Sporting briefs

Ince: Former England midfielder Paul Ince left his role as manager of League One club Notts County by mutual consent yesterday. Ince presided over County’s fifth successive defeat on Saturday as they lost 2-0 at home to Oldham and that proved the final straw for his employers. Notts County sit dangerously close to the relegation zone in 19th place.

Parma: Parma sacked coach Pasquale Marino following a 2-1 home defeat to rock bottom Bari. Marino was only hired in the off-season but with Parma just two points above the relegation zone the club acted. They have not won since January 22 and have lost their last three.

Welbeck: Sunderland manager Steve Bruce wants to make Danny Welbeck a permanent signing from Manchester United. The 20-year-old striker has had an outstanding first season on loan at Sunderland, and was rewarded last Tuesday with an England debut against Ghana. “I would love to buy him, but I don’t think that might be possible with the talent the kid’s got,” Bruce said.

Pato: Alexandre Pato had a very special dedication for his derby brace: his new girlfriend, the daughter of club owner Silvio Berlusconi. There have been reports that the striker is seeing Barbara Berlusconi and these were effectively confirmed on Saturday when she was cheering on from the stands. “Who did I dedicate the goals to? Well, you all saw who,” Pato told reporters before waving away further questions.

Hermann: Bayer Leverkusen assistant coach Peter Hermann has confirmed that he will be following manager Jupp Heynckes to Bayern Munich in the summer. Leverkusen had been hoping to convince Hermann to stay and work alongside their new coach Robin Dutt next season, but Hermann has decided not to extend his contract.

Palermo: Palermo president Maurizio Zamparini last night fired coach Serse Cosmi after just four games in charge. Cosmi has been replaced by the man he succeeded, Delio Rossi, who was only fired in February following a 7-0 defeat to Udinese. Palermo lost three of their four matches under Cosmi but two weeks ago beat Milan. However the club have lost six of the last seven games, including the last three of Rossi’s previous reign.

Tennis: Novak Djokovic’s unbeaten start to 2011 continued in Miami last night as the in-form Serbian player came from a set down to beat world number one Rafael Nadal, of Spain, in a thrilling final of the Sony Ericsson Open. The world no. 2 won 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7/4) to pick up his 24th straight win this year, backing up his Indian Wells final win over Nadal a fortnight ago.

Cricket: Sri Lankan spin king Muttiah Muralitharan will play two seasons of domestic cricket in New Zealand after ending his international career in the World Cup final, a report in the Australian media said yesterday. Muralitharan bowed out of the international game after Sri Lanka lost Saturday’s World Cup final to India. However, he has promised former Black Caps captain Stephen Fleming he will play for Wellington, the Herald reported.

Boxing: Germany’s world champion Marco Huck retained his WBO cruiserweight title with a unanimous points victory over Israel’s Ran Nakash late Saturday in Halle, Germany. The 26-year-old Huck defended his title for the sixth time and was awarded the fight by all three judges, but had struggled early on against Nakash, who had only 10 days to prepare for the fight.

Rugby Sevens: New Zealand extended their World Series lead after winning the final of the Adelaide Sevens yesterday. The Hong Kong Sevens champions beat two-time Ade-laide winners South Africa 28-20 in the final at the Adelaide Oval after leading 14-10 at half-time. New Zealand’s victory increased their World Series lead to 13 points over England with two legs to play, in London on May 21-22 and Edinburgh a week later.