Klopp: Borussia Dortmund coach Jurgen Klopp signed a two-year contract extension with the Bundesliga leaders which will keep him in the Ruhr valley until at least 2014. The 43-year-old is enjoying a stellar season at the helm of Dortmund who are seven points clear of second-placed Mainz in the league.
Lee: South Korean international Lee Chung-yong has signed a lengthy contract extension with Premier League club Bolton. The new deal ties the winger to the Lancashire club till 2013.
Harewood: Blackpool striker Marlon Harewood is set to be sidelined for up to six weeks after suffering a hamstring injury in training ahead of the Premier League match against Bolton tomorrow.
Sunderland: Sunderland were dealt a major setback yestersday when it was announced they would be without injured central defenders Titus Bramble and Michael Turner until the New Year at the earliest. Bramble underwent surgery to repair damaged knee cartilage yesterday and Turner had damaged knee ligaments in Monday's 2-2 Premier League draw with Everton and could be sidelined for months.
Cluj: Romanian champions Cluj announced yesterday the sacking of coach Sorin Cartu after he kicked down the visiting team dugout during a Champions League match at Basel. Cartu's moment of madness came as his side were crashing out of the competition on Tuesday on the back of a 1-0 loss to the Swiss side.
Coppa Italia: Fourth round – Lazio vs AlbinoLeffe 3-0; Cagliari vs Bologna 0-3; Catania vs Brescia 5-1.
Boxing: Chinese policewoman Ren Cancan went down in the history books yesterday as the first woman to win an Asian Games boxing title by defeating Annie Albania of the Philippines 7-5. Flyweight Ren, who is the reigning world champion, has been in devastating form throughout the Games and disposed of India’s highly-decorated Mary Kom in Wednesday’s semis as she surged towards the decider.
Rugby Union: Southern hemisphere stars dominated the contenders for the International Rugby Board (IRB) player of the year award announced yesterday, with France No. 8 Imanol Harinordoquy the lone European on a six-man shortlist. New Zealand captain Richie McCaw was joined by team-mate Mils Muliaina. The Australia duo of full-back Kurtley Beale and flanker David Pocock were also in contention as was South Africa lock and Springbok cap record-holder Victor Matfield.
Basketball: Manu Ginobili scored 26 points, 14 of them in the fourth quarter, and the NBA-leading San Antonio Spurs rallied from a 21-point deficit to defeat Minnesota 113-109 in over-time on Wednesday. The Spurs won their 12th game in a row, improving to 13-1 and stretching their Southwest division lead over New Orleans to two games. The Timberwolves, the NBA’s youngest team, fell to 4-12 with a 13th loss in a row to the Spurs.
Wrestling: Japanese freestyle wrestler Hiroyuki Ota won a silver medal in the 60kg class at the Asian Games, despite waging a courageous fight against cancer. Ota was diagnosed with thyroid cancer this summer, but the feisty 22-year old still decided to participate in the world championships in September. After the tournament, Ota immediately returned to Japan to have the tumour and his thyroid gland removed, but was soon back training for the Asian Games.