to be announced later.

This year's PBA Rookie Draft is set August 2 at the Market Market Place in
Taguig.

Burger King own's the no. 1 overall pick.

Basketball: RP team succumbs to Lebanon

NATIONALS LOSE ANEW TO LEBANON

TAIPEI - The halftime music in the Powerade Team Pilipinas-Lebanon game -
the Eagles' "Take It Easy" - turned out to be a plea for mercy that echoed
before Fadi El-Khatib and company lowered the boom in the fourth quarter.

El-Khatib, the Lebanese leader, finished with 14 points and rode the
backseat to Dallas-born Brian Feghali and naturalized player Jackson Vroman
as Lebanon drubbed the Nationals, 95-83, Wednesday in the 31st William Jones
Cup tournament at the Hsinchuang gym here.

Feghali, who played three years for Louisiana State in the US NCAA, led
Lebanon with 29 points, including five 3-pointers, and 10 rebounds, while
Vroman, the replacement for Joseph Vogel, added 24 points with seven
rebounds, four assists, and five steals.

The Philippines outrebounded the Lebanese, 36-28, but turned the ball over
on 27 occasions, 12 more than the opposition.

"We just beat ourselves, and too many fouls were called on us," said
national coach Yeng Guiao, noting the RP team was awarded 15 free throws and
the Lebanese 32.

Flexing it muscle on the rare occasions it needed to, Lebanon moved up to
solo second behind unbeaten Jordan (4-0).

Three other teams - Iran, South Korea and host Taiwan - are tied at third to
fifth with 3-1 slates.

After dropping their first two games and beating Kazakhstan, the Nationals
lost their next two, falling to 1-4 just above Taiwan-B (1-5) and the
winless Kazakhs (0-5).

The RP team trailed 50-35 late in the second quarter on the strength of
Brian Feghali's outside shooting before James Yap closed out the first half
with seven straight points.

Behind Kerby Raymundo, the Nationals came back to narrow the gap at 59-57
midway in the third quarter before the veteran El-Khatib drained a
three-point shot to spark a 15-5 Lebanon run to end the RP uprising.

Four more games remain in the country's schedule, with South Korea, a
groupmate in the 25th FIBA Asia Men's Championship in Tianjin, China next
month, up next this Thursday.

In an earlier game, Jordan (4-0) kept an unblemished slate intact by
crushing previously unbeaten South Korea, 83-67, as Rasheim Wright scored 21
points and the defense forced the usually accurate Korean snipers (3-1) to
miss 20 three-point shots.

Before that, Iran (3-1), powered by 7-foot-3 Hamed Ehadadi, who had 18
points and 11 rebounds, routed Japan (1-3), 82-70, and later, Taiwan-B upset
Kazakhstan, 82-69, picking up its first win while handing the Kazakhs their
fifth straight setback.

The scores:

LEBANON 95 - Feghali 29, Vroman 24, El-Khatib 14, Fahed 11, Nour 9, Mahmoud
4, Turk 3, Kanaan 1.

POWERADE-RP 83 - Helterbrand 12, Raymundo 11, Yap 11, Pennisi 9, Santos 7,
Norwood 7, Aguilar 6, Baguio 4, Thoss 3, Taulava 3.

Quarterscores: 30-19; 50-42; 78-66; 95-73

Basketball: Japan beats RP Team

Japan edged out Powerade-Pilipinas in a William Jones Cup game that both teams played at half-throttle, but national coach Yeng Guiao believed there were valuable lessons gained from the defeat.

“Our emphasis before the game was to learn as much as we can from the Japanese,” Guiao said after an 87-85 loss to Japan which dug itself out from a 19-point hole at the Hsinchuang Gymnasium here.

“We know deep in our hearts that we can beat them,” he added. “There were just lapses on our part, some mental mistakes.

“But we can handle them come (Tianjin) China,” Guiao assured Filipino scribes, referring to the Fiba Asia world championship qualifier where Japan, South Korea and Sri Lanka are bracketed in the same group with the Philippines.

Japan also tried to conceal some of its aces during the game, but went all out in the stretch by unleashing its veterans and dealing the Philippines its third loss in four outings in this nine-team event.

The Japanese (1-2) drew 24 points and eight rebounds from 6-foot-10 center Kosuke Takeuchi, and 12 points, two assists and two blocks from guard Shin Kashiwagi, who rejected Jayjay Helterbrand’s potential game-winning triple try at the buzzer.

