Bourdais take another provisional pole

San Jose, CA (Sports Network) - Sebastien Bourdais won Friday's provisional qualifying session for the San Jose Grand Prix. The No.1 Newman/Haas/Lanigan driver circled the 1.448-mile, 11-turn, temporary circuit in 49.509 seconds (104.926 m.p.h.).
The provisional pole win, his fifth of the season, earned Bourdais one championship point and a guaranteed position on the front row.
Justin Wilson was second quickest at 49.747 seconds. Will Power (49.822), Bruno Junqueira (49.852) and Alex Tagliani (49.852) completed the top-five.
Bourdais, the three-time series champion, has a 20-points lead on "rookie" Robert Doornbos. Doornbos is a former F1 driver for Minardi (2005) and Red Bull (2006) which were not really competitive against the giant teams of F1 like Ferrari and McLaren. But the team came to that realization and made the move across the Atlantic Ocean to Champ Cars.
Doornbos is finally getting to show what he can do when he gets in a competitive car. He opened his rookie Champ Car Series campaign with a second place finish at Las Vegas. Following his only bad outing at Long Beach (13th), Doornbos put himself on the podium four consecutive times including a win at Mont-Tremblant. He was on his way to another top-10 result last week when Alex Tagliani took him out in a late-race incident. Doornbos has earned six top-10s in eight starts.
Behind Doornbos is Power (-25) and Wilson (-29). Both are still very much in the championship race.
The final qualifying session is set for Saturday at 5 p.m. (et) with the race set to drop the green flag on Sunday at 6 p.m.

Smyth birdies his way to Senior British lead

Gullane, Scotland (Sports Network) - Ireland's Des Smyth birdied his final four holes on Friday to move into sole possession of the lead after two rounds of the Senior British Open Championship.
He posted his second consecutive one-under 70 and is in the lead at two-under- par 140.
Muirfield showed its teeth on Friday as not one player in the 142-man field broke 70. One player shot a 90 and only five golfers are under par through 36 holes thanks to heavy winds.
Gordon Brand Jr., one of the first-round co-leaders, shot a two-over 73 and is tied for second place with 2002 Senior Players Champion Stewart Ginn (70), two-time champion Tom Watson (71) and the player who lost in a playoff here last year, Eduardo Romero (71). The group came in at minus-one.
Nick Faldo, who grabbed a piece of the first-round lead in his Champions Tour debut on Thursday, struggled a bit on Friday with the putter. He only managed a three-over 74 and is tied for sixth place at even-par 142....Full Story

Moya, Canas to meet in Umag semis

Umag, Croatia (Sports Network) - Four-time winner Carlos Moya and another former champ, Guillermo Canas, were a pair of quarterfinal winners Friday at the $485,000 Croatia Open. Moya and Canas will do battle in Saturday's semifinals at this clay-court event.
The sixth-seeded Moya upended his fourth-seeded fellow Spaniard David Ferrer 7-5, 6-4. The former world No. 1 and 1998 French Open titlist Moya titled here in 1996, 2001, 2002 and 2003 and was the runner-up in 2005. Ferrer reached the final here in 2004.
The fifth-seeded Argentine Canas, the 2004 Umag titlist, blew past Frenchman Gilles Simon 6-2, 6-1 on Day 5 at ITC Stella Maris.
In other quarterfinal action, veteran Romanian Andrei Pavel came from behind to bounce seventh-seeded Italian Filippo Volandri 1-6, 6-2, 6-3, while upstart Serbian qualifier Viktor Troicki landed in his first ATP semifinal by besting Argentine Carlos Berlocq 7-5, 6-2. Volandri was the back-to-back Umag runner- up in 2003 and 2004. Troicki stunned his top-seeded countryman Novak Djokovic here on Wednesday.
Pavel will battle Troicki in Saturday's other semi.

