Sports Bar

Casey reaches Match Play final

Paul Casey ended the longest match of the week with a par on the 24th hole on Sunday to beat Camilo Villegas and advance to the final against Ian Poulter in the Match Play Championship. Villegas hooked his tee shot into the desert and was lucky to find the ball,which was in a bush 4 inches off the ground. He blasted it out into the fairway and wound up making a bogey. Casey and Villegas had exchanged a series of great shots and clutch putts through 23 holes Saturday until twilight made it too dark to continue.

India go down to North Korea

Defending champions India suffered their third straight defeat as they were blanked 3-0 by DPR Korea in their final Group B match in the AFC Challenge Cup in Colombo. The Indian under-23 boys had already been sent out of the competition after losing their first two matches. The winner of the eight-team tournament will book a berth in the 2011 Asian Cup in Doha.

Somdev in Dubai main draw

Somdev Devvarman qualified for the singles draw of the Dubai Tennis Championships after overcoming a first-set lapse to beat Belgian Dick Norman 3-6 7-6 (1) 6-1 in the second and final round of the qualifying event. In Delray Beach,Yuki Bhambri advanced to the second round of qualifying after beating Marcel Felder of Uruguay 6-4 6-3. Bhambri will next take on South African Davis Cup player Izak van der Merwe.

Federer out for two weeks

Roger Federer has withdrawn from the Dubai Championships because of a lung infection. Organisers said on Sunday that the top-ranked Swiss star picked up the infection last week and will miss the $2 million event,which starts Monday,for the second straight year. Federer,a four-time winner in Dubai,will rest for two weeks and is expected to return at Indian Wells from March 11. Jan Hernych replaces Federer in the main draw.

Sharapova breezes to title

Top-seed Maria Sharapova breezed to a 6-2 6-1 victory over Swedish qualifier Sofia Arvidsson to easily win the Memphis Championships title. The Russian did not drop a set during the tournament as she won her 21st career title. “I feel great. I came here for matches — I got five and I got the win,so it was a good week,” Sharapova said.

Barcelona cruise to stay top

Barcelona recovered from their first defeat in the Spanish league by cruising to a 4-0 victory over Racing Santander to stay top of the standings on Saturday. Andres Iniesta,Thierry Henry and Rafael Marquez posted first-half goals while Thiago scored his first as Barcelona opened a five-point overnight lead.