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■ BADMINTON
Lin Dan knocked out
China's world badminton champion Lin Dan lost to Malaysia's Lee Chong Wei in the semi-finals of the Japan Open Super Series yesterday. He went down 21-19, 21-15 to the Malyasian, who also beat Lin the last time they met in the Sudirman Cup in Glasgow in June. Lin recovered from that setback to retain his world title in Kuala Lumpur last month when Lee failed to fulfil the huge expectations of his home support and lost in the third round. His opponent in the final will be Olympic champion Taufik Hidayat who defeated Indonesian compatriot Simon Santoso 21-14, 21-16.

■ SOCCER
Petrovic gets China job
China has appointed former Yugoslav international Vladimir Petrovic as its new coach on a one-year contract, state media reported. The 52-year-old, who coached Chinese Super League club Dalian Shide to the league title in 2005, will be in charge until Sept. 30 next year when China completes its third round of Asian qualifying for the 2010 World Cup. Petrovic replaces Zhu Guanghu, who was sacked last month following the national team's humiliating first-round exit from the Asian Cup in July. Petrovic will be under the "guidance" of Ratomir Dujkovic, who is coach of the Olympic team and who recommended his former Belgrade Red Star teammate to the China Football Association, Xinhua news agency said.

■ SOCCER
Petric brace lifts Dortmund
Mladen Petric's two goals lifted Borussia Dortmund to a 3-0 victory over Werder Bremen on Friday and moved them within a point of Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich. Injury-plagued Bremen, who face Real Madrid next week in their European Champions League opener, fell apart after Petric scored unmarked in 22nd minute. Diego Klimowicz added another in the 29th minute and Petric followed with another three minutes later for Dortmund, who climbed to second in the standings.

■ FORMULA ONE
Raikkonen takes pole
Kimi Raikkonen took pole position for the Belgian Grand Prix yesterday, edging Ferrari teammate Felipe Massa and the two McLaren drivers. Behind the red Ferrari cars, world champion Fernando Alonso just got third place ahead of overall leader Lewis Hamilton, setting up a close race today. After the Formula One spying scandal involving McLaren took center stage for two days, racing took over again yesterday.

■ MOTOR RACING
Racer files for protection
The Australian-born drag racer whose car plowed into a parade crowd in Tennessee, killing six and injuring dozens more, has filed for bankruptcy protection, records show. Troy Critchley filed for "Chapter 7" bankruptcy protection last Friday and claimed as creditors a dozen pending lawsuits totaling around US$100 million. More than 30 lawsuits are related to the June 16 accident, when Critchley's race car crashed into a crowd at a "Cars for Kids" charity event. Attorneys for the families say the bankruptcy filing could make it harder to pursue their civil claims against Critchley, some of which are seeking as much as US$20 million. "The accident has devastated him emotionally and ruined him financially," said attorney William Reid, who represents Critchley but is not his bankruptcy attorney.

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