Anderson urges England team to win the Ashes for Freddie

LONDON - Fast bowler James Anderson and his England pals are desperate to give all rounder Andrew Flintoff the ultimate farewell - an Ashes victory. Flintoff is fit again, after his chronic knee injury kept him out of the Fourth Test defeat at Headingley, and all set for his last hurrah.

Cardinals’ 3-2 win over Dodgers

LOS ANGELES — Rick Ankiel put St. Louis ahead with a two-run homer in the seventh inning, and Chris Carpenter pitched eight innings of five-hit ball in the Cardinals’ ninth victory in 10 games, 3-2 over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Monday night.

Sania Mirza misery continues; fails to qualify for Rogers Cup

TORONTO - India’s Sania Mirza couldn’t make it to the main draw of the high-profile $2 million Rogers Cup women’s tennis tournament, failing to clear the second and final qualifying round.

Murray wears down Del Potro to lift Montreal title

MONTREAL - Andy Murray used superior fitness to triumph in a heated two and three-quarter-hour struggle over Argentine Juan Del Potro to win the Montreal Masters title 6-7 (4-7), 7-6 (7-3), 6-1.

Yang shatters the Tiger mystique in PGA, at last!

CHASKA, Minn. — The scene seemed surreal, mostly because somehow we never expected to see it. Tiger Woods had been so great for so long that the idea of anyone — much less the late-blooming son of South Korean vegetable farmers — coming from behind to beat him when it really mattered bordered on preposterous. And it was once again proved that, Tiger is a human after all. err.

Football week roundup: Man U wins, Liverpool succumbs and Barcelona survives

LONDON — Wayne Rooney fired defending champion Manchester United to a 1-0 victory over promoted Birmingham on Sunday, while Liverpool slumped to a 2-1 defeat at Tottenham.

Bolt times sports history to 9.58s in 100m race

BERLIN - Usain Bolt produced one of the greatest moments in world sport when he lowered the 100 metres world record to an astonishing 9.58 seconds for the world title Sunday night.

Wenger hopes to win title with Arsenal

LONDON - Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has said that he can win the Premier League title again with Arsenal, and that is the reason why he turned down an offer from Real Madrid.

Clijsters marches into quarters, Pennetta pounds Venus

CINCINNATI - Kim Clijsters reached a Women Tennis Association (WTA) quarter-final for the first time since early 2007 as her comeback to tennis continued full throttle at the Cincinnati Open.

Federer, Nadal reach Montreal quarter-finals in style

MONTREAL - Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal resumed their dominance in tennis, with the top two seeds powering into the quarter-finals of the Montreal Masters.

Phelps escapes two-vehicle crash unhurt

WASHINGTON - Michael Phelps escaped uninjured after being involved in an auto accident in downtown Baltimore.

Beckham rules out Premier League comeback

LOS ANGELES - England footballer David Beckham has squashed reports of possible comeback in the English Premier League (EPL).

Tiger Woods cruising through PGA

CHASKA, Minn. — Excitement is overrated when Tiger Woods plays like this.

Younis Khan refuses to resign over Sri Lanka debacle

LAHORE - Accepting responsibility for humiliating defeats both in the Test and One-Day series in Sri Lanka, Pakistan captain Younis Khan has said he would not succumb to pressure to resign.

Man City in race for Premier League title: Gerrard

LONDON - Steven Gerrard believes that Manchester City could be Premier League title challengers this season. The Liverpool captain said: “They have made everyone sit up and take notice. They’re definitely going to be gunning for that top four.”

US fails before Mexico 2-1 in World cup qualifier

MEXICO CITY — Once again, the United States failed to hold a lead in a key game — and failed to earn its first win south of the border. Leading 1-0 after nine minutes on Charlie Davies’ goal in Wednesday’s World Cup qualifier against Mexico, the U.S. lost 2-1 with Israel Castro equalizing in the 19th on a wicked 27-yard shot, then Miguel Sabah driving home the winner from short range in the 82nd.

11 trivia about England football you did not know!

LONDON - As the English football season gets under way, the Daily Star has picked out 11 bits of the trivia from a book, called Why England Lose And Other Curious Football Phenomena Explained…

Billie Jean King would like to correct Obama

WASHINGTON - Tennis legend Billie Jean King has said that President Obama got it all wrong about her accomplishments when he said that she had won 12 Grand Slam titles, 101 doubles titles, 67 singles titles. King, who was presented with the Medal of Freedom Wednesday, said Obama didn’t get any of it right.

