IN BRIEF (Page 24)

Soccer

Ribery leads Bayern to League Cup final

BERLIN: France midfielder Franck Ribery inspired Bayern Munich to a 2-0 victory against Bundesliga champions VfB Stuttgart on Wednesday and a spot in the final of Germany's pre-season League Cup.

Ribery, who joined Bayern in a Bundesliga record $34.5 million transfer in the off season, put them ahead with a 20-meter blast into the top left corner in the eighth minute and set up Sandro Wagner for the second in the 66th.

The Frenchman also scored twice in Bayern's 4-1 defeat of Werder Bremen in the first round last Saturday.

Schalke 04 beat Nuremberg 4-2 on Tuesday in the other semi-final and will meet Bayern in the final in Leipzig on Saturday.

Chelsea's Lampard scores in Feyenoord friendly

ROTTERDAM, Netherlands: Frank Lampard struck 10 minutes from time and goalkeeper Carlo Cudicini saved a penalty soon afterwards to help Chelsea draw 1-1 with Feyenoord in a friendly on Wednesday.

The English Premier League side were missing several players with injury and manager Jose Mourinho kept striker Didier Drogba on the bench in favor of Andriy Shevchenko.

Feyenoord, who signed seven new players after finishing seventh in the Dutch league last season, grabbed the lead on the stroke of halftime when central defender Kevin Hofland nodded in a free kick from Jonathan de Guzman.

Athletics

Bekele fails in bid for 3,000m world record

MONACO: Ethiopia's Kenenisa Bekele had an easy win in the 3,000 meyers at the IAAF Super Grand Prix in Monaco's Stade Louis II but fell short in his attempt to break the world record on Wednesday.

Bekele, the Olympic and world 10,000m champion, was well outside Kenyan Daniel Komen's world record of seven minutes 20.67 when he clocked 7:29.32.

Australian Jana Rawlinson won the 400m hurdles in an impressive 53.46 seconds, the third fastest time of the year, as she prepares for a tilt at the world championship title in Osaka next month.

Sailing

New Zealand challenge for 33rd America's Cup

MADRID: Team New Zealand, who lost the America's Cup match against Alinghi this month, have challenged the Swiss syndicate for another chance to win back sailing's most prestigious prize.

Alinghi president Ernesto Bertarelli announced his yacht club SNG had accepted the challenge from the Kiwis, who thrilled sailing fans this year in the closest America's Cup match in at least two decades.

Team New Zealand eventually lost 5-2, the second time in a row they have lost the "Auld Mug" to Alinghi. New Zealand won the America's Cup in 1995 and 2000.

Tennis

Serena, Ivanovic pull out of San Diego event

STANFORD, California: Serena Williams and Ana Ivanovic have become the latest leading players to withdraw from next week's tournament in San Diego, the WTA Tour announced on Wednesday.

It was the fourth successive pullout for world No 8 Williams, who injured her left thumb in the fourth-round defeat of Daniela Hantuchova at Wimbledon earlier this month.

The American fell in the quarter-finals to top-ranked Justine Henin of Belgium, who withdrew from the San Diego Classic last week with a wrist injury.

The fifth ranked Ivanovic, who reached the final of the French Open and semifinals of Wimbledon, is struggling with a left knee injury.

(China Daily 07/27/2007 page24)