School volleyball

LALITPUR: Namuna English Secondary School is organising the fourth Valleywide Namuna Running Shield Boys’ Volleyball Tournament here from November 29 to December 5. In all, 20 schools of Kathmandu Valley will take part in the tournament, said the organisers here on Wednesday. The top three winner

will get Rs 4,000, Rs 2,000 and

Rs 1,000 respectively. — HNS

Australia qualify

SINGAPORE: Australia and Japan booked their places at next year’s Beijing Olympic football tournament after draws with North Korea and Saudi Arabia respectively on Wednesday. They join hosts China, who qualified automatically, as three of Asia’s four representatives at the Games. Group B is a tighter affair with South Korea on 11 points to Bahrain’s 10, with the decider between the two teams being played at the Seoul World Cup Stadium later today. Australia played a 1-1 draw while Japan held Saudi Arabia to a goalless draw. — AFP

Nadal beats Gasquet

SHAH ALAM: World No 2 Rafael Nadal claimed his second victory over Richard Gasquet this month, beating the Frenchman 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 in an exhibition match on Wednesday. The stars faced off in a showpiece match at Malaysia’s Malawati Stadium, little more than a week after Nadal beat Gasquet 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 at the Masters Cup, the season-ending tournament for the top eight men’s singles players. Nadal’s ferocious groundstrokes mixed with a little subtlety when necessary gave the Spaniard his fifth win over Gasquet

in as many meetings. — AP