British skier sets record for solo Antarctic trek

British adventurer Felicity Aston finished her Antarctic crossing on Monday, becoming the first woman to ski across the icy continent alone. She did it in 59 days ahead of schedule pulling two sledges for 1,084 miles (1,744 kilometres) from her starting point on the Leverett Glacier on Nov. 25. "It feels amazing to be finished and yet overwhelmingly sad that it s over at the same time," Aston said in a phone call she broadcast online from her tent while waiting for her flight out. She announced her achievement by Twitter: "  !!!Congratulations to the 1st female to traverse Antarctica SOLO.V proud," after reaching Hercules Inlet on Antarctica s Ronne Ice Shelf. Aston also set another record: the first human to ski solo, across Antarctica, using only her own muscle power. A male-female team already combined to ski across Antarctica without kites or machines to pull them across, but Aston is the first to do this alone. Aston, 34, grew up in Kent, England, and studied physics and meteorology. A veteran of expeditions in sub-zero environments, she worked for the British weather service at a base in Antarctica and has led teams on ski trips in the Antarctic, the Arctic and Greenland. But this was the first time she traveled so far, so alone. She worried beforehand that the solitude could pose her biggest challenge. In such an extreme environment, the smallest mistakes can prove treacherous. Alone with one s thoughts, the mind can play tricks. Polar adventurers usually take care to watch their teammates for signs of hypothermia, which is easier to diagnose in others than yourself, she said. This Antarctic summer is the centennial of Roald Amundsen s conquest of the South Pole, and every Briton knows how R.F. Scott s team arrived days later, demoralized to see Norway s flag. Scott and his entire team then died on their way out, and some of their bodies weren t found for eight months. Aston had modern technology in her favour: She kept family and supporters updated and received their responses via Twitter and Facebook, and broadcast daily phone reports online. She carried two satellite phones to communicate with a support team, and a GPS device that reported her location throughout. She also had two supply drops one at the pole and one partway to her finish line so that she could travel with a lighter load. Otherwise, her feat was unassisted.

Pakistan defeated England with a blowout 10-wicket victory inside three days on Thursday. Pakistan stubbornly extended its first innings in the morning to 338 for a lead of 146, then began before lunch dismantling England in its second innings for 160 inside 58 overs. Umar Gul s aggressive bowling for 4-63, coupled with some shocking shot selection by the Englishmen, left Pakistan with only 15 runs to win the opening test of the three-match series, and opener Mohammad Hafeez hit three boundaries in collecting them all. It was top-ranked England s first defeat since losing to Australia in the Ashes test at Perth in 2010. England had won seven of nine since then. Pakistan extended its unbeaten run in tests to eight since May, including six victories. Offspinner Saeed Ajmal, who grabbed a career-best 7-55 in England s first innings score of 192, added three more wickets to be named man of the match. It was second career match haul of 10 wickets. Abdur Rehman showed England why they should have included left-arm spinner Monty Panesar with 3-37, and narrowly missed a hat trick. After Adnan Akmal s gutsy half-century stretched Pakistan s first-innings lead to 146, Gul had England on the mat by tea at 75-5, claiming three wickets. Gul had reduced England to 16-1 at lunch when captain Andrew Strauss was adjudged caught behind off a leg-side delivery after TV umpire Steve Davis upheld onfield umpire Billy Bowden s decision. Opener Alastair Cook (5) and Kevin Pietersen (0) departed from attempting shocking pull shots against Gul. In his second spell, Gul found a thick outside edge of topscorer Jonathan Trott, who attempted an expansive cover drive to try and to reach a half century. Trott was out for 49 off 111 balls. Ajmal undid Ian Bell for 4 with his doosra. The batsman halfheartedly called for a review but started walking back after watching the replay on the big screen at Dubai International Cricket Stadium with the ball striking his back leg in front of the stumps. Rehman struck just before tea when Eoin Morgan on 14 got a faint edge to the wicketkeeper, and was on a hat trick when he dismissed Stuart Broad (17) and Chris Tremlett (0) off successive deliveries with England still 11 runs shy of making Pakistan bat again. Graeme Swann (39) and James Anderson (15) ensured England did not lose by an innings with a 25-run last wicket stand before Ajmal wrapped up the innings by finding the leading edge of Swann s bat and Asad Shafiq making a low catch and roll at short cover. Pakistan resumed overnight at 288-7 and thanks to the diminutive Akmal hitting 61 with eight fours, frustrated England for an hour and a quarter. Akmal lost Gul for a duck when he hit Broad in only the second over of the day to Morgan at point. Akmal gathered a precious 30 runs with Ajmal before Swann had the latter caught close to the wicket for 12. The last-wicket stand of 19 all made by Akmal added to England s frustration as the Pakistan wicketkeeper-batsman kept the strike from No. 11 Aizaz Cheema for four overs. Akmal played some extravagant strokes that included two reverse swept boundaries off Swann. He brought up his second test half-century with a similar stroke for two runs and pumped his fist in joy while raising his bat toward his teammates in the dressing room. Swann finally closed Pakistan s first innings when Akmal went out of the crease but missed the line and was stumped by Prior down the legside. Swann ended with 4-107 while Broad claimed 3-84. The second test begins at Abu Dhabi on Jan. 25, and the teams return to Dubai for the last test from Feb. 3.

