BARBOSA SEEDED FIRST IN PSC CHESS TILT
Grandmaster Oliver Barbosa will be the top seed player in the Philippine Sports Commission Cup International Chess Championship beginning today at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium in Adricatico, Manila.

BENITEZ CALLS FOR UNITED CHELSEA FRONT
STOKE, United Kingdom: Rafael Benitez has called on Chelsea to assemble a winning run and prove to the doubters that everything is going well at the club after his side swept past Stoke City 4-0. Blues supporters are still not onside with the Spaniard, who replaced Roberto Di Matteo as manager in November, and he felt the heat again at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday when they lost to Swansea in their League Cup semi-final first leg.

I’LL KNOCK YOU OFF, HEWITT WARNS TIPSAREVIC
MELBOURNE: A feisty Lleyton Hewitt Sunday warned his Australian Open first round opponent Janko Tipsarevic that he plans to “knock him off” after showing vintage form to win the Kooyong Classic. The tenacious veteran, 31, is bursting with confidence after demolishing Juan Martin Del Potro in the final of the warm-up tournament 6-1, 6-4 on Saturday, his third victory over top-15 opposition in the past week.

CHINA WOMEN WIN OLYMPIC RE-MATCH IN S. KOREA
SEOUL: In a rematch of their controversial London Olympic badminton encounter, China’s Yu Yang and Wang Xiaoli beat South Korea’s Jung Kyung-Eun and Kim Ha-Na Saturday to reach the Korea Open women’s doubles final. The top-seeded Chinese duo overpowered the South Koreans 21-16, 21-11 for a comfortable straight sets win.

DEL PIERO CONJURES UP LATE WINNER FOR SYDNEY
SYDNEY: Italian maestro Alessandro Del Piero conjured up the assist as Sydney FC scored a stoppage-time winner to climb off the floor of Australia’s A-League standings on Sunday. Del Piero’s cross found an unmarked Rhyan Grant inside the penalty box. He headed home in the third minute of stoppage time to give struggling Sydney FC a 2-1 win over Melbourne Heart at home. AFP