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Melbourne’s impressive new $267m rectangular stadium, AAMI Park, it was opened on Friday as it played host to the Rugby League Test between Australia and New Zealand. Melbourne has always lacked a world-class rectangular stadium until now. Previously the Melbourne Storm played next door at Olympic Park – the future of that venue is unknown, while larger events have been staged at either the 55,000-seat Etihad Stadium or 100,000-capacity MCG. The new stadium sits nicely in the sports precinct along with Rod Laver arena, Hisense Arena and of course the MCG.

Bangladesh's cricketers won their country its first-ever gold medal in the Asian Games by beating Afghanistan in a thrilling final in Guangzhou. In a see-saw match that attracted a crowd of 2000, 19-year-old Shabbir Rahman smashed two sixes in the penultimate over to decisively swing the match Bangladesh's way and dash Afghan hopes of a gold. A day after upsetting fancied Pakistan in the semi-finals, Afghanistan looked set for a hammering when they slid to 66 for 6 in the 13th over on choosing to bat. Youngsters Asghar Stanikzai (38*) and Shabir Noori (25) then gave Afghanistan's chances a boost with a stabilising stand that left Bangladesh needing 120 for victory. Ashraful bold out Bangladesh almost made a mess of what should have been a straightforward chase, losing five wickets, including that of their experienced captain Mohammad Ashraful, for 75. Afghanistan were scenting another famous win but w...

American football, known in the United States simply as football and sometimes as gridiron outside the United States and Canada, is a sport played between two teams of eleven. The objective of the game is to score points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. The ball can be advanced by running with it or throwing it to a teammate. Points can be scored by carrying the ball over the opponent's goal line, catching a pass thrown over that goal line, kicking the ball through the opponent's goal posts or tackling an opposing ball carrier in his own end zone. American football is closely related to Canadian football but with some differences in rules and in the configuration of the field,in particular the presence of eleven players on the field rather than twelve and the allowance of four downs per possession rather than just three. The larger number of downs results in more offensive rushing in American football than in the Canadian game. In the United Stat...

Houston Rockets Yao Ming will be coddled as he comes back from foot surgery -- a 24-minute-per-game restriction and no back-to-backs will likely last all season -- but a little Yao will do Houston a lot of good. Aaron Brooks leads an explosive, up-tempo team, Kevin Martin and Luis Scola should benefit from the attention Yao draws in the half-court, and Chase Budinger steps in to fill the hole left by Ariza. Can Yao's foot withstand the pounding from his 7-foot-6, 310-pound frame all season? That's the million-dollar question

The Ryder Cup is a biennial match between the best golfers from the United States and Europe which has developed over the years into one of the most eagerly-awaited and hotly-contested events on the sporting calendar. This year's match takes place at Celtic Manor in Wales from October 1-3, where huge galleries will watch the action close up with many more millions viewing on television. The United States are the holders after their upset victory at Valhalla in 2008, but Europe start as narrow favorites on home soil with many of their players in fine form this season, winning two of golf's four majors. 37: The number of matches that have been held since the first in 1927, the brainchild of English entrepreneur Sam Ryder, with the United States claiming 25 victories against 10 losses with two ties. The team holding the trophy retain the Ryder Cup in the event of a tie. There were no matches in 1939, 1941, 1943, and 1945 due to World War II while the 2001 contest was delayed...