I was playing against an opponent who had been practicing here

• LONDON -- Chelsea was close to finalizing a deal to sign striker Demba Ba from Newcastle on the same day Daniel Sturridge was sold to Liverpool. Chelsea has been looking to add him to its forward options with the 27-year-old Ba scoring 13 goals this season to put him among the English Premier Leagues most prolific players. Ba is halfway through a three-year Newcastle contract but Chelsea activated a release clause of 7.5 million pounds ($12.2 million) and was given permission to speak to the Senegal forward. While the personal terms are yet to be completed with Chelsea, Newcastle manager Alan Pardew has no doubt Ba will move to London. "Its done. He will go to Chelsea with our blessing," Pardew told Sky Sports TV on Wednesday. "He has done fantastic for us and its not a bad thing, all the uncertainty is now done and we can move on." Bas hopes of playing in England came close to collapsing in January 2011 when he failed a medical examination at Stoke because of knee problems. But West Ham decided to sign Ba from German club Hoffenheim and he spent six months at Upton Park before switching to Newcastle in June 2011 after the Hammers were relegated. Ba has scored 36 Premier League goals in two years, more than twice as many as potential new Chelsea teammate Fernando Torres in the same time period. The Spain striker joined Chelsea in January 2011 as Ba was arriving at West Ham and has scored just 14 league goals since then. Despite Torres rediscovering his scoring touch since compatriot Rafa Benitez took charge of Chelsea in November, his game time could be curtailed if Ba successfully negotiates personal terms. Torres has started all 20 league matches so far this season, but failed to score in a 1-0 loss to Queens Park Rangers on Wednesday that left Chelsea fourth, 14 points behind leader Manchester United with one game in hand. "We are trying to manage the team so when I can change Fernando I will do it," Benitez said. "We will try to manage him and hopefully we can do things properly. "He wants the team winning games and he understands that is the way, so he will accept this." Chelsea offloaded its first player in the January transfer window when Sturridge completed his move to Liverpool after less than three years at Stamford Bridge. The England striker, who also appeared for Britain at the London Olympics, has made just seven league appearances this season. <a href="http://www.cheapnfljerseysmall.biz/">wholesale nfl jerseys</a>. Greivis Vasquez had never put up a triple-double in the NBA. <a href="http://www.cheapnfljerseysmall.biz/">very cheap jerseys</a>. Sterne shot a bogey-free 64 to finish with a tournament record total of 27 under at the Royal Johannesburg & Kensington golf course while his winning margin was the biggest in the tournaments history. "That was probably the best final round of my career," Sterne said. <a href="http://www.cheapnfljerseysmall.biz/">http://www.cheapnfljerseysmall.biz/</a>;. At the top of the list on Friday was ending their long losing streak in Houston. Marc Gasol had 15 points and 12 rebounds, Zach Randolph added 15 points and the Grizzlies snapped a 13-game skid in Houston with an 82-78 victory over the Rockets. <a href="http://www.cheapnfljerseysmall.biz/">cheap nfl jerseys wholesale</a>. Saskatchewan Roughriders slotback Andy Fantuz and Winnipeg guard Brendon LaBatte will both test the free-agent waters at noon ET on Wednesday. <a href="http://www.cheapnfljerseysmall.biz/">cheap nfl jerseys</a>. The Danish centre scored in the first period and added the decisive goal in a shootout Wednesday as the Canadiens stretched their winning run to four games with a 4-3 victory over the Ottawa Senators. STUTTGART, Germany -- Jelena Jankovic beat Samantha Stosur 6-4, 6-4 to advance to the second round of the Porsche Grand Prix on Wednesday. But another former No. 1 in the world, Caroline Wozniacki, lost in the first round, falling to Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain 7-6 (6), 6-1. The former top-ranked Dane squandered a 3-0 lead in the first set and never recovered after losing the tiebreaker. Jankovic now has a 6-2 career lead over Stosur, though she had lost to the Australian the last time they played on clay, in the semifinals of the 2010 French Open. "Ive had some good results this year," the Serb said. Jankovic won in Bogota and was runner-up in Charleston. Jankovic broke serve for a 5-4 lead but struggled to serve out the first set. She also wasted two match points at 5-3 on Stosurs serve in the second, before using her third match point on an error by Stosur. The Stuttgart tournament is played on indoor clay. Also, fifth-seeded Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic, a former Wimbledon champion, beat wild-card entry Annika Beck of Germmany 7-5, 6-7 (0), 6-3 after breaking serve for the second time in the final set for a 5-2 lead.dddddddddddd Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic beat Mona Barthel of Germany 6-4, 6-1. Barthel said she was tired after helping Germany defeat Serbia in the Fed Cup playoffs for a place in the World Group. Safarova won nine of 10 games from 4-3 down. She also played Davis Cup over the weekend, losing in Italy. "Todays match was a good one to get through," Safarova said. "I was playing against an opponent who had been practicing here on the centre court in the lead-up to the Fed Cup tie on the weekend. "It took me a few games to get my rhythm because the conditions here are so different to Fed Cup in Palermo, where the surface was very slow - here its much faster and it took a while to get used to," Safarova said. Julia Goerges of Germany, who beat Wozniacki for the 2011 title in Stuttgart, advanced to the second round when Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium retired with stomach problems. Goerges was leading 6-2, 2-1. ' ' '

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