Silver Stars win, stave off elimination

September 28, 2008

strong>Sophia Young hit a 14-foot turnaround shot at the buzzer to lift the Silver Stars over the Los Angeles Sparks, 67-66, yesterday in San Antonio, forcing a deciding Game 3 today in the WNBA Western Conference finals. Young finished with 21 points and 11 rebounds to lead San Antonio. Candace Parker led Los Angeles with 19 points and 17 rebounds. Los Angeles is looking to return to its first Finals since 2003, when it lost to the Detroit Shock. The Sparks won back-to-back titles in 2001-02 . . . Gilbert Arenas, who was fined $15,000 by the NBA for not talking to the media Friday, says he didn't want to take attention away from Washington's healthy players. Arenas is back on the shelf after a third left knee operation in 1 1/2 years. He is working with the Wizards' young players at training camp at Virginia Commonwealth University.

Andy Roddick will take on unheralded Dudi Sela in the China Open final in Beijing, while Jelena Jankovic plays Svetlana Kuznetsova in the women's title match. Roddick was pushed hard by unseeded Bjorn Phau before winning, 6-2, 6-7 (4-7), 6-1, and Sela overpowered No. 7 Rainer Schuettler, 6-3, 6-3. On the women's side, Jankovic fought off No. 5 Vera Zvonareva, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4, while Kuznetsova beat Zheng Jie, 7-6 (7-3), 7-5 . . . Top-seeded Novak Djokovic and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga set up a rematch of their Australian Open final by winning semifinals at the Thailand Open in Bangkok. Djokovic beat Thomas Berdych, 7-5, 6-1, and second-seeded Tsonga ousted Gael Monfils, 6-0, 6-3 . . . Top-seeded Maria Kirilenko reached the Korea Open final in Seoul with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 victory over No. 3 seed Kaia Kanepi. Kirilenko will play Samantha Stosur, who defeated Jill Craybas, 6-0, 6-1.

Top-ranked Lorena Ochoa, winless since May, shot a 3-under-par 69 for a share of the third-round lead in the Navistar LPGA Classic in Prattville, Ala. Ochoa, making her first start since tying for sixth in the Safeway Classic Aug. 24, matched Louise Friberg (65) at 13-under 203. LPGA Championship winner Yani Tseng (68), Christina Kim (69), Song-Hee Kim (69), Michele Redman (70), and second-round leader Janice Moodie (67) were 11 under . . . Bruce Fleisher moved into position for his first Champions Tour victory in four years, shooting a 6-under 66 to take a one-stroke lead into the final round of the SAS Championship in Cary, N.C. Fleisher had a 10-under 134 total. Tom Kite (66) and Eduardo Romero (67) are tied for second.

Curlin became the first horse in North America to top $10 million in career earnings, winning the $750,000 Jockey Club Gold Cup at sloppy Belmont Park. The $450,000 winner's purse pushed Curlin's career bankroll to $10,246,800. Cigar had held the 12-year-old mark of $9,999,815. Curlin, ridden by Robby Albarado, beat Wanderin Boy by three-quarters of a length, with Merchant Marine third. Curlin has 11 wins in 15 starts . . . Zanjero used a determined stretch run to pull away from favorites Honest Man and Stream Cat in the $350,000 Kentucky Cup at Turfway. The win earned the 4-year-old colt a trip to next month's Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile . . . Zenyatta (8-0) kept her record perfect with a 3 1/2-length victory over Hystericalady in the $250,000 Lady's Secret Stakes at Santa Anita . . . Jockey Corey Nakatani most likely will miss the Breeders' Cup because of a broken collarbone from a spill at Santa Anita Wednesday . . . Well Armed held off fast-closing Tiago to win the $500,000 Goodwood Stakes by a length at Santa Anita, good for an automatic berth into the Breeders' Cup Classic . . . John Velazquez notched his 3,999th victory in the $400,000 Yellow Ribbon Stakes in Santa Anita, riding favorite Wait a While to victory.

Lance Armstrong might not be able to start his comeback in January in Australia because elite riders need to be in the sport's anti-doping program for six months before they can race, cycling's governing body said. The UCI said it will decide next week whether Armstrong can race in the Tour Down Under set for Jan. 20-25 . . . Britain's Nicole Cooke has added the world road race title to her Olympic gold by beating prerace favorite Marianne Vos of the Netherlands in a sprint finish in Varese, Italy . . . Denny Hamlin took advantage of a fast pit stop near the halfway point and held off Nationwide Series points leader Clint Bowyer to win the Kansas Lottery 300 in Kansas City . . . Four-time world champion "Sugar" Shane Mosley floored Ricardo Mayorga with one second left in the 12th round of their nontitle light middleweight bout in Carson, Calif. On the undercard, undefeated Andre Berto defended his World Boxing Council welterweight title with a 12-round unanimous decision over Steve Forbes . . . Guillermo Jones of Panama stopped Firat Arslan in the 10th round to win the World Boxing Association cruiserweight title in Hamburg.