Women sport news

Ana Ivanovic lost the first eight games of the match but stuck to her guns and overcame Daniela Hantuchova for a place in the Australian Open title match, 06 63 64. Maria Sharapova joins Ana Ivanovic after def Jelena Jankovic in 2 sets.

Rusty might have been one word (having last played 02.12.07), distracted another, but whatever the right adjectives Camps were not at their best last Sunday as bottom placed Hartlepool looked for pay-back following their 11 try, 66-0 thrashing last October by the Birmingham/Solihull side.

Claire Taylor is confident that the England women’s side have prepared to their fullest degree as they embark on their trip to Australia - in search of the retention of the Ashes.

Top seeded surfers showed they meant business at the Roxy Surf Festival at Phillip Island this morning, dominating in the solid one-metre waves, on offer at Woolamai Beach. photo ASP

Sophia Lamay (Texas Gulf Coast FSC) ran the show Sunday afternoon in the short program but surrendered the title when Marissa Secundy (Broadmoor SC) landed four out of five planned triples in her free skate.

Catch up with all The European Gymnastic News January 2008

Barbara Keeley, MP for Worsley, last week welcomed Aimee Backhouse, an outstanding triathlete and Head Girl at St George’s High School, to a Downing Street reception celebrating exceptional achievement in young people.

Russia overpowered Poland in the Sunday’s final of the Women’s European Olympic Qualification Tournament and claimed the European ticket for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. photo FIVB

The new 2008 SWATCH FIVB World Tour season will start in two months. Adelaide is setting up all the facilities for the Australia Open, the double gender which will light up a fantastic year for Beach Volleyball. photo FIVB

Ana Ivanovic fired 23 winners to defeat Venus Williams for the first time in five tries and move into the final four. She will next face Grand Slam semifinal debutante Daniela Hantuchova

New South Wales wicket-keeper Leonie Coleman has been added to the Commonwealth Bank Southern Stars squad for its series against England starting on Friday 1 February.

League One promotion chasers Leyton Orient will host the first final of the Women’s football season – The FA Tesco Women’s Premier League Cup Final - on Thursday 28 February. photo FA

The duo of Dorothy Delasin and Jennifer Rosales ‘ham-and-egged' their way to victory at the 2008 Women's World Cup of Golf at the Gary Player Country Club this weekend. photo Womens World Cup of golf

Brydon 11th and Vanderbeek 13th, fueling another strong day for Canadians in Cortina. photo Alpine Canada

THE London Olympics is to be placed at the centre of the Government's battle against obesity, it was reported today.

The United States closed out the Los Angeles Track World Cup on Sunday with a pair of medals as Jennie Reed (Kirkland, Wash.) claimed a gold medal in the keirin and USA Cycling’s Women’s Team Pursuit program made its international debut with a bronze medal. photo US Cycling

USA Cycling announced today the athletes that are eligible to represent the United States at the 2008 Olympic Games in the disciplines of mountain bike, track and women’s road cycling. US Cycling

Still not made any progress on those resolutions? Change that and more by taking part in Britain's most spectacular physical and mental challenge. The 2008 RBS Caledonian Challenge from Saturday 14 to Sunday 15 June is open for entries.

ort William, today (Tuesday 04 December 2008), unveiled a Mountain Festival programme that will put the Outdoor Capital of the UK at the centre of Scotland's events programme in 2008.

Maria Sharapova snapped the 32-match win streak of Justine Henin in the quarters of the Australian Open on Tuesday, hitting 30 winners en route to a 64 60 victory over the world No.1

The Federation of International Hockey (FIH) has released the match schedule for Great Britain’s crucial Olympic Qualifiers at the beginning of March. photo Andrew Beckett

England marked their first game since the year 2000 in the international indoor arena with an emphatic 10-0 win over Turkey. Sally Walton, Emma Thomas and Alex Scott all hit hat-tricks with Sarah Page chipping in to make it 10.

Despite twice being pegged back by a strong Denmark side, England’s ladies picked up their second win of the tournament to take the three points to move clear at the top of their EuroHockey Indoors Nations Challenge group.

England made it three out of three to top the group after a more than comfortable 9-0 win against Sweden who may have dreamt about a tournament upset in this final group match but were brought down to earth by the reality of England’s performance. photo EHF

England were left devastated in Ponds Forge today after losing out in the final 3-2 against a Danish side who they had beaten 5-2 just yesterday. Defeat for England means that despite topping a group which they dominated throughout, they fail to secure promotion to the EuroHockey Indoor Nations Trophy after falling at the final hurdle in a dramatic encounter.

The Story So Far: Ever since David Beckham attended the Bobby Charlton Soccer School as a child, he wanted to be a professional footballer. That experience fired his imagination, and led him to pursue his dream.