Sharapova, Kvitova in Wimbledon final

Russia's Maria Sharapova is back in the ladies final at Wimbledon for the first time since 2004.Maria Sharapova will play Petra Kvitova in the ladies final at WimbledonRussian fifth seed Sharapova beats German Sabine Lisicki 6-4 6-3Czech eighth seed Kvitova triumphs 6-1 3-6 6-2 over Victoria AzarenkaIt is Sharapova's first Wimbledon final since she won in 2004

(CNN) -- Maria Sharapova powered her way to a first Wimbledon final in seven years after she brushed aside Sabine Lisicki to set up a meeting with Petra Kvitova.

The Russian claimed her first ever Grand Slam title as a 17-year-old back in 2004 and recovered from an early wobble against German wildcard Lisicki to triumph 6-4 6-3.

Standing in between Sharapova and the fourth major championship of her career will be Kvitova, from the Czech Republic, after she beat Belarusian fourth seed Victoria Azarenka 6-1 3-6 6-2.

Sharapova told reporters after her match: "It's amazing to be back in the final at Wimbledon, it's been a while.

"I'm really happy even though I didn't play my best tennis today. To be in the final is a great achievement for me but I still feel like I've got more to do."

The final looked a long way off when the fifth seed slumped to 3-0 down in the opening set, after a series of untimely double faults handed Lisicki the advantage.

But when the German squandered a chance to go into a 4-0 lead Sharapova burst into life and took six of the next seven games to secure the first set.

She then raced into a 5-1 lead in the second before Lisicki secured a break of service to give her a lifeline, but it was quickly snuffed out as the Russian broke back immediately to secure her place in Saturday's showpiece final.

Kvitova, who lost in the semifinal stage last year to Serena Williams, is the first left-handed player to reach the final since compatriot Martina Navratilova in 1990, and the 18-time major champion was watching on from the royal box.

The eighth seed took a mere 27 minutes to secure the opening set, breaking her opponent's serve twice and registering six aces on her way to a 6-1 success.

But Azarenka -- the highest seed left in the final four -- recovered her composure and roared back into contention in the second set, securing two breaks to take it 6-3.

That setback only inspired Kvitova to greater heights as she grabbed the initiative with a 3-1 lead in the decider and watched as Azarenka served a double fault to hand her victory.

She told reporters: "I saw Martina (Navratilova) in the locker room and she wished me good luck. I'm so happy but I don't really believe I am in the final. This is the best day of my life."

I'm so happy but I don't really believe I am in the final. This is the best day of my life
--Petra Kvitova

"I started really well, all match it was about serve so I was happy mine went well in the third set. In the beginning it was close but after I broke her, I played well and she was a little bit down I think.

"She played very well in the second set and it was tough after that but I tried to play it as if it was a normal game and not the Wimbledon semi-final."

Azarenka acknowledged she was beaten by the better player and said Kvitova is well capable of securing an upset against the favorite Sharapova.

"I probably could have played better but when I had chances she really came up with the good stuff," she said.

"I think she can beat anybody any day, because right now she has a really good game. She's really going for it. If she's going to play like this, like she played today, I'm sure she has all the chances to win the next match."

CNN

Unseeded Lisicki beats Hantuchova in Edgbaston final (AFP)

BIRMINGHAM, England (AFP) – Germany's unseeded Sabine Lisicki proved too strong for Slovakia's Daniela Hantuchova during a 6-3, 6-2 win in the final of the Edgbaston WTA grasscourt event here on Monday.

Rain meant the final was held over from Sunday but the delay proved no problem for the 21-year-old Lisicki, ranked 100th in the world, who broke fourth seed Hantuchova once in the first set and twice in the second.

Victory completed a memorable couple of days for Lisicki, who beat Chinese third seed Peng Shuai in the semi-finals, after she was granted a wildcard for Wimbledon -- now the only one of tennis's four majors played on grass.

Lisicki, who has now won two WTA tour events, will head to Wimbledon looking for another good run in the tournament to set alongside her quarter-final appearance in 2009.

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Endeavour completes final mission; one flight left for NASA

Space shuttle Endeavour landed Wednesday morning at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.Endeavour's 16-day mission took it to the international space stationThe retirement will not end "the human need to explore," says Cmdr. Mark KellyThe shuttle Atlantis is scheduled to take off on NASA's final space shuttle mission on July 8

Kennedy Space Center, Florida (CNN) -- The space shuttle Endeavour landed at Kennedy Space Center in Florida early Wednesday, completing its 25th and final mission -- the next-to-last mission for NASA's 30-year-old space shuttle program.

"Welcome home, Endeavour," Mission Control in Houston said.

The spacecraft touched down at 2:34 a.m. ET at the end of a nearly 16-day mission to the International Space station.

"It's sad to see her land for the last time, but she really has a great legacy," said Cmdr. Mark Kelly after Endeavour rolled to a stop in the darkness of a warm Florida morning

The youngest of the shuttles retires after 25 space flights. During 299 days in space, Endeavour orbited the earth 4,671 times and logged almost 122.9 million miles, NASA said. It first went into service in 1993.

Endeavour unlocked from the International Space Station late Sunday after spending more than 11 days linked to the orbiting laboratory, where the astronauts installed a cosmic ray detector. The $2 billion, 15,000-pound machine is already at work "gathering information that could improve our understanding of the universe," Kelly said.

