Atletico: Atletico Madrid's new coach Quique Sanchez Flores is seeking his first league win when they host Espanyol tomorrow. They are 18th in the standings with the worst defensive record in La Liga. "We know we have to improve a lot, starting with the defence, but we must keep calm. We are getting better but still have a long way to go," Czech defender Tomas Ujfalusi said.

Planus: Bordeaux defender Marc Planus says a lucrative offer from another club could persuade him to leave the champions. "I'll say it loud and clear, I love money," Planus was quoted as saying. "It's not football above all. I'm not the type to leave a club after six months but I am a player capable of going to Qatar."

Pennant: English winger Jermaine Pennant could return for Real Zaragoza at home to Osasuna tomorrow. The former Liverpool player has missed Zaragoza's last three games with a torn muscle.

Hangeland: Fulham's highly rated Norwegian central defender Brede Hangeland has signed a new contract until 2013. "He is an extremely important player for us and a model professional, so we are all very happy that he will be at Fulham for the long term," manager Roy Hodgson said. The 28-year-old Norway captain has been linked with a number of high profile clubs after a series of impressive performances since joining Fulham in Jan. 2008.

Bias claims: Champions Levski Sofia want the Bulgarian Football Union to hold an extraordinary congress in January following what they believed was biased refereeing during Wednesday's league match against leaders Litex Lovech. Several Levski officials accused referee Nikolay Yordanov of bias after an ill-tempered 2-2 draw against Litex which left them eight points adrift of the leaders after 13 matches.

Flu bug: Czech league leaders FK Teplice said they would skip tomorrow's match against Viktoria Pilsen as five of their players caught the A(H1N1) flu. Teplice, a surprise leader topping the league table with 32 points from 15 games, lost the first game this season last Monday as the devastated team was thrashed 6-2 at Olomouc.

Division Three: Sta Luċija vs Xgħajra 0-1; Swieqi vs Sirens 0-4.

Cricket: India thumped Sri Lanka by an innings and 144 runs on the fourth day of the second cricket Test in Kanpur yesterday to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series. It was the 100th Test victory for India and the biggest against Sri Lanka, bettering the previous win by an innings and 119 runs achieved way back in 1994 at Lucknow.

Badminton: Chinese women's world no.1 Wang Yihan will skip next month's Super Series Masters finals in Malaysia and represent her country in the East Asian Games instead. Wang was the top qualifier for the prestigious season-ending event with five Super Series victories this year but would participate in the East Asian Games in Hong Kong as the dates overlapped.

Figure skating: Former world champion Brian Joubert's preparations for the Winter Olympics were dealt a blow this week when the French figure skater was forced to pull out of next month's ISU Grand Prix final in Tokyo with a right foot injury. Joubert suffered the injury in training in the French city of Poitiers and the French Skating Federation (FFSG) said he will miss the December 3-6 meeting.

Racing: Hurdle racing will end in the Australian state of Victoria after the 2010 season. The decision follows a series of deaths that blighted this year's jumps season. Racing Victoria Limited (RVL) said a programme of high-weight races will be scheduled for the 2011 season to help jumps jockeys, trainers and horses make the transition to non-hurdle racing.

Tennis: Jelena Dokic will play at the Hobart International as she fine tunes her preparations for next year's Australian Open. Dokic, 26, beat three seeded players on her way to the quarter-finals of this year's Australian Open. The Hobart tournament runs from Jan. 8-16, with the Australian Open beginning on Jan. 18.

Golf: Tiger Woods, 33, has been released from hospital after being injured in a car accident in Florida last night, a local Florida mayor told CNN. Windermere Mayor Gary Bruhn said he believed Woods had been released. "Basically it was facial lacerations, and as I'm understanding it, nothing that serious," Bruhn said. The Orlando Sentinel, citing the Florida Highway Patrol, said earlier that Woods's car struck a fire hydrant and a tree in Florida's Isleworth community, near Orlando.

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