Zulte Waregem's Tim Matthy (r) vies with Newcastle's Titus Bramble during their UEFA Cup first round knockout match at St. James' Park on Thursday.

NEWCASTLE, UK, Feb. 23--Newcastle made heavy weather of beating Zulte-Waregem to secure their passage to the last 16 of the UEFA Cup, reported BBC.
Obafemi Martins scored the second-leg winner, delicately lifting the ball over keeper Sammy Bossut to give the Magpies a 4-1 win on aggregate. Newcastle, who will now meet AZ Alkmaar, had failed to force Bossut to make a serious save prior to the goal.
The Belgian side threatened in the first half but Titus Bramble and Steven Taylor thwarted their attacks. Arguably Waregem had suffered stage fright in the first leg but there were no nerves on show at James’ Park, with Stijn Meert orchestrating the visitors’ attacks with some style.
Meert provided the pass of the game, releasing Sebastien Siani, only for Bramble to deliver the tackle of the game, sliding in to take the ball away from the Cameroonian striker.
Just before the interval Steven Taylor proved equally diligent in stopping Wouter Vandendriessche from shooting in a dangerous position, with another well-judged tackle.
Taylor had had Newcastle’s first chance of the game--a header that was cleared off the line by Meert.
James Milner was Newcastle’s most effective player in those opening minutes, crossing for Albert Luque, who was unable to get a decisive touch on the ball.
Milner’s next contribution was to shoot narrowly over the bar, while a Kieron Dyer effort proved too powerful for Bossut, who needed two attempts to get hold of the ball.
Newcastle’s early momentum gradually dissipated as Meert took charge in midfield and Waregem visibly grew in confidence.
Early in the second half Vandendriessche had the honor of forcing the first save of the game as Steve Harper pushed away his swerving shot.
Bart Buysse missed a wonderful opportunity to put the visitors ahead when the Waregem defender connected with Tim Matthys’ free-kick only to head wide.

Andy Murray

MEMPHIS, USA,
Feb. 23--Venus Williams, playing her first tournament since October after recovering from a left wrist injury, advanced to the Cellular South Cup semifinals by beating Laura Granville 7-6 (2), 6-4 on Thursday.
The five-time Grand Slam champion, seeking her 34th career victory, will face 17-year-old Romanian qualifier Ioana Raluca Olaru, who led fourth-seeded Samantha Stosur of Australia 5-1 when Stosur retired because of a viral Condition, said AP.
In the other quarterfinals, defending champion Sofia Arvidsson of Sweden was knocked out in 40 minutes by Meilen Tu of the United States 6-0, 6-2.
Shahar Peer, a tournament top seed for the first time, put away Bethanie Mattek of the United States 6-0, 6-3 and extended a fine year with her second semifinals beside her first Grand Slam quarterfinals in Melbourne. Peer plays Tu on Friday.
In men’s play, top-seeded Andy Roddick and defending champion Tommy Haas of Germany advanced to the Regions Morgan Keegan quarterfinals. Roddick beat Benjamin Becker 7-6 (4), 6-4, and Haas edged Amer Delic 7-6 (2), 7-6 (5).
Roddick had a near-flawless serve in the second set, winning 20 of 21 points. He won 16 straight after breaking Becker to go up 2-1.
“I thought I outplayed him from the baseline for the most part,“ Roddick said. “And I started hitting my forehand a lot better in the tiebreaker and through the second set.“ Haas scraped by Delic in a second-round match without any
break points. Second-seeded Haas was out-aced 11-7 but the German’s experience trumped Delic, who has never won consecutive matches in five years on the ATP tour.
“It came down to the tiebreaks and I just won a couple of big points here and there,“ Haas said. “He almost came back in the second one. It was a close match.“ Third-seeded Andy Murray downed Kristian Pless 6-3, 7-6 (4), repeating his victory over the Dane last week en route to retaining the title in San Jose, California. Murray broke Pless only once in 11 chances.
Fourth-seeded Mardy Fish of the United States reached his fourth successive quarterfinals this year notching 22 aces in beating Argentine teen Juan Martin del Potro 6-1, 7-6 (9). “It’s as good as I can serve,“ Fish said.

