Czechs Make a Change and Leave U.S. on Brink of Elimination

Vladislav Savrda switched his lineup, American counterpart Tom Gullickson didn’t and the Czech Republic took a 2-1 lead over the defending Davis Cup champions Saturday at Prague.

Savrda, the Czech captain, paired his top singles players, Petr Korda and Daniel Vacek, into a doubles team that defeated Patrick McEnroe and Patrick Galbraith, 6-2, 6-3, 6-3.

The Czechs had planned to use the team of Martin Damm and Jiri Novak against the Americans, and there was some thought that Gullickson would use Todd Martin, his top singles player but also one of the best doubles players in the world.

Martin, ranked 17th in the world, will face No. 35 Vacek in today’s first singles match. That could leave it to No. 19 MaliVai Washington, who will face Korda.

In other Davis Cup play, Sweden scored a four-set doubles victory over India, clinching their series, 3-0. The Swedes will meet the U.S.-Czech winner.

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Rain washed out play at the Family Circle Cup on Hilton Head Island, S.C., meaning both the singles and doubles semifinals and finals will be played today.

With Jana Novotna and Arantxa Sanchez Vicario alive in singles and teaming in the doubles semifinals, that could mean both could play as many as four matches today.

Auto Racing

David Green drove a Chevrolet to a 1.48-second victory over Hermie Sadler in the Sundrop 300 NASCAR Busch Grand National stock car race at Hickory Motor Speedway in North Carolina. Green averaged 60.323 mph and collected $17,480.

Britain’s Damon Hill won the pole position for the Argentine Grand Prix in Buenos Aires, clocking 1 minute 30.346 seconds around a 2.66-mile track in a Williams-Renault.

Football

Dallas Cowboy owner Jerry Jones says individual teams should seize control of drug testing from the NFL. In an interview published in today’s editions of the Dallas Morning News, Jones said the teams would punish as they deem necessary and distinguish between marijuana and cocaine use in the penalties.

The Washington Redskins and St. Louis Rams are said to be near a trade that would send Washington’s first-round pick to St. Louis for defensive end Sean Gilbert. . . . The Rams signed kicker Chip Lohmiller to a one-year contract. Dean Biasucci is an unrestricted free agent and has not been offered a deal by the club.

Olympics

David Reid and Terrance Cauthen joined Zahir Raheem as Philadelphia boxers to win championships at the U.S. Olympic trials in Oakland.

Reid, at 156 pounds, and Cauthen, at 132, turned in big third rounds in advancing to the box-offs April 18-20 at Augusta, Ga.

On Friday night, Raheem won the 119-pound title on a 22-5 decision over Steven Carter.

Other winners included Fernando Vargas, 18, of Oxnard, who beat Gary Jones, 19-11, at 147 pounds.

Bill Roy hit 192 of 200 targets in Atlanta, winding up with 675 out of 700 points to become the top qualifier for the U.S. Olympic skeet team. Todd Graves and George Quigley joined Roy as qualifiers at the end of the three-part competition.

Miscellany

Carl Lewis ran down Jon Drummond at the finish line to win the 100-meter dash in the Texas Relays in a wind-aided 10.10 seconds.

Bob Learn Jr. started the day with a perfect game and finished it with a 279-257 victory over Randy Pederson in the finals of the Professional Bowling Assn.’s Flagship Open in Erie, Pa.

Cambridge, with the help of American Ethan Ayer, led all the way for a fourth consecutive victory over Oxford in the 142nd university Boat Race in London.

Led by Olympic hopefuls Jennie Thompson and Amanda Borden, the United States defeated France, 227.335 to 224.198, in a gymnastics meet at Miami.

Germany’s Dariusz Michalczweski knocked out Asluddin Umarov of Chechnya, who lives in Los Angeles, in the fifth round at Hanover, Germany, and retained the World Boxing Organization light heavyweight title.

Antonella Belluti of Italy broke the women’s world cycling record for the 3,000-meter individual pursuit contest by almost five seconds, timing 3 minutes 31.92 seconds in Cali, Colombia.

Kim Myong Nam of North Korea set three world records for men and Taiwan’s Chen Jun-lien smashed a world record for women at the Asian Weightlifting Championships in Tokyo. Kim, 26, snatched 354.2 pounds and then lifted 425.7 pounds in the clean and jerk for a total of 775.5 pounds, all world records in the men’s 154-pound class. In the women’s 140.8-pound class, Chen, 24, snatched 232.1 pounds, a world mark.

Basketball

Lisa Leslie had 28 points and 13 rebounds in 20 minutes for the unbeaten U.S. national women’s team, which crushed a college all-star team, 92-57, in Atlanta for its 38th victory in a row.