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■ CRICKET

U19 World Cup begins

Defending champions Pakistan thrashed hosts Malaysia by eight wickets with 40 overs to spare while Australia, India and England also posted easy victories on yesterday's opening day of the Under-19 World Cup in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Pakistan, placed in Group A, won the toss and elected to bowl, dismissing Malaysia for 75 in just 24.4 overs, with right-arm seamer Adil Raza taking 6-29 and Mohammad Amir 3-11. Nik Azril top scored for Malaysia with 28, but nine of the 11 batsmen failed to reach double figures. Pakistan had no trouble reaching the target in only 9.3 overs, with Umar Amin making 31 and Ahmed Shahzad scoring an unbeaten 27. In Group B, India, runner-ups in the 2006 edition of the biennial tournament, defeated Papua New Guinea by 195 runs.



■ BASKETBALL

Hawks acquire Mike Bibby

The Atlanta Hawks, pushing for their first playoff appearance since 1999, acquired guard Mike Bibby from the Sacramento Kings in exchange for four players and a draft pick on Saturday. The trade was awaiting final approval from the league and medical tests. "We're happy to be able to bring in a player of Mike's caliber," Atlanta general manager Billy Knight said in a statement on the club's Web site. "He's one of the premier guards in the league and a proven winner going back to his college days at Arizona. His ability to score and distribute the basketball will add a new dimension to our ball club." The Hawks, out of the playoffs longer than any NBA team, are just percentage points off the eighth and final Eastern Conference playoff spot. Bibby, 29, is due to join them in Los Angeles today.



■ SWIMMING

Coventry breaks record

Kirsty Coventry of Zimbabwe broke a 16-year-old world record in the 200m backstroke in Columbia, Missouri, on Saturday. The reigning Olympic champion in the event, Coventry toppled the second-oldest world record on the books at the Missouri Grand Prix, the third of the US Swimming federation's eight-meet Grand Prix series. Coventry finished in 2 minutes, 6.39 seconds, which was 0.23 seconds faster than the mark set by Krisztina Egerszegi of Hungary in August 1991. Second-place finisher Margaret Hoelzer was more than 4 seconds behind. Another longtime record fell when Katie Hoff set the American mark in the 400m freestyle.



■ SWIMMING

Sullivan breaks 50m record

Australian Eamon Sullivan broke the 50m freestyle world record yesterday at the New South Wales Open meet, finishing in 21.56 seconds at the Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Center. In the pool used for the 2000 Olympics, Sullivan took .08 seconds off the previous mark of Russian Alexander Popov, who had a time of 21.64 seconds set in Moscow on June 16, 2000. Sullivan took nearly a half-second off his personal best time. "I just surprised myself," Sullivan, 22, said. "Felt really, really good in the warmup and working towards getting under 22 for the first time. We have made some big gains in the gym and I knew if I put bits of my best race together we would be in for a shot at the 22. To take that much off my PB is amazing." Australian head coach Alan Thompson praised Sullivan. "That was great, to break a world record of one of the legends of the sport and a long-term world record," he said.
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