IN BRIEF (Page 24)

Baseball

Brawl mars Yankees-Rays training game

ST PETERSBURG, Florida: The New York Yankees and Tampa Bay Rays engaged in a bench-clearing brawl in an exhibition game on Wednesday.

Trouble had been brewing between the teams since Saturday when the Rays' Elliot Johnson crashed into Francisco Cervelli at the plate, leaving the Yankees catcher with a broken wrist.

On Wednesday, Yankees pitcher Heath Phillips was ejected in the first inning after grazing highly regarded prospect Evan Longoria with a pitch.

In the second, Shelley Duncan of the Yankees slid with his spikes high into the Rays' Akinori Iwamura, cutting the Japanese player's knee.

Players from both dugouts and bullpens charged onto the field. Tampa outfielder Jonny Gomes raced from right field and knocked into Duncan from behind.

The teams meet again on Saturday.

Olympics

BOA will oppose Chambers' bid to run in Beijing

LONDON: British Olympic Association (BOA) chairman Colin Moynihan said on Wednesday he would oppose any attempt by sprinter Dwain Chambers to compete at the Beijing Games.

Chambers, 29, who has returned to competition after serving a two-year doping suspension, is considering a legal challenge to the BOA's lifetime Olympic ban for any athlete failing a drug test.

"There will be no room for cheats in the British team as long as I am involved with the BOA," Moynihan told the BBC.

"There are absolutely no grounds whatsoever for compromise."

Chambers won a silver medal in the 60 metres at the world indoor championships this month but his future is uncertain after leading European promoters said he would not be welcome at their meetings.

NHL

Stars' Ott, Sabres' Peters handed suspensions

TORONTO: Dallas Stars forward Steve Ott has been suspended for three games without pay for striking Colorado Avalanche defenseman Jordan Leopold on the head, the NHL said on Wednesday.

The incident occurred midway through the opening period of the Stars' 3-0 win over the Avalanche on Sunday, when Ott slammed Leopold against the boards.

No penalty was called on the play while Leopold left the game with an apparent head injury and did not play in Colorado's victory at Atlanta on Tuesday.

Ott will forfeit $12,834.21 in salary and his suspension begins with Thursday's game at Detroit.

Andrew Peters of the Buffalo Sabres was also suspended, for one game, for scuffling with New York Rangers right wing Colton Orr. The incident occurred in the third period of the Rangers' 3-2 shootout victory in Buffalo on Monday.

Ovechkin double lifts Capitals over Flames

WASHINGTON: Two goals from Alex Ovechkin lifted the Washington Capitals to a 3-2 win over the Calgary Flames on Wednesday.

Ovechkin fired the winner from just inside the blue line with less than two minutes left to claim his NHL-leading 56th goal of the season and help goalie Olaf Kolzig record his 300th career victory.

The Capitals snapped a two-game losing streak to move to within five points of Philadelphia for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

Kolzig had to make just 24 saves to earn his milestone win as the Capitals carried the play for most of the night in the only meeting of the season between these teams, out-shooting Calgary 34-26, including 26-9 over the final two periods.

(China Daily 03/14/2008 page24)