LONDON, Feb. 23--Sevilla kept its UEFA Cup title defense on track while 2005 champion CSKA Moscow was eliminated and Ajax’s poor European season finally ended on Thursday, said AP.
Sevilla had a comfortable 3-0 aggregate victory over Steaua Bucharest to reach the final 16. Striker Aleksandr Kerzhakov scored the only goal of the second leg when he headed past goalkeeper Cornel Cernea in first-half injury time off a cross from Andreas Hinkel.
The match marked a disappointing return for Steaua to Sevilla’s Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan stadium, where it lifted the European Cup in 1986 by beating FC Barcelona on penalties.
Three other Spanish clubs also made the fourth round--Osasuna, Celta Vigo and Espanyol.
CSKA Moscow lost 1-0 to Maccabi Haifa to exit by the same aggregate score, and while Ajax beat Werder Bremen 3-1, it couldn’t overcome its 3-0 first-leg loss.
AZ Alkmaar, Bayer Leverkusen, Newcastle, Benfica, Shakhtar Donetsk, Rangers, Paris Saint-Germain, Lens and Braga also advanced. But no Italian teams qualified after Parma and Livorno lost.
Leonardo, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar and Ryan Babel scored for Ajax in Amsterdam, but it wasn’t enough to stop the German club advancing. The loss was the culmination of a poor European campaign for Ajax, which failed to qualify for the Champions League group stage. Ajax won the last of its four European Cup titles in 1995; it also won the 1992 UEFA Cup.
Ajax’s elimination leaves AZ Alkmaar as the only Dutch club in the final 16-- Feyenoord was kicked out of the competition for crowd violence, which advanced its scheduled opponent, Tottenham.
AZ rallied to draw 2-2 with Turkish club Fenerbahce for a 5-5 aggregate, and advanced on away goals. Maarten Martens and Barry Opdam scored in the second half to counter first-half Fenerbahce goals from Tumer Metin and Alex.
“In the first half, we were losing the ball, we just played badly,“ AZ coach Louis van Gaal said. “We came back a different side in the second half, unbelievable.“ Maccabi Haifa beat CSKA 1-0 in Israel after a 0-0 draw in Moscow. Israel international Roberto Colautti scored the winner in the 14th minute from close range after CSKA goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev had stopped a shot from Alain Masudi.

SYDNEY, Australia, Feb. 23--Australia fast bowler Brett Lee has been ruled out of next month’s World Cup with an ankle injury.
The 30-year-old will be replaced in their 15-man squad by New South wales teammate Stuart Clark, who took 26 wickets in the recent Ashes series. Lee injured ligaments in his left ankle last week while training, said BBC.
“It is a great disappointment for Brett Lee and it is a significant blow for our planning and preparation,“ said chief selector Andrew Hilditch.
“However, it does give a tremendous opportunity for Stuart Clark, who was extremely unlucky to miss out on initial selection.“
Lee, who has 267 wickets from 150 one-day internationals--22 of them taken during the 2003 World Cup in South Africa, will not be able to resume bowling for two to three months.
“There’s too much pain there--there was absolutely no chance of me playing in the World Cup,“ he commented.
Formal approval for Clark’s inclusion has still to be given by the International Cricket Council but that is certain to be a formality--and Lee sent him a good luck message after his injury prognosis was confirmed by team doctor Trefor James.
“It’s really disappointing for Brett. He’s a friend in the team and a friend outside of the team as well. It’s hollow, but I’m still excited about going to the World Cup,“ said Clark.
A number of leading figures in Australian cricket, including former fast bowler Geoff Lawson, had criticized the original decision to leave him out of the squad.
“He knows where every ball is going, he is a guy who understands his tactics and he is a leader in that side,“ said Lawson.
“He’s the kind of guy they need out on the park to help in a crisis. It’s not just his bowling that is beneficial, it’s his cricket knowledge.“

MADRID, Spain,
Feb. 23--Spanish league leaders Barcelona will be looking to avoid a third consecutive defeat when they travel to struggling Athletic Bilbao on Sunday, reported AFP.
“We know we lost to Valencia (last Sunday) and now Liverpool, that’s the reality, but we now have to keep on working, trying to improve,“ said Barca coach Frank Rijkaard after their shock Champions League defeat to the Englishmen.
The Catalan club are still in pole position as they bid for their third straight La Liga crown but a recent rocky run of form has meant they are top from Sevilla on goal difference.
“Perhaps we are getting too predictable,“ said Barca’s Mexican defender Rafa Marquez. “Teams have learnt how to play against us, and how to contain Ronaldinho better, although they usually have to commit fouls to do it.
“The team is aware of this and we are working on some new plays or changing our positions.“ Liverpool coach Rafa Benitez admitted that one of the few moments he was worried during Wednesday’s win was when Rijkaard moved Barca’s Argentine teenager wonderkid Lionel Messi to the left wing from the opposite flank.
Messi, having played 90 minutes without any reaction against English Premiership side, is now set to start his first domestic league game since he sustained a broken foot in November.

