MADRID-- Diego Forlan scored twice from the penalty spot to help Atletico Madrid to a 4-0 first-leg victory at home to Racing Santander in a King's Cup semi-final on Thursday.
Simao Sabrosa and Jose Antonio Reyes had given the nine-times cup winners a comfortable 2-0 half-time lead before Uruguay striker Forlan crowned a convincing win with two spot kicks in the second half.
On Wednesday, the 2007 winners Sevilla made the most of home advantage to establish a 2-0 first-leg lead over Getafe.
The return legs are next week.
Atletico, one of La Liga's most inconsistent sides, had already hit the post at a corner when Portugal winger Simao lashed home a spectacular volley from a Sergio Aguero cross in the ninth minute.
Racing had been unbeaten since the turn of the year but had struggled to create much danger and just before the break they failed to deal with Simao's low cross allowing Reyes to stroke home the second.
Simao hit a free kick against the upright after the re-start and in the 63rd minute Jurado was brought down for the first penalty, though television replays showed the foul had happened outside the area.
Aguero had been tormenting the Racing defence all evening, and forced another penalty when he was upended as he dribbled towards goal in the 72nd minute.
Forlan made no mistake from the penalty spot once again, and Atletico were guilty of some wasteful finishing near the end.
MUMBAI-- A brewer, a sugar baron and a cement maker are among the most influential people in Indian sport, according to a recent power list, elbowing out some of the country's biggest sports stars themselves.
What's more, the power brokers not only make the rules in India but are also wielding greater influence abroad, from cricket pitches to Formula One tracks.
While iconic batsman Sachin Tendulkar tops the Sports Illustrated list, he is followed by Lalit Modi, chief of the Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket property; Vijay Mallya, brewer and owner of Force India Formula One team, and Sharad Pawar, a sugar baron and president-elect of the International Cricket Council.
Others on the list include Mukesh Ambani, head of Reliance Industries the top private company, N. Srinivasan, head of a cement firm and Pawan Munjal, head of Hero Honda Motors.
Sportsmen including world chess champion V. Anand and tennis champion Leander Paes are much farther down on the list.
India has long been witness to the interplay of business and politics in sport, with industrialists patronising domestic cricket and football leagues, and ministers wangling for titles on the numerous boards for various sports in the country.
"Perhaps five years ago, there would've been fewer businessmen on that list, but with the IPL and interest in other sports growing, we are seeing more of them step forward," said Mahesh Ranka, general manager, Relay Worldwide, the sports marketing arm of Starcom MediaVest Group.
"It also provides a way for them to raise their profile, and at the end of the day, it is another business opportunity."
The mix is getting headier as cricket-crazy India tries to shake off its tag as a one-sport nation, and more befitting its stature as a global economic power, with the confidence of its ambitious businessmen spilling into the playing fields.
Flamboyant liquor baron Mallya, who has snapped up several overseas firms recently, bought into the Spyker Formula One team more than two years ago, and renamed it Force India.
The team scored its first points last season, boosting hopes that India might host a F-1 grand prix in 2011.
But it is still cricket that grabs eyeballs, raises passions and brings in the big bucks in India, and also where the juxtaposition of business and politics in sport is most apparent.
Modi, scion of a wealthy industrialist family with ties to politicians and Bollywood stars, has cemented India's position as the game's new commercial hub with the multi-million dollar IPL.
While traditionalists choked on their tea at the IPL games, with their carnival atmosphere, designer uniforms, slick cheerleaders and after parties, big global and local sponsors and new converts, including women and youngsters, cheered.
"From a global perspective he's a gamechanger, the man who has single-handedly transformed cricket in the space of two years," said Jayaditya Gupta, executive editor of ESPNcricinfo.
"What he's done for Indian cricket is less well-defined, but one thing is clear: He's made India the centre of the global cricket economy and (the Indian board) the most powerful cricket organisation. Every other cricket board dances to our tune."
But as with other areas in India where business and politics mix, there is controversy here, too: Last year, Modi went toe-to-toe with Home Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram when the IPL schedule clashed with the national election.
Modi finally moved the IPL successfully to South Africa.
Now, the nattily dressed Modi finds himself at the centre of a diplomatic battle, after an IPL auction last month ended with no bids for 11 Pakistanis amid fears they could have visa problems following tensions after the 2008 Mumbai attacks.
