Cabrera wins playoff for Grand Slam title

Tucker's Town, Bermuda (Sports Network) - Reigning U.S. Open champion Angel Cabrera birdied the third playoff hole Wednesday to defeat British Open winner Padraig Harrington and win the PGA Grand Slam of Golf.
Cabrera managed a two-under 68 on Wednesday, while Harrington shot a one-under 69. The pair finished the two rounds at four-under-par 136 and it took some drama to get them into the playoff.
Cabrera pushed it to extra holes thanks to an impressive eagle at the par-five 18th hole in regulation. Harrington birdied the hole to force the playoff and the two headed back to 18 at Mid Ocean Club.
The duo parred the first two extra holes, 18 and the par-three 17th. They returned to the par-five closing hole in this event designed for the four major champions of 2007.
Harrington hit a poor tee shot at the third playoff hole. Cabrera reached the green in two and two-putted for the birdie and the victory in his first trip to the event...Full Story

England in major trouble after second-half collapse

Moscow, Russia (Sports Network) - England's hopes of qualifying for EURO 2008 took a major hit on Wednesday as Roman Pavluchenko scored two goals in four minutes to help Russia earn a vital 2-1 comeback win over England at Luzhniki Stadium.
A win would have secured qualification for Steve McClaren's men, who looked to be a good bet when Wayne Rooney found the net for the Three Lions in the 29th minute.
However, Pavluchenko came on in the 58th minute as a substitute and proceeded to score twice, ending England's five-game winning streak in Group E. With Croatia all but assured of one spot from the group, Russia is poised to claim the second place with wins against Israel and lowly Andorra in its final two matches. England's only hope now is to beat Croatia and have Russia draw one of its final two games.
Russia put pressure on the English defense from the start but only had minimal chances in the opening 20 minutes. Keeper Paul Robinson was called upon to make a nice stop on Russia's Konstatin Zurianov, but the back line held up well for the most part in the first half...Full Story

Jankovic, Ivanovic, Mauresmo all bow out in Zurich

Zurich, Switzerland (Sports Network) - Third-seeded Serbian Jelena Jankovic, French Open runner-up Ana Ivanovic of Serbia and former world No. 1 Amelie Mauresmo of France were a trio of second-round upset victims Wednesday at the $1.34 million Zurich Open.
Jankovic was straight-setted by Czech slugger Nicole Vaidisova 6-4, 6-4. A struggling Jankovic has now dropped her last two tournament-opening matches and has lost four of her last six outings overall.
Vaidisova will meet Ukrainian Alona Bondarenko in Friday's quarterfinals here.
The fifth-seeded Ivanovic was sent packing by surging Frenchwoman Tatiana Golovin 6-3, 6-1, while an eighth-seeded Mauresmo was knocked out by Bondarenko 2-6, 6-4, 6-1 at Hallenstadion. Golovin has won 13 of her last 15 matches, including a title in Slovenia last month and a runner-up finish against the great Justine Henin in Stuttgart just two weeks ago.
One other second-round result saw ninth-seeded Wimbledon runner-up Marion Bartoli of France dismiss Dutch wild card Michaella Krajicek 6-4, 6-1. Bartoli will meet the surging Golovin on Friday...Full Story

Record number pre-entered for 24th Breeders' Cup

Oceanport, NJ (Sports Network) - Kentucky Derby winner Street Sense and Preakness champ Curlin are two of the record 141 thoroughbreds who have been pre-entered for all 11 Breeders' Cup races scheduled for October 26 and 27 at Monmouth Park. For the first time since the Breeders' Cup began in 1984, the event will conducted over two days.
Post positions for all 11 Breeders' Cup World Championships races will be drawn on Tuesday, October 23 at Monmouth Park. There will be three new $1 million Breeders' Cup races run on Breeders' Cup Friday and eight Breeders' Cup races on Breeders' Cup Saturday.
Nine thoroughbreds have been pre-entered for the $5 million Breeders' Cup Classic. In addition to Street Sense and Curlin, the other possible contenders are Any Given Saturday, Awesome Gem, Diamond Stripes, George Washington, Hard Spun, Lawyer Ron and Tiago.
The $3 million Turf has a dozen horses pre-entered including 2004 winner Better Talk Now and 2006 champ Red Rocks...Full Story