Radcliffe in second BRITAIN's Paula Radcliffe had to settle for second place in the Great North Run as Kara Goucher eased to victory. Radcliffe, competing in her first race for 21 months, began at a good pace and kept up with Goucher for the first six miles but the American then broke free. By the 10-mile mark, Radcliffe was looking ragged and left trailing. Goucher finished 56 seconds clear in one hour, six minutes and 57 seconds to set the year's fastest half-marathon and the eighth quickest in history. But the main story was Radcliffe's first competitive outing since giving birth to daughter Isla in January and a related back injury. And she was given a clear indication, which she wanted, of where she is in her preparations for next year's Beijing Olympics. "It's a good place to start and where I really want to run fast is Beijing," Radcliffe said. "The racing instinct and mentality comes back straight away but it takes the body time to catch up, especially because I've been training at altitude. I don't want to be flying now because it's a long time to hold on but at the same time I want to be winning races. My pride's taken a little bit of a bashing. I came out here wanting to win the race but it is good to be back." The 33-year-old marathon world record holder started confidently enough but eventually had no answer to Goucher, who produced an astounding performance for a woman who had never previously run such a distance competitively. Hamilton deserves title LEWIS Hamilton would be a worthy Formula One world champion this year, says the man who finished second to him in Sunday's Japanese Grand Prix. Renault driver Heikki Kovalainen said: "Lewis has had a really good season, consistently winning races, always up there fighting, no mistakes. I think he deserves the championship and now he is really close to that." Hamilton's victory at Fuji put him 12 points ahead of McLaren team-mate Fernando Alonso, with only 20 now available. Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen is 17 points adrift of the Englishman and also has a statistical chance to take the crown. And the last British F1 champion, Damon Hill, said it had been "a joy to watch" Hamilton's performances this year. Hill said: "I don't think anyone predicted this. Everyone knew he was good but he has really stunned everyone." Woods wants Tarver CLINTON Woods has targeted a clash with former world champion Antonio Tarver after beating Julio Cesar Gonzalez to retain his IBF light heavyweight belt. Woods wants to underline his status at 175lbs by facing Tarver, who starred with Sylvester Stallone in Rocky VI. Woods said: "People think he's the best in the world so he's the fight I want. I want to prove myself as the best in my division in the world. By beating guys like Tarver I will do that." Woods did his credentials no harm on Saturday, over 12 furious rounds against Gonzalez. He beat the Mexican two years ago but returned to Sheffield as a vastly improved fighter. However, Woods suggested afterwards he was not content with his performance insisting. "Magic Man" Tarver fought the great Roy Jones three times, winning twice, but suffered a high profile defeat to former undisputed middleweight champion Bernard Hopkins in June 2006. His most recent fight was a comeback win over Elvir Muriqi in June this year. He took a break from action to star alongside Stallone as Mason "The Lion" Dixon in the film. Responding with victory ITALY's Paulo Bettini successfully defended his World Championships road race crown in a sprint in Stuttgart. Olympic champion Bettini surged ahead of Russian Alexandr Kolobnev and Stefan Schumacher of Germany at the line to finish in 6 hours 44 mins 43 secs. David Millar was 54th but fellow Brits Roger Hammond and Mark Cavendish failed to finish the 267km course. On Friday, a German court ruled Bettini could participate despite refusing to sign an anti- doping pledge. He was the key mover in a five-man group which formed on the final lap, with Luxemburg's Frank Schleck and Australian Tour de France star Cadel Evans making up the late contenders. "It was not an easy win and I say thanks to all of Italy," said Bettini, with tears in his eyes, at the finish line. "It was a tough week for me. They accused me of everything and I responded with victory." Bettini has distanced himself from drugs but has not signed the pledge because he is unhappy with a clause forcing any rider given a doping ban of two years to pay a year's salary, plus the standard fine. While Bettini raced, his Italian team mate Danilo Di Luca was withdrawn after the Italian Olympic Committee called for him to serve a four-month suspension over a doping case. Di Luca stayed on in Stuttgart and was even at the roadside to hand out water bottles to his colleagues during Sunday's race, over 14 laps of the hilly course. Williams struggles but wins TOP seed Venus Williams struggled to find her best form but still managed to beat Russia's Maria Kirilenko 6-3 1-6 6-4 to win the Korea Open. The American, whose right calf was heavily bandaged, had few problems in the first set in Seoul. But she lost her way in the second and was broken three times and double-faulted five times. However, Williams broke world number 29 Kirilenko in the seventh game of the third and went on to claim the title. It was the Wimbledon champion's third singles title of the year and she said: "Kirilenko showed a lot of energy today. Her game management was so great and it made for an interesting match. It was difficult, but my strength got me through and I was able to take the title." GB, Ireland keep trophy BRITAIN and Ireland retained the Seve Trophy after beating Continental Europe 8-2 in the golf singles to win 16-11. Victory was assured when Bradley Dredge went two up with two to play in Ireland but Phillip Archer's half against Markus Brier technically won the event. Colin Montgomerie took his first point of the weekend, but by then Paul Casey and Graeme Storm had already triumphed. Simon Dyson and Justin Rose also picked up full points while Peter Hanson was Europe's only winner on the final day.
