IN BRIEF (Page 24)

Golf

Perry takes the Memorial

DUBLIN, Ohio: Kenny Perry defied difficult conditions to post a decisive two-shot victory at the Memorial tournament on Sunday.

Perry called his 3-under-par 69 one of the "top five" rounds of his life, and his 8-under total of 280 saw him join Tiger Woods as the only players to win the prestigious event hosted by Jack Nicklaus three times.

Perry, who posted his 10th PGA Tour victory, also became the oldest Memorial champion.

The 47-year-old also buoyed his Ryder Cup hopes, jumping to fifth in the US Ryder Cup standings.

Jerry Kelly (71), Canadian Mike Weir (71), Australian Mathew Goggin (74) and England's Justin Rose (71) tied for second at 6-under.

Lee playoff victor

CHARLESTON, South Carolina: South Korean Lee Seon-hwa took advantage of a monumental collapse by Sophie Gustafson to win the LPGA Ginn Tribute with a playoff victory over Australian Karrie Webb.

Lee hardly seemed positioned for her third career title entering the round, trailing overnight leader Gustafson of Sweden by nine shots.

Gustafson, who was six shots in front of Webb at the start of play, completely fell apart.

The Swede had five bogeys and two double bogeys over her final 15 holes and finished at seven-over-par 79, tying for fourth at 11-under 277.

Lee made the most of her chance. She carded a 67 for a 14-under total of 274 and beat Hall of Famer Webb at the first playoff hole to claim the first prize of $390,000.

Handball

Champs book Olympic places

PARIS: Former world champions France, Spain, Croatia and Russia booked places for the Beijing Olympics men's handball competition after finishing in the top two in qualification tournaments at the weekend.

Host China, world champion Germany, PanAmerican champion Brazil, European champion Denmark and African champion Egypt were exempted from the weekend's competitions.

Four-time world champion Sweden, which also won three silver Olympic medals from 1992 to 2000, will not go to Beijing after finishing third in Wroclaw's tournament following a 29-25 defeat to Iceland.

The Olympic tournaments will run from Aug 9-24 in Beijing.

Volleyball

Poland qualifies for Beijing

LISBON: Poland qualified for the Beijing Olympics men's volleyball tournament when it beat Portugal 3-0 in the final round of a qualifier on Sunday.

The 2006 world silver medallist was too strong for the hosts of the four-team tournament in Espinho, winning 25-21 25-19 26-24. It joins China, Brazil, Russia, Bulgaria, Egypt, Serbia, the United States, Venezuela and Germany at the August Games.

The final two teams will emerge from the last qualifier under way in Japan.

Soccer

River Plate 2 points clear

BUENOS AIRES: River Plate, playing for more than an hour with 10 men, won 2-1 at Colon on Sunday to go two points clear at the top of the Argentine championship.

Diego Simeone's team pulled away from rival Estudiantes, which was held to a 1-1 draw at Huracan.

With two matches each to play, River has 37 points from 17 games and Estudiantes has 35.

River appeared to be in trouble when Leonardo Ponzio was dismissed after picking up two yellow cards in the first 19 minutes.

(China Daily 06/03/2008 page24)