With legs resembling tree trunks and packing the body weight of two average-sized men, sumo wrestling's "Great Sandstorm" would seem a good fit for the wildly popular Japanese sport.

But Egypt's Abdelrahman Ahmed Shaalan, the first professional sumo wrestler from both the African continent and Arab world, faces some mighty challenges as he embarks on a quest to become a yokozuna, or grand champion.

Carmelo Anthony scored the game winning three pointer with 8.2 seconds left in overtime to lift the New York Knicks to a 100-99 win over the Chicago Bulls on Sunday.

Anthony finished with a season-high 43 points for the Knicks who blew a 21-point first quarter lead then had to rally from a 10-point deficit late in the game at Madison Square Garden.

Big John Isner is developing such a strong affection for claycourt tennis that he is emerging as a dangerous outsider for the French Open.

Isner steered the United States into the Davis Cup semi-finals at the weekend, beating Gilles Simon and then Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in four sets on the famous clay courts of the Monte Carlo Country Club.

Stuttering Real Madrid have Barcelona breathing down their necks after their La Liga lead was cut to just four points following a 0-0 draw with third-placed Valencia on Sunday.

Real started well with Cristiano Ronaldo hitting the post early on, but they were unable to maintain the impetus and Valencia also hit the woodwork in both halves through Ricardo Costa and Tino Costa.

Mario Balotelli's Manchester City future was in the balance after manager Roberto Mancini admitted his patience with the striker was wearing thin.

Balotelli was sent off for the third time this season in the 89th minute of City's 1-0 defeat at Arsenal on Sunday that left them eight points behind leaders Manchester United with six games left and hopes of a first English title in 44 years all but extinguished.

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson paid tribute to Paul Scholes after his team closed in on a 20th English title.

Scholes, 37, scored a third goal since coming out of retirement in January as United secured an 11th win in 12 Premier League matches with a 2-0 victory over Queens Park Rangers at Old Trafford.

The Boston Celtics rebounded from one of their worst defeats of the season to beat the Indiana Pacers 86-72 on Saturday at the Bankers Life Fieldhouse arena.

Forward Paul Pierce scored 24 points and Ray Allen came off the bench for the second game in a row to finish with 19 points for the Celtics who snapped a two-game skid with their sixth victory in their last eight games.

Roberto Di Matteo hopes his Chelsea side will have shaken off their Champions League hangover when they face west London rivals Fulham on Monday.

The Blues manager admitted his side were not at their best as they scraped their way to a controversial 2-1 win over Wigan on Saturday, three days after a victory over Benfica that set up a Champions League semi-final with Barcelona.

Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish has insisted there is no sense of paranoia at Anfield despite taking issue with a number of decisions given against his team in recent weeks.

The Reds' Premier League problems continued with a 1-1 draw against Aston Villa at Anfield on Saturday, which was the 11th time in 16 home matches they have failed to win this season.

Lionel Messi became the first player in almost 40 years to score 60 goals in a single European top-flight season after a brace helped Barcelona come from behind to beat 10-man Zaragoza 4-1 on Saturday.

Messi's 23 goals from the last 12 games has helped him arrive at the landmark 60 figure, the first time since Gerd Muller scored 67 goals in the 1972-73 season for Bayern Munich.