Sports briefs

■Basketball
Bryant goes under the knife
Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant underwent surgery on Thursday to repair a damaged right shoulder. Bryant was released from a New York hospital after the procedure which lasted about an hour. He is expected to make a full recovery. Louis Bigliani, chief of orthopedic surgery at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center in New York, removed an inflamed bursa and trimmed Bryant's frayed labrum. Bryant suffered the injury in Game 2 of the Lakers' first-round playoff series when he was hit by Kevin Garnett of the Minnesota Timberwolves while driving to the basket. But he continued to play and averaged 32.1 points, 5.1 rebounds and 5.2 assists in the playoffs.

■ Basketball
Jordan wins court decision
Michael Jordan claimed a huge victory on Thursday when a Chicago judge tossed out a women's attempt to force the basketball superstar to pay her US$5 million in hush money, the Chicago Sun-Times reported on Thursday. The newspaper said the judge agreed with Jordan's lawyers who argued against Karla Knafel's claims that Jordan promised to pay her the money to keep their affair under wraps. "The court finds the agreement to be extortionate and against public policy," said Judge Richard Siebel. Lawyers for Knafel claimed the verbal agreement between the two was to prevent her from filing a paternity suit against Jordan, who was concerned she might be carrying his baby.

■ Soccer
Barthez set to stay
Despite that he could be replaced, goalkeeper Fabien Barthez was quoted yesterday as saying he intends to stay with Manchester United. "For me, everything is going perfectly well," Barthez was quoted as saying in French sports daily L'Equipe. "I've always felt fine with Manchester. Therefore, I'm staying there. There is no problem." Barthez, who was benched the last three games of this season, has been criticized for sloppy mistakes, lack of concentration in big games, and his high-profile lifestyle off the field.

■ Soccer
Bomb damages club
A small home-made bomb exploded at the headquarters of relegated Argentine club Huracan on Thursday, four days before their derby match against arch-rivals San Lorenzo, the club's president said. Marcelo Buenaga said the artefact went off at the front entrance to the club and damaged a door. Nobody was hurt. Meetings between the two clubs are always tense and police have ordered tomorrow's game to be played at 11am for security reasons. San Lorenzo fans have said they will go to the match dressed in black to "mourn" the fate of Huracan, which was sealed when they lost 4-0 at home to Boca Juniors last week.

■ Soccer
Coach rewarded for loyalty
The coach of Brazilian first division club Ponte Preta has been presented with a silver plaque for refusing to leave in the middle of the championship. Abel Braga turned down a better offer from more illustrious club Gremio because he said he wanted to see through his job at Ponte Preta. It was considered a rare gesture in a country averaging one coaching change a week among first division clubs alone. Nine coaches have left their clubs since the Brazilian championship began at the end of March.

Agencies