SAPPORO, Japan, Feb. 23--Norway’s Jens Arne Svartedal won the nordic skiing men’s individual sprint title after compatriot Astrid Jacobsen claimed a surprise gold in the women’s event at the world championships here on Thursday, said AFP.
Svartedal, the 2005 world silver medalist, clocked 3min 03.8sec over 1.4km to come in 0.2sec ahead of Swede Mats Larsson with Norwegian Eldar Roenning at 0.8. Olympic champion Bjoern Lind of Sweden finished fourth at 1.2sec.
“The championships couldn’t have gotten off to a better start for Norway,“ said Svartedal.
“It’s important after what happened at the Turin Olympics (just two medals for the men). The pressure has been great since then.“ Thursday’s sprint events were dominated by Scandinavians with three Swedes and two Norwegians among the six finalists in the men’s event.
Earlier 20-year-old Jacobsen, the 2006 world junior sprint champion, covered the 1.2km distance in 2min 50.9sec to finish 0.2sec ahead of Slovenia’s Petra Majdic with favorite and world number one Virpi Kuitunen of Finland having to settle for bronze after crossing at 0.3sec.
“I’m very surprised because my aim today was just to get to the finals,“ said Jacobsen. “When I qualified for the finals I said to myself that everything else was just a bonus.“ Jacobsen, competing in her first season on the senior world
circuit, won silver in the sprint event at Otepaeae, Estonia last month.

NEW YORK, Feb. 23--New Zealand’s David Tua extended his winning streak to five bouts and remained in contention for a world heavyweight title fight, outpointing Robert Hawkins in a 10-round fight at Roseland Ballroom on Thursday.
According to AP, Tua, who weighed in at 241 pounds (109 kilograms), improved to 47-3-1. Hawkins, an American who also weighed in at 241, dropped to 21-7.
“Winning the world championship is the only thing that matters and I’m going to do everything in my power to reach that goal,“ the 34-year-old Tua said.
Tua has victories over Oleg Maskaev, the current WBC titlist, as well as three former champions in Michael Moorer, Hasim Rahman and John Ruiz.
“Two or three more fights and I’ll be ready,“ Tua said. “I am putting everything aside to concentrate on my goal.“

Tiger Woods

TUCSON, USA, Feb. 23--World No. 1 Tiger Woods cruised into the third round of the eight million-dollar WGC Match Play Championship Thursday with a 5 and 4 victory over South African Tim Clark, said AFP.
Woods won the first hole and was never threatened, although he failed in his first opportunity to close out the match, arriving at the 13th hole 6-up only to see Clark claim the hole with his first birdie of the day.
It only delayed the inevitable as Woods remained on course to claim his eighth US PGA Tour-sanctioned event in as many starts.
Masters champion Phil Mickelson, however, bowed out in the second round at the hands of England’s Justin Rose. Rose downed the American 3 and 1 to set up a clash with American Charles Howell, a 4 and 3 winner over Spain’s Sergio Garcia.
Trinidad-born Canadian Stephen Ames edged Vijay Singh in 19 holes. Singh won the 17th and 18th to extend the match before Ames closed it out to set up a meeting with Stewart Cink. Cink beat Ireland’s Padraig Harrington 1-up.
England’s Ian Poulter booked his spot in the final 16 with a 3 and 1 victory over Bradley Dredge of Wales. Poulter, 31, never trailed Dredge, who won the ninth and 12th holes with birdies to claw back to all square, only to lose the next two holes.
Poulter considered himself lucky not to lose the par-five first. “I made a cheeky par, rolled in a 20-footer,“ he said. “He was probably expecting to go 1-up. I was over the moon to walk away with a half.
“It was a great game. I think I had six birdies and no bogeys, and that’s pretty tricky to play against.“ Poulter’s third round opponent will be South African Trevor Immelman, who dusted off American Ryder Cup player Chris DiMarco 3 and 1.
Defending champion Geoff Ogilvy of Australia also advanced, defeating Jose Maria Olazabal of Spain 2 and 1. Ogilvy, the reigning US Open champion, next meets Sweden’s
Niclas Fasth, who defeated South African Retief Goosen 1-up.