IN BRIEF (Page 24)

Tennis

Moya and Baghdatis suffer early Vienna exits

VIENNA: Carlos Moya and Marcos Baghdatis both crashed out in the first round of the Vienna Open on Monday.

Sixth-seeded Spaniard Moya was beaten 7-6 5-7 6-2 by local favorite Stefan Koubek while Cypriot eighth seed Baghdatis went down to Italy's Andreas Seppi in a surprisingly one-sided 6-2 6-2 defeat.

Vienna resident Koubek came through a nervy opening set in which each player twice traded breaks. The world No 60 powered ahead in the subsequent tiebreak before stepping in front once again in the second set, only to let a 4-2 lead slip in the closing stages.

The third set began with another Koubek break and this time the Austrian held on, using a string of well hit passing shots to finally frustrate the world No 15.

Rugby

France climbs into second behind New Zealand

PARIS: France leapt into second place in the rugby rankings on Monday after its 20-18 victory over New Zealand in its World Cup quarterfinal.

New Zealand remains top despite the upset in Cardiff last Saturday, but only 1.25 points ahead of the French, according to the International Rugby Board's world rankings.

South Africa remains third and Argentina fourth ahead of their semifinal at the Stade de France on Sunday.

In Saturday's semifinal, also at the Stade de France, the French meet England, who is still sixth after its upset victory over Australia in a Marseille quarterfinal.

The Wallabies have dropped to fifth with Ireland, Scotland, Fiji and Wales the other teams in the top 10.

Soccer

Injured Kuyt out of Euro qualifiers

AMSTERDAM: Dutch striker Dirk Kuyt will miss this month's Euro 2008 qualifiers against Romania and Slovenia because of a hamstring injury, the Dutch FA said on Monday.

PSV striker Danny Koevermans will replace Kuyt in the squad for the match against Romania on Saturday and against Slovenia on October 17.

Romania leads Group G with 20 points. Netherlands also has 20 points from eight games while Slovenia is fourth with 10.

Swimming

Italian club to sue Olympic champ Manaudou's father

ROME: The Italian swimming club, which sacked Laure Manaudou in August, said on Monday they were suing the world and Olympic champion's father and lawyer for defamation.

LaPresse Nuoto of Turin said in a statement they were taking legal action against Jean-Luc Manaudou and Didier Poulmaire for "reiterated, false, defamatory statements given to the press".

After the Frenchwoman's dismissal, Jean-Luc Manaudou said LaPresse Nuoto had pressured his daughter into signing a sponsorship deal with swimwear company Arena.

The club also said they had asked a Milan court to summon the swimmer to give testimony.

Horse Racing

Fabled Kentucky race horse euthanized

WASHINGTON: Race horse John Henry, who won $6.6 million during his record-breaking career, was euthanized in Lexington, Kentucky, on Monday at age 32, the Lexington Herald-Leader reported.

The gelding, who was horse racing's all-time leading money winner when he retired in 1985, suffered from kidney problems and dehydration and had lost a considerable amount of weight.

The two-time Horse of the Year will be buried at the Horse Park, where he has lived since the mid-1980s and had become a popular fixture.

(China Daily 10/10/2007 page24)