A heated exchange ensued between the two nuclear-armed rivals who have often played cricket to better relations.
But it was commerce that brought cricketers together in the first place, said Sundar Raman, chief executive of IPL.
"It's not IPL's remit to look at geopolitical ramifications. We just hope people will approach this with greater maturity and understand it's just a game of cricket," he said.
ROTTERDAM, Netherlands- Ajax Amsterdam striker Luis Suarez scored four second-half goals, including two penalties, in his side's 4-0 demolition of Roda JC Kerkrade in the Dutch league on Wednesday.
The Dutch championship's leading scorer took his league tally for the season to 22 as Ajax consolidated third place on 46 points.
Leaders PSV Eindhoven and Twente Enchede stayed level on 55 points after PSV beat Utrecht 2-1 and Twente overcame fifth-placed Heracles Almelo 2-0.
Ola Toivonen put PSV ahead after seven minutes when he netted from a cross from Balazs Dzsudzsak but Sander Keller replied with a header before the break.
Orlando Engelaar restored the lead for PSV on the hour with a long-range drive.
Costa Rican Bryan Ruiz opened the scoring for Twente against neighbours Heracles with a tight-angled shot minutes before the interval and Blaise Nkufo sealed victory midway through the second half.
JOHANNESBURG-- Gael Monfils beat fellow Frenchman Josselin Ouanna in straight sets to advance to the quarter-finals of the South African Open on Thursday.
Monfils, the top seed, had too much firepower for his compatriot as he clinched a 6-4 7-5 win in one hour 20 minutes.
Monfils made a quick start to the match, breaking Ouanna's serve in the fourth game of the first set, to move 3-1 ahead.
Ouanna, ranked 121st in the world, broke back immediately to fight his way back into the contest but Monfils claimed the first set after 39 minutes when Ouanna hit an unforced error to surrender his serve.
Monfils, who hit 12 aces during the match, set up a clash with seventh seed Lu Yen-Hsun of Taiwan who ended the run of the final South African in the draw, Raven Klaasen, with a 6-4 7-5 win.
Spain's David Ferrer, the second seed, was made to work hard by Swedish qualifier Filip Prpic for a 6-3 6-4 victory.
Ferrer, who produced 56 unforced errors, will now play India's Somdev Davvarman who beat Brazilian Thiago Alves 6-4 6-1.
MADRID-- The legal wrangling over the 33rd America's Cup has been a significant step backwards for sailing's most prestigious prize, Ernesto Bertarelli, president of holders Alinghi, was quoted as saying on Wednesday.
"From the point of view of the event, the public and the sponsors, yes there has been a very big step backwards," the Swiss entrepreneur told Spain's Marca sports daily.
"From the point of view of the sport, no, because I believe that for young people sailing is about speed," he added.
"The Cup has the fastest boats between two buoys in the world, they are the Formula One of boats."
Swiss team Alinghi and challengers BMW Oracle of the United States have been in dispute over rules since Alinghi retained the trophy by beating Team New Zealand in 2007.
Uncertainty about whether the competition would take place ended on Friday when a New York court said it would not hear a complaint from BMW over the origin of Alinghi's sails before the best-of-three match, which starts on Monday in Valencia.
The teams were still at odds over some of the regulations on Tuesday and an International Sailing Federation (ISAF) Jury ruled overnight on five requests from BMW for redress.
The Golden Gate Yacht Club (GGYC), under whose colours BMW sail, said the Jury had given race official Harold Bennett discretion over what will constitute fair and safe conditions for racing.
The GGYC had claimed wind limits imposed by Alinghi's club, the Societe Nautique de Geneve (SNG), would give the Swiss team an unfair advantage.
"This brings some degree of commonsense back to the rules," said GGYC spokesman Tom Ehman.
"It puts the decision back in the hands of the race officer so we won't have any artificial limit that helps Alinghi because their boat is better in light winds."
BMW had also been cleared to use onboard wind-detection equipment and friction-reduction technologies, Ehman said.
Alinghi said the Jury had confirmed their chosen race start time of 0906 GMT and also that SNG's race committee would be responsible for determining whether to start or continue a race.
"We welcome the Jury's involvement and decisions for the sport," Alinghi team skipper and tactician Brad Butterworth said in a statement.
"We are confident racing will go ahead as scheduled on Monday -- weather permitting -- and we are looking forward to finally getting this competition on the water."