Japeth Aguilar shot 17 points and had seven rebounds in sustaining his improved play. His excellent form made him a shoo-in for the final 12-man roster for Tianjin which Guiao, consultant Jong Uichico and the rest of the coaching staff were deciding on Tuesday night.

Guiao declined to identify the two players who will be cut at the end of this tournament. The Philippines hopes to submit the team’s final roster the end of office hours today, the deadline set by the Fiba.

The Philippines made 9 of 26 attempts from the three-point arc as Willie Miller, again starting out at the point, finished with 14 markers and five rebounds.

James Yap hit a triple with 4:45 left in the second period to give the Filipinos their biggest lead of the game, 36-17.

Japan, however, pruned this down to four points at the end of the half as Guiao tried different combinations and the enemy began to connect from the field.

A three-point play by Kei Iragashi off Kerby Raymundo with 7.3 seconds left gave the Japanese an 86-82 lead, which Jared Dillinger cut down with a trey from way out with 4.8 seconds left, 86-85.

Kashiwagi then split his free throws off a Helterbrand foul with four ticks left for what turned out to be the final score. But Helterbrand, after bouncing the ball off the back of Kashiwagi, went for a triple but got rejected.

Lebanon, meanwhile, welcomed Jackson Vroman to the lineup but did not suit up Fadi El-Khatib in a 77-73 decision of Kazakhstan in an earlier game marred by lousy officiating.

The scores:
JAPAN 87—Takeuchi 24, Kashiwagi 12, Takeda 9, Ishizaki 9, Sakurai 7, Orimo 7, Amino 7, Igarashi 5, Ito 4, Okada 3.

POWERADE-PILIPINAS 85—Aguilar 17, Miller 14, Santos 10, Dillinger 8, Thoss 8, Raymundo 5, Yap 5, De Ocampo 5, Norwood 5, Baguio 4, Taulava 2, Helterbrand 2.
Quarters: 12-27, 36-40, 61-61, 87-85

Golf: Singh boosted by Watson heroics

Vijay Singh believes Tom Watson's showing at the Open can be an inspiration to him and his fellow 40-something golfers.

Singh, 46, has won 22 tournaments since his 40th birthday, more than anyone else in PGA Tour history, but even he was impressed by Watson's runner-up finish at Turnberry on Sunday when the 59-year-old lost a four-hole play-off to fellow American Stewart Cink.

Speaking ahead of his World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational title defence in Akron, Ohio, in two weeks, Fijian Singh was asked if Watson's performance had been inspirational to over 40s.

"Yes, definitely. People are still talking about Tom Watson, I've had more questions about his age and (how that) makes us old guys look great," Singh said.

"I said, 'hang on a second, I'm not that old'.

"But it does. It does give me a lot more inspiration. It would have been great if he had won, but what he did is just incredible. It shows how good of a player he is, and really, that age doesn't really matter.

"If you're healthy and you're fit and your golf game is good, you can play for as long as you want to play, and that gives me a lot more confidence.

"Just like when Tom won the TPC at the age of 48, 47, that shows that you are healthy and that if you can play with the boys, why not?

"That's the kind of feeling that I have, and I think that I can last out here as long as my mind says 'go ahead and do it'."

Singh, with 56 total career wins worldwide, became the oldest player to win a WGC event last August when he held off Lee Westwood, Stuart Appleby and Phil Mickelson with a final-round 68 at Firestone Country Club to land the Bridgestone Invitational.

The victory was his first of 2008 and it served as the springboard for the rest of the campaign as he moved into the PGA Tour's FedExCup play-offs, won two of the four events and captured the FedExCup itself.

After a below-par 2009 to date, with three top-10 finishes from 17 starts, the world number 11 is hoping for a similar kickstart when he returns to Firestone in two weeks.

"I'm really disappointed this year, but I came out of February well, and I just started playing a little too soon and it kind of put me back quite a bit," Singh said.

"Instead of taking two months off, I took a month and a half off, and going to the range created a lot of bad habits for my golf swing. And it took two or three months to get out of it because every time you get out of something, you develop something new.

"But, it was the first time in a long time that I won so late in the season (at the Bridgestone), and that gives me a lot of confidence going back there.

"I'm feeling really confident about the golf course. My golf game is coming around. I just can't wait.

"I have two weeks to practice, and I can't wait to get out there and do it again. So it will be great and I hope it will be the place where it started out."