Winter sports News

Zenit St Petersburg claim they are in talks with Arsenal over a possible loan deal for Gunners forward Andrey Arshavin.

Second round: 1-Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (France) beat Nicolas Mahut (France) 6-3 6-2; Edouard Roger-Vasselin (France) beat Flavio Cipolla (Italy) 6-3 6-0

Yeovil have secured the loan signings of Jonathan Grounds and Jonathan Franks from Middlesbrough.

First round: Michael Llodra (France) beat Marco Chiudinelli (Switzerland) 7-6(2) 7-6(3); 6-Alexandr Dolgopolov (Ukraine) beat Lukas Rosol (Czech Republic) 2-6 7-6(1) 6-3

West Ham United midfielder Ravel Morrison has been fined £7,000 and warned about his future behaviour following his homophobic remark on Twitter.

The FedExCup playoffs, the PGA Tour's lucrative four-event season finale, have been extended for a further five years.

Nico Hulkenberg's morning efforts were enough to ensure Force India topped the second day of pre-season testing at Barcelona.

Second round: 5-Agnieszka Radwanska (Poland) beat Shahar Peer (Israel) 7-5 6-4; 8-Jelena Jankovic (Serbia) beat Flavia Pennetta (Italy) 6-4 6-2

Sheffield Wednesday winger Jermaine Johnson will be occupying the sidelines for eight weeks with a knee ligament injury.

Second round: Julia Goerges (Germany) beat Casey Dellacqua (Australia) 6-0 6-2; 4-Samantha Stosur (Australia) beat Lucie Safarova (Czech Republic) 6-1 6-7(5) 6-1; Ana Ivanovic (Serbia) beat Maria Kirilenko (Russia) 6-2 7-6(4); 9-Sabine Lisicki (Germany) beat Iveta Benesova (Czech Republic) 6-3 6-3

Brian McDermott has snubbed interest from Premier League Wolverhampton Wanderers to sign a new deal with Reading.

Oscar Freire won the third stage of the Vuelta a Andalucia Ruta del Sol, but Alejandro Valverde retained the overall lead.

Frenchman Thomas Fanara will be out for three weeks with a shoulder injury suffered in the World Cup giant slalom in Bansko.

Wayne Rooney has been ruled out of Manchester United's Europa League clash with Ajax due to a sore throat.

Lazio boss Edoardo Reja has had his request to resign turned down by club president Claudio Lotito, and he is expected to oversee the side's Europa League fixture at Atletico Madrid on Thursday.

Rangers chairman Craig Whyte has sold off an historic shareholding in Arsenal to Alisher Usmanov, the Uzbek-born billionaire who owns almost 30 per cent of the Premier League club, severing a link that dates back more than a century.

London Irish have signed Ospreys loose-forward Tom Smith on a two-year deal. Smith, 26, is a former Wales Under-21 captain who has made 60 appearances for the Ospreys.

Northampton have agreed contract extensions with first-team prop Tom Mercey, plus fringe wing Anders Mogensen and hooker Ross McMillan.

World number one Victoria Azarenka has pulled out of the WTA Dubai tournament through injury. The Belarusian, 22, aggravated an ankle injury picked up the week before in Qatar, where she won the WTA Doha title.

Scotland head coach Andy Robinson has made four changes in personnel for Sunday's Six Nations clash with France at Murrayfield. Stuart Hogg is to make his first Test start at full-back, with his Glasgow team-mates John Barclay and Graeme Morrison recalled and Mike Blair also in.

Huddersfield striker Jordan Rhodes has been nominated for the League One Player of the Year award.

Owen Farrell has extended his Saracens contract, the club said on their website.

Brentford are set to complete the signing of Everton midfielder Adam Forshan on a one-month youth loan.

15-Stuart Hogg, 14-Rory Lamont, 13-Sean Lamont, 12-Graeme Morrison, 11-Lee Jones, 10-Greig Laidlaw, 9-Mike Blair, 8-David Denton, 7-Ross Rennie, 6-John Barclay, 5-Jim Hamilton, 4-Richie Gray, 3-Geoff Cross, 2-Ross Ford (captain), 1-Allan Jacobsen

Sheffield Wednesday winger Jermaine Johnson will be occupying the sidelines for eight weeks with a knee ligament injury.

Tranmere have extended the loan deal of Everton midfielder James Wallace by a further month.

Kenya's Olympic 800 metres champion Pamela Jelimo has been named in a 10-member team to represent the east African nation at next month's World Indoor Championships in Istanbul.

Dagenham are searching for short-term goalkeeper cover after seeing the club's appeal against Chris Lewington's red card rejected.

Wayne Rooney was the only significant absentee from the open portion of training ahead of Manchester United's Europa League last-32 decider against Ajax at Old Trafford.

Former Crewe defender Patrick Ada is training with Burton.

Out-of-form Stuttgart striker Cacau has been included in the Germany squad for their friendly against France next Wednesday despite his disappointing season so far and amid growing competition from a string of younger Bundesliga players.

