LONDON:   England manager Fabio Capello  has ruled out the possibility that he will continue in the job after the Euro 2012 tournament, killing off speculation that recent good performances could prolong his stay.

The Italian's reputation took a battering after England's dismal World Cup performance, but his stock has bounced back after impressive victories against Bulgaria and Switzerland in Euro qualifiers this month.

NEW YORK:   Taking the biggest steps yet in their quest to inspire peace between their homelands, India's Rohan Bopanna and Pakistan's Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi reached the US Open men's doubles final on Wednesday.

With United Nations ambassadors from their countries sitting side-by-side to cheer them on, Qureshi and Bopanna beat Argentina's Eduardo Schwank and Horacio Zaballos 7-6 (7/5), 6-4.

DURBAN:   England's Kevin Pietersen is set to play for South African franchise the Kwa-Zulu Natal (KZN) Dolphins in October in a bid to find his form before the Ashes tour later this year.

Pietersen has requested permission to join the provincial side and is seeking clearance from Cricket South Africa to play two four-day matches from Oct. 7-17, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) said in a statement on Wednesday.

PARIS:   Formula One's governing body upheld a $100,000 fine for Ferrari on Wednesday but kept alive Fernando Alonso's hopes of a third title after deciding to impose no further sanctions for the use of banned 'team orders'.

Race stewards had handed the $100,000 fine to the Italian glamour team after the German Grand Prix at Hockenheim in July when Ferrari were found to have ordered Felipe Massa to allow Fernando Alonso victory in a one-two finish.

NEW YORK:   Serbian third seed Novak Djokovic advanced to the US Open  semi-finals on Wednesday, defeating French 17th seed Gael Monfils 7-6 (7/2), 6-1, 6-2, in windy conditions at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Djokovic will face the winner of a later quarter-final between Swiss second seed Roger Federer and Swedish fifth seed Robin Soderling on Saturday for a berth in Sunday's final.

LEMONT:   Tiger Woods returned to one of his happy hunting grounds on Wednesday riding the momentum from one of the best weeks of a turbulent year into his title defence at the BMW Open.

With his divorce finalised, a spot on the U.S. Ryder Cup squad confirmed and his game pointed in the right direction, Woods's world seemed to be slipping back into a familiar orbit on a sunny day at Cog Hill Golf and Country Club where he has been a winner five times.

NEW YORK:   Pakistan's Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi has reached the US Open men's and mixed doubles finals and hopes to win both in tribute to the 21 million flood victims in his homeland.

Qureshi and partner Rohan Bopanna of India, trying to foster peace between their rival homelands, advanced to the men's doubles final Wednesday by beating Argentina's Eduardo Schwank and Horacio Zaballos 7-6 (7/5), 6-4.

NEW YORK:   Vera Zvonareva of Russia reached the semi-finals of the US Open on Wednesday with a 6-3, 7-5 win over Kaia Kanepi of Estonia.

The eighth seed will play either top seed Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark or Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia for a place in the final.

NEW YORK:   Venus Williams  has shaken off a sore left knee that had benched her since Wimbledon and breezed into a US Open semi-final Friday against reigning champion Kim Clijsters without dropping a set.

Reaching the final four at a Grand Slam for the first time since last year at Wimbledon, US third seed Williams has impressed Belgian second seed Clijsters with her mental strength and desire as well as her shotmaking.

NEW YORK:   Spanish powerhouse Fernando Verdasco faces the ultimate test in men's tennis on Thursday when he goes up against all-conquering Rafael Nadal in the quarter-finals of the US Open.

The top seed has been in overwhelming form in New York and has yet to drop a set or even his serve in four outings.

Three Pakistani cricketers - captain Salman Butt and pacers Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamer - are being investigated on charges of spot-fixing during the Lords Test match.

BARRACKPORE:   Describing the recent spot-fixing scandal as "unfortunate", former Australia captain Steve Waugh today said young cricketers are giving in to the lure of fast money.

"We need to take appropriate measures to curb fixing. Now a days, a lot of youngsters are playing cricket. They are getting attracted to making easy and fast money by the bookies," he said.

MELBOURNE:   Former Australian opening batsman Matthew Hayden has called on the cricket fraternity to resolve in order to weed out the corrupt practices like match-fixing from the game.

"If governments can't control illegal gambling then what chance has a small organisation like the ICC got of making an impact on the global footprint of gambling."

Kaneria and Mervyn Westfield were questioned by police over allegations that two Essex players placed bets on their Pro40 match against Durham last September.