Sport: 24 hours in pictures

Maria Sharapova slides a forehand return down the line at the China Open. The unseeded Russian beat ninth seed Victoria Azarenka 6-3, 6-7, 6-5 to progress to the third round in Beijing Photograph: Li Xin/AFP/Getty Images

Detroit Tigers catcher Gerald Laird celebrates tagging out Minnesota Twins' Alexi Casilla, No25, in the 10th innings of their MLB game. Casilla had the last laugh though as the Twins won 6-5 to take the American League Central title and advance to the playoffs Photograph: Tom Olmscheid/AP

Minnesota Twins' Delmon Young finally finds somewhere he can get a signal on his mobile phone and tell people about the Twins' victory Photograph: Morry Gash/AP

Defending champion Denkaosen Kaowichit slams a right hook into the ribs of Daiki Kameda during the first round of their 12-round WBA flyweight world title bout in Osaka. Denkaosen outpointed Kameda and retained his crown Photograph: Masanori Takei/AP

Top seed Rafael Nadal of Spain returns a shot on his way to his 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 victory over Marcos Baghdatis during the first round of the 2009 China Open Photograph: Goh Chai Hin/AFP/Getty Images

Carolina Hurricanes' Eric Staal, left, and Tampa Bay Lightning's Paul Ranger battle in front of Lightning goalie Mike Smith during their NHL game, which the Hurricanes won 2-1 in a shootout Photograph: Gerry Broome/AP

Leonore Perrus attacks Olga Kharlan during the team sabre final at the World Fencing Championship. Perrus wasn't able to put up a continuous attack and she suffered a 5-4 defeat, which meant that Kharlan's Ukraine team won gold while Perrus and the French team had to settle for silver Photograph: Dimitar Dilkoff/AFP/Getty Images

Members of South Korea's Under-20 football team warm up at a hotel swimming pool in Cairo, three days ahead of their World Cup quarter-final against Ghana Photograph: Yonhap/EPA

Notts County keeper Kasper Schmeichel looks on after having his penalty saved by Bradford keeper Simon Eastwood. Bradford triumphed 3-2 in theshoot-out to progress to the third round of the Johnstone's Paint Trophy (Northern Section) Photograph: Ed Sykes/Action Images