By wire sources
Busan beats Melbourne 1-0 in Invitational
HONOLULU — Jeon Sang-wook made four saves in the penalty shootout to give South Korean club Busan I’Park victory over Melbourne Heart following a goalless draw at the Hawaiian Islands Invitational tournament on Thursday.
With no extra time, the game went straight to penalties and Busan won the shootout 4-3 when Yu Ji-hun slotted the winning shot by sending the goalkeeper the wrong way.
Busan, which made it to the K-League Cup final last year, will play either Japan’s Yokohama or Colorado Rapids of Major League Soccer in Saturday’s final. Melbourne, of Australia’s A-League, will be in the playoff for third.
Stewart, Kenseth
win Daytona qualifying races
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Roush Fenway Racing will have three cars at the front of the season-opening Daytona 500.
Matt Kenseth won the second of the twin 150-mile qualifying races Thursday with a bold pass of teammate Greg Biffle. The victory gave Kenseth a spot on the second row for Sunday’s race — right behind teammates Carl Edwards and Biffle.
Tony Stewart, the defending NASCAR champion, won the first race and will line up next to Kenseth at Daytona International Speedway.
Biffle was leading headed into the final lap, but he tried to block Kenseth, who dove to the inside and used a push from Jimmie Johnson to take the lead.
Robby Gordon and Michael McDowell earned the two spots up for grabs in the first race, while Joe Nemechek and Dave Blaney each raced their way into the 500 in the second qualifying race.
Colts GM isn’t
ready to decide
on Manning, Luck
INDIANAPOLIS — Even the Indianapolis Colts don’t have all the answers on Peyton Manning. Or Andrew Luck, for that matter.
New general manager Ryan Grigson said the Colts have not decided whether to release the four-time league MVP, whether to renegotiate with him or whether to take Luck with the No. 1 overall pick in April’s draft.
Instead, things in Indianapolis are about as uncertain as the status of Manning’s right arm.
Duerson’s family sues NFL over his suicide
CHICAGO — The family of former Chicago Bears player Dave Duerson filed a wrongful death suit against the NFL on Thursday, claiming the league didn’t do enough to prevent or treat the concussions that severely damaged his brain before he killed himself last year.
The suit was filed in Chicago on behalf of Duerson’s son, Tregg, and three other children. Duerson died on Feb. 17, 2011, of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the chest at his home in Sunny Isles Beach, Fla.
Duerson’s family wants to know more about the NFL’s handling of concussions during his career, according to his son.
The lawsuit accuses the NFL of negligently causing the brain damage that led Duerson to take his own life at the age of 50 by not warning him of the negative effects of concussions.
Attorney Thomas Demetrio, who is representing Duerson’s family, said the NFL should have been a leader in educating current and former players about head injuries.
The NFL said in a statement that it had not yet seen the lawsuit.
Chavez happy to be back with Yankees
TAMPA, Fla. — Eric Chavez spent the offseason wondering where — and if — he might play again.
There was only one place he really had in mind.
Chavez was back with the New York Yankees on Thursday after agreeing to a $900,000, one-year deal. The 34-year-old Chavez said retirement was a possibility, but he was happy to return to the Yankees after playing 58 games with them last season.
Chavez hit .263 with two homers and 26 RBIs last year, starting 33 games at third base and also playing a bit at first.
Oswalt still evaluating his options for 2012
The agent for Roy Oswalt says the right-hander is still evaluating his options and plans on pitching in the major leagues this season.
Oswalt became a free agent when Philadelphia chose not to pick up his $16 million option for this season. The 34-year-old three-time All-Star was 9-10 with a 3.69 ERA in 23 starts for the Phillies last year.
Oswalt is 159-93 in 11 seasons with the Houston Astros and the Phillies.
Simon, Verdasco knocked out
in Buenos Aires
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — Seeded players Gilles Simon of France, Fernando Verdasco of Spain and local favorite Juan Monaco were knocked out in the second round of the Copa Claro on Thursday.
Carlos Berlocq of Argentina beat the third-seeded Simon 6-2, 6-1, and Igor Andreev of Russia downed No. 7 seed Verdasco 7-6 (3), 6-3 at the clay-court tournament.
Argentina’s David Nalbandian defeated No. 5 Monaco 6-3, 6-1.
One seeded player survived: No. 2 Nicolas Almagro of Spain had an easy time beating Federico Delbonis of Argentina 6-3, 6-2.
Wozniacki, Jankovic reach Dubai semis; Stosur out
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Defending champion Caroline Wozniacki reached the semifinals of the Dubai Tennis Championships on Thursday, while U.S. Open champion Sam Stosur lost to Jelena Jankovic.
Caroline Wozniacki ousted Ana Ivanovic 6-3, 7-5 in a meeting of former No. 1s, after Jankovic stopped Stosur 6-4, 6-2 Thursday.
Wozniacki eased through the first set and overcame more resistance in the second.
Wozniacki is the highest-seeded player left in Dubai at No. 3 after top-ranked Victoria Azarenka pulled out of the tournament Wednesday because of an ankle injury.
Wozniacki will play Julia Goerges on Friday after the unseeded German defeated Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.
Mardy Fish bounced from Marseille tennis
MARSEILLE, France — Mardy Fish was knocked out of the Open 13 by French qualifier Albano Olivetti 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 in the second round Thursday.
The second-seeded American rallied from a 3-1 deficit in the second set to tie the match. But the 388th-ranked Olivetti jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the decider and kept his composure to earn the biggest victory of his young career.
Olivetti served 23 aces and had nine double faults.
Isner advances to quarters at Memphis
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Top-seeded John Isner beat fellow American Donald Young 7-6 (3), 6-4 on Thursday to move to the quarterfinals of Regions Morgan Keegan Championships.
Isner, ranked 14th in the world, used 22 service aces to dispatch Young in 1 hour, 43 minutes. They were on serve in the second set, when Isner broke Young for the match, the winner being a forehand Young drove into the net.
Young did not have an ace in the match.
In the first set, Young broke Isner in the sixth game for a 4-2 lead. But Isner broke back in the next set, putting them back on serve.
By wire sources