We start with football ¨C and reigning Spanish champions, Real Madrid say their Mali international Mahamadou Diarra will undergo knee surgery on today. The 27-year-old defensive midfielder could be sidelined for between two to six months.
The operation will be carried out at Madrid's La Moraleja Hospital. Real have struggled this season, in part due to a steady stream of injuries suffered by key players, and currently lie in fourth place, six points behind leaders Barcelona. _______________
Meanwhile, Liverpool remained top of the English Premier League after a 3-1 win at Blackburn Rovers at the weekend, while Chelsea beat Bolton Wanderers 2 nil for a record 11th consecutive away win in the top flight.
The top four sides all won as Arsenal edged Wigan Athletic 1 nil at home thanks to Emmanuel Adebayor's first-half strike and Nemanja Vidic scored in injury time to hand Manchester United a 1 nil home victory against managerless Sunderland.
United are third on 31 points, six behind Liverpool. Arsenal stay fourth with two points further back. ___________
Amaury Leveaux broke the men's 50-meter butterfly short-course world record and Coralie Balmy set a record in the women's 200 freestyle at the French swimming championships on Saturday.
Leveaux finished in 22.29 seconds, eclipsing the mark of 22.50 set by Matt Jaukovic of Australia at a World Cup meet in Sydney in October.
Balmy finished in 1:53.18, lowering the record of 1:53.29 set by Lisbeth Lenton of Australia in Sydney in November 2005. ____________
In golf, former US Open champion Geoff Ogilvy fired a final round of 69 to win the Australian PGA championship in Coolum.
It was a first career victory in his native Australia for Ogilvy, who recently finished third in the HSBC Champions tournament in China.
He finished on 14 under par, two strokes ahead of fellow countryman Mathew Goggin, who had led after three rounds but hit three bogeys in his 72.
The highest-placed non-Australian was South Africa's Tim Clark, who finished tied for 11th place on nine under par. ___________
To boxing, and Manny Pacquiao dominated Oscar de la Hoya from the start to win Saturday's welterweight super-fight in Las Vegas.
The Filipino gave his bigger, more famous opponent such a beating that De la Hoya declined to come out of his corner after the eighth round.
The technical knockout marked only the second time De la Hoya had been stopped in his 16-year professional career.
Defeat for the 35-year-old came at the hands of a fighter who fought at just 129 pounds a few months earlier. Pacquiao's victory sets up a potential clash with Manchester's light-welterweight king Ricky Hatton next summer, although Floyd Mayweather Junior may also be tempted to come out of retirement to face him.
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