"The retirement of Endeavour and the shuttle fleet will not end the human need to explore," Kelly said in comments from space that were posted on NASA's website. "It is and always will be part of who we are. The United States will build other spaceships better than those of today. Even if they are years in the future, they will nevertheless increase our knowledge of the world, generate an enormous benefit to the economy and inspire our children."

On July 8, space shuttle Atlantis is to make NASA's final shuttle flight.

Thousands of people turned out Tuesday night at Kennedy Space Center to watch it make the three-mile trip from the Vehicle Assembly Building to the launch pad.

"Look how majestic it looks rolling out to the launch pad," said astronaut Sandy Magnus to reporters. "Look at that and see what we can do when we put our minds to it."

CNN

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9 final NZealand earthquake victims declared dead (AP)

WELLINGTON, New Zealand – Nine final victims of New Zealand's devastating earthquake were declared dead Monday, ending an agonizing wait for families of people whose remains have never been identified in the wreckage.

Even DNA testing proved unable to identify nine of the 181 victims killed in parts of the city of Christchurch that were ruined in the Feb. 22 quake, so the government set up a special coroner's inquest to examine other evidence.

Chief coroner Neil MacLean made his official finding of death for nine missing people who have not been located and whose mobile phones, bank accounts and passports have not been used. He concluded they died from traumatic injuries as a result of the quake.

MacLean said their families deserved closure. The nine were six women and three men. Four were Chinese and one Filipino. Others were born in Peru and Russia.

Witnesses reported seeing all nine in the Canterbury Television Building before the earthquake, but no one had seen any of them since. A total of 115 lives were lost in the CTV building, which totally collapsed and burned.

The magnitude 6.3 earthquake is one of New Zealand's worst disasters. Some 10,000 houses and nearly 1,000 downtown commercial buildings will have to be demolished and some parts of suburban Christchurch likely will have to be abandoned altogether.

The quake is New Zealand's most expensive natural disaster, costing an estimated $15 billion.

Police earlier identified 172 victims and told the inquest they had names for another nine people but any remains of them recovered were too incomplete to be identified forensically.

Fingerprints, dental remains, pathological examinations and DNA analysis were among the methods unable to identify the nine, Detective Inspector Paul Kench said.

"To say that this is an extraordinary type of inquiry is an understatement," MacLean told the hearing.

The six women MacLean ruled dead were: Jinyan Leng, 30, Xiujuan Xu, 47, Didi Zhang, 23, and Xiaoli Zhou, 26, of China; Rhea Mae Sumalpong, 25, of the Philippines; and Elsa Torres De Frood, 53, a Peru-born New Zealand resident.

The men were: Matthew Lyle Beaumont, 31, and Shawn Lucas, 40, of Christchurch; and Valeri Volnov, 41, a Russian-born New Zealand resident.

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Djokovic beats Nadal in Madrid final

Novak Djokovic shows his delight after completing a breakthrough victory over Rafael Nadal. Novak Djokovic beats Rafael Nadal 7-5 6-4 to win Madrid Masters crownDjokovic extends his winning streak in 2011 to 32 with sixth titlesFirst victory over Nadal for the Serb to end 37-match winning streak for Spaniard on clay

(CNN) -- Novak Djokovic beat Rafael Nadal for the first time on clay to claim the Madrid Masters title Sunday and extend his winning streak in 2011 to 32 matches.

The 7-5 6-4 straight sets victory stunned the partisan crowd in the Spanish capital as Djokovic stepped up his bid to usurp Nadal as world number one.

The defeat ended a 37-match winning streak for Nadal on his favorite surface, his last coming in the fourth round of the 2009 French Open to Robin Soderling.

Serbia's Djokovic has now beaten Nadal in the last three Masters 1000 tournament finals in Indian Wells, Miami and now Madrid.

But it was the manner of his victory over the 'king of clay' which so impressed particularly after nine straight previous defeats on the red stuff.

"I walked onto the court thinking I could win," said Djokovic.

I walked onto the court thinking I could win
--Novak Djokovic

"I'm very happy with the way I played. This court was fast today, and I took advantage," he told the courtside crowd.

He gained two early breaks to lead 4-0 in the opening set before Nadal recovered to level at 5-5.

Djokovic comfortably held his own service then broke Nadal for the third time as he closed it out on his fourth set point.

The start of the second set was marked by an incredible winner from the home hero as he hit a lobbed winner from between his legs over a bemused Djokovic.

It brought the crowd to their feet, but they were quickly silenced as Djokovic continued to have the edge although Nadal showed resilience to stay in the set.

The final breakthrough came in the 10th game as Djokovic forged three match points and after missing a backhand winner on the first he was soon celebrating as Nadal hit wide.

His victory after two hours and 17 minutes gave Djokovic his sixth title of the year, including the Australian Open.

The pair will lock horns again in the Italian Open Masters Series event this week in Rome ahead of the second grand slam of the season at Roland Garros.

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Butler University Lost The Final Against University Of Connecticut

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Bulldogs of Butler University have lost the final of NCAA consecutively for second time. Butler Bulldogs could not get a lead in score over Huskies due to strong defence of Huskies players. At the other side, Connecticut Huskies main reason of success was that they had a very good defence as compared to Bulldogs.
Students of the University of Connecticut are celebrating the victory of their basketball team in the final match of American college basketball championship. Present and past students of University have celebrated the victory of their team. Connecticut students had come to see the final in a large number. Fireworks happened at campus of University of Connecticut after victory in the final of NCAA.

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