NHL suspends Tkachuk three games
St. Louis Blues forward Keith Tkachuk received a three-game suspension from the NHL yesterday that will cost him more than $365,000. The suspension was for his cross-check to the neck of San Jose defenseman Rob Davison during the second period Thursday. Tkachuk, who lost more than $487,000 in a suspension last season, missed yesterday's game at Los Angeles. He also will be out today at Anaheim and Wednesday at Phoenix . . . Browns defensive tackle Gerard Warren has been fined $5,000 by the NFL for his hit last week on Kansas City offensive lineman Brian Waters. Warren hit Waters with his helmet after Chiefs quarterback Trent Green threw a pass to his lineman, who was an ineligible receiver . . . The New York Giants waived kicker Brett Conway, meaning Matt Bryant will kick against the Philadelphia Eagles today. Bryant pulled a hamstring against Miami Oct. 5 and returned to practice only this week . . . Orlando Magic forward Pat Garrity will need a third surgery on his injured right knee and might not return this season . . . Annika Sorenstam earned $20,000 to lead the Tiger Skins in Singapore. The Swede won four skins against Retief Goosen, Jesper Parnevik, and local pro Lam Chih Bing. She had an eagle and four birdies on the front nine of Tanah Merah's Garden course . . . Dorothy Delasin shot a 4-under-par 68 and took a one-stroke lead after three rounds of the LPGA Tournament of Champions in Mobile, Ala. Delasin had a 54-hole total of 5-under 211 . . . Scott Hoch and Kenny Perry made an eagle and seven birdies, giving them the lead after two rounds at the Franklin Templeton Shootout in Naples, Fla. The pair shot a 9-under 63 in the better ball format, giving them a one-stroke lead over two-time champions Brad Faxon and Scott McCarron . . . South Africa's Trevor Immelman and Rory Sabbatini birdied six of their first seven holes in Kiawah Island, S.C., and finished with a 9-under 63 to take a seven-stroke lead heading into the final round of the World Cup of Golf. Americans Jim Furyk and Justin Leonard were tied for second at 7 under with France's Thomas Levet and Raphael Jacquelin.
MISCELLANY
US women net Olympic volleyball slot
The US women's volleyball team won a spot in the Olympics by finishing third in the World Cup following a 25-23, 25-18, 25-17 victory over gold medalist Cuba yesterday in Osaka, Japan. The US rebounded from a loss to Brazil Friday and assured itself a berth in Athens along with the unbeaten Chinese and Brazilians . . . American Jennifer Rodriguez won her second straight 1,500-meter race in World Cup speedskating in Erfurt, Germany, comfortably beating Olympic champion Annie Friesinger. Rodriguez finished in 1 minute 57.86 seconds and missed Friesinger's course record by 0.13 seconds. The German was second, 0.79 seconds behind . . . Sasha Cohen won the women's singles title at the Lalique Trophy in Paris for her third Grand Prix victory of the season. Cohen, skating to "Swan Lake," completed two sets of triple-double jump combinations in the opening seconds. In the men's competition, world champion Evgeny Plushenko won the singles title, while American Michael Weiss fell twice and settled for third. Bulgarian ice dancers Albena Denkova and Maxim Staviyski won despite a fall at the end of their program. In the pairs, China's Dan Zhang and Hao Zhing won after favored Tatiana Totmianina and Maxim Marinin of Russia fell at the same time while attempting side-by-side triple jumps and nearly ran into each other on a second set of jumps . . . Ethiopian Elfenesh Alemu blew past Sydney Olympic gold medalist Naoko Takahashi today to win the Tokyo International Women's Marathon in 2:24:47, 2:33 ahead of Takahashi, who finished second.
