IN BRIEF (Page 24)

Tennis

Tursunov ends Dancevic dream run

INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana: Dmitry Tursunov denied Frank Dancevic a fairytale ending at the Indianapolis Tennis Championships on Sunday as he beat the Canadian 6-4, 7-5 to win the title.

The Russian added Indianapolis to his other trophy won last autumn in India.

"At least this shows that wasn't a fluke," joked Tursunov, who lost a final last summer in Los Angeles.

The third-seeded Russian never faced a break point and used his extra experience against Dancevic, who is poised to rise into the top 100 after the best week of his career.

Spain's Moya wins Umag ATP tournament

UMAG, Croatia: Spain's Carlos Moya won the $US490,000 ATP tournament here on Sunday, beating Romania's Andrei Pavel 6-4, 6-2 in the final.

In the first set, Moya had the upper hand and Pavel had to save seven set points, but finally the Spaniard prevailed 6-4. In the second set, Moya took advantage of two breaks of his opponent's service to take it 6-2 and win the match.

"Honestly, when I arrived in Umag I did not believe I could make it again with so many good players, but I had a good week," Moya said.

Golf

Gulbis breaks title jinx at Evian Masters

EVIANS-LES-BAINS, France: Natalie Gulbis, the glamour girl of the LPGA Tour, claimed her first title on Sunday when she beat South Korea's Jang Jeong on the first hole of a sudden-death play-off at the Evian Masters.

Often dubbed the Anna Kournikova of women's golf, the 24-year-old was developing the same reputation as the Russian player - a golfer with model looks but without a victory to her name.

Romero seals victory in Hamburg

HAMBURG, Germany: Argentina's Andres Romero won the Players' Championship of Europe in Hamburg on Sunday by three strokes after finishing with a birdie courtesy of a superb 10m putt on the last hole.

The 26-year-old from Tucumen, who finished third at the British Open last week, added his name to previous winners Tiger Woods, Bernhard Langer and Lee Westwood to lift his first European PGA title after a final round of 70, two under par, at the Gut Kaden golf course.

Soccer

Reyes set to sign for Atletico Madrid

MADRID: Spanish international Jose Antonio Reyes, on-loan from Arsenal to Real Madrid last season, is set to join Atletico Madrid on a four-year contract, Spanish sports daily Marca reported on Sunday.

Atletico are reportedly paying 12 million euros for the striker, which was double what Real Madrid were prepared to pay. The player is set to be publicly unveiled on Tuesday.

"Atletico have snatched Reyes from Real Madrid," claimed the newspaper, adding the agreement between Atletico, Arsenal and Reyes was set to be signed on Sunday.

Stunning van Persie gives Gunners trophy

LONDON: A memorable piece of individual skill by Dutch international Robin van Persie helped Arsenal to a 2-1 win against Italian champions Inter Milan to secure the Emirates Cup trophy on Sunday.

David Suazo put Inter ahead when he headed a Cesar cross past goalkeeper Jens Lehmann at the near post. The Gunners equalized when Alexandr Hleb followed up his own shot to score from 10m, before van Persie secured the win five minutes from time.

Emmanuel Eboue passed to the Dutch forward in the area and van Persie scored with a right-footed drive.

(China Daily 07/31/2007 page24)