Best seaside film locations

Koh Phi Phi in southern Thailand was the backdrop for the utopian existence featured in "The Beach".

Positano was used as the inspiration for the fictional port of Mongibello in "The Talented Mr Ripley".

Makers of "Die Another Day" chose Cadiz in Spain to film one of the most iconic scenes in "James Bond", when actress Halle Berry emerges from the ocean in a bikini.

The view of Waikiki beach, Hawaii. Elvis Presley shot parts of "Blue Hawaii" on the island of Oahu.

Brooke Shields plays a marooned young girl in 'The Blue Lagoon', which was partly shot in Jamaica.

• Environmentalists were worried Thai beach Phi Phi Leh would be damaged during filming of "The Beach"
• Positano was used as the inspiration for a fictional port in "The Talented Mr Ripley"
• One of the most famous scenes of the modern James Bond franchise was filmed in Spain

(CNN) -- Some of the most iconic films ever made have used the ocean as their backdrop. Whether it's to highlight the romance of a moment, the isolation felt by characters or intense drama, filmmakers often turn to the seaside to help illustrate their story.

Here is a list of some of the best seaside locations featured on the silver screen.

THAILAND -- "THE BEACH"

Leonardo Dicaprio's character goes on a journey to find a secret idyllic Thai beach, where a sort of utopian society exists. For this filmmakers searched for paradise, eventually finding it near Phuket on the main beach of Phi Phi Leh Island, Hat Maya. Environmentalists voiced their opposition to using the beach during filming following concerns the area would be damaged. However production went ahead and since the release of "The Beach" Phi Phi Leh island has become a popular tourist destination for travelers wanting to experience utopia too.

ITALY -- "THE TALENTED MR RIPLEY"

Positano was used as the inspiration for the fictional port of Mongibello in "The Talented Mr Ripley". The stunning seaside town is set in the cliffs of Italy's Amalfi Coast and provided the stylish surroundings for the film, starring some of Hollywood's biggest names including Cate Blanchett, Matt Damon, Gwyneth Paltrow and Jude Law. Just a few hours south of Rome, Positano attracts Europe's rich and famous, eager to enjoy its fine dining restaurants and top hotels.

HAWAII -- "BLUE HAWAII"

Elvis Presley was no stranger to Hawaii. Three of his films were shot on the islands, none more famous or successful than the 1961 hit "Blue Hawaii". Set in the Hawaiian islands of Oahu and Kauai, the film highlighted the beauty of the area, with Presley playing a former Army officer-turned tour guide in the musical.

SPAIN -- "DIE ANOTHER DAY"

It's one of the most iconic scenes of the modern James Bond franchise: a bikini-clad Halle Berry emerges out of the water, meeting 007 himself. The encounter is set in Cuba however makers of "Die Another Day" in fact shot the scene in C�diz, Spain. The historical coastal city is one of the oldest settlements in Western Europe.

JAMAICA -- "THE BLUE LAGOON"

"The Blue Lagoon" was shot in Port Antonino, Jamaica and on the privately owned island, Nanuya Levu, in Fiji in the South Pacific. The film tells the story of a young girl and boy being marooned on a desert island. It caused controversy at the time because of nude scenes which featured a teenage Brooke Shields.

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Motorsport: Pedrosa edges out new champion Stoner

Dani Pedrosa steers his Repsol Honda machine to pole position in Malaysia

• Dani Pedrosa of Spain takes pole position for Sunday's Malaysian Moto GP
• Pedrosa shrugs off early crash to post time of two minutes 1.462 seconds at Sepang circuit
• New world champion and Honda teammate Casey Stoner to start second

(CNN) -- Dani Pedrosa edged out teammate and new world champion Casey Stoner to claim pole position Saturday for the Malaysian MotoGP.

Pedrosa missed the race at Sepang last year as he recovered from a collarbone injury and came to grief again on just his fifth lap of the qualifying session.

But undaunted, the Repsol Honda rider posted a cracking lap of two minutes 1.462 seconds to deny Stoner his 12th pole of his all-conquering season.

The third member of their team, Italy's Andrea Dovizioso, finished third fastest to complete the front row of the grid for Sunday's race.

Stoner, who wrapped up his second MotoGP world title by winning his home race in Australia last weekend, admitted that the hot and humid conditions were causing problems.

"It will be a very tough race," he told the official MotoGP website.

"We are struggling to get stability for the bike."

Stoner's nearest title rival and deposed champion Jorge Lorenzo is sitting out the Malaysian round after having hand surgery following his crash at Phillip Island last Sunday.

