Messi wins record fourth Ballon dOr

Argentina's Lionel Messi wins FIFA Men's World Player of the Year Award during the FIFA Ballon d'Or Gala 2013 held at the Kongresshaus in Zurich, Switzerland, on Monday. Lionel Messi won the FIFA Ballon dOr award on Monday as an expected reward for his astonishing 91-goal year for Barcelona and Argentina in 2012. Aged just 25, Messi has now been voted the worlds best player for an unprecedented fourth straight year as the outstanding talent of his generation. Messi beat his great rival Cristiano Ronaldo of Spanish champion Real Madrid and Barcelona teammate Andres Iniesta, who starred as Spain won the 2012 European Championship. To tell the truth, this is really unbelievable to get the fourth award. I am so nervous, a typically lowkey Messi said in Spanish.

Will not beg for government funds for revolting players: AITA
NEW DELHI: As none of the eight revolting players has made himself available for Davis Cup selection, the AITA on Tuesday said anyone who refuses to play for India will not be entitled for the financial support from the government. The national tennis body has proposed to get Rs 15 lakh each for players featuring in top-200 in singles and Rs 12 lakh for those who get into the bracket of 201-300 through the Long term Development Plan (LTDP) from the government. The figure is Rs8 lakh for players, who are ranked between 301-500 and aged below 28. In the doubles, the figure is Rs seven lakh for players in top-50 and Rs four lakh for those featuring in 51-100. "We are not going to beg for the funds for players who are not interested in doing national duty. They have brought the game to disrepute by their act despite that we addressed their concerns honestly," AITA CEO Hironmoy Chatterjee said. "The government is also watching what's happening. They are aware of it. We have been transparent in this issue. The players who want to play for India will get all the support," he added. The AITA also felt that the young players would be the biggest losers in the ongoing controversy and advised them not to risk their India cap at this stage of their respective careers.

Sania-Huber duo into Apia International quarter-final

Sania Mirza continued her impressive run in the circuit this year when she combined well with Liezel Huber to rally from a first-set deficit to down Dominika Cibulkova and Lucie Safarova 16, 6-0, 11-9 and enter the women's doubles quarter-final of the Apia International tennis championship in Sydney on Monday, according to information received here. It may be recalled that Sania partnered Mattek-Sands Bethanie to clinch the Brisbane International last week. "This is the best start to the year I have ever had," says the champion tennis player from Hyderabad. Interestingly, Sania is World No. 12 in the individual roll-over rankings in doubles while Mattek is World No. 27. Still good enough for this duo to enter the Australian Open Grand Slam where they are likely to be seeded No. 10, according to Sania's father-cum-coach Imran Mirza.

(The award started in 2010 The FIFA Ballon d'Or is an association football award given annually to the player who is considered to have performed the best in the previous season. It is awarded based on votes by coaches and captains of international teams, as well as journalists from around the world.)