Top shot
Davenport bookends short season with another win
QUEBEC CITY, Canada: Lindsay Davenport won the 53rd WTA title of her career here Sunday, defeating third-seeded Julia Vakulenko 6-4, 6-1 in the final of the Bell Challenge.
It was Davenport's second victory in just three tournaments in 2007.
After taking nearly a year off because of pregnancy, the three-time Grand Slam champion and former world No 1 returned to win the title in Bali in September.
She ousted three seeded players on the way to that unexpected title, then followed it up with a semifinal appearance in Beijing.
A month later, the 31-year-old American was still showing no signs of rust in Quebec City.
In five matches at the indoor tournament she posted four straight-set wins. Only second-seeded Russian Vera Zvonareva was able to mount a real challenge before falling 6-2, 6-7 (3), 6-3 to Davenport in the semifinals.
Davenport had said she didn't plan to return to competition after starting a family. But she admitted she began to feel the urge to play just weeks after giving birth to her son, Jagger, in June.
Ames ends season on high with first win in more than a year
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Florida: Trinidad-born Canadian Stephen Ames captured his first US PGA Tour title in more than a year Sunday, holding off South African Tim Clark by a stroke in the final event of the season.
Ames carded a four-under par 68 for a 17-under total of 271 in the $4.6 million Children's Miracle Network Classic.
He claimed his first title since the 2006 Players Championship, nabbing three birdies in a row from the 13th to seize the lead and hanging on from there.
Ames finished the day with five birdies and one bogey.
Clark carded a 66, with all six of his birdies coming in an eight-hole stretch from the ninth. The South African settled for his third runner-up finish of the season.
This event is the final one on the PGA Tour schedule and the last chance for players to move up on the all-important money list.
The top 125 are guaranteed fully exempt status on next year's tour, the top 30 on the year-end money list get invited to The Masters.
European crown for rising Rose
SOTOGRANDE, Spain: Justin Rose became the youngest winner of the European PGA Tour Order of Merit title in 18 years on Sunday after surviving a dramatic finale to capture the Volvo Masters.
The 27-year-old Englishman had one hand firmly on the Harry Vardon Trophy as he turned for home in the final round with a four-stroke lead.
But with nerves jangling, he dropped four strokes in four holes from the 11th to open the door to his one remaining rival, Irishman Padraig Harrington, playing in the pairing ahead of him.
Rose had to finish ahead of Harrington and no lower than third in the tournament to capture the Order of Merit title, but his wayward golf off the tee also brought Soren Kjeldsen, Simon Dyson and Graeme McDowell, who had a rare albatross, into the picture.
Just when he needed it most, Rose regained his composure on Valderrama's notorious par-five 17th hole sticking a magnificent seven-iron second into the heart of the green and getting down in two for a vital birdie.
Korean axed from award shortlist after drinking ban
SINGAPORE: South Korea captain Lee Woon-jae has been axed from the Asian Player of the Year shortlist after receiving a one-year ban for a late-night drinking session during the Asian Cup in Jakarta in July.
The Asian Football Confederation said on Monday it had decided to exclude Lee from the nominees shortlist. Lee had been among 15 candidates for the award, which will be presented in Sydney on November 28.
The 34-year-old was last week suspended from the Korean team for one year along with three other players.
Lee was also banned from games hosted by the KFA for three years and has been told to perform 80 hours of community service before the end of 2007.
The goalkeeper led South Korea to a third-place finish in the Asian Cup after beating Japan 6-5 on penalties, earning an automatic place in the 2011 AFC Asian Cup finals.
(China Daily 11/06/2007 page23)