American Colin Edwards was fourth fastest on a Yamaha but Italian legend Valentino Rossi continued to struggle on his Ducati and was back in ninth.

In the other classes, Swiss rider Thomas Luthi claimed pole in the Moto2 category on his Suter.

125cc championship leader Nicolas Terol was fastest on an Aprilia in two minutes 13.579 seconds.

He will wrap up the crown if he scores more points than Frenchman Johann Zarco, who was only 15th best on a Derbi.

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Rugby: New Zealand reaches World Cup final

The New Zealand All Blacks celebrate their 20-6 semifinal win over Australia.

• New Zealand to play France in the Rugby World Cup final
• All Blacks beat Australia 20-6 in semifinal at Eden Park in Auckland
• Ma'a Nonu scores only try of the match in the first half
• Australia go into third place playoff against Wales

(CNN) -- Hosts New Zealand reached the final of the Rugby World Cup with a 20-6 win over Australia Sunday at Eden Park in Auckland.

They will play France next Sunday on the same ground in a repeat of the 1987 final, which they won 29-9 and remains their only World Cup triumph.

The All Blacks dominated from the start against their Tasman rivals and scored the only try of the match through centre Ma'a Nonu in the sixth minute.

It followed a brilliant run and pass by full-back Israel Dagg and they were 14-6 in front at the interval.

Two second half penalties from scrum-half Piri Weepu, taking over the kicking role from the injured Dan Carter, sealed victory for a relieved home team who carried huge weight of expectation.

Australia will play Wales in the third place playoff next Friday. but could have few complaints about the result of the match.

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Wozniacki crashes out in Beijing

Caroline Wozniacki has been world number one for 12 months, but is yet to capture a grand slam title.

• Top seed Caroline Wozniacki out of China Open in quaterfinals
• The Dane is beaten in three sets by Switzerland's Flavia Pennetta
• Defending champion Rafael Nadal to play Mardy Fish in Tokyo semifinal
• Novak Djokovic withdraws from Shanghai Masters due to injury

(CNN) -- World number one Caroline Wozniacki crashed out of the China Open on Friday, as she surrendered a one-set lead to lose 3-6 6-0 7-6 (7-2) to Flavia Pennetta in Beijing.

Top seed Wozniacki was up 30-0 in the 12th game of the final set and two points away from a place in the last four, but collapsed to hand Penetta her first career victory over the Dane.

"I had 6-5, 30-0 and should have closed the match out," Wozniacki, 21, told the WTA Tour's official website.

"Flavia played some good points at that time, though, and I made a few wrong decisions. It's unlucky. I knew it was going to be tough out there beforehand."

Flavia played some good points...and I made a few wrong decisions. It's unlucky. I knew it was going to be tough out there beforehand
Caroline Wozniacki

Italian Pennetta will face 11th seed Agnieszka Radwanska for a place in the final, after the Pole benefited from the second-set retirement of Serbian former world No. 1 Ana Ivanovic in their last-eight match.

Romanian qualifier Monica Niculescu continued her impressive run by defeating 2005 champion Maria Kirilenko 3-6 6-3 6-4.

Both players had eliminated one of this year's grand slam champions in earlier rounds, with Niculescu beating French Open winner Li Na and Kirilenko defeating Sam Stosur -- who holds the U.S. Open crown.

Niculescu, 24, will play either Andrea Petkovic of Germany or Russia's Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the semifinal.

In the men's draw, top seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga will play Czech Tomas Berdych for a place in the final after the Frenchman earned a 6-3 6-4 victory over former world No. 1 Juan Carlos Ferrero.

"That was just amazing," Tsonga, 26, told the ATP Tour's website. "Everything was working. I'm just very happy to go through this round, because it's never easy to play against this guy."

Berdych, seeded third for the event, eliminated Spaniard Fernando Verdasco with a straightforward 6-1 6-0 triumph.

The second semifinal will pit Croat Ivan Ljubicic against compatriot Marin Cilic, after the pair beat Russia's Mikhail Youzhny and Kevin Anderson of South Africa respectively.

Elsewhere, defending champion Rafael Nadal will face American No. 1 Mardy Fish in the last four of the Japan Open.

The 10-time grand slam winner scored a 7-6 (7-6) 6-3 over Colombian Santiago Giraldo to set up a clash with Fish, who battled back from one-set down to seal a 6-7 (7-5) 6-4 6-1 success against Australia's Bernard Tomic.

Second seed Andy Murray continued his winning streak by overcoming Argentina's David Nalbandian.

Briton Murray's 6-4 7-5 defeat of the 2002 Wimbledon finalist was his 19th win in his last 20 matches. David Ferrer will be his opponent in the semifinals after the Spaniard beat Czech Radek Stepanek 6-2 7-6 (7-3).

