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WBC straw weight champion Oledong Sithsamerchai of Thailand is set to defend his title to Juan Palacios of Nicaragua on Friday, November 27 in Pathum Thani, Thailand.  It will be the first mandatory title defense for Sithsamerchai after defeating Eagle Den Junlaphan last November 2007. He vows to keep his record clean which now stands at 32-0-0 with 12 KOs.

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South Korea’s golf phenom Shin Ji-Yai came short of grabbing the LPGA Player of the Year Award after finishing eight in the recent LPGA Tour Championship in Texas. Shin Ji-Yai already clinched the Rookie of the Year award though. She has been on the spotlight for the past months for her superb performances that would have put her as the first golfer after Nancy Lopez in 1978 to win both the Rookie of the Year and Player of the Year awards.

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South Korea national team manager Huh Jung-moo recently won the Asian Football Confederation’s Coach of the Year award in the annual awards in Kuala Lumpur.  Huh Jung-moo guided his team to qualify in the 2010 World Cup and once had a 27 game winning streak before bowing to Serbia in friendlies last November 18. He became to the fifth South Korean to receive such honor.

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Japan’s Yasuhito Endo was named Asian Football Confederation’s Player of the year at the annual awards ceremony in Kula Lumpur. Endo who also plays for local club Gamba Osaka beat fellow Japanese Kengo Nakamura, Firas Al Khatib of Syria and Hadi Aghily of Iran for the coveted plum.

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Thailand’s Natthaphong Samana and Sinthaweechai Hathairattanakool are both suspended after they picked up yellow cards in their game last Saturday. Both of them will miss the match against Singapore in the qualifying tournament of the Asian Cup on Wednesday.

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Argentine football icon Diego Maradona was banned from all football by FIFA for two months. The sanction came in response to Maradona’s sexually-explicit rant after Argentina’s game against Uruguay in the World Cup qualifiers last October.

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Christiano Ronaldo has rejoined Real Madrid’s training and may play against FC Zurich in the Champions League on November 25.  The Portuguese star had been suffering from an ankle injury for almost two months.

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Mexico’s Antonio De Nigris who played for Larissa in Greece died last Monday, November 16.  The cause of death was still unconfirmed but was suspected to be of a heart attack. The 31-year old striker is survived by his wife Sonia and his five-year old daughter Miranda.