Mon, Jun 18, 2007 page19

• Sports Briefs

  • AGENCIES
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  ■ SOCCER

  Tunisia blank Mauritius

  Tunisia scored a goal in each half and defeated Mauritius 2-0 in Tunis on Saturday, requiring it only to draw its final match in September to qualify for the African Cup of Nations. The victory gave Tunisia 13 points and kept it atop Group 4, one point ahead of Sudan, which won 2-0 at Seychelles on Saturday. Sudan will host the group finale in September, needing a victory to overtake Tunisia. Issam Jomaa opened the scoring in the 44th minute, and Abdelkrim Nafti added another in the 50th minute to delight the capacity crowd at Rades stadium.

  ■ ATHLETICS

  Wesly wins Grandma's

  Wesly Ngetich won his second Grandma's Marathon men's title in Duluth, Minnesota, on Saturday, finishing more than one-and-a-half minutes ahead of fellow Kenyan Joseph Kahugu. Ngetich won the race from Two Harbors to Duluth in 2 hours, 15 minutes, 55 seconds. That was slower than his winning time of 2:13:18 in 2005, but Ngetich ran alone for the final 16km on a hot, humid day. Kahugu finished second in 2:17:29. The US' Mary Akor, who was third a year ago, won the women's race in 2:35:40. It was the first Grandma's win for Akor, a native of Nigeria who became the first US citizen to win the women's division since Mary Alico of Florida in 1996.

  ■ RUGBY UNION

  Elvis Vermeulen out of Cup

  French back-row forward Elvis Vermeulen, one of his country's Six Nations stars, was ruled out of the World Cup on Saturday after suffering a slipped disc, his Clermont club announced. "As the slipped disc needs an operation in the next few weeks, Elvis Vermeulen has been forced to pull out of the World Cup," a statement said. Vermeulen scored the injury-time try which gave France a 46-19 win over Scotland in March which guaranteed his country retained the Six Nations title. The injury was discovered when Vermeulen underwent a scan following Clermont's defeat in the French championship final against Stade Francais last week. "It's difficult to take," Vermeulen said.

  ■ CYCLING

  Iglinskiy wins sixth stage

  Kazakhstani rider Maxim Iglinskiy won the sixth stage of the Dauphine Libere in Valloire, France, on Saturday, while Christophe Moreau of France took the overall lead. Iglinskiy finished the 198km stage from Gap to Valloire in 5 hours, 51 minutes, 32 seconds after breaking away from the leading pack after the final climb up the Col du Telegraphe. Alexandre Botcharov of Russia was next, 51 seconds back. French riders Pierrick Fedrigo and Remy di Gregorio finished with the same time as Botcharov. Moreau finished in eighth place, 2:23 behind Iglinskiy, but moved from second overall to No. 1 by overtaking Andrey Kashechkin, who dropped to third.

  ■ BOXING

  Malignaggi wins title

  Paul Malignaggi won the IBF junior welterweight title in Uncasville, Connecticut, on Saturday, outpointing champion Lovemore Ndou of Australia in a lopsided unanimous decision. Malignaggi (23-1) used his speed and quickness to keep N'dou at bay. He landed a left-hook counter in the ninth round to score the fight's only knockdown. Two judges scored it 120-106. One judge scored it 118-108. Malignaggi's best weapon was his jab, which he landed often throughout the fight. He also threw several combinations that landed.
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