U.S. Takes Davis Cup Lead Over Bahamas

The United States took a 2-0 lead over the Bahamas in a Davis Cup qualifying match Friday at Charlotte, N.C.

Andre Agassi defeated Roger Smith of the Bahamas, 6-2, 6-2, 6-3.

Mark Knowles of the Bahamas was leading MaliVai Washington, 2-1, when he had to retire because of leg cramps, giving Washington the victory.

Knowles won a first-set tiebreaker, but Washington rallied from a 1-4 deficit to win the second set, 6-4. After breaking service to win the third set, 6-4, Knowles suffered cramps in his left leg as he served to start the fourth set.

The United States needs only to win today’s doubles match or a singles match Sunday to clinch the best-of-five series and move on to the the 16-nation world group for the 1994 Davis Cup. The loser drops back into zonal play.

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Australia moved closer to the 1993 Davis Cup final by taking a 2-0 lead in a semifinal match against India at Chandigarh, India.

Wally Masur of Australia defeated Ramesh Krishnan, 6-2, 6-0, 6-4, and Jason Stoltenberg defeated Leander Paes, 6-3, 7-6 (7-5), 6-2.

A victory in today’s doubles or in either of Sunday’s reverse singles will send Australia to the finals against the winner of the Sweden-Germany semifinal.

Germany took a 2-0 lead over Sweden as Marc-Kevin Goellner defeated Stefan Edberg, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7-4), and Michael Stich defeated Magnus Gustafsson, 6-2, 6-3, 3-6, 6-2, at Borlange, Sweden.

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Top-seeded Arantxa Sanchez Vicario of Spain won twice to advance to the semifinals of a $375,000 women’s tournament at Tokyo.

Sanchez Vicario, No. 2 in the world, beat Amy Frazier, 6-2, 6-3. Earlier, Sanchez Vicario beat Alexandra Fusai of France, 6-1, 6-2, in the second round.

Hockey

Peter Forsberg of Sweden will sign a $10-million, four-year contract with the Quebec Nordiques, a newspaper reported.

Le Soleil reported that the 20-year-old forward would join the Nordiques after the 1994 Winter Olympics.

Forsberg, the Philadelphia Flyers’ No. 1 draft choice in 1991, was obtained by Quebec in the trade that sent Eric Lindros to the Flyers last year.

The St. Louis Blues have acquired All-Star defenseman Phil Housley from the Winnipeg Jets for right wing Nelson Emerson and defenseman Stephane Quintal.

Housley was the league’s top-scoring defenseman last season with 97 points.

Emerson had 22 goals and 51 assists last season. Quintal had one goal and 10 assists.

Basketball

The NBA salary cap has been set at $15.175 million for the 1993-94 season, an increase of $1.1 million from last year.

The league also set a minimum team payroll requirement of $12.285 million.

Miscellany

Diazo took the lead on the final turn and drew off to a 4 1/2-length victory over Press Card in the $250,000 Pegasus Handicap in Bill Shoemaker’s Meadowlands debut as a trainer. Diazo, ridden by Laffit Pincay, covered the 1 1/8 miles in 1:47 and paid $5.40, $3.40 and $2.40.

Juan Coggi of Argentina retained his World Boxing Assn. junior-welterweight title by stopping Guillermo Cruz of Mexico in the 10th round at Tucuman, Argentina.

Chad Hundeby of Irvine broke the men’s record for swimming from Santa Catalina Island to the mainland after crossing from Long Point to Cabrillo Beach in 8 hours 14 minutes 46 seconds. Hundeby, the world open water swimming champion, broke the record of 8:27:24 set by Jim McConica on Sept. 13, 1983.

Bob Samuelson had 17 kills as the United States beat Puerto Rico, 15-8, 15-12, 15-5, in the semifinals of the North American Volleyball Championships at New Orleans. Cuba beat Canada, 15-7, 15-13, 15-5, in the other semifinal.

Marleve Mainaky of Indonesia defeated top-seeded Thomas Stuer-Lauridsen of Denmark, 15-8, 18-16, in the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open badminton championship at Loyola Marymount. Top-seeded Lim Xiao Qing of Sweden defeated Denyse Julien of Canada, 12-9, 11-7, in a women’s quarterfinal match.

Ernie Irvan won the pole for Sunday’s Goody’s 500 NASCAR Winston Cup race at the Martinsville (Va.) Speedway. Irvan had a lap of 92.583 m.p.h. on the .526-mile oval.

Hector Morales, 49, the coach of Ecuador’s top soccer club, was stabbed to death by car thieves in Quito, Ecuador. . . . Paulinho, a Brazilian who plays for the L.A. Salsa, was named most valuable player of the American Professional Soccer League.

The Rose Bowl Aquatic Center in Pasadena was awarded the 1995 national swimming championships.

Defending champions Mitch Booth and John Forbes of Australia won nine of 15 preliminary races to lead the top 18 boats into the final rounds of the Tornado catamaran world championships off Long Beach.

Pro golfer Heather Farr was listed in fair condition at the University of Arizona Medical Center after undergoing surgery to destroy a cancerous tumor on her spinal cord.