Page has turned for McDowell

Graeme McDowell believes it is time to get on with the rest of his career a year after he made his major breakthrough by winning the US Open.
Up until last year's edition of the year's second major at Pebble Beach, the Ulsterman had been better known as a top amateur and US collegiate champion who had failed to fully fulfill his potential.
After his stunning come from behind win in California, though, he was propelled into golfing stardom and he responded with last day Ryder Cup heroics for Europe, a playoff win over Tiger Woods and a spot in the top 10.
It was all stirring stuff and the personable McDowell lapped it up, but there was a price to pay and he duly paid it as his golf game suffered from the saturation he was experiencing both on and off the course.
"It was such a busy end to 2010 that 2011 seemed to just be there all of a sudden on my doorstep and I was in Hawaii and in the Middle East, and those four weeks that came right after the Middle East, there's no doubt I came back after those four weeks and I wasn't the same guy." he said.
"I wasn't swinging it the same way. I wasn't feeling the same way.
"Sometimes a run of momentum and adrenaline sort of has to hit a brick wall, as I guess I hit my brick wall. I've been trying to get over that wall ever since.
"At some point, those kind of runs, I guess, inevitably have to come to an end, especially if you're playing as much golf as I was."
Still, the 31 year old who was brought up playing golf on the famed links of Portrush believes that the last few weeks have shown that he has gotten back that edge and focus to his game that has been missing.
There have been no more tournament wins but strong, if inconsistent, performances at the Players Championship, the British PGA and the Welsh Open have brought him into the US Open with a renewed feeling of optimism.And the fact that he has now finally handed back the US Open trophy he has been displaying to all and sundry over the last year provides him with a fitting symbol that the page is turning. "If anything, I feel like the glare is off me this week," he said. "I feel like I've done it. "I've spent the last just under 12 months looking back at Pebble. I spent the last six months reflecting on 2010.
"And I mean, somehow having arrived here this week, I feel like I've done it now.
"I'm back yeah, my US Open trophy is back here with the USGA. I've handed it back and I'm ready to sort of get on with the rest of my career now."
McDowell says he is delighted with his draw for the first two rounds, which sees him set of in the company of British Open champion Louis Oosthuizen of South Africa and US Amateur champion Peter Uihlein.

Maradona sues Chinese firms over online game

Argentine football icon Diego Maradona is suing popular Chinese web portal Sina and an Internet company for using his name and image to promote an online game, state media said Wednesday.
Maradona is seeking 20 million yuan ($3 million) in compensation from Sina and The9 Limited which designed the game "Winning Goal", the Global Times quoted an official from the Beijing No. 1 Intermediate Court as saying. "The case was accepted yesterday (Monday)," said Chen Shi, a spokesman for the court.
Officials at the court in the Chinese capital would not respond to AFP requests for comment and calls to The9 went unanswered.
A Sina spokeswoman who declined to be named said the matter "is a legal procedure. We cannot comment."
The9 and Sina launched the game last June claiming Maradona was a celebrity spokesman, the report said.
But Maradona says he never gave permission to the Chinese companies to use his image, the official Xinhua news agency said earlier this month, citing a statement from the football legend.
The9 apologised and said they had been tricked by a Chinese football agent who told them Maradona had signed an endorsement contract, Xinhua said.
"I do not accept the apology from The9 Limited, and I will continue to protect my legitimate interests through legal procedures," Maradona said in the statement.
Maradona is extremely popular among China's legions of football fans, with state media hailing the World Cup-winning former captain the "King of Football" during a vist to Beijing last November.