Street Sense returns in Jim Dandy Stakes

Saratoga Springs, NY (Sports Network) - Kentucky Derby winner Street Sense will be making his first start in more than two months on Sunday in the $500,000 Jim Dandy Stakes at Saratoga Race Track. The 1 1/8 mile event for three-year-olds is a major prep race for the Travers Stakes on August 25.
Street Sense will take on five rivals as he returns to the races after resting since a second place finish to Curlin in the Preakness Stakes. The colt has been training under the watchful eyes of trainer Carl Nafzger and his staff.
Owned by James Tafel, Street Sense has four starts this year with two wins and two second place results. Along with his win in the Run for the Roses, Street Sense captured the Tampa Bay Derby and was the runner-up in the Blue Grass Stakes.
In the Jim Dandy the 2006 Breeders' Cup Juvenile champ will again be ridden by Calvin Borel from post three. Street Sense is expected to go off as the prohibitive favorite on Sunday....Full Story

D'Alessio, Hong lead; Annika three back in France

Evian-les-Bains, France (Sports Network) - Diana D'Alessio posted a four-under 68 Friday to move into a share of the lead after two rounds of the Evian Masters.
She completed 36 holes at seven-under-par 137 and was joined in the lead by Jin Joo Hong, who carded a two-under 70 in round two.
Two-time winner Annika Sorenstam posted a three-under 69 to move into a share of third at four-under-par 140. She was joined there by 2005 Women's British Open winner Jeong Jang (71) and Brittany Lincicome (74), who was one of three first-round leaders.
Sorenstam bogeyed No. 3 for the second straight day. She recovered to birdie the eighth and ninth to make the turn in minus-two. Around the turn, Sorenstam birdied the 12th and 18th to gain a share of third place....Full Story

Terry extends stay at Chelsea

London, England (Sports Network) - Chelsea captain John Terry signed a new five-year deal on Friday that will keep him at Stamford Bridge through 2012.
Terry had two years remaining on his previous deal, but after much speculation, will remain with the English giants.
"I'm really happy this has now been concluded," Terry told the club's website. "There has been a lot of speculation but these things take time and I never had doubts that I wanted to stay at Chelsea and that the club wanted me to stay."
The 26-year-old Terry came up through the youth system at Chelsea and made his debut at the club in 1998. He has been the anchor of the Blues' backline since taking over the captain's armband from Marcel Desailly prior to the 2004-05 season, and helped the club to Premier League titles in 2005 and 2006.
"As captain, John is clearly a key player for Chelsea and also a great symbol of the club so naturally we are pleased this has been agreed."
In addition to having success at the club level, Terry has earned 39 caps for England and was named as the captain of the squad following last summer's World Cup.
Terry made 27 appearances last season for Chelsea as he battled injury problems and helped the team to a second-place finish in the Premier League.

Simao signs with Atletico

Madrid, Spain (Sports Network) - Atletico signed winger Simao Sabrosa from Benfica to a four-year contract on Friday.
The 27-year-old started his career with Barcelona, but did not make a name for himself until joining Benfica in 2001. With Benfica, Simao helped his club win the Portuguese league championship in 2005, and was named Portuguese Player of the Year last season.
"The experience and maturity that Simao has demonstrated over the course of his athletic career is unquestionable, demonstrating himself to be a responsible player who can throw off defenses," said Atletico President Don Enrique. "Simao stands out for his skill with the ball and his extraordinary pace. His technical contribution is outstanding, which tells us that we have a great talent."
A Portugal international, Simao has also collected 55 caps.
Simao is not expected to play in the Intertoto Cup tie on Saturday versus Gloria Bistrita, but is excited for the La Liga opener on August 26, at Real Madrid.
"I think that Atletico should always be in the top three and win titles," said Simao. "I hope to play the same here as I have the past few years."
Atletico finished last season in seventh place, 16 points behind title winner Real Madrid.

