Yao is seeking Chinese treatment

Yao Ming will seek traditional Chinese medicine to help heal a stress fracture in his left foot after undergoing surgery last month. The Houston Rockets center was back in Beijing to consult with traditional medicine practitioners about his season-ending foot injury. Yao said yesterday he also plans to see players on the Chinese national team and talk with coach Jonas Kazlauskas about the Beijing Olympics. Treatment can range from acupuncture to herbal teas . . . Yao's countryman, Milwaukee Bucks rookie forward Yi Jianlian, will miss the final eight games of the regular season with a sprained medial collateral ligament in his left knee, but his coach, Larry Krystkowiak, was optimistic Yi, 20, would be ready for the Olympics . . . Trail Blazers swingman Martell Webster will miss tomorrow's game against San Antonio with an irregular heartbeat . . . Assistant coach Nancy Darsch is leaving the Boston College women's team after two years to take a similar position with the WNBA's Seattle Storm.

University of Arizona cornerback Antoine Cason will meet with the Patriots tomorrow and Monday, according to a league source. Cason, who won the Jim Thorpe Award as the top collegiate defensive back, intercepted five passes last season, returning two for touchdowns, scored twice more on punt returns, and forced two fumbles. Cason (6 feet 1 inch, 191 pounds) could be a Patriots target if they trade down from the No. 7 pick into the middle or late part of the first round. Eastern Michigan defensive end/linebacker Jason Jones is also planning a visit, April 13-14. The 6-5, 273-pound Jones totaled 174 tackles (100 solo, 50 for losses) and 14 sacks in his college career. He is projected as an early- to mid-round pick . . . Although his $51,000 bond was posted Thursday after he was arraigned on assault and criminal damaging charges, former Bengal Chris Henry wasn't released from Hamilton County jail in Cincinnati until yesterday because no one could provide a court-ordered monitoring device.

Jenny Potter and Karen Thatcher (Douglas, Mass.) each scored a pair of goals for the United States in an 8-1 win against Germany in the opener of the World Women's Hockey Championship in Harbin, China. Canada defeated Russia, 8-1, and Sweden knocked off Japan, 5-0 . . . Dallas Stars defenseman Sergei Zubov had surgery in Berlin on a sports hernia injury, leaving his status unclear for the playoffs . . . Detroit Red Wings forward Tomas Kopecky will have reconstructive knee surgery to repair a torn ligament and be out 4-6 months.

The Nationals' Dmitri Young, hampered by a lower back injury since the end of spring training, flew to Washington from St. Louis for treatment and tests. Manager Manny Acta said an MRI revealed inflammation, but it was too soon to consider placing Young on the disabled list. Meanwhile, the Nationals placed closer Chad Cordero, who has not pitched this season because of right shoulder tendinitis, on the 15-day DL, retroactive to March 27 . . . Athletics third baseman Eric Chavez could be sidelined another month after undergoing his second epidural for back spasms in less than five weeks . . . Last night's game between the Pawtucket Red Sox and Indianapolis Indians at McCoy Stadium was postponed by rain and will be made up in a single-admission doubleheader today, starting at 1:05 p.m.

Kurt Browning, Canada's four-time world figure skating champion, and Olympian Emily Hughes headline at the Skating Club of Boston's 96th Ice Chips show at Harvard's Bright Center. Performances will be today at 1 and 7 p.m., and tomorrow at 2 p.m. For tickets, go to the club's box office at 1240 Soldiers Field Road in Brighton, call 617-782-5900, Ext. 15, or 617-496-2222, or log on to www.boxoffice.harvard.edu . . . Shane Mosley accused convicted steroids dealer Victor Conte of slander for telling newspapers he saw the boxer knowingly inject steroids. Mosley filed suit in federal court in San Francisco, accusing the BALCO founder of making the allegedly false statements to boost book sales . . . Thomas E. Kelly, who played 27 games for the Celtics in 1948-49, died at 84 in Santa Barbara, Calif.