ASS News » Rounding out the top four were Marsha Hudey

MADRID, Spain -- Atletico Madrid beat 10-man Real Betis 2-0 Sunday in the Spanish league to increase the pressure on Real Madrid ahead of its clasico with Barcelona. Atletico is tied on 70 points with Madrid, which hosts Barcelona later Sunday. Barcelona has 66 points. Gabi Fernandez opened the scoring in what had been a hard fought contest until Bryan Rodriguez was shown a second yellow card for blatantly swiping at the ball with his hand in the 55th minute. Gabi was afforded space about 10 metres outside the area to smash a swerving drive beyond outstretched goalkeeper Antonio Adan for the 58th-minute lead. Diego Costa made it 2-0 in the 64th after Koke headed on to the Spain striker to fire home his 23rd league goal and 31st in all competitions. While Atleticos season-long surge sees no signs of dipping with nine rounds left, last-placed Betis is running out of time to avoid relegation after falling nine points from safety. Earlier, Sevilla continued its late bid to qualify for next seasons Champions League by beating Osasuna 2-1 for a fifth straight victory. Jairo Samperio put Sevilla ahead after 27 minutes before Carlos Bacca scored a first-half stoppage time penalty after Damia Abella was ajudged to have handled inside the area, which led to Osasuna coach Javi Gracia being dismissed. Sevilla never looked in danger despite Osasuna substitute Javier Acuna scoring an impressive individual effort in the last play of the game. Sevilla has 48 points, seven behind fourth-placed Athletic Bilbao on 55. Osasuna is two points above the relegation zone. Vallencia and Villarreal also play on Sunday, while Real Sociedad faces Almeria on Monday. In other 29th round results, it was: Athletic Bilbao 1, Getafe 0; Malaga 2, Celta Vigo 0; Real Valladolid 1, Rayo Vallecano 1; and Espanyol 0, Levante 0. Air Max UK Sale . Top-seeded Djokovic, who is making only his second appearance this year after reaching the quarterfinals of the Australian Open, was a 6-3, 6-3 winner over 54th-ranked Istomin of Uzbekistan. "It wasnt as easy as the scoreline indicates," said Djokovic, who has won in Dubai on four occasions. Cheap Nike Air Max Outlet UK ." Bach is in Rome for the European Olympic Committees general assembly and meetings with Pope Francis. He also visited with Italian Premier Enrico Letta. "The prime minister appeared to be interested in a bid from Italy for 24, because he has realized that the games can serve as a catalyst for development for a city and a country," Bach told The Associated Press on Saturday. http://www.wholesaleairmaxukoutlet.com/ . Toronto (11-12) gave up leads in 10-8 and 11-4 losses to the Baltimore Orioles this week. It was never close Friday as the Boston Red Sox got to Mark Buehrle early en route to an 8-1 win. Nike Air Max Sale Online UK . The Major League Soccer teams were scheduled to play on Saturday night, but their game was rescheduled after Stu Tudor was hit during a pregame storm. The 54-year-old lieutenant in the Columbus Fire Department is in critical condition in the intensive care unit of the Ohio State Medical Center. Air Max Clearance Online .com) - A top-10 showdown is on tap in at the McKale Center on Saturday, as the 10th-ranked Arizona Wildcats play host to the eighth-ranked Utah Utes in a key Pac-12 matchup.CALGARY -- While Jeremy Wotherspoons Olympic comeback bid took a major hit on Saturday, several other athletes took a step closer to realizing their dreams. On the first day of the Olympic trials for Canadas long-track speedskating team, Wotherspoon finished sixth in the mens 500 metres. According to Sean Ireland, Speed Skating Canadas long-track program director, that wont be good enough for the four-time Olympian from Red Deer, Alta., to earn a spot to represent Canada at the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, Russia. "The top four have a chance of being selected to the Olympic team," Ireland said. Canadas Olympic long-track speedskating team, which will consist of 10 women and eight men for all disciplines, will be announced on Jan. 22. Wotherspoons brother-in-law Jamie Gregg, from Edmonton, finished first in the mens 500 metres with a combined two-race time of 69.15. "The whole year Ive been kind of trying to focus on Sochi, not wanting to take this for granted, but at the same time I wanted to be building through this and up into Sochi," said Gregg. "Were going to go back and train hard after this and hopefully I can do a lot better because Im going to have to do better if I want to do what I want to do in Sochi." Finishing in the second, third and fourth spots respectively were Calgarys Gilmore Junio (69.31 seconds), William Dutton of Humbolt, Sask. (69.38) and Quebec Citys Muncef Ouardi (69.41). Wotherspoon found himself in third spot after the first race before falling out of contention after his second 500 metres around Calgarys Olympic Oval track. "In the first race I was almost the same time as guys who won medals at the world cups in the fall," said Wotherspoon, who still holds the world record of 34.03 seconds set in Salt Lake City in 2007. "I was pretty happy to be that close. That makes it even more disappointing to have the second race that I had." Wotherspoon said he hasnt decided whether hell race in tthe mens 1,000 metres on Monday or not.dddddddddddd "Right now I feel a bit tired and disappointed so I have to refocus for that," said Wotherspoon, while noting that he believes both Gregg and Junio have great shots at winning medals in Sochi. "Jamie and Gilmore for sure have shots at medals in Sochi based on what theyve done so far this year and what I know theyre capable of. It would have been nice to go there with them as a skater." In the womens 500 metres, Christine Nesbitt of London, Ont., finished first with a two-race time of 76.45 seconds. "This definitely makes me feel good about things," said Nesbitt, who will also compete on Monday in the womens 1,000 metres and on Thursday in the 1,500 metres. "Of course, I still have two more distances Id like to qualify in, my best distances, so Ill see how those go." Rounding out the top four were Marsha Hudey of White City, Sask. (76.91 seconds), Calgarys Anastasia Bucsis (76.93) and Red Deers Danielle Wotherspoon-Gregg (77.08), who his Wotherspoons sister and is married to Gregg. Also on Saturday, Winnipegs Brittany Schussler won in the womens 3,000 metres, while Mathieu Giroux of Point-aux-Trembles, Que., finished first in the mens 5,000 metres to virtually earn themselves spots at the Winter Olympics. "I cant wrap my head around it," Schussler said. "Ive been so, so nervous. I knew that that was my spot and that that was my race to win. I cant even believe it -- I cant even comprehend -- that that Im going to Sochi." A member of Canadas gold-medal winning mens pursuit team in Vancouver, Giroux said this was his best race of the season. "The last two months Ive had some back issues that were slowing down my progression," he said. "We fixed a lot of the back problems in the last month. Also, I had troubles with my skates in the straight away to get proper glide, so we fixed the inside of the boots. That helped also." ' ' '