Schiavone moves into Gastein Ladies semis

Bad Gastein, Austria (Sports Network) - Top-seeded Italian Francesca Schiavone outlasted last week's Palermo champion Agnes Szavay to reach the semifinals at the inaugural $175,000 Gastein Ladies tennis event.
Schiavone snuck past the sixth-seeded Szavay 7-6 (7-5), 2-6, 6-4 on Day 5 at this clay-court tournament. The surprising Szavay was riding a seven-match winning streak.
Up next for Schiavone will be fourth-seeded Estonian Kaia Kanepi, who got past Czech Renata Voracova 6-4, 3-6, 6-0. Saturday's other semi will pit seventh-seeded Italian Karin Knapp against Austrian crowd favorite Yvonne Meusburger, as Knapp overcame Spanish qualifier Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez 4-6, 7-6 (7-2), 6-1, while Meusburger upended eighth-seeded Spaniard Lourdes Dominguez Lino 6-1, 6-4 in Friday's quarterfinals.

Robredo falls in Kitzbuhel quarters

Kitzbuhel, Austria (Sports Network) - Top-seeded Spaniard Tommy Robredo was upended by fifth-seeded Argentine Juan Monaco in Friday's quarterfinal action at the $1.085 million Austrian Open.
Monaco dismissed the world No. 7 Robredo in 6-2, 2-6, 6-2 fashion on the red clay at Casino Stadion. Monaco improved to 2-14 in his career against top-10 competition.
Meanwhile, sixth-seeded and defending champion Agustin Calleri avoided an upset by handling 2001 Kitzbuhel titlist Nicolas Lapentti of Ecuador 7-6 (7-5), 6-1. Lapentti was the 15th seed this week.
Calleri beat Juan Ignacio Chela in last year's all-Argentine finale here.
In other round-of-eight play, 10th-seeded Potito Starace overcame fellow Italian Andreas Seppi 1-6, 7-5, 7-6 (9-7) and 11th-seeded Spaniard Fernando Verdasco held off Argentine Sergio Roitman 7-6 (8-6), 3-6, 6-3. Verdasco reached the Kitzbuhel final in 2005, while Seppi was a finalist in Gstaad just two weeks ago.
Saturday's semifinals will pit Calleri against Starace and Monaco versus Verdasco. Wins by Calleri and Monaco would produce an all-Argentine finale on Sunday.

Top-seeded Schiavone eases past Gagliardi at Gastein Ladies

BAD GASTEIN, Austria (AP) -- Top-seeded Francesca Schiavone beat Emmanuelle Gagliardi of Switzerland 6-0, 6-4 Wednesday in the first round of the Gastein Ladies.The 31st-ranked Italian easily won the first set in about 20 minutes, but had to fight back from 2-0 down in the second. Third-seeded Roberta Vinci of Italy was upset by Anna-Lena Groenefeld of Germany 6-4, 2-6, 6-0.Groenefeld double-faulted 13 times, but No. 52 Vinci, who won her first WTA title in February, converted only two of eight break points.Sixth-seeded Agnes Szavay of Hungary routed Tina Schiechtl of Austria, 6-0, 6-1.Also, eighth-seeded Lourdes Dominguez Lino of Spain advanced after defeatomg Tatjana Malek of Germany 6-4, 7-5...Full Story

Blues re-sign Stempniak

St. Louis, MO (Sports Network) - The St. Louis Blues re-signed forward Lee Stempniak to a multi-year contract on Wednesday.
The 24-year-old Stempniak had the best season of his young career last year, recording a team-high 27 goals and 25 assists, in all 82 games for the Blues.
"Lee has been a terrific player since breaking in with the Blues two seasons ago and we are excited to watch him grow wearing the Bluenote," said St. Louis president John Davidson. "He's a young player with tremendous skills and he will continue to be a valued asset for our hockey club as we move forward."
In 139 career NHL games, the West Seneca, New York native has totaled 41 goals, 38 assists and 55 penalty minutes with the Blues.
"I'm appreciative of the Blues ownership and thrilled that they have made a long term commitment to me," said Stempniak. "I enjoyed playing last season under Andy Murray and I'm happy to continue my career with the team. St. Louis is an outstanding sports town and its been great to play in front of our great fans."

