Lahore, Apr 15 : Pakistan captain Younus Khan has said that the Indian Premier League will suffer due to the absence of players from his country.

The Pakistan Government banned its players from participating in the IPL after political relations with India deteriorated in the wake of the Mumbai terror attacks, which New Delhi blamed on militants based across the border.

Washington - A group of 10 Pakistani girls and young women managed to convince their parents that it would be a good idea to come to the United States to play football. The team members, between the ages of 12 and 21, are in Washington with three coaches through a State Department programme, to hone their football skills - training for a sport that has a scanty audience and little support back home.

All members of the Young Rising Stars Female Football Club (YRS), they battle with ease the deep ambivalence in conservative Muslim society about girls playing sport.

Dusseldorf, Germany - Holders Sweden have been handed a wild card entry into next month's the ARAG World Team Championships, with Robin Soderling again set to lead the squad, organizers said on Tuesday. "This is great news for our team," said the world number 24, joined on the squad by Robert Lindstedt and Andreas Vinciguerra. "I hope we will be able to follow up on our success last year."

Selection of the Scandinavians completes the field for the eight-nation clay tune-up the week before Roland Garros, May 17-23.

Los Angeles - The Cleveland Cavaliers are headed home with their heads held high. LeBron James scored 37 points, and the Cavaliers clinched the NBA's best record along with homecourt advantage throughout the playoffs by beating the Indiana Pacers117-109 on Monday night.

"It's one step along the way but it's a big step" said MVP favourite James.

London, April 14 : Manchester United's Wayne Rooney is reportedly planning to make his unborn child's nursery a shrine for his team's Premier League rivals Everton - by painting it blue.

The father-to-be, who had been an Everton fan during his childhood and played for them until 2004, is allegedly making plans to cover the walls of his first child's nursery with the rival club's blue colour.

New Delhi, Apr 14 : Loud applause greeted members of the Indian hockey team on their arrival here on Monday night after their resplendent win at the Azlan Shah Cup tournament in Malaysia.

Crediting the victory to team effort, Sandeep Singh, the team''s captain said, "It is the hard work put in by our team which we are seeing now. It is a joint effort of our coaches and the team members."

The coach of the team termed the victory a good beginning for Indian hockey.