Leicester are planning talks with Aston Villa regarding the future of on-loan striker Nathan Delfouneso.

Leicester number eight Thomas Waldrom has signed a new contract with the Aviva Premiership club.

Rangers have accepted an offer for Matt McKay from South Korean club Busan I'Park.

Alastair Cook and Steven Finn have jumped into the top 10 of the ICC one-day international rankings on the back of impressive displays in England's 4-0 whitewash of Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates.

Yorkshire have posted a loss of £460,000 for 2011 - their second consecutive deficit.

South Africa beat New Zealand by three runs in the third and final Twenty20 international at Eden Park in Auckland on Wednesday, winning the series 2-1.

Bristol City's survival hopes have been dealt a blow after influential midfielder Marvin Elliott was ruled out for the rest of the season.

Saudi Falcons rider Abdulaziz bin Laden has joined Moto Rapido Ducati for the 2012 British Superbike season. The Winchester-based outfit have added the 2010 Qatar International Road Racing winner to race alongside Scott Smart on the new 1199 Panigale.

Wolves are facing a battle to secure Brian McDermott as their new manager with Reading poised to offer him a new lucrative contract.

David Cameron has vowed to stop football being dragged back into the "bad old days of the past" ahead of a Downing Street summit aiming to tackle racism in the English game.

The inaugural edition of India's Premier League Soccer, featuring World Cup winner Fabio Cannavaro and former France international Robert Pires, has been postponed because of a lack of venues, organisers told Reuters on Wednesday.

Aston Villa manager Alex McLeish admits it is unlikely midfielder Fabian Delph will play again this season after suffering an ankle injury during his loan spell at Leeds United.

Laura Trott will not be allowed to sacrifice her campaign for Olympic gold in the team pursuit for a crack at two medals, confirming she will not take part in the omnium.

Japan's 2004 Olympic champion Mizuki Noguchi will run her first marathon in more than four years in Nagoya next month in her bid to race at this year's London Games.

England's women won by 10 runs on the Duckworth Lewis rule after rain brought a premature end to the third Twenty20 match with New Zealand in Auckland.

First round: Mandy Minella (Luxembourg) beat 7-Mathilde Johansson (France) 6-1 5-7 7-6(5); Patricia Mayr-Achleitner (Austria) beat 5-Gisela Dulko (Argentina) 6-4 7-6(2)

First round: Ryan Harrison (U.S.) beat Jack Sock (U.S.) 6-3 2-6 6-4

(Home team in CAPS) CLEVELAND 101 Detroit 100; INDIANA 117 New Orleans 108 (OT); MIAMI 120 Sacramento 108; MEMPHIS 89 Philadelphia 76; PORTLAND 137 San Antonio 97

(Home team in CAPS) BUFFALO 2 NY Islanders 1; New Jersey 4 TORONTO 3 (OT); PITTSBURGH 2 NY Rangers 0; COLUMBUS 6 San Jose 3; Philadelphia 5 WINNIPEG 4 (OT); Dallas 3 MONTREAL 0; TAMPA BAY 3 Anaheim 2; NASHVILLE 3 Vancouver 1; CHICAGO 2 Detroit 1; Edmonton 6 CALGARY 1; PHOENIX 5 Los Angeles 4 (SO)

First round: Sorana Cirstea (Romania) beat Stefanie Voegele (Switzerland) 6-3 2-6 7-5; Eva Birnerova (Czech Republic) beat Katalin Marosi (Hungary) 7-6(3) 6-4

First round: 1-John Isner (U.S.) beat Gilles Muller (Luxembourg) 7-6(1) 7-6(4); Sam Querrey (U.S.) beat Alejandro Falla (Colombia) 2-6 6-3 6-4; Ryan Sweeting (U.S.) beat James Blake (U.S.) 6-0 6-2; Sergiy Stakhovsky (Ukraine) beat Robert Kendrick (U.S.) 6-3 7-6(6)

The Tampa Bay Lightning, Colorado Avalanche and Detroit Red Wings got a jump on next week's trade deadline with a three-way deal that has Steve Downie moving from Florida to Denver.

Dundee United moved into the top six of the SPL with a crushing 4-0 home victory over Kilmarnock.

Second round: Vera Dushevina (Russia) beat Jamie Hampton (U.S.) 6-4 6-3; Varvara Lepchenko (U.S.) beat 7-Johanna Larsson (Sweden) 6-2 6-4

Marvin Emnes scored twice as Middlesbrough made it back-to-back wins - 3-1 at Millwall - to keep their Championship promotion bid on track.

Keith Fahey scored his first goal since August as ruthless Birmingham stretched their unbeaten run to 16 games to move up to third in the Championship as Barnsley were brushed aside 3-1 at Oakwell.

St Johnstone have signed former Hibernian full-back Michael Hart until the end of the season.

Jockey Richard Hills has announced he will be retiring after the Dubai meeting in March.