lso left Mancinis role under a cloud and hinted at the club heading in a new direction. Former Barcelo

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates -- Rory McIlroy is resigned to losing his Race to Dubai crown, but his motivation this week is to successfully defend his DP World Tour Championship title and move one step closer to regaining the world No. 1 ranking.McIlroy could have replaced Jason Day atop the rankings by winning the European Tours season-ending tournament, but Russell Knoxs decision to withdraw last week reduced the strength of the field and lowered the number of points available.If Knox, ranked No. 18, had remained in the field, the winner of the tournament would have gained 54 points -- enough for McIlroy to surpass Day. Instead, the winner will earn just 52 points, leaving McIlroy short even with a victory.His chances of contending this weekend seem high. McIlroy, the defending champion and also the 2012 winner at Jumeirah Golf Estates, has finished outside the top 10 only once in seven appearances, tying for 11th in 2011.Its always good to be back here, he said. I have great memories from this place, feel like my game is in pretty good shape. Ive played this golf course pretty well in the past, and hopefully, I can play it just as well, if not better, this week. (It) would be a good way to finish the year on a high and get a victory and lift the trophy and hopefully make the turkey taste a bit better at Christmas.McIlroy acknowledged that he can finish the season atop the European Tour rankings, but knows its unlikely. He must win and needs Henrik Stenson, Danny Willett and Alex Noren, each above him in the Race to Dubai standings, to struggle.I can win mathematically, but its not going to happen, McIlroy said. I wouldnt hold my breath. I think the three guys that are ahead of me are playing very good golf, especially the two Swedes, Henrik and Alex.Alex, with what hes done over the past few weeks; Henrik has had a fantastic year, and so has Danny, obviously, so I dont expect those guys to play badly this week. Im just concentrating on trying to win the golf tournament, and if I can do that, Ill be very happy.McIlroy pulled out of the Turkish Airlines Open, citing security concerns, shortly before the event began earlier this month. That decision virtually ruled him out of the Race to Dubai as well.However, McIlroy, from Northern Ireland, said he has no regrets.Im very happy with my decision, he said. Ive been here for the last couple of weeks. Ive done a bit of practice, enjoyed myself. So, no, no regrets at all.Id rather have gone to Turkey wanting to go there and winning the golf tournament, rather than going there not wanting to and finishing tied 40th. What good does that do to the tournament?Although the next European Tour season begins in December, and the next U.S. PGA Tour season is already underway, McIlroy confirmed the DP World Championship will be his last event of the year. He last played in a December event in 2013. Lance Thomas Jersey . R.J. Umberger scored twice to lead the Blue Jackets to a franchise-record for consecutive wins with a 5-3 victory Tuesday night over the Los Angeles Kings. Cheap Knicks Jerseys China . The recently retired Stern was elected Friday to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and will be enshrined with the class of 2014 on Aug. http://www.cheapknicksjerseys.com/?tag=cheap-trey-burke-jersey . Zvonareva, who won the tournament in 2009 and 10, couldnt handle her opponents big groundstrokes in only her third event back after 17 months out with a shoulder injury. Zvonareva made her comeback in January in Shenzhen and played in the Australian Open but lost her first matches at both tournaments. Luke Kornet Jersey . Louis Blues teammates who would also be participating in the Olympics, Alex Pietrangelo felt right at home, no different in some ways to the travel experience of any old road trip – save for the length of the journey, that is. Tim Hardaway Jr. Jersey . Manuel was offered a position the day he was fired. He accepted earlier this week and the team made the announcement Friday. Group ADefending champions Mumbai pulled ahead against Tamil Nadu on a 14-wicket day in Lahli. All 14 wickets went to the seamers, with debutants Tushar Deshpande and K Vignesh returning figures of 4 for 25 and 2 for 5 respectively.Having been sent in, TN crashed to 87 all out, with only B Aparajith and B Indrajith passing 15. Indrajith remained unbeaten on 28 off 79 balls.In the absence of Shardul Thakur, who had been called-up to the India Test squad to replace the injured Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Dhawal Kulkarni made the early running, taking out TNs top three. Deshpande, assisted by Balwinder Sandhu, who took two wickets, then scythed through the middle and lower order.In reply, Mumbai lost their openers Akhil Herwadkar and Jay Bista early, and Vignesh hurt them further, but unbeaten twenties from Kaustubh Pawar and captain Aditya Tare trimmed the deficit to two runs at stumps. Their unbroken 32-run stand was the highest on the opening day.Opener Aditya Waghmode and No. 4 Deepak Hooda ensured Baroda took the honours on the first day against Gujarat in Jaipur. Having been sent in, Baroda had a solid base, courtesy a 117-run partnership for the first wicket between Waghmode and Kedar Devdhar.Fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah ended the stand when he had Devdhar caught behind in the 35th over. Debutant Krunal Pandya managed 23 off 54 balls before Baroda regained control through Waghmode and Hooda.Waghmode was circumspect, scoring 103 off 217 balls, while Hooda was more fluent, scoring 76 off 98 balls, including 14 fours. Both were unbeaten aat stumps.ddddddddddddOpener Shivakant Shuklas unbeaten 117 steered Railways to 257 for 5 against Punjab at the Palam ground in Delhi. Seamers Manpreet Gony and Siddarth Kaul made early inroads, and when Mahesh Rawat was dismissed by Yuvraj Singh for 35, Railways were 133 for 5.Shukla, though, combined with No. 7 Ashish Yadav to add an unbroken 124-run partnership to prop up Railways. Shukla hit 11 fours and two sixes, while Yadav six fours and one six. Punjab, missing Harbhajan Singh, used as many as eight bowlers, but failed to separate the pair.Harpreet Singhs fourth first-class century and Devendra Bundelas 48th first-class fifty underpinned Madhya Pradeshs progress on the first day in Hyderabad. Uttar Pradesh, however, hit back by taking four wickets in the last nine overs before stumps. From 252 for 3, MP finished at 292 for 7 with Harpreet unbeaten on 112 off 152 balls.Wristspinners Piyush Chawla and Kuldeep Yadav shared four wickets between them for UP. It was fast bowler Ankit Rajpoot who provided the first breakthrough when he pinned Aditya Shrivastava lbw for a duck with the second ball of the match. MP received another blow when Mukul Raghav was forced to retire hurt on 31. He would come back to add just four runs to his tally.Rajat Patidar hung on for 42 before Kuldeep had him caught by Almas Shaukat. Bundela and Harpreet then steadied the innings, the latter stroking 15 fours and a six. ' ' '