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Yanthi Fuchiyanti Shares the secret behind her victory

Subang, Jawa Barat (UR): Indonesian cyclist Yanthi Fuchiyanti said her knowing rivals' strengths was the secret to her success in the women's road race at the 26th SEA Games in Subang, West Java.
In the 76.1-kilometer race, Yanthi finished in a time of two hours, 46 minutes and 26 seconds to take gold. Chanpeng Nontosin of Thailand was relegated to silver.
The win avenged a loss to Chanpeng in the women’s individual time trial on Monday, where Yanthi was left with the bronze medal.
Yanthi said she knew her rivals’ power, particularly their pedaling styles, so she could time her break for the finish.
“I was near the front with 30 kilometers to go but only a few seconds away from Chanpeng. I increased my pace from that point,” she said.
Yanthi will receive a Rp 200 million bonus from the government. “I dedicate the gold medal to the country, the Indonesia Cycling Sport Association and my parents,” she said. UR-1       

Lavinia blames diarrhea for loss

 Palembang (UR): Indonesian tennis player Lavinia Tananta blamed diarrhea for her loss to the Philippines' Anna Clarice Patrimonio in a quarterfinal at the Jakabaring Sports Center in Palembang on Friday.
She said the illness rendered her weak and led to the defeat in a match that was carried over from a day earlier due to rain stoppage.
On Thursday, rain halted play as the match, in its first set, was tied 1-1. When the match resumed on Friday, it was the Indonesian who seemed to be suffering the effects of the delay, eventually losing 6-4, 6-1.
“My body is very weak, I’ve had for four days and I cannot play properly. If my condition was good, I could have won the game,” Lavinia said.
“Since the beginning I knew that my strokes were powerless,” she said.
In the first set, Lavinia pulled back to even the score at 4-4 before a double fault in the ninth game sealed the set for her opponent.
Her performance got worse in the second set.
Another resumed match saw Thailand’s Noppawan Lertcheewakarn beat Huynh Phuong Dai Trang from Vietnam 6-0, 6-3. Noppawan will face Patrimonio in the semifinal. (UR-4)

In Lithuania, basketball is second only to God

Lithuania, where the basketball European Championships get underway on Wednesday, has long been a country mad for the sport with the big orange ball, squashing football in popularity.

"It's our country's second religion," just behind Catholicism, goes a popular saying in the small Baltic EU republic surrounded by Poland, Russia's Kaliningrad, Belarus, Latvia and the Baltic Sea.

With a population of just three million, the ex-Soviet state which joined the EU in 2004 is a European minnow. But where basketball is concerned, it's a global giant.

Games, even the junior leagues, are a TV staple and when team Lithuania plays, all eyes are glued to the screen.

Since Lithuania broke free from the crumbling Soviet Union in 1990, away games have drawn a merry band of travelling fans clad in the national colours of yellow, green and red.

And over its two decades of independence, Lithuania has scored impressive results.

Its two best clubs—Vilnius and Kaunas—now set to play host to the second and final rounds of the Euro championships, have won European Cups and the national side is among the world's best.

People prepare to throw basketballs in the air to mark the opening of "Eurobasket 2011" in Vilnius, Lithuania
Petras Malukas, AFP/Getty Images

With an impressive pool of talent for such a small country, Lithuania won the 2003 European championships thanks to soaring, robust players performing with stunning skill.

After a poor eleventh-place performance during Euro 2009, Lithuania recovered its form during the 2010 world championships where it took the bronze despite suffering several upsets.

It also ranked in the first four in the five Olympic Games since independence, winning bronze in 1992, 1996, 2000 and taking fourth spot in 2004 and 2008.

While it was still under the thumb of Moscow as a Soviet republic, Lithuania made waves at the 1988 Seoul Olympics contributing four players to the "starting five" on team USSR, including the legendary centre Arvydas Sabonis.

Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin sent an estimated 150,000 Lithuanians to the Gulag. About a third never returned.These players alone scored 62 of the USSR's 82 points which gave the Soviets victory over the United States in the final, a win the Lithuanians cheered as their own rather than handing the laurels to their reviled Soviet masters.

While the nation marks the 70th anniversary of the first deportations this year, an exhibition at a museum in Vilnius chronicling Soviet-era KGB secret police activities and crimes shows the pivotal role basketball played in helping deportees survive Siberian camps.

People throw basketballs in to the air to mark the opening of the basketball European Championships in Lithuania
Petras Malukas, AFP/Getty Images

Grainy photos show political prisoners clad in the jerseys of Lithuanian teams like Zalgiris Kaunas playing basketball in the Gulag, making dribbling down the court a symbol of national resistance and pride.

Now, as the hosts of these championships, Lithuanians are feeling this pride again.

"We want to show all Europe just how much we love basketball," says Arvydas Sabonis, the ambassador of the championships. "It's a great day for our country, 72 years later, basketball is back in Lithuania," he adds.

Before being annexed by the Soviet Union in 1940, this Baltic state organised and won the Euro championships, retaining the title it won two years earlier.

"We were supposed to host the next Euro championships but the Second World War erupted in the meantime," explains Lithuanian basketball federation head Vladas Garastas.

"Lithuania has been waiting for the Euro championships for a very long time. And we want it to be the best one ever in history," he adds.

Kobe, Wade lead NBA stars into Puerto Rico matchup

NBA star Kobe Bryant is to play at Sunday's World All-Star Classic
Kevork Djansezian, AFP/Getty Images

NBA stars Kobe Bryant, Dwyane Wade, Dwight Howard and Kevin Durant are among the players set to headline the World All-Star Classic on Sunday in Puerto Rico, organizers said.

The San Juan event will also feature NBA stars Amare Stoudemire, Blake Griffin, Kevin Garnett, Carlos Boozer, Chris Kaman, Chris Bosh, Kevin Love, Paul Pierce, Rajon Rondo and Tyson Chandler.

The game is meant to be the first stop on a six-game world tour featuring NBA stars with games on November 1-2 at London, November 6 at Macau and November 8-9 at Melbourne, Australia.

But ESPN reported that the remainder of the tour could be postponed after the Puerto Rico game, which featured brisk ticket sales and will see a portion of proceeds donated to player charities.

LeBron James, Chris Paul and Carmelo Anthony rejected an offer to play in the global trek, according to the report.

LeBron James takes his talents to Liverpool

LIVERPOOL, England - LeBron James took his talents to Liverpool on Friday — and finally got his hands on a championship trophy.

The Miami Heat star toured the Premier League club's facilities for the first time since becoming a shareholder of the 18-time English champions. James held up the Champions League trophy won by Liverpool in 2005 and posted a picture on Twitter of a red No. 6 jersey with his name on it.

The two-time MVP will sit in the directors' box at Anfield Stadium for Saturday's Premier League match against Liverpool rival Manchester United.

"Jersey ready for the big match 2morrow," James tweeted.

Liverpool's official website said James held up the Champions League trophy won by Liverpool in Istanbul, Turkey, and was told about the team's rally from 3-0 down at halftime to beat AC Milan on penalties.

"That is an amazing trophy! Can I hold it up?" James said.

James brought the club store "to a standstill," the website said, after spending 20 minutes shopping for scarves and clothes for his two young sons back home.

The superstar caused laughter among the fans by attempting to 'shoot' a small LFC soccer ball into a basket 10 yards away. He missed.

James will not be joined at the match by Liverpool's principal owner John Henry, who is dealing with the Boston    

Red Fox  failure to make the playoffs.

In April, James obtained a small stake in Fenway Sports Group, which owns Liverpool and the Red Sox.