Italian yacht breezes in challengers’ race
Italy’s Il Moro di Venezia rolled over New Zealand by 2 minutes, 14 seconds yesterday in the second race of the America’s Cup Challenger Series in the waters off Point Loma near San Diego.
Il Moro di Venezia passed New Zealand moments after rounding the windward second mark and stretched its lead in a dying breeze to 5:08 on the fifth leg of the eight-leg race, completing the 20.03-mile course in 3 hours, 14 minutes, 35 seconds.
The boats will meet again in the second and third rounds, when victories will be worth four and eight points respectively. A victory in the first round is worth one point.
Italy, Japan and Spain remained undefeated and have two points each in the seven-race first round. New Zealand and France have one point apiece. Sweden and the two Australian boats have no points.
Soccer
Ivory Coast, making its first final-round appearance, won the biannual African Nations Cup, beating pre-tournament favorite Ghana in Dakar, Senegal, in a penalty shootout, 11-10, after a scoreless overtime. A save by goalkeeper Alain Gouanmane, who had held Cameroon scoreless in the semifinals, on a low and hard shot from Tony Baffoe proved to be the difference.
Running
Filemon Lopez of Mexico took the lead for good in the ninth mile and finished in 2 hours, 13 minutes, 12 seconds to capture the men’s division in the 20th Houston-Tenneco Marathon. Michael Heilmann of Germany finished second in 2:14:03.
Kimberley Webb of Toronto, who entered the women’s division with a personal best of 3:02:32, won in 2:50:17. Sandy Lovejoy of Winchester, Mass., was second in 2:54:22.
* Liz McColgan of Britain, the world 10,000-meter champion, won the women’s section of the Tokyo City Half Marathon and clipped 1 minute, 21 seconds off the world’s best time for a woman at the distance. McColgan, winner of the 1991 New York City Marathon, finished in 1 hour, 7 minutes, 11 seconds, beating the previous world best of 1:08:32. The race covered 21.0975 kilometers, or 13.08 miles.
Steve Moneghetti of Australia shaved four seconds off the men’s best time in winning the men’s division, 15 seconds ahead of Arthur Barrios of Mexico. Moneghetti won in 1:00:27.
Boxing
Heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield will fight Riddick Bowe at the Mirage on May 8 if Holyfield can get clearance from a judge in Passaic, N.J., on Thursday to fight someone other than former champion Mike Tyson in his next outing, according to a spokesman at the Las Vegas hotel. Tyson withdrew from a fight scheduled for Nov. 8 because of a rib injury and had a tentative date to meet Holyfield at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas on March 20 before being scheduled to go to trial, beginning today, in Indianapolis on charges on rape, criminal deviate conduct and criminal confinement.
Baseball
Tiger Stadium officials plan to ask for a hearing before the Detroit City Council tomorrow to present a proposal to ban smoking in seats and restrooms. The council doesn’t need to approve the plan because the club has a contract to manage the city-owned stadium. The Oakland (Calif.) Coliseum is the only American League park at which smoking is banned in all seats. Other parks have created non-smoking sections.
* Former Baltimore Oriole Phil Bradley, who played last season in Japan, probably will get an invitation to spring training from the Texas Rangers, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported.
Skiing
Alberto Tomba of Italy clinched the World Cup slalom title for the season in Wengen, Switzerland, by winning the last slalom before the Olympics, where he will be defending the two gold medals he won at the 1988 Games. Tomba clinched his seventh victory of the season with a two-heat total of 1 minute, 34.34 seconds, which was 0.62 ahead of overall World Cup leader Paul Accola of Switzerland.
* Jim Holland, who is 11th in World Cup standings, breezed to his fourth national ski jumping title with a near-record leap of 122 meters in Lake Placid, N.Y. Holland also had a jump of 116 meters for 248 total meters. Tad Langlois of Newport, N.H., was runner-up with a 210.3 total. The hill record is 124.5 meters, set by Finland’s Matti Nykaenen, who won three golds at the 1988 Olympics.
Sumo wrestling
Takahanada, at 19, became the youngest wrestler to win a major sumo event when he took the New Year Grand Sumo Tournament in Tokyo. He finished 14-1, one victory better than Hawaiian Akebono and two ahead of another Hawaiian, Konishiki, who failed in his bid to become the first non-Japanese promoted to sumo’s highest rank.
College gymnastics
The Navy men’s team (1-6) won its first meet of the season with a 247.45-228.25 victory over Southern Connecticut State in Annapolis. Navy got first-place finishes from Jody Williams in the floor exercise, Mark Mathys in the pommel horse, Jim Parker on the still rings, David Rudko on the vault and J. J. Skelly on the parallel bars. Navy’s women’s team (0-5) lost to Southern Connecticut State, 176.45-146.95.