More sports

Belgian keeps up recovery with win

By wire services
Published March 14, 2006

INDIAN WELLS, Calif. - Justine Henin-Hardenne , in her first event since quitting the Australian Open final with a stomach problem, rolled to a 6-0, 6-0 victory over Aiko Nakamura in a third-round match Monday in the Pacific Life Open.

Henin-Hardenne of Belgium won her only other two events this year, at Sydney and Dubai.

Elena Dementieva also advanced, defeating 19-year-old Sania Mirza 5-7, 6-4, 6-4.

On the men's side, Lleyton Hewitt , the tournament champion in 2002 and 2003, outlasted Ranier Schuettler 7-6 (7-3), 2-6, 6-4 in the second round. Also, David Nalbandian beat qualifier Julien Benneteau 6-4, 6-1 and Tomas Berdych ousted Tim Henman 6-4, 6-4.

King comfortable at top

Jeff King 's sled dog team trotted into the hillside town of Koyuk, Alaska, with a firm lead after crossing miles of unsheltered ice in calm weather. King's closest competitor, four-time Iditarod champ Doug Swingley , fell back after two days of jockeying for first in the 1,100-mile race from Anchorage to Nome. Swingley arrived in the Unalit and Malemiut Eskimo village at 2:09 p.m., nearly three hours after King.

Gelding dies at Downs

Artic Image , a 4-year-old gelding, collapsed and died of an apparent heart attack after a race Friday at Tampa Bay Downs. The Florida-bred horse, owned and trained by Lynne Scace , finished seventh in the third race. Afterward, Artic Image collapsed on the track, Downs media relations director Margo Flynn said. "It was a shock," said Raymond Scace , Lynne's husband. "There were no signs of anything negative. It's natural. These things just happen."

--BOB PUTNAM, Times Staff Writer

Lilly, U.S. headed for final

Kristine Lilly scored in the first minute as the United States defeated France 4-1 in Faro, Portugal, to reach the final of the Algarve Cup. Aly Wagner , Lindsay Tarplay and Natasha Kai also scored for the Americans, who won Group B and face Women's World Cup champion Germany Wednesday. Germany defeated Norway 1-0. ... The U.S. men's team will play three exhibitions in May before the World Cup in Germany in June. The Americans face Morocco May 23 in Nashville, Venezuela May 26 in Cleveland and Latvia on May 28 at East Hartford, Conn.

FIFA, MEDIA AGREE: FIFA agreed not to restrict the media from online publication of World Cup photographs during the tournament. Before settling with the World Association of Newspapers, FIFA had wanted to limit the number of online images.

SCOTTISH LEGEND DIES: Jimmy Johnstone , who played for Celtic's 1967 European Cup-winning team, died at 61. He helped the Glasgow club become the first British club to lift Europe's most prestigious club trophy and win nine straight Scottish titles from 1965-73.

Ex-champ in new arena

Former world heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko is running for mayor of Kiev, Ukraine. Klitschko retired unexpectedly in November after hurting his knee in training and pulling out of a defense of his WBC title. In a field of 41 candidates, most polls give the lead to 67-year-old incumbent Oleksandr Omelchenko .

CYCLING: Leonardo Bertagnolli won Stage 6 of the Tirreno-Adriatico race, 113 miles from San Benedetto del Tronto to Torricella Sicura, with a late breakaway. Thomas Dekker kept the overall lead heading into today's final stage, 103 miles from Campi to San Benedetto. ... Former world champion Zinaida Stahurskaya , 34, was banned for two years for doping.

OBITUARY: Joe Agrella , a handicapper and horse racing writer who spent more than 40 years at the Chicago Sun-Times and its predecessors, died Saturday at 93.

[Last modified March 14, 2006, 00:55:10]