Sporting briefs

Ronaldo: Real Madrid’s Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo, who injured an ankle earlier this week, is fit to join the squad that will face Valencia in a league match today, coach Jose Mourinho said yesterday.”Cristiano Ronaldo is fine... He will play against Valencia,” Mourinho told a news conference. Real said on Wednesday that Ronaldo had an inflamed tendon in his right ankle.

Arrested: Six football fans – five Bulgarians and one Turk – were arrested following CSKA Sofia’s 1-2 home defeat to Turkish side Besiktas in Thursday’s Europa League game. The Turkish fan was arrested for possession of marijuana. Four of the Bulgarians, aged between 16 and 33, were detained for lighting torches in the stadium, while another 21-year-old fan was held for hoologanism, the ministry said.

Williamson: Newcastle United defender Mike Williamson signed a new five-and-a-half year contract with the Premier League club yesterday. Williamson has played a key role in Newcastle’s solid start to life back in the English top-flight after last season’s promotion from the Championship.

Petric: Hamburg’s Croatian striker Mladen Petric has been sidelined with a thigh injury, ruling him out for the last three Bundesliga games of the year. Petric has scored four goals so far this season for HSV. The Croatian is scheduled to return after the winter break, in time for a post Christmas training camp.

Owen: Manchester United striker Michael Owen could be back from injury in time for the club’s Christmas fixtures. United manager Sir Alex Ferguson revealed on Friday that former Liverpool star Owen has returned to full training following a hamstring injury that has kept him out of action since October. If Owen continues to progress well he will be in line to help United’s title challenge before the New Year.

Liverpool: Liverpool youngsters Daniel Pacheco and Martin Kelly were given new long-term contracts with the Premier League club yesterday. Spanish forward Pacheco, 19, signed a two-year contract extension which keeps him at Anfield until June 2014, while England Under-21 defender Kelly, 20, agreed a three-year extension which will also see him remain on Merseyside until 2014.

MFA Div. Two: Rabat Ajax vs Birżebbuġa St Peter’s 1-1; Mġarr vs Mellieħa 1-2.

Horse Racing: The chairman of a firm that shares ownership of Pimlico, home of the Preakness horse race, will meet next week with officials whose decisions could threaten the US Triple Crown event. The Maryland Racing Commission on Monday rejected a plan by track owners for a 30-day live racing season at Pimlico that would include the middle leg of the famed series that also features the Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes. The commission and the Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association want a greater plan to address the future of horse racing in the state, seeking at or above the 146 days of racing conducted at two tracks.

Basketball: LeBron James, a former hero booed as a villain in a long-awaited return to the city he spurned, scored 24 of his 38 points in the third quarter to spark Miami’s 118-90 rout of Cleveland. The two-time NBA Most Valuable Player gave a display of the form that once drew cheers from sellout crowds at Cleveland, hitting 15-of-25 shots while dealing eight assists and grabbing five rebounds in a triumphant homecoming.

Awards: Samantha Stosur was awarded the inaugural Newcombe Medal as Australia’s most outstanding tennis player in 2010 at an awards dinner in Melbourne yesterday. Stosur, 26, the current world number six, received the medal from Australian great John Newcombe at the presentation. Stosur reached this year’s French Open final and beat two world number ones – Serena Williams at Roland Garros and Caroline Wozniacki at the WTA Championships.

Tennis: The India-Pakistan tennis duo of Rohan Bopanna and Aisam Ul-Haq Qureshi were yesterday honoured for their partnership with a Peace and Sport award. The two players featured on the ATP Tour this year wearing warm-up gear with the slogan “Stop War, Start Tennis” to publicise their belief that friendship between India and Pakistan is possible. When he presented the award, Joel Bouzou, founder of Peace and Sport, appealed to the governments of India and Pakistan to support the players’ project to organise a symbolic tennis match at the Wagah border between India and Pakistan.