Majoli Hands Seles Her First Loss of Year

Top-ranked Monica Seles was defeated by 18-year-old Croatian Iva Majoli Friday in the quarterfinals at the Pan Pacific Open tennis tournament in Tokyo, 1-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-4.

“I played so well in the first set, and I don’t know what happened after that,” said Seles, still bothered by a left-shoulder injury she suffered last week while winning the Australian Open.

“I’m not too happy with myself about that, but she just played better on the key points than I did today.”

Majoli is ranked No. 8 in the world.

Seles was 12-0 in 1996, including a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Majoli in the Australian Open quarterfinals.

Majoli will face 15-year-old Martina Hingis in today’s semifinals. Hingis defeated Naoko Sawamatsu, 6-1, 6-2.

Second-seeded Conchita Martinez will play third-seeded Arantxa Sanchez Vicario in the other semifinal. Martinez beat eighth-seeded Lindsay Davenport, 6-2, 6-3, and Sanchez Vicario defeated fifth-seeded Magdalena Maleeva, 7-5, 6-3.

Baseball

The Seattle Mariners agreed to a contract with pitcher Norm Charlton that could be worth up to $8,225,000 over three seasons. Charlton is guaranteed $2.2 million in the first year, with the team holding two option years. Charlton was 2-1 with a 1.51 earned-run average last season, saving 14 games in 30 appearances.

Right-handed pitcher Kevin Appier and the Kansas City Royals agreed at $5,051,250. . . . The Atlanta Braves have worked out a one-year contract with second baseman Mark Lemke for $1.5 million. It leaves Atlanta with only pitchers Steve Avery and Mark Wohlers seeking arbitration. . . . The Angels signed right-handed reliever Mark Eichhorn to a minor league contract. Eichhorn spent last season on the disabled list because of rotator cuff surgery. . . . The Dodgers signed minor league pitcher Brandon Watts to a one-year contract.

Golf

Hale Irwin, last year’s Senior PGA Tour rookie of the year, shot a 65 and took the first-round lead in the Royal Caribbean Classic at Key Biscayne, Fla. Irwin held a two-shot lead over Dick Rhyan, Bob Charles and Rick Acton, each of whom shot 68. Raymond Floyd, Bruce Crampton, Bob Murphy and Terry Dill are four strokes behind at two-under 69. Rhyan, 61, missed 10 weeks of play last year after undergoing five-way bypass heart surgery in March.

Pro Football

The Canadian Football League champion Stallions are leaving Baltimore for Montreal, bringing to an end a failed American experiment, the league announced. The league’s other American-based teams in San Antonio, Shreveport, La.; Memphis, Tenn., and Birmingham, Ala., have folded.

Dallas Cowboy quarterback Troy Aikman will undergo arthroscopic surgery on his right elbow next week to relieve pain caused by degenerative arthritis and other problems with his passing arm. . . . Arizona Cardinal fullback Larry Centers has been removed from the NFC lineup for the Pro Bowl. NFL officials listed the reason as illness. . . . A proposal for an 0.5% countywide income tax in Lake County, Ind., to help finance a new stadium for the Chicago Bears, will not get support from the county council, ending hopes for a new stadium near Gary, Ind.

Soccer

The Union of European Football Assns. said that it will not abide by new rules allowing teams to use three “wild-card” players over the age of 23 for the Olympics.

The change was made for the Atlanta Games by the International Olympic Committee and soccer’s world governing body, FIFA, to enliven the often dull Olympic soccer tournament. In 1992, only players 23 and under were eligible. UEFA is sticking to its own rule that only players 21 and under can take part in the Olympics.

Winter Sports

German skier Katja Seizinger won a super-giant slalom at Val D’Isere, France, her fourth World Cup victory of the season, and moved within four points of Austrian Anita Wachter for the overall lead.

Luc Alphand of France got his third World Cup victory of the season in a downhill at Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany.

Miscellany

South Carolina quarterback Steve Taneyhill and Carolina Panther tight end Mathew Campbell face a Feb. 14 Municipal Court hearing in Charleston, S.C., on charges of assault and interfering with police. The pair turned themselves in to Charleston police Thursday night in connection with a weekend barroom incident. . . . Presidents of the Big 12 Conference voted to put the headquarters of their new conference in Dallas instead of Kansas City, Mo.

Names in the News

Villanova University received no more than one-fifth of the $5 million that John E. du Pont promised the school when it named its basketball arena after him, former university officials say. Du Pont, accused of killing Olympic wrestler Dave Schultz on Jan. 25, promised the balance of the donation in 1985 after giving $500,000 to $1 million, the former officials said.

Schultz’s widow will receive $7,850 and his former teammates on Du Pont’s Team Foxcatcher will receive more than $57,000 in grants from the U.S. Olympic Committee as part of a rescue package.