SPORTS NEWS

Didier Drogba struck twice as Chelsea beat Arsenal 2-0 on Sunday to return to the top of the English Premier League table, on 58 points - two clear of Manchester United.

Arsenal are nine points adrift, and their title challenge is surely over; indeed, were they to lose to Liverpool on Wednesday they would be only two points above fourth.

Ashwin Sundar continued to dominate the showpiece Formula 1600 category by winning the weekend's first race and finishing third in the next for which the organisers employed the reverse grid to infuse an element of competition in the MRF Challenge series here Sunday.

Neither the presence of former National champion Gaurav Gill and Australian Christ Wootton nor 20Kgs ballast nor the reverse grid could stop 20-year old Sundar from dominating the proceedings.

Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar Sunday met Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray to urge him not to oppose the participation of Australian cricketers in the forthcoming Indian Premier League (IPL).

Specially flying down to Mumbai from Aurangabad, Pawar called on Thackeray at the latter's residence Matoshri, where they were closeted for over two hours.

Three bogeys and just one birdie saw Jeev Milkha Singh's hopes of a top-10 finish at the Dubai Desert Classic end prematurely Sunday.

Jeev, ninth overnight, found bogeys on the second and ninth and from there on, he struggled to stay in the hunt. He had one birdie on 10th and a bogey on 16th for a 74 that saw him finish the week in tied 15th place.

Some of the players are peeved at the "arbitrary" decision taken by Hockey India (HI) in appointing Rajpal Singh as captain after the team management announced that Prabhjot Singh would lead the Indian team in the World Cup starting here Feb 28.

A couple of seniors are planning to raise the issue at the daily strategy meeting before the practise session. The meeting normally is held late in the night. The team had a day off Sunday and would begin the camp Monday.

India's Chinnswamy Muniyappa and compatriot Arjun Atwal are all geared up for a title assault on home soil at the inaugural 1.5 million euros Avantha Masters golf beginning February 11.

Muniyappa, last year's Hero Honda Indian Open champion and Atwal, a former Asian Tour number one, will be part of the strong Indian challenge alongside two-time Asian number one Jeev Milkha Singh and Jyoti Randhawa at the DLF Golf and Country Club.

More than 5,000 people wore their running shoes on a warm Sunday for the Mawana Sugars Indian Open marathon here, with Deep Chand and Shukanya Mall winning the men's and women's sections respectively to each take home Rs.250,000 in prize money.

The marathon in its 21st edition, took the route that is proposed to be the course for the Commonwealth Games marathon, beginning from Princess Place.

Elin Nordegren has reunited with her golfer husband Tiger Woods but she is not sporting her wedding ring.

After spending six weeks at the Pine Grove Behavioral Health and Addiction Services Center for his sex addiction, Woods has returned home to mend his marriage. Nordegren is giving him another chance to try to work on their relationship, reports okmagazine.com.