IN BRIEF (Page 24)

TENNIS

Roddick, Blake cruise through in Indianapolis

INDIANAPOLIS: Defending champion James Blake and top seed Andy Roddick won their opening matches in straight sets at the Indianapolis Championships on Tuesday.

Blake beat 2002 Australian Open champion Thomas Johansson 7-5 7-6 while Roddick, playing his first match since his five-set quarterfinal loss to Frenchman Richard Gasquet at Wimbledon, passed wildcard Alex Kuznetsov 6-4 6-0.

The second-seeded Blake believes the momentum he brought to Indianapolis following a final showing at Los Angeles last week, when he lost a three-set battle to Czech Radek Stepanek, helped him down the Swede.

SOCCER

Schalke advance to League Cup final

BERLIN: Schalke 04 beat German Cup winners Nuremberg 4-2 on Tuesday to advance to Saturday's final of the pre-season League Cup tournament.

After Robert Vittek put Nuremberg ahead in the 20th minute with the first of his two goals, Schalke scored three quick goals within seven minutes just before half-time.

Schalke, who were runners-up to VfB Stuttgart in the Bundesliga last season, will now face the winner of Wednesday's other semifinal between VfB Stuttgart and Bayern Munich. Schalke won the League Cup in 2005.

The final will be played in Leipzig.

BASEBALL

Selig will try to see Bonds' record breaker

NEW YORK: Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig ended speculation on Tuesday when announced he would watch Barry Bonds' final pursuit of Hank Aaron's all-time home run milestone.

San Francisco Giants outfielder Bonds is three home runs away from eclipsing Aaron's career total of 755, one of US sports' most revered records.

"Throughout this season, I have watched Barry Bonds's pursuit of the home run record," Major League Baseball commissioner Selig said in a statement. "Now that he is on the verge of tying the record, the time has come to announce that I will make every attempt to attend the record-setting moment."

Astros' 3,000-hit club member Biggio to retire

HOUSTON, Texas: Houston Astros second baseman Craig Biggio, who this season became the 27th major leaguer to amass 3,000 hits, said on Tuesday he would retire after this season at age 41.

Biggio, who has been with the Astros for 20 years, is only the ninth player to reach 3,000 hits with one club.

The star batter, who began his career as a catcher with Houston in 1988, is averaging just .247 this season but stands 24th on the all-time hits list and sixth in doubles. He has stolen over 400 bases, hit nearly 300 homers and won four Gold Gloves.

Rugby

Wallabies promised cash incentive to win World Cup

SYDNEY: The Wallabies have been promised a cash bonus of A$137,000 ($121,000) per player if they win this year's World Cup, the Australian Rugby Union (ARU) announced on Wednesday.

The ARU and the Rugby Union Players Association (RUPA) reached an agreement to give the players staggered payments depending on how far they advance in the competition.

Each of the 30 members of the squad will be given A$10,000 if they make the semi-finals. They will earn an extra $42,250 if they win their semifinal and an additional $84,750 if they win the final, taking the total to $137,000.

Australia won the World Cup in 1991 and 1999 and reached the final in 2003.

(China Daily 07/26/2007 page24)