Sania Mirza looks for Olympic gold in mixed doubles

Sania Mirza, the country s top women s tennis player, hopes to help double that total in London this year. India only has one singles player ranked in the top 100 Somdev Devvarman at No. 86 in the ATP rankings but it does have some of the world s best doubles players. Mirza is ranked 11th in the WTA doubles rankings, while Leander Paes is No. 7 in the ATP doubles rankings, Mahesh Bhupathi is No. 8 and Rohan Bopanna is No. 11. Mirza, who lost her first-round singles match at the Australian Open to Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria on Monday, says she s planning to play mixed doubles with one of the three men at the 2012 London Games. It s the first time since 1924 that mixed doubles will be included at the Olympics. "Funnily enough, a medal is a medal at the Olympics. It doesn t matter if you get it in singles, doubles or mixed," she says. "We re a big country, and obviously (the) Olympics is important to us." As for her partner in London, Mirza says she d be happy with any of the three men s players. Mirza partnered with Bhupathi to win the Australian Open mixed title in 2009 and won the mixed gold medal at the 2006 Asian Games with Paes. "I m in a great position to choose from three people who are in the top 12 in the world (in doubles)," she said. "Obviously, the best people will be put forward."

Whatmore to seal deal as Pakistan coach?

Dav Whatmore, the man tipped to become Pakistan’s next cricket coach, arrived for an interview in Lahore Saturday, moving a step closer to taking the sport’s hot seat. The 57-year-old former Australian batsman, who coached Sri Lanka to World Cup glory in 1996, is the favourite to replace Waqar Younis who quit the post in September last year over health issues. Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) appointed former opener Mohsin Khan as an interim coach against Sri Lanka and Bangladesh but had to extend his stint in charge for the series against England as the selection process was delayed. Pakistan take on England in the first of three Tests in Dubai from Tuesday. The Tests will be followed by four one-day and three Twenty20 internationals. A new coach will take over during the Asia Cup in Bangladesh in March. PCB appointed a three-man committee headed by former captain Intikhab Alam, which shortlisted five candidates for the post. “Whatmore has reached here and we will talk to him on the issue,” Alam told AFP, without giving further details. PCB has also kept silent on the issue so as not to derail the process. Whatmore, who played seven Tests and one one-day international for Australia in 1979, was in talks with the PCB through another former captain Ramiz Raja, who assisted the committee. Whatmore, who also coached Bangladesh between 2003-2007, resigned from his role as coach of the Indian Premier League side Kolkata Knight Riders earlier this month. Pakistan has a history of sacking its coaches and has had six in the last ten years. It showed the door to its first foreign coach Richard Pybus of South Africa after the 2003 World Cup, and sacked former Australian paceman Geoff Lawson in 2008. But former England batsman Bob Woolmer had a successful stint from 2004 before he died in mysterious circumstances in the West Indies, a day after Ireland upset Pakistan in the 2007 World Cup. England’s former county player Julian Fountain is in contention to take over as fielding coach, while former Pakistan paceman Aqib Javed — already on UAE tour — is the likely bowling coach.