“Golf is a bourgeois sport”: Chavez

13 Facts and figures for the PGA Championship

CHASKA, Minn. — A brief look at the 91st PGA Championship, which starts Thursday (all times EDT):

Pietersen’s comeback hit by infection

LONDON - Kevin Pietersen’s chances of returning to the England side suffered a blow due to an infection following his Achilles heel surgery last month.

Saina effortlessly reaches Round three of World Badminton Championships

HYDERABAD - Saina Nehawal, India’s badminton hope in the women’s singles at the World Badminton Championships, advanced to the third round with a straight sets victory over Russian Anastasia Prokopenko.

Langer shattered with e-mail leak that humiliated english players

LONDON - Former Australian Test batsman Justin Langer was shattered after the leak of his secret dossier to the Australian team on what he felt about the England players.

Shah Rukh’s decision to sack me shocking: Buchanan

BRISBANE - Former Kolkata Knight Riders’ coach John Buchanan Wednesday said team owner Shah Rukh Khan’s decision to sack him came as a “shock and a disappointment”.

Jessica Schipper sets women’s 100m butterfly shortcourse record

HOBART, Australia — Jessicah Schipper set a shortcourse world record for the women’s 100-meter butterfly at the Australian championships. The 22-year-old Schipper was timed in 55.68 seconds Wednesday, beating the mark of 55.74 set by fellow Australian Libby Trickett last year.

Denise Lewis has ‘Perfect Athletic Body’: Poll

LONDON - Olympic champ Denise Lewis has the ‘Perfect Athletic Body‘, according to a new poll. The British athlete, who won the gold medal at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, topped the Maximuscle poll, reports the Daily Star.

Ramirez homers; Dodgers beat Giants 9-1

SAN FRANCISCO — Manny Ramirez shrugged off his big night and quickly turned his attention elsewhere: Tim Lincecum.

Fergie fumes over Chelsea’s foul play

LONDON - A furious Manchester United manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, accused Chelsea players of foul play on Sunday and blasted referee Chris Foy for failing to send off German captain Michael Ballack at Wembley.

Barcelona keen to buy Arsenal’s Fabregas, but won’t overbid

BARCELONA - Barcelona is lining up a mega bid for Arsenal skipper Cesc Fabregas, but the team management has said that it will not go broke in trying to meet the Gunner’s demands.

F-1 maestro Michael Schumacher to test drive with his old Ferrari

FRANKFURT —Seven-time Formula One champion Michael Schumacher plans to test drive an old Ferrari model again as he prepares for his planned comeback later this month.

Brit fans taunted Strauss as England plunged to disastrous defeat

LEEDS - Fans of English cricket taunted and booed captain Andrew Strauss as the host’s went down to the Australians by an innings and 80 runs in the fourth Ashes Test inside three days on Sunday. A section of the crowd sang a tribute to former skipper Michael Vaughan as Strauss’ side was hammered into submission.Strauss was also booed by a small pocket of fans.

Younis Khan rebuffs match-fixing allegations

KARACHI - Pakistan cricket captain Younis Khan has rebuffed match-fixing allegations levelled against his side saying that his team-mates earn well enough not to participate in corrupt practices for extra money.

Tiger wins 16th in 30 WGC events, rallying past Harrington to win Bridgestone Invitational

AKRON, Ohio —The W in WGC doesn’t stand for Woods. It just seems that way. Tiger Woods sailed a cloud-touching 8-iron to within a foot of the cup on No. 16 while leader Padraig Harrington was imploding with a triple-bogey, ending all the drama Sunday in yet another World Golf Championship win for Woods at the Bridgestone Invitational.

Holden’s late penalty kick lifts Dynamo over Fire 3-2

HOUSTON —Houston’s Stuart Holden converted a penalty kick in the 83rd minute, and the Houston Dynamo held off Chicago 3-2 on Sunday night to end the Fire’s five-match unbeaten streak. Houston (11-6-5) extended its lead in the Western Conference to seven points over Los Angeles, which has two games in hand. Chicago (8-4-8) missed a chance to draw within three points of Columbus in the East.

Roger Federer’s twin girls photo published!

ZURICH — Roger Federer has posted the first public photo of his twin girls on the Internet. Federer wrote below the photo on his Facebook account on Friday, thanking friends and fans for their warm wishes. He said: “The girls and mom are doing great.”