Massive miss for Malaga

Malaga midfielder Joaquin Sanchez (L) fights for the ball with Real Zaragoza forward Luis Garcia during their Primera Liga tie at the La Romareda Stadium on Sunday.Photo: AFP

Big-spending Malaga squandered a golden opportunity to top La Liga for the first time on Sunday when they were held to a 0-0 draw at Real Zaragoza.

Malaga, who were taken over by billionaire Qatari Sheikh Abdullah al-Thani last year, saw a string of chances come and go with their best opening falling to Ruud Van Nistlerooy on eight minutes.

After being put through with a majestic pass by Joaquin Sanchez the Dutch veteran's shot was blocked by Zaragoza goalkeeper Roberto Jimenez.

The goalkeeper came to Zaragoza's rescue again in the last minute with a superb reflex save to keep out a header from substitute Seba Fernandez.

The draw left the Costa del Sol club in sixth place, level with Valencia and Real Madrid on 10 points, but two behind leaders Real Betis who play at Getafe on Monday.

Levante defeated nine-man Espanyol 3-1 to go third, a third win in three matches to illustrate their victory over Real Madrid last weekend was no fluke.

The modest Valencia-based club have 11 points, the same as second-placed Barcelona, and trail the champions only on goal difference after a week which also saw them beat Real 1-0 last Sunday and Rayo Vallecano 2-1 in midweek.

Levante went ahead in the 12th minute with the first of Ruben Suarez's two penalties, after Rui Fonte had tripped Juanlu Gomez.

Suarez scored again from the spot on 58 minutes after Jordi Amat had tripped him when he had a clear chance on goal. Amat was sent off and Espanyol were down to 10 men.

Hector Moreno pulled one back for Espanyol on 72 minutes but any hopes of a comeback were quickly dashed when Jose Barkero restored the two-goal advantage four minutes later.

Espanyol's misery was further compounded on 81 minutes when substitute Walter Pandiani was given a straight red card for an elbow in the face of Victoriano Rivas 'Nano'.

Mallorca got their first points since the opening weekend, beating Real Sociedad 2-1 at home to take some pressure of coach Michael Laudrup.

Victor Casadesus and Chori Castro came to Laudrup's rescue with goals in the 20th and 49th minutes after Imanol Agirretxe had put Sociedad ahead with a clever chip on 15 minutes.

The winner came when Castro drilled a powerful shot into the top right hand corner of the net after the Sociedad defence failed to clear a corner.

RESULTS
Real Mallorca 2 (Victor 20, Castro 50) Real Sociedad 1 (Agirretxe 15)
Levante 3 (Ruben Suarez 14-pen,

58-pen, Barkero 76)

Espanyol 1 (Moreno 72)
Grenada 1 (Rico 64) Osasuna 1

(Raul Garcia 29)
Sporting Gijon 0 Racing Santander 0
Real Zaragoza 0 Malaga 0

Jellyfish, currents cut short Cuba-to-Florida swim

Hindered by painful stings and strong currents, endurance swimmer Diana Nyad ended her latest attempt to swim from Cuba to Florida about two-thirds of the way through the crossing Sunday.
The 62-year-old Nyad suffered jellyfish and Portuguese man-of-war stings Saturday, while ocean cross-currents were pushing her off course, team captain Mark Sollinger said. She was pulled out of the water about 11 a.m. Sunday, about 67 nautical miles through the 103-nautical-mile passage.
Treading water before being helped out of the water, Nyad said the man-of-war stings had paralyzed some of the muscles in her back, given her chills and nausea. Doctors warned her she could suffer long-term health problems if she suffered another sting.
"I've never been in any pain, ever, like that in my whole life," she said, adding, "Now it's set me so far back, I just don't' have the lung capacity to swim the way I can."
Third time not charm for Diana Nyad
It was her third attempt to make the swim from Cuba to Florida. Her first, in 1978, was brought to an end by strong currents and bad weather after almost 42 hours in the water.
She made a second try in August, before she was pulled from the water after 60 miles and almost 29 hours of swimming. She blamed a shoulder injury she suffered early in the journey, and an 11-hour-long asthma attack.
Her latest attempt, accompanied by shark divers, began just after 6 p.m. Friday from Havana's Hemingway Marina. The former world champion swimmer projected the swim would take close to 60 hours.
There was a bit of excitement early Saturday afternoon as an oceanic whitetip shark swam near Nyad, but a diver on her team faced it off and it meandered away.
The swimmer improved her performance late Saturday morning after struggling to maintain her usual stroke rate, her support team said. Fortified by chicken soup, Nyad was making good progress until the Saturday evening incident.
Nyad got back in the water at 12:20 a.m. Sunday and swam for nearly 11 hours before packing it in.
"But for each of us, isn't life about determining your own finish line?" she said in a statement on her website. "This journey has always been about reaching your own other shore no matter what it is, and that dream continues."

