NIGER DELTA STANDARD | Peace and Prosperity across the land

Singh Takes Singapore Open Title
India's Jeev Milkha Singh won a nail-biting Singapore Open after Padraig Harrington and Ernie Els missed the chance to take the $5 million event to a playoff on their final putts. Singh (pictured), who virtually sealed the Asian order of merit title with the win, started the day five shots behind leader Chapchai Nirat of Thailand, but three birdies on the front nine helped him to the top of the leaderboard at seven-under par. Three-times Major winner Harrington looked certain to force a playoff after a stunning fairway wood gave him the chance of birdie at the last, but the Irishman's five-foot putt leaked across the face of the hole. "I couldn't have asked for better," the 36-year-old Singh said. "I'm a very fortunate man to win.

The golfing gods were on my side." Els moved within a shot of leader Singh with a birdie at the 16th, but a poor teeshot on 18 left him with too much to do and the South African's birdie putt came up just short. Chapchai, who fired a spectacular eagle on the par-four 11th to pull two shots clear of the field in the third round before fading light forced the players off the course, started the final round at 10-underpar, three ahead of local hope Lam Chih Bing. However, his challenge crumbled with a succession of bogeys and the stocky Thai slumped to a sevenover par 78 for the final round. World number three Phil Mickelson also had a disappointing fourth round, which included an ugly triple-bogey eight, and finished the tournament six shots behind the winner, while Singapore's Lam carded a shocking 79. Singh takes home a winner's cheque for $792,500.

Canadian GP Stays Off F1 Calendar
Canadian officials have failed to reach a deal to reinstate Montreal's Grand Prix to the 2009 Formula One schedule. The race was dropped from the calendar for next season following a commercial dispute over the 2008 Canadian GP. It means no North American races in 2009, with the United States Grand Prix at Indianapolis already dropped. A statement on the City of Montreal's website claimed Formula One had made "unreasonable demands" in a final contract proposal on 28 October.

The statement said that offer called for an eventual promoter to put up a government or bank guarantee of some £96.3m over the next five years. It said no private promoter was willing to take on such a level of risk, considering the limited revenue generated by the event. Montreal Mayor Gerald Tremblay said: "Despite our endeavours, the unreasonable demands of Formula One exceeded the taxpayer's ability to pay." The decision to drop Canada, along with the US Grand Prix, dismayed Formula One teams by cutting off a major market for their car-manufacturer owners and sponsors.

Briton Third In Tokyo Race
Japan's Yoshimi Ozaki took her first career title at the Tokyo International Women's Marathon as Briton Mara Yamauchi came in third. Ozaki, 27, overtook favourite Yoko Shibui at the 38.5km point to win in two hours, 23 minutes and 30 seconds, almost a minute ahead of fellow Japanese Yuri Kano who came in second with 2:24:27. Yamauchi (pictured) finished in 2:25:03 while Shibui, the 2004 Berlin Marathon champion, finished fourth in 2:25:51. Ozaki said the crowd had helped her surge from behind to take over the race.

"There were so many spectators who were cheering me," she said. "That really helped." Shibui set the pace from the start in a front group with Ozaki, Kano and Kenya's Magdaline Chemjor. Shibui and Chemjor left Ozaki and Kano behind after the 9km point, and then the Japanese turned it up a gear to take sole lead. Shibui was more than 100 metres ahead of the pack at one point but could not hold off Ozaki. It was the last running of the Tokyo race. Elite women runners are being added to the field of the separate Tokyo Marathon instead.

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