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Sports Briefs

■ Motor Racing
Schumacher strikes first
Michael Schumacher struck the first blow for his chance at a sixth world driving title by finishing ahead of rival Kimi Raikkonen in the prequalifying yesterday for the Japanese Grand Prix, the final race of the Formula One season. Jarno Trulli in a Renault had the fastest time on the 5.807km Suzuka circuit with 1 minute, 30.281 seconds. Ralf Schumacher in a Williams-BMW timed 1:30.343 to come in second. There is the one-lap qualifying today and the drivers go out in reverse order from yesterday's results. While Ralf Schumacher had an impressive time, the attention was more on his brother's Ferrari and Raikkonen's McLaren with Michael Schumacher coming in third in 1:30.464 and Raikkonen fifth with a time of 1:30.558. Schumacher has a nine-point lead in the driver standings over Raikkonen, 92-83. The only way Schumacher can lose the title is if Raikkonen wins the race and Schumacher fails to score a point either by not finishing or finishing worse than eighth.

■ Soccer
Man surrenders in probe
A man surrendered to police Thursday and said he was responsible for the beating death of a fan after a Spanish soccer game, news reports said. Police said they had identified the 29-year-old on Wednesday but had not tracked him down because he had not slept at home. The man surrendered at a courthouse in Santiago de Compostela in the northwest Galicia region, the news agency Efe said. Police were not available for comment. The death occurred Tuesday in Santiago after a Copa del Rey match between the local team Compostela and Deportivo de la Coruna. Newspapers say the victim died from a karate kick that ruptured his liver.

■ Soccer
Two arrested in rape case
Two more men were arrested yesterday in connection with the alleged gang-rape of a 17-year-old girl by a group of men, including several Premier League players. The unidentified men, aged 19 and 22, turned themselves in at separate stations in London, police said. The two were being questioned by detectives. Police said they can only reveal the identity of the men if charges are filed. On Thursday, police arrested a 27-year-old man before releasing him on bail pending further investigation. Nicholas Meikle, described as a party organizer, was arrested on Wednesday before also being released on bail pending further inquiries. Meikle told a Sunday tabloid that he, two players and another man had consensual sex with the girl. According to media reports, the girl told police she agreed to have sex with one man but was raped or sexually assaulted by up to seven others at the Grosvenor House hotel in London in the early hours of Sept. 27.

■ Athletics
White to lose 100m gold
American sprinter Kelli White is set to be stripped of her world championship 100m and 200m gold medals after her dope test failure was confirmed on Thursday. The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) confirmed that the B-sample of her test taken after her 100m triumph at the championships in Paris in August showed traces of the stimulant Modafinil. "The United States federation had to wait for the result of the B sample and now they will hold talks with the athlete on a date to be agreed," said an IAAF spokesman. The case will be discussed by the US Anti-doping Agency (USADA) who will decide if a doping violation has been committed

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