Kaptaan [A Film On Imran Khan]

Ronaldo in the limelight as Real seek consolidation

Even more attention than usual will be focused on Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo when the La Liga leaders play at Real Mallorca on Saturday after his petulant reaction to whistling from disgruntled fans last weekend. The Portuguese refused to celebrate his goal at the Bernabeu, Real’s fifth in a 5-1 thrashing of Granada and his 21st of the campaign, after a section of the home support again expressed their frustration with his performance. There appears to be a perception among some of the Real faithful that the world’s most expensive player can be too selfish and that he is more concerned with personal success than collective triumph. Coach Jose Mourinho and his team mates have rallied behind Ronaldo and he was given a resounding vote of confidence by honorary Real president Alfredo Di Stefano in the 85-year-old’s latest newspaper column published on Thursday. “We should support him because he could not put in any more effort, he gives everything to the team,” Di Stefano wrote in sports daily Marca. “The Portuguese is an example to follow and his success is the result of a great deal of work,” added the former Real player and coach. Real can stretch their lead over second-placed Barcelona to eight points with a win in Mallorca, with the champions, who drew 1-1 at local rivals Espanyol last weekend, not playing at home against Real Betis until Sunday. Barca’s form at their Nou Camp arena has been almost impeccable, winning eight and drawing one of their nine games and scoring 39 goals without reply, but they have taken only 13 points from a possible 24 away from home. Coach Pep Guardiola, whose side are chasing a fourth consecutive La Liga title, said on Wednesday the team’s patchy performances on their travels could cost them the league. “Away from home we don’t have the numbers to be champions and we must be more ambitious,” he told a news conference ahead of Barca’s King’s Cup last-16, second leg at Osasuna later on Thursday.“The reliability we have at home is harder to achieve away but we’re ready to fight for the remaining 63 points.” Valencia, four points behind Barca in third, host struggling Real Sociedad on Saturday. While fourth-placed Levante, the season’s surprise package, play at Athletic Bilbao on Sunday.

Proteas beat Sri Lanka by 258 runs in 1st ODI

Sri Lanka crashed to 43 all out to equal the fourth lowest total in one-day international history on Wednesday and lose by a huge 258-run margin to South Africa in the opening game of their five-match series. Morne Morkel took 4-10 and Lonwabo Tsotsobe 3-19 to rip through Sri Lanka s lineup as South Africa won by the third biggest victory margin by runs in ODIs after having made 301-8 batting first. Sri Lanka lost Upul Tharanga off the second ball of the innings and opening partner Tillakaratne Dilshan off the eighth both for ducks in a terrible start for the tourists on the way to their lowest-ever ODI score. Wickets tumbled rapidly with Dinesh Chandimal out in the fourth over. Kumar Sangakkara and Angelo Mathews fell within three balls in the fifth, and Mahela Jayawardene flashed a cut shot straight to Faf du Plessis at point in the eighth as the tourists fell to 13-6. Kosala Kulasekara top-scored with 19 in just his second ODI and was the only player to reach double figures for Sri Lanka. The ninth-wicket pair of Kosala and Nuwan Kulasekara were needed to drag Sri Lanka past the lowest-ever total of 35, set when Sri Lanka bowled out Zimbabwe in 2004. But left-arm spinner Robin Peterson picked up two late wickets to take 2-5 and end the Sri Lankan innings in just 20.1 overs. Earlier, Hashim Amla s 112 drove South Africa to its big total, despite Sri Lanka fast bowler Lasith Malinga claiming 5-53. Amla shared a 144-run partnership with Jacques Kallis (72) and a 91-run stand with AB de Villiers (52) after Malinga struck in the third over to remove Graeme Smith. Amla hit eight fours for 112 off 128 deliveries his ninth ODI hundred and De Villiers made a rapid half-century off just 40 balls in his first game as ODI skipper. But Malinga returned with a typically devastating spell near the end to remove Amla, Albie Morkel (25), Du Plessis and Dale Steyn to slow South Africa s scoring. Malinga dismissed Du Plessis and Steyn in the final over for his fifth five-wicket ODI haul as South Africa faded from 244-3 when De Villiers went. But the captain still led South Africa to its second-biggest win ever after batting first in a one-day international.

UEFA, Interpol team up to tackle fixing, violence

International police liaison agency Interpol has agreed to work with UEFA by sending support teams to police the 2012 European Championship in Poland and Ukraine. UEFA says its president Michel Platini met with Interpol secretary general Ronald Noble on Wednesday, and will soon sign a memorandum of understanding to formalize the working partnership. Interpol has previously committed to help football bodies prevent match-fixing worldwide. It signed a 10-year agreement with FIFA last year to create an education center in Singapore teaching players, referees and officials how to resist and report offers to corrupt matches.