Perth, Australia - German Nicolas Kiefer was rushed to hospital for treatment of an ankle injury suffered as the Slovak Republic backed into a fifth final at the Hopman Cup teams event on Thursday.

The 31-year-old fell victim to the worst possible luck as he suffered a freak mishap while leading Slovakia's Domink Hrbaty 3-1.

The Europeans, winners in 2005, earned their Friday title shot 2-0 after teenager Dominika Cibulkova had beaten Sabine Lisicki of Germany 7-6 (7-3), 6-4 to start the tie.

London, Jan. 8 : Liverpool coach Rafa Benitez has rejected Manchester United counterpart Alex Ferguson's view that Liverpool does not have an outside chance of nailing the Premier League title because it is consumed by nerves.

Though bookies have rated Liverpool's chances as no better than third favourites behind Fergie's champions Manchester United and Chelsea, Benitez insisted: "I still believe we can improve and will have more options for the second half of the season - and more competition for each position."

London, Jan 8 : Former England cricket captain Nasser Hussain has said that claim, counter-claim and denial has reflected worse on English cricket than any Ashes whitewash, adding that Kevin Pietersen should have flown home to deal with the situation in a more professional manner.

"Kevin Pietersen should have gone about this in a much more professional way," Hussain told Sky Sports.

London, Jan 8 : Kevin Pietersen was forced into resigning as England Test and one-day captain after all rounder Andrew Flintoff and new skipper Andrew Strauss refused to back him and ECB's Managing Director Hugh Morris hinted at divisions in the team.

Bangalore, Jan 8 : The Indian junior and senior women''s hockey teams are training seriously in Bangalore for forthcoming international tours.

The senior team will take part in a four-nation tournament in Santiago, Chile from January 17.

The 22-member squad is expected to fly into Santiago on January 15, where they will play against Italy, Argentina and host Chile.