DEI and Ginn Racing merge

Mooresville, NC (Sports Network) - Dale Earnhardt Inc. and Ginn Racing merged Wednesday to create a new four-car team.
Effective immediately the new team will feature the Chevrolets of Paul Menard, Martin Truex Jr., Dale Earnhardt Jr., Mark Martin and Aric Almirola.
Martin and Almirola will combine to drive Ginn's No. 1 Army Chevrolet for the remainder of the 2007 season and into 2008. Menard drives the Menards Chevy, Truex handles the Bass Pro Shops car and Earnhardt is at the controls of the Budweiser Chevrolet -- all originally part of the DEI team.
All four cars are inside the top 35 in Nextel Cup points.
"This merger is great for both our companies," said DEI global operations president Max Siegel. "Our stated goals included an expansion to four cars as quickly as possible and, in order to do that, we had to acquire more shop space. This relationship with Bobby Ginn and his company allows us to accomplish both which makes this a perfect transaction."
The partnership will force Ginn to give up the points on his No. 13 car, which was 34th in the owner standings.
"NASCAR's cap of four teams per company meant we had to give something up," said Ginn. "We felt so strongly about this merger that we surrendered the intangible value of the 13 car. We all were completely comfortable that the benefits of working together far outweighed the value of the points."
DEI's current management team will be responsible for all day-to-day activities.

Top four seeds advance at Junior Amateur

Augusta, MO (Sports Network) - Stroke-play medalist Seung Yul Noh rolled to a 4 & 3 win over Jackson Beindorf in Wednesday's first round of stroke play at the U.S. Junior Amateur at Boone Valley Golf Club.Noh advances to the second round where he will face Daily Young, who easily defeated Ben Vertz, 5 & 3.Hunter Hamrick, who finished two strokes behind Noh in the stroke-play portion, barely survived his opening-round match. He trailed 2-down after seven, but rallied to win the next two holes.Hamrick advanced with a 1-up win when his opponent, Alex Lyall, tripped to a bogey at the last.Third-seeded James White downed Ryan Kelley, 4 & 2, while fourth-seeded Sean Dale held off Cameron Wilson, 1-up.Four of the top-10 seeds lost on Wednesday, including the fifth-seed Mu Hu. The China native was trounced 6 & 4 by Luke Guthrie. The other top seeds going down were John Popeck, Matt Nolasco and J.J. Spaun.Thursday will feature the second and third rounds of match play.

This Week in Golf - July 26th through July 29th

Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) - SENIOR BRITISH OPEN - SENIOR BRITISH OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP, Muirfield Golf Club, Gullane, East Lothian, Scotland - The Senior circuit heads across the pond this week for the Senior British Open as the golf world remains focused on the British Isles.The middle of July brings three straight weeks of British Opens. Irishman Padraig Harrington won the British Open last week, this week is the Senior British and next week will be the Women's British Open.Loren Roberts headed to Scotland last week to begin preparation for his title defense at the Senior British Open. He played 136th Open Championship at Carnoustie, but after rounds of 74-75 missed the cut.Last year, Roberts entered the final round four strokes clear of Eduardo Romero, but both struggled Sunday. Roberts could only manage a five-over 75, while Romero shot 71. That left them tied at six-under-par 274... Full Story

Cole still hoping to start season

London, England (Sports Network) - Chelsea defender Ashley Cole is very happy with the progress on his ankle injury, and feels that he has a good chance of starting the Premiership season with his teammates.
Cole, who underwent ankle surgery at the end of last season, returned to full training on Wednesday, quicker than originally expected.
"I am glad to be back and I am enjoying it," said Cole.
The Blues will start their season on August 11, at home against Birmingham.
"Hopefully I can start the season," said Cole.

