Bangkok: Taiwan held off a spirited Thailand to win the Asian Hopman Cup mixed team event on Sunday and earn a place in next month’s tournament proper in Perth.

Lu Yen-hsun and Hsieh Su-wei sealed victory with a commanding performance in the deciding doubles match, hammering Thai pairing Danai Udomchoke and Tamarine Tanasugarn 6-4, 6-0 to complete the line-up for the eight-nation Hopman Cup.

Hsieh gave Taiwan the early advantage, dictating the opening match with Tamarine to win 6-3, 7-5.

In the men’s singles, Danai beat Lu 7-6, 6-4 to bring it to 1-1 overall, edging ahead in a tight but entertaining match against the Asian number two.

The players were evenly matched throughout, with Asian Games gold medallist Danai countering Lu’s big serves and heavy topspin drives with powerful returns and perfectly-placed drop shots.

Yossi out for 3 weeks

London: Israel captain Yossi Benayoun will be out for three weeks with a torn muscle, ruling him out of his country’s Euro 2008 qualifier with Russia on November 17, Liverpool said on Sunday.

The midfielder’s injury comes as another blow for England fans, with Russia sure to qualify for next year’s finals in Austria and Switzerland if they beat Israel and Andorra in their remaining two matches.

“A scan has confirmed Benayoun sustained a tear against Fulham,” said a Liverpool spokesman on the Premier League club’s website (www.liverpoolfc.tv).

Benayoun, one of only two players in the Israel squad to play in the Premier League, scored a hattrick for Liverpool in their record 8-0 Champions League thrashing of Besiktas at Anfield last Tuesday.

Asian seedings changed

Kuala Lumpur: Fifa has changed the seedings of the top-five Asian teams for the preliminary draw of the 2010 World Cup which takes place this month, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) said today. Australia retain top ranking, followed by Korea, but Iran have moved up from fifth to third seed, while Saudi Arabia and Japan will now be joint fourth seeds, it said.

Beijing: China sports administration has brought in psychologists to help their athletes deal with the pressure of competing on home soil at next year’s Beijing Olympics.

Cotto wins

New York: Miguel Cotto never backed down from a relentless Shane Mosley and won a unanimous decision Saturday, retaining his WBA welterweight title. It was so close that both of them landed 248 punches, according to ringside statistics. So it came down to the judges’ cards and they had it 116-113, 115-113 and 115-113 for Cotto.

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