Meanwhile, world No. 1 Novak Djokovic has announced he will not play in next week's Shanghai Masters tournament due to an abdominal muscle strain.

"I am sorry not to be playing in Shanghai, one of my favorite tournaments, but I have not recovered yet from my injury," said Djokovic, who has dominated the sport this year, losing just three matches on his way to three grand slam victories.

"I did another check this week and the results are not good so I need to continue my rehabilitation."

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Players named in 'cricket scam'

6 October 2011 Last updated at 07:12 ET

Mohammed Asif and Salman Butt deny charges of match fixing

A further three Pakistan cricketers have been named in court as being allegedly involved in a betting scam.

The prosecution claim that the agent Mazher Majeed, 36, told an undercover reporter he had players he could control in relation to fixing.

Former captain Salman Butt, 26, and fast bowler Mohammad Asif, 28, deny conspiracy to accept corrupt payments and conspiracy to cheat.

The players were named as Kamran Akmal, Umar Akmal, and Wahab Riaz.

Fast bowler Mohammad Amir, 19, was earlier named as also being under the agent's control.

The case at Southwark Crown Court centres around a Test match against England at Lord's in 2010 however evidence is being heard relating to an Oval Test which took place on an earlier date.

Under control

The court heard that Mr Butt was allegedly taped by an undercover reporter for the now defunct News of the World agreeing to score no runs.

He also heard to say he would deliberately bat a "maiden over" which is when a cricketer scores no runs in an over, the prosecution alleged.

His London-based sports agent, Mr Majeed, discussed the arrangement with the cricketer by phone while agreeing a deal with reporter Mazher Mahmood who was posing as a rich Indian businessman.

The court heard that Mr Mahmood had paid �10,000 to fix part of the match.

In return for the �10,000, Mr Mahmood wanted to see proof that the agent had players under his control, and that he could control part of the match, the jury was told.

The agent then phoned the cricketer to confirm the deal, the prosecution claimed. The captain agreed to tap the ground with his bat after the second ball of his deliberate maiden over, an action which would not arouse suspicion because batsmen frequently do this.

When Mr Mahmood pointed out that the cricketer sounded asleep during the phone call, Mr Majeed is said to have said: "Believe me, he's done this many times."

The journalist asked whether Mr Butt could be trusted, to which the agent allegedly replied: "Salman is one million per cent trustworthy."

Their alleged conversation, which was recorded by the reporter, happened the night before the Test on 21 August last year.

The trial continues.

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Sharapova, Djokovic hit by injury

World number two Maria Sharapova pulls out of the Pan Pacific Open after injuring her ankle

• Maria Sharapova pulls out of the Pan Pacific Open in Japan after twisting her ankle
• She was losing 4-3 in the first set of her quarterfinal match against Petra Kvitova
• World number one Novak Djokovic also announced he was pulling out of the China Open due to injury
• Players had threatened a strike due to tournament 'burn out'

(CNN) -- World number two Maria Sharapova limped out of the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo after twisting her ankle during her quarterfinal match against Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic.

Sharapova had hoped for revenge after the Kvitova beat her in the final at Wimbledon this year.

But with Sharapova losing 4-3 in the first set the Russian fell and retired shortly after.

"I hit a serve and then landed awkwardly on my left ankle. I felt a sharp pain and next thing I knew I was on the floor. It swelled up immediately and I knew there was no way I could continue," Sharapova said in a statement quoted by AFP.

I felt a sharp pain and next thing I knew I was on the floor
Maria Sharapova

"I am incredibly disappointed and in a lot of pain. I obviously really wanted to win and felt that I was playing well."

Sharapova's retirement means that Kvitova will now face another Russian, Vera Zvonareva, in the semifinals although the Czech player expressed her sadness at the manner in which the match ended.

"We played very nice tennis, I think, and it was a great match," she told AFP.

"I'm very sorry about her, because the ankle swollen was too big straight away. Hopefully... she will be back early."

Victoria Azarenka of Belarus and Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland will contest the other semifinal.

But it was a day when injuries ruled the headlines after Novak Djokovic also pulled out of a tournament due to injury.

The Serbian player, ranked number one in the world after his stunning U.S. Open triumph earlier this month, announced he was pulling out of the China Open after injuring himself in a recent Davis Cup match.

The injury has also put Djokovic's appearance in next month's Shanghai Masters in doubt. World number three Roger Federer and Frenchman Richard Gasquet have already pulled out of the event.

The injuries come at the end of a grueling season where several top players have raised the prospect of a strike over the amount of tennis being played.

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