Top-seeded Djokovic ousted in second round

Umag, Croatia (Sports Network) - Viktor Troicki pulled off the upset of the tournament, edging top seed Novak Djokovic 2-6, 6-4, 7-5 in the second round of the $485,000 Croatia Open.By pulling off the upset over his fellow Serb, Troicki dismissed last year's runner-up and this year's favorite in Djokovic.Fifth-seeded Argentine Guillermo Canas was also among Wednesday's second-round winners. The 2004 Umag titlist, Canas disposed of Spaniard Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo 6-4, 6-3 on the red clay at ITC Stella Maris.Argentine Carlos Berlocq overcame a tough first-set loss on Tuesday in order to defeat Romanian Victor Hanescu 6-7 (13-15), 6-4, 6-2, while Frenchman Gilles Simon held off Croatian favorite Marin Cilic 7-5, 2-6, 6-3. Simon should have his hands full with the gritty Canas in Friday's quarterfinals...Full Story

Robredo, Calleri win; Youzhny, Ferrero fall in Kitzbuhel

Kitzbuhel, Austria (Sports Network) - Top-seeded Spaniard Tommy Robredo and reigning champion Agustin Calleri notched second-round wins, while second- seeded Russian Mikhail Youzhny and third-seeded Spaniard Juan Carlos Ferrero came up losers at $1.085 million Austrian Open.
Robredo handled Argentine Juan-Pablo Guzman 6-1, 6-4, while a sixth-seeded Calleri topped Austrian qualifier Rainer Eitzinger 6-3, 7-6 (7-4) on the red clay at Casino Stadion. Calleri beat Juan Ignacio Chela in last year's all- Argentine finale here.
A fourth-seeded Chela snuck past Austrian wild card Daniel Koellerer 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 on Day 3...Full Story

Dixon wins third straight race

Lexington, OH (Sports Network) - Scott Dixon captured Sunday's inaugural The Honda 200 at Mid-Ohio road course and in the process collected his third consecutive victory. The No.9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing driver crossed the finish line 2.6917 seconds ahead of Dario Franchitti.
The victory was Dixon's third of the season and ninth of his IndyCar career.
Helio Castroneves, Tony Kanaan and Danica Patrick completed the top-five.

Chakvetadze tops Morigami in Cincinnati final

Cincinnati, OH (Sports Network) - Top-seeded Russian Anna Chakvetadze downed Akiko Morigami of Japan in straight sets to capture the $175,000 Western & Southern Financial Open title.
Chakvetadze cruised to an easy first set win and held on in the second set to clinch a 6-1, 6-3 win in just over an hour.
Morigami, seeded seventh, advanced to the final by storming back to defeat wild card Akgul Amanmuradova of Uzbekistan, 6-7 (8-10), 6-4, 6-3 in a marathon match that took two hours and 28 minutes to complete on Saturday.
Chakvetadze, meanwhile, fought past third-seed Sania Mirza 6-2, 5-7, 6-3 to cement her spot in the final.
It was her second victory over Mirza this year, as these two also played in the semifinals of a smaller event in Hobart before the Australian Open in January, with Chakvetadze winning, 6-4, 6-1. That win propelled her into the final where she topped countrywoman Vasilisa Bardina to earn her third Sony Ericsson WTA Tour singles title.

