IN BRIEF (Page 24)

Motor racing

Busch ends long NASCAR drought

NEW YORK: Kurt Busch ended a 51-race winless streak, dominating from start to finish the NASCAR event at Long Pond, Pennsylvania on Sunday.

The Dodge driver had been without a victory since March 2006, but he clearly had the top car, leading 175 of the 200 laps at Pocono Raceway.

"I feel like a new-born kid again," Busch told reporters as he celebrated in the victory lane.

Chevrolets took the next five spots. Pole-winner Dale Earnhardt Jr. was second, followed by Denny Hamlin, points leader Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson and Tony Stewart.

Robby Gordon was not allowed to compete. He was suspended by NASCAR before the race for refusing to pull off the track as ordered in Montreal on Saturday.

Tennis

Roddick brings Isner back to earth in DC final

WASHINGTON: Top seed Andy Roddick ended the fairy tale run of 416th-ranked John Isner by beating the tour rookie 6-4 7-6 in the $600,000 Washington Open on Sunday.

Roddick served a modest 12 aces in the 80-minute match but had the only service break between the two hard-hitting Americans.

Isner, 22, entered the final having been broken only four times in 86 service games this week but Roddick broke the 2007 NCAA finalist from the University of Georgia in the seventh game of the opening set to take a 4-3 lead.

"I felt like I was putting pressure on him," Roddick said after his 23rd career title. "If he wasn't winning the point on his serve, then it felt like I had a pretty good shot at the point.

"I was making him serve well out of jams. I had him up against it in the second set but he came up with aces. There's really not much you can do about that."

Soccer

PSV Eindhoven beat Real to win Railways Cup

MOSCOW: PSV Eindhoven beat Real Madrid 2-1 on Sunday to lift the Russian Railways Cup.

PSV's Ismail Aissati's 30m shot in the 33rd minute was out of reach of Real goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek.

Ibrahim Afellay then put PSV 2-0 up on 44 minutes with a shot from a free kick.

Javier Saviola pulled one back for the Spanish club in the 60th minute, smashing the ball into the net after a Guti free kick.

European champions AC Milan beat Lokomotiv Moscow 5-4 on penalties after the match ended 3-3 to take third place in the competition.

Russian Railways chief Vladimir Yakunin said at an awards ceremony that the cup would become an annual event.

Cricket

Atapattu future in doubt after release request

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka: Opening batsman Marvan Atapattu's international future is in doubt after the former captain asked Sri Lanka Cricket to release him from his annual central contract.

"Marvan sent a letter to chief executive Duleep Mendis on Friday requesting release from his central contract," board secretary Kangadaran Mathivanan said yesterday.

The 36-year-old righthander opted out of the recently completed series against Bangladesh and has been approached to play in the Indian Cricket League (ICL), a rebel Twenty20 competition being set-up by Indian broadcaster Zee TV.

Sri Lanka Cricket officials are due to meet on Monday to discuss whether to ban Sri Lankan cricketers who accept lucrative contracts with the ICL.

Atapattu has scored 5,330 runs in test cricket at 38.90 including 16 centuries. The right-hander also scored 8,529 runs at 37.57 in one-dayers.

(China Daily 08/07/2007 page24)