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Sharapova walkover as Davenport pulls out

AMELIA ISLAND, Florida (AP) — Lindsay Davenport withdrew from the Bausch Lomb Championships because of fever and aches before her semifinal on Saturday against Maria Sharapova.

This is the first time in her 16 years on the WTA Tour the three-time Grand Slam champion pulled out of an event because of sickness.

Davenport’s withdrawal means Sharapova gets a walkover into Sunday’s title match, her first ever final on clay.

Davenport’s illness may stem from the cold her 10-month-old son had this week. She said she began feeling sick after her quarterfinal victory.

I returned to my hotel where the tournament doctor came to see me, she said. Unfortunately, I was running a fever, had aches and pains and a headache. Those symptoms have worsened today.

Davenport already had decided to skip next week’s Family Circle Cup in Charleston, South Carolina.

The top-seeded Sharapova will play for the title against the winner of Saturday’s other semifinal, Alize Cornet or Dominika Cibulkova.

It’s obviously very strange coming onto the site and not being able to play the semifinal, Sharapova said.

Obviously, Lindsay woke up sick today, and you’re always ready to go out and play on court and compete. This was a little strange. This was actually the first time that I did get a walkover like that so late in the tournament.

Davenport won Bausch Lomb in 1997, 2004 and 2005 and has a 14-match win streak at Amelia Island Plantation.

She has missed the tournament for the last two years because of a back injury and the birth of her son, Jagger. E-mail to a friend

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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Matthaeus to coach Israeli side

BERLIN, Germany (AP) — Former Germany star Lothar Matthaeus has signed a two-year contract to coach Israeli club Maccabi Netanya.

Maccabi board member Andreas Stamatiou said on Saturday that the 47-year-old Matthaeus will take over in mid-June.

The much-traveled Matthaeus’s previous stops include coaching Hungary, Salzburg and Atletico Paranaense.

I hope this will bring about a positive development in German-Israel relations, Stamatiou said.

And that Matthaeus can help the club take some steps forward in the next two years.

Maccabi lie second in the Israeli league, but well behind leader Beitar Jerusalem.

Matthaeus has been trying to establish himself as a top coach after an outstanding playing career.

He is currently trying to earn his FIFA pro license in Germany because the job requires passing an exam.

He captained Germany’s 1990 World Cup-winning team, was FIFA player of the year in 1991, and appeared in a record 150 internationals for his country. E-mail to a friend

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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Ronaldinho likely to switch to Milan

MILAN, Italy — Ronaldinho is likely to play for AC Milan next season, according to the Italian club and the player’s agent.

The Brazilian, who has had a disappointing season in Spain, will not play again this season because of a leg injury.

In general Ronaldinho and Milan are in agreement, his agent and brother Roberto de Assis was quoted as saying on the Gazzetta dello Sport Web site on Saturday.

Gazzetta reported that a deal up to 2012, worth eight million euros ($12.6 million) a year, was planned, but a few clauses were still to be settled.

Milan chief executive Adriano Galliani said: There is a general agreement with the player. Now a deal has to be reached with Barcelona. Give us time.

Milan are fifth in Serie A and in danger of missing next year’s Champions League after a poor season.

The European champions went out of this year’s Champions League when they lost to Arsenal in the first knockout round.

Ronaldinho has made few appearances as Carlo Ancelotti’s side have generally struggled to score.

Fellow striker Alberto Gilardino has rarely impressed and world player of the year Kaka has been below his best.

Ancelotti has, however, been assured that he will still be in his post next season. E-mail to a friend

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Mugabe pulls out of key meeting on election crisis

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (CNN) — Prospects of resolving Zimbabwe’s two-week-old election crisis appeared dim after a government spokesman said President Robert Mugabe would not attend a key weekend meeting with other regional leaders.

It is a reversal for Mugabe, who said Thursday he would attend the one-day summit in Lusaka, Zambia sponsored by the 15-member Southern African Development Community (SADC). The SADC called the summit to address Zimbabwe’s March 29 presidential vote, the results of which are still unknown.

Mugabe’s challenger, opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, plans to attend.

Tsvangirai held a face-to-face meeting Thursday evening with South African President Thabo Mbeki in Johannesburg. Details of the meeting were not released, but it comes amid growing pressure on South Africa to step in and help resolve the election.

Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic Change claims he won the election over Mugabe, but the Zimbabwean government has yet to announce the results.

An MDC spokesman said Thursday that Tsvangirai would not accept a run-off with Mugabe, if one was required, because Tsvangirai won the election.

Tendai Biti had previously said Tsvangirai would participate in a run-off but only under protest.

Without any official results, it is not known whether a presidential run-off is required.

We will not accept a run-off which is a mere run-off [of] people’s rights over people’s lives, Biti told a news conference. That is not acceptable.

The MDC is still hoping Zimbabwe’s High Court will find in its favor and compel the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission to release the presidential vote results. The court heard an MDC petition on the matter this week and a ruling is expected Monday. Watch how the political crisis has left ordinary Zimbabweans starving

Amid the dispute, the MDC and Zimbabwe’s national police said Tsvangirai’s lawyer was arrested Thursday, though neither was able to say on what charges the lawyer was being held.

Asked Friday why Mugabe decided not to attend the Zambia meeting, a spokesman said: Why would he go? What would he go as? What could he answer?

Spokesman Bright Matonga, Zimbabwe’s deputy minister of information, said that because Mugabe was a candidate he was — like everyone else — powerless to say when the results would be announced or what they would show.
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Ex-communist rebels ahead in Nepal poll

KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — Former rebels have won control in three out of five constituencies where vote-counting has been completed in an election for Nepal’s Constituent Assembly, the Election Commission said Saturday.

Early results from Thursday’s vote indicated the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoists) — who ended their 10-year insurgency in 2006 — could also be set to win control in 55 other constituencies where counting was still going on, the commission said.

Of the five constituencies counted by early Saturday, the Maoists had three seats, while the Nepali Congress and the Communist Party of Nepal (United Marxist-Leninist) each secured one, it said.

A complete count of votes in all 240 constituencies was expected to take several weeks.

The Maoists were already predicting victory in the election for the 601-seat assembly that will be responsible for writing Nepal’s new constitution.

We will get a clear majority in the final results, said Hisila Yami, a senior member of the Maoist party and a minister in the coalition government.

People have chosen us to lead the country, she said. This is a reflection of the people’s desire for a republic that our party has always stood for.

The election has been touted as the cornerstone of the 2006 peace deal struck between the government and the former rebels. The agreement followed months of unrest that forced Nepal’s king to cede absolute power.

Scattered shootings and clashes that killed two people on election day and eight others in the days leading up to the poll did not deter millions of Nepalis from casting ballots in Thursday’s vote in the Himalayan country’s first election in nine years.

None of the 54 parties vying for seats in the assembly is expected to win a landslide, and with 20,000 voting stations spread across the country — some a seven-day walk from the nearest paved road — officials said it could be several weeks before a complete tally is ready.

The Election Commission said there would be re-polling in at least 60 locations because of voting irregularities, and that number could rise as election complaints are investigated. Several candidates have claimed their supporters were barred from voting by rival groups and have complained of election fraud.

Of the 601 Constituent Assembly seats, 240 are directly elected by the population. Another 26 will later be appointed by the government, while the remaining 335 will be allotted to the parties under a proportional representation system.
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