Buenos Aires - A French motorcyclist competing in the Dakar Rally has been found dead during the race in Argentina, it was reported Wednesday.

La Nacion newspaper quoted rally organizers as saying the body of 49-year-old Pascal Terry was found about 15 metres from the route used during Sunday's second stage.

The Yamaha rider had gone missing during the stage between Santa Rosa and Puerto Madryn in the province of Chubut.

Police are investigating the death, the report said.

Brisbane, Australia - Australian Open finalist Jo-Wilfried Tsonga recovered from a horror start to impose his game on fighting Finn Jarkko Nieminen for a 0-6, 7-6 (7-1),
7-6 (7-5) win into the quarter-finals of the Brisbane International on Wednesday.

The Frenchman looked like becoming an upset statistic like top seed Novak Djokovic the day before. But he took the contest in hand against 41st-ranked Niemimen, who won their only other encounter a year ago when the event was played in Adelaide.

London, Jan 7 : Former Indian cricket captain Sourav Ganguly, who is popularly known as the Prince of Kolkata, will pick a new cheerleader for his Indian Premier League team, the Kolkata Knight Riders.

Ganguly is all set to make his small screen debut in Shahrukh Khan's show, Knights and Angels. But unlike other cricketers he will not be seen participating, but rather judging the reality show Knights and Angels.

Perth, Australia - James Blake converted on only one of his 19 break points, but compensated with 17 aces to pull the US level 1-1 with Germany at the Hopman Cup on Wednesday.

The number ten managed the fightback to defeat Nicolas Kiefer 7-6 (7-3), 6-7 (7-9), 6-4. In the women's rubber, teenaged Sabine Lisicki remained undefeated at the eight-nation event with her 4-6, 6-0, 6-4 defeat of Meghann Shaughnessy.

Auckland - Fitness issues from 2008 came back to haunt local hope Marina Erakovic as the New Zealander fell 6-2, 6-3 to top seed Elena Dementieva in the second round on Wednesday at the ASB Classic.

Erakovic, the number 60 who lost her last seven matches of 2008, needed treatment for abdominal and neck strains with a second-set injury timeout.

Olympic champion Dementieva bucked the upset trend after five of the eight seeds went out in the second round. The Russian faces a Thursday quarter-final with Israeli Shahar Peer.

Lahore, Jan 7 : Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Ijaz Butt has reiterated that Pakistan's priority is to host Australia's tour in their home country, but admitted that a neutral venue for the series remains a possibility.

Ijaz also said that he and chief operating officer Salim Altaf had not visited the facilities in Kuala Lumpur last week scotching reports that they had inspected the ground following a meeting at the Asian Cricket Council headquarters.