Tiger Woods hires Joe LaCava as new caddie

LaCava (left) was working with Dustin Johnson during the Tour Championship

Tiger Woods has hired Joe LaCava as his new caddie as a replacement for New Zealander Steve Williams.

LaCava was the long-term bagman for Fred Couples, but the pair split in the summer after the veteran decided to reduce his playing schedule.

LaCava has since been with Dustin Johnson, with whom he was working at this week's Tour Championship.

"Joe is an outstanding caddie, and I have known him for many years," said 35-year-old Woods.

"I've personally seen the great job he did for Freddie. I'm anxious for us to be working together."
LaCava informed Johnson - who finished tied 23rd - of his decision after the final round of the Tour Championship on Sunday.

Woods, who has been without a caddie since severing ties with Steve Williams in July, also spoke to Johnson and Couples to alert him of the decision.

LaCava's first tournament with Woods will be the Frys.com Open from 6-9 October.

"I'm excited to be working with Tiger," LaCava said. "Tiger and I have been friends for a very long time, and I know what he can do.

"I want to thank Dustin for the opportunity to work with him, and I wish him nothing but the best."

New Zealander Williams carried Woods's bag for 13 of his 14 major wins, after joining the former world number one in 1999.

Woods's world ranking has slipped to 50th and he has not won a tournament since the 2009 Australian Masters.

New world record for Gebrselassie

Haile Gebrselassie broke his own world record as he won the Berlin Marathon for the third time in a row.

Gebrselassie mixed with amateur runners in Berlin before the race

The 35-year-old Ethiopian became the first man to run under two hours, four minutes as he clocked 2:03:59.
His time was nearly half a minute quicker than his previous record, set over the same course last year.
"I am so, so happy, everything was perfect, the weather was perfect, the spectators were perfect, everything - I am so happy," said Gebrselassie.
"Since I started running, Berlin is my lucky city."
James Kwambai went with the Ethiopian when he broke away just after the 33km mark but Gebrselassie stepped up the pace 6km out and the Kenyan wilted.
Gebrselassie, the first man to win the event three times, picked up £39,000 for the victory and the same amount for his world record.

His achievement was all the more impressive given that his training had been interrupted by a calf injury.
"Two weeks ago I had a bit of a problem with my calf muscle, but I took a week off," he said. "It gave me a few worries coming here, but I forgot about it as the race wore on.
"I knew before I came here I could do something special."
It is the sixth time the world record has been broken over the flat Berlin course.
Irina Mikitenko, who won the London Marathon earlier this year, won the women's race in a time of 2hrs 19mins 18secs.
It was a personal best for the German and the fastest time in the world this year.

Patrick Makau breaks Haile Gebrselassie's marathon world record in Berli

                                Makau won the Berlin race in 2010 when Gebrselassie did not enter

Patrick Makau retained the Berlin men's marathon title in a world record time.

The Kenyan finished in a time of two hours, three minutes and 38 seconds to shave 21 seconds off the record set by Haile Gebrselassie on the same course.

The Ethiopian great failed to finish having experienced apparent stomach problems around the 27km mark.

"In the morning my body was not good but, after I started the race, it started reacting very well. I started thinking about the record," said Makau.

GEBRSELASSIE'S RECORD AT BERLIN MARATHON

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• 2006 - First in 2:05.56 (fastest time of year)
• 2007 - First in 2:04.26 (world record)
• 2008 - First in 2:03.59 (world record)
• 2009 - First in 2:06.08
• 2010 - Did not compete

"I didn't have any problems in the race. Last year I had some problems with my soles inside my shoe, but today everything went very well."

Gebrselassie, the 38-year-old double Olympic champion at 10,000m, had also been looking to post a fast time and ease the pressure on him to qualify for the Games ahead of strong Ethiopian rivals.

But he found himself forced to step off the road midway through the race as Makau, sensing the Ethiopian great was struggling, upped the pace.

Gebrselassie set the previous world record time with a mark of 2:03.59 in the third of his four consecutive Berlin victories between 2006 and 2009.

But he halted for a full minute as his hopes of a quick time evaporated, then pulled out for good before the 40km mark.