Defending champ Serena seeded No. 8 at Wimbledon

Defending champion Serena Williams was bumped up to No. 8 in the seedings  18 places above her world ranking - for Wimbledon on Wednesday, a position that will allow her to avoid playing the highest-ranked players until at least the quarterfinals.
Williams won her 13th Grand Slam title last year at the All England Club, but then stepped on broken glass, eventually leading to blood clots on her lungs, and was out of action for nearly a year. She returned to competitive tennis on Tuesday at Eastbourne, coming back from a set down to beat Tsvetana Pironkova 1-6, 6-3, 6-4. Wimbledon starts Monday.
The draw is scheduled for Friday. On the men's side, defending champion Rafael Nadal was seeded No. 1, followed by Novak Djokovic at No. 2, Roger Federer at No. 3 and Andy Murray at No. 4  in line with their rankings. Federer and Nadal have combined for the past eight titles at the All England Club.
For Federer, it's the first time he's been outside the top two seedings at Wimbledon since 2003, the year he won the first of five straight titles at the grass court Grand Slam. Since Serena's injury, she has dropped to No. 26 in the WTA rankings. If Wimbledon organizers had seeded her according to her ranking, the four-time Wimbledon champion could have come up against a top player in the third round.
Her sister Venus, a five-time Wimbledon champion, was seeded No. 24. She has dropped to 33rd in the rankings since missing most of this season with a hip injury. She also returned to action this week in Eastbourne.
"The seeding order follows the WTA ranking list, except where in the opinion of the committee, a change is necessary to produce a balanced draw," Wimbledon organizers said.
"The only changes this year are Serena Williams and Venus Williams moving to 8 and 24, respectively. This reflects the balance between their proven records and also their lack of competitive play in the past 12 months." The sisters have combined to win nine of the last 11 titles at the All England Club.
At the top of the women's seeding list is top ranked Caroline Wozniacki. She is followed by Australian Open champion Kim Clijsters at No. 2, Vera Zvonareva at No. 3 and French Open champion Li Na at No. 4.

BFF announces rates of ticket for Argentina-Nigeria match

Bangladesh Football Federation on Wednesday officially announced the rates of different types of tickets for the high profile FIFA international friendly match between former world champions Argentina and African Super Eagles Nigeria scheduled for September 6 at the Bangabandhu National Stadium in Dhaka.
Addressing a press conference at the BFF Bhaban, a beaming BFF President Kazi M Salahuddin reconfirmed the high voltage match for the first time in Bangladesh and also officially declared the rates of different categories of tickets for the match.
"This is a great day for Bangladesh football, if we are able to arrange the match successfully then the door would be open for us to arrange further big international matches here, our venue may also be recognized as FIFA international venue," said the BFF boss. "We are well prepared to welcome Argentina and Nigeria in Dhaka and are delighted to declare the rate of tickets, we want to clear it that the mass interest for the match is very much in our mind but we have some limitations in seating capacity," he further said.
The historic showdown in Dhaka between Argentina and Nigeria has been named as "Beximco Football Fest." The Beximco Group will bear the entire expenses of the match. Some 25,000 tickets will be released for galleries, VIPs, special enclosures, corporate and hospitality boxes with gallery tickets estimated at 21,900.
As per the ticketing modalities, the Corporate (70% seats of the Western Gallery) and Corporate Hospitality Box and VIP Enclosures tickets will be available for sale from June 20, 2011 on first come first serve basis. Western Gallery tickets are priced at Taka 10,600 each while the 24-seat 12 Corporate Hospitality Boxes will cost Tk 1,500,000 each.
The general tickets for members of the public will be on sale from July 15 with a price of Tk 7,500 each for the Eastern Galley having 8810 seating capacity while Tk 10,000 each for Western Gallery with a seating capacity of 11,700. The 234 President Box tickets will cost Tk 50,000 each, 486 Special Enclosure Tk 15,000 each and 235 Special Hospitality Box Tk 30,000 each. The 540 VIP Gallery tickets (Upper) Tk 20,000 each and the 1354 VIP Gallery(Lower) Tk15,000 each.
A special arrangement has been made for sports federations, national award winning footballers, members of Swadhin Bangla Football Team and District Football Associations. They may buy the VIP Gallery Lower tickets at Tk 5,000 each. A presentation on ticket price was made by Anwarul Huq Helal on behalf of BFF at the press conference where BFF members were also present.