Padraig Harrington wins 2007 British Open Championship

Carnoustie, Scotland (Sports Network) - Padraig Harrington defeated Sergio Garcia in a playoff on Sunday to earn his first major at the British Open Championship at Carnoustie.
Harrington took the aggregate, four-hole playoff 15-16.
This was the first major championship for Harrington, who became the first European to win a major since Paul Lawrie titled here in 1999.
Harrington took a commanding lead right away in the playoff. At the first, he hit his approach to eight feet, while Garcia drove into the right rough, then found the front bunker.
Garcia blasted out to 12 feet and missed the putt. Harrington sank his birdie try to lead, 3-5. Both parred the par-three 16th to allow Harrington to maintain his two-shot lead...Full Story

Darcis wins first ATP final at Dutch Open

Amersfoort, Netherlands (Sports Network) - Belgian qualifier Steve Darcis upended unseeded Werner Eschauer of Austria in straight sets Sunday to win the Dutch Open title.
It was the first career ATP championship for Darcis who came from behind and stunned second seed Mikhail Youzhny in the semifinals on Saturday.
It took just over 90 minutes for Darcis to dismiss the Austrian in the first career matchup for the two players. Darcis dominated the first set and then blitzed the Austrian in the tiebreaker of a hard fought second frame en route to the 6-1, 7-6 (7-1) victory.
The 33-year old Eschauer, who was playing in the first ATP final of his 13- year pro career, was seeking to become the oldest first-time ATP titlist since Wayne Arthurs won at 33 years, 11 months in 2005.
Eschauer upset third seed Carlos Moya in the quarterfinals and then whipped Dutchman Robin Haase 6-4, 6-4 to advance to the finals.

Stanislas Wawrinka wins Mercedes Cup

Stuttgart, Germany (Sports Network) - Rafael Nadal continued his amazing success on clay with a straight-set victory over Switzerland's Stanislas Wawrinka in the final of the Mercedes Cup.
The top-seeded Nadal was pushed by the unseeded Wawrinka, but still had enough to pull out a 6-4, 7-5 triumph for his sixth title of 2007 and the 23rd of his brilliant career. He also won this tournament in 2005.
Despite the straight-set scores, Wawrinka was ahead in both sets. Nadal had to win the last three games of the first set, then trailed 2-5 in the second before rallying to win the final five games.
Nadal has now won 93 of his last 94 matches on clay, with his only loss in that span a setback to world No. 1 Roger Federer in a final at Hamburg in May. Of course, Nadal avenged that setback a few weeks later by beating Federer in the French Open final for his third straight championship at Roland Garros...Full Story

Garcia and Harrington headed to British Open playoff

Carnoustie, Scotland (Sports Network) - Sergio Garcia and Padraig Harrington are headed to a four-hole playoff to decide the British Open Championship at Carnoustie.
The duo, who finished regulation at seven-under-par 277, will play the first, 16th, 17th and 18th holes.
The conclusion conjured up the ghost of Jean van de Velde from 1999.
The last time Carnoustie hosted the Open Championship, Van de Velde squandered a three-shot lead on the 18th hole. He lost to Paul Lawrie in a playoff and both competitors in this year's extra session made a mess of 18 as well...Full Story

Miyazato, Lee to battle for Match Play title

New Rochelle, NY (Sports Network) - Ai Miyazato cruised to a 3 & 2 win over Maria Hjorth on Sunday to advance to the final at the HSBC Women's World Match Play Championship.
Miyazato, the 12th seed, moves on to face 22nd-seed Seon Hwa Lee, who claimed a 2-up win over Mi Hyun Kim.
Lee picked up her lone tour crown last year at the ShopRite LPGA Classic. Miyazato has not won a tour event, but did win the 2005 Qualifying Tournament.
Miyazato won the third and fifth with pars to take an early 2-up lead. She bogeyed the seventh to drop her lead over 40th-seeded Hjorth to 1-up.
The duo traded wins at 11 and 12, but Hjorth fell 2-down as she bogeyed the 14th. Miyazato closed out the match with a par on the par-five 16th.
Lee birdied the first, but Kim fought back to take the third and fourth to move 1-up. Kim bogeyed the fifth to square the match. Lee dropped in a birdie on the par-five ninth and moved 2-up when Kim bogeyed No. 11...Full Story